[cobirds] Broomfield gulls
The pond south of Hwy 7 and east of Lowell hosted several hundred gulls this p.m. With the highlight an apparent juvenile glaucous gull. Pete Plage Broomfield Sent from my iPhone -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Broomfield Gulls
After seeing the dark Barr Lake SNOWY OWL, Sandy Arnesen, Maggie Boswell and I went to see some of the Broomfield Gulls that Pete Plage has been reporting. At Siena Pond which is at Sheridan Parkway and Lowell, we found a Greater White-fronted Goose, 1 ad Glaucous Gull, and 1 ad Lesser Black-backed Gull. At the pond at Lowell and Indian Peaks Parkway we found 1 ad Glaucous Gull. Joyce Takamine Boulder -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Broomfield Gulls
CO birders : My first visit to these series of ponds in Broomfield around midday today revealed some goodies . Most of the action at this time was at the Anthem Ranch ponds where in a 45 minute span we had 2 1st cycle Thayers , 1 1st cycle Glaucous ( very white ) , 1 adult Lesser Black- backed , 1 1 st or 2 cnd cycle Greater Black-backed Gull ( I incline to 2 cnd cycle because of the white upper tail coverts ) and 1 1st cycle Glaucous-winged Gull . The Glaucous-winged stood out by it's greater size than corresponding Herring Gulls , uniform broad pale upper wing and tail in flight with mottling , large all black bill , very aggresive in behaviour dominating a immature Herring Gull for prey. . Very windy conditions made it impossible to get photos however. Siena Pond in the time we were there had just an adult Lesser-Black-backed Gull of interest . There was constant comings and goings so we could have well missed other rarities . These ponds are outstanding for allowing close views for larophiles . John Drummond Monument -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Broomfield Gulls
Folks- Steve Mlodinow summed up most of the goodies from Anthem Ponds & Sienna Pond today, but I thought I'd add a few comments. Anthem Ponds (S. of HWY 7 & Lowell Blvd) and Sienna Pond (continuing south on Lowell across the Northwest Parkway) are frozen hard but have bubblers creating open water. These are close to the Erie dump, perhaps the best mid-day watering stop for gulls seeking refuge after perusing refuse. The same gulls presumably head over to Valmont for the night. Despite the bubblers, the water holes had totally frozen over at Anthem but by late morning, perhaps helped by the weight of hudreds of gulls, a couple of the holes had re-opened. Regarding the Iceland Gull, although I texted Steve that it was a first-winter bird, after reviewing Howell & Dunn's Gulls of the Americas I'm now revising my age to a 2nd-cycle bird. It had a strongly bicolored bill, and the mantle had some adult-type pale gray feathers. The bird was overall pale gray, little if any brown tones to my eye in the body or wings. Thanks to Ted for his finds at Valmont yesterday (hopefully to be built upon this evening) for tipping us off to the potential presence of youngster Icelands 'round here... I saw two Lesser Black-backed Gulls with adult plumage, but one has a lot of black on the bill just behind the red gonys spot. Howell & Dunn indicate that this may be a 4th-cycle feature (see fig. 27.2, p. 187.) I saw the darker-billed bird at Anthem pond before lunch, then a clean yellow&red-billed one at Sienna Pond, and later both together at Anthem Pond on my second run through. As far as Glaucous Gulls, I saw single birds at both Anthem and Sienna Ponds. As Steve alluded to, the Sienna Ponds bird was small and smallish-billed for a glock, only marginally bigger than adjacent Herring Gulls. I think this is a strong contender for the Barrovianus subspicies. I think the adult bird I saw at Anthem Ponds was larger than the other bird, outsizing the Herring Gulls in a more expected way. Thanks to Steve for the Redhead x Ringneck Duck pick- I had brushed right by it on my duck count so I could get onto the gull sort... nicely done, a lifer taxa for me (and Steve, too, I think...) Enjoy- Bill Schmoker, Longmont -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ | Bill Schmoker | | bill.schmo...@gmail.com | | http://schmoker.org | | http://brdpics.blogspot.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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
[cobirds] Broomfield gulls, Monday
