Arapahoe County swan sp

[modise]

Currently looking at a white swan on Cooley Lake - SW corner. No bins so can’t identify. Moving north.

About 1.5 miles west of Santa Fe on the north side of Mineral. Bad iPhone pics will be posted later.

Bryan Arnold - Littleton

[modise]

Sadly, this is the best photo I got that shows the bill.  I don't see any dark on the beak - could this be a mute swan?  It was still on the lake at about 8:15 a.m., but considerably farther north on the west side.  If you are a member of the polo club there, or know one, you would probably have an awesome look at it.

Bryan Arnold - Littleton

[Caleb A]

Hi Bryan!

I'm not an expert with waterfowl, but based off of your photo, I'd suggest not entirely eliminating the possibility that this is a domestic type goose. I could be wrong, but I would assume any swan to be much larger (I'm not sure how far away you were from the bird when you got this photo). Something else that catches my eye is the entirely bright pink bill--is this a mark on younger swans? Because Tundra and Trumpeter Swans would have a black bill, and Mute Swans would have a darker red/orangey color with black on it too.

Let me know what you think, or if other birders get better looks at it!

The birds are happy, and so am I

~Caleb Alons, Larimer County

[Skot]

Just a clarification on Cooley Lake and this swan from "the management."  This is indeed a mute swan, an escapee from a nearby polo community pond.  Several times in the last few years we have chased it down and returned it to its home.  With staff resources extremely limited due to the pandemic and much higher priorities trying to manage a heavily-used park, we are not pursuing the bird again at this time.

We know many in the birding (and outdoor recreation) community are curious about the management and access to this lake, so I thought to clarify. This is a limited access wildlife area as a part of South Platte Park.  90% of it is viewable from the Mineral Avenue Trail/Sidewalk (albeit at a distance), with views also available from the Mary Carter Greenway Trail north of Carson Nature Center.  South Platte Park offers around 16 free hikes into the area throughout the year via our website, as well as the fact we use it as an occasional destination for some of our fee-based nature programming.  We use this area for bird census data collection by our volunteers periodically as well.  

We don't want any impression going out that this is an area for exclusive use by anyone.  The management prescription applies to all!  Members (Residents) of the Polo Reserve gated community may have one additional viewing angle from properties they manage, but no legal trail or access to approach the lake any closer than the Mineral Trail is.  The new Wild Plum development in the Town of Columbine Valley has a walking trail on the perimeter of their property, but no legal access into or to approach Cooley Lake either.  This area is part of the spectrum of management for the Park that ranges from the extremely high use of the bike trail along the Platte to this no-use area, with a variety of access levels in between.  If you wish to learn more, you can find details in the management plan available on the South Platte Park webpage.  Many members of the environmental community have helped to support the management decisions for this area through the years and value the intrinsic (existence, bequest, habitat) values of it.  Requests for opening or more access become a slippery slope to a wide variety of interest groups with birding or walking quickly leading to demands for access for fishing, boats, swimming, and much more.  It could quickly lose the high habitat value it holds compared to the lakes south of Mineral or our other recreation-based lakes that have higher use levels.  

Please no public shaming of the author of the original post - the southwest corner of the lake is immediately viewable to all through the deer-fence along the Mineral Trail.  Indeed, if you walk or bike this sidewalk to the corner of the lake, you can often get intimate photos of hunting herons, egrets, grebes, and mergansers!  I just wish to share with our community and ask for your continued support in helping preserve some less-disturbed habitat in the middle of our metropolis. Recently the level of trespass on the north side of the lake has increased.  What used to be a private horse-ranch on our border has become a new subdivision.  The boundary is signed and fenced, but there seem to be a lot of fence-climbers with a new boldness for 'unrestrained personal freedoms' evolving out of the pandemic.  Rangers are patrolling the area and have been writing citations for trespass to anglers, dog walkers, and others they encounter.  If you have questions about the area, feel free to contact me at South Platte Park.  I appreciate your continued support in the idea that not every space needs to filled with people.

Skot Latona, Littleton, CO (Arapahoe)

Manager of South Platte Park

[modise]

Thank you, Skot - thought I’d found something rare, but at least I got the ID right.

I thought my post was clear enough, but apparently not.  I took the photos from the sidewalk on the North side of Mineral, in the exact corner you described, through the fence.

It’s disappointing to me that people are trespassing, and that ANYONE would assume I was.

Our birding community should be better than that.

Bryan

On Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 6:23:15 AM UTC-6, modise wrote: