Harris's Sparrow, Waneka Lake, Boulder County

[Randy Siebert]

As the rain was changing to mostly snow at 8:00 this morning I did the trail around Waneka Lake and also visited Greenlee Preserve. Best bird was a single Harris's Sparrow which was moving with a group of at least 4 White-crowned Sparrows. They disappeared into the thick willows just south of the trail to the Greenlee observation deck when a runner came by. They had been right. Beside the trail up until then.
At Greenlee were two male-female pairs of Wood Ducks and 2 avocets along with the normal Killdeer, mallards, gadwalls, wigeons and green-winged teals.
Common Grackles seem to be taking over the feeders in the area. No warblers were seen or heard but they are likely around. I just didn't take the time to search through the rain and snow for them. Juncos have mostly left this location although one was still actively singing on Thursday. A pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches appear to be trying to nest in the area. They have been 'debating' ownership of a nest hole under construction with a pair of Black-capped Chickadees.

Randy Siebert, Lafayette, Boulder County

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, everybody. Randy Siebert's Harris's Sparrow was still there this snowy Saturday afternoon, Apr. 16. There's lots of turnover, as to be expected in this sort of weather, at the site. Some other stuff that had dropped in this afternoon included Blue-winged Teal, Least Sandpiper, Say's Phoebe, Bushtit, Gray Catbird, and Myrtle and Audubon's warblers and a couple hybrids. The catbird has been off and on, mostly off, here since last fall, but today it was "on"... :-)

I'm not going to win any photo awards, but here are "documentation shots" of the Harris's Sparrow (digi-binned, with White-crowned Sparrow) and Least Sandpiper (distant):

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County