[cobirds] Colorado condors countable?
CObirders, The ABA changed their rules for counting reintroduced indigenous birds on 9/27/14. Populations no longer need to be self-sustaining. They only need to have "successfully hatched young in the wild." This has caused a lot of discussion on the AZ/NM listserv regarding condors, which are now legal to count. Do I recall correctly that a condor was reported from southwestern CO a few years ago? If so, would those who chased it and saw it be able to count it now? There is an ABA rule that lets a bird observed in the past "when it was not considered a valid species" to be counted when it becomes a valid species. I guess you'd have to determine if there had been successful hatching of young in AZ before you saw the bird in CO. The in-house discussion of the decision to make the rule change is very interesting, particularly the lone dissenter's statement. It's available here: http://listing.aba.org/rsec-vote-2014-04/ Scott Roederer Estes Park -- 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/DF0C6D49-9EB8-4AA9-84CA-72AD0144B70B%40estesvalley.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[cobirds] Sage sparrow, G Yellowlegs, L. Estes
CObirders, Upslope weather brought several interesting birds to Lake Estes today. At the marina were sage sparrows, Say's phoebes, and American pipits. A greater yellowlegs and a killdeer were below the dam. On the lake were a pair of Franklin's gulls, one of them bright pink, and a ring-billed gull. Mountain bluebirds were numerous around the lake. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Jumbo fee
CObirders, The $36 fee for Jumbo and Prewitt seems exorbitant, mainly because you'd evidently still need a habitat stamp for other SWAs. Sounds like the high fee is simply to discourage "non-wildlife" activities at those two areas and may be a good thing overall. It seems to me the smart thing to do is just to buy a fishing license for $26 and add the $10 habitat stamp. That way you have access to all SWAs at the same price as the Jumbo/Prewitt permit. If you happen to be 64 or over, an annual fishing license is only $1. The $10 habitat stamp may also be required, although the DOW website says they are only required for ages 18-64. As noted in the discussion, the price of a license or a stand-alone habitat stamp covers expenses related to search and rescue (but not medical transportation and so on). Fishing licenses and habitat stamps can be purchased online from the Colorado Division of Wildlife site. Just google Colorado fishing license. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Female Tufted and luck
CObirders, Julie and I will tread, lightly or not, with Doug on the Tufted Duck being a female. We looked at as many field guides as he did, I'm sure, the bird being a lifer for us and the word being that it was an immature male. All evidence points to female for us, too. She has quite a coiffure, but her tuft isn't as long as most illustrations. Perhaps she's an immature, but she's a female in our opinion. Birder's luck has not been kind to us recently, until today. We were in Longmont for an eye exam. Cell phones are not permitted in the office, so I left mine in the car. That was about the time my birding buddy Gary started calling me about the tufted duck. My brain was as dilated as my eyes, I guess, because I failed to check my phone back at the car. We shopped and dillied and dallied. We were returning by back roads west of Hygiene when we spotted Gary and the Estes Park group. We stopped. He rushed up to ask if we'd seen the Tufted Duck. And that's birder's luck. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Bl-throated blue, Nashville at Lake Estes
CObirders, Dave Leatherman found a beautiful female black-throated blue warbler in company with a Nashville warbler along the Lake Estes Trail this morning. They were in the small crab apple trees between the trail and the fence around the utility yard for the power plant. Later they were moving between those trees and the cottonwood tree overhanging the trail. It's a short walk from the parking lot at the Visitor Center at the US 34/36 intersection in Estes Park. Other species of note today included yellow-rumps and a late hermit thrush, both on Pine Point in the bird sanctuary. Some of you will remember coming up for a yellow-throated warbler found last year on Oct. 20. It stayed for six days, attracting several birders from "The Valley." Between the locals and the visitors, that sighting turned into a warbler bonanza with American redstart, northern parula, common yellowthroat, Wilson's warbler, and magnolia warbler all being recorded. This third-week-in-October event is very interesting. If it continues over the years, we'll have to schedule a Warbler Fest to go with the annual Elk Fest. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Orchard oriole, L. Estes; blackburnian RMNP
