Joe Roller suspected that honoring Mom on Mother’s Day could be done better than old-fashioned methods such as personally doing her cooking, decorating, or gardening. Joe’s advice on Cobirds for Mother’s Day 2009 remain timely and special today. And Joe would find a way to revere both Mom and bird habitat by making a special weekend out of Mother’s Day and CFO’s Colorado Birding Challenge! Since eBird has siphoned off many Cobirders, you might need to forward Joe’s thoughtful suggestions to your birding friends.
Larry Modesitt, Arvada Although I found that the passerine migration was slow a few days ago in my favorite place, Phillips County, Colorado, other sightings thrilled me, with both Eared Grebe (2) and Western Grebes (1) representing new county birds. A lone drake Wood Duck and two Ring0billed Gulls just added to the fun. Where were these prime birds – why, at the sewage ponds of Haxtun and Holyoke, of course. The Cooper’s Hawks still hang out near their nest in Holyoke City Park. Lark Bunting flocks graced the plains, with a few nice shorebirds at ephemeral ponds. There were no birds at phemeral water bodies, be warned. It occurred to me that tomorrow, Sunday, being the special day that it is, I might propose a truly novel suggestion – take Mom to Phillips County for a Mother’s Day treat she will forever cherish. Your older brother and bossy sister might have taken Mom to the shore or the mountains or Hawaii, but I’ll bet they never were thoughtful enough to guide Mother to such a gem-like destination. Let’s face it, birders can be a little grumpy on this holiday. Mother’s Day was established to occur in mid-May by some wrong-headed Congressmen decades ago, smack in the middle of spring migration. How thoughtless! And though each of us birders loves, honors, and respects old Mom, ornithophiles would never have established this holiday in May, but would have voted for it to fall sometime in February, when birding is slow. But, make the best of it, take Mom on a grand tour of Phillips County, the jewel of the northeastern plains, a thrill for her AND a birding opportunity for you I would consider this gesture generous, not selfish, because let’s face it, every Mother’s Day up til now has not been warbler-centered, but has been all about *her!* So pack up the SUV, dust off your spare field glasses, head northeast from almost anywhere in our state and within four to twelve hours, presto, you’re there. Whether in her birding history Mom has become a seasoned veteran or remains a rank beginner, Phillips County will surely reveal its avian treasures to the sharp-eyed. As a warm-up to spotting the avifauna, I’d start with a meal in the cuisine capital, downtown Holyoke. There nestled together on a single block are truly savory international places for fine dining – not just standard American, but Chinese, Mexican, Sub, Donut shop and Convenience store styles. Then how about shopping for a card and gift on cosmopolitan Interocean Avenue? The Holyoke Hardware Store has a sidewalk display of colorful hanging floral baskets. Or let Mom go inside and have her pick of Mother’s Day gifts from the large “75% off rack.” She’ll be surprised at the choices. And at the Haxtun Super, there are special Mom’s Day sales on Skoal and Copenhagen for her everyday needs, and for her garden, 25 lbs. of steer manure for $9.99 (bagged) or for as low as $1.99, “bag it yourself.” And now to the birding. I’ll bet that Mom’s Phillips County list is pretty low. Be sure to have a brand-new notebook and a writing implement. She can’t miss Eurasian Collared-doves, Horned Larks are ubiquitous, and Swainson’s Hawks can be seen without much trouble. Swainson’s Warblers can be more difficult to spot. If she is squeamish about odiferous sensations as you approach the famed ponds, you can assure her that repulsive olfactory emanations are just not going to be a problem. (Skip over the fact that the Haxtun Sewage Ponds are adjacent to the Farfal Brothers’ Feed Lot), And it’s not just those efficient little lakes that work their magic. Good migrants can be found along County Road 14 and in the hamlets of Paoli and Amherst. As evening falls, and you wind your way back home, be patient with your Mother. She will want to relive the details, as she always seems wont to do on Mother’s Day, of how intense her labor pains were with you, how numerous were the dirty diapers she changed, and how her hopes and aspirations for your development as a person of character were repeatedly thwarted, through no fault of her own. But let it all go in one ear and out someplace else while you mentally play back those Vesper Sparrow vocalizations, relive the wide-open spaces, the high winds, and the rare ducks floating high – on the sewage ponds of Phillips County. 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