[cobirds] Hudsonian Godwits and the Weather Pattern

[Bryan Guarente]

COBIrders,
*TL;DR (Too long; didn't read):* I don't know why the Hudsonian Godwits
showed up today in Boulder County, but I wanted to let you know some things
about numerical weather models that make them not always the best way to
answer the bird migration question I often pose on COBIRDS.  There is more
to weather forecasting than just what the model data says.

*Full story:*
Eric DeFonso spread the word this morning that there were 15 Hudsonian
Godwits seen at Lagerman Reservoir SW of Longmont in Boulder County, CO.
 I was surprised to hear this as yesterday's frontal passage wasn't
remarkable for driving birds into the Front Range.  Here is the pattern for
the same time that Eric reported these birds on eBird.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#2021/05/03/1500Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/orthographic=-102.64,34.64,2728/loc=-105.187,40.138
(Green
circle is the location of Lagerman Reservoir)

Seems like quite the wrong pattern for birds to be coming into CO... hmm.

So maybe we need to look late yesterday (sunset on May 2nd) to see what it
looked like then:
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2021/05/03/0200Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/orthographic=-102.64,34.64,2728/loc=-105.187,40.138
(Same
green circle on Lagerman Reservoir)

No better and you can see the cold front more clearly from Iowa through
Nebraska and into Kansas (blue squiggle of convergent winds on this
image).  Again, it doesn't look like a good time for birds to be coming to
CO as the winds are from the north making most birds want to stop their
journey rather than face the north winds.

Let's keep going backwards  in time though.  Here is 12pm May 2nd.  I am
choosing this time for a reason that will become clearer later.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2021/05/02/1800Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/orthographic=-102.64,34.64,2728/loc=-105.187,40.138
(Same
green circle)

Still in that same boat... not good migration conditions into CO.  This was
the last observation time as well from a birder on eBird at Lagerman
yesterday... leaving a large window of opportunity for these birds to come
to Lagerman and go undetected until this morning.

But this is where the story goes off course from my normal posts to
COBirds.  The website data is from a computer model.  Computer models are
right in many ways and I love their output for posts like the ones I
normally make.  One of the ways that meteorologists are still important is
that we can sometimes tell when the model data needs some nudging to make a
good public forecast.  Or we can use the observations in hindsight to
compare to the models and we can see when something was missing.  This is
one of the latter cases.

Let's look at a variable that I don't normally ask you to look at: 3-hour
precipitation accumulation.  This is how much rain or snow accumulated over
the last three hours from the time of the plot.  So at the following map
time, the data show precipitation from 9am until 12pm.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#2021/05/02/1800Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/overlay=precip_3hr/orthographic=-102.64,34.64,2728/loc=-105.187,40.138
(Same
green circle)

The amount of rain near Lagerman Reservoir was expected to be .06 inches.
This is light rain for a bit.  Nothing much.  In reality, let's see what
was happening:
https://climate.cod.edu/data/nexrad/FTG/N0Q/FTG.N0Q.20210502.1653.gif.

This is a pretty strong line of thunderstorms moving from west to east that
was barreling down the foothills to change the local smaller scale weather
pattern compared to the model output.  This wasn't going to be a little bit
of rain for a bit.  This was a thunderstorm that was meaning business for
those in the way of it.  That radar image was a few minutes after Boulder
Municipal Airport had received .9 inches of precipitation in the last *hour*
.

This is a major departure from what the model was saying!  This model
wasn't expecting a thunderstorm like we ended up receiving.  This means
that some of the local winds (at the surface and aloft) are likely
different by a large amount compared to the model output.  This could have
led to a situation where the Hudsonian Godwits found a different pathway
through the meteorological pattern that we just aren't seeing in the model
data.  I don't know for sure how the Godwits got here, but I am speculating
that this thunderstorm and its resulting change in the wind pattern as it
moved off of the foothills and out into the eastern plains of CO caused a
nice migration pathway to help them find Lagerman Reservoir.

Now, since you have read this far, I have to give you something else to
work with.  I believe the Hudsonian Godwits have a chance of sticking
around through the night if you didn't get your chance today.  Here is
tomorrow morning (7am May 4th):
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2021/05/04/1300Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/orthographic=-102.64,34.64,2728/loc=-105.187,40.138
.

