[cobirds] late Gray Catbird, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 2Nov

2015-11-02 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Today, while photographing plants on the grounds of what remains of CSU's Plant Environmental Research Center (PERC) plantings - it is just west of the monstrous, new football stadium building site in the sw corner of the main Fort Collins campus - I had a Gray Catbird. It's late on the cale

[cobirds] a great quote about birds and their food

2015-10-27 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Being an avid Ohio State fan, I read with interest anything about the Buckeyes and their arch rival Michigan. New Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, when asked by the media a bunch of theoretical questions concerning their recent last-play-of-the-game loss to their other big rival Michigan S

[cobirds] late warblers

2015-10-25 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Here we go again with the late warbler reports. Recently there have been reports of Yellow-rumps, Orange-crowns, Northern Parula, Black-throated Gray, possibly a Mourning, and a Palm. I would love to know what these desperadoes are eating. As in the past, the likely items are aphids, of which

[cobirds] Crow Valley Campground (Weld) on 10/23

2015-10-23 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
It was cool and blustery and felt great this morning at Crow Valley Campground. Weather changes seem to either bring birds, or remove birds. Mostly I'd say the transition between yesterday (rainy) and today (mostly sunny) was the latter. Highlights from a walk about between 8 and 11am: Sandh

[cobirds] Correction re remarkable CO combos

2015-10-21 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I meant to say Andy Bankert and friends saw the combo of ptarmigan and tricolored heron in the same day in CO. Sorry. Dave -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this g

[cobirds] Last Chance (Washington) on 10/20

2015-10-21 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Impressive thunder clouds on the prairie during the drive going north from Lamar thru Last Chance yesterday. Looked like an evening in mid-summer in many ways, except for vegetation dominated by browns and yellows. At Last Chance, not a whole lot but a few interesting things: Eastern Bluebird

[cobirds] Lamar area over the last couple days, & summary of visit

2015-10-19 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
At West Jett Res, a private playa west of Nee Noshe on 15October were: 96 Long-billed Dowitchers 18 Stilt Sandpipers 65 Least Sandpipers 10 Baird's Sandpipers 1 Semipalmated Plover 10 McCown's Longspurs 75 Chestnut-collared Longspurs (probably a grossly low estimate) at least 50 American Pipits 3 i

[cobirds] Prowers/Kiowa Counties on 10/14

2015-10-14 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Was near 90 degrees today in Lamar. Beautiful day for sun screen field trials, rather slow for migrants. Riverside Cemetery on the north side of Maple Avenue in northeastern Lamar (Prowers): Field Sparrow (estimate 5, could have been more, mostly along the ditch that runs along the north side

[cobirds] Lamar (Prowers) yesterday (10/9)

2015-10-10 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Very birdy yesterday in the couple areas I observed in Lamar. Willow Valley Subdivision private yard east of Willow Creek Park *Blue-headed Vireo (photos) finding Rough Stinkbugs on dead limbs of Siberian Elm, photos, new for Janeal's yard list. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (estimate 15, could have been

[cobirds] Weld County on 10/6

2015-10-06 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Nina Routh, Paul Slingsby, and I made a trip to some spots in Weld County today. Windsor Lake Barn Swallow (large number (100s) over the water getting midges, seems late, looked hard for Cliff Swallows, none seen, we did see plenty of square-tailed young Barn Swallows without streamers) Woods L

[cobirds] Did you lose your Nikon camera battery pack?

2015-10-05 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Stan Oswald of Rocky Ford informs me he recently found a Nikon camera battery pack at the Lamar Community Woods. If it's yours, he would like to get it back to you. Contact me and I will put you in touch with Stan. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- Yo

[cobirds] Hamilton Reservoir (Larimer) Overlook Closed

2015-09-29 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
FYI, I tried to check Hamilton Reservoir today for Sabine's Gull or whatever, but found the gate locked to the Observation Overlook. I called the plant on the phone at the beginning of the dam to see if I could walk in with a scope and the security guy told me it was closed for construction "un

[cobirds] Weld County wanderings on 9/27

2015-09-27 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
The wetlands north of CR74 at Woods Lake had two Great Egrets, a Snowy Egret, and two Greater Yellowlegs. Eaton Cemetery had a good assortment of birds feasting on emerging hackberry psyllids including: 2 latish Townsend's Warblers 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets Several Yellow-rumped Warblers 3 Wilson'

[cobirds] Hackberry Psyllid Emergence Underway

2015-09-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Just a heads-up that yesterday at Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins I noticed the beginning of adult psyllid emergence from galls on the leaves of hackberry. There are two types, blistergall psyllids and nipplegall psyllids. The ones I saw flying about (look like tiny gnats when backlit) yest

[cobirds] Closure of Crow Valley Campground by the USFS?

