Hello, Birders. Here is a summary of the contents of vol. 44 no. 3 (2010) of the quarterly journal Colorado Birds, published by Colorado Field Ornithologists (CFO).
* President’s Message * Jim Beatty * pp. 148-149 * The 2010 CFO convention, held in Fort Collins, attracted 190 attendees, who saw 220 bird species during the convention. Highlights from the convention included novel field trips and interesting speakers and panels. At the business meeting, outgoing directors Mark Peterson and Bill Schmoker were thanked for their dedication to the organization, and incoming director Brenda Linfield and returning director Brad Steger were welcomed. * CFO Board Meeting Minutes * Larry Modesitt * pp. 149-152 * Major items of business at the 17 April 2010 quarterly meeting of the board of directors of CFO, held in Broomfield, included the following: approval of the 2010 budget; new developments regarding information technology and CFO; terms of office for the chairman of the Colorado Bird Records Committee; and a destination for the 2011 annual convention—Grand Junction. * Minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Colorado Field Ornithologists * Larry Modesitt * pp. 152-154 * At the annual CFO members’ and business meeting, president Jim Beatty recognized the many people who contributed to the success of the convention; major awards were presented to The Nature Conservancy in Colorado (Distinguished Bird Conservation Partner Award), Peter Gent (Special Achievement Award), and Alex Cruz (Ron Ryder Award); and changes to the board of directors were approved as described above under “President’s Message,” pp. 148-149. * Youth Scholarship Report: CFO Convention 2010 * Saraiya Ruano * pp. 154-156 * The recipient of a CFO youth scholarship (who also happened to be the convention artist) muses on the delights of the 2010 convention: interesting field trips, a vagrant warbler, stunning scenery, the challenge of fine-tuning one’s Empidonax flycatcher identification skills, and the keynote address by Craig Benkman. * CFO Awards Appreciation Plaque to Snowy Owl Hosts * Joe Roller * pp. 156-158 * A CFO Appreciation Plaque has been awarded to the Prairie Vista Meadows Homeowners’ Association for its hospitality to the hundreds of Colorado birders who made the trek to this northeastern El Paso County neighborhood for the purpose of viewing a long-staying Snowy Owl. Originally discovered on 27 December 2009 by one Snook Cipolletti, this rare bird was present into February 2010. * Special Achievement Award Recipient: Peter Gent * Joe Roller * pp. 158-160 * CFO’s first Special Achievement Award has been bestowed upon Peter Gent, one of the central players in Colorado field ornithology for more than a third of a century. Since his arrival in Colorado in 1976, Gent has served in major leadership capacities for both CFO and Western Field Ornithologists. Especially notable have been his essential contributions to Colorado Birds and to the Colorado Bird Records Committee. * Twelve Days of Birding * Brad Steger * pp. 161-167 * The author set out to achieve an unusual goal: Go birding in Colorado on only one day per month, and see 300 or more species during the course of the calendar year. Did he pull it off? Read the article and find out! * The Lesser Black-backed Gull in Colorado: Possible Explanations for its Rapid Increase * Robert Righter * pp. 167-172 * Colorado has far more records of Lesser Black-backed Gull than any other state lying on or west of the Continental Divide. It is hypothesized that Colorado’s numerous large reservoirs, being backed up against the Front Range, act as a “trap” for Lesser Black-backed Gulls arriving from the east. The origin of Colorado’s Lesser Black-backed Gulls is unknown and worthy of future investigation. * Use of a Game Surveillance Camera to Capture Nesting Activity of Black Swifts * Carolyn Gunn * pp. 172-179 * In 2009 a motion-activated camera with infrared capability was aimed at a Black Swift nest in Box Canyon Falls, Ouray County. During the course of the study, 307 photos were taken, providing quantitative data for a species whose breeding biology was previously reported mainly in the form of anecdotal observations. * The 55th Report of the CBRC * Lawrence S. Semo * pp. 180-185 * This report of the Colorado Bird Records Committee evaluates 16 reports submitted by 10 observers documenting 15 occurrences of 10 species, 2008-2009. Highlights are accepted records of Larimer County’s first Neotropical Cormorant, Bent County’s first Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Montezuma County’s first Upland Sandpiper, Kiowa County’s first Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and El Paso County’s first Painted Bunting. * The Hungry Bird: Hackberry Psyllids * Dave Leatherman * pp. 185-189 * Certain gall-making insects in the bug family Psyllidae specialize on hackberry trees in Colorado. At various stages in their annual cycle, these insects are devoured in immense quantities by birds. Passerines--including eastern vagrants--eat nymphs in late summer, emerging adults in autumn, and overwintering and surviving adults in winter and spring. * News from the Field: Winter 2009-2010 * Bill Maynard * pp. 190-203 * Highlights from Colorado for the period December 2009 through February 2010 included a possible Mexican Duck, Red-shouldered Hawk, Gyrfalcon, 3 Mew Gulls, Iceland Gull, gulls of Glaucous-winged Gull ancestry, multiple Great Black-backed Gulls, Snowy Owl, 2 Varied Thrushes, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Golden-crowned Sparrow. * In the Scope: Juvenile Solitary Sandpipers * Tony Leukering * pp. 203-206 * Both the easterly nominate subspecies, solitaria, and western subspecies, cinnamomea, of the Solitary Sandpiper migrate through Colorado in spring and fall. Many juveniles, seen on fall migration in Colorado, can be identified to subspecies, with solitaria showing white spots above and cinnamomea showing buff spots above. Observers should be aware of the complicating influences of both lighting and natural variation among individuals. For more information on the journal Colorado Birds, please visit the Colorado Birds webpage of the CFO website: http://tiny.cc/SkCNN. For more information on CFO, please visit the CFO homepage: http://tiny.cc/xySmh. ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding Blog: http://tinyurl.com/2g2staq Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/2wj9djj Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/2wkvwxs ------------------------------- -- 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.
