cobirds colorado rare bird: January 2023

Tuesday 31 January 2023

Re: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

In Southern Colorado, the last eruption of Bohemian Waxwings was in February 2005, there were 3,000+ around Lathrop State Park, Huerfano County. Between 2005 and 2022, I only saw Bohemian Waxwings in Colorado in 2013 in Fremont County, a small number.

Colorado Christmas Bird Counts this winter, found some Bohemian Waxwings, though the big numbers were mostly found after the Christmas Bird Count season was over. Since not all the results are in yet, I don't know how many counts found them, and how many.

Though so far, six counts found them, with a total of 250 birds.

Denver (urban) CBC - 1

Douglas County CBC - 37

Granby CBC - 60

Gunnison CBC - 30

Loveland CBC - 81

Weldona-Fort Morgan CBC - 41

Brandon Percival

Colorado CBC Regional Editor
Pueblo West, CO

On Sun, Jan 29, 2023 at 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're having this winter.

Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution.

W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue of DFO's The Lark Bunting, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in The Wilson Bulletin in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds.

Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for Bohemians?

Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees.

I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of 1991 (150+ in Lakewood).

Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah.

- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
lonesomewhippoorwill.com

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Re: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

I love these stories is why I still read Cobird!

Thank you do much.

Cassins male and female, Evening grosbeaks, and a flock of Bohemians in my yard this week!

Libby Edwards

North Fort Collins

On Jan 31, 2023, at 11:16 AM, Matt Webb <matt.webb@birdconservancy.org> wrote:

Hey all,

I always enjoy hearing about people's experiences with specific birds or species! Bohemian (and Cedar!) Waxwings have always been an important bird to me, as they are the main reason that I got back into birding (and now work with birds full time!).
As a kid I had been into birds and birding, even begging my mom to take me on a Christmas Bird Count in the Salida area when I was 7 or so. (As my mom tells it, the adults were annoyed with such a young kid being there until I started pointing out birds they didn't see.) When I would look at my birds books, I would spend hours looking at the waxwings just thinking they were so lovely. I always thought it would be impossible to see them because they seemed so magical and the tiny maps in the book didn't appear to include southern Colorado. My interests shifted as I entered my teens and picked up various instruments and garage bands. Fast forward to 2008 (when I was in my early 30's), and I was reading an article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan (local newspaper) about the dam project that was being debated north of town. In that article they talked about the wildlife that uses the Cache la Poudre River, and mentioned that Cedar Waxwings nest along the river corridor through town. What!? I could see these birds here? The next day I picked up a $20 pair of binoculars from Jax and began searching for them. I was a student at Front Range Community College, and my wife and I would go on walks through the nearby neighborhoods during our breaks. One day in late January we found both species going crazy over a tree full of withering crabapples in the front yard of a house just south of campus. (Here's my eBird list of that day, my first viewing of both species: https://ebird.org/checklist/S3460064). As we watched the birds, one Bohemian waxwing ate a bunch of the crabapples, jumped into the air and darted directly into the front window of the house, slamming into it hard. It flew right back to the same branch, shook off the impact, then fell dead to the ground. I was able to pick the bird up and look at it in my hand, which was pretty intense but also very incredible. I set the dead bird back down and we went back to school, writing about the experience on my Myspace account that evening. haha, remember Myspace?

Several years later, I found myself working with bird-window collisions for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and would often bring waxwing specimens from the museum collection out when giving talks about the dangers of windows. After returning to Fort Collins, I have wondered about seeing Bohemian Waxwings again, and have been very excited to be able to see a few this winter. It's great to have them back in the state, and fun to see everyone else enjoying them as well! Thanks for letting me tell you my story about these amazing birds.

Now back to work!
Matt

Matthew M Webb
Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Motus project #281
970.482.1707 x36 (office)
970.405.7155 (mobile - use this number!)
www.birdconservancy.org

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter
On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 4:17 PM <woodcreeper29@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Jared and COBirders

I grew up in Boulder in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bohemian Waxwings were one of the big reasons I became interested in birds. My parent's house was on 43rd St. (my mom still lives there) and it had a large picture window with berry producing juniper bushes outside. I remember very large flocks of Bohemians on several occasions covering these bushes about four feet from my face as we stood at the window watching! At times there were probably 200-300 birds! This was probably 1963 or 64 before I started note taking. My notes show irruptions (using the more than four criteria) in 1968, 73, 74, 79 and 84. Most of my old records from the mid 60s to the late 80s are not in ebird. The current numbers of birds is definitely spectacular!