2015-09-25 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Rumors abound about the possible permanent closure following this season of Crow Valley Campground on the Pawnee National Grasslands near Briggsdale. Any one with concrete knowledge about this subject is encouraged to comment (preferably on this forum, not Facebook) regarding the rumor. If the

[cobirds] Crow Valley (Weld) on 9Sept2015

2015-09-09 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I got to the campground around 11am and stayed until 2:30pm. 90 degrees and felt hotter. Probably some things present early had flown on by the time I arrived. Water in Crow Creek pretty much dried up along the south side, with stagnant stretches and pools recently pounded by cows along the w

[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery, FtCollins (Larimer) on 9/8

2015-09-08 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
While today's visit to Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins at the west terminus of Mountain Avenue was very slow and produced one of the lowest species counts ever (13), it did include three noteworthy events: A flock of an estimated 25 Bushtits marauding through the area, checking out everythin

RE: [cobirds] Re: Sparrow ID El Paso county (pictures)

2015-09-08 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Nice photos, Bill, of a nice bird. Just to make it clear and save the sterling Denver Audubon Master Birder Class of 2015 going to the trouble of a mass response, Lark Buntings ARE, indeed, sparrows. At least I think so, unless the AOU just last night lumped them with Thick-billed Murre. Colo

[cobirds] Adams & Bunker #1 (Weld) on 9/6

2015-09-07 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Yesterday Nina Routh, Mike Serruto and I stopped at the reservoir 2 miles west of Weld CR77 on CR124 (Adams and Bunker #1 or "Archie Bunker Res" as I think it should be called, due to the less than happy/friendly folks who live in the house near the portion that extends on the north side of the

[cobirds] further clerification

2015-09-04 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
The heat of Lamar must have messed me up, despite wearing the goofy hat the doctor prescribes and sunscreen. Frankie Valli forgive me. Of course, I know here in the Northern Hemisphere the norm is four seasons. Frankie, it's Ted who said there's an extra one, the fifth (as in, now, post-breed

[cobirds] Addition to the Lamar visit summary

2015-09-04 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
In my recent summary of the 23August-3September visit to Lamar, I forgot to mention a few things. Lamar is in Prowers County, Tempel's Grove is in Bent, and the Great Plains Reservoirs are in Kiowa. Janeal and I saw and photographed an amazing hungry bird episode at Riverside Cemetery in Lamar

[cobirds] Lamar visit (23Aug-3Sept) summary

2015-09-04 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
This is not so much intel for fast-twitchers with a full gas tank as a progress report on this autumn's migration in the Lamar area. As others have stated overtly or implied, things seem slow getting started. Of course, autumn migration in Lamar is always behind migration in northern CO. In g

[cobirds] Riverside Cemetery, etc., Lamar (Prowers) on 8/24

2015-08-24 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
It was hot and quiet today migrantwise in Lamar but at the two Lamar cemeteries, we did have the following: Riverside Cemetery (Maple Street, north end of town east of Main): *Great Crested Flycatcher (photographed with a green praying mantis in its beak!) Least Flycatcher (1) Yellow Warbler (1)

[cobirds] Baird's Sparrow, Larimer CR5, 11Aug2015

2015-08-11 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Miracles never cease. After 40+ years, and five tries up to CR5 in the last 8 days, I saw Baird's Sparrows in Colorado this morning (8/11) on Larimer CR5. Following the recipe provided by Nick, David, and Georgia from their most recent sightings yesterday, I arrived at the spot 1.7 miles north

[cobirds] Larimer CR5 east of Rawhide Power Plant of late

2015-08-05 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
For what it's worth, I have been up at Larimer CR5 between Roads 82 and 92 at the Baird's Sparrows stretch from 6:15 to 10am both yesterday and today. Among yesterday's group of 6, and today's of 5, none of us saw or heard Baird's Sparrows, except maybe one person whose name I didn't catch. T

