Monday, 31 December 2012

Re: [cobirds] Perhaps I am out of line….

Excellent point Donna. There are a lot of new birders on the list, and I'm sure they'd appreciate a little reiteration of these tricky ID problems.

These issues have come up before on the list, which is likely why people shy away from reposting such information. There is also a great deal of info online dealing with these challenging ID problems, many of which you can find using google (or your favorite internet search engine), on the CFO website (a great article on identifying Canada vs Cackling Goose can be found here http://cfobirds.org/cbrcfiles/sep_can_cack_co.pdf) or be searching through old posts to the list at https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/cobirds. David Sibley has a nice website with information about Redpoll ID, and other challenging ID problems.

Lastly, if you're on Facebook, there is a Colorado Field Ornithologists group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/129995222037/) and Birding Colorado group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/BirdingColorado/) you might be interested in joining for such discussions.

Good birding,
Paul Hurtado
Pueblo, CO (& Columbus, OH).

On Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 4:32 PM, Donna Dannen <tundrawinds@me.com> wrote:

....but it would be nice if several questions I've seen lately.....such as telling a cackling goose from a Canada, or Hoary from common redpolls, etc. answers go out to the entire list. I know so many of you are expert birders, but to be honest, I am getting back into this after a 30 year hiatus.....though I became quite good at the time, with a respectable life list, names and species have changed since then, and I find myself often very confused. I would love to see the answers to many of the posed questions, and am sure others would as well.

Donna Dannen
Conifer
Jefferson County

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Paul J. Hurtado
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Mathematical Biosciences Institute, http://mbi.osu.edu/
Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, http://ael.osu.edu/

E-mail: hurtado.10@mbi.osu.edu
Webpage: http://people.mbi.ohio-state.edu/hurtado.10

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[cobirds] Gull mania (10 species) at Pueblo Res. -- 200pm-430pm 12/31

I saw John Drummond's first year Iceland Gull at Pueblo Reservoir this afternoon, it was swimming in the south east part of the lake, and flew off, and I didn't see it again. Along with Ken Pals and Steve Getty, we saw a good looking first year Glaucous-winged Gull on the South Marina Tires at Pueblo Reservoir, maybe this is the bird from John Martin Res. Other gulls around at Pueblo Reservoir were adult Mew, first year Glaucous, Lesser Black-backeds, Great Black-backed, Thayer's, and the regular Ring-billed, Herring, and California. The rare loons continue as well, one Red-throated and one Pacific.

Brandon Percival

Pueblo West, CO

[cobirds] Redpoll ID p.s.

Sorry to load your inbox, but I put a male Common Redpoll pic up on my Flickr site taken at about the same time, in a similar pose in similar light, for comparison: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/8330627179/in/photostream

That is all… -Bill Schmoker, Longmont

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Re: [cobirds] Redpoll photographs from Fort Collins

Nick and Cobirders, this is certainly the best year in most of our memories (or ever?) for redpolls in CO, and just by the sheer numbers I would expect a few Hoaries to potentially be in the mix. Nick- I look forward to looking at your pics, thanks much for posting them.

I have been studying this issue a lot since a pale redpoll arrived in my yard a couple of days ago with about 20 birds that I would call Common Redpolls. I have a couple of pics of the bird on my Flickr site and have concluded that it is a good candidate for male Hoary Redpoll: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/8328723156/in/photostream and http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/8327663373/in/photostream/.

Unfortunately, after a brief appearance yesterday morning the bird has not returned. Despite the more wintery weather today there are no redpolls at all at my feeders, but I will update the list if this changes.

I first seriously pondered redpoll ID last Feb., after spending time in Fairbanks looking at a variety of birds. I summarized some of my thinking in this ABA blog post: http://blog.aba.org/2012/02/a-surfeit-of-redpolls.html, but I feel that the mystery bird in my yard has prompted more careful consideration.

My task in Fairbanks was made easier by location (where Hoary could be reasonably expected in winter) and by the presence of what I would call some "slam dunk" examples. The bird that came through my yard recently is not as obvious, but I believe a suite of traits point toward Hoary.

David Sibley has written many times on his blog about redpoll ID, and conveniently collated his redpoll posts here: http://www.sibleyguides.com/bird-info/common-redpoll-and-hoary-redpoll/. I have found several of his resources to be very helpful. In response to a reader's comment, he chimed in with what I think is a very interesting and pertinent comment:

A reader suggests that many people are not as conservative as perhaps they should be, and simply slap the "Hoary" label on any noticeably pale redpoll. I agree, but I also think that many true Hoarys are overlooked, so it may actually be that many birds reported as Hoarys are not, but an equal or greater number of real Hoarys are overlooked! (my emphasis.)

Among the strongest takeaways for me, he has addressed the bill issue. While the tiniest-billed Hoaries are easy to pick, they aren't all equipped with diminutive peckers:

What Seutin et al found is that specimens can be sorted by measurements, with pale (Hoary-types) having shorter bills by about 10% on average; means of 7.67 mm for dark birds and 7.01 for pale. Taking their mean for bill length +/- 2 standard deviations (I'm told this will encompass about 95% of all individuals) the bill measurements don't look so different:
Common 7 – 8.2 mm
Hoary 6.5 – 7.5 mm
In other words, the differences are very slight, and there is extensive overlap, with the largest Hoary matching the average Common and the smallest Common matching the average Hoary. (my emphasis.)

