37 Greater White-fronted Geese Fremont county

[Dan Stringer]

Today I went to Fremont County. Started with Brush Hollow Reservoir, a big strikeout on a cold windy morning. In Canon City I saw more Canyon Towhees at Tunnel Drive than usual, about 8 in the general area near the footpath. No sightings of reported Rufous-crowned Sparrow or over-wintering White-throated Swifts. On the Temple Canyon Road I saw a single Juniper Titmouse. On the west side of Centennial Park I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Near the Arkansas River the Western Screech-Owl was in the area where it's been seen for a few winters.

Since Canon City Valco Ponds is private, I pulled over on the edge of the parking area to scope it. On the other side of the road to the west is another, smaller pond, also on private property. I could see a small group of Canada Geese on the far west side, but threw a binocular view on them like we always do. To my surprise there were a larger number of Greater White-fronted Geese than Canada. At one point they flushed and I was able to count 35 in the air and 2 still on the water. They landed in the field just northwest of the pond, so they may go back and forth from that pond to the field, unless there's a smaller pond back there. Perhaps this many Greater White-fronted Geese in one location isn't uncommon, I just hadn't seen anything like that before.

Dan Stringer

Larkspur, CO