[cobirds] Dipper nesting site knowledge wanted

2015-08-03 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Hello All, Distinguished wildlife photographer Michael Forsberg and his technical genius Jeff Dale are in the middle of shooting a documentary on the North Platte River Basin. The products of their efforts will likely air on PBS, appear in classrooms, and possibly illustrate a book. One of the

RE: [cobirds] Why did the pine grosbeak eat in the road? Larimer County

2015-07-30 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Candice et al, I believe they are getting soil high in minerals missing from their seed-heavy diets, perhaps including road-treatment salt (in the form of calcium chloride, sodium chloride, and/or magnesium chloride) that accumulates in dried puddle areas along roadways. Mag chloride is also ap

[cobirds] Larimer CR5 and western PNG (Weld) on 7/29

2015-07-30 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
After getting back from a 9-day new Confederate flag survey of Tennessee and North Carolina (actually my friend Boris and I were hunting aquatic insects), I was finally able to try for the Larimer CR5 Baird's Sparrows yesterday. I got there at 7:30 and was told by a couple folks who had gotten

[cobirds] CcLongspur and Upland Sandpiper, PawneeNG (Weld) 7/7/15

2015-07-07 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Today the 7th of July on Weld CR49 about half way between CR122 and CR114, I had a few pairs of territorial Chestnut-collared Longspurs and an Upland Sandpiper. Both species were in a pasture on the east side of CR49. I also had at least one more pair of territorial Chestnut-collared Longspurs

[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery (FC, Larimer) happenings on 7/5

2015-07-05 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
The major happening these days at Grandview Cemetery is the nesting of Broad-tailed Hummingbirds. As I have proposed before, I think Grandview constitutes what the literature refers to as this species of hummer nesting in "colonies". Two nests are completely done, with one producing the cus

[cobirds] Painted Bunting at Picture Canyon (Baca)

2015-06-29 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Highlights of a trip today, 29June, to Picture Canyon (9 miles south of Baca M Rd on 18Rd) were: PAINTED BUNTING (probably the same one reported earlier this spring by Kaempfer et al, at least one male calling at several locations both south and north of the main Picnic Area). I did not hear a

[cobirds] Recent Miscellany (Weld and Larimer)

2015-06-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I think I posted about the Loggerhead Shrike larder on the Pawnee (Weld CR37 north of CR114). This will be the subject of the next "The Hungry Bird" in "Colorado Birds" (October 2015) so I'll not detail this event too much here. Suffice it to say a lot of items of great diversity can be impale

[cobirds] Miscellaneous Observations on 6/18 (Larimer and Weld)

2015-06-19 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Site 1) At Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins I am mostly concentrating on monitoring the Broad-tailed Hummingbird situation. Here is the activity list from yesterday: Nest in the southwest corner (sw corner of Section 1) is done, presumably fledging two young. I was gone for a couple weeks w

[cobirds] Overview of three BBS routes

2015-06-14 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (9-11June) I did the three Breeding Bird Survey routes assigned to me. Doing them on consecutive days probably comes perilously close to turning one's passion into work, but due to the CFO Convention and obligations this week, plus the weather forecast, the

[cobirds] A quiz

2015-05-29 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Mr. Floyd points out an interesting ABA blog article about names and checklist order. First off, despite the impression my quiz might give, let me say I do not regard misspelling a felony. I confess to having messed up "MacGillivray's" (and "Steller's" and "wigeon") more than once in my journa

[cobirds] a quiz

2015-05-28 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Which of the following is the correct spelling of a CO bird named after a professor of English at Edinburgh University in Scotland, who was also a naturalist, and who helped none other than John James Audubon with his writing? a) MaGillvray's b) McGillivray's c) MacGillivary's d) MacGillivray

[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery (Fort Collins, Larimer) of late

2015-05-27 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
It goes without saying, like everywhere else, it has been an interesting spring at Grandview Cemetery. The much-celebrated Great Horned Owl nest in the center of the place failed this year, with the hatched young presumably succumbing to a downpour in late April that flooded the nest cavity rig

[cobirds] Prospect Ponds Natural Area and NCELC, FtCollins (Larimer) on 5/26

2015-05-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
>From 9am to 4:30pm I walked on the west side of the Poudre River from the >north end of Sharp Point Drive (jct with Prospect) past the feedlot thru >Prospect Ponds Natural Area (PPNA) to an area perhaps 100 yards southeast of >the Northern CO Environmental Learning Center (NCELC) parking lot (t