I think my bird had a distinctly smaller bill than any of the other redpolls, a feature emphasized by the feathering extending down the maxilla a bit (which gives the bird a bit of a forehead bump, another good Hoary trait.) It doesn't, however, reach the wee extremes of my best examples from Fairbanks.

Sibley also summarizes a fantastic paper that included a Character Index for Redpoll Identification, which allows scoring individuals on a 1-6 scale for each of three traits: Flank streaking, Rump streaking, and Undertail Covert streaking. A 1 score in any category would be very dark and extensive, a 6 would be practically unmarked. (http://www.sibleyguides.com/2008/01/a-character-index-for-redpoll-identification/) Using the scale…

Numerically, a male (pink breast) with a score from 14 to 18 was called a Hoary in Troy's paper, a score from 3 to 7 would be Common, and from 8 to 13 intermediate. For females and immatures (no pink) it only took a score of 11 or higher to qualify as a Hoary, since no female-type scored higher than 13, and a score of 3 to 6 indicated a Common; leaving 7 to 10 intermediate (I'm using the straight numbers, Troy adjusted so that the lowest score was 1).

My photos don't show the rump Steve Mlodinow photographed it and it is very clean, perhaps a "5" on the scale. I'll not bias any of you wishing to score the pics for yourselves by giving you my score. I will say it isn't out at the end of the scoring bell curve, but I do believe it passes muster.

You'll note that the index doesn't address bill size, mantle color, degree of pink, etc. In personal communications with Steve Mlodinow, who studied hundreds of redpoll specimens in the Field Museum (I think that was the institution but if not, I'll let Steve correct me), he found that the only consistent traits of the Hoaries were clean rumps and undertail coverts (though streaks on the longest undertail coverts of Hoaries were not uncommon.)

Moving on, Sibley gives a nice checklist of marks to look for when you have a candidate bird:

...check details in no particular order, depending on what part of the bird you can see well, and try to make direct comparisons with birds of the same plumage type:
the scapulars should be paler with frosty whitish edges on Hoary
flank streaking should be sparse and narrow on Hoary
undertail coverts should be white or with only narrow streaks on Hoary (female Hoary often have narrow shaft streaks not as broad as on Commons, and male Common can have no streaks)
rump should be mostly white on Hoary, whiter on males (but male Commons can also have a noticeably pale rump)
the bill should look short and small, with fluffy nasal bristles covering the base of the upper mandible and making the forehead bulge a bit (but Commons also have tiny bills, you have to study some Commons at close range before you will feel confident using this feature)
The pale edges on the wing coverts and secondaries should be broader and whiter on Hoary (but this is variable in both species and, as with all of these clues, it's important to compare birds of the same sex)

And also lists other more subjective features to consider:

Other features that have been mentioned and that might be worth watching for and testing (but many of these are very subjective and my impression currently is that these are less useful than the ones mentioned above):
a smaller and brighter red "poll" on the forehead of Hoary
less dark color on the throat and lores on Hoary: more restricted and not as dark (but appearance varies with angle of view)
Hoary overall larger and fluffier (but note subspecies differences in size)
neck appears thicker on Hoary
fluffy "leggings" on Hoary
A tendency for Hoary to raise tail when foraging on the ground
relatively longer tail
there may be subtle differences in calls, and this deserves more testing, but singling one calling bird out of a flock is usually impossible. The larger "Greenland" subspecies also may have different calls.

I think my bird meets each criterion in the first checklist and also fits bullets 1,2,and 4 on the second. If folks have other resources to share regarding ID tips for this potentially difficult separation, please share them with the group. Good luck in your redpoll searches, snap lots of shots, and have fun!

Happy New Year- Bill Schmoker, Longmont

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• Bill Schmoker •

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720/201-5749

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On Dec 31, 2012, at 2:14 PM, Nick Komar wrote:

With reports of Hoary Redpolls surfacing on Cobirds and E-bird, I have been trying to get better looks at redpolls in the large flock hanging out at the east end of Lee Martinez Park and visiting the feeders at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery which recently opened there. I photographed >10 individuals on 23 December and 30 December, and these photos are posted at http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/redpolls2012. I think I see one or two with small bills, and I think I see one or two with 3 or fewer streaked undertail coverts, and several that seem to approach Sibley's drawing of the southern Hoary Redpoll, but I lack confidence in identifying any of these as Hoary Redpoll. The photos show a tremendous variation, which makes me even less confident about identifying Hoary, and even suspicious that Hoary and Common may actually belong to a single species. Anyway, comments from others are welcome (probably would be appreciated by other list members also, so consider sending the comments to the listserve). I would especially be interested if you think any of these are candidate Hoary. If anyone has photographed a Hoary in Colorado, I would certainly like to see those photos.

