Prompted by Gary’s and Derek’s observations concerning Gray Jays and Clark’s Nutcrackers, I checked eBird for the Rocky Mountain National Park area for this year and past years. At least as far as reported observations in eBird, Clark’s Nutcrackers are being reported in and around RMNP this year in numbers comparable to past years, but Gray Jays aren’t being reported as much this year as in some past years. With more and more data, eBird is very useful for checking things like this.
Jim Nelson Bethesda, Maryland From: Derek Hill Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 11:30 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [cobirds] Re: Two missing birds for CO. To add to Gary's observation, I spent several days in the Fraser Valley, Grand Co. over the last month, and an afternoon tour through RMNP along Trail Ridge Rd., and throughout all the traveling, hiking, biking, and camping I was surprised at the lack of birds (and also no GRJA or CLNU in RMNP). Granted our drive through RMNP was pretty direct with no woodland hiking, and much of the time in Fraser Valley was spent with family and a wedding, but it was somewhat disappointing birdwise. Hardly needed to carry binocs for the lack of birds, and I wondered if it was the pine bark beetle damage. Though I have very little experience summer birding in the mountains and not sure if my perception of lack of birds is accurate for that locale/season. However with all the wildflowers, lepidoptera, other wildlife, and awesome scenery it took me a while to wonder where the birds were! Good birding, Derek Hill Fort Collins On Monday, July 14, 2014 8:03:34 PM UTC-6, Gary Brower wrote: All, A different take on this thread. I spent the weekend in RMNP, and saw no/zero/nada/zip Gray Jays or Clark’s Nutcrackers. I talked a volunteer at Lake Irene; she had noticed the same thing. And I spoke with a ranger at Kawuneeche Visitor Center who had the same report. Any thoughts? (The ranger suspected it was because the snow melted so late.) Gary Brower Englewood, CO PS By the way, I did see two WTPT’s (perhaps male and female, as they were in pretty close proximity to one another) at the Rock Cut on Trail Ridge Rd, and a female-on-the-nest Broad-tailed Hummer at Lily Lake. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/5a686e93-f95b-4463-b18e-c9df4e2ab008%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/0BBA0B18BC2B42D29638248C546BA92A%40jimPC. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
