Date: 4/23/25 9:44 am From: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman...> Subject: [cobirds] Random observations (Larimer and Weld Counties)
To avoid watching the news yesterday, I stuck my head in the sand and went up to the Hamilton Reservoir Overlook at the Rawhide Power Station north of Wellington (Larimer County). The number of waterfowl was impressive, even though most individuals were too far away to identify and count. There were more Franklin's Gulls in the northwest corner and along the north side of the reservoir than I can ever remember seeing at this site or maybe anywhere (hundreds). I picked out one basic Bonaparte's Gull, but there were probably more. The most numerous duck species were Northern Shoveler and Lesser Scaup (hundreds of each). A few Common Goldeneyes lingered. Horned Grebes in the hundreds were conspicuously courting (lots of synchronized dancing and vocalizations). A late flock of white geese (Snow/Ross) were on shore in the far northwest corner. I was hoping to find the Vermilion Flycatcher that was reported earlier this spring in the same area east of the Overlook where one also showed up last spring, but no luck. At least 5 Say's Phoebes and a Sage Thrasher were present. No sparrows, which was a surprise. Main fare for the gulls, dabbling ducks and land birds yesterday was, no doubt, chironomid midges. Standing at the Overlook with my scope, hundreds swirled before me and one could actually hear a subtle din of wings "out there" that could easily have been misinterpreted as coming from the distant power plant. WHAT WOULD OUR BIRDS ON AND NEAR WATER DO WITHOUT MIDGES?! These non-biting mosquito lookalikes should be celebrated, not flailed at.
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Northern Shoveler pair fly-by and pinkish-bodied Franklin's Gull over the Hamilton Reservoir surface littered with millions (billions? trillions?) of adult midges emerging from their aquatic youth.
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Midge in the genus Orthocladius. Male midges like this one have feathery antennae.
Larimer CR5 from Buckeye Road north to CR92 was less than lackluster. No shrikes, no sparrows, no Lark Buntings.
I did my Loggerhead Shrike loop out east of US85 into the western portion of the Pawnee Grasslands and found only 2 shrikes and about 20 objects impaled on barbed wire. The fence items were all common things we know shrikes use upon arrival in breeding areas: redshank grasshoppers, grasshoppers in the genus Arphia, tenebrionid beetles, lesser earless lizards, many-lined skinks and one particular species of black blister beetle. The last item is a mystery in that these beetles are inedible (toxic organic chemistry) and, at least to the human eye, appear anything but attractive as mate bait (quite small, matte-finish black (lack any bright hues)).
[cid:911010f2-b9e4-4407-ae06-951275c9a8b7] [cid:955eb28c-8df9-43e8-8b27-ce949a12f3e5] [cid:6dbb7579-d99b-4ba1-a522-0297d7e15d1e]
From left to right: Arphia grasshopper, leftover tail of lesser earless lizard and blister beetle.
Both Chestnut-collared and Thick-billed Longspurs are back (best area is along Weld CR114 e of CR45). I saw no Burrowing Owls or Mountain Plovers but think they have been reported.
At Crom Lake west of Pierce noteworthy birds were 66 White Pelicans, a Bald Eagle adult stirring everything up, 1 Marbled Godwit, both yellowlegs, 1 Willet and a handful of American Avocets. FYI, at present the portion of the lake e of the CR that can be good for shorebirds and ibis is dry.
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Lesser Yellowlegs dealing with the muck of life at Crom Lake.
Back to human folly. At least Nicola Jokic makes us proud, right?
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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