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO

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[cobirds] Perhaps I am out of line….

....but it would be nice if several questions I've seen lately.....such as telling a cackling goose from a Canada, or Hoary from common redpolls, etc. answers go out to the entire list. I know so many of you are expert birders, but to be honest, I am getting back into this after a 30 year hiatus.....though I became quite good at the time, with a respectable life list, names and species have changed since then, and I find myself often very confused. I would love to see the answers to many of the posed questions, and am sure others would as well.

Donna Dannen
Conifer
Jefferson County

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[cobirds] Redpoll photographs from Fort Collins

With reports of Hoary Redpolls surfacing on Cobirds and E-bird, I have been trying to get better looks at redpolls in the large flock hanging out at the east end of Lee Martinez Park and visiting the feeders at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery which recently opened there. I photographed >10 individuals on 23 December and 30 December, and these photos are posted at http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/redpolls2012. I think I see one or two with small bills, and I think I see one or two with 3 or fewer streaked undertail coverts, and several that seem to approach Sibley's drawing of the southern Hoary Redpoll, but I lack confidence in identifying any of these as Hoary Redpoll. The photos show a tremendous variation, which makes me even less confident about identifying Hoary, and even suspicious that Hoary and Common may actually belong to a single species. Anyway, comments from others are welcome (probably would be appreciated by other list members also, so consider sending the comments to the listserve). I would especially be interested if you think any of these are candidate Hoary. If anyone has photographed a Hoary in Colorado, I would certainly like to see those photos.

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO

[cobirds] Lifetime county list update

COBirders,

Note:  This has nothing to do with the Colorado County Birding website checklists (http://coloradocountybirding.com/).  If you have additions for one of those lists please send them to countylisting@cfobirds.org

Please send me your updates for Lifetime only lists by Tuesday, January 8th.

Here is the link to the report:

http://cfobirds.org/downloads/lists/VerticalListReport.pdf

Hope you all had a great 2012 and good luck in 2013!
 
Happy New Year!

-----
Mark Peterson
Colorado Springs

[cobirds] Am Dipper and others in Adams Co. today

Hi CoBirders

I saw an American Dipper this morning in Clear Creek at Lowell Blvd.(Adams Co.). It was just east of Lowell. I watched from the bike path beneath the bridge. Other birds there were a Belted Kingfisher, four Mallards and a f. Hooded Merganser.

Bob Canter, Denver, CO

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[cobirds] Redpoll Arapahoe County...

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions for the Redpoll locations. I decided to head to the Discovery Museum yesteday as this fit my schedule and with the thought of the Hoary being present as well.

Heard and saw the Redpolls the moment I got out of the car. They were very active back and forth to the feeders and the tops of the trees along the creek. Nothing looking like a possible Hoary was seen.

So after a long drive to Fort Collins just for a photo...I got an end of year surprise at the feeders this morning.

One quick glimse of a Redpoll with all the House Finches. Birds are really skittish this morning and scatter whenever I try to observe.

Matt Newport

Aurora

[cobirds] dark buteo n boulder

This morning I observed a dark buteo perched in our yard off Nebo road north of Boulder. It later flew off to the northwest toward US 36.

Dark head, including lores, forehead, auriculars, but WHITE back crown. Back dark chocolate brown. Upper tail all dark, under tail pale, no apparent banding upper or lower. All dark underbody. Relatively small bill. Not able to see legs well when perched. View in flight obstructed by trees, but underwing coverts dark with strong contrast with light remiges.

I'd appreciate any comments about identification. It looked much like the Plate 494 in Wheelers Western Raptors of a juvenile dark morph rough-legged hawk, but the features also are like some Harlan's. The head pattern was particularly striking, not matching any description of either species that I found. If it hangs around, other observers may be able to make a better identification.

Alan Bell, Boulder

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[cobirds] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches - Jeffco

Birders,

It's been an interesting couple of days at the Casa Sanders bird feeders. Yesterday we had the 2 Common Redpolls (yet to make an appearance today) and now there are 2 Hepburn's Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches on the ground under the feeders.

When I went out to hang the feeders this morning, there were 2 birds in the new snow working on the thistle I had thrown out for the redpolls yesterday. They wouldn't move to let me hang the feeders. I stood there about 3 feet from the 2 Rosy-Finches and they kept eating. I moved to hang the feeders and they finally moved off about 10 feet but as I was putting up the feeders and I was standing there, they flew back and practically landed on my feet. I looked down at them and they looked up at me. I walked away to get the other feeders and more sunflower for the 2 special visitors and they flew up to the Roadrunner sculpture a few feet away. I brought them some more seed and hung the tray feeder with more sunflower in it. I have some shots of them on the Roadrunner and a few moments later 1 was back on the ground and the other was pushing his way in to the flock of Redwings on the tray feeder.

Yep, a couple of interesting days. It's been 24 years and 15 days since the last GC Rosy-Finch was seen in the yard and almost 4 years since the Black Rosy-Finch was here.

The feeders are quiet at the moment. Must be a hawk around.

