[cobirds] Trumpeter Swans, Little Jumbo Res, Logan

[Charles Hundertmark]

I visited a few spots in Northeastern Colorado yesterday and today. Much of the 
water at Logan County hotspots was frozen.

At Little Jumbo, the highlight was two Trumpeter Swans, previously reported by 
Steve Larson, swimming in a narrow strip of open water. When I stopped a second 
time in hopes of better photos, I was pleasantly surprised by a Prairie Merlin 
flying in to perch atop a cottonwood. 

At Jumbo, the water was near 100% frozen. Nonetheless, thousands of white geese 
were standing or walking on the ice. Gulls, however, were scarce (2-3 Herring 
and an Iceland). Wind made observation miserable. During my second stop at 
Little Jumbo, I was awed by the spectacular fly out the the thousands of Snow 
Geese from Jumbo.

At Fort Morgan Riverside Park this morning, the large pond was frozen over (a 
change from the weekend). A few geese were on the ice but most were grazing in 
scattered groups on the lawns. An adult snow goose and two adult Greater 
White-fronted Geese were obligingly close to the road. An immature Snow Goose 
(seen last weekend by the Denver Audubon Master Birder class) was swimming on 
the second pond which still had open water. There appear to be three or more of 
the white-fronted geese in the park vicinity since one of two seen by the 
Master Birder class last weekend was an immature. Had hoped to get a photo of 
the immature today, but could not find it among the hundreds of white-cheeked 
(mostly Cackling) geese. In addition to the geese in the park there were 
several hundred more on the South Platte.

A largely bird-free walk on the Riverside Park trails produced a Northern 
Shrike.

Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO


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[cobirds] No Gyrfalcon today, Larimer

[Dale Adams]

Hi all,
We started looking for the Gyrfalcon this morning around 7:40 AM, but it was a 
pretty cold morning with the temperature starting at 16F and there wasn't much 
activity during the morning. Around noon as it got warmer several raptors 
started rising, including a few Red-tailed Hawks, a Northern Harrier, a 
Ferruginous Hawk and a couple Bald Eagles.  Around 400 gulls finally showed up 
around 1:00 PM, including Thayer's, California, Lesser Black-backed, and 
Glaucous, and stayed for about an hour.  But the Gyrfalcon never put in an 
appearance in the five and a half hours or so we looked for it.
Happy Birding!
Dale and Joel Adams
Fremont County

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[cobirds] Flagler CBC 1/4/20

[William H Kaempfer]

Six birders in three teams worked the 9th Flagler CBC.  It was a hot (63 
degrees), dry day on the plains with little bird activity.  At only 30, we had 
the lowest number of species by 10%.  Most of the species we observed were of 
the "every-year" variety; we even missed one of those (TOSO) and had all-time 
lows for 4 of our 30 species.  Golden Eagle and Mourning Dove, and a fly-over 
flock of 90 Canada Geese were probably our best birds.  Flagler gives a good 
idea of what birds are on the dry plains outside of the two major river 
corridors.

Bill Kaempfer
Safety Harbor, FL

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Re: [cobirds] Overeager, Arapahoe County

[Robert Righter]

Hi

I just penned a short article for the Lark Bunting, should be in the February 
issue, about a whooper of a mis-id I made many years ago. It’s taken me over 40 
years to finally come to grips with that excruciatingly embarrassing call.

