I spent some more time in northeast Colorado, mostly landbirding but also trying to see what I could spot in the fog on the lakes. The most interesting location I visited was Prewitt Reservoir (Logan County). Among the several thousand geese, there were roughly 1500 Snow Geese and 50 Ross's Geese. Mallards have arrived in the thousands, as they did at the same time last year, and other expected duck species could also be seen near the dam. I found only one of the five Common Loons that Kellner et al. reported last weekend.
Although landbird numbers weren't high, there was an interesting mix of summer and winter birds below the dam on the Logan Co. side. Highlights included:
3 Winter Wrens
2 Marsh Wrens
1 very late House Wren
2 late Brown Thrashers
the year-round resident Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk
3 Virginia Rails
1 Swamp Sparrow
a nice mix of juncos
Consistent with what others have been reporting today, goose flocks (Canada, Cackling, and/or Snow) were seen or heard at all times during the day.
David Dowell
Longmont, CO