Steve Larson
Northglenn, CO
On 01/29/2023 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're having this winter.

Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution.

W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue of DFO's The Lark Bunting, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in The Wilson Bulletin in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds.

Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for Bohemians?

Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees.

I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of 1991 (150+ in Lakewood).

Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

lonesomewhippoorwill.com

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RE: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

Matt,

Thank you for sharing your (birding) origin story and how the waxwings played an important role in your life's path – a very fun read!! You are not the first to be ignited by these guys – think Steve may have a few years on you – and certainly won't be the last. Let's hope this year's Bohemian Waxwing incursion will spark a few young lights.

Thank you as well Jarod for kicking off all these recollections, and various levels of historic data dumps, from the COBirds community - as always fascinating and informative. For me it has been a bit of affirmation that my mind still has some functionality. I grew up in the Denver/Boulder area not far behind Mr. Larson and recall Bohemians being pretty regular with the occasional large scale irruptions as many folks have recounted (do remember that crazy winter of 1987-88 in Boulder); actually would get more excited finding a few Cedars. As I've mentioned previously, we moved to North Idaho in 2000, then started coming back regularly a little over seven years ago to spend the winter and springs in Colorado. So when asked by a local Denver birder a couple of years ago to let him know if I found any Bohemians in town as he needed one for his county list, my reply was "Really?!?". I began to wonder if I was "misremembering" their abundance, or had there been a change in the bird's population? Now I understand the current interest as these beauts are no longer regular at all. Northern Colorado used to be part of the normal wintering range for Bohemians, but now the southern portion of this range seems to have retreated northward. This shift in occurrence, like the numerous species now wintering in southern Colorado, is sadly another reminder that our climate has shifted as well. Our birds and their population dynamics are almost literally "canaries in the coal mine", so the collective information we gather and report in pursuit of our hobby (ie; CBCs, BBSs, Breeding Bird Atlases, DFO field trips, eBird, …) is key in understanding our World today as an accumulation of history – Steve, you and I need to get off our asses and plow those missing decades of data into eBird!!

So again, thank you Matt and Jarod for your contributions to this forum. Let's all enjoy this current irruption of one of Nature's finest while we can, who knows when we get the next one.

Good Birding,

Doug

Denver

PS – On a somewhat related note, while not quite the intensity of the Cassin's Finch irruption during the spring of 2020, there do seem to be a number in the lowlands this year and we were fortunate to have a female type CASSIN'S FINCH come into our feeders in southwest Denver (Athmar Park, Denver Co., CO) today (Tues., 31 Jan.'23). Keep your eyes and ears open while out hunting for your next flock of waxwings!

From: cobirds@googlegroups.com <cobirds@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Matt Webb
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2023 10:17 AM
To: woodcreeper29@comcast.net
Cc: Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com>; Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

Hey all,

I always enjoy hearing about people's experiences with specific birds or species! Bohemian (and Cedar!) Waxwings have always been an important bird to me, as they are the main reason that I got back into birding (and now work with birds full time!).

As a kid I had been into birds and birding, even begging my mom to take me on a Christmas Bird Count in the Salida area when I was 7 or so. (As my mom tells it, the adults were annoyed with such a young kid being there until I started pointing out birds they didn't see.) When I would look at my birds books, I would spend hours looking at the waxwings just thinking they were so lovely. I always thought it would be impossible to see them because they seemed so magical and the tiny maps in the book didn't appear to include southern Colorado. My interests shifted as I entered my teens and picked up various instruments and garage bands. Fast forward to 2008 (when I was in my early 30's), and I was reading an article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan (local newspaper) about the dam project that was being debated north of town. In that article they talked about the wildlife that uses the Cache la Poudre River, and mentioned that Cedar Waxwings nest along the river corridor through town. What!? I could see these birds here? The next day I picked up a $20 pair of binoculars from Jax and began searching for them. I was a student at Front Range Community College, and my wife and I would go on walks through the nearby neighborhoods during our breaks. One day in late January we found both species going crazy over a tree full of withering crabapples in the front yard of a house just south of campus. (Here's my eBird list of that day, my first viewing of both species: https://ebird.org/checklist/S3460064). As we watched the birds, one Bohemian waxwing ate a bunch of the crabapples, jumped into the air and darted directly into the front window of the house, slamming into it hard. It flew right back to the same branch, shook off the impact, then fell dead to the ground. I was able to pick the bird up and look at it in my hand, which was pretty intense but also very incredible. I set the dead bird back down and we went back to school, writing about the experience on my Myspace account that evening. haha, remember Myspace?

