Coverage for March 2007 was rather poor with such common birds as Pied-billed Grebe and Wilson’s Snipe not reported. Consequently only slightly more bird species were seen in March than in February, despite the arrival of quite a few spring migrants in March. Altogether 96 bird species were seen in February and 98 in March. Any March where less than one hundred species are seen may be considered poor. All three types of Bluebird (Eastern, Western and Mountain) were reported in February, although it was unclear whether all of these were migrants or whether some had spent the winter in the county. A Greater Yellowlegs seen at Walden Ponds on 23 February was a most unusual sighting; this might conceivably be the same bird that was reported on the Boulder Christmas Count. The first American Avocets were reported on 18 March which is on the early side with the average arrival date being 28 March. At least one, and quite possibly two, Trumpeter Swans were reported moving around the lakes to the west of Longmont.

Since Cackling Goose is a relatively new species – it was split from Canada Goose in 2004 – we do not have enough data to follow any trends in this species. However, it appears, from what data we have, that Cackling Geese winter in Boulder County arriving towards the end of October and leaving about mid-March. This is a species that tends to be under reported, since it is often hard to distinguish from the smaller sub-species of Canada Goose. Cinnamon Teal appear to be migrating earlier than in the past with February arrival dates not being abnormal; while this year’s arrival on 23 February is not the earliest recorded (19 Feb), it is much earlier than the historical average of 7 March. Once again a Cinnamon X Blue-winged Teal was seen at Walden Ponds; this bird was first sighted in spring 2002 and has been seen every year since except spring 2004.

The Fawnbrook Inn at Allenspark remained a good spot to watch for Rosy Finches. All three types (Black, Gray-crowned and Brown-capped) were reported with the most prevalent being Brown-capped and with just a few Black. Feeders are always the easiest place to see Rosy Finches but in early March we also had a few reported up at Brainard Lake. The mountain feeders also attracted other finches such as Cassin’s Finch, Pine Siskin and Evening Grosbeak. A Broad-tailed Hummingbird was reported in Boulder on 28 March; this is by far the earliest arrival date we have had since our records began with the previous earliest being 10 April and the average being 22 April. Say’s Phoebe was another bird that arrived early enough to break all previous records with the first being sighted on 12 March while the previous early record was 22 March and the average arrival date is 11 April.

A Gray-cheeked Thrush seen in Boulder in February was a first winter sighting of this unusual species. The previous three sightings were all in May during migration; this bird was last seen in May 2003. Both Mourning Dove and Eurasian Collared Dove are wintering in the county with the number of the latter increasing significantly this year. I think it would be safe to say that Eurasian Collared Dove is now our commonest winter dove. Chihuahan Ravens were again reported in February, although notoriously difficult to identify where their range overlaps with Common Raven.

February is traditionally an excellent month for observing gulls on our eastern lakes and reservoirs. This is the time when the lakes usually thaw and sometimes release great quantities of frozen fish. Great Black-backed Gull and Glaucous Gull were both reported in February and Lesser Black-backed Gull (which is becoming so normal as to be hardly worthy of note) was reported in March. We would expect to see Franklin’s Gulls in March, but they were not reported this year. TOP