They are
always there - the voices in my head. Like the constant honking of a large
flock of Canada Geese, they struggle against each other to make themselves
heard until one catches my attention. ‘Paranoia’, ‘Self-pity’ and ‘Guilty
Conscience’ will all have their say, but only I can hear them. Sadly
the little voice known as ‘Check Your Roster Carefully’ has been strangely mute this week. If
it had chirruped at the right time, I might not have missed my trip to Johannesburg.
My boss at the airline was sympathetic, but The Management at 10,000 Birds have
started ‘proceedings’.
Black-capped Chickadees were also quite
common in small flocks of 3 -5 birds. They were feeding busily and appeared to
ignore my presence close to them. Red-shafted Northern Flickers were seen quite regularly through the morning.
Birds seen; 19
City Park lies to the east of downtown Denver, north of 17th Ave between City Park Esplanade and Harrison St. Bus no. 20 has 4 request stops along the avenue and costs $2.25 from downtown Denver, just 2 miles away. It backs onto the zoo which may account for a few unrecognizable calls close to the fence.
I was
de-rostered, then re-rostered but, with the greatest of respect to Denver, a
snow-bound morning there does not quite compare with 2 days in South Africa.
Having said that, the first thing I saw on getting down from the bus at 17th
Ave and Madison St., was a pair of lions.
I had chosen
to come to City Park (Google Earth
ref; 39°44'45.35"N 104°57'16.41"W) as it was likely to be navigable
today. Snow had fallen last night, but the ploughs had already been busy
clearing the roads and paths by the time I reached the park at 07.30. The roads
were still a little icy, but the fresh snow had been swept away and walking was
easy.
Before
crossing the road, I was stopped by a Brown
Creeper that allowed me to approach very closely while it picked through
the furrows of a rough-barked tree. I did not identify the tree; if anyone has
any thoughts, they will be warmly welcomed.
Across the
road is Ferril Lake. Canada Geese were obvious already and their continuous honking
provided the backing track for the morning. They looked as if they had been
frozen into the ice and their lack of movement was rather disconcerting. In a
tiny patch of open water a few ducks were seen. The Northern Shoveler may have been north of its normal winter range
according to Sibley, so I made a point of getting a recognizable photo. On
returning home, I noticed that the eBirders of Denver frequently record them
here during the cold months. With them were a few Common Golden-eyes and Ring-necked
Ducks.
Much to my
shame, I missed the Cackling Geese.
I noted that the Canada Geese were rather small, but didn’t spot that some of
them may have been Cackling Geese. All the photos that I took contain Canada
Geese, with no sign of the shorter neck and bill or the rounded head of the
Cackling Goose. eBird reports from the park often mention both geese which
makes me think that I should have looked more closely. One goose that stood out
was a domestic Greylag?
A soft call
attracted me to a tree with hanging seed-heads. House Finches were feeding on the seeds and sat very well in the
splendid early morning light.
Beyond
Ferril Lake is the Duck Lake. Google Earth’s image of the lake shows an
island with white-washed trees, so it was no surprise to find a colony of Double-crested Cormorants there.
Many were in their nests with a few birds flying around carrying nesting material and gifts for their mates. The Denver eBirders record that the cormorants have only just begun to return after the winter.
Many were in their nests with a few birds flying around carrying nesting material and gifts for their mates. The Denver eBirders record that the cormorants have only just begun to return after the winter.
Fox Squirrels were very common in the
park today. I presume that they hibernate to a greater or lesser extent, but
there were plenty of them abroad on this cold, late- February morning. The bare
trees made them very easy to find.
I had worked my way to the South-western
corner of the park, close to the junction of 17th Ave and City Park
Esplanade. There is a bus stop at Google Earth ref; 39°44'37.95"N 104°57'23.20"W.
To round out the day a ‘Keeeer’ (thank you to www.xeno-canto.org for the embedded call) overhead
and a shadow crossing the road, alerted me to three Red-tailed Hawks as they passed, low overhead.
Canada Goose
800, Mallard 1, Northern Shoveler 1, Ring-necked Duck 4, Common Golden-eye 18,
Double-crested Cormorant 50, Red-tailed Hawk 3, American Coot 2, Ring-billed
Gull 30, Downy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 7, Black-billed Magpie 5,
American Crow 6, Black-capped Chickadee 18, White-breasted Nuthatch 2, Brown
Creeper 3, European Starling 25, House Finch 25, House Sparrow 8.
City Park lies to the east of downtown Denver, north of 17th Ave between City Park Esplanade and Harrison St. Bus no. 20 has 4 request stops along the avenue and costs $2.25 from downtown Denver, just 2 miles away. It backs onto the zoo which may account for a few unrecognizable calls close to the fence.