Hi all, Jesse Brauch and I went down to Chatfield Reservoir today to search for the Parasitic Jaeger found there on Friday by Joey Kellner. We found it in the noon hour after just a few minutes of searching at the marina - or rather, it found us, because I first spotted it flying in quickly from the north towards the spit across from the marina where we were standing. It harrassed a few gulls nearby that were none too happy about it, and Jesse got several photos of the close-up interactions. We then lost it, but refound it about 15 minutes later just north of the marina, flying about and providing great looks at the flight feathers and undersides. It plopped down into the water to relax for a bit and bathe.
We also found a few Common Loons on the reservoir, which is not surprising in itself, except that at one point a relatively close one quite unexpectedly gave its characteristic haunting wail call. It was repeated once several minutes later. I don't think I'd heard a loon in the wild before, ever, so it was particularly exciting for me. We also encountered a Merlin at Chatfield perched atop a cottonwood, which then took off in furious pursuit of something unseen. We then headed to Marston Reservoir to look for the interesting loon that has been seen there lately. After searching vainly from Wadsworth Rd on the west side for a bit, we then angled our way blindly through the residential area to the bird sanctuary on the SW side of the reservoir (I'd never been there, nor had I planned sufficiently to know where I was going). Nevertheless we found a good viewing spot and after a few minutes we found a very interesting loon indeed. Although distant, viewing conditions were very good. This loon showed distinctly white flanks persistently, not just from some momentary belly roll, but over the course of several minutes. The white flanks were visible even with our relative low viewing angle. The bird appeared to be in a relaxed state, but with its head up allowing for continuous study. What struck us was the contrast in light and dark on the head and neck, showing no sign of a partial collar or post-auricular smudginess. We also never detected any light markings near the eye.The bill wasn't always easy to discern, but upper and lower mandibles seemed roughly the same in size and shape. In sum, the bird seemed to us to be a very viable candidate for Arctic Loon. Jesse took a number of digiscoped photos, and hopefully at least a few of them will bear out some of these observations. Lastly we visited Standley Lake. We found 7 loons, all in the middle of the lake generally hanging around a large group of Aechmophorus grebes. One of these loons definitely bore a resemblance to the juvenile Yellow-billed Loon described by Nick Komar yesterday, but having never seen a juvenile before, we were unsure just how lighter-shaded and browner the upperparts would appear on one in comparison to a Common Loon. We were not able to see prominent scapular fringing on this individual, although the bird did seem to show a distinctly large, yellowish bill at multiple angles of viewing. So in the end we thought we may have seen the bird in question, but are tentative in calling it a Yellow-billed due to concerns about not seeing lighter-brown upperparts. In any case, a very enjoyable birding day with 31 species in all- not a large quantity, but very good quality. -- Eric DeFonso Fort Collins, CO --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