[cobirds] boxelder is a "hot" tree at present

2015-05-23 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Just a heads-up to everybody, a common denominator I am seeing in person and in looking at photographs taken by others: a lot of insectivorous neotropical migrants, as this spring migration peaks, are finding Boxelder (Acer negundo) to be a good restaurant. The reason is a small caterpillar lur

[cobirds] Prospect Ponds Natural Area, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 5/21

2015-05-21 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I took a long walk along the river south of Prospect today, starting at the Business Park lot at the north end of Sharp Point Drive, thru Prospect Ponds NA, to the Environmental Learning Center parking lot. First interesting thing was seeing Nick Komar and a pass-by biker extracting a fish ho

[cobirds] Sterling (Logan), etc., 5/20/15

2015-05-20 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
After being stopped at the Crow Valley gate this morning, I decided to continue on to Sterling. Short-eared Owl (roadkill at SR14 and Weld CR390 = about 9 miles west of New Raymer) Pioneer Park on the west side of Sterling highlights Eastern Bluebird (pair) Least Flycatcher (10, at least) Blac

RE: [cobirds] Worm-eating Warbler - Ft Collins (Larimer)

2015-05-19 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
David Wade was nice enough to let me know about his Worm-eating Warbler at McMurry NA in Fort Collins this morning. I got over there and spent most of the afternoon multi-tasking: coincidentally trying for birds and hypothermia. I failed to see the Worm-eating, but stuck around after other bir

[cobirds] mia culpa, Poudre River today

2015-05-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I meant to say Swainson't THRUSH, not warbler. Wishful thinking is a powerful force when birding or typing. Sorry if anybody started making plans for tomorrow morning. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- You received this message because you are subscrib

[cobirds] Reservoir Ridge NA, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 5/17

2015-05-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
In agreement with David Wade's report of Bobolinks in the fields west of the Reservoir Ridge Natural Area parking lot on Overland Trail in western Fort Collins today, four of us saw at least two males, maybe three. At least two males were seen in the alfalfa fields north of the fenceline that r

[cobirds] Prospect Ponds/ELC, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 5/17

2015-05-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I birded the Poudre River today from the Sharp Point business park parking lot south thru Prospect Ponds Natural Area to the parking lot at the Northern Colorado Environmental Center (ELC) late this afternoon. Not a lot of birds, but some nice individuals. Chestnut-sided Warbler (apparently an

RE: [cobirds] Any Lucy's warbler sightings in Eaton?

2015-05-15 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Brian et al, I just came from the Eaton Cemetery and did NOT see the Lucy's Warbler. I am hesitant to say it is absolutely gone, because it is very easy to miss, but I think based on checking everywhere people had seen it, and the amount of turnover in individual birds, it's highly likely the L

[cobirds] Crow Valley update

2015-05-12 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
After spending from about 9am to 2:30pm refinding, losing, refinding, losing the Lucy's Warbler at Eaton Cemetery today, I went east on CR74 thru Galeton and Cornish Ponds to 392 and then north to Briggsdale. Nothing notable at Cornish Ponds except for Black-necked Stilts and Wilson's Phalarope

[cobirds] Crow Valley heads-up

2015-05-10 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
After Eaton Cemetery, I was too cold and wet to find my way to Fort Collins and ended up at Crow Valley. That place is even colder and wetter. In fact, it is flooded. Water comes up to the Main Picnic Shelter on the south. Some picnic tables with water beneath them. The south road that goes

[cobirds] Eaton Cemetery on Mother's Day

2015-05-10 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
The LUCY'S WARBLER, first seen this cold, windy, sideways-snow-for-a-time morning about 10:00am was seen by four other people (Cole Wild, Rachel Hopper, Joe Mammoser, and Josh Bruening) in mid-afternoon. There are four entrances into Eaton Cemetery off of CR39 (about 1/2 mile south of CR74 se

RE: [cobirds] Chestnut-sided ??

