Eastern Plains 1/28-1/31

January 31

• Wray, Colorado
  Greater Prairie-Chicken (on CR 45 about 1.2 miles from hwy 385)
  
• Julesburg Wayside Rest Area
  Not much!
  
• Ovid
  Northern Cardinal (male) south of hwy 138
  Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) south of hwy 138/ west of 2nd
  Eastern Bluebird (3 males) Ovid Sewage Ponds (permission required to bird here)
  
• Jumbo Reservoir
  Glaucous Gull (adult) (I captured some decent video hopefully)
  Red-breasted Nuthatch (2, at eastern camping area)
  
• Jumbo-Red Lion Annex
  Ross's Goose (1) with many Snow Geese
  
• Tamarack Ranch
  I checked Greater Prairie-Chicken spot east of Fleming Road and Logan CR 46;
  without success. Locals claim this a great spot after a dusting of snow.
  
• Sterling Reservoir
  Short-eared Owl (1) southwestern corner
  Not much else, but gorgeous sunset!
  

January 30

• Republican Wildlife Area
  Eastern Screech-owl (1, heard at 4:30 am)
  Eastern Bluebirds (5 males, 2 females)
  
• Bonny Reservoir
  Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) wagon wheel campground
  Long-eared Owl (1 at picnic pond shelter belt of wagon wheel)
  
• Foster Grove and Hooper Ponds; not much!
  
• Sandsage Wildlife Area (west of Wray)
  Eastern Screech-Owl (I will put photo on website by tomorrow night)
  This photo was taken after dark with infrared camera.
  Notice how the full moonlight makes it look like daylight!
  EASO was not happy that I was disturbing it
  as I accidentally walked upon it in the barn.
  Harris's Sparrow (immature) along creek, northwest of parking area
  Red Crossbill (14, cattails at western end)
  

January 29

• Lake Henry
  Not much. However, I did hike around lake (about 3 miles) at 9:30pm Thursday night.
  I heard 4 Great Horned Owls and observed one with my infrared camera.
  Quite uplifting at 10:30pm at 20 feet, looking through camera at this huge bird
  with its eyes glaring at me!
  
• Rocky Ford, Colorado
  Eurasian Collared-Dove (18 plus)
  
• Rocky Ford Wildlife Area
  Red-shouldered Hawk (immature) Bird was in cottonwoods north of parking area
  to 500 yards east along canal for two hours and still there when I departed.
  
• Lake Holbrook
  Ross's Goose (2) with about 150 Snow Geese
  Scaled Quail (2, near green ranch house in southwest corner)
  
• Lake Cheraw, Lake Meredith; not much
  
• Ordway Reservoir (2 miles north of hwy 96 and hwy 71)
  Not much, but good potential in the spring!
  Dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk
  
• Karval Wildlife Area (Lincoln county; 10 miles south of hwy 94/ 109)
  I hiked around reservoir and scared up two Short-eared owls
  in canyon (draw) at northeast corner.
  Later one of them was hunting at 5:10pm over cattails at western end.
  Golden Eagle (1, immature)
  

January 28

• Big Johnson Reservoir
  Red-breasted Merganser (3)
  
• Pueblo Reservoir
  Trumpeter Swan (3, at Swallows; western end of reservoir)
  Mountain Bluebird (over 100 splashes of blue color
  on the dull winter landscape from hwy 50 to swallows parking area)
  Northern Shrike (2, same area)
  Great Black-backed Gull (adult) north marina
  Yellow-billed Loon (immature) north marina
  Common Loon (adult) north marina
  Pacific Loon (4 just east and outside of north marina
  and a fifth at northeastern end of reservoir)
  

Birding Georgetown to DIA (Denver International Airport 1/27

• Georgetown
  Rosy Finch (2 Black, many Gray-crowned, many Brown-capped)
  
• Echo Lake
  We hiked around Echo Lake to campground.
  While we were visited by many Steller's Jays and Gray Jays,
  no Three-toed Woodpeckers were observed.
  
• Red Rocks Park
  The Field Sparrow did not make an appearance,
  but we watched a Canyon Wren work the rocks,
  just west of trading post feeders.
  
