We are looking at a large flock of Bohemian waxwings with a few Cedars noshing on juniper.
Maxine Ln and Margie lane in Monte Vista Subdivision
Lynne Forrester
Doug Co today
Saturday, 31 December 2022
[cobirds] Chatfield Reservoir - red breasted mergansers
While it is 95+% frozen, yesterday we found 2 red breasted mergansers in the marina open water on the pier side.
-- Before the storm on Wed we found a pacific loon in a small open spot by the pier. That hole was frozen and it was gone.
Evon Holladay
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[cobirds] RMA Harris Sparrows and
A pair of first year Harris's Sparrows are with a small group of Mt and Gambel's White Crowned Sparrow by the parking lot for Lake Mary at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge. All were very focused feeding on 3 wing saltbush seeds.
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The refuge is snow-covered and all water bodies are frozen over so no waterbirds. Few raptors observed though great views of those that showed up. An adult male Harrier allowed approach to about 10 feet from the edge of the road, an immature put on a great shows hassling a group of starlings, an adult Prairie that hangs out on the northern end of the refuge sat quietly only 30 feet away as we stared at each other. And a very distinctive Ferruginous was harassing the prairie dogs in the NE corner while a couple of young eagles were watching from a nearby tree. I envisioned they were making critical comments on its hunting technique. Not a single Red-tailed put in an appearance. A couple of flocks of horned larks were busy gravelling on the road which is the only bare ground at the moment. Try as I might, none converted to white tail flashes or the tinkling call of a wandering longspur.
Hopefully some melting will open the water and ground up a bit before the CBC on Sunday.
Charlie Chase
Denver
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Thursday, 29 December 2022
[cobirds] Our 3rd Winter Raptor Survey for HMANA in Colorado
My wife Liza and I conducted our 3rd Winter Raptor Survey (WRS) for the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) 2 days ago in Colorado, after moving here 5 months ago from New York where I had had 3 different WRS routes that we completed 3 times in winter – every December, January and February since 2015.
On our 2nd survey a week ago we had had only 2 Bald Eagle, 7 American Kestrel and 11 Red-tailed Hawk.
I noticed that Robert Beauchamp created and conducted a new Winter Raptor Survey for HMANA along the Nunn, CO Raptor Alley in the past week with good results.
You can see his as well as our results, as well as all the other WRSs conducted in the country. You can also see our results from New York where the two of us were responsible for 4 of the 5 yearly WRSs conducted in New York State:
https://wrs.hmana.org/public_html/index.php
We saw a total of 53 raptors 2 days ago:
Red-tailed Hawk 26
Ferruginous Hawk 5 – all adult
Bald Eagle 5 – all adult
Northern Harrier 1
American Kestrel 11
Golden Eagle 5 – 3 adult, 2 juvenile
We will be doing all 3 routes again in January and February 2023.
Any raptor enthusiast can do a Winter Raptor Survey on their own. It is a volunteer program. You create your own route and follow it exactly the same way each time. If you're interested in doing one, the best way to figure out where to create your route is to look at eBird data for the past 1-5 years for the location you are interested in – look up sightings for FH, RL, and GE – which will give you the likelihood you will see numbers of individuals of wintering species.
You can get general Information about the WRS program at https://www.hmana.org/winter-raptor-survey/
If anyone is interested in starting their own route and needs advice or help, please feel free to email me, as one birder from Boulder did already.
Ajit I Antony
Central Park, Colorado
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[cobirds] Boulder County Pinyon Jay Access Advisory
Hello all,
Today I made a foolhardy effort to try and locate the pinyon jays on Thomas Lane. The heavy snow kept them buried in the pines so no luck was had. I did manage to speak to the guy whose trees they are currently inhabiting as he was plowing the road. I asked if I might walk down the lane that leads to his property and he said he would rather I not as people have been scaring them away and it takes a couple days for them to return.
I let him know that I totally understand and will take my chances in better weather from the road. This makes it sound to me as if some folks have been walking up the private lane to his house, or maybe it's just been him accidentally scaring them away. Either way, I just wanted to let folks know the home owners wishes so we don't make a bad name for ourselves and become a nuisance while chasing those ever elusive feathers.
Have fun out there,
Jeremy Alcorn
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Today I made a foolhardy effort to try and locate the pinyon jays on Thomas Lane. The heavy snow kept them buried in the pines so no luck was had. I did manage to speak to the guy whose trees they are currently inhabiting as he was plowing the road. I asked if I might walk down the lane that leads to his property and he said he would rather I not as people have been scaring them away and it takes a couple days for them to return.
I let him know that I totally understand and will take my chances in better weather from the road. This makes it sound to me as if some folks have been walking up the private lane to his house, or maybe it's just been him accidentally scaring them away. Either way, I just wanted to let folks know the home owners wishes so we don't make a bad name for ourselves and become a nuisance while chasing those ever elusive feathers.
Have fun out there,
Jeremy Alcorn
Boulder County
If this is a duplicate message, my apologies. I sent the first as an email and not a "new conversation." Newbie at the controls here.
-- If this is a duplicate message, my apologies. I sent the first as an email and not a "new conversation." Newbie at the controls here.
