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

I am saddened that the RBA is defunct and, wish to add my thanks to the compilers like Joyce Takamine,  David Suddjian and Joe Roller and others who have done the compilations. For me, the daily emails give me an idea of what is coming my way in Larimer County and the rare birds reported always perk my interest so I go outside to see what pops up here at home. My best wishes to all the bird watchers in Colorado and good luck to us all in spotting those rarities. And thanks again to all those involved in the RBA and CObirders – Dave Hyde/nr Storm Mountain/Larimer Cty.

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

From: Diana Beatty
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 1:46 PM
To: dickfilby@hotmail.com
Cc: jroller9@gmail.com; Colorado Birds
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Rest in Peace, COLORADO RARE BIRD ALERT!

 

One suggestion I might offer to those missing the RBA and not finding eBird rare bird alerts quite a perfect substitute - 

You might consider your local birding community starting a WhatsApp group.  Someone graciously started one awhile ago for my area and people share interesting sightings there and answer questions, etc.  It may not be perfect, like anything else,  but it can cover a different area than county level, if you wish, and allows for reports of more birds than those deemed rare by eBird.  If you don't like your phone pinging at you often, you can set it up not to alert you and instead you need to go in to the app at your desire to read the posts.  Does require a smart phone, though.

 

Diana Beatty

El Paso County

 

On Tue, May 26, 2020 at 1:23 PM Dick Filby <dickfilby@hotmail.com> wrote:

Joe, Joyce, all volunteers who have done the RBA, a hearty thankyou is the least that you deserve. Much appreciated and avidly read over the years by hundreds, nay thousands of birders, in state, and from far beyond. 

 

E-bird offers a replacement of sorts, and I won't go into the benefits, nor the downsides of it at this time, other than to say I that I find it exceedingly time consuming wading through piles of e-bird rare bird alert emails in the hope of finding a timely update on an interesting bird to maybe chase, or wondering what may have been seen in general.

 

Meanwhile, I sincerely hope that birders will continue to post their most interesting observations to this Cobirds group for a long time to come. I am sure they are very popular and well received by many.

 

For those interested in western colorado birds, please be aware that 'wsbn' is an active Google Group for sharing bird sightings and observations for the 'Western Slope'

 

Thanks again to all for the statewide RBA. I for one will miss it.

 

Good birding

 

DickFilby

Carbondale, CO

 

 

 

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S® 6, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

 

 

-------- Original message --------

From: Joe Roller <jroller9@gmail.com>

Date: 5/26/20 09:26 (GMT-07:00)

To: Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>

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

 

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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All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

 

 

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