Date: 11/29/25 5:01 pm From: Ted Floyd <tedfloyd73...> Subject: [cobirds] Recap: The Great Boulder Caper, v. 2025
The Great Boulder Caper, *v*. 2025, held yesterday, Fri., Nov. 28, and
sponsored by Colorado Field Ornithologists (CFO), was great fun.
Thirty-some participants Capered from Longmont south to Lafayette and then
west into Boulder. It was brisk and brilliant in the morning, then warm and
wonderful in the early afternoon, and then wild and windy in the late
afternoon and into the early evening. Here's most of the group at the start
of the Caper:
[image: Caper 01.jpg]
Here's how it all went down:
Things got off to an idiosyncratic start at McIntosh Rez when Archer
Silverman and Owen Robertson excitedly announced a *Waneka goose*
(presumptive cackling x snow) at our meetup spot. What a way to start a day
of eBirding and iNatting; how low can you go? Also at McIntosh: two
lovely *Bonaparte
gulls,* a sextet of latish *eared grebes,* a drake *wood duck,* and a
couple of dark-morph eastern fox squirrels, *Sciurus niger*. Winston Liu
kept proposing that we run laps around the entire lake, but ah well.
Over at Loomiller Park, we found a hatch-year *snow goose,* and we engaged
in rampant conjecture about the various taxa of "white-cheeked geese" in
the large flock there. What is *taverneri*, anyhow? And the slowly swirling
masses of baleen-equipped, lamella-endowed, filter-feeding *northern
shovelers, *skillfully plumbing unbounded vortexes for micro-crustaceans,
were mesmerizing.
At Golden Ponds, our haul included a most excellent *water ouzel* on the
St. Vrain River, three *marsh wrens,* and a *Harlan hawk.* Ajit Antony
might still be there, with the bird in his scope. Archer and Owen mutineed
in pursuit of an apparent *City Park goose* (presumptive Canada x *Chen*).
"The things we do for you people." A harvestman on the path was
apparently *Phalangium
opilio*, indigenous to the Old World, established in the eastern U.S., and
rapidly expanding westward.
And at the nearby Boulder County Fairgrounds, we tarried with a couple of
curious *Zonotrichia*s. One was a *dark-lored white-crowned sparrow,*
likely nominate *leucophrys*. Another indicated golden-crowned ancestry.
And we recovered Zak Hepler, whom we had temporarily misplaced.
Then it was down to Boulder Creek at 95th St., where the you-know-what was
a no-show. But seven tardy *American white pelicans* put on a marvelous
show, and an adult *ferruginous hawk* posed for leisurely viewing. Pat
Cullen reCapered here, and we welcomed her back to the flock. DeCapering is
an apostasy, but reCapering is permissible in The Church of Birds. This
weighty theological matter occupied a fair bit of our conversation.
Meanwhile, we had "forgotten" to drive down Raptor Alley. So we backtracked
north to do that, and we were not disappointed, as a striking *prairie
falcon* perched atop one of the ginormous utility poles there for all to
admire.
Back on track, sort of, we Capered over to Erie Rez, where a large *Aythya*
flock has been building of late. Of note were 440 *ring-necked ducks.* An
adult *Ross goose,* glitteringly immaculate, was a crowd-pleaser, as was a
female *prairie merlin* perched in a Russian olive. Nine flyover *northern
pintails* were semi-notable for the site. A major highlight—perhaps the
highlight of the entire Caper—was when Pete Christiansen brought out a
large baking dish full of delectable lemon squares. They were devoured
within seconds. Also, Tracy Pheneger reCapered here. *Whew.*
[image: RoGo 01.jpg]
Next was the Legion Park overlook, a straight shot down Arapahoe Ave., but
Archer and I somehow managed to get lost *en route.* Or confused. Anyhow,
we reconnected with the group, where Megan Jones Patterson and The Remnant
had found six *western grebes* and the merganser trifecta *(hooded,
red-breasted, common).*
From Legion Park, we Capered over to Baseline Rez, where we endeavored to
misidentify a latish female *ruddy duck* as something rarer. But it was not
to be.
We wound down the Caper proper at Sombrero Marsh, where a painstakingly
careful tally of 19 *killdeer* broke the eBird filter for Boulder County.
A few of us post-Capered at dusk in the Boulder Creek floodplain just east
of Boulder, where we were enchanted by a singing *eastern screech-owl *near
the extreme western limit of the species' range—and by the very recently
reinstated Boulder star. IYKYK.
Thanks to Megan and CFO for logistical support, thanks to eBird tickman
Archer, and thanks especially to all who Capered with us. We'll do it again
next year!
Ted Floyd, Caperer
Boulder Co.
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