Several years later, I found myself working with bird-window collisions for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and would often bring waxwing specimens from the museum collection out when giving talks about the dangers of windows. After returning to Fort Collins, I have wondered about seeing Bohemian Waxwings again, and have been very excited to be able to see a few this winter. It's great to have them back in the state, and fun to see everyone else enjoying them as well! Thanks for letting me tell you my story about these amazing birds.

Now back to work!

Matt

Matthew M Webb

Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Motus project #281

970.482.1707 x36 (office)

970.405.7155 (mobile - use this number!)

www.birdconservancy.org

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter

On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 4:17 PM <woodcreeper29@comcast.net> wrote:

Hi Jared and COBirders
I grew up in Boulder in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bohemian Waxwings were one of the big reasons I became interested in birds. My parent's house was on 43rd St. (my mom still lives there) and it had a large picture window with berry producing juniper bushes outside. I remember very large flocks of Bohemians on several occasions covering these bushes about four feet from my face as we stood at the window watching! At times there were probably 200-300 birds! This was probably 1963 or 64 before I started note taking. My notes show irruptions (using the more than four criteria) in 1968, 73, 74, 79 and 84. Most of my old records from the mid 60s to the late 80s are not in ebird. The current numbers of birds is definitely spectacular!
Steve Larson
Northglenn, CO
On 01/29/2023 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're having this winter.

Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution.

W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue of DFO's The Lark Bunting, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in The Wilson Bulletin in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds.

Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for Bohemians?

Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees.

I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of 1991 (150+ in Lakewood).

Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah.

- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
lonesomewhippoorwill.com

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[cobirds] Louisville, Boulder County, Bohemian Waxwings

Like clockwork, the birds are back. W. Hawthorn Ct. and W. Centennial Drive.

Sharon Norfleet
Louisville, Boulder County

Sent from my iPad

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Re: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

Sorry if you got a half-finished version of my story - I accidentally sent it before I was done writing. (dangers of communicating via Slack while writing emails!)

Matthew M Webb

Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Motus project #281

970.482.1707 x36 (office)

970.405.7155 (mobile - use this number!)

www.birdconservancy.org

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter

On Tue, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:16 AM Matt Webb <matt.webb@birdconservancy.org> wrote:

Hey all,

I always enjoy hearing about people's experiences with specific birds or species! Bohemian (and Cedar!) Waxwings have always been an important bird to me, as they are the main reason that I got back into birding (and now work with birds full time!).
As a kid I had been into birds and birding, even begging my mom to take me on a Christmas Bird Count in the Salida area when I was 7 or so. (As my mom tells it, the adults were annoyed with such a young kid being there until I started pointing out birds they didn't see.) When I would look at my birds books, I would spend hours looking at the waxwings just thinking they were so lovely. I always thought it would be impossible to see them because they seemed so magical and the tiny maps in the book didn't appear to include southern Colorado. My interests shifted as I entered my teens and picked up various instruments and garage bands. Fast forward to 2008 (when I was in my early 30's), and I was reading an article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan (local newspaper) about the dam project that was being debated north of town. In that article they talked about the wildlife that uses the Cache la Poudre River, and mentioned that Cedar Waxwings nest along the river corridor through town. What!? I could see these birds here? The next day I picked up a $20 pair of binoculars from Jax and began searching for them. I was a student at Front Range Community College, and my wife and I would go on walks through the nearby neighborhoods during our breaks. One day in late January we found both species going crazy over a tree full of withering crabapples in the front yard of a house just south of campus. (Here's my eBird list of that day, my first viewing of both species: https://ebird.org/checklist/S3460064). As we watched the birds, one Bohemian waxwing ate a bunch of the crabapples, jumped into the air and darted directly into the front window of the house, slamming into it hard. It flew right back to the same branch, shook off the impact, then fell dead to the ground. I was able to pick the bird up and look at it in my hand, which was pretty intense but also very incredible. I set the dead bird back down and we went back to school, writing about the experience on my Myspace account that evening. haha, remember Myspace?