Ira Sanders

Golden, CO

[cobirds] Crook CBC

Hi All,

Ten hearty souls participated in the Crook CBC on the 29th. We had 74 species (third highest) and 55,323 individuals (2nd highest). The most uncommon were two Common Grackles in the town of Crook. Interesting high numbers include Cackling Goose: 13,510, Turkey: 95, Ferruginous Hawk: 15 and Horned Lark: 7373. We had the usual NE Platte valley suspects; Eastern Bluebird, Northern Cardinal and Red-bellied Woodpecker. There were eight Black-capped Chickadees. This is notable because they have been absent since West Nile virus invaded. We had two last year so the trend is up! In light of all the redpolls in CO this year I thought we would see a few but were only able to scrounge one. All in all a fun time, especially the Stripped Skunk that entertained everyone at the end of the day.

Steve Larson

Northglenn, CO

[cobirds] Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Monday, December 31, 2012

Compiler: Joyce Takamine

Date: December 31, 2012

email: rba AT cfobirds.org

phone: 303-659-8750

This is the Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Monday, December 31, 2012, sponsored by Denver Field Ornithologists and the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory. If you are phoning in a message, you can skip the recording by pressing the star key (*) on your phone at any time. Please leave your name, phone number, detailed directions, including county and dates for each sighting. It would be helpful if you would spell your last name.

Highlight species include: (* denotes that there is new information on this species in this report)

BRANT (Larimer, Morgan)

TUNDRA SWAN (Boulder, Pueblo)

EURASIAN WIGEON (*Fremont)

White-winged Scoter (Denver)

Long-tailed Duck (Denver, Pueblo)

Barrow's Goldeneye (Adams)

Red-throated Loon (Pueblo)

Pacific Loon (Pueblo)

Turkey Vulture (Kit Carson)

MEW GULL (Boulder, Pueblo)

Thayer's Gull (Boulder, Broomfield, Pueblo)

ICELAND GULL (Broomfield, *Pueblo)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Pueblo)

Glaucous Gull (Boulder, Broomfield, Pueblo)

Great Black-backed Gull (Pueblo)

White-winged Dove (Mesa, Pueblo)

ACORN WOODPECKER (El Paso)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Pueblo)

Chihuahuan Raven (Pueblo)

Winter Wren (Kit Carson)

Curve-billed Thrasher (Pueblo)

Lapland Longspur (Kit Carson)

Palm Warbler (El Paso)

Swamp Sparrow (Pueblo)

White-throated Sparrow (Delta, Pueblo)

Harris's Sparrow (Pueblo)

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (Jefferson)

Northern Cardinal (Boulder)

EASTERN MEADOWLARK (Kit Carson)

Rusty Blackbird (Pueblo)

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Jefferson)

Black Rosy-Finch (Jefferson)

Common Redpoll (Kit Carson, Larimer, Pitkin, Pueblo)

HOARY REDPOLL (Larimer)

Adams County:

-- 4 Barrow's Goldeneyes (3m, 1f) were reported by Mlodinow on the S Platte River between 68th and 88th on December 29.

Boulder County:

--On December 29, Cushman reported that the Northern Cardinal continues in Hawthorn Gulch.

--At Valmont Reservoir on December 26, Floyd reported 15 Tundra Swans, 1 ad MEW GULL, 5 Thayer's Gulls (2 ad, 3 1-st cyc), 2 1-cyc Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 1-2 ad Glaucous Gulls.

At Valmont Reservoir on December 27, Mlodinow reported 14 Tundra Swans. On December 27, Floyd reported 1 ad Glaucous Gull, 1 ad MEW GULL, 4 Thayer's Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Broomfield County:

--4 Thayer's Gulls were reported by Nick Moore at Anthem Ranch in Broomfield on December 23.

On December 27, Mlodinow reported 2 Thayer's Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gull and Schmoker reported Glaucous Gull and 2nd cyc ICELAND GULL at Anthem Ranch. Anthem Ranch is S of Hwy 7 and Lowell.

--At Sienna Pond (Corner of Lowell & Sheridan) Mlodinow reported Glaucous Gull and Schmoker reported Lesser Black-backed Gull on December 27.

Delta County:

--A tan morph White-throated Sparrow was reported by Boswell at Confluence Park in Delta on December 23 and December 24. It was between the path and Gunnison River in first 100 yards from trailhead parking.

Denver County:

--At Marston Reservoir on December 24, Tina Jones reported 2 1-st winter White-winged Scoters, 1 Long-tailed Duck and 1 ad Lesser Black-backed Gull.

El Paso County:

--A western Palm Warbler was found by Surano on December 12 on the Colorado College campus. The Palm Warbler was last reported by Wolf on the S side of Barnes Science Hall on December 20. The Palm Warbler was reported by Roeder W of the S entrance to Barnes Science center on December 25.

--On December 29, Marty Wolf reported that the ACORN WOODPECKER continues in SW Colorado Springs around Willow Circle and Cheyenne Blvd.

Fremont County:

--An ad m EURASIAN WIGEON first found on the Penrose CBC was refound by Drummond at Centennial Park in Canyon City on December 30. It was feeding on grass with American Wigeon.

