November is usually a good month for viewing gulls and this November was no exception. The most exciting sighting of the month was a Slaty-backed Gull, a new sighting for the Boulder County wildlife inventory. This is a Pacific Ocean gull of which there is only one definite previous sighting in Colorado. It was viewed mainly on Boulder Reservoir but was also seen on MacIntosh and Union Reservoirs. Other unusual gulls were  Mew Gull (a first sighting for the year), Great Black-backed Gull and Glaucous Gull. This is also a good time of year for viewing loons and diving ducks. However, only Common Loon was reported this year although several birders went looking for less usual loon species. Surf Scoter, Long-tailed Duck and Barrow’s Goldeneye were all new species for the year. The first two stayed around long enough to be reported in both November and December. Tundra Swan, Winter Wren and Lapland Longspur were also new sightings for the year.

The Boulder Christmas Bird Count (BCBC) always produces good coverage of the bird species present, and usually adds many species to the December inventory. However, this year it happened to fall on the coldest day of the year with sub-zero temperatures which were off-putting for both birds and birders. The only new bird species added for the year was Harris’ Sparrow. However, species such as Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, and Brown Thrasher were good sightings for the time of year. Outside of the bird count, reporting was sparse in December. Bighorn Sheep was a new mammal sighting for the year. A few lingering migrants such as American Pelican, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were seen at the beginning of December but most had left by 14 December, the date of the bird count. By the end of the month the weather was distinctly milder and a few species were found that had been missed on the bird count such as Ring-necked Pheasant, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Winter Wren, Eastern Bluebird and Yellow-rumped Warbler. One suspects that they were present earlier but that the cold weather had made them reluctant to show themselves.

Altogether 111 bird species were reported in November and 117 species in December. These are very respectable totals although they break no records. TOP