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[cobirds] Boulder County Pinyon Jay Access Advisory
Hello all,
Today I made a foolhardy effort to try and locate the pinyon jays on Thomas Lane. The heavy snow kept them buried in the pines so no luck was had. I did manage to speak to the guy whose trees they are currently inhabiting as he was plowing the road. I asked if I might walk down the lane that leads to his property and he said he would rather I not as people have been scaring them away and it takes a couple days for them to return.
I let him know that I totally understand and will take my chances in better weather from the road. This makes it sound to me as if some folks have been walking up the private lane to his house, or maybe it's just been him accidentally scaring them away. Either way, I just wanted to let folks know the home owners wishes so we don't make a bad name for ourselves and become a nuisance while chasing those ever elusive feathers.
Have fun out there,
Jeremy Alcorn
-- Today I made a foolhardy effort to try and locate the pinyon jays on Thomas Lane. The heavy snow kept them buried in the pines so no luck was had. I did manage to speak to the guy whose trees they are currently inhabiting as he was plowing the road. I asked if I might walk down the lane that leads to his property and he said he would rather I not as people have been scaring them away and it takes a couple days for them to return.
I let him know that I totally understand and will take my chances in better weather from the road. This makes it sound to me as if some folks have been walking up the private lane to his house, or maybe it's just been him accidentally scaring them away. Either way, I just wanted to let folks know the home owners wishes so we don't make a bad name for ourselves and become a nuisance while chasing those ever elusive feathers.
Have fun out there,
Jeremy Alcorn
Boulder County
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Wednesday, 28 December 2022
[cobirds] Louviers(Douglas) CBC
All are welcome to join myself and others for the Louviers part of the Douglas County CRB this Saturday.12/31. We will begin at 8:00 AM at the Post Office/Village Club in town. We will start with about 1 hour in town and then most of our other time exploring the great DuPont open space.
We can always use extra eyes!
Tom Halverstadt
Louviers
303-618-6730
thavs1@comcast.net
[cobirds] Re: Fort Collins City Park (Larimer) of late
I've been seeing a lot of Cassin's Finches at my place in the Big Thompson canyon. Usually they are a rare occurrence. Today I saw about 20, with only 2 red males. We have lots of ash seeds up here and I have several feeders.
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On Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 10:38:15 AM UTC-7 Dave Leatherman wrote:
Two major things stand out after the last several visits to the Fort Collins City Park area, which includes Grandview Cemetery, of late:
1) There is an on-going major invasion of Cassin's Finches to the lowlands fueled by the bumper crop of seed produced by female green ash trees this past summer. The great, great majority of Cassin's Finches I've seen are female/immature types but there are a few pink males mixed in. In almost every case, the bird flock feeding on ash seeds includes House Finches and sometimes American Goldfinches and Black-capped Chickadees. This food resource was covered in "The Hungry Bird" column in Volume 51(1) January 2017 issue of "Colorado Birds" if you want to read more. Of course, in addition to their green ash staple, many of the finches are also visiting feeding stations. But I firmly believe the ash seed bonanza is the default food allowing a winter-long visit to 5000 feet ASL and below.
As an aside, Wood Ducks have been present at Sheldon Lake for the last several months up until just recently. Late this autumn they, too, fed heavily on green ash seed on the grass, along the shore and even muzzled them from the upper ice.
2) Avian influenza is worsening. Yesterday on Sheldon Lake in City Park I counted 19 white-cheeked geese dead on the ice and two ducks (presumably Mallards). At least a few Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks frequent the lake, although I have never been present when they are actually scavenging carcasses. I have seen a few plucked carcasses and presume it is at least the eagles.
Regarding avian influenza, does anyone know of any information on whether dogs can become infected? I am assuming if humans can very rarely fall victim, other mammals might also. The reason I say this is because I have been asked by the armada of dog-walkers, many of whom I at least know well enough to greet. I see a few letting their dogs run loose, sniff carcasses and one lady even said that because her dog likes to eat goose droppings she is concerned. Yikes. Seems like an easy solution to that - don't let your dog eat droppings under any circumstances. Thanks for info any of you might have.
Dave LeathermanFort Collins
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[cobirds] Lamar area Christmas Bird Count?
Is there a place I can find information on whether there was CBC in the Lamar area (specifically Prowers and Baca counties) this year, a count of the birds found, and the physical extent of the count circles?
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Thanks,
-Erin
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Tuesday, 27 December 2022
[cobirds] BIRD BOMBS First State Record! This Thursday Dec 29 at 7 pm
Don't miss a special BIRD BOMBS this Thursday as we look into the crystal ball to see what exciting new species may be the next to be discovered and documented in Colorado. Register for First State Record! .
25 top Colorado birders and field ornithologists shared their top 5 choices for the next new Colorado species. Following their wisdom and fancies, BIRD BOMBS will help us get ready for the next new species with a focused look at some of the most likely. Here is a little montage of several likely suspects. If you're really sharp you'll figure them out! But don't give it away here! Tune in on Thursday to what the future may hold
Check out exploded BIRD BOMBS here on the DFO page
David Suddjian
Denver Field Ornithologists
Littleton, CO
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[cobirds] Re: Northern Cardinal in Fort Collins?
