Hello, Birders. Hannah and Andrew and I saw a Hermit Thrush at Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County, this afternoon, Sunday, March 8th. Given its distinctive plumage, I am nearly certain it is the same bird that we saw there on January 2nd, 14th, and 15th of this year. Which raises an obvious point, but one that continues to impress me: Assuming the bird's been there constantly since at least January 2nd, it is humbling to consider that I did NOT see the bird on any date between January 16th and today, March 8th. I visit the site pretty much daily, and I feel as though I know every nook and cranny of the place, and yet I can go 50+ days without seeing something as distinctive as a Hermit Thrush. Just goes to show that there are, on average, all sorts of goodies lurking out there, just waiting to be discovered. An update, by the way, on the subspecies of this bird. I mentioned to Jon Dunn my suspicion that the bird is of one of the Western/Pacific-slope races, and he pointed out to me that Bailey & Niedrach (Birds of Colorado) say that such birds have, in fact, occurred in Colorado. So there would seem to me more precedent for this bird's being a Western/Pacific-slope individual than I had earlier suspected. Thus, in trying to ID winter Hermit Thrushes in Colorado, we have to deal with a third population group: Pacific-slope birds, along with "our" gray-and-brown Rockies/Interior birds and (apparently increasing?) red-and-brown Eastern birds. That makes it "messier," but it's still a worthwhile challenge, as several us believe that the Hermit Thrush is undergoing a winter range shift and expansion to include Colorado. Ted Floyd [email protected] Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail®. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=TXT_MSGTX_WL_HM_express_032009#colortheme --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
