Having had an appointment on the north end of town, and finding myself with an
extra hour on my hands, I decided to take a quick walk from 78th Ave. north to
the water tank along the Platte. My intention was to see if the Barrow's
goldeneye might still be about, and to check out whatever else might be
present. First, the Barrow's report: there were three, one male and two
females. That is the same count I had at this time last winter, and I have to
wonder if it might be the same three birds. Interestingly, the two females were
associating with a group of female commons, and the male with another group of
female commons. Perhaps they have had a falling-out?
Anyway, beyond the Barrow's there was nothing out of the ordinary to report.
What I found most interesting was the assemblages. Most of the usual suspects
were present: hundreds of gadwall, shovelers and green-winged teal, dozens of
pintail and a smattering of mallards. Not a single wigeon in that entire
stretch of river. Among divers, there were lots of common goldeneye, quite a
few lesser scaup, and one bufflehead. Not a single merganser of any flavor. One
pied-billed grebe. The only passerines were two yellow-rumped warblers- no
juncos, no song sparrows.
All in all, one of the odder collections of common birds I have encountered in
a while.
On a related note, there is now a road across the river at the railroad
overpass, with many culverts in a rock dam providing flow for the river. Does
anyone know the purpose of this? I wasn't sure if it were a permanent crossing,
or just a temporary structure to accommodate some construction project.
Norm Lewis
Lakewood, CO
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