Several years later, I found myself working with bird-window collisions for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and would often bring waxwing specimens from the museum collection out when giving talks about the dangers of windows. After returning to Fort Collins, I have wondered about seeing Bohemian Waxwings again, and have been very excited to be able to see a few this winter. It's great to have them back in the state, and fun to see everyone else enjoying them as well! Thanks for letting me tell you my story about these amazing birds.

Now back to work!
Matt

Matthew M Webb
Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Motus project #281
970.482.1707 x36 (office)
970.405.7155 (mobile - use this number!)
www.birdconservancy.org

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On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 4:17 PM <woodcreeper29@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Jared and COBirders

I grew up in Boulder in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bohemian Waxwings were one of the big reasons I became interested in birds. My parent's house was on 43rd St. (my mom still lives there) and it had a large picture window with berry producing juniper bushes outside. I remember very large flocks of Bohemians on several occasions covering these bushes about four feet from my face as we stood at the window watching! At times there were probably 200-300 birds! This was probably 1963 or 64 before I started note taking. My notes show irruptions (using the more than four criteria) in 1968, 73, 74, 79 and 84. Most of my old records from the mid 60s to the late 80s are not in ebird. The current numbers of birds is definitely spectacular!

Steve Larson
Northglenn, CO
On 01/29/2023 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're having this winter.

Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution.

W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue of DFO's The Lark Bunting, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in The Wilson Bulletin in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds.

Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for Bohemians?

Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees.

I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of 1991 (150+ in Lakewood).

Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

lonesomewhippoorwill.com

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Re: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

Hey all,

Now back to work!

Matt

Matthew M Webb

Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Motus project #281

970.482.1707 x36 (office)

970.405.7155 (mobile - use this number!)

www.birdconservancy.org

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter

On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 4:17 PM <woodcreeper29@comcast.net> wrote:

Hi Jared and COBirders

I grew up in Boulder in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bohemian Waxwings were one of the big reasons I became interested in birds. My parent's house was on 43rd St. (my mom still lives there) and it had a large picture window with berry producing juniper bushes outside. I remember very large flocks of Bohemians on several occasions covering these bushes about four feet from my face as we stood at the window watching! At times there were probably 200-300 birds! This was probably 1963 or 64 before I started note taking. My notes show irruptions (using the more than four criteria) in 1968, 73, 74, 79 and 84. Most of my old records from the mid 60s to the late 80s are not in ebird. The current numbers of birds is definitely spectacular!

Steve Larson
Northglenn, CO
On 01/29/2023 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're having this winter.

Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution.

W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue of DFO's The Lark Bunting, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in The Wilson Bulletin in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds.

Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for Bohemians?

Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees.

I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of 1991 (150+ in Lakewood).

Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

lonesomewhippoorwill.com

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Monday 30 January 2023

[cobirds] Bohemian, waxwings, Jefferson county

Here is a flock of Bohemian waxwings that I saw at Pierce Way and Marlow Ave in Jefferson county today around 3 PM. I printed the picture out and did the best I could to count them and I came up with more than 450 birds! I didn't see any cedar waxwings in with the group. There were about five robins on the side.
I didn't see them eating anything, they just flew into the tree and after several minutes flew out east of the area.
Really cool!
Thanks Deb Carstensen, Arapahoe county

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[cobirds] Say's Phoebe - Jefferson County

Last Friday (January 27th), I saw a Say's Phoebe along Clear Creek near the Youngfield entrance to Prospect Park. The bird was exhibiting hawking behavior over the creek water west of the parking lot, across from where the new Lutheran Hospital is being built.

Has anyone else seen this bird there?

Bill Turner

Re: [cobirds] Re: Bohemian Waxwing eBird data Denver Metro Area

As the compiler of the 1987 Boulder CBC, I can confirm that I ran out of fingers.

Bill Kaempfer

Safety Harbor, FL

From: cobirds@googlegroups.com <cobirds@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Scott Severs <scottesevers@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2023 5:06 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [cobirds] Re: Bohemian Waxwing eBird data Denver Metro Area

Ah - I see Bill Schmoker already commented! What I can say is that we were astounded that day that BOWAs outnumbered geese on the CBC!

On Monday, January 30, 2023 at 2:59:23 PM UTC-7 Scott Severs wrote:

All CBC historical data by species (or circle) can be queried here:

https://netapp.audubon.org/CBCObservation/Historical/ResultsBySpecies.aspx?1

On Monday, January 30, 2023 at 2:55:44 PM UTC-7 Scott Severs wrote:

The Boulder CBC once held the annual Christmas Bird Count's all time highest record for bohemian waxwings in the continental United States, 11,284 individuals seen in one day in 1987! Yes that's 11 thousand!

