cobirds colorado rare bird: January 2022

Monday 31 January 2022

[cobirds] Mourning Doves

Of interest. This afternoon 1/31/2022 on my walk through our neighborhood open space, I encountered a flock of (at least) 30 Mourning Dove. Which trumps the 2 male Robins that appeared late last week.

I faithfully bird the open space area that runs along Dad Clark Trail from University Blvd, north to Venneford Ranch Road, Central Highlands Ranch, Douglas County.

Lea Ann Brown

Sunday 30 January 2022

[cobirds] El Paso county location and picture of Fox sparrow

The GPS coordinates of the Fox sparrow at Clear Spring Ranch shown on Ebird are not quite correct.

I think they should be 38.61175868291215, -104.674319089027.

To see it, take the trail from the parking lot that goes past the restrooms and keep heading east to the Y in the trial. Take the right branch of the Y and keep heading east towards Fountain Creek. When you get to the "T" in the trail turn right (south) and the location of the Fox sparrow is about 50 yards to the south next to a large cottonwood tree that is on the east side off the trail . The sparrow seems to be hanging out a few yards south of the cottonwood, best viewing at this time off the year is from the trail about 10 yards south of the tree on the trail. You may have to be a little patient, I waited for an hour before I was able to get good pics.

The bird is very good-looking in the sun with a dark, reddish brown color.

Bill Kosar Colorado Springs

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[cobirds] Pueblo update 1/30

Several rarities continue at Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo County today January 30th. Two Yellow-billed, a Pacific, a Red-throated Loon, five Common Loons, two Red-necked Grebes, also Horned, Eared, and Western Grebes, adult Short-billed, adult Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, and Iceland (Thayer's) Gulls, Long-tailed Duck, four Barrow's Goldeneyes, two American White Pelicans, and a Double-crested Cormorant. A scope is always needed to see the rare birds on Pueblo Reservoir and nearby ponds.

Good birding,

Brandon K. Percival

Pueblo West, CO

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[cobirds] DIA Hawk Loop - Adams

We drove the DIA Hawk loop yesterday and enjoyed numberous raptors:

11 Bald Eagles

10 Ferruginous Hawks

4 Red-tails

3 Rough-legs

3 Harriers

Hugh

Re: [cobirds] A report from Cottonwood Canyon (Baca and Las Animas) Jan 28

Thank you David for your excellent report. As you noted this remote area draws considerable interest when the opportunity to see rare migrants are present there is a dearth of birder visits otherwise even though the resident birds need documenting. As I have gotten older I am leary of traveling to remote locations so I thoroughly enjoyed getting to visit there via your report.

SeEtta Moss

Canon City

On Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 10:34 AM David Suddjian <dsuddjian@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi CoBirders,

Friday January 28 I made the long journey from home to spend the morning at Cottonwood Canyon along the border of Baca and Las Animas Counties. This iconic Colorado birding spot is pretty far out there and far off paved roads. It took me about 5 hours to get there from home, arriving at the canyon just before 8 am. Yes, a five hour drive. It's good to travel it in the dark, though, or you'd never get there for all the birding on the way. The area is mostly visited in the spring and summer, when birds are more diverse and some fun migrants and nesting species live there. There are three eBird hotspots for the Cottonwood Canyon area, and these offer a perspective on sparse winter birding coverage. Collectively these three hotspots had only 10 prior complete checklists ever submitted from the area for January, and none of the three hotspots had any complete lists reported since last September. The CFO County Birding page has an account for Cottonwood Canyon on its Baca County page. The description begins encouragingly, "This remote and beautiful canyon is one of the most unique in the state. It is home to plants, butterflies, and even birds that regularly occur nowhere else in Colorado." Directions and some more info are here: https://coloradocountybirding.org/County/BySite.aspx?SiteID=36&CountyID=5

