[cobirds] A few more photos of Snowy Owl

[SeEtta Moss]

Ron Green must have gotten some great views of the Snowy Owl in flight as
demonstrated by the photos he just posted.  Both times the owl flew while I
was there it went behind the house on which it had been perched, leaving
most of us watching with only a split second view of flight.  It's getting
late and I start making goofs when I'm tired so I have posted just a few
photos I took today on my
BirdsAndNatureblog.  These photos
provide some perspective on what people are seeing when
they look for the owl.  I also posted on info on the camera and lens I used
as well as the distance was from the owl .  I hope others will do so also as
I, and I think others who photograph birds, find this information
interesting and educational.

SeEtta Moss
Canon City
http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com

[cobirds] Van apology

[Skot Latona]

I was asked for a response, and to respect the Listserve, I will keep  
this brief.  I was the driver of the offending van.  I made the choice  
to park on the hard surface of the road after evaluating that there  
was no reinforced shoulder, no other traffic, and no other  
constriction that would impede traffic past us on this low speed  
neighborhood road.  I was concern about leaving ruts by pulling a 4- 
ton van onto the vegetation.   Upon the suggestion to move I noted  
several others besides our group using the van as a psuedo-blind, and  
a photographer laying in front of us taking photos.I made a  
choice, obviously a poor one, to not make noise with the van backup  
warning, or pull forward into the view and photofield of those outside  
my group. Perhaps, I should have dropped the group and continued  
driving.  The outcome apparently was illegal, unethical, a poor  
reflection on my agency and on birders as a whole. My intentions were  
not selfish, just trying to have the least impact given the options.   
For violating the rules of birding, I apologize.  If you have further  
issue, please contact me directly.  skotl...@hotmail.com.


Skot Latona
South suburban pk and Rec
303-730-1022

[cobirds] Rosy-finches, Kremmling

[Nathan Pieplow]

Hello all,

Dutch birder Lucas Kaaij and I birded Summit and Grand Counties 
today.  We started at the Blue River Water Treatment Plant in 
Silverthorne, where at least 3 Barrow's Goldeneyes were on 
display.  Then we headed up to Kremmling, where a flock of about 50 
rosy-finches were still at 9th and Grand as reported by Todd 
Deininger on 11/25.  Interestingly, the flock had zero Brown-capped 
Rosy-Finches and only one Black (an adult male).  Of the rest, about 
10% were "Hepburn's."


After our rosy-finch success, we headed back to spend a couple of 
hours on Loveland Pass looking for White-tailed Ptarmigan.  The 
results were the same as the other time I looked: no birds of any 
kind, no ptarmigan tracks, no ptarmigan scat, no sign that those 
birds (or any birds for that matter) have ever inhabited the 
area.  Makes me miss the good old days on Guanella.


Nathan Pieplow
Boulder

Re: [cobirds] owl

[SeEtta Moss]

This may explain why this owl spent what I thought was an inordinate amount
of time looking towards the group of humans watching it today.  There did
not appear to be any reason as all the birders I observed were staying back
and not engaging in any obvious behavior that might cause it to watch us
(other than being there but it should be somewhat habituated to that).  As
noted by Dennis Garrison birds, like bears the old Yellowstone park bears,
start associating humans with food when they have been fed by them.   When
the owl is watching us it is not engaging in it's activities of daily
living.

SeEtta Moss
Canon City
http://Birds

On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 6:13 PM,  wrote:

>  I saw the Snowy Owl swoop down three times, catch a brown lab rat (pet
> store rat) that a homeowner was releasing from a small plastic bucket next a
> photographer with a huge lens, then fly to a rooftop perch, swallow the rat
> head first, in a gulp. Others have reported feeding behavior as I recall.
> Joe Roller, Denver
>

[cobirds] New Images uploaded to website: Snowy Owl

[Ronald Green]

I have uploaded new images to my website of the snowy owl taken over the
last three days. All except one are flight shots. If the weather cooperates
and time permits, I am not done going for that consummate image! I hope you
enjoy viewing them and your comments and feedback are welcome. Thanks for
visiting my website.