Jefferson County:

--Henwood reported on November 26 that the GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW continuues at Red Rocks Trading Post. On December 24, Henwood reported GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW but no Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch at Red Rocks Trading Post but Gingrich reported GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW and 3+ Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch later on December 24. On December 25, Norm Lewis reported GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, Gray-crowned and Black Rosy-Finches at Red Rocks Trading Post. On December 27, Henwood reported GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW and 3 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches at Red Rocks Trading Post. On December 28, Henwood reported 8 Gray-crowned and 2 Black Rosy-Finches at Red Rocks Trading Post.

Kit Carson County:

--On the Flager CBC on December 27, Kaempfer reported Common Redpoll, Winter Wren, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, and over 22000 Lapland Longspurs.

--On December 29, Huffstater reported a late Turkey Vulture crossing the I-70 west of Flager.

Larimer County:

--On December 12, Lutomski reported a BRANT on a small lake just north of Lake Loveland and west of Loveland High School. It was with a large flock of Canada and Cackling Geese. On December 15, Mlodinow reported a black BRANT at Cattail Creek Golf Course. It was seen from the parking lot. On December 17, Walters reported seeing the BRANT on the north shore of Lake Loveland and then it flew to a field SE of Loveland High School. On December 18, Dowell reported that the BRANT was on the NW side of Lake Loveland and flew NW. On December 22, Goff reported the BRANT at a golf course on the north side of 29th St and west of Taft, On December 23, Cropper reported the BRANT at Lake Loveland at 0900 and Gent reported the BRANT at Cattail Golf Course at 1000. It was east from the parking lot.

--24 Common Redpolls were reported by Sparks behind the Discovery Museum in Fort Collins on December 15. On December 23, DeFonso reported that the Common Redpolls continue to visit the feeders behind the museum. On December 23, Hall reported a possible HOARY REDPOLL at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. The museum is N of the intersection of Mason and Cherry St. On December 27, Coley reported that the Common Redpolls continue to visit the feeders behind the Discovery Museum.

Mesa County:

--A White-winged Dove was reported by Korte in the 2400 block of Mesa Ave in Grand Junction on December 28.

Morgan County:

--A Black BRANT was reported by Mlodinow on the ice at Jackson Lake SP on December 23. Also present were 3 Harris's Sparrows and 1 Common Redpoll.

Pitkin County:

--15 Common Redpolls were reported by Dick Filby at Aspen Village Trailer Park on December 27. The trailer park is SE of Snowmass by Hwy 82.

Pueblo County:

--On the Pueblo CBC on December 26, Percival reported Thayer's Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, White-winged Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Chihuahuan Raven, Curve-billed Thrasher, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird.

--At Pueblo Reservoir and the S shore marina on December 28, Percival reported 1 Red-throated Loon, 1 Pacific Loon, 3 ad Tundra Swans,

1 f Long-tailed Duck, 1 1-st cyc Glaucous Gull, 1 ad Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 juv Thayer's Gull. On December 29 Hurtado reported an ad MEW GULL and imm Glaucous Gull at Pueblo Reservoir and Percival reported 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, and Common Redpoll on North Picnic Road. On December 30 at the S Shore Marina tires Drummond reported a probable 1-st cyc ICELAND GULL.

Help with the CBC's

Good Birding,

Joyce Takamine

Boulder

Sunday, 30 December 2012

[cobirds] Eurasian Wigeon Continues at Centennial Park, Canon City, Fremont County, CO

I also ventured to Canon City to try to find the aforementioned Eurasian Wigeon. I tried many of the ponds around the area including the area where it was originally found. Stopped by Centennial Park where I encountered a wide assortment of waterfowl of various types. As the sun was setting the number of American Wigeon in the park easily topped 300, but the Eurasian Wigeon proved fairly easy to find. Numerous other domesticated and quasi-domesticated ducks, geese, and swans were also present, including some pretty weird looking things.

No sapsuckers were found, but a Golden Crowned Kinglet, several Song Sparrows, and a Pine Siskin were nice finds in the immediate vicinity.

Good Birding.

Chris Goulart

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[cobirds] Eurasian Wigeon , Canyon City

Cobirders :

The adult male Eurasian Wigeon first found on the Penrose CBC was present this morning at Centennial Park ,Canyon City feeding on the grass with approx 75 American Wigeon . This bird appears to be wild and wary as unlike the American Wigeon it did not fly to the pond to receive handouts of bread etc but flew east along the river with a small group of 6 other wigeon. Also noted at Centennial Park was an adult male Williamson's Sapsucker and another was seen at the Abby .

On my way home via Pueblo Reservoir there was a probable 1 st cycle Iceland ( or an extremely pale Thayer's ) Gull on the South Marina tires late afternoon .

