The Wheat Ridge Greenbelt is notable for its extensive riparian habitat along Clear Creek which includes willows and huge cottonwoods coupled with numerous ponds and wetland areas. There is always something of interest to be seen there and our group of beginning birders had good luck seeing numerous species this past Saturday.
While this time of year is always a bit slower, now that fall migration is winding down, this can be a great time to be a beginning birder – not so many leaves to hide the birds and most of the waterfowl are already in breeding plumage ready for next year’s breeding season. Plus, in the summer you’ll only see one species of goose in the Denver area and, if you’re lucky, you might see up to ten species of ducks. In contrast, in winter there is the possibility of two swan species, five goose species, and about twenty-two duck species, and even those species that are found here year-round tend to be present in greater numbers in the winter. This is a goldmine for the beginning birder! Of course, not all these birds occur here commonly, some are far less likely, BUT they are all possible.
So, on Saturday, of our expected year-round waterfowl, we saw Canada Geese, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Mallards, and Hooded Mergansers. And, let me just stop for a second to talk a bit more specifically about Hooded Mergs. Prior to about twenty-five years ago these guys were essentially absent from Colorado during the summer, except for a few nonbreeders. In more recent years, they have been seen increasingly during the summer and there is good evidence of breeding taking place along the Front Range and possibly elsewhere on the eastern plains. Seeing 34 of these on Saturday was a bonanza compared to what we might see during the summer. And, then, we had two species that breed to the north of us but winter locally: 53 Cackling Geese and a single Canvasback, the latter being the Bird-of-the-Day. Finally, we had one species, Ring-necked Duck, that is mostly absent from eastern Colorado during the summer, but breeds extensively in western Colorado, and then spends the winter locally in good numbers.
Among the songbirds we had a couple of American Tree Sparrows, which is another species that breeds to the north and spends winter here. Occasionally, we have a bird whose name really doesn’t fit them, and such is the case with these guys. European settlers were reminded of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, and hence the misnomer. American Tree Sparrows are ground foragers and nesters, breeding primarily in shrubby areas where the taiga gives way to the arctic tundra. The only time that a tree comes into play is when a male might sing during breeding season from a scraggly, krummholz tree.
Good birding!
Chuck
Wheat Ridge Greenbelt, Nov 5, 2022
29 species
10 participants
Cackling Goose 53
Canada Goose 45
Northern Shoveler 110
Gadwall 20
Mallard 24
Canvasback 1
Ring-necked Duck 35
Hooded Merganser 34
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 16
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
American Coot 20
Ring-billed Gull 32
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) 1
Northern Flicker 11
Blue Jay 6
Black-billed Magpie 6
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
European Starling 30
Townsend’s Solitaire 2
American Robin 12
House Finch 10
American Tree Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed) 2
Song Sparrow 3