I had been to Cottonwood Canyon once before, in early October. Although January is "off-season" I wanted to go see what was there and to be in that lovely country. In winter, with the cold temps and late sunrise, it is not worth getting there too early. When I arrived about an hour after sunrise, much of the canyon was still in morning shadow. Cottonwood Canyon is similar to the other canyons of southeastern Colorado. It is relatively shallow, with rimrock above canyon slopes with varied and often sparse juniper cover, and a riparian corridor. Las Animas County Road 24.4 drops you quickly into the upper canyon area, where the surrounding slopes come down near to the drainage. Here the canyon has a unique character with large full-on tree-size Gamble oaks, fat cottonwoods and junipers growing densely in the canyon bottom, with oak scrub and junipers fairly dense along the side slopes. The oaks add a different character. The stream flows all year, and had many open water areas on my visit. A Baca County road follows the canyon downstream to south-southeast, as it broadens out and the riparian corridor is isolated amid grassland, and the side slopes become more sparsely vegetated with juniper and less scrub oak.

I sampled the canyon's birds along about five miles over three and a half hours. I noted 35 species, which I've listed below with my counts from the checklists I made. The biriest areas were along the canyon slopes where there was scrub oak, and locally in some weedy patches along the road. The large trees had relatively little now, except for woodpeckers. Rare birds were a Black-throated Sparrow with a large White-crowned flock in Baca County, and a Green-tailed Towhee in Las Animas County. I had the three towhees together there, and towhees were one of the delights of my canyon tour. Spotted Towhees were ridiculously common, with small parties everywhere there were scrub oaks. I tallied 102 Spotteds! Sometimes there were flocks of 8-12 birds. I'd pish and they just kept coming up. No doubt a thorough count of all the Spotteds in the whole canyon find several 100s. Species characteristic of the southeastern canyons were represented with 2 Greater Roadrunners, 16 Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, 2 Juniper Titmouse, 2 Canyon Wrens, 24 Canyon Towhees, and 5 Rufous-crowned Sparrows. A total of 26 woodpeckers was a satisfying result. The local junipers did not have many berries, so Mountain Bluebirds and American Robins were not especially plentiful, but there were a moderate number of Tonsend's Solitaires. I enjoyed finding 2 Mallards in a large open pool along the stream; knowing how limited open water is out in that area, I imagined that maybe they were the only two ducks for many miles around.

The most striking and memorable thing at Cottonwood Canyon was the silence. But for the occasional breeze, the mewing calls of Spotted Towhees, the carrying croaks of ravens, and the shallow new snow under my boots, it was... silent. I didn't see another person until after 11:30 am., although I was on county roads all along. It was a bit of paradise.

David Suddjian
Ken Caryl Valley
Littleton, CO

Mallard, 2
Wild Turkey, 41
Greater Roadrunner, 2
Golden Eagle, 2
Red-tailed Hawk, 1
Great Horned Owl, 1
Downy Woodpecker, 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker, 16
Hairy Woodpecker, 6
Northern Flicker, 3
Woodhouse-s Scrub-Jay, 7
American Crow, 9
Common Raven, 38
Juniper Titmouse, 3
White-breasted Nuthatch, 2
Rock Wren, 2
Canyon Wren, 2
Bewick's Wren, 2
Curve-billed Thrasher, 1
Sage Thrasher, 3
Mountain Bluebird, 17
Townsend's Solitaire, 21
American Robin, 19
House Finch, 14
American Goldfinch, 2
Black-throated Sparrow,1
American Tree Sparrow, 12
Dark-eyed Junco, 48
White-crowned Sparrow, 96
Harris's Sparrow, 1
Song Sparrow, 9
Canyon Towhee, 24
Rufous-crowned Sparrow, 5
Green-tailed Towhee, 1
Spotted Towhee, 103

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[cobirds] Also 1-2 Snow Geese on Canon City Valco Ponds

Forgot to mention there have have 1-2 Snow Geese associating with the Canada Geese on Canon City Valco Ponds. Snow Geese are uncommon here.

SeEtta Moss

Canon City

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[cobirds] Early Sandhill Crane at Canon City Valco Ponds

A single Sandhill Crane has loafed with the hundreds of Canada Geese at the Canon City Valco Ponds on MacKenzie Ave yesterday and today. This is early for a crane stopping over on its migration north.

