Nesting Great Blue Herons, Common Grackle at Metzger Farms (Adams County)
Barry
Went by Metzger Farm today around 3:30pm. Metzger Farm is the new open space park managed jointly by Broomfield and Westminster. The park is in Westminster - Adams County - but right on the edge of Broomfield at 121st and Lowell. There are two ponds: the smaller pond on the west is called the upper pond on the master plan. Not a lot of activity there at this time of day today, but there were a few mallards and some red-winged blackbirds. There’s a significant expanse of reeds, I’d expect to see more red-winged and maybe yellow-headed blackbirds here.
The lower pond is the larger pond on the east. In the trees on the south side, toward the east end, we saw three Great Blue Herons nesting in a small rookery. I was a little surprised that they’d be nesting so close to 120th (it's Highway 287 there), but they seemed OK. Other birds near the lower pond: my FOS Common Grackle, plus Robins, Flicker, Magpies, and then Western Meadowlarks in the field to the north. We also got a good look at a muskrat, and there were many rabbits (no surprise).
This is the first spring this area has been open to the public, it will be interesting to see how it develops. There was quite a bit of foot/bicycle/dog traffic, as expected for an area so close to homes and the Big Dry Creek trails. Still, it’s a nice addition and I’m excited that there are nesting herons so near.