This is the first solid south wind for these birds to leave on.  So if you
get to Lagerman at around sun-up, you have a chance of seeing these 

[cobirds] Rigden Res, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 5/3/2021

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Highlights today (late afternoon) in the rain:
*Red-necked Phalarope (1f breeding, maybe 2) south shore, FOY for me, seems 
7-10 days early for northern Front Range

Wilson's Phalarope (3)
Peregrine Falcon (flyover)
Savannah Sparrow (10+ along the south and west sides in the weeds)
Vesper Sparrow (5, south and west sides)
Least Sandpiper (7)
Peep sp. (1) never got a good look but think it had black legs and was not a 
Least
Willet (only a few)
American Avocet (only a few)
Swallows (all six expected species)
Semipalmated Plover (2) south shore
Bonaparte's Gull (at least 1, maybe more flying from Rigden over toward Top 
Minnow)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (big flock of all females, first females I have seen in 
any numbers)
Very few ducks and grebes

Total of 51 species (including Top Minnow, which always has a good assortment 
of ducks)

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins

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[cobirds] Re: HUDSONIAN GODWITS, Boulder

[Mike Hensley]

These were still visible this afternoon along with a ton of other 
shorebirds. I counted five Black-Necked Stilts and got the red exclamation 
point from eBird for a high count. Really nice birding if you can stand the 
wet and cold.

On Monday, May 3, 2021 at 9:56:00 AM UTC-6 Eric DeFonso wrote:

> Folks, about a dozen are looking at a flock of 15 Hudsonian Godwits 
> Lagerman reservoir. 
>
> Eric DeFonso
> near Lyons, CO
> Sent from the Aether

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[cobirds] Chipping Sparrow - west Centennial Arapahoe County

[kevygudguy via Colorado Birds]

Hello Fellow Birders, Today a lone (so far) Chipping Sparrow has joined the 
finchian flocks at the feeders in my little townhouse yard near Holly & 
Arapahoe in west Centennial.  Last year I had a pair mating here on May 11th, 
perhaps this is one of them... Keep Smilin',Kevin Corwin west Centennial, 
Arapahoe County Sent from my Remington Rand Typewriter via my Rotary Dial Wall 
Phone 

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[cobirds] Blue-winged Warbler, Denver County, Yes

[Brian Johnson]

Sometime yesterday someone, I don't know who but thank you, found a 
Blue-winged Warbler at the same place were the Yellow-crowned Night-heron 
was. The bird was staying high up in the the trees gleaning with 
Yellow-rumped Warblers. Me and several others saw it about 9:50 today in 
light rain. It's a beauty and a lifer for me.
To reach this place take Green Valley Ranch Blvd to Himalaya Dr and park on 
the other side of the street in the neighborhood at 53rd street or around 
there. There is a public pathway following the creek and a golf course, the 
golf course is a privet  with fines for trespassing so be careful where you 
walk and respect this property. Just stay on the path and you should be 
fine. The bird was staying with the old cottonwoods. The night heron was 
also still there.
Hopefully if it sticks around someone will update this thread. Ebird 
hotspot is First Creek at Green Valley Ranch.
Good Birding,
Brian Johnson

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[cobirds] Re: Poorwill outing opportunity on May 6 - all full now

[David Suddjian]

We have our group for May 6. I hope to offer other opportunities this spring.

David Suddjian
Ken Caryl Valley
Littleton Co

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 2, 2021, at 9:21 PM, David Suddjian  wrote:
> 
> Common Poorwills are now returning to our foothills. They are among my 
> favorite birds, and fortunately they are regular and relatively numerous here 
> where I live at Ken Caryl Valley.
> 
> I will host a relaxed evening outing this Thursday May 6 at 7-9 pm to search 
> for poorwills at private open space of Ken Caryl Ranch, and I invite seven 
> interested birders to join me. We will likely hear poorwills and have a good 
> chance of seeing one, too. It is always lovely to be out at dusk. 
> 
> If you are interested please reply directly to me and I will provide meeting 
> details and let you know how the outing will operate. 
> 
> David Suddjian
> Ken Caryl Valley
> Littleton, CO
> 
> Sent from my iPhone

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[cobirds] Interesting Towhee Song, Ridgway State Park, Ouray County

[ridgw...@gmail.com]

This morning while listening to a couple of Spotted Towhees singing on 
territory at Ridgway State Park,  I heard another towhee start singing a 
"drink your tea" song,  suggesting an Eastern Towhee.  I don't know if it 
was an Eastern Towhee, a confused Spotted Towhee, or maybe a hybrid because 
the brush was too thick for me to locate the bird.  Here is my eBird list 
with  an audio recording of the bird.  
eBird Checklist - 3 May 2021 - Ridgway Reservoir--below the dam - 9 species 
(+1 other taxa) 
Don Marsh
Ridgway, Ouray County

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[cobirds] Re: HUDSONIAN GODWITS, Boulder

[David Tønnessen]

This is truly incredible. eBird's previous high count for the species in 
Colorado was 4, nearly 40 years ago.

