On Saturday morning we quickly determined that spending time along the South Platte suited our purposes best.  Many good close-range views were to be had of ducks on the river, and we recorded thirteen species for the day – five dabblers and six divers on the river and then two more divers on the reservoir. 

The 25th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a global four-day event, being held this year from Friday, February 18, through Monday, February 21, 2022.

We had a rather brisk start to the morning on Saturday but were well compensated by a great variety and number of birds, as well as several rarities.

There were a few things above average this year – the temperature was not too cold, we had more individual birds for many of our regularly occurring species, and we had about a thousand more total birds than average.