At 6:00 on Sunday morning it was quite brisk outside, but already the House Finches, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and American Robins were singing away, and thirty or so of us were ready to drink some coffee, eat some great breakfast items, and embrace the Dawn Chorus.

On a chilly, snowy Saturday we visited ten different small reservoirs in northern Adams and Weld Counties.  Additionally, we also managed to find a much appreciated Taco John’s in Greeley.  Given what a bone-chilling day it was we were pleased to record 62 species. 

First of all, no participants or spotting scopes were blown over and it didn’t rain or snow.  Additionally, on the positive side, there were only a few people visiting the park on a Saturday morning, so it didn’t feel so overrun.  

The main highlight of the morning was a female Rusty Blackbird foraging among the small rounded boulders along Clear Creek.  Rusties are the least well-known North American blackbirds, breeding in wet subarctic taiga forests along bogs, muskeg swamps, and beaver ponds, and wintering in the eastern United States south of the Great Lakes and occurring rarely in Colorado. 

The peak of waterfowl migration is roughly March through April.  So, start making good plans for getting out and greeting the arriving migrants.  

Cultivation of coffee in monoculture, sun-grown coffee plantations with emphasis on high-production has horrendous consequences for migratory songbirds.