Parked in Park
David Suddjian
I spent Apr 22 and 23 roaming around Park County, focusing on the southern portion of the county. I run down the highlights and things of interest to me below, but tops among them were a Red-necked Grebe, 2 White-winged Scoters on Apr 22, and a Black-throated Gray Warbler on Apr 23.
Apr 22
Lake George (no ice) had a nice assemblage of mostly expected species, including a chorus of especially tuneless Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Waterfowl were a mix of expected species in no exceptional numbers. But species of interest to me were 1 SNOWY EGRET, 1 VIRGINIA RAIL, 4 BANK SWALLOWS (six swallow species), and 20 COMMON GRACKLES (13 more were along Hwy 24 in Teller just before the Park Co line). A Bald Eagle was along the South Platte below the reservoir.
I drove up Elevenmile Canyon along County Road 96. That is a very pretty place! White-throated Swifts were common, and I noted 13 American Dippers. Ruby-crowned Kinglets (38) and Audubon’s Warblers (19) were singing at many spots, and there were two Hermit Thrushes and a Lincoln’s Sparrow, and some Dusky Grouse. Species of some note were 2 CANYON WRENS, a pair of WOOD DUCKS, 1 female RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, 1 AM. THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, 1 NOR. GOSHAWK, and 1 PEREGRINE FALCON.
Stops along County Roads 61 and 98 had some Clark’s Nutcrackers, a Northern Pygmy-Owl and an impressive number of Williamson’s Sapsuckers (which was generally well-represented everywhere I went over these days that offered suitable habitat).
Elevenmile Reservoir was about 60% ice-free, with the remaining ice being a thin sheet. Open areas were at the northwest end and along the south shoreline. The great majority of waterbirds were at the northwest end, in view from Sucker Cove (walk around end of the hill to the left side of the parking area to view and enjoy wind shelter by the slope) and Cross Creek access points. The best birds were: 1 beautiful alternate-plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE north of Sucker Cove, a male and female WHITE-WINGED SCOTER between Sucker Cove and Cross Creek, and 8 alternate COMMON LOONS (six were at the northwest end of the reservoir), and 1 male BARROW’S GOLDENEYE. Shorebirds were few, but included some Killdeer, 13 American Avocets, 9 Willets, 1 Marbled Godwit, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, and three Long-billed Dowitchers. A SAGE THRASHER was at the Witcher’s Cove day use area. A Bald Eagle was on the ice, and an Osprey soared over Cross Creek.
Aggregate counts of some other waterbirds at Elevenmile, for the record, included: 64 Canada Goose, 2,130 Gadwall, 52 Am. Wigeon, 12 Mallard, 3 Nor. Pintail, 2 Cinnamon Teal, 6 Green-winged Teal, 23 Nor. Shoveler, 6 Canvasback, 151 Redhead, 590 Ring-necked Duck, 1,560 Lesser Scaup, 1,030 Bufflehead, 750 Common Goldeneye, 62 Common Merganser, 580 Ruddy Ducks, 380 Eared Grebes, 2 Horned Grebes, over 650 Western Grebes, 4 Clark’s, and 2,900 Am. Coots. That seemed like a goodly number of goldeneyes for late April, but I’m not sure what to expect.
The island off Witcher’s Cove day use area had at least 46 Double-crested Cormorant nests, nesting Great Blues, and nearly 500 California Gulls that looked like they were intent on nesting (many paired, spaced like on territory), but from a distance I could not discern actual nesting evidence yet.
Access to Spinney Mountain Reservoir was still closed, but the ice there was clearly breaking up. Nearby, a Spotted Sandpiper was at Mineral Spring Road, a Solitary Sandpiper and two Greater Yellowlegs were at the County Road 59 crossing of the South Platte, and a late Rough-legged hawk was at Spinney Mountain SWA.
Antero Reservoir was still mostly frozen, but there was a slip of open water around the west and north shore, and a larger area of open water was along the east shore (but distant viewing). Waterbirds were present in moderate numbers and variety along the east side, including 100s of Am. White Pelicans. Of note was an alternate COMMON LOON. And a nice total of 11 Bald Eagles were loafing.
A BREWER’S SPARROW along County Road 108 northeast of Guffey was the only one I saw on this two day outing.
Apr 23
This morning was spent working roads at the south central part of the county, including Highway 9, and county roads 88, 102, 104, 116, 122, and other areas near Guffey. A male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER was along Road 104 a short way north of the Fremont County line in some pinyon / oak habitat. Two BAND-TAILED PIGEONS flew over Guffey, and a female EVENING GROSBEAK dropped in at a feeding station there. I had PINYON JAYS in several places: 2 along Highway 9 about 6 miles north of Road 102, 3 at Guffey, 68 at Road 122, and flocks of 47 and 14 at Road 104. Those that I saw feeding were foraging on the ground among grasses. GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES were at two spots along Highway 9, for my first of the season. Slopes with oaks had Spotted Towhees, which seems to be a sparse and local species in Park Co.; I detected 12. WESTERN SCRUB-JAY is even sparser in Park, seemingly (although more common in nearby parts of Fremont Co.); I had singles in the oak / pinyon habitat close to the county line at Highway 9 and Road 104. A RED CROSSBILL was in a patch of spruce / fir at Road 88.
A HOUSE WREN and a CANYON WREN were along County Road 77 (Tarryall). Tarryall Reservoir was about 70% frozen still, with open water at the upstream end. There were a small variety and number of waterbirds that included 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS and 4 MARBLED GODWITS.
David Suddjian
Littleton