• Wheat Ridge Greenbelt (Prospect Pond)
  Greater Scaup (male)
  Red-breasted Merganser (2 males, breeding plumage)
  
• South Platte and 78th avenue
  Barrows Goldeneye (4 males, 1 female)
  (2 males and female were 50 yards south of water tower,
  another male was 10 yards north of water tower,
  with a fourth male 300 yards south of 78th avenue parking area)
  

Barr Lake Area 1/24

Denver Birding 1/23

Northern Colorado 1/20-1/21

Thursday 21

• Edora Park (Fort Collins)
  Not much; one pair of American Wigeon.
  I also checked Prospect ponds
  and ponds behind orthopedic center for Eurasian Wigeon; without success.
  Long Pond (Larimer County)
  Greater Scaup (male)
  I did not find Greater White-fronted Geese
  
• Douglas Reservoir (Larimer)
  The only gulls I observed were Herring and Ring-billed.
  
• Hamilton Reservoir
  Red-necked Grebe (winter plumage) Thanks David Leatherman for the report.
  
• Falcon Ridge (Larimer)
  Golden-crowned Sparrow (immature) thanks to Martins for their hospitality.
  
• Wellington Wildlife Area (Larimer)
  No Owls around noon!
  Krider's Red-tailed Hawk!!!
  
• Union Reservoir (Weld)
  Not much; many Canada Geese
  
• Golden Ponds, Longmont
  Not much!
  Marsh Wren
  
• Boulder Reservoir
  Not much!
  
• Walden Ponds
  Not much!
  
• Valmont Reservoir
  Not much!
  
• Baseline Reservoir
  Not much!
  

Wednesday 20

• South Platte River at 78th Avenue
  Barrow's Goldeneye (male and female; 50 yards upstream-
  south of water tower ¼ mile north of parking area)
  Barrow's Goldeneye (male; 10 yards downstream-north of parking area)
  
• Picadilly Road and 152nd avenue
  Great-tailed Grackle
  
• Barr Lake
  Harris's Sparrow (immature; feeders at nature center)
  
• Picadilly and 120th (and east)
  Searched for Short-eared Owls several hours; without success!
  

North Denver 1/20

• South Platte River and 78th parking area
  Barrow's Goldeneye (2 males, 1 female) 1/4 mile downstream from parking
  
• Picadilly Road and 152nd Avenue (just east of intersection)
  Great-tailed Grackle
  
• Barr Lake
  Harris's Sparrow (immature) still at nature center feeders!
  

Birding Georgetown 1/19

• Georgetown
  All three species of Rosy Finches were observed.
  At feeders near white house, north of Rose and 2nd Avenue.
  
• Guanella Pass Campground
  We searched 1/2 mile either side of campground entrance.
  While Three-toed Woodpeckers have been sighted here in the past,
  we found none today!
  
• Guanella Pass
  We searched three hours for White-tailed Ptarmigan; without success!
  

Around Denver 1/18

• McLellan Reservoir
  Not much; female Ruddy Duck
  
• South Platte Nature Center (Mineral and Santa Fe)
  Harris's Sparrow (juvenile)
  Green-tailed Towhee (did not have a distinctive reddish crown;
  could this be a possible first winter female bird?)
  
  While hiking down South Platte, I ran across a strange duck.
  I have read that Hooded Mergansers can hybrid with Common Goldeneye.
  This bird had a green head similar to Common Goldeneye.
  It had a thin black bill, which was possibly serrated.
  Interesting white breast and gray flanks further clouded identification.
  I welcome any comments of photo on CoBus website;
  most recent bird photos. Email: birdertoo@worldnet.att.net
  
  There was a rumor of an albino mallard.
  I also found and filmed bird (website; most recent bird photos).
  This female mallard had orange bill (with some black) and orange legs.
  It had a dark eye (not true albino)?
  The speculum was translucent tan with white borders.
  
• Winkler Ranch (Castlewood Canyon road, 1.0 miles south of southwestern entrance)
  There were four Lewis's Woodpeckers in the cottonwoods just north of rolled hay bales.
  Maybe they will nest here in 1999!
  
• Castlewood Canyon State Park
  Saturday some non-birding friends of mine found what they called
  100 plus, blue, jay-like birds.
  They described what sounded like Pinyon Jays (very noisy) and flocking.
  I would think 100+ Western Scrub Jays together would be unlikely.
  I searched for 2 hours with no success in finding any jays.
  Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
  Golden Eagle (adult)
  

Cherry Creek Reservoir 1/16

Around Denver 1/15

• Barr Lake
  At first light I searched for immature Harris's Sparrow last reported on 1/10;
  without success in two-hour search!
  
• Prospect Pond at Wheat Ridge Greenbelt
  Greater Scaup (male)
  Thayer's Gull (lst winter) While I could entice Ring-billed Gulls to close range,
  the Thayer's Gull stayed 40 yards away. It later flew south-southeast
  (general direction of Belmar Historic Park).
  