I moved to this neighborhood in October and have visited Red Fox Meadows Natural Area multiple times per week since. Looking at my eBird checklists, I've seen the Cardinal there only about HALF the times I've visited, and I usually spend more than an hour on my walks. On every day except one, the cardinal was in the area circled in red on the map below, but this bird definitely roams around between the natural area, neighborhood backyard feeders, etc. (I've seen it in my own yard twice.) It is very chase-able but it isn't a sure thing, unless you are willing to stick around for hours. I suspect it passes through the area I circled on the map every day, maybe multiple times, but it does NOT spend the whole day there.
My advice/request for all chasers:
1) allow some time and be patient;
2) study the call notes for this species - it calls frequently but so far I've only heard a fragment of a song;
3) be respectful of the residents south of the ditch - they are used to people chasing this bird and seem to understand that people are looking at birds and not looking in their windows, but imagine what you would want if you lived there and act accordingly;
4) NO PLAYBACK, please - it isn't necessary and probably not helpful either;
5) try to enjoy the visit even if the cardinal doesn't show!
Good luck!
John Shenot
Fort Collins, CO
On Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 1:26:41 PM UTC-7 nat....@gmail.com wrote:
Hello birders!
Does anyone know if the Northern Cardinal is still hanging around in Fort Collins? I went to Fox Meadows this morning and walked around for quite a while, but without success. If anyone has tips for narrowing my search, or has seen it recently, I would love to know!Happy birding,Natalie
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Re: [cobirds] Fort Collins City Park (Larimer) of late
There has been a human case of Avian Flu in a human reported from Colorado and confirmed by the CDC in April 2022. This case occurred in a person who had direct exposure to poultry and was involved in the culling (depopulating) of poultry with presumptive H5N1 bird flu. The individual recovered.
Avian Flu, while highly unlikely, can be transmitted to dogs & cats with direct contact with infected birds, carcasses, or feces. The recommendation for humans & domesticated animals is to avoid contact with sick or dead wild birds.
If contact is necessary full PPE is required.
The link to the reported human case is here: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0428-avian-flu.html
Recommendations for protecting yourself & your animals can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-other-animals.htm
On Dec 27, 2022, at 10:38 AM, DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman@msn.com> wrote:
Recommendations for protecting yourself & your animals can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-other-animals.htm
-----------------------
Rachel Kolokoff Hopper
Follow me on iNaturalist
rkhphotography.net
hopko@comcast.net
Ft. Collins, CO
rkhphotography.net
hopko@comcast.net
Ft. Collins, CO
On Dec 27, 2022, at 10:38 AM, DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman@msn.com> wrote:
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Two major things stand out after the last several visits to the Fort Collins City Park area, which includes Grandview Cemetery, of late:
1) There is an on-going major invasion of Cassin's Finches to the lowlands fueled by the bumper crop of seed produced by female green ash trees this past summer. The great, great majority of Cassin's Finches I've seen are female/immature types but there are a few pink males mixed in. In almost every case, the bird flock feeding on ash seeds includes House Finches and sometimes American Goldfinches and Black-capped Chickadees. This food resource was covered in "The Hungry Bird" column in Volume 51(1) January 2017 issue of "Colorado Birds" if you want to read more. Of course, in addition to their green ash staple, many of the finches are also visiting feeding stations. But I firmly believe the ash seed bonanza is the default food allowing a winter-long visit to 5000 feet ASL and below.
As an aside, Wood Ducks have been present at Sheldon Lake for the last several months up until just recently. Late this autumn they, too, fed heavily on green ash seed on the grass, along the shore and even muzzled them from the upper ice.
<CAFI eating green ash seed FCCityPk 117A3437e.jpg>
<WODU m eating green ash seed SheldonLk FCCityPk 117A3116e.jpg>
2) Avian influenza is worsening. Yesterday on Sheldon Lake in City Park I counted 19 white-cheeked geese dead on the ice and two ducks (presumably Mallards). At least a few Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks frequent the lake, although I have never been present when they are actually scavenging carcasses. I have seen a few plucked carcasses and presume it is at least the eagles.
Regarding avian influenza, does anyone know of any information on whether dogs can become infected? I am assuming if humans can very rarely fall victim, other mammals might also. The reason I say this is because I have been asked by the armada of dog-walkers, many of whom I at least know well enough to greet. I see a few letting their dogs run loose, sniff carcasses and one lady even said that because her dog likes to eat goose droppings she is concerned. Yikes. Seems like an easy solution to that - don't let your dog eat droppings under any circumstances. Thanks for info any of you might have.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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[cobirds] Northern Cardinal in Fort Collins?
Hello birders!
Does anyone know if the Northern Cardinal is still hanging around in Fort Collins? I went to Fox Meadows this morning and walked around for quite a while, but without success. If anyone has tips for narrowing my search, or has seen it recently, I would love to know!
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Does anyone know if the Northern Cardinal is still hanging around in Fort Collins? I went to Fox Meadows this morning and walked around for quite a while, but without success. If anyone has tips for narrowing my search, or has seen it recently, I would love to know!