2015-05-09 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Mark et al, I guess I would agree with the suggestion by Glenn and maybe others that this bird appears to have some Bay-breasted in it. Definitely has Chestnut-sided in it, too. Very interesting bird. Thanks for sharing. Dave Date: Sat, 9 May 2015 00:12:15 + From: markcha...@comcast.net

[cobirds] Mr. Steller would be proud

2015-05-05 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
While Georg Wilhelm Steller is still on our minds after reading the excellent tribute to him by Bob Righter in the current issue of "Colorado Birds", I thought this note from the Denver Zoo might be of interest to Colorado birders. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins STELL

[cobirds] Crow Valley (Weld) on 5/5

2015-05-05 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
As others have posted, the story so far at Crow Valley is minimal landbird migration and lots of water in the creek. I managed to muster 36 species today with the highlights being: Sora (heard in the wetland off to the north of the Group Area in the nw corner) Eastern Screech-Owl (one gray-phas

[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery (FtCollins-Larimer) last few days

2015-05-05 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I haven't been going to Grandview Cemetery much this year but when I do, the list has been entered into eBird. Don't fall over. Highlights of the last few days are: Broad-winged Hawk (at least two different individuals, one seen two days ago was definitely an adult, the one today looked yo

RE: [cobirds] A Murder of Crows (or by...) - Denver County

2015-05-02 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Lynn, Chris, et al, The incident described to Chris by Lynn does not sound like simple predation to me. The crow did not make off with the grackle and didn't even kill it, at least not immediately. My guess would be that this crow has some experience or instinct about grackles being egg predat

[cobirds] Lamar area on 4/27

2015-04-27 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
FINALLY, after at least 8 hours of searching over 3 days time, I laid eyes on the White-eyed Vireo at Lamar Community College Woods this morning. I saw it a total of maybe two minutes around noon, then lost it in the blowing leaves and never saw it again. The location was due east of the middl

[cobirds] Lamar area (Prowers mostly) since 4/18

2015-04-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I have been down here since 4/18. The weather has been odd, to say the least, as is the tree leafing-out/insect situation. It was been fairly cool this whole visit, with the highest temps being just barely over 80. That's frigid for Lamar. It has been blustery at times but not too bad. The

[cobirds] Weld County on Thursday 4/16

2015-04-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Continuing the thread started by Doug, and continued by David and Joey, I went out east of Fort Collins hoping to see how birds were coping with this weather. Not enough sticking snow to really force small birds already here out onto roads or odd situations like parking lots, as has been the ca

[cobirds] Thank You

2015-04-08 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
In my last post about Weld County I forgot to acknowledge the Alabama birder mentioned but unnamed in a previous COBIRDS post who has helped several of us find various birds of late. His name is Larry Hancock. The man knows his stuff. He is the one who discovered the congregation of both Ches

[cobirds] Weld County on 4/8

2015-04-08 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
First stop was the pasture/pdog town e of Weld CR57 just s of SR14 - NO Mountain Plover, the target of the day. I got to Crow Valley Campground by mid-morning and checked Briggsdale after that. Highlights were: Water in Crow Creek Merlin (female, which actually vocalized at one point while

[cobirds] western Larimer and eastern Jackson on 3/31

2015-04-01 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I went up to North Park yesterday to see if I could find (an old birding term, see glossary of any birding book published before eBird start-up) a Greater Sage-Grouse without aid of intel, gps coordinates, map flags, knowledge of leks, or setting my alarm for 3am. At about 1pm I was very lucky

[cobirds] Cottonwood Hollow/Running Deer NAs, Ft. Collins (Larimer) 3/18

2015-03-18 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Highlights of a big loop around these two contiguous Natural Areas east of the Poudre River south of Prospect in Fort Collins (Larimer) today (3/18/15): Merlin (1 prairie race female) Cinnamon Teal (3m, 2f) Green-winged Teal (13) Virginia Rail (heard at least 5) Marsh Wren (heard at least 2) Sandh

[cobirds] from Paul Opler re Boyd Lake e of Loveland (Weld)

2015-03-16 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Hi, Paul Opler sent me the following message and asked me to share it with COBIRDS: [For the last four days at least there has been an increasingly large number of gulls roosting for the night on the south end of Boyd Lake, then spending the day feeding in weedy alfalfa fields just south of Mou

[cobirds] Boreal Owl (Jackson) on 3/15

2015-03-16 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
David Pettee of Newton, MASS, David Wade of Fort Collins, and I (yet another David) heard one Boreal Owl at about milepost 64 on SR14 about a half mile on the Jackson County side of Cameron Pass on the night of 3/15 at about 9:30pm. The bird was south of the highway, sort of at the nw flank of

[cobirds] Windsor Lake (Weld) on 3/13/15

2015-03-13 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Seen today during Front Range Community College field trips to Windsor Lake (in the town of Windsor, accessed off 7th on Cedar): Glaucous Gull (1 subadult, not sure which cycle but probably 2nd or 3rd, the champion kleptoparasite, mostly victimizing goldeneye)) Thayer's Gull (at least 2 juvenile