• South Platte River from 74th to 88th avenue
  Barrow's Goldeneye (3 males and 1 female)
  They were within six feet of each other;
  25 yards south, upstream from (white topped) green water tower.
  Water tower is ¼ mile downstream from 78th avenue parking area.
  They were frighten by a dog and flew to south end of pond just west of biking path.
  Thirty minutes later they returned to 10 yards north of water tower.
  
• Cherry Creek Reservoir
  Not much! Four Red-tailed Hawks, but no Bald Eagles!
  

Eastern Plains 1/11-1/14

January 11

• Valco Ponds
  Yellow-rumped Warbler (my first of the year)
  Thayer's Gull (lst winter)
  Greater Scaup (2 males, first pond west of parking area)
  
• Pueblo Reservoir
  Yellow-billed Loon (immature, north marina)
  Pacific Loon (4, north marina)
  Common Loon (jet ski launch area)
  
• Pueblo Wildlife Area (Swallows)
  Herring Gull (6 adults)
  
• Runyan Field and Arkansas River
  Rusty Blackbird (5)
  
• Firehouse Ponds
  Not much; I could not pick out a female Greater Scaup
  
• Rocky Ford, Colorado
  Eurasian Collared-Dove (8)
  

January 12

• Two Buttes Reservoir (Baca)
  Wild Turkey (5)
  Greater Roadrunner (2) They hang around area
  just north of dam to halfway down the road below the dam.
  Brown Thrasher (1, first of the year for me)
  Merlin (male)
  Lapland Longspur (100+) CR 27 and CR UU
  Ferruginous Hawk (4)
  
• Springfield, Colorado
  I drove around every street twice (1.5 hours)
  searching for Eurasian Collared-Doves; without success!
  
• Picture Canyon
  Canyon Wren (1)
  Rufous-crowned Sparrow (1)
  Greater Roadrunner (1)
  
• Cottonwood Canyon
  Rufous-crowned Sparrow (2)
  Common Raven (4)
  
• Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek (Baca CR G/ 4.0 miles East of CR 32)
  Short-eared Owl (1)
  No LEPC observed!
  

January 13

• Lamar Community College
  Eastern Bluebird (5 males, 1 female)
  
• Thurston Reservoir (Prowers)
  Sandhill Crane (8)
  Snow Geese (1000+)
  Ross's Goose (2)
  
• Neenoshe Reservoir (Kiowa)
  Not much!
  
• Upper Queens Reservoir (Kiowa)
  Not much!
  
• Lamar Cemetery
  Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)
  
• Higby Wildlife Area (Prowers)
  Not much!
  
• Hammit WLA
  Not much!
  
• Holly, Colorado
  Not much!
  

January 14

• Republican Wildlife Area (Yuma)
  Eastern Screech Owl (1 heard)
  Red-bellied Woodpecker (2 males)
  Eastern Bluebird (7 males, 4 females)
  
• Bonny Reservoir
  Wagon Wheel Campground-Not Much!
  Picnic Area Pond-Long-eared Owl (two)
  
• Last Chance Rest Stop (Washington)
  Not much!
  

Eastern Plains 1/5-1/6

January 5

• Empire Reservoir (Weld County)
  (A private reservoir where access is gained by
  volunteering for the DOW waterfowl count or joining private club.)
  Blue-winged Teal (one adult male in breeding plumage)
  "Colorado Birds" Andrews and Righter (1992) state there are only five Jan/Feb records.
  At least one of which was male molting to breeding plumage.
  "Master Guide to Birding" Audubon Society states:
  adult males gain breeding plumage by mid-Nov/Dec
  while immature males do not begin to show distinguishing characters until late winter.
  American White Pelican (one) "Andrews and Righter" show no January records!
  
• Empire, Jackson, Prewitt, Sterling, and Jumbo Reservoirs are frozen (no open water).
  Many Canadas, a few Mallards, and no gulls were found.
  
