At 7:25 AM today I went over to 4700 Holly Street in Denver, which is located just north of I-70 to look for the possible Yellow-eyed Junco reported on Cobirds on 3/9. (At this unlikely site in an area of light manufacturing and distributing an Ovenbird cowered under some junipers and was seen by many observers a few years ago).
I parked on the NW side of the building, looked at the birds on and below a feeder inside a chained link fence and DID NOT see a Yellow-eyed Junco. I did get as much information as I could from Cookie Spatafora, who works in the building and has 2 feeders near her office window. She is a self-described "feeder watcher" and is familiar with Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, House Finches and other birds that come to her feeder. At her home she feeds Rufous-sided Towhees, and although she is familiar with those birds, she is on the cusp of going farther afield to learn more about other birds. On Monday, March 7, 2011, at 10 AM the sky was overcast, with light snow. Although the Dark-eyed Juncos usually feed on the ground below the feeder, out of sight from her window, on Mondays the bird seed is still contained in the feeder, as the ground has been grazed clear of food over the weekend. At those times hungry Dark-eyed Juncos will come up to the feeder tray, whereas they usually are on the ground, below her line of vision. That day she observed a bird with the size and shape of a Junco, at a distance of 5 feet from her eyes, out the window on the feeder. It visited the feeder repeatedly *over a 45 minute period*, feeding in plain view for several minutes at a time. She noticed it because it's eyes were yellow, and she is "100% positive that the bird had yellow eyes." Other than that she did not notice much. "The head was dark and the underparts were lighter than the upper-parts of the bird." She did not notice the back color, bill or leg color. NOTE that her window is tinted light gray, which seems to keep the birds at the feeder from flushing from movement inside the office. The feeder is in perpetual shade, being on the boreal aspect of the building. When American Goldfinches turn brighter yellow in the spring, it is easy to see their color, so the window is not totally opaque and views seemed adequate when I visited her office this morning. Cookie "did not think too much of the bird" at the time, but mentioned it to her colleague , Bob Santangelo, who is a keen and experienced birder. Together they the reviewed 4 or 5 field guides he showed her, and she thought that her bird matched the drawings of a Yellow-eyed Junco. Subsequently no juncos visited the feeder itself, and again the ground was out of sight. I looked at the feeder birds from 7:25 til 8:10 AM, went to a meeting, then watched again from 9:50 til 11:10 AM. No luck. Four Dark-eyed Juncos of the Oregon type and Slate-colored type fed on the ground this morning. I called Dick Schottler with this information and he posted it on Cobirds, so birders could make up their own minds as to whether the possible extreme rarity was worth chasing or not. I heard that one unknown birder checked the site yesterday, but saw nothing of note. Cookie and Bob are looking at the feeder and the ground below it as often as they can, but they are at work. You will recall that "Work is the curse of the birding class." Bob has a good camera and is poised to capture images should the bird with the yellow eyes return. If I hear about it or see it when I go back there today or tomorrow, I will post Cobirds and call folks at once. As you know, Yellow-eyed Juncos are very loyal to their breeding grounds in southern Arizona and according to Sibley's guide, there is only one record from a near-by state, that being one seen in the Big Bend region of Texas. When I excitedly told my wife this whole, long story she exclaimed, "All that and you didn't see the bird?" Alas. Joe Roller, Denver These facts are all factual, and in contrast to my usual methods, I have not made any of these facts up. -- 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. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
