Hey all! Nothing crazy spectacular to report here. I live very close to Rolland Moore park between Drake and Prospect off of Shields in town. The goose influx has been pretty astounding. I don't remember seeing this many in the area in the past few years. There are upwards of 3000 geese hanging around this little pocket of Fort Collins. As in years past, the geese will feed at Rolland Moore or on the CSU grounds around Centre Avenue and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. There is a smallish body of water along the Spring Creek Trail between Shields and Centre Avenues near the Gardens at Spring Creek that the majority of the geese spend the dark hours on. This area held a Ross's Goose last year for the better part of the winter.
This year there is a Greater White-fronted Goose. It is fairly small with a yellowish bill. Perhaps taiga/tundra cross? Also, there is a large juvenile Snow Goose. It almost matches Sibley's picture of a dark juvenile to the letter. My guess would be Greater. It towers over most of the Canada's. Of particular note, is a Greater White- frontedxCanada cross. At first glance, I thought I had a Brant. I had to get a closer look to confirm there were light cheeks. It has the orange legs with the white blaze on the forehead. My first experience with this hybrid. Pretty cool in fact. I saw this one in the yard by the small pond at the CSU Vet Hospital. The Snow and other Greater White-fronted I have spotted at Rolland Moore and the aforementioned pond on the trail. I'll be keeping my eye out for yellow orbital rings... One other remark about these Canada's (and a few Cackling as well): The variation in plumages and sizes is impressive. There are most certainly Commons, Richardson's, and Lessers in this group. But there are quite a few white "neck-rings" in this group. Many are on smaller geese at least suggesting there are some Aleutian genes in this flock. Some of the other geese are so pale on their breasts that before I raised the binos I thought I had several Snows in the flock. I'm sure by February I'll just want them to get off the road and out of my way, but I was determined this year to take some time to just look at them more. Perhaps it's because I had someone into astrology just tell me that my power animal was the goose. I couldn't help but cackle! A quick thank you to all involved in the finding and identifying of the Brambling. As if I didn't have enough to be thankful for this year, this certainly was a great start to Thanksgiving day. A good lifer indeed. I got in my car and heard The Allman Brothers Band. Lord I was born a Bramblin' man...Go figure. Good birding all! Josh Bruening Fort Collins -- 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.
