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Pied-billed Grebe -1 Western/Clark's Grebe - 1 (from the dam) American White Pelican - 281 Double-crested Cormorant - 430 Great Blue Heron - 10 "Canada" Goose (all forms) - 56,000 + late morning/early afternoon; thousands streaming out of the NNE to land in a field 0.6 miles east of the intersection EW144 RD & NS203 Rd (almost 2 miles SW of Granite). another 3000 in fields immediately east of the reservoir dam.
... several thousand Cacklers involved. One hr of watching the flocks land near Granite also produced 866 "white" geese (inclusive of 28 blue morph Snow Geese). There were at least 21 Greater White-fronted Geese. Some 100+ digital images were taken of these flocks, inclusive of all species. I left the gathering numbers just before 2:00pm ... flocks were still appearing low on the horizon off the NE. Another 14 Greater White-fronted Geese were on the water by the dam.
Waterfowl on the reservoir included: Mallard - 9,700 Gadwall - 130 American Wigeon - 290 Northern Pintail - 6 Northern Shoveler - 39 Green-winged Teal - 34 Canvasback - 7 Redhead - 4 Lesser Scaup - 22 Ring-necked Duck - 26 Bufflehead - 110 Common Goldeneye - 93 Hooded Merganser - 239 Common Merganser - 6 Ruddy Duck - 14 Bald Eagle - 8 (7 at aptly named Eagle Roost ORV park) Killdeer - 2 Greater Yellowlegs - 1 Ring-billed Gull - 4900 Herring Gull - 4 Belted Kingfisher - 1
either owing to the wind or sheer cold (6 deg F just before sunrise), songbirds were largely unremarkable.
A field just east of the dam held 750 McCown's Longspurs.
Two pairs of what I am presently calling Black-crested X Tufted Titmouse hybrids. One pair by the Cottonwood Campground of Quartz Mtn S. P., and another pair in the Altus-Lugert W.M.A. about a quarter mile N along the dirt track from the east entrance. (itself 1 mile N of Rt 9).
The latter pair were picking at the fallen fruit of Osage Orange. All four birds appeared very much as brightly colored Tufted Titmouse but for an ink black crest in the manner of a Black-crested Titmouse except that the black met the bill. After mist-netting such an individual in the Wichita's on Fort Sill this past summer, I have wondered whether this is a sign of hybridization given the intemediate nature of the character. However, it has also been suggested that this is merely variation in the Tufted Titmouse; if the latter it is nothing I have seen elsewhere in thousands of individuals.
These were the only titmice on the day.
cheers
Vic Fazio
Shaker Hts, OH
Page established 13 January 2006