John Drummond

Monument

[cobirds] Bald Eagles at Waneka Lake, Lafayette

This afternoon at about 1 PM, I saw an adult Bald Eagle fly over Waneka Lake but it didn't appear to land. However, a sub-adult Bald Eagle was perched in the trees on the west side of the lake, then flew down to the ice to finish off what was left of a Canada Goose. One passerby reported that the subadult eagle has been hanging out there for at least a few days. Pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63892538@N04/8326960535/in/set-72157632085097698

There is still a little bit of open water on the lake, with some mallard hybrids, many Ring-Necked Ducks, one lone Redhead, and three Common Goldeneye. Many gulls huddled out on the ice as well, but without a scope and with them hunkered down due to the wind, I will not venture IDs...

Nancy Rynes

Lafayette, CO

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[cobirds] Carolina Wren, Longmont, Boulder County

About 15 minutes ago while texting a fellow birder about backyard birds, a wren dropped from my roof, then hopped up on the tube feeder, poked around there for awhile, then dropped to the ground for a bit before it disappeared.

This is #82 and first wren for the yard.

--
Todd Deininger
Longmont, CO

Re: [cobirds] Boulder raven antics

Hi All,

Anyone interested in Raven and other corvid behaviors should read Gifts of the Crow by John Marzluff and Tony Angell. Apparently Ravens teaming up to drive other birds into windows etc. is not uncommon. The research being done with these birds is very revealing and quite interesting.

Steve Larson

Northglenn, CO

From: "Norm Lewis" <migrant44@aol.com>
To: elena@indra.com, cobirds@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 10:55:58 PM
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Boulder raven antics

I would not have mentioned this, but I thought it would make an interesting piggy-back on Elena's comments. Ted Cooper and I did a trip yesterday that started at Red Rocks, and wound its way from Baseline to Legion Park, on to Cottonwood Marsh and 75th Street, over to the "cardinal site", up to Allenspark, back through Ward and finally ending at Valmont for a very interesting "gull hour" with Ted Floyd. We saw lots of great birds along the way, but nothing worthy of posting that hadn't been previously mentioned by Mike Henwood and Ted. However, as we were driving up to the cardinal locality, we were stopped at an intersection when we saw a pigeon behaving strangely; it was flying into a corner formed by the intersection of two buildings and seemed to be in a total panic. The source of the pigeon's distress quickly became apparent. Two ravens were pursuing the bird into the corner with obvious evil intent. They harrassed it into a collision with a door and through several (for a pigeon) fairly impressive aerial maneuvers. The pigeon ultimately escaped, and I commented that I had never seen ravens acting like raptors. They did not have the skills to bring down the pigeon, but it was not for lack of trying.

Norm

Norm Lewis
migrant44@aol.com

-----Original Message-----
From: elena <elena@indra.com>
To: cobirds Colorado Field Ornithoogists <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Fri, Dec 28, 2012 9:45 pm
Subject: [cobirds] Boulder raven antics

Yesterday at the 29th Street Mall in Boulder, a pair of common ravens was
perched in the roof trusses of the roof over the parking garage. Their
vocalizations were tremendously amplified, resonating through the garage and the
walkway. They weren't feeding on anything, just sitting and calling. We
traded a number of resonant "quorks" and I would have stayed to see what they
were going to do but had an appointment at the Apple store. Then today at 1 pm a
raven chased a red tailed hawk over Valmont and 28th street, both zigzagging
pretty low over the traffic.

Elena Holly Klaver, Niwot

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[cobirds] Common Redpoll - Jeffco

Birders,

2 Common Redpolls were present on the ground under the feeders in the front yard of our home this am. At least 1 is a male.

I have yet to see them on the feeders as they have only foraged on the ground under the feeders.

Ira Sanders

Golden, CO

[cobirds] Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Sunday, December 30, 2012

Compiler: Joyce Takamine

Date: December 30, 2012

email: rba AT cfobirds.org

phone: 303-659-8750

This is the Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Sunday, December 30, 2012, sponsored by Denver Field Ornithologists and the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory. If you are phoning in a message, you can skip the recording by pressing the star key (*) on your phone at any time. Please leave your name, phone number, detailed directions, including county and dates for each sighting. It would be helpful if you would spell your last name.

Highlight species include: (* denotes that there is new information on this species in this report)

BRANT (Larimer, Morgan)

TUNDRA SWAN (Boulder, Pueblo, Weld)

White-winged Scoter (Denver)

Long-tailed Duck (Denver, Pueblo)

Barrow's Goldeneye (*Adams)

Red-throated Loon (*Pueblo)

Pacific Loon (*Pueblo)

Turkey Vulture (*Kit Carson)

MEW GULL (Boulder, *Pueblo)

Thayer's Gull (Boulder, Broomfield, Pueblo)

ICELAND GULL (Broomfield)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, *Pueblo)

Glaucous Gull (Boulder, Broomfield, *Pueblo)

Great Black-backed Gull (Pueblo)

White-winged Dove (Mesa, Pueblo)

ACORN WOODPECKER (*El Paso)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Logan)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Pueblo)

Chihuahuan Raven (Pueblo)

Winter Wren (Kit Carson)

Curve-billed Thrasher (Pueblo)

Lapland Longspur (Kit Carson)

Palm Warbler (El Paso)

Swamp Sparrow (Pueblo, Weld)

White-throated Sparrow (Delta, Pueblo)

Harris's Sparrow (Pueblo)

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (Jefferson)

Northern Cardinal (*Boulder, Logan)

EASTERN MEADOWLARK (Kit Carson)

Rusty Blackbird (Pueblo)

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Jefferson)

Black Rosy-Finch (Jefferson)

Common Redpoll (Kit Carson, Larimer, Pitkin, *Pueblo)

HOARY REDPOLL (Larimer)

Adams County:

-- 4 Barrow's Goldeneyes (3m, 1f) were reported by Mlodinow on the S Platte River between 68th and 88th on December 29.

