Adding to the post about Montezuma Co. today it was great to meet up with Jim Beatty again and to put some faces to a few other west slope birders.
Jim, Tom Wilberding and I started today with a trip to Yellowjacket Canyon. If it wasn’t for Jim, Tom and I might still be out there looking for the turn off. Adding to Jim’s post about the canyon’s specialties with saw Bushtits, Dark-eyed Junco (gray-headed), Copper’s Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, Say’s Phoebe, Rock, Bewick’s and Canyon Wren, Western Bluebird, Gambel’s Quail (heard only) and House Finch. Oops, forgot, we also had Yellow Jackets. Driving out of the Canyon a few Western Kingbird perched on the wires. Picking up my vehicle at the Cortez airport a Bald Eagle was perched in the Ferruginous Hawk tree. >From here we followed Jim to Denny Lake to lunch and have a close listen to >Yellow-headed Blackbird. The lake hosted a number of diving and dabbling >ducks. Here we met Dennis Garrison and his father. They brought up that a >Wood Duck had been hanging out on Thomas Pond for quite awhile, so off we went >in search. On the drive there Jim decided to stop at Totten Res. in hope of >seeing Western and Eared Grebe, which we did, Jim slammed on his brakes (we >were following) and yelled pelican. Looking up expecting to see a large >white bird a large brown bird flew into view. No realizing Jim’s excitement >we hoped back in the cars and met up with Dennis and his father at the lower >parking area to get great views of the previously posted Brown Pelican . While watching and wondering where did this pelican come from a Bald Eagle corralled bunch of American Coot , then dive into them and fly off with one of them. Next stop west side of McPhee Res. to search for the missing water fowl on Tom and my county list. Pulling in we spotted five Marbled Godwit and then twenty more hanging out with a Black-necked Stilt . Watching some Ring-billed Gulls fly in I spotted the previously posted Caspian Tern . We then drove down the shore line in search of more waterfowl. Red-breasted and Common Merganser, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Redhead and Green-winged Teal were added to the day. While a flock of White-faced Ibis flew over, Jim received a call about a Snowy Plover ; we moved out for better cell phone reception and came across Dennis, his father and the group that found the plover. Along with the plover were two Least Sandpiper. Our last stop off the day was at Rafter J to search for Acorn Woodpecker. No luck. Heading north to Fruitgrowers Res.tomorrow after a few stops in La Plata Co. Todd Deininger Longmont, CO (currently in Durango) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
