Lake Estes, Larimer Co. 12/28, Red-br. Merganser, American Coot, American Dipper

[Jim Nelson]

Enjoying a cold holiday visit in the Estes Park area, we had a windy but enjoyable walk at Lake Estes this afternoon. Most of the Lake is frozen over, but in the areas of open water there were a lot of Common Goldeneye, not unexpected. Of most interest we found two male Common Merganser, two female Red-breasted Merganser, and an American Coot. None of these are unusual according to eBird, Checking eBird, I found no eBird reports from the Lake Estes/Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary area since early November.


A real treat was a very cooperative American Dipper that was hunting along the shore of the Lake where sheets of ice had been forced up and over rocks on the shore creating sheltered areas. The Dipper went under the ice sheets searching for prey along the shore. We could see its shadow under the ice sheets with occasional glimpses through holes, and one time its head appeared briefly in the open water at the outer edge of the ice.


Jim Nelson
Bethesda, Maryland