Hi birders, I'm a birder from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I was in Colorado last week, and on Saturday I was in Wlidernest, looking for rosy-finches. I knew, from posts on this list, that all four rosy-finches were being seen in Wildernest, but no street addresses were given. So I drove through the area with my windows rolled down, listening for rosy-finches. And sure enough, I found a large flock on Elk Thistle. So I pulled over in front of the house where the birds were feeding, and approached the homeowner--who was working in his driveway. He was a friendly and congenial guy, and invited me onto his property to watch and take photos of the birds. He told me about the rosy-finch's habits in his neighborhood (which yards they liked to feed in, best times of day, and so on). I watched the flock for about an hour. During this time, a number of neighbors walked by; I exchanged pleasantries with all of them. Each of them seemed fine with my presence. Eventually another birder showed up (in his car) and he watched the rosy-finches with me for awhile. He was a friendly guy; we had a nice chat (he told me about the Barrow's Goldeneye's at the water treatment plant in town). We both parked--legally--on the street. We stayed off private property (except for the one yard I was invited onto by the homeowner). We saw, and exchanged pleasantries with, a number of neighbors. A fine, even happy, hour in a lovely spot, with friendly, welcoming people. Here's a shot, btw, of a Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, from the neighborhood:
http://euclid.nmu.edu/~jophilli/brown-capped-rosy-finch1.jpg I also had a pleasant visit to Kremmling that same day, during which I saw, and photographed, all four rosy-finches, and was treated with lavish hospitality by a local birder. On Sunday I walked up to the Guanella Pass (from the point on the south approach, from Grant, at which the snow got too deep for my rental car), to look for White-tailed Ptarmigans. I didn't find any ptarmigans. But it was another beautiful Colorado day, and I met two Colorado birders, also searching for ptarmigans at the Pass, who generously gave me a ride down, and hence, cut a couple of miles off the return hike to my car (thus giving me more alpine time). On our way down the mountain, we encountered two cars stuck in the snow, both of which we helped push out. My brief trip to Colorado was excellent. People were uniformly friendly and welcoming. The birding community seems strong and helpful (this list was immensely helpful to me). Thanks to all of the folks who made my trip so enjoyable. J.D. Phillips Marquette, Michigan On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 10:13 PM, Norm Lewis <migran...@aol.com> wrote: > I assume that since you have assumed such an exalted position in speaking > for the residents along Elk Thistle, you would probably prefer to have your > comments directed to the entire readership, so that the offending parties > can take note of it. I don't recall that I have done anything > objectionable to the residents there, so I don't personally require your > reprimand. > > Most sincerely, > > Norm > Norm Lewis > migran...@aol.com > -----Original Message----- > From: sueehlmann <sueehlm...@juno.com> > To: migrant44 <migran...@aol.com> > Sent: Thu, Feb 7, 2013 7:55 pm > Subject: Elk Thistle Birds, Summit County > > Hello Mr. Lewis, > > Richard Stevens and Bryan Ehlmann have been friends with Billy and Janey (Elk > Thistle residents) for over 16 years now. Billy has several horror stories of > birders/trips to their neighborhood. Billy is thinking about calling the > police > when uninvited birders show up. Two of his bad experiences have been with DFO > trips and another with a Wings trip. > > While it is a small community and calling the police might work, Richard > suggested that they consider getting no parking laws and signs along Elk > Thistle. Then only residents and INVITED guests are allowed to park on the > road. Of course then there will still be rude birders who will walk up the > road. > > Elk Thistle has never been mentioned on the Colorado Birding Society's website > or "cobirders". We suggest that cobirds forget about Elk Thistle also. > > Sue Ehlmann, CoBus & RMORC Project Director > Brighton, CO > Contact CoBus/Report Interesting Birds: 303-324-7994 > Subscribe to "cobirders@yahoogroups.comcobirders-subscr...@yahoogroups.com > Read "cobirders" at:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cobirders/messages > ____________________________________________________________ > OVERSTOCK iPads: $33.93 > Get New Apple iPads for $33.93! Limit One Per Customer. Get One > Now!http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/511468eeb843468ee219est02vuc > > -- > 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 post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- 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 post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