Stay tuned, more to come 

Cheers, Bob

> On Jan 16, 2020, at 9:31 AM, Mary Kay Waddington  
> wrote:
> 
> OK, I don't really want to turn this forum into a list of everyone's 
> "NotABird" stories, because we've all had them -- but I couldn't resist this 
> one.  When Charlie Chase was Curator of Ornithology at the museum (and I a 
> lowly bird-skinner) we were out birding one day and passed by a road kill.  
> We both agreed immediately that it was a Short-eared Owl!  So we slammed on 
> the brakes and backed up the road to pick it up  ---  Sheep's head.
> 
> Mary Kay Waddington
> 
> On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 8:09 AM Sebastian Patti  > wrote:
> Chlorox  bottles hiding in corn stubble in mid-winter can closely resemble 
> SNOWY OWLS . . .
> 
> Trust me . . . 
> 
> sebastianpa...@hotmail.com  
> Sebastian T. Patti 
> 770 S. Grand Avenue
> Unit 3088
> Los Angeles, CA 90017 
> CELL: 773/304-7488
> 
> From: Joe Roller mailto:jroll...@gmail.com>>
> Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 8:08 AM
> To: Colorado Birds  >
> Cc: twilberd...@comcast.net  
> mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net>>; Bob's Email 
> mailto:rorigh...@earthlink.net>>; Sebastian Patti 
> mailto:sebastianpa...@hotmail.com>>
> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Overeager, Arapahoe County
>  
> Good photo documentation of the seldom seen hybrid, "Loon x Grebe".
> Joe Roller
> 
> PS Cobirds is chock full of serious bird reports, so it's refreshing to find 
> one like Tom's
> that screams "Beware! I goofed! So can you!"
> 
> Here's the tale of the worst ID I ever made. 
> A DFO trip to South Texas, led by the stalwart Bob Righter, found our group 
> on the ferry ride across Galveston Bay.  
> Bob had just told us to be alert, as this leg of the trip offered our only 
> chance for Brown Pelican. I was excited 
> and determined to be the first to spot one. 
> "Brown Pelican!" I yelled out, agitated and excited. "Two o'clock on the far 
> shore!"
> Bob glassed the spot I pointed to and calmly asked, "Joe, where is it from 
> that German Shepherd?"  
> My meek reply, "Oh, well. Never mind. He was scratching himself and got into 
> a shape like a Brown Pelican.
> I'll keep scanning." 
> 
> Roger Tory Peterson led a field trip to a Bronx shore one winter. He called 
> out "Mountain Bluebird!"
> It turned out to be a half-buried Bromo-Seltzer bottle.
> 
> I suppose that bone-head calls like that happen to most of us from time to 
> time, but who will admit it?
> Who else has stories like those?
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 8:32 PM Sebastian Patti  > wrote:
> Overeager and maybe just a tad too GREBEY!!
> 
>  . . . sorry . . .
> 
> sebastianpa...@hotmail.com  
> Sebastian T. Patti 
> 770 S. Grand Avenue
> Unit 3088
> Los Angeles, CA 90017 
> CELL: 773/304-7488
> 
> From: cobirds@googlegroups.com  
> mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com>> on behalf of Tom 
> Wilberding mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net>>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 8:59 PM
> To: Colorado Birds  >
> Subject: [cobirds] Overeager, Arapahoe County
>  
>  Hi all,
> This afternoon I was at windy Aurora Reservoir looking for the often-reported 
> Yellow-billed Loon. I went down to the beach and started scanning with my 500 
> mm camera lens. I spotted three Common Loons way out there , but then 
> realized they were Common Mergansers. That should have been a warning to me.
> 
> After a long while I feared I would dip on the YBLO, but suddenly, out of the 
> corner of my eye, there it was. Wow! Swimming along pretty close to shore 
> between the waves. It looked maybe a little too brown and the bill looked a 
> little small, but “WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE?” I took about 100 photos and felt 
> triumphant. 
> 
> Later at Starbucks I zoomed my camera screen in close to appreciate the 
> subtleties of a Yellow-billed Loon. Below what I saw. Truly jaw-dropping.
> 
> Better birding next time,
> Tom Wilberding
> Littleton, CO
> 
> 
> 
> <_V6A1103.jpg>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
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> "Colorado Birds" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an 
> email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com 
> .
> To view this discussion on the web visit 
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/0e701bbe-6186-40a8-a1e6-41b784ded427%40googlegroups.com
>  
> 

[cobirds] Snowy Owls (not)

[Leon Bright]

Re: below--  So do upside-down plastic bags.

