[cobirds] Ft Collins CBC

Fort Collins CBC was conducted Saturday Dec. 18.   It was a cold but beautiful day with many a smile.  We had quite a turnout with about 90 people participating.  Scouring the Fort Collins area, we posted 100 bird species with a couple new for count day, an Eastern Phoebe and Say's Phoebe.  

We found some rarities (seen 5 or less times in the 74th consecutive CBC) other than the new species, including 2 Long-tailed Ducks, 4 Tundra Swans, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 each Iceland (Thayer's) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 Double-crested Cormorant (appeared sickly), and 2 Lincoln's Sparrows (on opposite sides of town).  We had high counts for 10 species with most just surpassing all-time highs.  Of these, it should be noted that the Wild Turkey has been increasing at a rapid rate with 142 seen over the previous high from last year of 131.  

On the other hand, three bird species were considered low-count species.  Ring-necked Pheasants which occasionally garnered over 200 historically, continued at zero for the third consecutive year.  Rough-legged Hawks were zero, though they have been seen on every count since 1957 (it is a count week bird as of today).  The other was Northern Shovelers, as only 8 were seen with this species usually averaging well over 100.  On a bright note, a Lewi's Woodpecker was found.  I remember they used to be somewhat common along the Front Range in places such as Fort Collins, though they have not been seen here since 1998 and off-and-on since 1971.  What a great find!  It was a chilly, but beautiful day, except when I fell through frozen crust in a cattail marsh to up over my knees (I was wearing firemen boots that filled and I usually never go deeper than my ankles - Ughhhhh!).  It got even more chilly.

Get out and help, it is a lt of fun!   

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/de10364b-cc1e-45bd-8ca2-9ff0d703f95cn%40googlegroups.com.