White Ibis, Lowell Ponds, Adams Co.

[Adam Vesely]

Following up on Zach Schiff's report yesterday, a White Ibis is still present in the Lowell Ponds area (Adams Co.) as of 9:20 AM. These are the ponds north of I-76. I counted at least 18 Snowy Egrets also.

Adam Vesely
Thornton

[Adam Vesely]

Hi all, several people asked about this area and how to get there.  The area is now home to a new park (Clear Creek Valley Park) that opened not long ago.  In fact it's so new that the ball fields/playground/parking lot don't show up in Google Maps.  Once you get to the large paved parking area of the park, the main pond is easily viewed south from the parking lot.  There are also two smaller ponds that require a very short walk east or west of the main pond. These two smaller ponds aren't really visible from the parking lot.  I'm not sure where it was seen yesterday, but the White Ibis was probing in the smaller pond east/southeast of the larger, main pond.   

There a few ways to get to the park, but I've found it's easiest to exit off of I-76 and head north on Sheridan, then a quick turn on to W 58th Ave.  W 58th Ave curves to the east, then leads directly in to the park.  If you haven't been to these ponds, it's pretty neat habitat, and I'm hoping some cool herons or a Ruddy Turnstone will fly in one of these days.  There is still some construction going on around the ponds, and the area has quite a few tractors and dump trucks moving about, so just don't get run over.    

Hope this helps, and good luck.  

Adam Vesely

Thornton, CO 

[Todd Deininger]

The ibis is still here.  First pond on the right as you pull in the parking lot. 

[Zach Schiff]

On Monday, June 19, 2017 at 9:26:07 AM UTC-6, Adam Vesely wrote:

Thanks Adam, glad some other folks have had the opportunity to see this guy! I and several others have posted photos on the checklists as well.

That drained pond with all the gravel bars and mudflats on the south side of the parking lot is definitely some awesome habitat, and thats where I saw the ibis yesterday morning. I first noticed the location driving home one evening about two months ago and it was filled with avocets. I have been keeping an eye on it and about two weeks ago I noticed that it held a large number of snowy egrets. So I went back yesterday morning to get some photos of them. I noticed one of them was not quite like the others haha and my first reaction was a leucistic white faced ibis but after looking it up I realized it was something pretty neat indeed. Once again, thanks for putting this up on here so others have a chance to see this guy before he takes off!