October is often a good birding month with fall migration still in full swing. By contrast November often seems very slow. However, October and November 2004 were atypical with October being the slow month, and November absolutely hopping with unusual species. For the first time since our records started more bird species were seen in November (111) than in October (107). Both months suffered from a lack of reporting of common birds, but whereas we only had 14 people reporting to the inventory in October, we had a whopping 48 people reporting in November. Of course, some of the low total for October is due to this lack of reports rather than a true absence. Both ducks and mountain birds were very poorly reported in October, and only two warbler species (Yellow-rumped and Wilson') were recorded.

We will begin with the most unusual sighting. A Red-throated Loon seen on Union Reservoir ( this is strictly in Weld County but has been considered an honorary part of the wildlife inventory for many years) was a first sighting for the inventory. This brought the total number of loon species seen in November to three with both Pacific and Common Loons seen on Six Mile Reservoir adjacent to Boulder Reservoir. Common Loons were also reported at Lagerman and Baseline Reservoirs; this is the month when we expect to see the highest numbers for this species.

Unusual gull species were also plentiful in November. A Great Black-backed Gull (last reported in 1995) was also seen at Union Reservoir, and a Black-legged Kittiwake (last reported in 2002) was found at Lagerman Reservoir. This was only the third time that both these species had been reported to the inventory. Fortunately many observers managed to see the kittiwake. Franklin' Gulls had left the county by mid-October, but huge numbers of Ring-billed Gulls were present. Other less usual gulls included a Mew Gull, a Thayer' Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Shorebird migration was still going strong in early October with the most unusual species being Pectoral Sandpiper, and the Virginia Rails continued at Walden Ponds all month. Lingering summer species included a late Broad-tailed Hummingbird on October 1, a Gray Catbird in November and Green-tailed Towhee throughout both months. Sandhill Cranes were reported for the first time this year; this is the month in which they are typically seen migrating southwards. Many observers reported seeing three Tundra Swans at Lake Valley in November. This was the same lake that had a mixture of Tundra and Trumpeter Swans last year in November. It would be interesting to know if any of these were the same birds. Cackling Goose was reported for the first time since they were split from Canada Goose. We expect this to be a standard winter species. A single Greater White-fronted Goose was reported both months, and 83 Snow Geese on Valmont Reservoir in November. Our cold weather diving ducks were well represented with Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Black Scoter (last seen in 2002), Surf Scoter and Barrow' Goldeneye being among the less usual species. Six species of grebe were reported in November: Pied-billed, Horned, Eared, Red-necked, Western and Clark's.

Bohemian Waxwings appeared in mid-November in small to mid-sized flocks all over the county. This irruptive species was last seen in 2002. Although excitedly reported by many observers, this was a much smaller irruption than some previous ones where the birds were counted in thousands. Many of the flocks contained a mixture of Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings. TOP