Tag: frederick colorado

Saturday, February 10, 2024 Bird Walk to Milavec Reservoir with Jamie Simo

Posted on February 12, 2024 by - Bird Walks, Blog

Well, it was certainly a cold, snowy morning for a bird walk, but after having to cancel due to dangerous cold last month, I was reluctant to cancel a second month in a row. Happily, the weather meant we had the trail to ourselves and the ducks! One of the best things about Milavec Reservoir is how small it is and how the trail goes all the way around so it’s very easy to get good looks at everything on the water.

Northern Shoveler pair. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Strangely, there weren’t any geese on the water on Saturday, though we more than made up for it by the number of ducks, especially Northern Shovelers, which were by far the most numerous species. The sound of their wings was impressive when a young Bald Eagle flew over, flushing them briefly. Intermingled were a good number of Canvasbacks, which are named for the male’s bright white body that resembles the color of a blank canvas. They are the largest of our diving ducks and have a distinctive, “ski slope” forehead. Other ducks present were Common Goldeneye, Mallards, and even a pair of Green-winged Teal.

One of the other most numerous species was the Common Merganser. Mergansers’ bills are narrower and sharper than most other ducks with serrations that make it easy for them to grab and eat fish and mollusks. In fact, those serrations earn them the nickname “sawbill” in some circles.

While there weren’t many songbirds that braved the weather, we did see and hear several Horned Larks fly over. Horned Larks have distinctive “horns” (really feathers) on their heads called plumicorns, and dark facial masks. Their presence was likely due to the fallow agriculture field next to the reservoir as they love bare ground and short grasses. Believe it or not, Horned Larks are the only true lark found in North America; Meadowlarks are actually members of the blackbird family.

Horned Lark. Photo by Jamie Simo.

A short but sweet walk, we netted 16 species in all, which wasn’t too shabby all things considered. Here’s to a warmer, sunnier March bird walk!

Frederick Lake (Milavec Reservoir) & Recreation Area, Weld, Colorado, US
16 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose  1
Cackling/Canada Goose  7
Northern Shoveler  400
Mallard  27
Green-winged Teal  2
Canvasback  10
Common Goldeneye  10
Common Merganser  20
Ring-billed Gull  2
Bald Eagle  1
Northern Flicker  2
Black-billed Magpie  1
American Crow  1
Horned Lark  4
American Robin  3
American Goldfinch  1
Song Sparrow  2

December 10, 2022 Bird Walk to Milavec Reservoir with Jamie Simo

Posted on December 13, 2022 by - Bird Walks, Blog

Milavec Reservoir in Frederick, CO has always been a reliable place for good, close views of ducks and geese in the winter. So I was initially disappointed that there weren’t more birds on the water when we climbed the steps from the parking lot. My disappointment didn’t last long, however. I guess the birds were just waiting for it to warm up a little more!

Along with the American Robins and European Starlings that favor the Russian olives that grow around the reservoir, we got to see not only the usual red-shafted form of our Northern Flicker, but the intergrade form. The Front Range is where the red-shafted Western and yellow-shafted Eastern types of the Northern Flicker mix and mingle. Often you can catch a hint of a bird’s Eastern heritage by a faint red crescent on the nape of the neck (missing in Western birds) or by yellow or orange wing and tail linings rather than the reddish linings more typical of Western birds. On our walk we had a female bird with definite yellow linings and a male who showed a red and black malar or “mustache” stripe.

Male intergrade Northern Flicker. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Common Goldeneyes and Northern Shovelers particularly favor Milavec, interesting as this indicates there’s enough diversity in food to accommodate both diving and dabbling ducks. We witnessed a large group of shovelers milling around in a circle called a “scrum” making a whirlpool to draw things up from the bottom of the reservoir. Their large beaks are designed to filter food out of the water column. Curiously, we saw many males in non-breeding plumage. These males were likely first-year males, which take longer to gain their breeding plumage.

When the geese finally started leaving the adjacent golf course and agricultural fields and taking their siesta on the reservoir, we had a couple of special visitors. One was a Greater White-fronted Goose. We were first alerted to its presence by its call, which is very different than the Cackling and Canada Geese it was surrounded by. This large goose is named for the white at the base or “front” of its orange bill, which is the same color as its feet. We also had a hybrid goose, most likely a Snow x Cackling Goose hybrid due to the visible dark “grin patch” and small size.

Hybrid Snow x Cackling Goose surrounded by Cackling Geese. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Other species of note were an adult Bald Eagle, Ruddy Ducks, and American Tree Sparrows, a winter migrant. A great morning!

Frederick Lake (Milavec Reservoir) & Recreation Area
Dec 10, 2022
24 species

1 Greater White-fronted Goose
300 Cackling Goose (Richardson’s)
1 Snow x Cackling Goose (hybrid) — Pictures to follow
100 Canada Goose
1000 Cackling/Canada Goose
200 Northern Shoveler
1 Bufflehead
13 Common Goldeneye
3 Ruddy Duck
4 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
3 Eurasian Collared-Dove
1 Ring-billed Gull
1 Cooper’s Hawk
1 Bald Eagle
2 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Downy Woodpecker
3 Northern Flicker
2 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted)
3 Blue Jay
1 Horned Lark
8 European Starling
40 American Robin
1 American Goldfinch
7 American Tree Sparrow
2 Dark-eyed Junco
1 Song Sparrow
3 Red-winged Blackbird