SeEtta Moss

Canon City

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[cobirds] Foothills Audubon invitation - Sage Grouse Conservation - Tuesday, February 1

US Bureau of Land Management is revising their habitat management plan
for Greater Sage Grouse. Again!

This time, BLM is taking comments from the public until February 6. If
you'd like to make comment to BLM - or like to learn more about the
iconic Greater Sage Grouse - then Tuesday is your chance to learn the
history and latest developments from Daly Edmunds, Director of Policy
and Outreach for Audubon Rockies.

Greater Sage-grouse are found across 11 western states in North
America's largest but often overlooked ecosystem. This inconspicuous
lekking species was once so prevalent that they fed many pioneers during
their grueling westward journeys. Today, with a majority of the birds
found on public lands, they've become a political football. In this
presentation, Daly will discuss the political intrigue that has plagued
its management, review the threats to its habitat, and share the latest
science (spoiler alert: they aren't doing well!).

Here is the link to join in. Program will start promptly at 7 pm.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81203130169?pwd=dXR5UGp4TWZyRTZhWXZCZ0hEMFRmUT09

Passcode: 674596

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[cobirds] A report from Cottonwood Canyon (Baca and Las Animas) Jan 28

Hi CoBirders,

Friday January 28 I made the long journey from home to spend the morning at Cottonwood Canyon along the border of Baca and Las Animas Counties. This iconic Colorado birding spot is pretty far out there and far off paved roads. It took me about 5 hours to get there from home, arriving at the canyon just before 8 am. Yes, a five hour drive. It's good to travel it in the dark, though, or you'd never get there for all the birding on the way. The area is mostly visited in the spring and summer, when birds are more diverse and some fun migrants and nesting species live there. There are three eBird hotspots for the Cottonwood Canyon area, and these offer a perspective on sparse winter birding coverage. Collectively these three hotspots had only 10 prior complete checklists ever submitted from the area for January, and none of the three hotspots had any complete lists reported since last September. The CFO County Birding page has an account for Cottonwood Canyon on its Baca County page. The description begins encouragingly, "This remote and beautiful canyon is one of the most unique in the state. It is home to plants, butterflies, and even birds that regularly occur nowhere else in Colorado." Directions and some more info are here: https://coloradocountybirding.org/County/BySite.aspx?SiteID=36&CountyID=5

I had been to Cottonwood Canyon once before, in early October. Although January is "off-season" I wanted to go see what was there and to be in that lovely country. In winter, with the cold temps and late sunrise, it is not worth getting there too early. When I arrived about an hour after sunrise, much of the canyon was still in morning shadow. Cottonwood Canyon is similar to the other canyons of southeastern Colorado. It is relatively shallow, with rimrock above canyon slopes with varied and often sparse juniper cover, and a riparian corridor. Las Animas County Road 24.4 drops you quickly into the upper canyon area, where the surrounding slopes come down near to the drainage. Here the canyon has a unique character with large full-on tree-size Gamble oaks, fat cottonwoods and junipers growing densely in the canyon bottom, with oak scrub and junipers fairly dense along the side slopes. The oaks add a different character. The stream flows all year, and had many open water areas on my visit. A Baca County road follows the canyon downstream to south-southeast, as it broadens out and the riparian corridor is isolated amid grassland, and the side slopes become more sparsely vegetated with juniper and less scrub oak.