Happy birding,
-- Natalie
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[cobirds] Monte Vista Christmas Count Results
The day started at minus 8, but soon "warmed" to more moderate temps. Fourteen hardy individuals braved the cold and counted 47 species which is average for this count based on previous years. However, the numbers of all birds were lower than usual with only 2378 individuals counted and there was no snowcover. Best birds were Ferruginous Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Cassin's Finch and a count week Yellow-rumped Warbler. With the moving of our friend Susan Hochstetler to Idaho, our Rosy-finch count, usually many dozens, was kept at zero, alas. Lisa G organized the count this year and did a fine job. She asked me to forward the results to this listserve.
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Happy Holidays all.
John Rawinski
Monte Vista, CO
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[cobirds] Flagler CBC results
The 12th running of the Flagler CBC was held Dec 24, Christmas Eve. Those turning out for this remote (two hours east of Denver) count deserve special recognition and I want to thank Kyle Carlsen, Renee Casias and Elaine Wagner for their day in the field and Steve Larson for extending his work day earlier in the week scouting portions of the count circle. Steve's advice "look for longspurs in corn stubble" was well taken.
Our goal was to maintain Flagler's status as the longspur capital of the world, a title the count has reportedly held four times in the past. It is, of course, too early to tell how we fared compared to other 2022/23 counts but we found Lapland longspurs were in short supply. Only one team was able to break the thousand bird mark and we ended the day with a mere 3189 in total.
Although disheartened by our longspur tally, we were elated to find and share the first Bohemian Waxwings seen in Kit Carson County in more than two decades. In addition to this first for the count, we discovered three other new species: 2 Brown Thrashers, and single White-winged and African collared doves. A total of 34 species we found by the teams!
Happy Holidays
Doug Kibbe Compiler
Littleton, Co.
[cobirds] Re: Northern Pygmy owl
a Boreal Owl! What a lucky find and nice photo!
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On Monday, December 26, 2022 at 9:26:09 PM UTC-5 fiddlenurs wrote:
A friend of mine who lives outside of Paonia found this Pygmy owl hanging out her wood pile. (Private property) it didn't appear to be injured, just hanging out.
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Monday, 26 December 2022
Re: [cobirds] Northern Pygmy owl
What a find, Deb. That appears to be a Boreal Owl instead!
On Mon, Dec 26, 2022 at 7:26 PM 'Deborah Carstensen' via Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com> wrote:
A friend of mine who lives outside of Paonia found this Pygmy owl hanging out her wood pile. (Private property) it didn't appear to be injured, just hanging out.
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Deb Carstensen, Arapahoe county
Sent from my iPhone
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[cobirds] Northern Pygmy owl
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Re: [cobirds] Birding, eBird and eBird review(ers)
I thought I'd share this simple screenshot of an eBird reviewer's dream. This is a review queue with no records unreviewed. "Congratulations you have no more records to review."
On Sun, Dec 25, 2022 at 6:01 AM Patricia Cullen <hathcockcolorado@gmail.com> wrote:
Happy Holidays to everyone!I'll start by saying, as encouraged by Joey Kellner's post --In Boulder County we enjoy the rapid and accurate work of volunteer Christian Nunes,thank you Christian and I hope he will continue this service to the Colorado birding community,as its helped make me a better birder.Susan Rosine's and Diana Beatty's questions are important to consider. I hope Cornell/eBird can become more transparent in how they select eBird Reviewersand allow more birders with the right number of years of experience and skills to apply. Relying on the old boy network to identify the "right" candidates may notbe adequate. Its a big birding world and many very capable birders are being overlooked as possiblereviewers today is likely.Its quite accurate that many rural counties around the USA and the world, there is great disparity in the number of reviewers for rural areas.In Ithaca NY in Tomkins County, for an example , one will get a DETAILED response within TEN MINUTES ofentering a rare bird species mistake, (ask me how I know! ). but for a rare data entry in Huerfano County, CO, if you do submit a photo, itmay take years if it is ever confirmed. I have had solid intermediate birders in Boulder County discuss this with me endlesslyand feel that maybe they should quit eBirding as they work hard to get an excellent photo of a rare bird, in a rural county,only to have that data "hidden" or "ignored" for a long time, as there is no one to look at that fine photograph to confirm it.Note that one cannot easily find unconfirmed rare bird photographs in eBird, without knowing the date, one of the observer's names, and place of entry, then finding that list forthat person's name, by going to the hot spot and scrolling down to the right date, and onlyif at least ONE observation is unique will that data/list appear, and then onecan click on he list DATE to pull it up, then voila the hidden photo is indeed there, so not hidden at all! But hard to access.If its a private spot where the rare bird was found, I am not sure how to go about finding unconfirmed photos of rare birds, and I enter datainto eBird every day now for over 500 days.Another aspect of eBird reviewing that is not always transparent is how one's number of eBird entries/year of birding over time.affects what the reviewer may do! More clarity would help beginners to understand the review process more thoroughly,then they can respond appropriately, and not be afraid to enter rare bird data, given that data can be filtered out