I was one of the merry band of miscreants who joined Dave for good looks at the warbler. What a great find! And as Dave mentioned, what are the odds? One has to to wonder how many “mega’s” wander into and out of Colorado without ever being detected. On a side note- after observing three or four cycles of warbler appearance, I decided to take a quick look at Flagler SWA on my way back home. Since there is a paved road up to Siebert to the east of the warbler site, I chose to go north to Siebert and then west to Flagler. To my surprise, at Siebert I was greeted by a missing overpass and no access to the main part of town. So anyone choosing this route should be aware that you have to go several miles east to Vona in order to get to metro Siebert. When following this route I always take a quick look at the Siebert settling ponds, which usually yield a duck or shorebird or some such. Yesterday it was Jackpot City. The ponds themselves had only a few mourning doves, but there is a small pond to the northwest of the settling ponds, and here I found four PURPLE MARTINS. This was quite a surprise, as I have seen only a few martins in Colorado. These large, all dark swallows were buzzing the pond and hitting the surface, presumably for water, though Dave might be able to comment on whether these birds ever pick food items off the water. Other bird in the immediate area included numerous great-tailed and common grackles, yellow-headed blackbirds, spotted sandpiper, killdeer, cliff swallows (I subsequently found a puddle down the road where dozens of them were grabbing nest material), a lone ruddy duck, both common kingbirds and a few other common species. Not bad for a five minute roadside stop. At Flagler I had limited time, and checked only below the dam and the remnant puddle. The woodland below the dam was birdy but had nothing out of the ordinary except a common nighthawk. The puddle had an avocet and a spotty, with a couple of shovelers. Again, congratulations to Glenn on this remarkable find!
Norm Lewis Lakewood Sent from my iPad > On May 21, 2018, at 6:13 PM, DAVID A LEATHERMAN <[email protected]> wrote: > > As far as I could tell all of the folks present at the Golden-crowned Warbler > site (about 22 by my count) were graced with good views. I got there about > 9:15am and left at 4:20pm. The bird last showed itself at around 2:45pm. It > was always in the chokecherries teaming with insects on the west side of the > road at the north end of the farmstead. Never have I observed a rare bird > site that included a working crop duster plane (taxiing, reloading and > roaring back in the sky) within 50 meters of the bird's feeding area. What > are the odds it showed up? What are the odds Glenn laid eyes on it? > Astronomical. Phenomenal. > > Some of us were wondering out loud how long it will stay. My guess, which is > a total guess, would be as long as those chokecherry shrubs have flowers to > attract flying insects - about 3-5 hot and dry days? > > Dave Leatherman > Fort Collins > > > Sent from my iPhone > > -- > 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/CY4PR0601MB3603F2E44B09BBE105E7E1E6C1940%40CY4PR0601MB3603.namprd06.prod.outlook.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/F67E7481-FFFE-4F86-ACE1-EFDB1BA9CF7C%40aol.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