I sampled the canyon's birds along about five miles over three and a half hours. I noted 35 species, which I've listed below with my counts from the checklists I made. The biriest areas were along the canyon slopes where there was scrub oak, and locally in some weedy patches along the road. The large trees had relatively little now, except for woodpeckers. Rare birds were a Black-throated Sparrow with a large White-crowned flock in Baca County, and a Green-tailed Towhee in Las Animas County. I had the three towhees together there, and towhees were one of the delights of my canyon tour. Spotted Towhees were ridiculously common, with small parties everywhere there were scrub oaks. I tallied 102 Spotteds! Sometimes there were flocks of 8-12 birds. I'd pish and they just kept coming up. No doubt a thorough count of all the Spotteds in the whole canyon find several 100s. Species characteristic of the southeastern canyons were represented with 2 Greater Roadrunners, 16 Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, 2 Juniper Titmouse, 2 Canyon Wrens, 24 Canyon Towhees, and 5 Rufous-crowned Sparrows. A total of 26 woodpeckers was a satisfying result. The local junipers did not have many berries, so Mountain Bluebirds and American Robins were not especially plentiful, but there were a moderate number of Tonsend's Solitaires. I enjoyed finding 2 Mallards in a large open pool along the stream; knowing how limited open water is out in that area, I imagined that maybe they were the only two ducks for many miles around.

The most striking and memorable thing at Cottonwood Canyon was the silence. But for the occasional breeze, the mewing calls of Spotted Towhees, the carrying croaks of ravens, and the shallow new snow under my boots, it was... silent. I didn't see another person until after 11:30 am., although I was on county roads all along. It was a bit of paradise.

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

Mallard, 2

Wild Turkey, 41

Greater Roadrunner, 2

Golden Eagle, 2

Red-tailed Hawk, 1

Great Horned Owl, 1

Downy Woodpecker, 1

Ladder-backed Woodpecker, 16

Hairy Woodpecker, 6

Northern Flicker, 3

Woodhouse-s Scrub-Jay, 7

American Crow, 9

Common Raven, 38

Juniper Titmouse, 3

White-breasted Nuthatch, 2

Rock Wren, 2

Canyon Wren, 2

Bewick's Wren, 2

Curve-billed Thrasher, 1

Sage Thrasher, 3

Mountain Bluebird, 17

Townsend's Solitaire, 21

American Robin, 19

House Finch, 14

American Goldfinch, 2

Black-throated Sparrow,1

American Tree Sparrow, 12

Dark-eyed Junco, 48

White-crowned Sparrow, 96

Harris's Sparrow, 1

Song Sparrow, 9

Canyon Towhee, 24

Rufous-crowned Sparrow, 5

Green-tailed Towhee, 1

Spotted Towhee, 103

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Saturday 29 January 2022

[cobirds] Rufous-backed Robin still present in Cortez (Montezuma) 1/29

Hi Everyone,

I saw the Rufous-backed Robin today 1/29 around 4 pm at Denny Lake Park in Cortez with a few American Robins. Park in the main lot and take the trail around the lake toward and past the periwinkle house. When you get to the next house, there are three cottonwood trees together next to the marsh. I saw the bird in the cottonwoods and in a group of willows out in the marsh, where it was finding fruit to eat. Best times to look seem to be early and late.

A White-throated Sparrow is also in the area. A Rough-legged Hawk was in Dove Creek this morning. I hadn't ever seen one before in Dolores County.

Mark Miller

Longmont, CO

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[cobirds] RF robin

Is anyone in the Denver area planning on going for the rufous-backed robin tomorrow and would be willing to give me a ride? I am able to help with gas money and would be very grateful for the opportunity. My email is quezadapablo05@gmail.com and my number is 720-662-4462.

Thanks and good birding,

Pablo Quezada

Denver, Co

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[cobirds] Barrow's Goldeneye-So.Platte @ Overland, Denver Co.

Hadn’t seen a post about a continuing male BARROW’S GOLDENEYE here on CoBirds for a while, so thought I’d drop a note to the group in case some of you aren’t trolling eBird. This beaut was feeding in the South Platte River today (Sat., 29 Jan.’22) about ¼ mile upstream (south) of the Florida St. bridge adjacent to the Overland Gold Course (Denver Co.) – apparently the usual spot for the past month or so (maybe the past couple of years?). If you are out, worth a try as the views are close of this beautiful duck.