CObirders, After two days of trying, I finally got to see the immature male orchard oriole first found by Judie Wright yesterday. It was near the big tube over Fish Creek at its inlet to Lake Estes. The bonus for my efforts was a female orchard in consort with it today. It's the first record of this species at the lake. It's our third oriole species. Bullock's orioles are fairly common spring migrants here. There have been two records this spring. And beating the orchard for second place was a male Baltimore found in May 1996. Meanwhile Eric Schuette, a regular contributor to our CBC, found a female blackburnian warbler in Upper Beaver Meadows today, near where the horse trail crosses the social trail up the meadow from the restroom at the end of the road. That represents only the second record of the species in the Park, the first from 6/17/70. He reported 55 species, plus or minus, in the Park today, including clay-colored sparrow and willow flycatcher. So, things are finally picking up in the high country. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Bobolinks, redstart, g. yellowlegs, L. Estes
CObirders, If you're tempted to come up to Rocky for any of this week's great birds, you might want to stop at Lake Estes and the Matthews/Reeser Bird Sanctuary. We're still getting some interesting birds there, as well. Today there were a half dozen bobolinks in the Sanctuary, all of them female. An American redstart was also there, for its second day. And a late greater yellowlegs dropped in along the lake in about noon. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] White-eyed vireo, RMNP
CObirders, An experienced birder from Louisiana who is visiting Rocky Mountain National Park asked me to post this message: >>> I tried to post this from my phone as soon as it happened, but I just found out it didn't go through. My apologies. Anyway, I had a White- eyed Vireo this morning at 7:35 on the Cub Lake trail at RMNP. I'm up here for five weeks of vacation from Louisiana, and I have them in my back yard there. But I was very surprised to see one up here. I thought it was an immature at first because its eyes were black, but I now believe it may be one of those cases in which a mature bird retains the black coloration from its first winter. I've seen that a couple times back home but not often. The bird was foraging about twenty feet off the ground in some mature conifers (when in Rome, I suppose..), and I got clear looks at it. It was between the trailhead and the first little rise in the trail. Again, sorry this didn't go out earlier this morning. Good birding, John Dillon <<< I've asked him to file a rare bird report for us. White-eyed vireo is an accepted species in the Park, but I can't find any contemporary records in the Park's database. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Hooded, magnolia, A. redstart: RMNP
CObirders, We have a great group of birders in Estes Park. We've all birded L. Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park a lot over the last 15 years. You'd think by now we would have found every hot spot. We learned today that we hadn't. Julie and I were scouting Sprague Lake, off Bear Lake Rd. in RMNP, this morning for gray jays. There's a small riparian area alongside the road, just before it curves right into the parking lot. It's crossed by a horse trail marked by a sign on the road. In this wet spring, it's more than the tiny stream it will be later in summer, ponded and boggy, with lots of willows. We parked and wandered over to it, thinking we might pick up a MacGillivray's or Wilson's. We walked the edge and then took the horse trail down to the stream crossing. Ten feet away a female hooded warbler popped up, doing her tail display and giving us great looks. It was a new Park bird for both of us. But this is only part one of the story. I walked around the picnic area until I could get two bars on the cell phone and called another local, Judie. She called mutual friend Gary, but they couldn't get up right away. They chased the hooded later in the day. By then the weather had deteriorated at 8,600', with blowing snow and temps in the high 20s. They never found the hooded, but they didn't complain. Among the many Wilson's warblers, they discovered a magnolia warbler and an American redstart! The Park database reveals four previous records for the hooded and magnolia warblers. The hooded hasn't been reported since 1999, the magnolia since 1975. Even with snow on the ground, this small riparian area was certainly a hot spot today. Scott Roederer Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Perfect dowitcher storm, blackpoll, Estes Park