On Monday, January 30, 2023 at 6:51:39 AM UTC-7 greggg...@gmail.com wrote:

I downloaded and compiled all the eBird accepted Bohemian Waxwing checklists for the Denver Metro area (Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Broomfield). Hugh Kingery suggested a definition of an irruption to be greater than 4 birds on a checklist and to cover at least a period of 2 weeks. I sorted it into date order for these combined 6 counties. After dropping all checklists with less than 5 birds or an X in the count, I was left with 215 checklists with BOWAs in the Metro area over a 75 year period. Hugh had BOWAs back in 1948 close to the zoo.

eBird was started by Cornell in 2002. Not many birders used it at that time but it is now widely used. Many birders have entered their historical records which is such valuable information. Many thanks to all the reviewers that really make this a trusted source of data. And thanks to all the birders that are now submitting checklists, we really have a great resource of birding data.

David Suddjian was the first to see our current amazing irruption on 12/23/2022 in Ken Caryl. He confirmed the 20 flyovers by the "tight formation, size and calls". And it is possible we will continue to see this current irruption even into April.

We have to go back 14 years to get to the closest previous irruption for the metro area. It was in the winter of 2007-2008. It began on 12/14/2007 at Chatfield State Park and the last sighting that winter was at Columbine West on 4/13/2008. The high count that winter was 200 BOWA in Douglas county on 1/15/2008.

Going back 2 more years to the winter of 2004-2005 was a large irruption year as well. It began on 11/24/2004 in Broomfield and finished on 3/21/2005 in Douglas county. The high count for this period was 2000 (a conservative count they said) and was recorded in Adams county at "Federal & 120th by Norm, Ted, Dave and Marilyn" on 11/30/2004.

You have to go back another 13 years to the winter of 1990-1991 to get another irruption for the Denver Metro area. Beginning on 12/12/1990 at Chatfield and continuing to 4/5/1991 at Joe Roller's Yates home in Denver. He had 22 BOWA and commented on their "mean looking facies". There are 5 records for this irruption winter and the average count was around 40 BOWAs.

The 1980's had 5 winters with BOWA irruptions. 79-80, 81-82, 84-85, 86-87 and 87-88. The largest count on a checklist for the 1980's was 1000 BOWA on 1/12/1988 in Greenwood Village by Hugh Kingery. He made this comment "Heritage Village, Littleton (6465 S. Niagara).No details. This month saw a lot of BOWAs in metro Denver.".

There is only one year in the 1970's and one year in the 1960's that shows irruptions in the eBird historical data in the Metro area. 1976-1977 had a checklist with a high count of 1000 BOWA at Cherry Creek SP on 3/12/1977. And finally in the winter of 1968-1969 there was a report of 2000 BOWA at Bow-Mar on 12/20/1968 reported by Van Remsen with this comment "invasion year; careful estimate".

As more historical data is entered and as more birders use eBird, the data will get better. I did download all of the Colorado BOWA data and it contained right at 1000 records. All of Colorado averages an irruption every 3 years. But the Denver Metro area, from 1948-2023, has had 11 irruptions in this 75 year span. So, we average an irruption about every 7 years. Enjoy this one while it lasts. Sure has been fun.

Gregg Goodrich

Highlands Ranch

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Re: [cobirds] Historical perspective on Bohemians?

Hi Jared and COBirders

I grew up in Boulder in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bohemian Waxwings were one of the big reasons I became interested in birds. My parent's house was on 43rd St. (my mom still lives there) and it had a large picture window with berry producing juniper bushes outside. I remember very large flocks of Bohemians on several occasions covering these bushes about four feet from my face as we stood at the window watching! At times there were probably 200-300 birds! This was probably 1963 or 64 before I started note taking. My notes show irruptions (using the more than four criteria) in 1968, 73, 74, 79 and 84. Most of my old records from the mid 60s to the late 80s are not in ebird. The current numbers of birds is definitely spectacular!

Steve Larson

Northglenn, CO

On 01/29/2023 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're having this winter.

Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution.

W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue of DFO's The Lark Bunting, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in The Wilson Bulletin in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds.

Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for Bohemians?

Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees.

I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of 1991 (150+ in Lakewood).

Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

lonesomewhippoorwill.com

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