Good Birding,

Doug

Denver

29 Jan. 2022 – South Platte River near Overland Park/GC (@ Florida St.), Denver, Denver Co.

Cackling Goose – 1 “Richardson’s” (in river, seemed injured / most seemed to have left this area)

Canada Goose – 400 (60/40 Gtr:Lsr)

Northern Shoveler – 50

Gadwall -10

Mallard – 15

Green-winged Teal – 3m 1f

Bufflehead – 20

Common Goldeneye – 10

BARROW’S GOLDENEYE – 1m

Hooded Merganser – 10

Common Merganser – 1f

Killdeer – 2

Bald Eagle – 1a

American Kestrel – 1m

American Crow - 3

Friday 28 January 2022

[cobirds] Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year wrap up

All,

The Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year wrapped up some 28 days ago, yet I have just completed a year end wrap up post. First and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who supported me in this endeavor whether it was telling me about birds, helping me relocate birds, support via donations/pledges, emails/texts of support (maybe some good natured heckling), meeting me for birding, and bringing water, coffee, and/or moral support. It was priceless. I ended up with 285 species, which were found only on day trips from my house in Littleton, Jefferson Co. There was a lot of juggling family, work, and the birds, but it was a blast! I had a lot of "Joe luck" with the birds and everything else that goes along with cycling everywhere.

Big Year wrap up post!

https://jrmemorialgreenbigyear.blogspot.com/2022/01/tis-end-of-green-year.html

Most importantly, we raised over $40,000 for the new Joe Roller Memorial Grant! This is much more than I thought was possible. I'm truly humbled by the support. What a huge success. The Roller family is really touched with how this has turned out. Thank you! I am working with CFO on a plan to ensure these funds support the Joe Roller Memorial Grant for a very long time. Specifics forthcoming.

Here's the story of the last bird, which came on the penultimate day of the year. What a fitting (and crazy!) way to end the year with a self found, locally very rare bird at my own patch!

https://jrmemorialgreenbigyear.blogspot.com/2022/01/one-more-unexpected-amazing-bird-to-end.html

It's never too late to donate to the Joe Roller Memorial Grant. Thank you!
https://cobirds.org/CFO/Grants/

Sincerely,

Scott Somershoe

Littleton CO

Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year 2021 blog

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Thursday 27 January 2022

[cobirds] Chris Shultz

Can anyone get me in touch with Chris Shultz?

Hugh

Tuesday 25 January 2022

[cobirds] Raptor Alley Trip This Saturday/Weld

Hi all

View details here: https://www.friendsofthepawneegrassland.org/event/1311/raptor-alley

Should be good weather for "raptoring". Have three birds on (new) poles on CR 33 right now overlooking our large prairie dog colony :-)

Thanks, Gary Lefko, Nunn

https://www.friendsofthepawneegrassland.org

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/birds-and-more-of-the-pawnee-national-grassland

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Sunday 23 January 2022

[cobirds] Pueblo Reservoir today 1/23

Rare birds continue at Pueblo Reservoir today: 2 Yellow-billed, a Red-throated, a Pacific Loon, and Common Loons, 2 Red-necked Grebes, adult Great Black-backed Gull, American White Pelicans and Bonaparte's Gulls. Other birders saw Long-tailed Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, adult Short-billed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls as well. Scope the lake to look for these birds.

Brandon K. Percival

Pueblo West, CO

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Re: [cobirds] CFO Swan ID Skills Workshop via Zoom January 23, 7 p.m.

Reminder, this free Zoom workshop is tonight. It will be recorded as well. Hope to "see" you there.

Nick

CFO President

Fort Collins CO

On Jan 11, 2022, at 10:28 AM, Diana Beatty <otowi33.33@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you want to brush up on your Swan ID skills?
Learn to identify the swans of Colorado during the next online CFO ID Workshop on January 23, 2022. Dr. Walter Wehtje will highlight the diagnostic field marks for differentiating Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, which are uncommon migrants and winter visitors to Colorado. Immature swans also present significant identification challenges and will be covered in this free online workshop.
Register Here:
tinyurl.com/3vwywr6x
January 23, 2022 7-9pm MST

Diana Beatty
on behalf of CFO Board
El Paso County

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[cobirds] BCAS Meeting This Tuesday!

We hope you will join us for our next Boulder Audubon meeting this Tuesday, January 25!