and checkedfor accuracy in a number of ways.Some will say that allowing applications to become reviewers may dilute the skill level of this highly trainedteam of birders, and, of course, the accuracy of eBird, but I would argue that not onlywill it NOT dilute the accuracy to have more timely attempts at review, it will IMPROVE birders at a more rapidrate as they will learn a lot becoming an eBird reviewer, and at least those clear Summer Tanager Photos in Huerfano willget a glimpse sooner and may well be quite easy to confirm. On the really tough IDs, with inadequate descriptions or blurry photos,its still a tall task for many reviewers today. And likeany job, those not suited will probably resign, anyway, so its not likely to impact data quality to trainmore volunteer reviewers.I will send my thoughts directly to Cornell/eBird once I refine them a bit more. I welcome feedback about eBird, its purposeand how accuracy is insured, by statistics, and by eBird reviewers, privately or on this public forum.Good birding,Patricia CullenBoulder County--On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 4:13:20 PM UTC-7 otowi...@gmail.com wrote:How do people become eBird reviewers? Are there a set number of positions per area? Do people apply? How can someone know if there is a need in their area?Diana BeattyEl Paso CountyOn Sat, Dec 24, 2022, 2:58 PM David Suddjian <dsud...@gmail.com> wrote:I serve both as an eBird reviewer and an addicted user.I think a challenge arises when a county or region does not have someone who is actively reviewing all the records for that area. Then they sit in the queue, which can grow to 100s and 1000s. The user can't easily tell if a record was invalidated or is simply not reviewed. Communication is often lacking. The review queue soon grows very long and it is tedious and hard or nearly impossible for a reviewer to go back and clear out the backlog when new records keep coming in. Big backlogs are a problem, I think, as the data which should help define the filters - that which is popping the filters - is not reviewed maybe for a long time.I believe there are many capable birders who could review effectively in their familiar counties. JoAnn herself is a good one for Eagle, I'd say. The historical perspective is important, but most of the reviewing is of current records and such folks are often aware of the current status and distribution in their areas to catch something odd, and eBird data reveal the historical picture to a degree. Whether they would want to review for eBird, I couldn't say. But how much asking is happening? eBird's core data quality feature is its filters and the review process, and since birding and eBirding are growing, it seems the situation can only improve through having more people actively involved, and more communication. Now I'll go have fun birding :-)I will say thank you here to my home area eBird reviewer Scott Somershoe. I'm grateful to Scott for staying on top of things with the big review task here in the busily birded Denver Metro area. And thanks to all the hard working, labor-of-love (sort of) volunteer reviewers serving eBirders in Colorado.David SuddjianKen Caryl ValleyLittelton, CO--On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 6:59 AM Joey Kellner <vir...@comcast.net> wrote:Time out everyone. First of all, Happy Holidays to everyone!We must have a LOT of newer birders in Colorado. I say this because "back in the day", we went birding for the fun of it and we called each other with our good bird sightings. Sharing "our" good bird with others was enough "confirmation", we did not need a "reviewer" to validate our birding abilities.
Personally, when I find a bird that flags as rare, I document it such that an eBird reviewer (tomorrow, next year or next decade) will not need to contact me. I attach photographs, sound recordings and/or write a detailed description OF THE BIRD (not that is flying, or that it is perched on a twig, but exactly what it looked like and how it might have differed from "the picture in the book"). The description should be detailed enough that it stands the "test of time". A future researcher maybe 100 or 200 years from now (that has no idea what your birding skill-set was like) can also review your evidence and determine you saw what you said you saw. Describe the bird and then eliminate similarly appearing species. THEN, and here's the MOST important part, DON'T LOOK BACK! Move forward, get out for the joy and fun of birding, not because you NEED reassurance that you are a good birder or to see your name in "lights", but because birding is FUN!
As for the number of eBird reviewers, these are volunteers and finding people that have the historical background of Colorado (and county) birds, bird identification skills, a thick skin and WANT to do review is difficult. In the past we've had reviewers that literally accepted just about EVERY bird (contrary to the evidence supplied)! I (and likely eBird) would want reviewers that can scrutinize a record, make sure a more common species was not misidentified and ensure the data is as good as possible and that sometimes means not confirming some sightings. Reviewers get burned out, some volunteering literally hundreds of hours a year doing eBird record and filter reviews. Please don't get mad at the people reviewing your records, it helps no one. They get just as frustrated at us birders. Birders that that don't read the eBird rules and submit then 30-mile-long checklists, or create a checklist that follows a trail through three habitats in the course of 5 hours, or attach a photo to the wrong species. It has GOT to be exhausting to be an eBird reviewer! How many times have you said, "Thank you" to an eBird reviewer? Then think how many times you've complained about them? They are doing the best they can, trust me, I know many of them. Better to just document the heck out of your rare bird, let the birding community know and move on to more birding fun!
Happy Holidays and I hope everyone can get out and see great birds in the new year!
Joey.
