Random Sights from the Past Few Days

Vesper Sparrows were the only birds of note at Standley Lake Park when I stopped for a late lunch on Monday. There was a good sized group in the grassy area as I drove towards the lake.


Yesterday morning I stopped for a few minutes at Lower Church Lake, and was rewarded with a flyover juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. I had to use some noise reduction on these shots, but felt these couple warranted a bit of extra processing.


Northern Shoveler


This bird always tripped me up, and I think I fall for the same trap every autumn. This is a Northern Shoveler showing its fall appearance. In the fall it shows the pale area behind the bill, and made me think I was on a hybrid Blue-winged Teal X Northern Shoveler. Just another reason to look closely and double check assumptions.


Still have a few posts that keep sliding behind, I may have one more from Louisiana, and I definitely have a post from Lower Church Lake last week, a new species for me and maybe a few more of the Wilson's Phalaropes - not present yesterday morning.

Morning Walk

This morning was crisp, but the wind had died down (mostly), so I stopped by Stearn's Lake for a pre-work walk. The Northern Harrier was already hard at work patrolling the fields for rodents.


A Ring-billed Gull was cheating a bit, it flew up to get an early sunrise.


Northern Shovelers were doing their thing as well. I believe the two are young males, with an adult male just visible behind and to the right.


Last but not least, one of a group of Song Sparrows popped up on a fence as I headed back to the parking lot. The birds of the season have arrived, but the weather is still mild. Seems like a drive to the mountains is due for this weekend.

Colatteral Duckage

Female Hooded Merganser

Saturday I had a bit of daylight left as I was heading back up from the hospital in south Denver, so I swung by a hot spot that I had not visited previously, but that was teeming with avian variety in the midst of the city. That is the stretch of the South Platte River that runs between Evans and Florida, and borders a municipal golf course.

Male Hooded Merganser

It was late afternoon on a short day, so I parked on the west bank, and walked north in the direction of the current.

Male Ring-necked Duck

I had a target species in mind, one that had been reported and refound multiple times in this same stretch over the course of a week.

Male Gadwall

While I was scanning for the single target individual I was amazed at the diversity of waterfowl that I was seeing along the half-mile or so stretch of river.

Male Northern Shoveler

All of these species were on display, and were well lit by the low sun angle and a bit of filtering by the shoreline trees.

Male Green-winged Teal

I didn't see a single new species on my walk, but I have never had an opportunity to get quality looks at so many different birds in one session, and to walk away with quality photographs of the majority was a really nice bonus.

Male American Wigeon

Not a single one of these birds was my target, that one is coming up in a following post along with its more frequently seen relative.

Male Bufflehead

No, all these ducks, and mergansers were seen simply because I had the good 'mis'fortune to turn north from where I parked and not check the 2o yards south of my car to the bridge at Evans Ave. But that species, and its comparison with its more 'common' cousins will have to wait for all these fine looking individuals to enjoy their time in the sun.

Half a Dozen

Despite a morning with single digit temps the sun was out today. I got an early start, and with good weather had plenty of time to swing by Stearn's Lake on my way into work.

I was hoping for the scene above and got it. A small area of still open water that had the geese concentrated in a relatively small area. Even better, it was on the close side of the lake to the trail, allowing close looks from behind a tree. Unfortunately, there were no Snow or Ross's Geese present yet. Soon perhaps, but well worth a periodic quick check.

While there were no uncommon Geese, there were Red-tailed Hawks. As indicated by the title, I had six individuals split between my drive along the dirt road to the lake and my walk. I am fairly confident that it is my highest count total for individuals in such a short span in one location.

There is something about a Hawk surveying the area from a high perch that just fits with a cold morning.

A closer crop, showing the lighter colored eyes and tail banding of this juvenile bird. (For contrast note the brown-eyed adult in the top picture).

Here, primed for takeoff, the patagial bars on the leading edge of the under-wing are clearly visible.

Then, with a wingbeat, a pump of the fully fanned tail, and a thrust of the legs this young Red-tail is aloft! With so many neighbors about he/she will need an early start to get breakfast. From my visit to the hawkwatch at Dinosaur Ridge last spring I know that as waves of migrants pass through periodic numbers can easily spike for a certain area. In this case most individuals were spaced out amongst the various tree clusters, with no more than two individuals in any particular area. It was a fun first to see so many of those clusters occupied on this chilly, and therefore very private morning with the hawks.

Weekend Waterfowl

The end of last week saw major priorities in life shift dramatically. I guess the priorities don't shift, but the values you place on the lives of friends and family make for unexpected activities. We all have times when our human bonds have to come first, so my time out doors was limited.

I did get a chance to make the most of my limited time by heading to South Platte Park on Saturday morning. My only previous visit was last year's Christmas Bird Count. That was a great day where I totaled over 40 species with the help of fellow birders.

On Saturday I tallied 23 in two hours, not bad, but something I definitely would not have been able to do a year ago. The juvenile Wood Duck at the top of this entry is one of my favorites. The distinctive white facial pattern is visible in traces, but has not yet emerged. The orange eye-ring is a giveaway though.

The others, Mallards, Northern Shovelers, and American Wigeons were all present in far greater numbers. They were also joined by Pied-billed Grebes, American Coots, Ring-necked Ducks, and Redhead Ducks.

Granted, the Great Blue Heron above is not technically waterfowl, but walking under an arching cat-tail it just begged to be photographed - and I complied.