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 <waddingto...@gmail.com> > 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 <sebastianpa...@hotmail.com > <mailto:sebastianpa...@hotmail.com>> wrote: > Chlorox bottles hiding in corn stubble in mid-winter can closely resemble > SNOWY OWLS . . . > > Trust me . . . > > sebastianpa...@hotmail.com <mailto:sebastianpa...@hotmail.com> > Sebastian T. Patti > 770 S. Grand Avenue > Unit 3088 > Los Angeles, CA 90017 > CELL: 773/304-7488 > > From: Joe Roller <jroll...@gmail.com <mailto:jroll...@gmail.com>> > Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 8:08 AM > To: Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com > <mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com>> > Cc: twilberd...@comcast.net <mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net> > <twilberd...@comcast.net <mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net>>; Bob's Email > <rorigh...@earthlink.net <mailto:rorigh...@earthlink.net>>; Sebastian Patti > <sebastianpa...@hotmail.com <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 <sebastianpa...@hotmail.com > <mailto:sebastianpa...@hotmail.com>> wrote: > Overeager and maybe just a tad too GREBEY!! > > . . . sorry . . . > > sebastianpa...@hotmail.com <mailto: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> > <cobirds@googlegroups.com <mailto:cobirds@googlegroups.com>> on behalf of Tom > Wilberding <twilberd...@comcast.net <mailto:twilberd...@comcast.net>> > Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 8:59 PM > To: Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com > <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 > > > > <_V6A1103.jpg> > > > > > -- > 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 > <mailto: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 > > <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fcobirds%2F0e701bbe-6186-40a8-a1e6-41b784ded427%2540googlegroups.com%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dfooter&data=02%7C01%7C%7C5dfb1d189069412976ff08d79a8d8e8c%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637147805087363498&sdata=kSCt1TnFHgPZ%2FgRPnf0ZcD0NAw%2FkKfE%2FDgrZBZObQks%3D&reserved=0>. > > -- > 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 > <mailto:cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To view this discussion on the web > visithttps://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/DM6PR11MB2763B5AADE699A2260B0F53EC3360%40DM6PR11MB2763.namprd11.prod.outlook.com > > <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fcobirds%2FDM6PR11MB2763B5AADE699A2260B0F53EC3360%2540DM6PR11MB2763.namprd11.prod.outlook.com%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dfooter&data=02%7C01%7C%7C5dfb1d189069412976ff08d79a8d8e8c%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637147805087363498&sdata=w%2FUcMCMjNNX%2Bzq0zLYBu%2B%2B6M8XNHxjbssRoSt%2F1yiVM%3D&reserved=0>. > > -- > 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 > <mailto:cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/DM6PR11MB2763D16AEEB1DBD856F5A2FBC3360%40DM6PR11MB2763.namprd11.prod.outlook.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/DM6PR11MB2763D16AEEB1DBD856F5A2FBC3360%40DM6PR11MB2763.namprd11.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/7638DA59-C1B6-4088-86A1-9563EA5CC86B%40earthlink.net.
