South Platte Reservoir and Ken Caryl Valley 12/12

[David Suddjian]

In the late afternoon I checked South Platte Reservoir and vicinity. The female Black Scoter continued in the Arapahoe County portion of the reservoir, pretty much in the middle of the southeast corner. An American Pipit flushed up from the shoreline there. The female Long-tailed Duck had moved to adjacent Blackrock Lake in South Platte Park, ARA, where she was feeding along the northwest side of the lake. 16 Greater Scaup were also present at Blackrock. A Prairie Falcon was at the Jefferson Co side of South Platte Reservoir, and presumably the same was later seen passing over Blackrock Lake. 

I timed dives of both the Black Scoter and Long-tailed Duck and they both averaged about 1 min. & 10 sec. underwater with little variance. Long-winded birds...

At Ken Caryl Valley I had a Wilson's Snipe along Massey Draw near the Lyons Hogback, and elsewhere a Harris's Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow.

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David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

[Dan Stringer]

Last winter after seeing how long-winded a Scoter was at S Platte Res (mine was a Surf Scoter), I was also compelled to time it's dives. I was amazed at the consistency, every dive I that timed was one minute, six seconds. After about eight dives, I just walked away shaking my head, wondering how many other interesting things are going on out there that I have yet to notice and figure out.

Dan Stringer

Larkspur, CO