Leon Bright, Pueblo

 

From: cobirds@googlegroups.com  On Behalf Of 
Sebastian Patti
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 8:09 AM
To: Joe Roller ; Colorado Birds 
Cc: twilberd...@comcast.net; Bob's Email 
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Overeager, Arapahoe County

 

Chlorox  bottles hiding in corn stubble in mid-winter can closely resemble 
SNOWY OWLS . . .

 

Trust me . . . 

 

sebastianpa...@hotmail.com   
Sebastian T. Patti 
770 S. Grand Avenue

Unit 3088

Los Angeles, CA 90017 
CELL: 773/304-7488

 

  _  

From: Joe Roller mailto:jroll...@gmail.com> >
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 8:08 AM
To: Colorado Birds mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com> >
Cc: twilberd...@comcast.net   
mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net> >; Bob's Email 
mailto:rorigh...@earthlink.net> >; Sebastian Patti 
mailto:sebastianpa...@hotmail.com> >
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Overeager, Arapahoe County 

 

Good photo documentation of the seldom seen hybrid, "Loon x Grebe". 

Joe Roller

 

PS Cobirds is chock full of serious bird reports, so it's refreshing to find 
one like Tom's

that screams "Beware! I goofed! So can you!"

 

Here's the tale of the worst ID I ever made. 

A DFO trip to South Texas, led by the stalwart Bob Righter, found our group on 
the ferry ride across Galveston Bay.  

Bob had just told us to be alert, as this leg of the trip offered our only 
chance for Brown Pelican. I was excited 

and determined to be the first to spot one. 

"Brown Pelican!" I yelled out, agitated and excited. "Two o'clock on the far 
shore!"

Bob glassed the spot I pointed to and calmly asked, "Joe, where is it from that 
German Shepherd?"  

My meek reply, "Oh, well. Never mind. He was scratching himself and got into a 
shape like a Brown Pelican.

I'll keep scanning." 

 

Roger Tory Peterson led a field trip to a Bronx shore one winter. He called out 
"Mountain Bluebird!"

It turned out to be a half-buried Bromo-Seltzer bottle.

 

I suppose that bone-head calls like that happen to most of us from time to 
time, but who will admit it?

Who else has stories like those?

 

 

 

On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 8:32 PM Sebastian Patti mailto:sebastianpa...@hotmail.com> > wrote:

Overeager and maybe just a tad too GREBEY!!

 

 . . . sorry . . .

 

sebastianpa...@hotmail.com   
Sebastian T. Patti 
770 S. Grand Avenue

Unit 3088

Los Angeles, CA 90017 
CELL: 773/304-7488

 

  _  

From: cobirds@googlegroups.com   
mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com> > on behalf of Tom 
Wilberding mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net> >
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 8:59 PM
To: Colorado Birds mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com> >
Subject: [cobirds] Overeager, Arapahoe County 

 

 Hi all,
This afternoon I was at windy Aurora Reservoir looking for the often-reported 
Yellow-billed Loon. I went down to the beach and started scanning with my 500 
mm camera lens. I spotted three Common Loons way out there , but then realized 
they were Common Mergansers. That should have been a warning to me.

After a long while I feared I would dip on the YBLO, but suddenly, out of the 
corner of my eye, there it was. Wow! Swimming along pretty close to shore 
between the waves. It looked maybe a little too brown and the bill looked a 
little small, but “WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE?” I took about 100 photos and felt 
triumphant. 

Later at Starbucks I zoomed my camera screen in close to appreciate the 
subtleties of a Yellow-billed Loon. Below what I saw. Truly jaw-dropping.

Better birding next time,
Tom Wilberding
Littleton, CO

 



 

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 .
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 .

