Smith was Poppin

[John Rawinski]

Smith Reservoir put on quite a show for John Stump and I today. With no winds, the lake was a delight to explore. First species catch our eye was a Black Phoebe, a bird that shows increasing abundance each year. Between some fisherman, my eye caught an unusual duck. Turned out to be a Long-tailed Duck, with only a handful of records for the Valley. Two Neotropic Cormorants were next on the list. This makes the third consecutive year they stop here. All in all about 48 species today and we missed a grundle more that we should have had. Great day out with the 88 year old young guy!

You can see photos on the Smith Hotspot site. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista. CO