• Jackson Reservoir (Morgan)
  Long-eared Owl (2, thickets between Cove and Pelican campgrounds)
  
• Muir Springs Wildlife Area (Morgan)
  Northern Bobwhite (16+)
  White-throated Sparrow (adult) (Western trail, 0.6 miles south of parking area)
  Common Snipe (14, bridge over creek 1.5 miles north of Muir Springs, along highway 144)
  
• Riverside Park, Fort Morgan (northeast of interstate 76, exit 80)
  Greater White-fronted Geese (3, first reported 11/17 by Maxfield)
  
• Tamarack Ranch (Logan)
  Ferruginous Hawk
  Dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk
  
• Jumbo Reservoir
  White-breasted Nuthatch (2)
  
• Ovid Woods (Sedgwick)
  Not much at 4:30pm
  

January 6

• Hale Ponds (East of Bonny Reservoir dam) (Yuma)
  Red-bellied Woodpecker (male)
  Eastern Bluebird (2 males; 7 females)
  
• Hale Store (Yuma CR LL.5 and CR 4)
  I spent six hours searching for Varied Thrush of January 2.
  I hiked 0.5 miles in each direction of intersection
  and both directions along the Republican River.
  Also the rows and rows of Russian Olive trees were searched.
  No success in locating Varied Thrush
  Marsh Wren
  Red-bellied Woodpecker (male and female)
  Golden Eagle (locals state bird has been roosting below Bonny's dam for several weeks)
  
• Bonny Reservoir (Wagon Wheel campground)
  Not much!
  
• Picnic Pond area of Wagon Wheel
  Long-eared Owl (2, thickets east of dried pond)
  
• Flagler Reservoir
  My Plan: park at dam at 4:30pm and hike 0.5 miles north.
  Sit and wait for Short-eared Owls that have flown in past years out of draw to the north.
  MP carried out flawlessly, without success.
  One bonus, when one hikes back to car to get out of cold,
  it almost does not matter that a Short-eared Owl was not observed.
  

Pueblo County 1/4

• Pueblo Reservoir
  Lesser Black-backed Gull (6:54am; south marina)
  Great Black-backed Gull (all the following at north marina, 7:15am)
  Common Loon (7)
  Pacific Loon (1, around southern point)
  Yellow-billed Loon (immature, in the marina)
  
• At fisherman's point 8:50am:
  Lesser Black-backed Gull
  Thayer's Gull (lst winter)
  At 9:10am these two birds followed several hundred Ring-billed Gulls southward.
  It did not occur to me until later that maybe there were two Lesser Black-backed Gulls
  (several being observed in the area)? I did not return to south marina to check.
  
• Pueblo City Park
  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (male)
  
• Runyan Lake (footbridge over the Arkansas)
  200 yards downstream (2 male, 2 female) Rusty Blackbirds
  25 yards downstream (male and female) Rusty Blackbird ; later joined their cohorts.
  
• Tunnel Drive, Canon City (0.7 miles West of highway 50)
  I observed 3 Rufous-crowned Sparrows.
  Counting telephone poles along the railroad tracks and river,
  starting at gate near parking area:
  One bird at telephone pole eleven, one at pole fifteen, and one at telephone pole twenty.
  I did not find the two RCSP spotted around the red brick building just west of parking area.
  
• Valco Ponds West (Canon City)
  Not much; frozen
  
• Olive Marsh West (along railroad tracks, 1.5 miles)
  Not much, but pleasant walk
  
• Pueblo City Park
  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (still near trees by tennis courts)
  
• Valco Ponds East
  Not much; mostly frozen!
  

Foothills 1/3

• Red Rocks Park
  I searched 2.5 hours in the morning
  1.0 hours later in the afternoon
  The Fox Sparrow never made an appearance!
  
• Lair 'O Bear Park
  American Dipper (5)
  Townsend's Solitaire
  Red-breasted Merganser
  Brown Creeper
  
• Wheat Ridge Greenbelt
  Greater Scaup (male)
  
• Belmar Historic Park
  Not much (I could not locate Greater Scaup of 12/27)
  

Around Denver 1/1

• Cherry Creek Reservoir:
  First bird of 1999, a Great Horned Owl (6:15am).
  I was at the park west of south end of Cherry Creek dam at first light.
  No Geese at all this morning (3000+ Canadas yesterday).
  Herring Gull (adult)
  
• Wheat Ridge Greenbelt:
  Greater Scaup (male)
  Red-breasted Merganser (two males)
  A difficult bird for me to locate every year, it is nice to observe several early.
  
• South Platte River (78th parking area)
  Barrow's Goldeneye (only two males today; one near bridge and another 200 yards south).
  Prairie Falcon (500 yards North of parking area)
  
• Interstate 76 and 0.1 miles west of 88th avenue exit
  Peregrine Falcon !!!
  
• Barr Lake Harris's Sparrow (juvenile, made brief appearance
  at nature center feeders 10:50am)
  I stayed an hour and did not relocate bird.
  Lapland Longspur (7, just east of Picadilly road and 128th avenue)
  
• Near Denver City Park
  Eastern Screech-Owl