This morning I got up at 4:45 in order to join the local Audubon group for its 27th Annual Spring Bird Count. I got to where I was supposed to be a couple minutes past 6:00. A little bleary and slightly anxious since it had rained in the night and I wasn’t able to find my rain pants before I left and had forgotten gloves. And hadn’t packed a lunch or snacks since I didn’t realize it was a 5-6 hour hike.
But those worries faded when I met the friendly master birder leader-guy who got very excited when he learned I’d never participated in a bird count before. He introduced me to the rest of the group, all seasoned birders, and said, “She’s got a good pair of binoculars so she must know what a bird is.”
Gotta love a man who admires your bins.
The birds were singing their little hearts out from the moment we started. I heard many but cannot yet identify them. (Maybe
![[info]](https://i0.wp.com/p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
could give us a tutorial. Snicker.)
This is a who’s who of what I saw (master birder leader-guy told me up front I might only see a quarter of what the rest of them saw):
- Say’s Phoebe
- Cowbirds (in a group of 3-4)
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Kingbird
- Red-winged Blackbird (many throughout morning, singing a song I know)
- Red-tailed Hawk in its nest
- Great Blue Heron (saw three herons or maybe the same one three times)
- Starlings
- Robins
- Flicker
The big excitement happened when one woman announced she’d possibly sighted a Hepatic Tanager which is not usually found in Colorado. The master birder leader-gal (who is married to the master birder leader-guy) whipped out her walkie talkie to call the other group which was covering a different portion of habitat. Much activity ensued as we were instructed to call out any details we saw (light bill; red on top of rump; orange-ish underneath rump; etc) as others checked guide books and one man went back to parking lot for his scoping lense and the other group hurried to join us as master birder leader-gal called out “Does anyone have a Western Sibley?” (which is the authority in field guides). It was like an episode of ER except without the blood and guts and blue scrubs. After a half-hour watching this extremely cooperative bird hop about in plain view from trunk to branch as it caught insects, it was decreed a Summer Tanager. I gather that’s not quite as exciting as a Hepatic but also rare so will be reported to the rare bird hotline or some such.
Continuing on, I saw:
- Yellow Warbler
- Bullock’s Orioles (2 males and 1 female who watched as the males chased each other)
- Spotted Towhees (2 males carrying nest materials)
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Song Sparrow (which has one dark spot on its white chest, an identifying feature I think I’ve internalized and will know from now on!)
- Cowbird (through the scope which was very cool although it would’ve been cooler seeing a cowbird lay its eggs in another bird’s nest)
- Evening Grosbeaks
About this time the master birder leader-gal said, “There goes an American Finch saying ‘potato chip’ as it flies over head” and as I struggled to hear it she said, “Gone.”
- Turkey Vulture (although I couldn’t see its red head through my bins)
- Orange-crowned Warbler (whose orange crown is impossible to see in the field so how they knew that’s what it was is beyond me; something to do with wing bars or something)
- Long-eared Owl (sitting in nest so that I could only see one ear and the top of its head but it was still a thrill. Seriously)
Birders are some of the nicest people you’ll meet. They made sure I saw what they were looking at and answered all my questions and pointed out differences in bird songs (too bad I immediately forgot them and/or confused them with another). If I hadn’t been so cold and hungry I would’ve stuck around for the whole outing. As it was, at 9:45 I thanked them for a wonderful morning and headed back to my car.
Next time I’ll come prepared. Who knows what they saw after I left?
Tracy Abell 
Oh wow! Sounds like fun.
I’d never make it out in the wild. I sit in my office with my little bird guide and hope for something exciting. So far just the doves. finches (all kinds) and once in a while a woodpecker.
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Hey, that’s pretty impressive you’re seeing all those birds through your window. I like doing that, too. The leader kept saying she heard the downy woodpecker’s downward trill on Saturday but we never saw one. I really enjoy looking at them.
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Oh wow! Sounds like fun.
I’d never make it out in the wild. I sit in my office with my little bird guide and hope for something exciting. So far just the doves. finches (all kinds) and once in a while a woodpecker.
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Wow, that’s really cool, Tracy! Sounds like you connected with a really fun project and group of people! I wish I could see pictures of all the beautiful birds you saw today, but I smiled at the images you created in this post. 🙂
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Pictures would be grand but that’s WAY beyond my capabilities at this point. Some guy had a lense that was as big as a cannon. He photographed the much-discussed tanager.
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Which was your favourite? Which was the most rare?
I love birds but I’d have to be very motivated to get up that early to watch them.
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I’d have to say I felt the biggest thrill whenever I saw the heron flying overhead. I get them in my neighborhood now and again (one comes to eat from my neighbor’s goldfish pond) and don’t think I’ll ever feel anything but awe for them. It was also very cool seeing just the portion of the long-eared owl’s head, too. It made me grin.
I guess that tanager (Summer, probably) would be considered the most rare since it was blown off track by a storm.
As for getting up early, when I saw the rain on the window I was very tempted to climb back in bed. But I’m so glad I went.
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Which was your favourite? Which was the most rare?
I love birds but I’d have to be very motivated to get up that early to watch them.
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HA! If I can find that thing I’m bringing it to Colorado (it might have “mistakenly” found its way into the garbage at some point).
Sounds like a great experience. I’m convinced that some of the most interesting people get up really early. I want to be one of them, I really do, but it’s just so warm and snuggly under those covers before the sun rises.
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Some gifts from my in-laws have also accidentally gone bye-bye. Oops.
It really was such an interesting group of people. And friendly! Believe me, I was sorely tempted to climb back into bed when I saw the raindrops on my window but once I realized the rain had stopped, I forged ahead.
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HA! If I can find that thing I’m bringing it to Colorado (it might have “mistakenly” found its way into the garbage at some point).
Sounds like a great experience. I’m convinced that some of the most interesting people get up really early. I want to be one of them, I really do, but it’s just so warm and snuggly under those covers before the sun rises.
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I’d have to say I felt the biggest thrill whenever I saw the heron flying overhead. I get them in my neighborhood now and again (one comes to eat from my neighbor’s goldfish pond) and don’t think I’ll ever feel anything but awe for them. It was also very cool seeing just the portion of the long-eared owl’s head, too. It made me grin.
I guess that tanager (Summer, probably) would be considered the most rare since it was blown off track by a storm.
As for getting up early, when I saw the rain on the window I was very tempted to climb back in bed. But I’m so glad I went.
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Some gifts from my in-laws have also accidentally gone bye-bye. Oops.
It really was such an interesting group of people. And friendly! Believe me, I was sorely tempted to climb back into bed when I saw the raindrops on my window but once I realized the rain had stopped, I forged ahead.
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