CObirders, Casual birders directed several of us to the river inlet to Lake Estes today to see two "godwits." What we found were two dowitchers along the lakeshore. They were about 25 feet from the trail in good light and tired enough from flying in snow to let us study them for as long as we wished. We immediately noticed one was smaller than the other and that led us to study both birds carefully. Beyond the size, the field marks were clear and classic. One was a short-billed, the other a long-billed. An amazing chance to compare the two species. For some in the group, the short-billed was a new species for their lake list, i.e. a "laker." I had one previous record from 1996, the first year of keeping complete records for the lake. I'd only seen the long-billed twice before, in 2003 and 2009. Migration seems a week or two behind schedule here, although we've had some unusual species, e.g. Bewick's wren and n. mockingbird. Unusual warblers have been missing, with one noteworthy exception, a n. parula on 5/9. The blackpoll in the subject line comes not from the lake but from my property. We found it foraging in a doug-fir outside the kitchen window in falling snow yesterday afternoon. We got good enough looks before it was apparently escorted off the property by three mountain chickadees. I can't explain it being here. Same with several of the other ten warbler species we've seen in the yard in 23 years. Our cabin is just below the low saddle over which I think many of our spring rarities enter the Estes Valley. Maybe that's it. Still, I'm wondering how many other Colorado birders are fortunate enough to have a blackpoll on their yard list? Or some other favorite rarity? Continuing the May Madness in Estes Park, Scott Roederer -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
[cobirds] Y-t warbler, n. parula, others, Lake Estes
CObirders, Julie and I, along with Gary Matthews, got reacquainted with the yellow-throated warbler today, in its sixth day at Lake Estes. We also found the northern parula. We located the yellow-throated in a half-hour by finding the group of mountain chickadees it likes to hang with. It took another hour and a half in the cold wind to find the parula, basically on the ground at the end of Pine Point. It represents the third record for the lake and the second one I've seen, the last in 1999. Other birds of interest include two species with new late dates (each about a month later than the former), hermit thrush and cedar waxwing; two making their first fall appearance, long-billed dowitcher and Williamson's sapsucker; and a dipper in the lake (albeit in the current from the power plant inlet). Killdeer, greater yellowlegs, and mourning dove were also fairly late dates. The first buffleheads of the winter season also showed up today. Lake Estes, the Fish Creek Arm, Stanley Park, and the residential area near the lake is a very special place for birders here. And the group of ten or so ardent birders are pretty special, too, calling each other, radioing, and generally making sure everyone has a chance to see every bird. In all, we've found 286 species in this area over the years, and it's not unusual for a local to have a year list of 150-170 species from the lake. We appreciate it when outlanders come up to see our birds and find new ones along the way, especially when we get to find them later. I'm not sure who first found the northern parula, but thanks! Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] Y-t warbler, Am redstart, w-t sparrow, Estes Park
CObirders, The yellow-throated warbler is still at the bird sanctuary at Lake Estes. It has apparently moved and taken up with a comely American Redstart. Yesterday afternoon and today, the bird was found on Pine Point. A trail just east of the pond leads to that area. I'll quit trying to guess how long it will stay. Last year about this time a pine warbler showed up at a feeder and stayed for the Christmas Bird Count. With the migration of birders back to the sanctuary, other warblers have been spotted, including a male Wilson's and a female common yellowthroat. Throw in the yellow-rumps and you have a surprising October assortment. Meanwhile, Julie and I added a yard bird today when a white-throated sparrow appeared. That's #113, if you let me count the chukar and the dead sora found in the drive (it had to be alive to get there, right?). How about one out of the two? Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] Yellow-throated warbler, Estes Park
CObirders, Bob Chase found the yellow-throated warbler this morning near where it was first seen yesterday, along the trail in the bird sanctuary at Lake Estes. He told us it stayed in the same area all the time he was watching it. I guess that gave us an excuse for a second cup of coffee and a later arrival. And that cost us an hour of following yellow-rumps to find it again ... in the same spot where Bob had been watching it. By that time I felt like the bird was having some sport with us. To add insult to injury, we saw the bird once more as we walked out, near the pond. At the same time we spotted a very late birder, and we waved him on. He came running, the bird went flying. They almost had a head-on. The birder stopped, the bird stopped. And he had his lifer yellow-throated warbler. Having had the bird delivered to him, he walked out with us, braving our complaints. Blue skies suggest our warbler will likely leave overnight. Maybe it just needed to be seen by our tardy birder. Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] Yellow-throated warbler, Estes Park