[cobirds] RE: Mountain Bluebirds - Eating

2015-03-10 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Hi, I have spent considerable time solving this issue of, "What are the early bluebirds that hover over the prairie getting?". The specific site I observed most was the Pawnee Grasslands just west of Crow Valley. My conclusion is that these are some type of "tiger moth" (Family Noctuidae, Subf

[cobirds] Windsor Lake (Weld) on 3/9/15

2015-03-09 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
On this day of melt and appearing gizzard shad (both live and dead, in open areas and in the ice), I visited Windsor Lake on the east side of downtown Windsor (Weld) and had the following highlights: Bald Eagle (2 adults) Red-breasted Merganser (several) Thayer's Gull (1 juv.) California Gull (1

FW: [cobirds] Boulder surprising hawk kill

2015-02-27 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Neglected sending this to the whole group, as intended. Dave From: daleather...@msn.com To: quetza...@comcast.net Subject: RE: [cobirds] Boulder surprising hawk kill Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 10:28:38 -0700 David, Nick, Gary, et al, Interesting observations, all. I would throw in seeing a Northe

[cobirds] Larimer Short-eared Owl Update on 2/25

2015-02-25 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Three Short-eared Owls were first seen on Sunday (2/22) along Buckeye Road (Larimer CR82) near the Rawhide Power Plant. These owls were first seen about 4:30pm perched on roadside poles about 3.9 miles west of I-25 (Exit 288). After 5pm they began to hunt south of the road in tall, tan grass a

[cobirds] Larimer Short-eared Owls on 2/22

2015-02-23 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
As reported by Ken Pals, the owls were present along Buckeye Road (CR82) this evening in the same general area as yesterday, although not all that visible until it was nearly dark. The poles they flew up to at around 5:50pm are on the south side of the road near the 1599 mailbox (which is 4.2 m

[cobirds] Short-eared Owls (Larimer) on 2/22

2015-02-22 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I took a drive up to Rockport (Weld) along US85, went a short ways east on CR128 to check for rosy-finches along some of the rocky outcrops, then went west thru Carr over to the overlook at Hamilton Reservoir (which was closed). As I drove west on Buckeye Road (= 82Rd), at about 4:30pm I encoun

[cobirds] Moose Visitor Center (Jackson) at Gould on 2/16/15

2015-02-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
At the Department of Parks and Wildlife Moose Visitor Center on the west side of Cameron Pass along SR14 at Gould (Jackson), the following appeared at the feeders behind the VC yesterday during fairly cold temps and light falling snow: Pine Grosbeak (9) Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (about 75) Brown-c

[cobirds] Lamar, etc. in SE CO since 2/5 (Prowers, Kiowa, Baca)

2015-02-09 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Still very dry in southeastern CO since I arrived last Wednesday, 2/4. Tumbleweeds fill many of the irrigation ditches, are piled up against tree rows, and columns of smoke rise on calm days as farmers/ranchers try to dig out and burn piles of this exotic vegetation curse (Russian thistle and k

[cobirds] RE: honeybees on cracked corn

2015-01-31 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Leon Bright et al, Here is a response I got from CSU entomologist extraordinaire, Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, re your question about why honey bees seem to be attracted to cracked corn at your Pueblo bird feeding station: [Honey bees visiting bird feeders in late winter or very early spring, before

[cobirds] Barrow's Goldeneyes, Larimer

2015-01-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
The pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes first reported earlier this year by Josh Bruening at Watson Lake, between Laporte and Bellvue (Larimer) was still present this morning at 11am. Dave Steingraeber and I also saw one Golden Eagle fly across the lake (scaring all the geese) and over the escarpment t

RE: [cobirds] White-winged Red Crossbill , Park County, and one more thing

2015-01-19 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
David, John, Glenn, and All, This is a nice thread about a subject I don't recall ever coming up on COBIRDS. I was with Janeal and Jane today at Denver West trying for the Pine Warbler (which we did NOT find, despite finding the bushtits, the juncos, the nuthatches, the chickadees, and many oth

[cobirds] Larimer Woodcock

2015-01-18 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Birders and photographers and others with binoculars and cameras, In case it needs to be said, and apparently it does, IT IS NOT OK TO WALK DOWN THE CREEK EDGE TRYING TO FIND AND FLUSH THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK!! This constitutes clueless, and/or rude, unethical behavior and is the kind

