New Camera Lens plus Gulls 1/26

I had to wait at home all day waiting for the lens I ordered to arrive at my house. It finally arrived at 2:30, this Sigma 50mm - 500mm looked amazing. I immediately wanted to try it out and I knew the best place to go, Cattail Pond. As I arrived at Cattail Pond the birds were plentiful and my trigger finger was ready. The first picture I took was of the sleeping Trumpeter Swan. I took lots of pictures and a number of them turned out quite well. The number of Redheads were back to full force as well as the Ring-necked Ducks. Canvasbacks were still plentiful with numbers still in the 30s and there was 3 female Bufflehead.

                                                  Trumpeter Swan

                                                  Redhead

                                                 Bufflehead

                                                 American Coot

                                                 American Wigeon

                                                  Ring-necked Duck

                                                 Red-winged Blackbird

                                                  Red-winged Blackbird

                                                 Red-winged Blackbird

Ryan's Gulch Reservoir didn't have anything of interesting, not even the Hooded Mergansers that have been around. Bud Mielke Reservoir and Lon Hagler Reservoir was the same. Lonetree Reservoir had a lot of Passerines around, but only 2 Common Mergansers on the lake. The best Passerine was an Eastern Bluebird I saw perched, but it flew as I was stopping to get a photo. I was able to find this Red-tailed Hawk on the way out.

                                                          Red-tailed Hawk

Hertha Reservoir was again ice free which has gathered decent numbers of Common Goldeneye. On the way into Dry Creek Reservoir I came across a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos with a few House Finches and a Townsend's Solitaire in the mix. 

                                                  Dark-eyed Junco

                                                  Dark-eyed Junco

                                                 Townsend's Solitaire

On Dry Creek Reservoir there was a large number of Mallards and American Coots. Other birds I was able to find was 2 Common Goldeneye, 2 Bufflehead, 3 American Wigeon, and 1 female Hooded Merganser. On the drive up to Carter Lake I found a Northern Shrike, as well as 1 adult Bald Eagle and 3 Red-tailed Hawks.

                                                    Northern Shrike

This was the end to my photography day and sights changed to long distance scanning at Carter Lake. It took a while for any gulls to come in, but at 4:20 I spotted a couple flying high close to an adult Bald Eagle. They started to come down closer to the water and I decided to watch the birds fly in. I counted 5 birds coming in, but the first bird I looked at closer was a 1st year Glaucous Gull, but what was this bird next to it. Yes, it was a 1st year Thayer's Gull. Probably the first time I have ever identified a Glaucous and Thayer's Gull before identifying either a Ring-billed or Herring. The other 3 birds were then Herring Gulls. They finally set down on the water and I decided to watch other gulls as they flew in to land. Out of the first 10 individuals that came in I saw the Glaucous, 4 Thayer's Gulls, and 5 Herring Gulls. Then it got to 20 individuals, which was the Glaucous, 7 Thayer's Gulls, and 12 Herring Gulls. I was able to do the same with 34 individuals which included the Glaucous, 9 Thayer's, 3 Ring-billed, and 21 Herring Gulls. Finally the last little push of gulls came in. Most of these were Ring-billed Gulls with a few Herring, but what is this one coming in with them. It has a very white head, large bill, checkered pattern back, and about the size of the Glaucous Gull. Yes, this one was a Great Black-backed Gull (117). This was the 10th species of gull I have seen in Larimer County this year. Just before I left I was able to count 47 gulls on the water. The numbers were 12 Ring-billed Gulls, 24 Herring Gulls, 9 Thayer's Gulls (5 1st winter, 4 adults), 1 Glaucous Gull (1st winter), and 1 Great Black-backed Gull (1st winter). On my drive back home I was able to spot 2 Golden Eagles flying into a large rock cliff to call it a night.