 

http://www.greensphotoimages.com/newimages/

 

 

Ron Green

Scencic, Nature, and Wildlife Photography

http://www.greensphotoimages.com

 

 

[cobirds] feeding the owl

[Dennis Garrison]

Back when I did a lot of work with spotted owls, we learned that they would 
very rapidly come to associate humans with food once they were fed (which we 
did as part of our protocol), and that owls that got fed more than a few times 
would sometimes fly right up to you and start looking for the box of mice.  All 
you had to do was show up and there they were, begging.  It did not take daily 
feeding, either, but two or three times a season was, in some cases, enough for 
the association to occur.
I jokingly called it "Park Bear Syndrome" and it was something none of us liked 
to see.
Wonder what that snowy owl is learning?  
If an animal even detects your presence, you have modified that animal's 
behavior at some level.  It has to consider where you fit into its environment, 
whether you are predator, prey, potential mate, or a part of the landscape, and 
that takes a certain amount of its attention and energy.  NONE of us who bird 
are innocent of this.  And the more you modify its behavior, the more 
responsibility you have if something happens.  Those modifications do not have 
to be ones we consider negative, either.  Habituation to human presence, and 
especially reliance on human provision of food, can be as detrimental to wild 
animals as having them fear us.  I think it behooves all of us to make as 
little impact as possible if we truly respect the wildlife we watch.
Dennis Garrison Paonia, Delta County




From: per...@aol.com
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:13:53 -0500
Subject: Re: [cobirds] owl
To: pygmy...@frii.com; cobirds@googlegroups.com








I saw the Snowy Owl swoop down three times, catch a brown lab rat (pet 
store rat) that a homeowner was releasing from a small plastic bucket next 
a photographer with a huge lens, then fly to a rooftop perch, swallow the rat 
head first, in a gulp. Others have reported feeding behavior as I recall. Joe 
Roller, Denver
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[cobirds] McMurray - Salyer Natural Area

[Connie Kogler]

I took a group of 12 ladies out this morning, departing from the WBU  
in Fort Collins. It never warmed up as I expected, but the wind  
wasn't blowing!


We had great looks at a Fox along the edge of the trees.

Black-capped Chickadee's were our most numerous bird - even more than  
the European  Starling's we saw. Dark-eyed Juncos - Pink-sided  
subspecies were high in the cottonwoods chasing each other. We saw  
several groups of Canada Geese flyover and were able to see a couple  
of Cackling Geese among them.


 A Brown Creeper entertained us for awhile as we struggled to get  
everyone looks. It was being quite elusive.

American Kestrel's were out and about, we saw about 3.
Red-winged Blackbird -only 1.
Rock Pigeon - a few.
American Crows, two I think.
Northern Flicker - one chilly one.
Eurasian Collared-Dove -  several displaying.
Belted Kingfisher - One nice male gave us great looks.
A Common Goldeneye circled around us twice, giving us quite a show  
and being typically beautiful.

Black-billed Magpies - three, vocal and chasing a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
A pair of Downy Woodpeckers were working in the trees along the river.

Other interesting things - A Bullock's Oriole nest made nearly  
entirely of blue tarp fabric.


Beavers are taking down one foot plus diameter cottonwoods and  
stripping all the branches and the top six feet or so of the log left  
of its bark. One tree had to be nearly 2 feet wide at the base - not  
fallen yet, but nearly chewed through. Then there was the 5 inch tree  
protected by chicken wire, chewed off and gone about 2 feet up.


Relatively quiet, but a fun morning.

