On this cool, breezy day along the Front Range, my wife and I paid a brief visit to South Platte Park. Despite our limited survey, it was clear that the annual transition from winter to summer residents has begun.
The winter duck population has significantly decreased though a good variety were observed on the lakes and river; buffleheads were still fairly common and a flock of ruddy ducks was a special treat. The first wave of double-crested cormorants has arrived over the past week and, though not observed today, the resident ospreys have returned to the Park. Tree swallows have also been returning over the past two weeks.
This population change will increase dramatically through the remainder of April as the wintering ducks continue to drift northward and summer songbirds reappear (including house wrens, Bullock's orioles and violet-green swallows, among others). American white pelicans are increasing in number and snowy egrets should soon arrive from the south. Finally, a wide variety of spring migrants will also grace the Park in the coming weeks, headed for the mountains or toward more northern breeding grounds.