Joe Ehrenberger has worked with wildlife and their habitats for over 20 years, of which 12 have been from Colorado and the west. In Boulder County, he and his team assist local agencies and partners with amphibian and reptile conservation and management from general species surveys, focused amphibian work, and to public safety with rattlesnakes.

This Tuesday, Joe will share information about the amphibians and reptiles of Boulder County, including information learned from many research studies completed here, where he has proved himself invaluable to city, county, and state agencies. The harder-to-find and rare species will be addressed, including research updates on some. He will also tell us which species we can live without (hint: it's not rattlesnakes!).

We are looking forward to this fun and educational talk, and hope you can join us! More information can be found at this link.

When: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 from 7:15 to 8:30 pm

Where: This meeting will be held online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be provided on the event page here on Tuesday. We encourage you to have the latest version of Zoom installed and to log on a few minutes early to avoid any connection issues.

We hope to see you there!

For recordings of previous talks in our program series, visit our YouTube channel.

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Saturday 22 January 2022

[cobirds] Eurasian Wigeon continues, Pella Crossing, Boulder Co

The Eurasian Wigeon was present this morning at the previously reported location at Pella Crossing. Bird is very distant and requires a scope. I didn't detect it until reviewing my photos at home.

Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO

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Friday 21 January 2022

[cobirds] White-throated Sparrow - SW Denver

Returned to Denver this week after spending the holidays in North Idaho and was pleasantly surprised that the adult WHITE-THROATED SPARROW which was present throughout November and early December is still around today (Fri., 21 Jan.’22) at our place in southwest Denver (Athmar Park neighborhood, Denver Co.). We headed north in mid-December, so after six (6) weeks of empty feeders wasn’t expecting it to be around, and it took a couple of days for activity to pick up, but seems like we are now back to normal - again, a very nice surprise. This is a similar experience to the one we had last Winter with a young Harris’s Sparrow, and as such suspect the White-throat will stick around through March/April (hope I didn’t just jinks things), so if you’d like to try for the sparrow for your year list, …, just let me know separately.

Happy New Year,

Doug

Denver

21 January 2022 Athmar Yard near Huston Park (~1½ blocks away), Denver, Denver Co., CO

Canada Goose – 25 (all Gtr)

Rock Pigeon – 15

Eurasian Collared-Dove – 4

Ring-billed Gull – 3 ad

Northern Flicker – 5 “Red-shafted”

Blue Jay – 2

American Crow – 10

Black-capped Chickadee – 4

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 3

House Sparrow - 5

House Finch – 10

Dark-eyed Junco – 1 “Slate-colored”

- 2 “Oregon”

- 2 “Pink-sided”

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW – 1ad

Spotted Towhee – 1m 1f

[cobirds] Re: RB Robin present today?

Reported this morning (Friday) on an eBird checklist started at 10:20 a.m. https://ebird.org/checklist/S101140389

Carl Bendorf

Longmont

On Friday, January 21, 2022 at 10:29:29 AM UTC-7 ben...@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,
I was planning on going for the Rufous-backed Robin in Montezuma County today, however, I am not seeing any reports from ebird this morning yet. Has anyone went today and missed it yet? Thanks,

Ben Sampson,
Boulder, CO

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[cobirds] House Wren continues at Ken Caryl Valley, JeffCo

This morning I encountered the House Wren I found on the Dec 18 Denver CBC at Ken Caryl Valley. It is on private Ken Caryl Ranch open space without public access. I had seen it through 12/23 but had not checked after that until today. eBird has just four other January records for House Wren in Colorado.

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

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[cobirds] RB Robin present today?

Hello all,

I was planning on going for the Rufous-backed Robin in Montezuma County today, however, I am not seeing any reports from ebird this morning yet. Has anyone went today and missed it yet? Thanks,

Ben Sampson,

Boulder, CO

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Thursday 20 January 2022

[cobirds] CFO skills workshop this Sunday: Swan ID with Walter Wehtje

Do you want to brush up on your Swan ID skills?

