All, The birding around Jefferson County (which is most of this report) over the last week was phenomenal. It was a week to remember, and there were so many highlights, it's hard to remember them all! As only a couple birds were posted here on CO-Birds, I thought I’d provide a recap of my highlights and summarize a bit of what was around, which may be news if you don’t closely follow the eBird alerts for JeffCo.
I'll also add that all the birds I'm reporting were seen/found without driving anywhere. I walked or rode my bike for all the birds in this report. I've largely given up driving to see birds since Covid started and it's been awesome! The last bird I drove to see was the Black Phoebe in Littleton on 9 July because I wanted to get photos and see about Eastern x Black Phoebe hybrids. I rode and got the phoebe on the 10th for my green year list. My Green Year list is birds found only in my yard and from walking or riding my bike from my house and back. No driving to Granby and riding my bike. :) Riding everywhere has been really fun, it keeps me fairly local, I am learning ALL the shortcuts to get places, finding little spots that probably no one ever birds, and it's rewarding and satisfying to walk/ride for all the birds. I honestly don't miss driving hours to see a bird. It'll take something really special to get me to drive a couple hours, but I'm sure I'll come around and drive for something one of these years. The black hawk didn't even tempt me! *Now for the highlights:Tues, Sept 8 -* Windy, snowing, terrible conditions in Littleton. I birded my patch (Clement Park) and found a first park record SANDERLING that stuck around for at least 3 days. A bunch of folks got to see the bird during its stay (Yay!!). While watching the Sanderling, a CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR flew in calling and landed on the shoreline next to the Sandering! I saw them at the SAME TIME! The longspur stayed maybe 15 seconds and was gone. A couple great birds for my Green Year List. Amazingly, this was my 2nd CC Longspur for Clement Park and third in JeffCo in 11 months. I spend a week or so every June in eastern Montana surrounded by longspurs, which really helps one learn their calls! *Wednesday, Sept 9* was phenomenal. Pure birding magic! Epic is an understatement. I received reports of some continuing shorebirds at Robert Easton Park that I wanted for my green list but of course I hit Clement Park first, because I had to. That was a smart move as I found all the targets from Easton and then some: PECTORAL (2, later I had 4) and a STILT SANDPIPER. I also found a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER in the pines on N side of the Rez behind the strip mall (only my second in JeffCo and an overall tough bird to find, at least for me). I skipped Easton and ended up riding to Harriman Lake about 4.5 miles away (yes, it was 30F and snowing/sleeting, it stung my face, but sidewalks and roads were just wet, so why not??). I got there, got muddy, and saw 4 RED KNOTS! A couple of us also relocated a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (apparently there were 3)! Tons of shorebirds and waterfowl around but everything was very skittish and viewing conditions were tough. GREAT birds for JeffCo and, of course, my green list, but I had to get home to do some work. Later I hit Clement Park again and found park first Baird's Sandpiper (6!). I had 9 species of shorebird at Clement Park on this day, which is amazing for that little unassuming place. Over lunch, I see a dowitcher report from Robert Easton and get a photo of the bird from a friend. It looked GOOD for a Short-billed Dowitcher, which is very tough in JeffCo. I told some folks about a decent looking SB Dowitcher report because I thought it was worth taking a look. Reluctantly, I load up and ride my bike over there (4.3 miles but at least it wasn’t snowing this time). Yes, my second ride in the frigid cold. Two SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS put on a nice show with a good number of other shorebirds. Another great green bird too! Plus seeing a lot of friends (at a distance) at these spots was a lot of fun. Now riding 22 miles in 32F and colder temps was enough for one day! By the evening of the 9th, I’d gotten a bunch of new birds for my Clement Park list, which stands at 149 species. Amazing list for that place. *Thursday, Sept 10 - *I birded Clement Park (duh) and had 9 species of sparrow (missed Spotted and Green-tailed Towhees [the latter was park bird #149] from the previous afternoon) and tallied 49 species. Not bad! *Friday, Sept 11*: I rode my bike to Chatfield because it’s Sabine's Gull time and there haven’t been any reported yet this fall, and I'd missed Black Tern 3 times already. On Thursday, TWO people told me to go find a Little Gull. I get to the sand spit (Douglas Co) and find TWO Sabine's flying around (Green Year Bird #199). YAY!!! Sabine's are one