Snow Geese

This morning I was running early on my way to work. Mainly because there was no frost on my windows. Then, in an incredible struck of luck, I spotted two immature Snow Geese in the field outside my neighborhood. This field has a near constant flock of Canada Geese in the fall, winter and spring, and despite my constant scanning - they always remain Canada Geese - unless of course there are a smattering of Rock Pigeons thrown in for good measure or spite.


Not today though - real, live, Snow Geese! Two of them! Why did the Snow Geese pick this morning to appear? Because this morning, @#$%, I had left my camera bag at home!

"Don't leave Geese!" I thought to myself as I made the split decision to correct that oversight.

I find it amazing that anxiety can reach such levels in moments it took me to turn back into my neighborhood, navigate safely to my house, retrieve my gear, drive back to the edge of the neighborhood, park, cross the divided two lane street on foot, and then, (having confirmed the birds had not been chased off by a happily walked dog), walk along the field to a position where I was not shooting into the sun.


Needless to say, I was happy they hadn't picked those few minutes to leave! Both birds, the second is visible in the top picture - facing away and feeding (AKA the moon shot) - are first year birds, and are trading out their dark plumage for the snowy white feathers they will show for the rest of their lives.


In addition to switching to their 'snow' white plumage, the birds' bare parts, (bills and feet), will turn mostly pink, except for the grin patch on the bill which will remain dark. Check my previous Snow Geese posts for adults in traditional and 'Blue' phases. This bird was nice enough to stretch, showing off the dark primary feathers on its wing, which will remain dark, but are generally hidden when it is standing or swimming and the wing is folded. These were my first juvenile Snow Geese, first of the year Snow Geese, and the first time I had seen more than one at a time in my home county. Not a bad way to spend a few extra minutes before work.

On the topic of good sightings, John Vanderpoel, a Colorado birder, is really tearing it up on his Big Year bid, if you haven't seen his blog yet be sure to check it out in the next six weeks. I have a feeling it is going to be a wild ride down to the end of 2011!

Lark Bunting

Since this past weekend was one that was committed to being on-call for work, I didn't have much of a chance to have any grand birding excursions. Instead, I decided to do something I hadn't for far to long - I took a few hours Sunday morning to bird Tom Frost Reservoir. The Reservoir, (its a smallish pond), adjacent fields and open space create a large habitat area that is nice to have so close to home.
While I was out I was fortunate to get long looks at this male Lark Bunting. Even though I wasn't at an angle to get a good face shot it is still nice to get Colorado's State Bird a presence here in the blog.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this guy was the first Lark Bunting I had recorded since starting my life list, and therefore a new life bird. I did a bit of data mining in eBird and saw that Broomfield County only had 4 previous records (it has only been a county since 1998), and that they all fall between the last week of July and the first week of September. It seems that the western individuals in this species will migrate along the Front Range of the Rockies, and stop to rest and reload at points along the way.

Without a pool of reference for comparison my best guess is that this male is just beginning it's fall molt. As it settles in for the winter anywhere from the extreme southern corner of Colorado to the middle of Mexico it will more closely resemble a Harris' Sparrow, with a dark face and overall brown streaky body, but retaining some white in its wing-bars.

Hopefully I don't have to wait another two years to see this bird again.

2010 Count: 187

Lifetime: 237

Broomfield Evening

Who can't enjoy an hour at the local park when the sun is making new growth glow?

As I walked two areas of the park I added a handful of new species for the county, and saw the Bushtit above that was a new add for the lifelist.

I stopped for a bit to watch for sparrows in the grass, and instead caught this Phoebe and its prey.

The setting sun didn't provide much light, but this Pied-Billed Grebe was even more accommodating that the one I saw Friday evening.

Finally I saw this Redhead Duck couple taking a leisurely dip at sunset. What a night capped off by a playoff Nuggets game that kept me up 'till midnight. Well worth it, but not conducive to getting a sunrise look at Plaster Reservoir - tomorrow.

2009 Count: 124

Lifetime: 140

Warm Weekend Wrap-up

I enjoyed two mornings outdoors this weekend, before spending the afternoons watching college basketball and the NFL Championships.

Yesterday morning I took a walk over to my local open space, Tom Frost Reservoir. It was a great day to bask in warm sunshine. I checked the pond and found the usual waterfowl, the common mergansers were gone, leaving the Coots, Mallards, and a few Canadian Geese. I found some Mourning Doves in a grove that were patient and willing to perch while I took some photos.

On my return leg of the loop I spotted some Western Meadowlarks on a fence, they were my first of the year, and first seen in Colorado since I started keeping my lists.

I had left the pond and was heading back to my neighborhood when I turned around to take a less muddy trail, there just off the trail and a dozen feet behind me a Kestrel male was landing. He watched me for a few moments, and eventually retreated to a nearby tree. It was a great closing to a good morning.



This morning I wanted to capitalise on the weather and get a good few hours of birding in. I decided to head to Jefferson County, (southwest of Broomfield), a county I had not yet birded. I decided to head for Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge. I knew of it from my work at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, but had not yet been there.
Despite having a partial seasonal closure the refuge was still a nice place for a walk. I listed 12 species, including a White Crowned Sparrow which was an additional pickup for the season.

Finding that the area was smaller than I had expected I came back to Broomfield and dropped by Plaster Reservoir to see if the warmer temps had cleared the ice much. It was somewhat more open, and in addition to 2 Common Mergansers, a group of Ring Necked Ducks, and some Shovelers there were a group of Lesser Scaup.



I dropped into a grove of Russian Olives in the area to let the resident Robins acclimate to me, and found to my surprise another group of White Crowned Sparrows.




Nothing too spectacular, and no new lifelist ticks, but a pair of spectacular days outside in January.

2009 Count: 49

Lifetime: 84

Running Errands

Monday lunchtime:

Drove to Eldorado Canyon State Park to get my Colorado State Parks Pass for 2009. I hope to start putting it to use on Friday.

Monday Afternoon:

Ran some errands and ended up at Brunner Reservoir. It was cold and windy on the far side of the lake, got a couple of good picks though.

Later Monday Afternoon:

Stopped by Tom Frost Reservoir close to home. It is depressed, so the spectacular light reflecting off the clouds didn't help my pictures much, but I had seven male Common Mergansers up close.

Monday Night:

My new toy, a Kestrel 3500 Pocket Weather Meter, had arrived. This thing is awesome, and should lead to more details about the weather on my "adventures".

Enjoy the pics.

2009 Count: 38

Lifetime: 84