Learn to identify the swans of Colorado during the next online CFO ID Workshop on January 23, 2022. Dr. Walter Wehtje will highlight the diagnostic field marks for differentiating Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, which are uncommon migrants and winter visitors to Colorado. Immature swans also present significant identification challenges and will be covered in this free online workshop.

January 23, 2022 7-9pm MST

Diana Beatty

on behalf of CFO board

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[cobirds] Rufous-backed Robin present

Seven people have seen the bird in the yard with red berries at Denny Lake, Montezuma county this morning, before 830am.

Brandon Percival

Pueblo West

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Wednesday 19 January 2022

Re: [cobirds] Massive murder of crows, Denver 1/15

Yes, most winter days near sunset, good numbers of those crows fly in from the east side of Denver (and beyond?). They often fly directly over my house just off East Colfax, about 4 miles east of the Capitol.

One recent evening I counted 805, another 529, all flying west to their winter night roosts.

Their flyovers coincide roughly with official sunset and go on 15-20 minutes.

I had been wondering where they were ending up.

Coincidentally, I was recycling last week through a pile of bird-related magazines and came upon a fascinating piece from a year or two ago about a massive winter roost in Lawrence, MA, with more than 15,000 American and Fish Crows nightly. They roost in various banks of trees around the area but also "stage" before the roosting in parking lots of former industrial mills, as well as on the frozen Merrimack River.

I can't find that article now, but a story in the local daily paper from the same time went into considerable detail:

https://www.eagletribune.com/news/merrimack_valley/visit-of-15-000-crows-to-lawrence-fascinates-researchers-bird-enthusiasts/article_5624715a-cb01-5f0f-9ee1-e05e8dedc247.html

Good winter birding,

Patrick O'Driscoll

Denver

On Wed, Jan 19, 2022 at 8:52 PM Thomas Heinrich <teheinrich@gmail.com> wrote:

Not nearly as exciting as a Rufous-backed Robin (or perhaps the Civic Center Brant either), but over the last several weeks a mass gathering of American Crows has been occurring in downtown Denver late each afternoon (on the Auraria Campus on 1/15) and taking flight in a long stream winding through the buildings, destination: the US Bank building (I believe). If you happen to be downtown for dinner, show, or a concert, it might be worth getting there a bit early for a stroll by the campus, or a glance upward around 5:00 pm to enjoy the spectacle. On 1/15, I arrived at Auraria around 4:45 and watched until dark at about 5:30, counting 2,925 crows.
eBird report with a few photos:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S101066367

Thomas Heinrich
Boulder, CO
Nyctea@aol.com

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[cobirds] Massive murder of crows, Denver 1/15

Not nearly as exciting as a Rufous-backed Robin (or perhaps the Civic Center Brant either), but over the last several weeks a mass gathering of American Crows has been occurring in downtown Denver late each afternoon (on the Auraria Campus on 1/15) and taking flight in a long stream winding through the buildings, destination: the US Bank building (I believe). If you happen to be downtown for dinner, show, or a concert, it might be worth getting there a bit early for a stroll by the campus, or a glance upward around 5:00 pm to enjoy the spectacle. On 1/15, I arrived at Auraria around 4:45 and watched until dark at about 5:30, counting 2,925 crows.

eBird report with a few photos:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S101066367

Thomas Heinrich

Boulder, CO

Nyctea@aol.com

[cobirds] Rufous-backed Robin present late 1/19

Saw it from 345pm to 5pm at Denny Lake in Cortez, Montezuma County, near the yards with red berries. Thanks Coen and Brenda!

Brandon Percival and Van Truan

Pueblo County, Colorado

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Tuesday 18 January 2022

[cobirds] South Platte Problems :(

Hi all,

Just a warning for those birding the location listed on ebird as South Platte at Sand Creek Mouth. Ben and I stopped there for a little yesterday and in the 45 minutes we were there his catalytic converter got stolen.

I suppose this might not be surprising to most, but some might find this useful.

Luke Pheneger

Longmont

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Re: [cobirds] Re: Mexican, Mallard, Mottled?