Connie Kogler
Twitter @lefthanddbirder
Loveland, CO.
BirdsOTheMorning.com

Re: [cobirds] owl

[pergrn]

I saw the Snowy Owl swoop down three times, catch a brown lab rat (pet  
store rat) that a homeowner was releasing from a small plastic bucket next  a 
photographer with a huge lens, then fly to a rooftop perch, swallow the rat  
head first, in a gulp. Others have reported feeding behavior as I recall. 
Joe  Roller, Denver

[cobirds] Fort Collins on 16January2010

[Dave Leatherman]

The Fort Collins Audubon Field Trip (about 15 participants) today started at 
the Running Deer/Cottonwood Hollow Natural Areas east of the Poudre River and 
south of Prospect, continued at the Sharp Point Drive "Feedlot Pond" just west 
of the river south of Prospect, and ended at Grandview Cemetery at the west 
terminus of Mountain Avenue.  Our highlights were:

Running Deer/Cottonwood Hollow NAs:
Northern Shrike (adult)

Bald Eagle (1a, 1 subadult) - The adult eagle was spotted chasing a Canada 
Goose.  Regardless of which bird one was rooting for, the chase seemed to go on 
forever (probably at least 5 minutes), in a big ark from s to n, then w to e, 
then n to se.  When the pair got closer to us, we could see the goose was 
dangling one leg.  Finally the adult broke off the chase, and from the west, as 
if being handed a baton, a subadult eagle appeared and resumed the chase.  This 
went on for about 30 seconds until the goose went into a steep downward dive 
and disappeared at ground level behind some trees.  At first we thought the 
goose went into a pond and the eagle would make the kill, but then the eagle 
started coursing back and forth over the point of goose disappearance.  I think 
the goose's last escape tactic might have been a headlong dash into cattails 
and the eagle lost sight of it.  At any rate, assuming the goose didn't die of 
a broken beak, it appears to have lived to tell the tale.

Red-tailed Hawk (both dark and light morphs)

Common Raven (2) flying w to e

In Running Deer we saw some hollow cottonwoods and at Cottonwood Hollow we saw 
some running (white-tailed) deer.

Sharp Point Drive "Feedlot: 
A nice assortment of 12 waterfowl species, including a pair of Wood Ducks, a 
lone male Ring-neck Duck, and lots of Northern Pintails.

Grandview Cemetery:
No White-winged Crossbills while the group was there from 11am to 12:30pm.  Sue 
Riffe, Seth Gallager and I walked around for another 2.5 hours and saw no 
crossbills.  At 3, being rather mulish, I went back over to Section 7 and, of 
course, the male called a little bit and fed on spruce cones for 5-10 minutes 
at the extreme sw corner of the section.  I moved around to get a better light 
situation and never saw it again.  At 3:30 I met Denise and Julia from out of 
town, and we soon saw the female in Section 2 (just w of 7).  She was vocal and 
T-ed up in a spruce, fed for a bit on spruce seeds, then bombed off to the west 
out of the cemetery.  My suggestions as for best times to have a shot at seeing 
these very fickle birds would be 8:30-10:00am and 3-4pm, concentrating in 
Sections 7 and 2.

The usual assortment of chickadees, siskins, creepers, red-breasted nuthatches 
were very active in the spruce and other trees.  Sue Riffe spotted a 
Sharp-shinned Hawk and I had a White-breasted Nuthatch near the entrance at 4pm.

All in all a great day that started cold and somewhat warmed up, and that had 
enough good birds and behaviors to make it interesting.  I thank all the 
participants for making it fun.

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins

  

[cobirds] owl

[pygmyowl]

Hi all,

Been reading about the Snowy Owl and began wondering if anyone had seen the owl 
either with prey, eating anything, or regurgitating a pellet?

I am curious to what the owl is feeding on, if anyone has noticed.

The shots that Carol got of the owl and the ravens really shows off an 
interesting size comparison, between the two species. You can see how large the 
snowy owl really is.

Thanks,

Scott Rashid
Estes Park

[cobirds] Crows or Ravens with the Snowy Owl?