[cobirds] Hamilton Reservoir (Larimer) on 1/15/15

2015-01-15 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Hamilton Reservoir associated with the Rawhide Power Plant has some of the only open water in the Fort Collins area. It is reached by exiting I-25 at the Buckeye Exit north of Wellington and going west for a few miles, turning toward the dam and immediately taking the road to the observation ov

[cobirds] Southeastern CO visit summary

2015-01-10 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I birded southeastern CO from January 3rd thru the 9th, leaving this morning the 10th. SUMMARY OF VIRTUAL LAMAR CBC CIRCLE (all Prowers except for sliver of Bent at "town" of Prowers/Ark River on Bent CR34.5): LCC Only got down there once and saw 2 male and 1 female Northern Cardinals; 1 Red-be

[cobirds] Two Buttes Res (Baca), etc. on 1/6/15

2015-01-06 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Janeal Thompson and I made a big loop east of Lamar on Highway 50, south to the town of Two Buttes, north to Two Buttes Res, and back to Lamar today. Highlights: Loggerhead Shrike (1a) on Prowers CR19 several miles south of Carlton. Lapland Longspur (few) in with Horned Larks along Prowers CRs 1

RE: [cobirds] Question about raptors and Collared Doves

2014-12-30 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Pam, Which raptor or raptors would take advantage of the new entree on the menu has been a question that's intrigued me since they first started showing up 20+ years ago. I have kept my eyes open and also posed the question to COBIRDS a long time ago. The co-winners seem to be Cooper's Hawk an

[cobirds] Higbee Canyon Rd (804) (Otero) on 12/11

2014-12-11 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I tried to do some research and photo work for a future "The Hungry Bird" column today at Higbee Canyon south of LaJunta. Taking a cue from David Dowell's recent post from this area, I was trying to locate Ladder-backed Woodpeckers in cholla cactus. I did not. However, I did see: Cassin's Fi

[cobirds] Baca and Las Animas Counties, 12/10

2014-12-10 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
With Janeal Thompson, made a big loop down from Lamar to Springfield w to Carizzo Canyon w to Cottonwood Canyon nw to Kim w about 10 miles on US160 and north on CR179 thru Villegreen ne to SR119 n to LaJunta, e to Lamar. Beautiful day for the date or any date. 60 degree high, very little wind.

[cobirds] Lamar (Prowers) on 12/9

2014-12-09 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Willow Creek Park (north end) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (adult male, different from yesterday's juv) - entering the northwest corner of the park from Parkview Ave., go in the drive, staying left to the circle drive. On the east side of the circle is a small stone building with a rust-colored doo

[cobirds] Lamar area (Prowers) on 12/8

2014-12-08 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Willow Creek Park Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (juv) northwest corner, favoring a pine due east of the yard between 1306 and 1305A 1st Street (this is the southernmost pine along the northwest edge of the park) Red-bellied Woodpecker (1m) working on an elm very near the sapsucker location Thurston

[cobirds] Sharp Point Pond by feedlot, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 12/3

2014-12-03 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
At the pond e of Sharp Point just south of Prospect in Fort Collins (Larimer) at 3:30 were three Greater White-fronted Geese (2a, 1i) and the Snow X Cackling Goose hybrid plus a few thousand "White-cheeked" Geese, plus assorted common dabbling ducks (and a few American Coots). I checked the fee

[cobirds] Poudre River in Fort Collins on 2Dec2014 (Larimer)

2014-12-02 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Took a walk along the Poudre River today, both north and south of Prospect about a mile in each direction. The river corridor still looks and feels somewhat scoured and raw from last spring's flooding but it is getting better. Highlights included: Thousands (7?) of geese (mostly Lesser Canada

[cobirds] No scoters or Long-tailed Duck at Douglas Res (Larimer) on 11/26

2014-11-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
A check of Douglas Res in Larimer County north of Fort Collins today showed the White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, and Long-tailed Duck present over much of the past week have apparently moved on. A few Bonaparte's Gulls and fair number of Common Goldeneyes persist at the extreme north end. Th

[cobirds] Tundra Swans continue at Hamilton Res (Larimer) on 11/26

2014-11-26 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
A check of Hamilton Reservoir off Buckeye Road by the Rawhide Power Plant in northern Larimer County showed at least 6 Tundra Swans continuing in the southwest corner, as viewed from the Observation Area above the south shore. When I first arrived, two were much closer than usual about half way