David

On Monday, May 3, 2021 at 9:56:00 AM UTC-6 Eric DeFonso wrote:

> Folks, about a dozen are looking at a flock of 15 Hudsonian Godwits 
> Lagerman reservoir. 
>
> Eric DeFonso
> near Lyons, CO
> Sent from the Aether

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[cobirds] Re: [wsbn] Brown-capped rosy finch behavior

[Shep & Mary Harris]

A great option to suggest to friends that don't want to construct anything
themselves is to purchase the Acopian Bird Savers already made for your
problem windows!
Mary


On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 07:12, Bill Stevens  wrote:

> After much experimentation, I can suggest a cheap and effective
> window treatment -- hanging cords from the window.  I attach a link, but we
> made them ourselves by taking a piece of wood the length of the window,
> stapling on black thin parachute cord 3.5 inches apart and just hammering
> the board on to the window frame.  Have not had a bird strike since.
>
> https://mn.audubon.org/cords-strings-and-ribbons
>
> Katie Stevens
> Moab
>
> On Sun, May 2, 2021 at 12:41 PM Shep & Mary Harris 
> wrote:
>
>> Glad you all were able to witness this behavior.
>> It's sad, but how incredibly interesting that they are so very social and
>> bonded.
>> I was able to watch this behavior a couple times; once in Southern Africa
>> with lesser striped swallows doing what looked like trying to revive their
>> dead comrade and then a black-billed magpie gathering.  BTW - do you need
>> any window treatments to prevent this from happening again? I have tons of
>> samples.
>> Thanks for sharing!
>> Mary
>>
>> On Sun, 2 May 2021 at 11:22, Bryan  wrote:
>>
>>> Hello-
>>> I've continued to host rosy finches in my yard at 8000 feet in Snowmass
>>> Village, up to 500 birds at a time of three species.  Today, unfortunately,
>>> two of the Brown-capped rosy-finches crashed into a window and died.  What
>>> followed was sad and remarkable.  For about the next hour, up to perhaps
>>> 200 of the finches gathered in the trees around the two dead finches.  They
>>> would descend and gather immediately around the birds, up to 100 at a time
>>> and linger next to the dead finches.  On occasion one of the finches would
>>> land on top of one of the dead birds, flapping its wings, reminiscent of
>>> copulation, or, as my 10-year-old son put it, "doing CPR."  This continued
>>> for about an hour or so.  I don't think that any of the attending birds
>>> were Gray-crowned or Black rosy-finches but I'm not totally sure of that.
>>> It reminds me of the behavior of mourning elephants that linger around the
>>> body of a dead relative, as I've seen on nature documentaries.  My children
>>> took a brief video of the experience.
>>> Bryan Gieszl
>>> Snowmass Village, CO
>>>
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>>> 
>>> .
>>>
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>> 
>> .
>>
>

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[cobirds] HUDSONIAN GODWITS, Boulder

[bay . wren]

Folks, about a dozen are looking at a flock of 15 Hudsonian Godwits Lagerman 
reservoir. 

Eric DeFonso
near Lyons, CO
Sent from the Aether

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[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (03 May 2021) Raptors

[reports]

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: May 03, 2021
---

SpeciesDay's CountMonth Total   Season Total
-- --- -- --
Black Vulture0  0  0
Turkey Vulture   0  3152
Osprey   0  0 26
Bald Eagle   0  0 21
Northern Harrier 0  0  4
Sharp-shinned Hawk   0  2128
Cooper's Hawk0  4102
Northern Goshawk 0  0 10
Red-shouldered Hawk  0  0  0
Broad-winged Hawk0  2 32
Red-tailed Hawk  0  2348
Rough-legged Hawk0  0  1
Swainson's Hawk  0  1 11
Ferruginous Hawk 0  0  9
Golden Eagle 0  0  9
American Kestrel 0  2121
Merlin   0  0 12
Peregrine Falcon 0  0 11
Prairie Falcon   0  0 22
Mississippi Kite 0  0  0
Unknown Accipiter0  0 11
Unknown Buteo0  0 18
Unknown Falcon   0  0  7
Unknown Eagle0  0  0
Unknown Raptor   0  0  7

Total:   0 16   1062
--

(No count conducted today)



Weather:
The forecast for the Dinosaur Ridge area is for light rain to thunderstorms
all day today. Visibility is very low, based on traffic cams in the area.
Today's counter will monitor conditions for better watch weather. 