[Carol]

The question has been raised by some sharp co-birders about whether or
not the "crow" in one of my images with the Snowy Owl is really a
raven. You decide.
http://www.carolblackardphotography.com/documents/owls.html
I am thinking maybe Common Raven due to the wedge-shaped tail and some
of the images show the corvid to be almost the size of the snowy.
I hope someone with authority will set me straight - then I'll fix the
website with the proper corvid ID.

Carol Blackard

[cobirds] Snowy Owl

[Lauren Burke]

My friend, Sarah Burbank and I went down to see if we could find the owl today. 
 We surely did!  So beautiful!  Many thanks to Soloman (I think-I'm really bad 
with names sometimes!) for letting us look through his scope.  We peeked 
through another as well, thank you ladies!  It was amazing to see this bird.  
He (or she?) was perched atop a roof not too far away.  We witnessed it walk 
around a pinch (the talons are huge!) and he yawned!  Most folks seemed to be 
good about staying off property and keeping a respectful distance.  We got 
there right about noon.

 

Go see if you have the chance-it was so worth it!

 

Lauren

 
Lauren Burke
NOCO Wrenegade Charter Member
"It's a bird thing. It just is." 
Broomfield, Colorado



  
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[cobirds] Red-shouldered Hawk (Weld co.) still present

[Bill Schmoker]

Folks- at about 1:45 pm I saw the imm.  Red-shouldered Hawk from the  
Kodak SWA near Windsor. It was on the N. side of the river, seemingly  
above the bike path, hunting from cottonwood to cottonwood.  It gave  
one series of calls as a sharp-looking adult dark-morph Red-tailed  
Hawk flew by. Mark Peterson also reports seeing it this morning.


Enjoy- Bill Schmoker in Windsor

Latitude: N40.44361
Longitude: W104.88317
Altitude: 4669'

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&z=16&ie=UTF8&q=40.44362+-104.88317


Bill Schmoker
-bill.schmo...@gmail.com-
Sent from my iPhone

[cobirds] Snowy Owl age and sex

[coloradodipper]

Hi all:

Though I've only skimmed most of the Snowy Owl (SNOW) posts, I haven't seen 
anyone tackle the age and sex of the beast.  Someone ought to take out her or 
his copy of Pyle, part I (http://www.slatecreekpress.com/), and figure it out.  
These sorts of data are important in understanding things like occurrences of 
irruptive species.

Sincerely,

Tony Leukering
Villas, NJ

[cobirds] Mr Bill

[coloradodipper]

Hi all:

I have posted the solution to last week's Mr. Bill Mystery Quiz -- the first of 
the new quarterly and annual competitions -- in the usual place 
(www.cfo-link.org).

Prospero año y felicidad!

Tony Leukering
Villas, NJ

[cobirds] Results - Chico Basin Ranch Winter Bird Count

[antejos]

COBirders,

A winter bird count was held at the Chico Basin Ranch (fee area) located
in parts of southern El Paso and northern Pueblo Counties on Friday the
15th. Of the 54 species recorded, highlights included: Northern Goshawk,
Long-eared and Western Screech-Owls, eastern White-breasted Nuthatch,
Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Harris's Sparrow, and Great-tailed
Grackle.  The water was 99 percent frozen but one Canvasback and a Common
Goldeneye dove from the sole open area.  Twenty-two volunteers, including
home-schooled kids and ranch hands, divided into three groups.  The
resident specialties, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Scaled Quail, and the
many Curve-billed Thrashers were on display and enjoyed by many. 
Although the temperatures were 22 degrees F at the start, by midday the
air had warmed to a seasonal 50 degrees.  Thank you to all of the
participants for adding your expertise and sharp birding skills to this
annual winter count.  Red-shouldered Hawk, Snowy Owl, and Mandarin Duck
were neither detected, photographed, nor flushed from areas birded during
this count. 