CObirders, On a bike ride around Lake Estes today, Julie and I stopped to watch a small group of warblers in the Matthews/Reeser Bird Sanctuary. Among a handful of yellow-rumps and one bright male Wilson's warbler was a gorgeous yellow-throated warbler. A buffy wash on the underparts suggests it was a first fall bird. I didn't get an ID look at the bird on first sighting, so we spent an hour chasing the flock Attu-style, i.e. on our bikes. Seen first at the east end of Warbler Alley, we followed the birds east to The Narrows nearly to the bridge over the river and then back all the way to Night-Heron Pond, where Julie found the bird again for me. We had five minutes at close range with it, and then it was gone again. It was not relocated by a group of birders later in the afternoon. It was a sneaky bird, hanging around the yellow-rumps but not with them. It seemed to like better the company of a couple of chickadees associated with the flock. This is the second record for this species at Lake Estes since comprehensive records began in 1996. That was a May bird that several locals got to see. Julie and I were at another part of the lake and hustled over, but we missed the bird by about 15 seconds. It was not seen again. A nemesis bird in the making and a close call for me today of keeping it so. Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] L-e owl, godwits, egrets--Lake Estes
CObirders, An upslope storm in late April ... a formula for birding madness in Estes Park. The total at Lake Estes for our local group of bird nuts was 76 species. Some highlights: Long-eared owl, our second record for the lake, in the bird sanctuary along the L. Estes Trail. Marbled godwits, 2 or 3 depending on when you were there, on the spit at the river inlet. Willet, greater yellowlegs, spotted sandpiper, least sandpiper, avocet, 60+ w-f ibis. Great egret and two snowy egrets. Black-crowned night-heron, in their favorite roosting area on Pine Point in the sanctuary. Hermit thrush, green-tailed towhee, spotted towhee, mourning dove, sage thrasher, marsh wren, Say's phoebe. Yellow-headed blackbird, one in a big flock of Brewer's at the marina. Song, Lincoln's, savannah, vesper, white-crowned, and Brewer's sparrows. Hooded merganser, cinnamon teal, blue-winged and green-winged teal, redhead. Loggerhead shrike, FOY. Bitterly cold but hot birding. Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] Sage sparrow and much more, RMNP
CObirders, Gary Matthews, my wife Julie, and I had great birding in Endovalley in Rocky Mountain National Park today. We birded Sheep Lakes and took a walk on each side of the alluvial fan. Our total for the morning was 28 species. Our best bird was a sage sparrow, first spotted by Gary south of the road a hundred yards or so west of the closure gate. It was the first time any of us had seen one in the Park. With it were vesper sparrows, sage thrashers, and a yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle). Later we found a chipping sparrow nearby. In the same area, three Williamson's sapsuckers, two females and a very harried male, showed up. We also saw red-naped sapsuckers near the stock ramp, where we first spotted tree swallows. A Cooper's hawk gave us a good look closer to Roaring River. We started at Sheep Lakes where saw dozens of sage thrashers. American pipits were there, as well, and we picked up our first loggerhead shrike of the year in the Park. It was great fun with lots of birds. Six species represented new early records and a couple of junco subspecies were new late records. Later in the day, Gary called to tell us that two broad-tailed hummers made an appearance at his home at 5:07 p.m. Time to put up the feeders! Scott --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] Pelican, McC longspur, Lake Estes
CObirders, We rounded out our storm birds this morning with a McCown's longspur spotted by Scott Rashid, the third record for Lake Estes, and a high- flying solo American white pelican, seen first by Ann Reichhardt, an early-date record by four days. Vesper sparrows also made their first appearance of the season. Also noteworthy was a flock of over 100 white-faced ibis that sat huddled together on the shore during the worst of the storm. As the storm moved in Thursday, we had Bewick's wren, Bonaparte's gull, horned larks, American pipits, and a female common yellowthroat. Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[cobirds] Swallows, m. wren, kinglet, L. Estes
CObirders, Today at Lake Estes, we found tree swallows, a ruby-crowned kinglet, a marsh wren, and rising trout, all sure signs of spring. The swallows, wren, and trout were in the Matthews/Reeser Bird Sanctuary, the kinglet at the Fish Creek inlet to the lake. Common grackles were also in the sanctuary today. Yesterday, American avocets showed up in late afternoon. The snowstorms over the weekend brought our first sage thrasher, canvasbacks, wood ducks, and redheads, and other more common waterfowl species, along with large groups of great blue herons, 20 plus at a time. Last Friday, the first turkey vulture appeared. Definitely a fine time to be birding in the mountains. Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
