[cobirds] Re: Rest in Peace, COLORADO RARE BIRD ALERT! And a suggestion/request!

Well said, Norm! Posting rare/uncommon birds to this forum has slowed considerably the last few years (

I blame the blasted eBird Top 100 obsession), but is still the quickest way to get the word out to the masses. I appreciate the birders who still make an effort to post a timely note to this forum about interesting species.

 

Many of you probably know about this site, but Kurt Radamaker (Arizona birder, I believe) has a slick site that compiles all eBird rare/uncommon sightings and puts it in a map format. You can search any state and define how many "days back" you wish to go. Very easy to navigate. Data is updated very quickly and may be another option for those not wanting hourly/daily e-mail alerts.  

 

http://birdingthecloud.com/ebirdApi/ebirdUnitedStatesWithDropdown.html

 

Adam Vesely

Thornton, CO 

On Saturday, May 30, 2020 at 11:37:44 AM UTC-6, birdernorm wrote:

I, too, would like to thank the originators and compilers of the RBA from over the years.  I have checked it virtually every day that I have been in town for years.  Thanks again for all your efforts.  I will miss it.

Now for the suggestion:  since the RBA is kaput, and there are lots of folks who do not care to manipulate their way through eBird (which is not that tough, by the way), it would be nice if those observing a rarity in the field, particularly one that is within easy reach of other birders, to post it from the location. I have eBird alerts running for numerous counties, but I don't get those reports until the next day.  My only immediate access to interesting sightings is Cobirds.  There have been several instances recently when an unusual species appeared but no one informed the birding community at large.  For example, a scarlet tanager was recently seen at Harriman Lake, just a few minutes from my house.  There were fifteen eBird reports filed, which means there were no doubt twice that many observers, yet no one took a moment to post the bird to Cobirds.  I found out about the bird the next day, and it was a one-day wonder.  Either I missed any reports, or I don't have many friends.  Perhaps both.  But at any rate, it would have been nice to have had a chance to pop over there for a look.

Just my two cents.  As they say about the pandemic, we're all in this together, and I have always found that one of the great joys of birding is the sharing of birds with others who like them just as much as I do.

Norm Lewis

Lakewood

-----Original Message-----
From: 'Andrews Robert' via Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com>
To: Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com>; Joe Roller <jrol...@gmail.com>
Sent: Fri, May 29, 2020 4:09 am
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Rest in Peace, COLORADO RARE BIRD ALERT!

Hello all,

I would like to join others in showing appreciation for the compilers of the RBA we see on Cobirds. Since I spend most of the year thousands of miles away from Colorado in West Africa, I don't get any direct use of the RBA for birding. But I did enjoy seeing a compilation of the most interesting or unusual bird sightings from Colorado as a way to keep up with what is happening in Colorado. Many thanks to Joyce and then Joe and his team of volunteers and all of the other compilers who have provided this service.

Bob Andrews

Yekepa, Nimba Co., Liberia, West Africa

On Tuesday, May 26, 2020, 09:26:03 AM MDT, Joe Roller <jrol...@gmail.com> 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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