I've benefitted more from reading COBirds rare bird alerts and individual submissions than from any other source, outside of my Sibley bible and in-the-field experience. When I began birding I relied on it to learn about counties, locations, likely species to look for, I shaped my routes around this daily info and the established patterns over time. There are many good birding resources that have been described on this topic, to me eBird is great data, COBirds is great Information. There is no replacement for the area descriptions, species behavior, bird movement and fallout commentary, people who help us understand how atmospheric conditions affect birds, foraging and food chain info, reminders about private property, landowners who have spoken up about birder traffic and other general birding ethics issues. etc. The recent commentary about how to handle sensitive species sightings is an example of the value of this forum.
Many other resources help us know what's out there, where it is, and other useful related data. From COBirds I learn the most about the "whole picture" by reading how the deep-down experienced birders view things. Nothing can replace the descriptive "takeaways" I've garnered from Dave Leatherman, Ted Floyd, Bill Kaempfer, and so many others including postings from birders on all levels in all areas of the state. Where else can we learn so much from so many people like this every day? Thanks to the people who are able to step up and maintain this forum, and to all birders please keep posting. Dan Stringer Larkspur, CO -- 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. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/cde903f0-46ac-4b67-8c8b-2699debc3cbc%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