Bill Maynard
Colorado Springs

Nutrition
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[cobirds] Muscovy Duck,Lake Loveland,Larimer

[Elaine Coley]

Hi Folks,

Don't know the value of this posting; however, there is what appears to be a 
Muscovy Duck on the west side of Lake Loveland the past 2 afternoons.

If anyone is interested in looking for it, give me a call and I'll get you into 
the back of my friend's home on the west side of the lake.

Someone posted that we should post the unusual and let others make up their 
minds as to value.

Elaine Coley, Loveland
970-635-9095

[cobirds] Common Courtesy

[Joanne Haller]

COBIRDers  --

I had the privilege of viewing the El Paso Co. Snowy Owl on Tuesday 
morning.  I was very pleased with how all of my fellow birders were behaving.  
Several folks from the neighborhood stopped by with their children.  All of 
them had numerous looks at the owl through one or the other of our spotting 
scopes.  They seemed interested in it, pleased to see it, and happy to interact 
with us.  Even if you have not seen an official copy of ABA Principles of 
Birding Ethics, it is largely a matter of common courtesy to the home owners, 
to fellow birders, and to the Snowy Owl itself.

To beginning birders  --  don't miss your chance to see this truly 
special bird for fear that you might inadvertently do something wrong.  Just 
think hard about being considerate of the owl as well as considerate of all the 
people involved and you should be fine.

Joanne Haller

[cobirds] Snowy Owl Thoughts

[becca reid]

A few thoughts on the Snowy Owl from an ignorant new birder:

I have greatly appreciated reading the conversations surrounding the
owl and owl ethics. I'm glad to now have a copy of the ABA Principles
of Birding Ethics.

I'd been planning to drive down on Monday to see the owl but am now
unsure. I now have so much anxiety over the prospect of visiting the
bird that I'm not sure if I will. From being afraid that I will
unknowingly park incorrectly or not communicate with neighbors in the
right manner, to fears for the bird's safety - particularly after
reading the owl etiquette blog Eric recently posted - I feel pretty
hesitant to go view the bird I was previously so excited about seeing.

My reason for posting: Is it possible new birders could use a few more
"positive" opportunities to learn about birding ethics? So many of you
are incredible experts; is this maybe an area of expertise that needs
to be shared a little more? (Contrary to what Ron Green has
experienced, I do make mistakes sometimes because the "right choice"
hasn't occurred to me.)

Thanks,
Becca Reid
Fort Collins

[cobirds] January 16, 2010, Rare Bird Alert for Colorado

[JOYCE TAKAMINE]

This is the Colorado Rare Bird Alert for Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 5 am
sponsored by Denver Field Ornithologists and the Rocky Mountain Bird 
Observatory.

Highlight species include (*Denotes that there is new information for this 
species in this report)

Long-tailed Duck (Adams)
Barrow's Goldeneye (Adams, Denver, Summit) 
Mandarin Duck (Boulder)
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (*Weld)
Thayer's Gull (Pueblo)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Pueblo)
Glaucous Gull (Pueblo)
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL (Pueblo)
SNOWY OWL (*El Paso)
Carolina Wren (Baca, Prowers)
Curve-billed Thrasher (Bent)
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (Jefferson)
Northern Cardinal (Prowers)
PURPLE FINCH (Prowers)
White-winged Crossbill (*Larimer) 
 
To skip this recording to leave a message, press the star key at any time.  
Please leave your name, phone number, detailed directions including the county 
and dates for all sightings.  It would be helpful if you would spell your last 
name.

Adams County:
--A Long-tailed Duck was reported by Roller on a reservoir south of 88th and 
east of the Platte and bounded on the east by Dahlia on January 4.  Breitsch 
reported 3 Long-tailed Ducks (1f, 2 juv) on West Gravel Lake on January 4.  On 
January 10, Schaumberg reported that a Boy Scout merit badge group saw a 
Long-tailed Duck on West Gravel Lake.  On January 13, Dunning reported a 
tail-less male Long-tailed Duck on West Gravel Lake.
--A male Barrow's Goldeneye was reported by Lechleitner by the water tower on 
January 10.  A male Barrow's Goldeneye was reported by Dunning at the lake 
south of 88th between the Platte and Dahlia.
 
