Jackson today

[Norm Lewis]

Having aborted a planned trip up north due to (incorrectly, as it turns out) forecast high winds, I decided play shameless parasite and look for some of the stuff reported yesterday by Steve Mlodinow.  I was also interested in seeing how the bird populations might turn over in the course of a day.  Answer: a lot.

 

NOTE- according to a local I spoke with, the Orchard bridge is open.  Take that for what it's worth, as I did not try that route, either going or coming.

 

Not knowing the above, I went on down to the alternate access via exit 73, and taking the road north I came upon a flock of thirty+ American Pipits.  First stop was the dam.  The best bet this point is to climb down (or go around to the swim beach) and go northwest toward the inlet trickle.  Here I counted thirteen Least Sandpipers, keeping me within my normal 1/4 Norm/Mlodinow sighting tolerance.  I didn't see the pectorals, but found four Long-billed Dowitchers.  Again, right on target.  Also found a late avocet.  There were (and remember you are dealing with a card-carrying Larophobe here) only three gull species present: 2 Bonaparte's, and ringers and herring in about a 5 or 6 to one ratio.  I didn't see the GW/Western hybrid, which is a good thing since those things make me break out in hives.

 

Next stop was the inlet canal, which was a winner, with sparrows everywhere.  I hadn't seen many American Tree yet this fall, but that problem cleared up quickly; there were dozens in the sunflowers and seedy weeds along the path.  They were joined by lots of juncos of several flavors, Song Sparrows and lots of white-crowneds.  Checking every white-crowned finally produced a nicely turned out first winter HARRIS'S SPARROW. 

 

In the park itself, I immediately missed all the songbirds reported by Steve, so we can get that out of the way right now.  I did find a few Cedar Waxwings in with the scads of robins and starlings.  Coming around a corner in the Russian olives, I came face to face with a flock of turkeys. One (presumably) immature male was using part of the group as a centerpiece, around which to chase a female, all the while trying to pursue and display simultaneously.  I was less than impressed by his pathetic little tail/performance, and judging from the response he was getting, Ms. Turkey felt much the same.

 

I left the park via the back roads to the west toward Riverside Reservoir, gambling that the bridge over the South Platte at Masters would be open, which it was.  The road is rough but passable.  I didn't stop at Riverside; the last time I tried to go up on the dam for a look, I was accosted by the local authorities, in the form of a redneck in beater pickup, who informed me that I couldn't go up there because they were on "high terror alert".  I definitely didn't want to chance an encounter with any Morgan County Jihadists, so I moved along......there was a Greater Yellowlegs in an ephemeral pond by the road, and a pair of Bald Eagles still hanging around the nest site by the bridge.

 

Road 59 Pond was not frozen, but also had little in the way of birdlife.  There were some blackbirds around, including a few yellow-heads, but nothing of particular note.  On to Loloff.  Steve had mentioned lots of the usual suspects, including a lot of Canvasbacks.  Today- nothing.  A few Gadwall and Mallards, and little else.  On to Latham.  My whole agenda here was to try for the kittiwake, and I probably don't need to belabor the results.

 

Last stop was Stewart's Pond, and it was a good one.  The pond is infested with waterfowl, with virtually every common duck species represented.  All the Canvasbacks from Loloff have apparently migrated over to the pond.  I actually tried to count them but quit at 200.  Lots of all the dabblers, Lesser Scaup, ruddies, a few Eared Grebes, and lots of Canada and Cackling Geese.  The white-fronts reported by Steve were still there, as well as the Ross's.  Flyovers by an adult Bald Eagle and a juvenile harrier (nice reddish coloration in the dying sunlight) capped a terrific stop.  If you are headed northeast, be sure to make time for this spot.  ANOTHER NOTE: I don't know if it has always been there, but there is a prominent "No Trespassing" sign on the gate at the cattle guard.  Please do your observing from behind this fence (where the oil tank parking is more than sufficient) and don't get on the rancher's property and jeopardize access to this great birding site.

 

Great birding to all,

 

Norm

 

Norm Lewis

Lakewood, CO