They Won't Take Us Dancing, So We Went Birding

[Andrew Bankert]

To try to forget about the basketball game last night, some members of the Colorado State Field Ornithologists went out birding at Timnath Reservoir (Larimer County) today.  Although mother nature's wind defense kept our eBird list (26) from passing Gian Clavell's point total last night (30), we found a few good birds including three Greater White-fronted Geese, an early Franklin's Gull, and a weird looking first-cycle Mew Gull.  All of these birds were seen from the peninsula on the north side of the reservoir.  The Mew Gull may have looked weird (it seemed closer to juvenile plumage than I would expect at this time of year, but the photos seem to show the mantle different than what I thought I saw) because the wind did not allow us to get stable views.  Unlike the Franklin's Gull, the Mew Gull was seen before the wind knocked my scope over into the mud.  Overall, Timnath is very full of water and didn't have many waterfowl.  The best duck diversity was along the north shore, and we were surprised to only see one Common Goldeneye (who flew a couple of laps around the reservoir).

Good Birding!

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins, CO