Joey Kellner
Littleton, Colorado
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[cobirds] Re: correction GOLDEN -CROWNED SPARROW
So sorry that was a bad link. It's in the same vicinity as where Cole reported along Jordan Rd in Cherry Creek SO
On Mon, Dec 26, 2022, 10:04 AM rosanne juergens <rosanne.juergens@gmail.com> wrote:
at this location at 10am. https://maps.app.goo.gl/oTbLygwtfVp7oTXA9Not with other sparrows.
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[cobirds] GOLDEN -CROWNED SPARROW
at this location at 10am. https://maps.app.goo.gl/oTbLygwtfVp7oTXA9
-- Not with other sparrows.
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Sunday, 25 December 2022
Re: [cobirds] Birding, eBird and eBird review(ers)
Happy Holidays to everyone!
I'll start by saying, as encouraged by Joey Kellner's post --
In Boulder County we enjoy the rapid and accurate work of volunteer Christian Nunes,
thank you Christian and I hope he will continue this service to the Colorado birding community,
as its helped make me a better birder.
and allow more birders with the right number of years of experience and skills to apply. Relying on the old boy network to identify the "right" candidates may not
be adequate. Its a big birding world and many very capable birders are being overlooked as possible
reviewers today is likely.
Its quite accurate that many rural counties around the USA and the world, there is great disparity in the number of reviewers for rural areas.
In Ithaca NY in Tomkins County, for an example , one will get a DETAILED response within TEN MINUTES of
entering a rare bird species mistake, (ask me how I know! ). but for a rare data entry in Huerfano County, CO, if you do submit a photo, it
may take years if it is ever confirmed. I have had solid intermediate birders in Boulder County discuss this with me endlessly
and feel that maybe they should quit eBirding as they work hard to get an excellent photo of a rare bird, in a rural county,
only to have that data "hidden" or "ignored" for a long time, as there is no one to look at that fine photograph to confirm it.
Note that one cannot easily find unconfirmed rare bird photographs in eBird, without knowing the date, one of the observer's names, and place of entry, then finding that list for
that person's name, by going to the hot spot and scrolling down to the right date, and only
if at least ONE observation is unique will that data/list appear, and then one
can click on he list DATE to pull it up, then voila the hidden photo is indeed there, so not hidden at all! But hard to access.
If its a private spot where the rare bird was found, I am not sure how to go about finding unconfirmed photos of rare birds, and I enter data
into eBird every day now for over 500 days.
Another aspect of eBird reviewing that is not always transparent is how one's number of eBird entries/year of birding over time.
affects what the reviewer may do! More clarity would help beginners to understand the review process more thoroughly,
then they can respond appropriately, and not be afraid to enter rare bird data, given that data can be filtered out and checked
for accuracy in a number of ways.
Some will say that allowing applications to become reviewers may dilute the skill level of this highly trained
team of birders, and, of course, the accuracy of eBird, but I would argue that not only
will it NOT dilute the accuracy to have more timely attempts at review, it will IMPROVE birders at a more rapid
rate as they will learn a lot becoming an eBird reviewer, and at least those clear Summer Tanager Photos in Huerfano will
get a glimpse sooner and may well be quite easy to confirm. On the really tough IDs, with inadequate descriptions or blurry photos,
its still a tall task for many reviewers today. And like
any job, those not suited will probably resign, anyway, so its not likely to impact data quality to train
more volunteer reviewers.
I will send my thoughts directly to Cornell/eBird once I refine them a bit more. I welcome feedback about eBird, its purpose
and how accuracy is insured, by statistics, and by eBird reviewers, privately or on this public forum.
Good birding,
Patricia Cullen
Boulder County
On Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 4:13:20 PM UTC-7 otowi...@gmail.com wrote:
How do people become eBird reviewers? Are there a set number of positions per area? Do people apply? How can someone know if there is a need in their area?Diana BeattyEl Paso CountyOn Sat, Dec 24, 2022, 2:58 PM David Suddjian <dsud...@gmail.com> wrote:I serve both as an eBird reviewer and an addicted user.I think a challenge arises when a county or region does not have someone who is actively reviewing all the records for that area. Then they sit in the queue, which can grow to 100s and 1000s. The user can't easily tell if a record was invalidated or is simply not reviewed. Communication is often lacking. The review queue soon grows very long and it is tedious and hard or nearly impossible for a reviewer to go back and clear out the backlog when new records keep coming in. Big backlogs are a problem, I think, as the data which should help define the filters - that which is popping the filters - is not reviewed maybe for a long time.I believe there are many capable birders who could review effectively in their familiar counties. JoAnn herself is a good one for Eagle, I'd say. The historical perspective is important, but most of the reviewing is of current records and such folks are often aware of the current status and distribution in their areas to catch something odd, and eBird data reveal the historical picture to a degree. Whether they would want to review for eBird, I couldn't say. But how much asking is happening? eBird's core data quality feature is its filters and the review process, and since birding and eBirding are growing, it seems the situation can only improve through having more people actively involved, and more communication. Now I'll go have fun birding :-)I will say thank you here to my home area eBird reviewer Scott Somershoe. I'm grateful to Scott for staying on top of things with the big review task here in the busily birded Denver Metro area. And thanks to all the hard working, labor-of-love (sort of) volunteer reviewers serving eBirders in Colorado.David SuddjianKen Caryl ValleyLittelton, CO--On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 6:59 AM Joey Kellner <vir...@comcast.net> wrote:Time out everyone. First of all, Happy Holidays to everyone!We must have a LOT of newer birders in Colorado. I say this because "back in the day", we went birding for the fun of it and we called each other with our good bird sightings. Sharing "our" good bird with others was enough "confirmation", we did not need a "reviewer" to validate our birding abilities.
