Monday 9 October 2023

[cobirds] FW: The Big Sit! - TODAY! (Sunday, October 8) - Chatfield State Park

Hello COBIRDERS,

 

Forty people stopped by “The Big Sit!” at Chatfield yesterday.  Some spent an hour; many stayed several hours and a few spent most of the day helping to search for birds from a single location!  Thank you, to all that attended!

 

Considering the nice weather and high water levels (virtually no shore or sandbar islands) we still managed to see 59 species from a single location!  This being the 18th year of hosting The Big Sit! we did find a new species that we’ve never recorded, Pinyon Jays!  We heard at least two!  One participant even got recordings of their distinctive calls.  As expected we got all 20 species that have been seen EVERY year for the last 17 years (now 18 years).  The full list of species seen is below.

 

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Green-winged Teal

Lesser Scaup

Common Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

American Coot

Killdeer

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Herring Gull

Double-crested Cormorant

American White Pelican

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Golden Eagle

Cooper's Hawk

Bald Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

Great Horned Owl

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Say's Phoebe

Pinyon Jay

Blue Jay

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Barn Swallow

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

European Starling

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

Chipping Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

White-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Western Meadowlark

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

 

Joey Kellner

Littleton, Colorado

 

 

 

 

 

From: vireo1@comcast.net
Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2023 4:37 AM
To: 'cobirds@googlegroups.com' <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: The Big Sit! - TODAY! (Sunday, October 8) - Chatfield State Park

 

 

Hello again COBIRDERS!

Looking for something to do today...Sunday?  How about some leisure birding at a Big Sit?

What is a "Big Sit" you ask?

 

Well, a Big Sit is similar to the birding event called a "Big Day", in both events participants try to count as many species as possible, the difference is that in a Big Day you travel all over a geographical area whereas during a Big Sit you sit (or stand) in one location (a 17-foot diameter "circle") and count as many species seen or heard as possible in the course of the day.  This is a worldwide event and as of this posting there are a number of Big Sit "circles" registered for this year's event!

 

The Denver Field Ornithologists and Colorado Parks & Wildlife will once again sponsor and I will host "The Big Sit!" at Chatfield State Park next Sunday, October 8th.  This will be the 18th year (non-consecutive, due to covid) for this fun and frivolous event.  It is open to the public and EVERYONE is welcome!  It will be held from dawn to dusk, come for an hour or stay all day, whatever works for your schedule.  

 

In addition to a day list, we will perform hourly counts so that every hour there are "new" birds to be added to the hour's count.

 

"The Big Sit!" at Chatfield will be located at the Heronry Overlook on the east side of the reservoir.  A park map is at the park entrance stations.  Come and help find a few birds!

 

Bring your own chair or use the bench seating provided by the heronry overlook deck.  Bring binoculars, spotting scope (if you have), food, water, treats to share or whatever you need to spend time birding! 

 

If you haven’t been to Chatfield this year, come and see the changes that have happened due to all the rain we received this spring and summer!  And, as a bonus, help to spot some birds at the heronry overlook.

 

So far, this year's weather looks to be quite nice!

 

If you cannot attend "The Big Sit!" at Chatfield create your own!  The
details and rules can be found at: https://www.thebigsit.org

 

Hope to see you all there!

 

Joey.

 

Joey Kellner

Littleton, Colorado

 

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