South Valley Park snow birds, JeffCo

[David Suddjian]

I stopped at Mann Reservoir at South Valley Park just after 3 pm. It had been snowing for about half an hour with a breeze and I found a number of land birds sheltering and foraging along the dam that forms the reservoir’s south side. The low water level has left a broad strip of dirt exposed, was was still mostly open during my visit. A number of birds were foraging on the open dirt and in the nearby grasses and shrubs where there was more snow. Others were sheltering in the few trees there.

Migrants included 4 Say’s Phoebes, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Rock Wren, 1 Sage Thrasher, 3 Western Bluebirds, 15 Mountain Bluebirds, 1 Hermit Thrush, 170 American Robins (feeding with intensity on a nearby grassy slope), 2 Am Pipits, 1 Cassins Finch, 4 Dark-eyed Juncos, 3 White-crowned Sparrows, 7 Vesper Sparrows, 1 Savannah Sparrow, 6 Lincoln’s Sparrows, and 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers. Almost none of these species were evident on my other brief visits this week, when hardly any land birds were noted.

I returned just after 5 pm. About 5 inches had already accumulated, covering everything. Only a few birds were in evidence now: Vespers, robins and bluebirds only.

Back home it was great to see a Great Horned Owl fly through the snowing dusk, landing alert atop a spruce out front. At about 30 min after sunset I heard the calls of Western Bluebirds falling through the snow as they flew over my home.

David Suddjian
Ken Caryl Valley
Littleton, CO



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