Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year

27 May 2021 This spring migration has been very slow, to put it nicely. However, I have amassed an incredible list of birds in spite of the lack of passerines. In a green big year, there are a lot of tough decisions about what to chase, what to let go, what bike routes to choose, what routes are crummy enough or too sketchy such that I decide a bird isn't worth it, and where am I physically in terms of getting there and back! So far this year, I feel like I've largely made good decisions on what to go after. Even better yet, I've gotten many of the birds I've chased. Looking back on the spring, I feel like I chose wisely to chase "just a Palm Warbler" and some other species as many of those didn't present additional opportunities and may not later this year! If some of those do show up again, I already have them and I haven't overdone it to get the birds I have seen. That said, some other birds did provide a second chance. I chased a Scarlet Tanager so

7 May 2021 Below is the Green Big Day report, written by Chris Rurik. Enjoy,  Scott Joe Roller Memorial BIG GREEN DAY   105 species 62+ miles ridden / walked ~$4,500 raised   What a BIG day it was! Thank you for your support. Let me try to share a sense of it with you... Picture yourself on the shoulder of a dark road through a dark valley, predawn. Long before first light, a bird calls: a Spotted Towhee. Then a Red-winged Blackbird. A Song Sparrow. Somewhere in the night-hidden grassland is a marsh. You look over your shoulder and see that the moon has just risen, a razor-sharp C-shape over a black ridgeline. In the distance a light comes curving down a hillside. Several minutes later it arrives with a quiet whoosh: a commuter on bike headed for Lockheed Martin at 4:30 am. Later a motorcycle passes, trailing classic rock in the night. South Valley Park, Jefferson County By that point Scott Somershoe and I had already ridden some eight miles, starting at his house at 3:30 am and climbi

 13 May 2021 I finally decided I needed to commit to a day of city riding to get the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at First Creek at Green Valley Ranch. I wanted this bird but just never pulled the trigger for what would be a long day in the saddle. I had wanted to save myself for the big day on May 7, but more frequent shorter trips for more birds. I also really needed to try to make sure I don't overdo it and burn out in prime migration. Plus Green Birder Thomas Heinrich had made the 85 mile round trip from Boulder, so there was a bit of "Somershoe, you better go get that bird!" in my head. Thomas has set the green birding bar VERY high with big trips, overnighters as well, so I'm trying to do my best, and maybe this is a little healthy competition and motivation. Whatever, I'm loving seeing Thomas's rides and getting after birds when I can.  I coordinated with a couple friends to meet me there, and John  Breitsch had been wonderful and sent me some specifics o

4 May 2021 Please consider a pledge or donation to  support the Joe Roller Memorial Research Grant!  Click the link (scroll to the bottom). All funds support bird research in Colorado. We are getting closer to raising $30,000 to support the next generation of ornithologists (once I get to 250 species). Thank you! https://cobirds.org/CFO/Grants/ What a day today turned out to be. I had planned to visit Chatfield State Park (again) for shorebirds/terns and Platte Canyon Reservoir to look for a Palm Warbler that was found the previous day. Joey Kellner had scouted a couple spots at Chatfield before I even left the house and said he'd meet me at Platte Canyon and we'd look for the Palm.  I met Joey just about on time and we had a great hour or so walking the Highline Canal at Platte Canyon Reservoir. I got a few expected Green Big Year birds, like Black-chinned Hummingbird, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and Virginia's Warbler. A pair of Eastern Phoebe are setting up to nest he