OK, I'll Bite! I'm pretty dedicated/obsessed as well- been keeping my yard list as long as I've lived in SW Longmont (~22 years I think??)
Glad to have crossed the 100+ mark years ago but new species additions have been very slow for a while (now at 125.) Rarest species (at least while it is still as species...) is Hoary Redpoll- CO's first accepted record. Many other memorable sightings but a flock of ~2100 Bohemian Waxwings (counted photographically) is high on the list. Had a Rough-legged Hawk sitting on my fence once in the 2014 irruption year which was a huge surprise in our suburban neighborhood. A Dec. Ovenbird in my yard made it as CO's first CBC Count Week detection for that species but sadly expired just a day or two before the Longmont CBC date. I'm maybe most pleased with the 6 hummingbird species I've detected in the yard (the 4 CO "regulars" + Anna's & Ruby-throated.) -Bill Schmoker, Longmont On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 10:40 AM Thomas Heinrich <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > Every now and then one of us will share the excitement of adding a rarity > or new species to a yard list, report yard list totals, or comment on local > trends. And some of the lists, and variety of species, are really > impressive (e.g. David Suddjian's, Gary Lefko's). > > Yellow Grosbeak, Pyrrhuloxia, Streak-backed Oriole, Long-billed Thrasher, > Costa's Hummingbird, Laurence's Goldfinch, and even Anhinga come to mind as > rarities that have shown up in or been observed from yards. (Perhaps the > recent Brambling, too?) > > As a pretty obsessive yard lister (i.e. binocs always on, camera ready > when outdoors, much of the time indoors too), I often wonder about others' > experience with yard-listing. > > How long have you been keeping your list? > What's your style of yard listing: casual, mainly feeder watching, > moderate, dedicated, obsessed? > How many species? > Rarest, or favorite species? > Most memorable experience? > Location/habitat: urban, suburban, rural, etc? > > And the big question: if we tallied up all our yard lists, how close to > Colorado's 520 species could we get? > > It seems likely that certain families would be less well-represented; > shorebirds, waterfowl, and gulls, for example. But with neighborhoods > lining bodies of water such as Boyd Lake, Lake Loveland, Marston Reservoir, > Jackson Lake, and MacIntosh Lake (in Boulder), among many others, many of > those species theoretically could have been counted on a yard list. Maybe > some lucky person living on the shores of Boyd Lake has Long-tailed Jaeger, > Slaty-backed Gull, and Garganey on their yard list! > > Wishing all good health, good birding, and an exciting Spring migration! > > --Thomas Heinrich > > > *My answers to the questions above*: > 15 years > Dedicated to obsessive > 152 species > Wood Thrush, Yellow-throated Warbler, N Cardinal, Common Redpoll, Bohemian > Waxwing > Watching spring raptor migration from the roof-top, 35 Broad-winged Hawks > among 130 raptors of 10 species on one high-flow day (4/18/2020) > Interface between suburban and open space, base of foothills, el. 5600' > > -- > Thomas Heinrich > Boulder, CO > [email protected] > www.pbase.com/birdercellist > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds > * 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/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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADXhbwF%2B99O3KouyaZ1vSvAFq-FERryJitT%3DO5GVQ1QqZXvb0w%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADXhbwF%2B99O3KouyaZ1vSvAFq-FERryJitT%3DO5GVQ1QqZXvb0w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Bill Schmoker [email protected] http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/us-arctic-geotraces <720/201-5749> \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * 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/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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAL-wM9Yau_yw9VvW%3DQNXgiPH5AUVoOvs7k4TfLQf%2BUHaA5nRDA%40mail.gmail.com.
