Thanks, Bill! I'm glad so many of you were able to get out quickly, see the flycatcher this afternoon, and take hopefully better photos than me! I hope it sticks around for others to pick up. What a cool bird.
Happy (and lucky!) birding, Laura Steadman Boulder On Sun, Oct 21, 2018 at 7:57 PM Steven Rash <[email protected]> wrote: > Here, here! It made up for a frustrating Sprague's Pipit-less jaunt to the > state line this morning. That's for sure! > > Happy Birding, > > Steve Rash > Denver Co. > > On Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 7:48:03 PM UTC-6, William Kaempfer wrote: >> >> With these simple words at 2:49 p.m., Laura Steadman made lots of people >> happy this afternoon: >> >> >> >> “While looking at the stilt sandpiper and plover (both still present), >> happened to catch site of a fork-tailed flycatcher on the western shore. >> Currently viewing.” >> >> >> >> It takes three things to make real birding news—finding a great bird, >> identifying that great bird, and getting the word out. Laura had the >> hat-trick today. Well, it takes a great bird, too, I guess. After a >> frustrating, one-observer report of Fork-tailed Flycatcher in mid-September >> that, I believe, was a first state record for Colorado, this was a species >> that was on a lot of our minds. A bird to dream about, with its snappy >> black and white body, and that long, long, long tail. Perhaps the only >> austral migrant (breeds south migrates north and sometimes gets to North >> America) semi-regularly seen in the US, this is a bird of interest anywhere >> north of Mexico. I think it is even the story bird behind the cover of >> John Vanderpoel’s soon to be published recounting of his North American Big >> Year in 2011, *Full Chase Mode*. And chase we did. >> >> >> >> I made it to Prince #2 at about 3:15 p.m., and there were already 8 other >> birders present. It took a little while to re-find the bird, but we slowly >> starting thinking that the best strategy might be to walk out on the former >> County Road 111 in order to be below the dam for best viewing >> opportunities.. After Peter Burke saw it flying somewhere off to the north >> of Prince #2, we all began walking that way; groups of us, handfuls of us, >> dozens of us, scores of us, hundreds of us. Trying to count how many >> birders were there was like trying to count the number of Western Grebes >> currently on Union Reservoir, a little bit to the northwest. There was >> Loch Kilpatrick, and there Mark Chavez. Oh, and Rachel Hopper, and Carl >> Bendorf, and Bill Schmoker, and Gwen Moore, and Joey Kellner, and Glenn >> Walbeck, and on and on. Steve Larson and Edie Israel were there, and they >> fly out South Africa at 3:00 a.m. Monday morning! I bet even the >> Widowbirds down there won’t be as thrilling. >> >> >> >> This is not the first time modest, little Prince Lake #2 in eastern >> Boulder County has made birding news. Way back on October 26, 1975, >> then-Boulder birder Bruce Webb found what I believe to be the first state >> record of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at Prince #2. This bird elicited the >> famous comment from Colorado birding icon, Harold Holt, “It isn’t a >> Sharp-tailed Sandpiper until the Colorado Bird Records Committee says it is >> a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper”. (fide, Peter Gent). Hey—another great bird >> during the last 10 days of October. And the year before that, what must >> have been the first state record of Baird’s Sparrow on, wait for this, >> October 29, 1974. Prince #2 has also had Red Phalarope, Iceland (Iceland) >> Gull, and Eurasian Wigeon, and just over the hill at Prince #1 there is >> still a Yellow-billed Loon somewhere at the bottom of the pond, but that’s >> a different story. >> >> >> >> Then last week’s wind-focused fallout brought American Golden Plovers to >> us, all over the Front Range--but importantly to this story, to Prince #2. >> A couple of plovers made themselves easy to see in the soft, nourishing mud >> along the south shore of the small agriculture reservoir, and many went to >> Prince #2 for their year, state, life, county, or whatever AGPL. David >> Waltman notes that this was the start of our own Patagonia Roadside Rest >> stop phenomenon. Those plovers brought Laura Steadman out at 2:48 this >> afternoon. Well, if the truth be told, I stopped at Prince #2 at 9:55 this >> morning. So, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher must have arrived between 9:55 and >> 2:48 (insert smiley face here). >> >> >> >> Thanks, Laura from 100 Colorado birders, and then some. And, somebody >> remember to go out there at the end of next October. >> >> >> >> Bill Kaempfer >> >> Boulder >> > -- > 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/f6c7b6ae-09f0-4d04-9709-66075e2b6ec4%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/f6c7b6ae-09f0-4d04-9709-66075e2b6ec4%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > 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/CAO%3DXtdnaVBMGbzixinxi9WRJ%3DBD1Mh3%2BbRtihV_NDNoqXftS0w%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