Personally, when I find a bird that flags as rare, I document it such that an eBird reviewer (tomorrow, next year or next decade) will not need to contact me. I attach photographs, sound recordings and/or write a detailed description OF THE BIRD (not that is flying, or that it is perched on a twig, but exactly what it looked like and how it might have differed from "the picture in the book"). The description should be detailed enough that it stands the "test of time". A future researcher maybe 100 or 200 years from now (that has no idea what your birding skill-set was like) can also review your evidence and determine you saw what you said you saw. Describe the bird and then eliminate similarly appearing species. THEN, and here's the MOST important part, DON'T LOOK BACK! Move forward, get out for the joy and fun of birding, not because you NEED reassurance that you are a good birder or to see your name in "lights", but because birding is FUN!
As for the number of eBird reviewers, these are volunteers and finding people that have the historical background of Colorado (and county) birds, bird identification skills, a thick skin and WANT to do review is difficult. In the past we've had reviewers that literally accepted just about EVERY bird (contrary to the evidence supplied)! I (and likely eBird) would want reviewers that can scrutinize a record, make sure a more common species was not misidentified and ensure the data is as good as possible and that sometimes means not confirming some sightings. Reviewers get burned out, some volunteering literally hundreds of hours a year doing eBird record and filter reviews. Please don't get mad at the people reviewing your records, it helps no one. They get just as frustrated at us birders. Birders that that don't read the eBird rules and submit then 30-mile-long checklists, or create a checklist that follows a trail through three habitats in the course of 5 hours, or attach a photo to the wrong species. It has GOT to be exhausting to be an eBird reviewer! How many times have you said, "Thank you" to an eBird reviewer? Then think how many times you've complained about them? They are doing the best they can, trust me, I know many of them. Better to just document the heck out of your rare bird, let the birding community know and move on to more birding fun!
Happy Holidays and I hope everyone can get out and see great birds in the new year!
Joey.
Joey Kellner
Littleton, Colorado
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Saturday, 24 December 2022
[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (24 Dec 2022) Raptors
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Visitors:
7 hardy hikers walking the Hogback Trail.
Weather:
Last Saturday I was doing a Christmas count in the Red Rocks area and our leader Greg Goodrich mentioned my having found two Golden Eagle on my last visit to Dinosaur Ridge, and hoping we would be able to add one of them to pick up. I facetiously commented on the plenty of free time he seemed to have in order to read my report which found no migrants. He said that negative reports are important information. That is the reason I keep going to the watch.. earth.nullschool.net showed the usual band of West winds in Southern Wyoming and northern Colorado at 30 to 52 km/h, which should again unfortunately push any migrants to the east of the watch. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WhrKiVQbuY7yyckh7hPJQCNQkAK5q8Te/view?usp=drivesdk The green circle in the image denotes roughly the location of the hawk watch. You can see the Great Salt Lake to the WNW, and a line drawn a little above the south end of it and extended to the East roughly would be the Wyoming Colorado border where you can see the strong winds . There were Northwest winds predicted at the watch on weather.gov for Morrison CO, and while I know that this is not a guarantee of any migrants whatsoever, as a sentimental nod to Northwest winds in the East which bring in good migrants even in late December, I decided to go up to the watch wearing crampons. Also the temperature was predicted to be 47°F with a windchill of 43°F which could be bearable with 15 mph winds and even with 20 mph gusts.
Raptor Observations:
In the 1st hour I saw 4 raptors far to the NE, 2 of them were much larger than one which rose up and which I followed was an RT which kited a few times over Green Mountain and which I then lost â€" seemingly a non-migrant. When I went back to look at the larger presumed Eagles I could not find them â€" probably dropped. Much later I saw an RT kiting repeatedly over time into the wind to the NW and I watched it to make sure that it was indeed hunting. Last year counting at the I-84 Overlook Hawk Watch in New York we would see RT kiting into strong NW winds and a hawk watcher would say "They're local" to which I would say "Keep watching them" and invariably they would fly South. What was happening was that while the the North component of the wind would push them in the right direction, the West component would slow them down and push them back, and these RT would be "resting" by kiting into the wind, and then make another foray South, repeatedly kiting presumably to conserve energy. At 1:01 PM to the NNW I saw an adult Golden Eagle being harassed by a Common Raven with 2 RT beside them. Of course I followed the GE which rose up in the air at which point the RTs began escorting it out of their territory by soaring ahead and behind it until it decided to fly West (when they left it) and disappeared below the ridge against the pines beyond I-70.
Non-raptor Observations:
Townsend's Solitaire 1, Northern Flicker 1, House Finch 2.
