Diversity of Wildlife

I have been doing wildlife (primarily bird) surveys at the Peschel open space property near Sandstone Ranch since early 2016. These surveys were a condition of a grant used to partially fund river and greenway restoration work in that area. There are no pre-flood data of species presence or densities along the river corridor to compare with data collected post-flood because no comprehensive wildlife or vegetation surveys were done anywhere within Longmont prior to September 2013.

Although it is impossible to chart how the flora and fauna have changed—for better or worse—as a result of the devastating 2013 flood, my survey partner and I have recorded at least 90 species of birds in our 3 years surveying. This accounts for nearly 1/5 of all bird species recorded in the entire state of Colorado. We have also recorded 5 species of mammal at this site, including American mink and American beaver, both riparian-obligate species.

The incredible diversity of wildlife at Peschel can be accounted for by its distance from the city proper and the ability to let the river meander and vegetation grow up naturally within the area. However, the river corridor running through the city of Longmont also contains a lot of diversity. Last year, I began conducting bird surveys at Roger’s Grove and Golden Ponds to provide post-flood, but pre-RSVP work data. Incredibly, despite being in the middle of the city, my survey partner and I have recorded at least 92 bird species at these two sites combined. Like Peschel, we have also recorded American mink and American beaver at these locations.

The diversity of wildlife at Roger’s Grove and Golden Ponds is almost certainly due to their being riparian habitat. Although riparian habitat makes up less than 2 percent of Colorado’s land area, over 90 percent of our state’s wildlife depend on riparian habitat at some point in their life cycle. In fact, my survey partner and I have witnessed both Cooper’s Hawks and Great Horned Owls nesting in the dense trees along the river at Golden Ponds and Bank Swallows (a Boulder County Species of Special Concern) nesting in holes in the river bank at Roger’s Grove.

Given the diversity of wildlife seen in just one year at just two locations along St. Vrain Creek within city limits, it is imperative that more wildlife survey data be collected at additional sites within the city and that these data, along with data already collected, be used to inform future work on the RSVP as well as future development adjacent to natural areas, particularly along the river corridor.