Hey all, I always enjoy hearing about people's experiences with specific birds or species! Bohemian (and Cedar!) Waxwings have always been an important bird to me, as they are the main reason that I got back into birding (and now work with birds full time!). As a kid I had been into birds and birding, even begging my mom to take me on a Christmas Bird Count in the Salida area when I was 7 or so. (As my mom tells it, the adults were annoyed with such a young kid being there until I started pointing out birds they didn't see.) When I would look at my birds books, I would spend hours looking at the waxwings just thinking they were so lovely. I always thought it would be impossible to see them because they seemed so magical and the tiny maps in the book didn't appear to include southern Colorado. My interests shifted as I entered my teens and picked up various instruments and garage bands. Fast forward to 2008 (when I was in my early 30's), and I was reading an article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan (local newspaper) about the dam project that was being debated north of town. In that article they talked about the wildlife that uses the Cache la Poudre River, and mentioned that Cedar Waxwings nest along the river corridor through town. What!? I could see these birds here? The next day I picked up a $20 pair of binoculars from Jax and began searching for them. I was a student at Front Range Community College, and my wife and I would go on walks through the nearby neighborhoods during our breaks. One day in late January we found both species going crazy over a tree full of withering crabapples in the front yard of a house just south of campus. (Here's my eBird list of that day, my first viewing of both species: https://ebird.org/checklist/S3460064). As we watched the birds, one Bohemian waxwing ate a bunch of the crabapples, jumped into the air and darted directly into the front window of the house, slamming into it hard. It flew right back to the same branch, shook off the impact, then fell dead to the ground. I was able to pick the bird up and look at it in my hand, which was pretty intense but also very incredible. I set the dead bird back down and we went back to school, writing about the experience on my Myspace account that evening. haha, remember Myspace?
Several years later, I found myself working with bird-window collisions for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and would often bring waxwing specimens from the museum collection out when giving talks about the dangers of windows. After returning to Fort Collins, I have wondered about seeing Bohemian Waxwings again, and have been very excited to be able to see a few this winter. It's great to have them back in the state, and fun to see everyone else enjoying them as well! Thanks for letting me tell you my story about these amazing birds. Now back to work! Matt *Matthew M Webb* Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator *Bird Conservancy of the Rockies* Motus project #281 970.482.1707 x36 (office) 970.405.7155 (mobile - use this number!) www.birdconservancy.org *Connect with us on *Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/birdconservancy> * and *Twitter <https://twitter.com/BirdConservancy> On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 4:17 PM <woodcreepe...@comcast.net> wrote: > Hi Jared and COBirders > I grew up in Boulder in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bohemian Waxwings were > one of the big reasons I became interested in birds. My parent's house was > on 43rd St. (my mom still lives there) and it had a large picture window > with berry producing juniper bushes outside. I remember very large flocks > of Bohemians on several occasions covering these bushes about four feet > from my face as we stood at the window watching! At times there were > probably 200-300 birds! This was probably 1963 or 64 before I started note > taking. My notes show irruptions (using the more than four criteria) in > 1968, 73, 74, 79 and 84. Most of my old records from the mid 60s to the > late 80s are not in ebird. The current numbers of birds is definitely > spectacular! > Steve Larson > > Northglenn, CO > > On 01/29/2023 5:24 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delro...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I'd love to hear from long-time birders about their experiences with > Bohemian Waxwings prior to this year! While eBird tells part of the > story, I'd love to hear more about these past encounters -- including but > not limited to where, how many, when, what the birds were up to, and > anything else that stood out. I think it would help those of us who are > newer to the state and/or birding (like me) appreciate the encounters we're > having this winter. > > Here's my contribution, which isn't my contribution. > > W. H. Bergtold, who I wrote about for the October 2022 issue > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/6c6faf92/KtP9oEW2XEyxUxoVoVraZw?u=https://dfobirds.org/News/Archives/2020-2029/2022/10_Oct_2022_LB.pdf> > of DFO's *The Lark Bunting*, reported Bohemian Waxwings "all over > [Denver] in great numbers, from February 22 to April 8, 1917, when the last > two were seen in Cheesman Park." This brief account appears in *The > Wilson Bulletin > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/85667773/2gCf2PFLZkC9qexTvcJRhQ?u=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4154774> > *in Bergtold's 1917 list of Denver birds. > > Oddly, Bergtold has a single account of a Cedar Waxwing listed in the same > essay: "Cedar Waxwing. Seen in Berkeley, February, 1906." Might Denver's > birders have once chased that Cedar as we've been out looking for > Bohemians? > > Finally, I'll note Joe Roller's eBird report of Bohemian Waxwings in > his S. Yates home in 1991. Joe had told me that he'd had large flocks of > Bohemian Waxwings in his yard, but I couldn't find it on the eBird map, > thinking his home was closer to Wash Park and the encounter more recent. > (Perhaps this is a previous home?) In any case, his brief note on the > historical checklist tells us that 1991 was an invasion year for Bohemians: > "Had large flocks throughout winter, lingering into spring. Larger than > nearby Cedar Waxwings, rusty under tail coverts; 'mean' looking facies." I > suspect "facies" is a typo, but with Joe I can't be sure. It's also > apparently a medical term! I'll also admit to not realizing that Bohemians > appear mean, though I indeed think that of Mountain Chickadees. > > I checked DFO's newsletter archives, and Bohemians were reported on DFO > trips from November 1990 (Barr Lake, three in total) through mid-April of > 1991 (150+ in Lakewood). > > Briefly -- occasional sightings of a female/immature type Cassin's Finch > and a White-throated Sparrow in my Centennial yard. Yesterday encountered a > flock of robins and a small number of Bohemian Waxwings as they descended > on an errant Buckthorn in a neighborhood yard near University and Orchard. > I stopped briefly and made everyone in my car ooh and aah. > > - Jared Del Rosso > Centennial, CO > lonesomewhippoorwill.com > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7a28e47b/l9evU1KzQE2vPiVQbKxjNg?u=http://lonesomewhippoorwill.com/> > > > -- > -- > 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 > > https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7ed85a50/8yeHKeDptEO_hiJYGN2HGw?u=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://link.edgepilot.com/s/90ff87eb/k_HWA3WpuUeAw1WElgwwTw?u=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+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7052b1fe/KKlcyuvHAkuc_Ie9VBD1kQ?u=https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/8ba600e3-4311-4ef1-8a60-4bd6d796dae3n%2540googlegroups.com > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/83190626/pm4ZFb-q5EaHH2FEehgpeQ?u=https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/8ba600e3-4311-4ef1-8a60-4bd6d796dae3n%2540googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email%26utm_source=footer>. > > > -- > -- > 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 > > https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7ed85a50/8yeHKeDptEO_hiJYGN2HGw?u=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://link.edgepilot.com/s/90ff87eb/k_HWA3WpuUeAw1WElgwwTw?u=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+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://link.edgepilot.com/s/f4c86793/y45s1EJETkiwTkV1mA2PCA?u=https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1219223720.2049602.1675120635521%2540connect.xfinity.com > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/bb0365eb/MdpQ9wNGbEiX-nTniM143g?u=https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1219223720.2049602.1675120635521%2540connect.xfinity.com?utm_medium=email%26utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. 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