Christian, I want to thank you publically on Cobirds for being tough! Well for finding these great birds, but most of all for laying it on the line to people.
Everyone else please respect what Christian has said in his message about rules to follow when looking for these birds. When Christian says he will have your hide, believe him (it might cost him his job to do otherwise and I know I'll be ticked with you because these reports from Christian have been responsible for 2/3 of my last 9 county birds in Boulder County!). Again, please, please respect the rules Christian has detailed. One thing I might add about finding Sprague's Pipit-they have a very distinctive flight pattern when flushed. In my experience, this species will fly up about 50 or so feet in the air much like any "larking" bird of the prairies, but then it will dive, not fly, straight down to about the 6 foot level where it will dart in an unpredictable pattern to some point on the ground. This is a behavior, I think, to make finding them again on the ground difficult for a predator. Looking at my notes, it is exactly 52 weeks to the day since Christian found this bird in Boulder County last year. If you are looking for these birds, I might suggest a different place (although I can't think of the name for it) in Jefferson County. Dianne Andrews pointed out a similar type of accessible habitat on a field trip last month. The spot is a trailhead on the east side of Indiana about 1.5 miles south of CO 128. The habitat may be not quite as native as places in nearby in Boulder County, but you can wander at will. Again, Christian, thanks for the great news and the tough love. Bill Kaempfer Boulder Vice President, CFO (to try to add a little authority to all of this) -- 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.
