Barrows Goldeneyes and other ducks in Boulder County

[Kat Bradley-Bennett]

After Bill Prather reported a pair of Barrows Goldeneyes for the Foothills Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Peter Hartlove and I have been periodically checking out the spot just north of the bridge at highway 119 and 3rd Avenue, east of Longmont. We park on the eastbound side of 119 and walk under the bridge from the east side.

There is a pedestrian bridge that is still closed from the floods, and ducks are occasionally hanging out under that, but if you walk under the bridge from the east side, you'll see a deep pool just northwest of the bridge. We have seen 5 or 6 pair of Barrows, several pair of Green Wing Teal, the occasional Shoveler, and a Pied-billed Grebe.

Continue past the bridge, up the hill a bit, and you'll see a big pile of old railroad ties. Behind those there's a pond. Here, we've seen about two dozen Gadwalls, several Shovelers, and the occassional Coot. A female Kingfisher fishes around there, too.

Kat Bradley-Bennett
Longmont
Katpb...@gmail.com