Mad dogs, Englishmen and NE CO yesterday

[Norm Lewis]

Mad dogs, Englishmen and birders, apparently, since I see that Ira and Glenn were both out at Jackson yesterday.  I had my museum group out for a turn around NECO, and if it had not been on the schedule, I would not have been out there.  I guess that makes me either wimpier or less dedicated.....anyway, since we got aced out of Prewitt we started at Brush SWA, which was pretty good.  Nothing rare, and warblers were notably absent, but we picked up Red-headed Woodpecker, lots of pewees, flocks of spizellas (mostly chippers- they were pretty flighty we never got good enough looks to pick out others), a late juvenile Bullock's Oriole, kingfishers and lots of other regulars.

 

A stop at Riverside Park in Fort Morgan (with its nice shady covered picnic shelter) yielded a Cooper's Hawk and an Olive-sided Flycatcher.  Then, with some trepidation, we headed over to Jackson.  Our visit just goes to show that not only were we somewhat foolhardy (my car thermometer registered 101 as we exited the vehicles around 2:00), but how the birds can turn over.  We checked all of the north shore of Jackson thoroughly, and neither Ira's pectorals nor Glenn's buffies were anywhere to be found.  The lone ibis was still there, as were lots of Baird's, a couple of semi-sands, a few Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's Phals, both yellowlegs, some avocets and lots of Killdeer.  Other than the Killdeer, the only plovers were two black-bellieds, one of which was a little further along in its molt and had an interesting looking checkerboard pattern on all its dark parts.

 

A stop at Andrick (the one pond that is right on the road on the west side) was quite productive, with two Pectoral Sandpipers, four Long-billed Dowitchers, two Black-necked Stilts, a few yellowlegs, a handful of peeps and lots ducks disguised as female mallards.  These were mostly shovelers, though there were a few Gadwall and Green-winged Teal mixed in.

 

It turned out to be a great day, even though I will probably have to burn my birding clothes......

Norm Lewis

Lakewood, CO

[David Dowell]

Apparently some mysterious force drew a lot of us to Jackson Reservoir yesterday.  I stopped by there late afternoon to sunset.   Apparently, we now have some interesting documentation of how birds move around at Jackson.  It's also challenging to cover the whole area currently with the runoff and mud associated with the "enhanced wetland program".  (Currently, this is also an "enhanced mosquito program", and there are some happy mosquitoes after my visit.)  Hopefully the new wetlands will attract an even greater variety of birds.

I also missed out on the buff-breasted sandpipers, but the consolation prize was 16 mountain plovers on the "beach" near the SWA parking lot on the north side of the lake.  The plovers also congregated there in late August and early September last year.  Hopefully the plovers will hang around for a while again this year.  If the plovers aren't found on the "beach", they might be in the fields farther north.

David Dowell

Longmont, CO

[Norm Lewis]

I had a group of eighteen out there, and we tramped right through the area referenced by David without seeing a single bird in that obnoxious vegetation that covers the upper beach.  Last year the plovers seemed to like hanging out in that stuff, and I assume that's where they are now.  Clearly they came in after we left around 4:00. 

 

Having missed the buff-bellieds, I now see that we also missed the curlew sandpiper.  Wonder if it might be the same bird found by Steve M. last year....can't say for sure that this bird wasn't there yesterday, because there were quite a few shorebirds on the west shore south of the corner that we could check out only at great distance.

 

Good luck to all chasers.  I might just get disgusted enough to go back out there myself.....

Norm Lewis

Lakewood, CO

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+u...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cob...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/6ce3b046-699d-435e-b602-fe38b82fcc9f%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.