Raptor Observations:


Non-raptor Observations:


Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at:
http://www.dfobirds.org


More site information at hawkcount.org:  
https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=123


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Re: [cobirds] Re: [wsbn] Brown-capped rosy finch behavior

[Jeff Kehoe]

Interesing behavior.  I'd not heard of that.  I've had really good luck 
with decals on the windows to keep the bird strikes down.  Something like 
these:

https://windowalert.com/

On Sunday, May 2, 2021 at 9:26:08 PM UTC-6 bunting...@gmail.com wrote:

> It's sad but interesting about the finch behavior. I had know about crows 
> doing this, called a crow funeral, but not finches. I have however seen 
> behavior like this in two other birds species.
> The more recent one also involved a Cooper's Hawk. I had gotten home from 
> work late afternoon to find the American Robins really raising cain, I had 
> not seen them so agitated before. Eventual I found the reason, a Cooper's 
> Hawk with a dead robin. The hawk flew to the neighbor's house and the 
> robins continued to harass it. Eventual the hawk left with it's kill.
> The other one has stuck with me even more, it seem even more sad to me for 
> some reason . I was driving through downtown Englewood, Hampden Ave and 
> Inca about, and slowing down in the usual traffic I saw a dead female 
> Mallard (hen) in the gutter, apparently struck by a car, the male (drake) 
> was on the sidewalk. The drake was leaning over the curb and nudging the 
> hen's body. I only saw it for around 30 seconds since I was driving through 
> and only got a glance but it remains so vivid to me to this day, and very 
> sad. This one especially seemed to be mourning behavoir.
> Sometimes sad birding,
> Brian Johnson,
> Englewood Co
>
> On Sunday, May 2, 2021 at 6:45:10 PM UTC-6 Carol wrote:
>
>> I once witnessed a Cooper’s Hawk killing of a juvenile Blue Jay and the 
>> grief of its parent that about broke my heart.
>> The Cooper fled over my yard and for some reason dropped its prey. The 
>> parent had been chasing and squawking after the Cooper, but stopped and 
>> perched on a tree limb when it saw the fledgling on the ground. The parent 
>> began to call loudly to the bird, but after awhile the tone of the call 
>> changed dramatically and became what I would describe as a slurred, gentle 
>> wailing. It cried over that dead baby for at least 15 minutes and was just 
>> heart-breaking to hear. Finally it flew away quietly and I dried my eyes.
>>
>> Carol Blackard
>> carolblackard.com
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On May 2, 2021, at 6:33 PM, Shep & Mary Harris  wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>> Glad you all were able to witness this behavior.
>> It's sad, but how incredibly interesting that they are so very social and 
>> bonded.
>> I was able to watch this behavior a couple times; once in Southern Africa 
>> with lesser striped swallows doing what looked like trying to revive their 
>> dead comrade and then a black-billed magpie gathering.  BTW - do you need 
>> any window treatments to prevent this from happening again? I have tons of 
>> samples.
>> Thanks for sharing!
>> Mary
>>
>> On Sun, 2 May 2021 at 11:22, Bryan  wrote:
>>
>>> Hello-
>>> I've continued to host rosy finches in my yard at 8000 feet in Snowmass 
>>> Village, up to 500 birds at a time of three species.  Today, unfortunately, 
>>> two of the Brown-capped rosy-finches crashed into a window and died.  What 
>>> followed was sad and remarkable.  For about the next hour, up to perhaps 
>>> 200 of the finches gathered in the trees around the two dead finches.  They 
>>> would descend and gather immediately around the birds, up to 100 at a time 
>>> and linger next to the dead finches.  On occasion one of the finches would 
>>> land on top of one of the dead birds, flapping its wings, reminiscent of 
>>> copulation, or, as my 10-year-old son put it, "doing CPR."  This continued 
>>> for about an hour or so.  I don't think that any of the attending birds 
>>> were Gray-crowned or Black rosy-finches but I'm not totally sure of that.  
>>> It reminds me of the behavior of mourning elephants that linger around the 
>>> body of a dead relative, as I've seen on nature documentaries.  My children 
>>> took a brief video of the experience.  
>>> Bryan Gieszl
>>> Snowmass Village, CO
>>>
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>>>  
>>> 
>>> .
>>>
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Re: [cobirds] Bird behavior in hail storm

['Deborah Carstensen' via Colorado Birds]

Wow!  What an amazing thing to see! I’ve always wondered how these types of 
birds survive hail. I know that hail can kill larger birds like the pelicans 
killed at a lake in Colorado. Does anyone remember that terrible hail storm 
that killed so many pelicans?

Deb Carstensen, Arapahoe county 
Sent from my iPhone

> On May 2, 2021, at 9:34 PM, John Shenot  wrote:
> 
> This afternoon at my home in Fort Collins I was watching a flock of 30 or so 
> tree swallows flying far over my back yard, several hundred feet high, when 
> hail started falling all around me. A second or two later the swallows dove, 
> as a group, in a straight line at full speed. Fast! When they were just 50 
> feet off the ground they banked hard and disappeared into a large spruce. 
> They sheltered there until the hail stopped.
> 
> John Shenot 
> Fort Collins, CO
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