Hi all, Apologies for late post - arrived home very late last night from a day's birding around Denver, been busy all day with work The Anthem Ranch Pond (on east side of Lowell Blvd) yesterday, Monday, had: 250 RING-BILLED 15+ HERRING 4 THAYER'S (3 adults, 1 juv) 1 LESSER BLACK-BACKED (3rd winter) SIENA POND: just east of Lowell Blvd, on north side of Sheridan ca1000 RING-BILLED c50 HERRING 6+ THAYER'S (2+ adults, 4+ juvs) 2 GLAUCOUS (immature and adult) 1 LESSER BLACK-BACKED (adult or near adult) Plus a 1st winter Thayers x Kumlien's/Iceland Gull type.. pale looking bird (strikingly paler than the other juv/1w Thayer's) with broad whitish edgings to pale/mid brown primaries (centres pretty much concolorous with other dark markings on upperparts. Slight trace of secondary bar in flight. Bill just starting to have a pale base to lower mandible, Good birding all Dick Filby Carbondale (in gull-less western CO ) -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Broomfield Gulls and other "Denver" birds TUESDAY
Hi all, First: apologies for the late posting, couldn't get onto my computer until this evening, and nothing too dramatic to report.. Spent yesterday birding the Denver area. Well worth the 450miles of driving to enjoy the great variety and great views of the gulls on the Broomfield Ponds Highlights included: Bear Creek Lake Park Harris's Sparrow 1 by boat launch at 8am Red Rocks Park - feeders at the Trading Post Golden-crowned Sparrow Ca.30 Rosy Finches, mainly Gray-crowned 3 Hepburn's 1 Brown-capped 2 Black Anthem Pond (Bromfield) 10:15am - midday, and again 2.15-2:30pm Birds that cycled thro' included.. 2 first cycle Glaucous Gulls 5+ Thayer's Gulls (2 adult, 3 first cycle) 20+ Herring Gulls 100's Ring-billed Gulls (+ad Lesser Black-backed Gull seen by Joe Roller et al before I arrived) Siena Pond (Broomfield) midday-2.10p and 2.40p-4.15p 2 Glaucous Gulls (a very small adult and a 1cy) 8+Thayer's Gulls (3 ads, 4 1cy and a 2cy) Kumlien's Gulls? Ad (flight only - no photos) and a 1cy type - tho' I think the latter is likely a hybrid Thayer's x Iceland/Kumlien's - excellent perched photos and OK'ish flight shots 30+ Herring Gulls, 100's Ring-billed Gulls Ross's Goose Hybrid Ross's x Cackling Goose ? No Greater Black-backs, nor Glaucous-winged.. And a ton of other good birds I didn't even make time to look for (Greater Roadrunner, Snowy Owl, Long-tailed Duck...) PLUS.. Had to be back in Snowmass for my appointment with the Rosy Finches this morning. Lots of driving on a cold and snow-packed I70 where it was a chilly -4 on Vail Pass at 6pm -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Broomfield Gulls (Possible Iceland, Lesser Black-backs, hybrid thing), etc.
Folks- Larry Semo & I had the pleasure of birding today with Steve Mlodinow who is in Denver from Washington State on business this coming week. We fought tricky birding conditions for most of the day with frequent snow flurries and less-than-ideal roads, but found some pleasant bird variety to keep us occupied throughout the day. A quick stop at the S. Platte River where Florida crosses it produced the spanking male Barrow's Goldeneye and our first white-cheeked goose studies of the day, along with a smattering of other ducks. The trading post at Red Rocks was pretty slow (no Golden-crowned Sparrow during our visit) but afforded some detailed looks at our Western Scrub Jay and Spotted Towhee subspecies. Of most interest to the list may be the pond in Broomfield off of Highway 7 & Lowell that Mark Peterson described on 13 Feb. (with link to a map and the 2nd-cycle Iceland Gull pic @ http://tinyurl.com/yj2n9tz.) Good viewing can be had from the E. side of the pond on Promontory Way. While we didn't re-locate his 2nd-cycle bird, we did have a strong 1st-cycle Iceland Gull candidate. I got digiscoped pictures that look good to me for that taxon but Steve has flight shots of the bird that I haven't yet seen, so I haven't completely pulled the trigger on the ID. In the field we also considered that the bird could be an Iceland x Thayer's intergrade. Howell and Dunn remark on 1st-cycle Iceland vs. Thayers in Gulls of the Americas: "Thayer's Gull darker and browner overall with blackish brown to dark brown wingtips..." which this bird doesn't show. In my shots I think it compares favorably to several of their examples of darker 1st-cycle Kumlien's Iceland Gulls. They go on to say, however: "Presumed (Thayer's) hybrids with Kumlien's look intermediate and not safely assigned to either taxon." So there 'ya go... The pond also had a hulking brown 1st-cycle gull that could well be a Glaucous-winged x Herring Gull hybrid. Less ambiguous were two inky adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls along with a smattering of Herring and California Gulls among the Ringers. Nearby Erie and Thomas Reservoirs (Boulder County) had small open water patches and gatherings of dull gulls. Enjoy- Bill Schmoker, Longmont __ • Bill Schmoker • __ http://schmoker.org http://brdpics.blogspot.com bill.schmo...@gmail.com 720/201-5749 __ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds". 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en Visit the CFO Website at: www.cfo-link.org