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[cobirds] Re: Loon’s with fishing gear in bills

['Senglan9' via Colorado Birds]

This Loon is going to die not of natural causes but because some lazy 
fisherman decided to cut his line and leave it.  I don't imagine the 
rangers have even tried to help the loon.  I just called and spoke with the 
office about it.  He then pointed me to the rangers office.  Please 
continue to call the office until they do something about it.  It wouldn't 
be hard to at least attempt to try and save the loon.  The office number is 
303-326-8425.  Please call until they get so frustrated that they actually 
do something about it. Thanks.

On Monday, January 13, 2020 at 11:42:10 PM UTC-7, Robert Raker wrote:
>
> Observed the COLO you referred to at Aurora Reservoir. Got pics of it and 
> it appears the fishing line completely encircles the bill. Not sure if the 
> bird can even opener's bill. I observed the bird continuously trying to 
> wipe off the lure and line off of it's beak. Very sad. See pics at: 
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S63378535
> Robert Raker 
> Lakewood CO.
>
>
> On Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 10:03:11 AM UTC-7, Gregg Goodrich wrote:
>>
>> We currently have 2 loons with fishing line, lures or hooks in their 
>> bills here in the Denver area. Chatfield has a Pacific Loon with fishing 
>> gear in it’s bill. Several birders have notified the park office and they 
>> said that they couldn’t get a boat out to do a rescue because of the ice at 
>> the boat ramps. Even if they could, catching it would be a challenge.
>>
>> Aurora Reservoir has a Common Loon with fishing gear in it’s bill as 
>> well. I notified the park ranger supervisor this morning. He said as long 
>> as it was diving and healthy it would be hard to catch. He said if it’s 
>> health starts to fail, then they might be able to catch it. 
>>
>> So, keep an eye on these birds and if they start to look unhealthy we can 
>> notify the rangers.
>>
>> Gregg Goodrich 
>> Highlands Ranch 
>>
>>

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[cobirds] Re: Overeager, Arapahoe County

[Caleb A]

>
> Oh my word! Let me guess this story will land its place in the "dipper" 
> journal ;)
>
I once dipped on a Black-Bellied Plover 3 times, at a hotspot only 10 
minutes away from my house. That was embarrassing, to say the least...
Happy birding!
~Caleb A 

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[cobirds] Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Thursday, January 16, 2020

[Gregg Goodrich]

Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020

Email: r...@cobirds.org

Compiler: Gregg Goodrich gregggoodr...@gmail.com

303-655-9135


—

Birders have been helpful by reporting updates to COBIRDS. Thanks!

CAPITAL LETTERS denote very rare species, as listed by the Colorado Bird
Records Committee at the CFO website.

(*) indicates new information on a species.

For more information on birds seen today, go to cobirds.org and scroll to
the bottom for “Recent eBird Sightings.”

_


Rare, out-of-place and out-of-season species include:


BRANT (Jefferson)
Trumpeter Swan (*Logan, Mesa)
Tundra Swan (*Weld)

Red-necked Grebe (Douglas, Jefferson, Pueblo)
Dunlin (Mesa, Pueblo)
Least Sandpiper (Mesa, Pueblo)
Glaucous Gull (Bent, Logan)

Great Black-backed Gull (Bent, *Pueblo)
Red-throated Loon (Pueblo)
Pacific Loon (Douglas, Jefferson, Pueblo)
YELLOW-BILLED LOON (*Arapahoe)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Custer, Garfield, Larimer, Otero)
GYRFALCON (Larimer)
PACIFIC WREN (Jefferson)

Black-throated Sparrow (Otero)
Western Tanager (Pueblo)



ARAPAHOE COUNTY:

—On Jan 15, a YELLOW-BILLED LOON was reported at Aurora Reservoir. First
reported Dec 29 by Steve Mlodinow. This may be the same bird reported first
at Cherry Creek SP on Nov 8, then at Aurora Reservoir in early Dec. There
is a $10 fee to enter this city Reservoir.



BENT COUNTY:

—On Jan 11, a Great Black-backed Gull was reported at John Martin
Reservoir. First reported Jan 10.

