[cobirds] Re: Rest in Peace, COLORADO RARE BIRD ALERT!

Yes thank you Joe and all who contributed their time to keeping the RBA current, and easy to use. It was a concise summation of birds happening in our State. Even though I rarely chase any more, it was so helpful to know what was being seen around the State. 

During the pandemic, I took it upon myself to become more familiar with eBird. I am getting better, but not so much as using it as a rare bird alert yet. I think things will fall through the cracks for me. If someone posts on our cobirds messages, I may see it. But if someone posts something in my area that is rare on eBird, I will likely not know about it until maybe weeks after.  Guess I will hope folks will continue to use cobirds as a forum for bird observation and discussion. 

Changing times for sure...stay well friends. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO

On Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 9:26:00 AM UTC-6, Joe Roller wrote:

Daily updates on rare and interesting birds in Colorado have been shared via Cobirds for over 14 years as the "Colorado Rare Bird Alert" (or Report). For 13 years, Joyce Takamine tirelessly compiled this list of rarities from all over the state, posting it with dates and places on the Cobirds listserv and into your email inboxes.

After Joyce retired at the end of 2018, a few of us continued to compile the report. But our team of volunteers is no longer large enough to continue this informational service, which has been sponsored for years by the Denver Field Ornithologists. In the past we invited volunteers to join the RBA team of compilers, but we are no longer seeking those, as the RBA is over now.

By way of history, the RBA continued the early notification work of dedicated birders like Dave Martin, Norm Erthal and Dick Schottler, who phoned in daily field updates to a DFO voice recorder. Local and visiting birders could dial in to hear these daily messages and keep abreast of the changing parade of rarities moving through Colorado.

Even before that, DFO sponsored a "telephone tree" notification list in the 1960s and '70s. Each birder in the tree would get a a call from an excited birder up the list: "Hey! Bruce Webb found a Little Gull at Union Reservoir today. First state record! Call the next two birders on the list to let them know!"

Before that? Perhaps birders used two tin cans and a string -- I don't know. 

In any event, the joy of sharing goes back a long time and will continue beyond the RBA. As many of you already know, eBird provides free updates of Colorado rare bird sightings as frequently as hourly. (Sign up at www.ebird.org/alerts)

The CFO website has a section where bird reports appear the moment a checklist is sent to eBird. (cfobirds.org)

On behalf of the current team of RBA compilers, thank you for allowing us to share the joy of discovery through the decades . . . and good birding!

 Joe Roller, Denver

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