Great post, Peter! It made me smile. Tony Leukering
Topic: Acorn Woodpeckers/La Plata County Peter Derven <[email protected]> Jan 16 07:29AM -0700 ^ Just a note to confirm the little troop of Acorn Woodpeckers soldier on along upper Meadow Road in Rafter J sub-division above Durango in La Plata County. We observed one sunning itself in a tall ponderosa snag on the south side of the valley a few hundred yards downhill from where the pavement ends this week. A human resident of Meadow Road and long-time observer of this species reports as many as five gathering at his feeders this winter season. This same resident finds ravens amusing, and one or two have become quite confiding and accepting of handouts. Somehow, can't imagine quite how, he discovered they quite fancy "donut holes." Last week he tossed said golf-ball sized confection to a raven when an acorn woodpecker swooped down, seized the prize, rocketed downslope and disappeared with raven in hot pursuit. Now, chumming for ACWOs with donut holes is an unproven technique, especially since it was unspecified whether cinnamon of confectioners-sugar dusted was favored; however, if seeking this avian Colorado rarity in mid-winter, these little projectiles, accompanied by a thermos of cocoa, make life more bearable for birders. One often must wait for the sun to reach down into the valley and warm the snag-trees which can be 9:30 or 10 o'clock this time of year. You might even find a friendly, expectant raven nearby. Peter Derven Topic: Bird of Interest, Valmont Reservoir, Boulder County, Jan. 15th Ted Floyd <[email protected]> Jan 16 06:25AM -0800 ^ Hello, Birders. The gull flock at Valmont Reservoir was immense late yesterday afternoon, Saturday, Jan. 15th. It was also, alas, quite distant. But one (somewhat) close (it's all relative--still hundreds of feet away) gull was intriguing. It was a large gull, just about the size of a Herring Gull. Viewed at various angles and under variable lighting conditions, it was consistently "medium-mantled"--darker than a California Gull (and, of course, darker than any Ring-billed Gull or "normal" Herring Gull) yet paler than a Lesser Black-backed Gull. So?...Vega Gull? All other plumage and bare-parts makes lined up with Vega Gull--which means they were all pretty much within the range of variation for the exceedingly variable "normal" (American/Smithsonian) Herring Gull. Beats me. Whatever it was, it sure was interesting. Definitely one to keep an eye out for, these next few days, at northern Front Range ponds and lakes. (The Tundra Swan was present, of course, but I didn't see the recently reported Common Loon.) ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding Blog: http://tinyurl.com/2g2staq Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/2ejzlzv Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/2wkvwxs ------------------------------- Topic: Colorado Rare Bird Alert: Sunday, 16 January 2011 Allison Hilf <[email protected]> Jan 16 06:13AM -0700 ^ Date: 16 January 2011 e-mail: [email protected] phone: 303-659-8750 compiler: Allison Hilf This is the Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Sunday, January 16, 2011 at 6 amdsz sponsored by Denver Field Ornithologists and the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory. If you are phoning in a message, you can skip the recording by pressing the star key (*) on you phone at any time. Please leave your name, phone number, detailed directions, including county and dates for each sighting. It would be helpful if you would spell your last name. Highlight species include: (* denotes that there is new information on the species in this report). TUNDRA SWAN (*Boulder) Long-tailed Duck (*Adams) Barrow's Goldeneye (Adams, Delta, Moffat, *Summit) Dunlin (Adams) MEW GULL (Boulder) Thayer's Gull (Boulder) Lesser Black-backed Gull (*Boulder, Huerfano) Glaucous Gull (*Broomfield) White-winged Dove (Huerfano) INCA DOVE (Otero) American Three-toed Woodpecker (*Boulder) VARIED THRUSH (Boulder) Curve-billed Thrasher (*Jefferson) Winter Wren (*Boulder, *Douglas, Larimer) PINE WARBLER (El Paso) Swamp Sparrow (*Boulder, El Paso) White-throated Sparrow (Huerfano, *Jefferson) Harris's Sparrow (Adams, El Paso, Huerfano, *Jefferson, Las Animas) GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (Boulder, *Jefferson) Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Huerfano, *Jefferson, Routt, *Summit) Black Rosy-Finch (Huerfano, *Jefferson, Routt, *Summit) Common Redpoll (*Larimer) Adams County: --Four Barrow's Goldeneyes (2m, 2f) were reported by Dunning near the green and white tank south of 88th and Platte River on January 7. --A Dunlin was found by Robinette about a 1/4 mile further south of the green