[cobirds] eastern Larimer and western Weld today, 11/25

2014-11-25 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I attempted birding some lakes today, hand-holding my scope against the car window without a tripod (long story involving a strong gust of wind and the dam rocks at Douglas Reservoir that has a $3.75 happy ending, thanks to the invention of polycarbonate tube materials and recent arrival of the

[cobirds] Loon at Annex #8 (Larimer) on 11/21

2014-11-21 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I went up to Annex #8 Reservoir today, which is just north of the Fort Collins Country Club in the southwest corner of the intersection of CRs 13 and 56. Andy Bankert reported a sleeping, unidentified loon on Windsor #8 (res across 56 from Annex #8 day before yesterday) and a Pacific Loon from

[cobirds] Tundra Swans at HamiltonRes (Larimer) on 11/18

2014-11-18 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
After checking on the still-present rarities (wwscoter, blkscoter, and longtailedduck) at Douglas Reservoir (Larimer), Georgia Doyle and I went up to Hamilton Reservoir associated with the Rawhide Power Plant north of Buckeye Road. There we saw a group of three Tundra Swans swimming in the sout

[cobirds] Unusual dark harrier at Douglas Res (Larimer)

2014-11-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I photographed a harrier today along the road that goes around the southwestern corner of Douglas Reservoir today. I photographed it just because it allowed me to, a unusual thing in my experience with perched harriers. Upon examination of the photos, it appears to be a melanistic or dark-morp

[cobirds] Douglas Reservoir (Larimer) on 11/17

2014-11-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I got a call this morning from Rachel Hopper who had located an adult female White-winged Scoter on Douglas Reservoir in northern Larimer County (nw of the intersection of 60 and 15RDs). Once there I located the scoter, and a female Long-tailed Duck, which had apparently been seen late last wee

[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery/City Park, FtCollins (Larimer) on 11/14

2014-11-14 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
There is a male Wood Duck in the bigger of two open water areas at Sheldon Lake, City Park, Fort Collins as of about noon today. Let's hope it can stick around for a month. We have sometimes missed this species in recent years during the FC CBC. In Grandview Cemetery, near the center, was a g

[cobirds] Northern Larimer on 11/13

2014-11-13 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I checked some water bodies in northern Larimer and encountered the same fog and difficult viewing conditions everyone else has been having. Hamilton Reservoir attached to the Rawhide Power Plant just north of the Buckeye Road All three mergansers Eared Grebes (few) Bald Eagle (1 adult) Several

[cobirds] John Martin Res/Hasty (Bent) on 10/29

2014-10-30 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Highlights at Hasty/Lake Hasty/John Martin Res yesterday, 10/29: Sandhill Cranes (we estimated 11,000!! flew over, with this probably being a woefully low count of what was within sight in all directions, one of the events that makes birding the eastern plains of Colorado a joy at this time of

[cobirds] Lamar (Prowers) on 10/28

2014-10-30 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Things are very dry here, per usual. Highlights birding within 5 miles of downtown Lamar on Tuesday, 10/28: Riverside Cemetery (off Maple Street e of Main): Field Sparrow (2, along edge of alfalfa field north of cemetery) Savannah Sparrow (10, ditto) Vesper Sparrow (2, ditto) Lincoln's Sparrow (

[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery, Fort Collins (Larimer) on 10/19

2014-10-19 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Just shy of 31 years ago, Fort Collins experienced a winter invasion of Pine Grosbeaks (January 1984). I had not seen one again down in town until today. The bird, a "russet" indiviudal first located by call, was just west of Fort Collins' Grandview Cemetery entrance (Section F) in a couple ve

RE: [cobirds] Weld County Today

2014-10-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Steve et al, You always seem to shake a few apples from the trees, even when the farmers and calendar told us they've been picked over. Beating a dead horse, re the Palm Warbler at Eaton, I would wager it was inside the spruce seeking out hackberry psyllid adults moving from the myriad hackber

[cobirds] report of Cape May Warbler in Fort Collins (Larimer)

2014-10-17 Thread DAVID A LEATHERMAN
I received a second-hand report of a Cape May Warbler being seen and heard singing on the Oval at CSU, Fort Collins yesterday 16October. I do not know the person who reported it but do know we had one at Grandview Cemetery last year for about a week centered on 8October. If someone searches fo

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