Boulder County:

--On December 29, Cushman reported that the Northern Cardinal continue in Hawthorn Gulch.

--At Valmont Reservoir on December 26, Floyd reported 15 Tundra Swans, 1 ad MEW GULL, 5 Thayer's Gulls (2 ad, 3 1-st cyc), 2 1-cyc Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 1-2 ad Glaucous Gulls.

At Valmont Reservoir on December 27, Mlodinow reported 14 Tundra Swans. On December 27, Floyd reported 1 ad Glaucous Gull, 1 ad MEW GULL, 4 Thayer's Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Broomfield County:

--4 Thayer's Gulls were reported by Nick Moore at Anthem Ranch in Broomfield on December 23.

On December 27, Mlodinow reported 2 Thayer's Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gull and Schmoker reported Glaucous Gull and 2nd cyc ICELAND GULL at Anthem Ranch Anthem Ranch is S of Hwy 7 and Lowell.

--At Sienna Pond (Corner of Lowell & Sheridan) Mlodinow reported Glaucous Gull and Schmoker reported Lesser Black-backed Gull on December 27.

Delta County:

Denver County:

--At Marston Reservoir on December 24, Tina Jones reported 2 1-st winter White-winged Scoters, 1 Long-tailed Duck and 1 ad Lesser Black-backed Gull.

El Paso County:

--On December 29, Marty Wolf reported that the ACORN WOODPECKER continues in SW Colorado Springs around Willow Circle and Cheyenne Blvd.

Jefferson County:

Kit Carson County:

--On the Flager CBC on December 27, Kaempfer reported Common Redpoll, Winter Wren, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, and over 22000 Lapland Longspurs.

--On December 29, Huffstater reported a late Turkey Vulture crossing the I-70 west of Flager.

Larimer County:

Logan County:

--At Tamarack Ranch on December 22, Mlodinow reported 7 Northern Cardinals and 5 Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

Mesa County:

--A White-winged Dove was reported by Korte in in the 2400 block of Mesa Ave in Grand Junction on December 28.

Morgan County:

--A Black BRANT was reported by Mlodinow on the ice at Jackson Lake SP on December 23. Also present were 3 Harris's Sparrows and 1 Common Redpoll.

Pitkin County:

--15 Common Redpolls were reported by Dick Filby at Aspen Village Trailer Park on December 27. The trailer park is SE of Snowmass by Hwy 82.

Pueblo County:

--At Pueblo Reservoir and the S shore marina on December 28, Percival reported 1 Red-throated Loon, 1 Pacific Loon, 3 ad Tundra Swans,

Weld County:

--A Swamp Sparrow was reported by Nick Moore in the marsh area of Union Reservoir in Longmont on December 22.

--A Tundra Swan was reported by Wickam at Bittersweet Park in Greeley on December 22. Bittersweet Park is at 16th St and 35th Ave.

Help with the CBC's

Good Birding,

Joyce Takamine

Boulder

Saturday, 29 December 2012

[cobirds] Re: Flagler CBC (Kit Carson County)

Thanks Bill, great job leading this CBC. Regarding Lapland Longspurs, here is an eBird animated map showing their intense invasion in December. They fade fast in January and are gone by February, so if anyone wants to see Lappies, go east soon! http://ebird.org/results/STEM/animations/LALO_large.gif

Per ABA Birding Magazine, eBird has animated maps of 50 species. Thank you eBird and birders who post there!

Tom Wilberding

Boulder, CO

On Thursday, December 27, 2012 9:35:36 PM UTC-7, Bill Kaempfer wrote:

The 2^nd Flagler CBC was held today with 12 participants braving some pretty cold high-plains temps. Best birds included Common Redpoll, Winter Wren, Mountain Bluebird, and EASTERN MEADOWLARK. Of perhaps even greater note were 9,158 Horned Larks (288% of the current next highest count for the year) and 22,374 Lapland Longspurs (1,429% of the next highest count total for the year).

Bill Kaempfer
Boulder

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[cobirds] Late Turkey Vulture -- Kit Carson Co.

Seen crossing interstate at around 11:45am, flying ENE while driving west on I-70, just west of Flagler.