and white tank on a sandbar on the east side of the river on January 7 and was seen again on January 12 by Chavez between the Duck Platform and the water tower. --A female Long-tailed Duck was reported by Hundertmark at the Thornton Water Pond on the west side of the Platte River south from 88th on January 9 and was seen on January 15 at the West Gravel Lake. --A Harris's Sparrow was reported by Roller at the Old Stone House at RMBO on January 11. Boulder County: --2 American Three-toed Woodpeckers were reported by Dunning in Rocky Mountain National Park on January 14. A female was just east of where the "camper trail" joins the trail to Ouzel Falls (about 2.3 miles from the winter parking area). A male was near where the Copeland Falls trail re-joins the trail to Ouzel Falls (about 1.5 miles in). --An ad TUNDRA SWAN was reported by Gent at the Valmont Power Plant on November 25 and was seen again by Dunning on January 14. --The imm GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW continues at the Juniper windbreak at the Teller t Farm parking lot as reported by Severs on January 1 and was seen again on January 8 by Floyd. --Floyd reported the following on the Valmont field trip on January 8: ad MEW GULL, 3 ad Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 1st-cyc Thayer's Gull. --A Lesser Black -backed Gull (first cycle) was reported by Floyd at Waneka Lake (Greenlee Preserve) on January 13. --A Swamp Sparrow was reported by Floyd at Greenlee Preserve in Lafayette on January 9 and by Zorawowicz on January 13. --A VARIED THRUSH was reported on December 25 in Longmont and Todd Deininger relocated it on January 10. The area is south of MacIntosh Lake and south of 17th Ave. Park at Longmont Estates Elementary School and walk east on Northwestern and look for Robins. --A Winter Wren was reported by Jurkouic at Golden Ponds by the spillway on January 12. Broomfield County: --A juv. Glaucous Gull was reported by P. Plage at the pond south of Highway 7 and east of Lowell Street (Parkside Center Pond) on January 15. Delta County: --A pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes was reported by Dexter on the Gunnison River north of Confluence Park near Delta on January 7. Douglas County: --A Winter Wren was reported by Chavez at Chatfield State Park, below the dam, on January 14. El Paso County: --On January 8 on the Fountain Creek Winter Bird Count, Pals reported the following: Winter Wren, PINE WARBLER, Swamp Sparrow, and Harris's Sparrow. Huerfano County: --A Lesser Black-backed Gull was reported by Nelder at Lathrop State Park on January 9. --An imm Harris's Sparrow and 2 White-winged Doves continue to visit the Nelder Yard in La Veta as of January 9. Their address is 151 County Road 359. --All 3 species of Rosy-Finches and a White-throated Sparrow have returned to the yard of Beverly Jensen in La Veta on January 10 and on January 12 a White-winged Dove joined the Rosy-Finches. If you would like to try to see these birds, call her at 719-989-1398. Jefferson County: --On January 15, Stachowiak and Henwood reported that the Harris's Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, Curve-billed Thrasher and all 3 species of Rosy-finches were seen at Red Rocks TradiLarimer County: Larimer County: --2 Winter Wrens were reported by Leatherman on the west side of the Poudre River ON JANUARY 14. One of the birds was at the north end of the cottonwood grove with snowberry understory north of the Bike trail and straight North of the Water Treatment Plant. The other was along the river just northeast of the outhouse building by the Northern CO Environmental Learning Center parking lot. --A flyover Common Redpoll was reported by Wild at the Timnath Wal-Mart parking lot (I-25 and Harmony) on January 12.p Moffat County: --50+ Barrow's Goldeneyes were reported by Luke on the Yampa River at the south end of Craig on January 8. Otero County: --INCA DOVES were reported by Duane Nelson in Rocky Ford near Washington and Virginia Streets on January 6. Routt County: --All 3 species of Rosy-Finches were reported by Luke at the feeders of Glen and Joann Kelley north of Hayden on January 8. Please call ahead 970-276-3126 to arrange with the Kelleys to see the finches. Summit County: --16 Barrow's Goldeneyes were reported by Nims at the Blue River Water Treatment Plant in Silverthorne on January 14. --All 3 species of Rosy-finches were reported by Nims, at the Keystone Ski Resort, in the North Peak area, near the top of the Santiago lift. There is no DFO trip scheduled for Sunday, January 16. Good Birding, Allison Hilf, Denver, CO Sent from my iPad -- 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. -- 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.