Predictions:
This is my last count at this site for fall 2022. My hypothesis as to why this site has a good spring watch but not one in fall is not because of any geographic factors e.g. the Cape May Peninsula "facing the wrong way" in spring, but likely because of meteorological factors such as a band of very strong winds in fall either from the West or NW at a little North of the Colorado Wyoming border which likely push potential migrants to the East where they, early in the season perhaps meet the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone and later in the season meet the presumed (with my limited meteorological knowledge) the high-pressure zone around Denver further pushing these Migrants east of Denver, bypassing the Dinosaur Ridge hawk watch completely. The hawk watch north of Denver which is further west is Commissary Ridge Hawk Watch and one south of Denver is the Manzano Mountains HawkWatch (where Emma Riley counted this fall) which is also West of Denver â€" both of which have good fall raptor migrations. Presumably do they don't have the aberrant and inhibitory winds that face this watch. If Bryan Guarente the meteorologist at UCAR/The COMET Program reads this, he may have an opinion to share.
Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson̢۪s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons,
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th,
weather permitting.
Directions to site:
From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left
into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow hawk watch signs from the
southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The hike starts heading
east on an old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side
of the ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, and walk to
the flat area at the crest of the ridge. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain:
259 feet)
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Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Dec 24, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 0 | 0 | 78 |
| Observation start time: | 11:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 2 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
7 hardy hikers walking the Hogback Trail.
Weather:
Last Saturday I was doing a Christmas count in the Red Rocks area and our leader Greg Goodrich mentioned my having found two Golden Eagle on my last visit to Dinosaur Ridge, and hoping we would be able to add one of them to pick up. I facetiously commented on the plenty of free time he seemed to have in order to read my report which found no migrants. He said that negative reports are important information. That is the reason I keep going to the watch.. earth.nullschool.net showed the usual band of West winds in Southern Wyoming and northern Colorado at 30 to 52 km/h, which should again unfortunately push any migrants to the east of the watch. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WhrKiVQbuY7yyckh7hPJQCNQkAK5q8Te/view?usp=drivesdk The green circle in the image denotes roughly the location of the hawk watch. You can see the Great Salt Lake to the WNW, and a line drawn a little above the south end of it and extended to the East roughly would be the Wyoming Colorado border where you can see the strong winds . There were Northwest winds predicted at the watch on weather.gov for Morrison CO, and while I know that this is not a guarantee of any migrants whatsoever, as a sentimental nod to Northwest winds in the East which bring in good migrants even in late December, I decided to go up to the watch wearing crampons. Also the temperature was predicted to be 47°F with a windchill of 43°F which could be bearable with 15 mph winds and even with 20 mph gusts.
Raptor Observations:
In the 1st hour I saw 4 raptors far to the NE, 2 of them were much larger than one which rose up and which I followed was an RT which kited a few times over Green Mountain and which I then lost â€" seemingly a non-migrant. When I went back to look at the larger presumed Eagles I could not find them â€" probably dropped. Much later I saw an RT kiting repeatedly over time into the wind to the NW and I watched it to make sure that it was indeed hunting. Last year counting at the I-84 Overlook Hawk Watch in New York we would see RT kiting into strong NW winds and a hawk watcher would say "They're local" to which I would say "Keep watching them" and invariably they would fly South. What was happening was that while the the North component of the wind would push them in the right direction, the West component would slow them down and push them back, and these RT would be "resting" by kiting into the wind, and then make another foray South, repeatedly kiting presumably to conserve energy. At 1:01 PM to the NNW I saw an adult Golden Eagle being harassed by a Common Raven with 2 RT beside them. Of course I followed the GE which rose up in the air at which point the RTs began escorting it out of their territory by soaring ahead and behind it until it decided to fly West (when they left it) and disappeared below the ridge against the pines beyond I-70.
Non-raptor Observations:
Townsend's Solitaire 1, Northern Flicker 1, House Finch 2.
Predictions:
This is my last count at this site for fall 2022. My hypothesis as to why this site has a good spring watch but not one in fall is not because of any geographic factors e.g. the Cape May Peninsula "facing the wrong way" in spring, but likely because of meteorological factors such as a band of very strong winds in fall either from the West or NW at a little North of the Colorado Wyoming border which likely push potential migrants to the East where they, early in the season perhaps meet the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone and later in the season meet the presumed (with my limited meteorological knowledge) the high-pressure zone around Denver further pushing these Migrants east of Denver, bypassing the Dinosaur Ridge hawk watch completely. The hawk watch north of Denver which is further west is Commissary Ridge Hawk Watch and one south of Denver is the Manzano Mountains HawkWatch (where Emma Riley counted this fall) which is also West of Denver â€" both of which have good fall raptor migrations. Presumably do they don't have the aberrant and inhibitory winds that face this watch. If Bryan Guarente the meteorologist at UCAR/The COMET Program reads this, he may have an opinion to share.
Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson̢۪s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons,
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th,
weather permitting.
Directions to site:
From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left
into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow hawk watch signs from the
southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The hike starts heading
east on an old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side
of the ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, and walk to
the flat area at the crest of the ridge. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain:
259 feet)
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* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
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