Baca County:
--At Two Buttes Leatherman reported 1 Carolina Wren on a hillside south of 
first pond to east of dam and 1 m Red-bellied Woodpecker.
--Leatherman reported Lapland Longspurs on CR W.
 
Bent County:
--A Curve-billed Thrasher was reported by Leatherman at Fort Lyon at the
junction of CR 15 and GG.5 on January 11.
  
Denver County: 
--A pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye was reported by Henwood along the S.   
Platte River just north of the bridge on W. Evans Ave on December 14.
On January 13, Blakeslee reported the male Barrrow's Goldeneye north of the 
Florida Bridge.
 
El Paso County:
--A SNOWY OWL was reported by Cipoletti on Hwy 24 east of Elbert Road on 
December 27.  Cipoletti refound the owl in the same area on January 8.  Many 
birders saw the owl on January 10.Directions:  On Hwy 24 drive east of 
Falcon to the first road east of Elbert Road, Scott Road W.  Turn south, turn 
right at next intersection, and right again onto Prairie View Lane.  Check roof 
tops and fence posts anywhere in area.  Look for whitewash on rooftops for 
favored perches.  Thanks to Bill Maynard
for posting the information.  On January 15, Wilson reported that owl was seen 
by a few birders in the same neighborhood.  Birders please be considerate of 
the bird, property owners, and other birders.  Do not walk on private property 
to get a better look or photo.  Do not block streets.  

Jefferson County:
--A juv GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW was reported by Brown behind the Trading Post at 
Red Rocks on December 19 and was seen by several birders.  The sparrow was seen 
on January 14 by Henwood.Birders suggest taking birdseed and scattering it 
to attrack the birds.
  
Larimer County:
--A pair of White-winged Crossbills was reported by Leatherman in Grandview 
Cemetery in Fort Collins on November 22.  The pair was seen by Dunning on the 
north side of Section 8 on January 13.
 
Prowers County:
--At Lamar Community College Woods on January 10, Leatherman reported 1 
Carolina Wren, a pair of Northern Cardinals, and a m Red-bellied Woodpecker.  
Oswald also had a male Northern Cardinal on January 10.
--A female PURPLE FINCH was reported by Leatherman on January 12 in the Willow 
Valley Subdivision of Lamar at a feeder.
--1 imm Harris's Sparrow was reported by Leatherman at the Arkansas River and 
the Prowers Bridge on January 12.
 
Pueblo County:
--At Pueblo Reservoir on January 12, Percival reported 1 ad Glaucous Gull, 1 ad 
Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 ad GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, and 1 2nd-cycle 
Thayer's Gull.  The Glaucous Gull and Thayer's Gull were are the South Shore 
Marina tires and the Lesser Black-backed and GREAT BLACK-BACKED Gulls were in 
the se corner of the reservoir.
  
Summit County:
--About 85 Barrow's Goldeneyes were reported by Nims at the Blue River 
(Silverthorne) Water Treatment Plant on December 28.  On January 10, Nims 
reported 49 Barrow's Goldeneyes at the treatment plant. 
 
Weld County:
--An imm RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was reported by DeFonso at the Kodak SWA near 
Windsor on January 6.  It was discovered earlier by Elens.  The hawk is moving 
around.  On January 15 Arensen reported the hawk on the Poudre Trail side, 
actually in a tree by the road to the Kodak Plant.  It later flew to the 
wildlife area.
 
The DFO Field Trip for Saturday, January 16 will be to Belmar Historic Park led 
by Karleen Schofield (303-936-8661).  Meet at 09