[cobirds] Booby thoughts

All,

I went hiking today on Niwot Ridge, and saw a nice male White-tailed Ptarmigan.  Both on my way up and returning I spent some time looking in Left-hand Creek near Rowena.  I did not see a Booby of any species either alive or dead.  The creek is small and not running very full, so this is an extremely unlikely place to find a Booby.  Even Brandon would have predicted that a Booby would show up at one of the many large reservoirs or lakes in the state. 

Previous oceanic birds seen in the state have been at large reservoirs.  Magnificent Frigatebird in 1985 was seen just north of Chatfield Res and then died at Green Mountain Res.  Sooty Tern in 2008 was seen at Holbrook and Meredith Reservoirs.  This bird seemed to be in bad shape, so perhaps it is more akin to the Long-billed Murrelet that was found on a road in Aspen in 1982.  It was put into a small plastic pool in a backyard, but expired overnight.  Ex CFO President Vic Zerbi from Glenwood Springs is still a bit bent out of shape that he missed a call, and did not see this bird before it died.  I still remember calling Vic's chambers several months after this, and was told "Judge Zerbi is not available."  I then told the lady the call was about a rare bird in Colorado.  I was immediately put through, and was speaking to Vic in a matter of a few seconds !!!

Both David Waltman and I know the observer because he used to work at NCAR.  I asked him last night whether anyone was around that the bird was associating with, and he replied this was not the case.  I am about to email him, and ask that he fill out a CFO rare bird report.  However, I do think the Records Committee has to take a little time thinking about the remote possibility that the bird escaped from somewhere, although I can't imagine they are kept at zoos or in private collections at all.

Finally, someone asked about California Condors.  All the birds that have been seen in Colorado have had big wing tags with numbers on them, which means they are released birds.  Thus the Records Committee decided not to include this species on the state list.  I believe the population is reproducing naturally now, so when one of these birds is seen in Colorado, then it will be added to the state list.

Cheers,  Peter Gent.

Boulder.

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