Eastern Arapahoe County Jan 2

[David Suddjian]

I began at Aurora Res at dawn, finding an icy world. Judging by the trackless snow, I was the first one on the dam this year. The reservoir was nearly all frozen, with only scattered small areas of open water. Still, there were were many Cackling Geese (maybe 30,000), and representative Snow, Ross's and Gr. White-fronted. There were hardly any ducks, given very limited open water, but a trio of Long-tailed Ducks was present at one hole. 3000+ gulls were vastly Ring-billed, but I noted the more expected larger species. Also: 1 Northern Shrike, 1 Prairie Falcon and some Bald Eagles.  

Moving east I explored several roads of the far eastern portion of Arapahoe County, east of the I-70 arc - essentially from Byers and Deer Trail east. A seasonally rare Loggerhead Shrike was near the north end of CR 241. A Northern Shrike was along CR 38 at Deer Trail between Hwy 40 and East Bijou Creek. I had a small number of Lapland Longspurs flying over CR 42 and CR 269. Horned Larks seemed only moderately plentiful. Some snow cover helped, though. 

I had a nice sample of raptors in that area east of I-70. They turned out to be pretty diverse altogether: 3 Golden Eagles, 2 Northern Harriers, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 2 Rough-legged Hawks, 4 Ferruginous Hawks, 1 Great Horned Owl, 1 Short-eared Owl, 6 Am. Kestrels, and 1 Prairie Falcon. The Short-eared was active mid-day vying with a male Northern Harrier and attendant Rough-legged for interest in a fresh road-kill along Hwy 34 west of CR 269.

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

[David Suddjian]

Correction: The Loggerhead Shrike was near the south end of CR 241, not the north end. 

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO