Eurasian Wigeon -- Larimer

[Andrew Bankert]

The Eurasian Wigeon was the first wigeon a group of us saw this morning as it flew from the Cobb Lake State Wildlife Area over to Cobb Lake for a few minutes shortly after sunrise.  It called a few times, but unfortunately stopped calling after we got our recording devices out, then it flew back over to the SWA and presumably flew to the south end of Cobb Lake where there is no access before 7:30 since that was around the last time any of us saw it.  Even though none of the later groups had seen the wigeon by the time I left, we still had a really nice day of birding with about 65 species reported at the SWA this morning with my group seeing 60 of those including 20 species of ducks (including a Mexican Duck and a pair of Blue-winged Teal), Peregrine Falcon, Northern Shrike, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.  

If you want to try for the Eurasian Wigeon, I would recommend getting to the SWA before sunrise and scoping the pond in the southwest corner and then checking other ponds as early as possible since the birds don't seem to have a predictable time they leave.  It might also be worth checking later in the evening as the ducks come back to these ponds to roost for the night.

Good Birding,
Andy Bankert

Fort Collins