Hi all,

Thought I'd throw in my two cents on this bird given that it seems to have become a popular topic of discussion. Thank you to Sally Waterhouse for bringing this bird to Cobirds so it can reach a broader audience.

I presume that the bird I documented on December 29 is the same bird that has been subsequently seen by Sally Waterhouse and Greg Mihalik. In the field, this bird looked like a classic male Mexican Duck (MEDU), and I maintain that identification after reviewing photos by others.

This bird demonstrates all of the characteristics of a pure male MEDU, including dark body plumage, strong contrast between the breast and neck, fine gray streaking on the face, internal markings on the body feathers, and a dark brown tail and undertail coverts. The speculum is also fairly typical of MEDU (and is generally not the most reliable field mark for separating MEDU from MALL anyways as there is some variability/overlap). When I observed this bird in flight, its speculum was bright turquoise, but in this photo (ML406400291 Mallard/Mexican Duck Macaulay Library), it appears more purplish-blue. That is to be expected as the apparent color of the speculum can change drastically depending on the light conditions. Another possible point of contention is that in this photo (ML405633971 Mallard/Mexican Duck Macaulay Library), the edges of the tail appear rather pale. However, this is sometimes true of MEDU when viewed from the side. More important is that, when the tail is fanned out, as seen in this photo (ML406400291 Mallard/Mexican Duck Macaulay Library), it reveals a classic MEDU tail pattern with very little if any white. While it is impossible to say without genetic analysis that this bird's genome doesn't have a trace of MALL influence, I would expect a MALL x MEDU to have some combination of paler body plumage, less contrast between the breast and neck, green in the head, white in the tail and undertail coverts, black uppertail coverts, and curved tail feathers.

As for the possibility that this bird is a MEDU x MODU, I would expect such a hybrid combination to have a more prominent black gape spot, as male MEDU often exhibit a small amount of black/dusky near the gape as seen in these birds: ML85267311 Mexican Duck Macaulay Library, ML402523711 Mexican Duck Macaulay Library, ML404334831 Mexican Duck Macaulay Library. Also, a MEDU x MODU hybrid would likely have a paler, buffier face, whereas this bird has a colder, dirtier face due to numerous fine dark streaks. I would also expect to see thinner white borders to the trailing and leading edge of the speculum if this were a MEDU x MODU.

Thanks to all who read this lengthy response! It's always fun to try and pin down the ID of these difficult birds.

Regards,

Jack Bushong

Louisville, CO/Hanover, NH

On Monday, January 17, 2022 at 12:14:32 PM UTC-5 Nick Komar wrote:

I will go out on a limb and suggest that this is a candidate for Mexican x Mottled based on the appearance of typical male Mexican Duck except for three traits inherited from Mottled Duck: moderate black gape spot, purple tinge to blue speculum, and buff patch on throat. Are these all within the range of variation for Mexican Duck - possibly (I don't know). I suggest posting to the bird hybrids facebook page for more opinions.

Nick Komar
Fort Collins CO

On Jan 16, 2022, at 1:05 PM, Sally Waterhouse <smwa...@owu.edu> wrote:

New photo showing speculum of same bird in question https://ebird.org/checklist/S100849831 To me the speculum looks like typical Mallard.
Sally Waterhouse
Nathrop, CO

On Sunday, January 16, 2022 at 8:19:57 AM UTC-7 Sally Waterhouse wrote:
Looking for some thoughts on this. The duck has been observed by several birders in Chaffee County just west of the 163 pond hotspot in a small pond area. Whether this is the same duck reported as a Mexican on Dec. 29 by Jack Bushong on 163 pond is unknown. After perusing many discussions about this "complex" I'm curious as to what people may think about this individual. See photos on my ebird checklist https://ebird.org/checklist/S100712744 and also on Greg Mihalik's checklist https://ebird.org/checklist/S100667677. Looking more closely at photos I realized that there is also a dark gape spot just to add to the question. So far, no speculum photos.
Sally Waterhouse
Nathrop, Chaffee County

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