BIG SIT! results from Chatfield
Joey Kellner
Thirteen hardy souls participated through the course of the day. 17-25F, snowy on and off, steam on the water on and off, windy and calm. Wow! Was the weather finicky! A BIG “THANK YOU” to Colorado Parks & Wildlife for bringing us hot coffee, donuts and even hot pizza for lunch!!!! Thank you SO much!
In the past, bad weather has brought the most species on the Big Sit, with two years with bad weather each having 72 species. This year…75 species!! Wow!
None of the participants expected this many after the first half of the day with such nasty weather. Highlights were Sabine’s, Bonaparte’s and Franklin’s Gulls, multiple flocks of cranes throughout the day totaling 555 individuals, Surf Scoter, Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers, and two Common Loons.
We ran an eBird checklist every hour (so have 12 checklists for the day). Total species list is below.
Cackling Goose |
Canada Goose |
Wood Duck |
Blue-winged/Cinnamon Teal |
Northern Shoveler |
Gadwall |
American Wigeon |
Mallard |
Northern Pintail |
Green-winged Teal |
Ring-necked Duck |
Lesser Scaup |
Surf Scoter |
Bufflehead |
Common Merganser |
Ruddy Duck |
Pied-billed Grebe |
Horned Grebe |
Eared Grebe |
Western Grebe |
Mourning Dove |
American Coot |
Sandhill Crane |
Killdeer |
Baird's Sandpiper |
Pectoral Sandpiper |
Wilson's Snipe |
Greater Yellowlegs |
Sabine's Gull |
Bonaparte's Gull |
Franklin's Gull |
Ring-billed Gull |
California Gull |
Herring Gull |
Common Loon |
Double-crested Cormorant |
American White Pelican |
Great Blue Heron |
Osprey |
Northern Harrier |
Cooper's Hawk |
Bald Eagle |
Red-tailed Hawk |
Great Horned Owl |
Belted Kingfisher |
Downy Woodpecker |
Northern Flicker |
American Kestrel |
Merlin |
Prairie Falcon |
Black-billed Magpie |
American Crow |
Common Raven |
Horned Lark |
Barn Swallow |
Black-capped Chickadee |
White-breasted Nuthatch |
Western Bluebird |
Mountain Bluebird |
Townsend's Solitaire |
Hermit Thrush |
American Robin |
American Pipit |
House Finch |
Lesser Goldfinch |
American Goldfinch |
Chipping Sparrow |
Dark-eyed Junco |
White-crowned Sparrow |
Song Sparrow |
Spotted Towhee |
Western Meadowlark |
Red-winged Blackbird |
Brewer's Blackbird |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Joey Kellner
Littleton, Colorado