—On Jan 10, a Glaucous Gull was observed at John Martin Reservoir by Duane
Nelson.



CUSTER COUNTY:

—On Jan 11, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was reported at Wetmore Library by Al
Garner and Darth Aves.


DOUGLAS /JEFFERSON COUNTIES (CHATFIELD RESERVOIR):

—On Jan 12, the continuing Pacific Loon was reported on the Jefferson side
of the reservoir. Also seen Jan 9 at Marina Sandspit and Handicapped
Fisherman Platform. First reported Dec 8 by Joey Kellner.



GARFIELD COUNTY:

—On Jan 10, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was reported in Centennial Park in
Carbondale by Dick Filby and Al Levantin. This adult male is believed to be
the same bird that spent last winter in the park, in the same tree where it
was found Jan 10.



JEFFERSON COUNTY:

—On Jan 14, the continuing BRANT was reported at Lake Arbor by several
birders. First reported Dec 20 by Amy Cervene.

—On Jan 11, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was reported in Golden by Amanda
Spears.

—On Jan 7, a PACIFIC WREN was reported at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood.
Previously seen along Bear Creek WSW of Whitetail Picnic area, about 150
yards downstream from junction creek and trail from parking lot. First
reported Dec 22 by Chris Wood. First county record for this species. NOTE:
Fee-only entry via daily or annual Lakewood city pass (not a state park).



LARIMER COUNTY:

—On Jan 13, a GYRFALCON was seen near Larimer County Landfill in Fort
Collins. First reported Nov 3 by Robert Beauchamp, in same location where a
Gyrfalcon spent much of winter 2019. *Please post updates to COB**irds**.*

—On Jan 9, the continuing adult male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was reported
in Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins by Joey Negreann. Two males (adult
and immature) were reported Jan 7. The adult was first reported in mid-Nov
and the immature on Dec. 23 by Dave Leatherman.


LOGAN:

—On Jan 15, Trumpeter Swans (2) were reported at Little Jumbo Reservoir by
Tom Wilberding on the 14th. Could be the same (2) from Red Lion SWA first
reported by Steve Larson on the 8th.


MESA COUNTY:

—On Jan 14, Trumpeter Swans (2) were reported at DeBeque Canyon Pullout
area by Brooks Bennett on the 14th.

—On Jan 12, Least Sandpipers (2) were reported at Horsethief Canyon SWA by
Deb Stegall.

—On Jan 12, Trumpeter Swans (6) were reported at Grand Junction Wildlife
Area by Ron Lambeth, and 2 more TRSWs were reported near Persigo Water
Treatment Plant, Fruita.

—On Jan 9, a Dunlin was reported at Horsethief Canyon SWA on the Colorado
River. First reported Dec 28 by Douglas Diekman.



OTERO COUNTY:

—On Jan 12, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Black-throated Sparrow were
reported on Higbee Valley Road (Otero CR 804) south of La Junta by Norman
Erthal.


PUEBLO COUNTY:

—On Jan 15, the Great Black-backed Gull known as “Murray” was reported at
Pueblo Reservoir’s South Marina. Murray has spent 20-plus years as a winter
resident of Lake Pueblo SP.

—On Jan 14, Dunlins (2) were reported at Pueblo Reservoir’s South Marina.
First reported Dec 19, 2019 by Evan Carlson.

—On Jan 14, a Red-throated Loon was reported at Pueblo Reservoir first
reported by Brandon Percival on Nov. 28, 2019.

—On Jan 12, a Pacific Loon was reported at Pueblo Reservoir first reported
Nov. 8, 2019 by David Tonnessen.

—On Jan 12, a Western Tanager was reported at Valco Ponds SWA by Josh
Bruening. Likely the same bird observed Jan 4 at nearby Pueblo West Gravel
Pit and at Pueblo Nature Center. First reported Jan. 2 by Brandon Percival
and Chris Knight.

—On Jan 12, Least