Good Birding,

Kirk Huffstater

Castle Rock, CO

[cobirds] S Platte River, Adams County, 68th to 88th

Greetings All

Today Cathy Sheeter and I strolled along the S Platte River from about 68th to 88th (street?). The number of ducks along the river was staggering. Some totals:

1445 N Shoveler

910 Gadwall

505 N Pintail

240 GW Teal

175 C Goldeneye

155 Mallard

130 Bufflehead

Other highlights included

3 male and 1 female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE (with one male seemingly paired with a female Common)

3 MALLARD X GADWALL (one was the same bird photographed at the same place by Bill Schmoker and I last year. The other were pretty typical Brewer's Ducks: Gadwall body except brownish chest, green head with russet on cheek, black bill with yellow edges)

1 MALLARD x N PINTAIL

We also had a stunning 81 or so American Pipits, mostly between 74th and 68th.

Good Birding

Steven Mlodinow

Longmont CO

[cobirds] more Pueblo Reservoir birds 12/29

Mark Peterson and I ended a successful day of birding at Pueblo Reservoir. We saw all the gull species that Paul saw earlier in the day -- including the adult Mew Gull. We saw more Lesser Black-backed Gulls, ten of them at least, of various ages. We also saw what appeared to be a Great Black-backed x Herring Gull hybrid, we didn't notice Paul's Glaucous-winged x Herring hybrid. We also saw the five loons, three Commons, one Red-throated, and one Pacific. Our other highlight at Pueblo Reservoir, was a cooperative Common Redpoll sitting in a tree calling at North Picnic Road.

Brandon Percival

Pueblo West, CO

[cobirds] Acorn Woodpecker, House Finch masquerading as Snow Bunting--El Paso

CoBirders,

The female Acorn Woodpecker is still in the neighborhood around the Sacred Grounds coffee shop in SW Colorado Springs, on Cheyenne Blvd.--especially on the north side of the road, in yards of houses 1804-1810 between the two ends of Willow Circle. 1804 is the one described previously by Bill Maynard with the inflated green Santa/Grinch, and with a suet feeder in the east side/back yard, which the woodpecker was feeding at today around 3:40. Both hairy & downy also present, and nuthatches.

Earlier at our rental-home feeders I was initially trying to make a Snow Bunting out of an interesting leucistic male House Finch... This link has a few pics of this bird: http://www.mediafire.com/?0886p9dkn1sue

Marty Wolf,

NW CO Springs

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[cobirds] Re: Pueblo Res. additions

Hi everyone,

Photos (many) of the presumed Glaucous-winged X Herring Gull hybrid are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauljhurtado/sets/72157632375976119/detail/

I'd love to hear any ideas on this bird, especially the ID as a GWGU hybrid (e.g., versus Nelson's Gull).

A complete list of the birds I had from the south shore marina at Pueblo Reservoir late this morning, including photos of 7 of the 8 gull species (both black-backed gulls, glaucous, herring, california, ring-billed, mew, but no photos of the 1st and 2nd cycle Thayer's Gulls that were on the tires).

eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12410338

Good birding,
Paul Hurtado
Pueblo, CO (and Columbus, OH)

Re: [cobirds] Redpolls

Matt,
If you want some good Redpoll pics go to the feeders behind the Discovery Museum in Ft Collins (Larimer). They have been there on a regular basis for a couple weeks. This morning Cole and I had near 60 of them from around 7:30 to 9:30 am. They come in to the feeders and hang out pretty low on the trees next to the trail. Bird On!!

Cade Cropper
Loveland

On Dec 29, 2012 4:09 PM, "Matt Newport" <mnewport@gmail.com> wrote:

Question for everyone...

Anyone know of a population of Redpolls that are being seen on a regular basis (more or less regular)? General location, feeder, etc...I am willing to put in a little leg time to find, just get me in the right ballpark.

Hoping to get a good photo of a Redpoll before the end of the year.

Feel free to email me back,

Matt Newport

Aurora

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[cobirds] Bushtits - Jeffco

Birders,

A short while ago we had 5 Bushtits at one of our feeders.

We also have a very skittish small striped bird that I'm 95% sure is a Common Redpoll but it continually manages to either hide or fly just when I'm about to get a clear look at it. Earlier I had a clear view from 50' to 70' but I didn't have my binocs with me outside. It was on the roof and then in the Pussy Willow. From the distance I thought I saw a black face and red cap. I'll keep looking.

Ira Sanders

Golden, CO

[cobirds] Redpolls

Question for everyone...

Anyone know of a population of Redpolls that are being seen on a regular basis (more or less regular)? General location, feeder, etc...I am willing to put in a little leg time to find, just get me in the right ballpark.

Hoping to get a good photo of a Redpoll before the end of the year.

Feel free to email me back,

Matt Newport

Aurora

[cobirds] Interesting birds, Loveland, Larimer Co.

Some of you know I have moved from my house that hosted Pedro-Maria (the Streak-backed Oriole, 2007) to a nice place on CR 9E in Loveland. We are on and surrounded by lakes and directly across from the Simpson Ponds SWA, in the Big Thompson River Valley. Yesterday I had two gigantic Tundra Swans fly right over my head nearly and today we had two Evening Grosbeaks. I didn't see the grosbeaks, but my daughter Maggie snapped an iPhone shot. I have striped sunflower out now, so hopefully they'll come back.

Connie

Connie Kogler

Loveland,CO

AslansOwn.com