of my favorite birds. Then suddenly a third bird was with them on the water way out, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The vanish and I figure they were in the S Platte Delta area. I ride to the Heronry overlook and on the way, I find a N Mockingbird and some Common Nighthawks flying around the campground (I alerted others who managed to enjoy the nighthawks and got some AWESOME photos). At S. Platte Heronry overlook, I see three likely Sabine’s gulls but I only had binocs with me on the bike (fail!) and one bird was funny looking but I couldn't be sure what it was. They never flew. Turns out the funny looking bird in the group was the LITTLE GULL that Dale Pate photo'd with 2 Sabine's from the S Platte delta just 20 min later. Then Ric Olson arrived a bit later and photo'd the same 3. OUCH. I found out about the Little Gull not long after getting home. Sting!! But I stopped at the sand spit (Douglas Co.) on a total whim on the way home (I was REALLY late at this point) and found a phalarope that wasn't a Wilson's. I got others on it. I assumed Red-necked Phalarope because the bill was thicker and it was darker backed but there was always something about that bird that left some doubt in my mind. I called it Red-necked and moved on (Green Year bird 200! Woo Hoo!). Others took photos and the bird vanished after 5 min. I rode home quite happy (if you made it this far, keep reading, the plot thickens). After getting home, showering, and seeing reports of the Little Gull (and numerous folks telling me it's there), I reluctantly went back to Chatfield on the bike. It turns out I can get from my house to the swim beach in 21 minutes when I'm trying to hurry and my legs are feeling good! I'd already ridden 28 miles on the morning trip. This one added 23 more to the day. Ouch! After much searching and texting with folks around the rez for two hours, no Little Gull. Stinger. I got FORSTER'S and BLACK TERNS for the green year (201 and 202), so that was really nice. I was very pleased with that consolation as Little Gull would just be a Green Year bird. Fun birding with others at a distance too. Then there were continued reports all weekend of the Little Gull, but I'm busy being dad. On Saturday morning, I saw Joey Kellner’s report of a Red Phalarope. I look at photos by others from Friday morning because of the lingering weirdness about that bird. Holy Mackerel! Our bird Friday morning was a RED PHALAROPE and I totally blew it (not the first nor last time that'll happen)! Green Bird #200! Epic #200 too! Unfortunately that bird seems to have been a 5 min wonder. And now I still want to find a Red-necked Phal (and of course one was reported in S Platte all Friday afternoon and I didn't see it, but I also didn't think I still needed to see one for the Green Year). *Sunday, Sept 13 *- I finally get into the backyard mid-morning and find my LONG overdue first JeffCo TOWNSEND'S WARBLER! I've been looking hard for one recently, with no luck. Sometimes getting lucky is better than being good. Green Year bird #203! Nice yard bird to boot! *Monday, Sept 14* - I decided to try for the Little Gull as it was reported late Sunday (thanks for everyone who eBirded it!). Another slog on the bike to Chatfield, this time on my heavier off road bike with scope and tripod. I arrive shortly after sunrise (yes, I left at first light) and the sand spit is basically dead. Not a good sign. Tom and Claire Hanson arrive at the Handicapped Fisherman's Pier (Douglas Co) a couple minutes later and tell me they think they have the Little Gull! I load up the tripod and ride over. The lighting was perfect. There was NO wind and the water was flat. It was perfect. I quickly spotted the LITTLE GULL (Green Year Bird #204) and then I get on the phalarope that they had seen: RED-NECKED (Green Year Bird #205!). Nice heavily streaked black back. The four Sabine's Gulls were also lovely and all the gulls flew around putting on a great show. Just a lovely morning with some sweet birds and some great friends. All that said, this was one of my most memorable weeks of birding. I saw 17 species of shorebird, which is really great for here, esp. since shorebirds were largely non-existent this spring! Plus I did all the birding by walking or riding everywhere (and eating tons of food!). The best part of this last week was not only seeing fun birds, some insanely gorgeous birds (Sabine's!), but sharing birds we find with others and the experiences and memories gained while birding. And in my case, eating an entire pizza after riding 22 miles in sub-freezing temps was nice (meaning gluttoness). I need a few days to rest and get some work done, so let's cool it on all the mega-rarities until next week please! And thanks if you actually read all of this! Good birding, Scott Somershoe Littleton CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJmtx%2BU5LJX87L3%2Bmb6JSBbVVdoA8o3aTgbCcAdJzhh4LH3grQ%40mail.gmail.com.
