Wet spring storms often create interesting situations for birds and birders.
Today was no exception.
I went out to Windsor Lake in late morning. The wind was howling from the
south, shifting from sw to se at times. The myriad birds (right at 40 species)
were alternately in desperado feeding mode and hunkering down as best they
could. The plowed parking lots along the west shore of the lake were populated
with Killdeer, Common Grackles, a Wilson's Snipe, a Northern Flicker, several
American Robins, and Western Meadowlarks. A warbler, probably a Yellow-rump,
zipped thru the trees without stopping more than 10 seconds, headed south,
think I heard it swearing. Along the west shore, north sides of the fishing
piers, and in the trees were a few Say's Phoebes, several American Pipits,
Horned Larks, many Killdeer, American Coots, several Greater Yellowlegs, a
small group of Lesser Yellowlegs, and a Savannah Sparrow. Huddled along shore
in the southwest corner were many Ring-billed Gulls, many California Gulls, a
Franklin's Gull, and a Caspian Tern. An off-leash dog chased them all off,
while the delighted owner took pictures of "Fifi" frollicking in the snow and
water. The tern may be the same one first reported by Nick Komar at Lake
Loveland, and seen by both of us at Timnath Res. Or there could be 3 Caspian
Terns in the area. On the water were large numbers of both Common and
Red-breasted Mergansers; Franklin's, Ring-billed, and California Gulls; and
Western Grebes. Lesser numbers of Horned Grebes, Eared Grebes, Clark's Grebes,
White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, and Herring Gulls milled about. I
saw a lone breeding plumaged Common Loon, one Bonaparte's Gull coming into its
alternate black hood (feeding frantically on midges, while sitting on the water
or standing on the shore, in between ducking under 2 foot waves that broke over
its head!), and one Pied-billed Grebe. Lots of Barn Swallows flying bedraggled
over the water, tails hanging straight down. What would trapped, migrant,
aerial insectivores do on days like this without midges?
I drove north on Weld CR17 to Highway 14 (a new traffic light here) and
continued north on CR17 even though this is marked "No Outlet". Here I found a
situation similar to what Bill Kaempfer described with lots of Horned Larks,
several McCown's Longspurs, lots of Western Meadowlarks, more Killdeer - all
feeding along the edge of the road. And there was one Mountain Plover which
just stood on the road right out the window when I crept beside it. I watched
the meadowlarks intently and think they were getting cutworm caterpillars from
down in grass clumps. (BTW, all indications from the ag folks are that this May
we will witness a tremendous "miller" flight, based on the hordes of cutworms
now present in eastern CO). The meadowlarks used their beaks like tweezers in
reverse to find caterpillars. That is, they jabbed their closed bill down an
inch or two into the dirt/slush/grass, then opened their bills wide to part the
substrate, and looked for prey. Awesome technique, and quite successful.
On CR31 a mile or so north of SR14 was another Mountain Plover standing in the
road. When I approached, it calmly flew 10 feet off the roadway into the snow
and just stood there. And like Hugh and others stated, American Kestrels were
everywhere today, usually low near the roads (hunting rodents in the few areas
that weren't pure white), sitting on the road, buzzing lark/longspur flocks -
reminded me of the person in a cake walk at the instant he/she realizes the
music has stopped and the chairs are all full.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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