07-15-2024, 09:19 PM
Yes, John described to me what he saw as he drove down James Canyon as a very large brown bird with a long bill and pouch, just like a Brown Pelican fly up from the stream and cross in front of his windshield. Even at 35 mph, first impressions can be pretty reliable even if the observer is unfamiliar with the species. Pelicans are distinct enough that most folks who have never seen one could tell what it is.
I've watched Brown Pelicans in many places but not in CO. Brown Pelican is a rare bird in Colorado. There are 25 accepted records by the Colorado Birds Records Committee of the Colorado Field Ornithologists. Those records have long been archived at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. https://cobirds.org/cbrc/ They Brown Pelican records include those at Union Reservoir in Longmont, McIntosh Lake between Lyons and Longmont, and at Walden and Sawhill Ponds in Boulder.
John's brief sighting won't become a record failing a carefully described observation and a photo, but it alerts to the possibility.
The one other possibility could be Great Blue Heron for it's large size, and because they frequent our mountain lakes and streams. But it's blue gray color and a bill that is much shorter than than a pelican's doesn't fit John's impression. BTW, Deb has been seeing a Great Blue Heron for more than three weeks, feeding at a pool on Lefthand Creek where it intersects the road below the fire station.
On July 7, I accompanied friends on the Indian Peaks Breeding Bird Count and found a pair of Double-crested Cormorants diving for fish at Tumbleson Lake, the former Boy Scout Camp Tahosa, now a YMCA camp.
So as for other improbable birds nearby, how does one explain Colorado's first record of Brown Booby found and photographed in Rowena in 2016? Or the highest elevation record of Scissor-tailed Flycatcher which I photographed near the Bar-K along Overland Road on Jim and Audrey Benedict's property? The photos of this showy Texas-Oklahoma bird with a snowy Mt. Audubon in the background are stunning. Birds have wings and rare accidental appearances can happen in your backyard. All it takes is to watch, and see.
Thanks to all for your contributions, for sharing with your neighbors.
I've watched Brown Pelicans in many places but not in CO. Brown Pelican is a rare bird in Colorado. There are 25 accepted records by the Colorado Birds Records Committee of the Colorado Field Ornithologists. Those records have long been archived at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. https://cobirds.org/cbrc/ They Brown Pelican records include those at Union Reservoir in Longmont, McIntosh Lake between Lyons and Longmont, and at Walden and Sawhill Ponds in Boulder.
John's brief sighting won't become a record failing a carefully described observation and a photo, but it alerts to the possibility.
The one other possibility could be Great Blue Heron for it's large size, and because they frequent our mountain lakes and streams. But it's blue gray color and a bill that is much shorter than than a pelican's doesn't fit John's impression. BTW, Deb has been seeing a Great Blue Heron for more than three weeks, feeding at a pool on Lefthand Creek where it intersects the road below the fire station.
On July 7, I accompanied friends on the Indian Peaks Breeding Bird Count and found a pair of Double-crested Cormorants diving for fish at Tumbleson Lake, the former Boy Scout Camp Tahosa, now a YMCA camp.
So as for other improbable birds nearby, how does one explain Colorado's first record of Brown Booby found and photographed in Rowena in 2016? Or the highest elevation record of Scissor-tailed Flycatcher which I photographed near the Bar-K along Overland Road on Jim and Audrey Benedict's property? The photos of this showy Texas-Oklahoma bird with a snowy Mt. Audubon in the background are stunning. Birds have wings and rare accidental appearances can happen in your backyard. All it takes is to watch, and see.
Thanks to all for your contributions, for sharing with your neighbors.