I took my family camping at Jackson Lake SP, Morgan Co., Sat and Sunday nights. Managed plenty of birding while there.
Highlights: Two dark *Rough-legged Hawks* along I-76 in Adams Co. Saturday evening: *Eastern Screech Owl *wouldn't quit singing at our campsite. Not that it was a problem, except for me getting sleep. Multiple Great Horned Owls calling it up as well. Sunday afternoon I did a hard count of *Western Grebes*, which were insanely numerous. The water was perfectly flat and viewing conditions excellent. I counted in 10's when they were not mixed with ducks and gulls and counted individually when mixed up. I counted 4850 Western Grebes. Many were diving and feeding, so I'm sure I missed hundreds more, plus some more were around the marina spit and I couldn't see them from my vantage and they were not included. Plus 1000+* ruddy ducks*, 1000+ *Gadwall*, plenty of *Am* *Wigeon *and other waterfowl mixed in, 2 *Common Loons *(one ad, one imm), 1 adult *Lesser Black-backed Gull*, and a group of 95 *Sandhill Cranes* flew over the edge of the lake. I'm still annoyed I couldn't find a Pacific Loon or a scoter, but there were about 12,000 waterbirds to look through and a 3 yr to entertain! http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25562635 After dark the owls were going nuts again (screech perched on a snag directly over our tent, providing nice looks) and the grebes were making a lot of noise. Flocks of waterbirds were getting up and flapping and splashing off and on, so I guess something was harassing them. I also heard at least one *Clark's Grebe's* calling. Sunday morning - dark *Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk*, *White-throated Sparrow, *and a most unexpected flyover *White-faced Ibis* flew by close and low and in excellent light, making a bright red eye visible. Relocated one *Common Loon* and the *Lesser Black-backed Gull* with minimal scoping. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25562713 Good birding, Scott Somershoe Littleton CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJmtx%2BWz6AYB4um_QYaqk2jNo6%3DGn6t1zSj3wH%2BcyUuLywm5VQ%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
