Having not visited South Platte Park since spring, I met a fellow birder there to peruse the autumn bird population. Though we did encounter a fair variety of species, the numbers were not impressive on this beautiful November morning.
American wigeon dominated the waterfowl population, joined by northern shovelers, green-winged teal, gadwall, American coot, hooded mergansers, buffleheads and Canada geese; far less common were mallards, common mergansers, redheads and common goldeneyes. A solitary western grebe graced Eaglewatch Lake and a group of shorebirds (killdeer, Wilson's snipe and a single lesser yellowlegs) foraged on the mudflats of Bufflehead Lake. Raptors were absent during my ninety-minute visit and songbirds were limited to common, permanent residents of the Park.
As in recent years, the autumn waterfowl migration is behind schedule, likely reflecting a slower freeze-up across Canada and the Northern Plains. Despite the lackluster birding, it was good to be back at South Platte Park, one of the more appealing nature preserves in south Metro Denver.
