One Big Year nemesis obtained! Canyon Wren!

9 August 2021

I had a friend in town looking to get some year birds, so I got some intel on a couple targets. This involved DRIVING for birds. Weird. But I note it is way easier to drive for birding!

One target he had was Canyon Wren. I need that one too for the green bird year! We went to a hogback ridge in Littleton at dawn via recommendation and a male was singing his heart out! That was too easy, but we drove.

The next morning (Aug 10), I left at first light and got there at 5:45 am and he was singing! I was riding there wondering whether today would be the day he isn't singing and did I get up early for no reason again. There was a bit of dread and uncertainty in my head about this trip. These thoughts cross my mind on nearly every chase trip!

However, I was riding along the shoulder of the road at the hogback and heard him singing!! I opted to stop and enjoy the moment, but could have easily kept riding and just ticked the bird and said good riddance! This was WAY TOO EASY after missing them something like 9 times at known locations. I stopped at the gate (photo) and enjoyed him singing and got some audio as well (see eBird list). I thought getting a Canyon Wren might be kind of anticlimactic after so many misses and I might have been just glad to check off that "should be easy" Code 1 bird, but I was quite happy and really enjoyed getting Canyon Wren for the year. Good things come to those who wait (and work hard).

Joe would have laughed at how hard it was for me to get a Canyon Wren. But then again, I can hear him telling me some story about how he missed a bird several times and would say "that's birding." Isn't that the truth!

https://ebird.org/checklist/S93031361

Canyon Wren was Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year as #246!

Hogback at C470 and Ken Caryl. I was able to hear the
Canyon Wren singing from the gate.

Comments

Big ride for big time green year birds.

First and foremost, thank you for all the pledges and donations! The total pledges so far have been astonishing! Between donations and pledges per species (assuming I hit 250 species), we are about 70% of the way to our $20,000 target! I think Joe would probably roll his eyes and tell a joke about the time we chased what would be his first Arapahoe county Brown Thrasher at Cherry Creek State Park. We saw the thrasher fly away and vanish and then Joe gave me slack for not getting him better looks! Please consider a tax-deductible donation or pledge per species (pledges do not need to be paid until the 2021 green year ends). The pledges and donations are motivating me to get out and get birds. I'm truly humbled. Thank you. This is going to be such a fun year! Click the link (scroll to the bottom) to pledge or donate! https://cobirds.org/CFO/Grants/ January 2021 overview (and then the birds!). I thought I'd start off with a little overview of my general strategy for this green

Introducing the 2021 Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year

Welcome to the 2021 Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year Blog! The Colorado birding community lost one of its pillars when Joe Roller passed away in November 2020. Joe was a fountain of birding lore and loved people as much as birds. Many considered him a beloved friend. To honor Joe's legacy, I've partnered with Colorado Field Ornithologists (CFO) and created the Joe Roller Memorial Grant to support bird research in Colorado. The grant will be initially funded by pledges raised through my 2021 Green Big Year, a green (carbon-free) birding initiative. I will be walking or riding my bike from my house in Littleton, Colorado to see as many species as possible in 2021. My 2020 green list is currently 244 species, but I am aiming for at least 250 bird species in 2021! I'll update this blog with adventures, birds, and photos throughout the year. We are taking per-species pledges and flat tax-deductible donations towards the Grant online at https://Cobirds.org/CFO/Grants . (Scr

A sparrow, a sapsucker, and a shrike, oh my!

I've been able to take advantage of dry roads and nice weather lately. I had a couple very successful adventures in the last week and picked up some green avian targets for the year. January 20, 2021 A Harris's Sparrow was frequenting a private residence in Littleton (JeffCo) and despite arriving in the early afternoon, to find no birds anywhere, a flock of White-crowned Sparrows showed up a few minutes later and the Harris's popped up! Talk about luck! I also had taken my camera (a first for a bike ride) and lucked out with a couple decent photos for the blog! A sharp looking Harris's Sparrow! Harris's Sparrow (Green year bird #75) With the grand luck on the Harris's Sparrow, I decided to swing by the ball fields at Kipling and 285 (still in Litteton) to see if there were any Snow Geese around. Not a goose to be found, so I kept going north to Bear Creek Greenbelt to look for either of Winter Wrens that had recently been found between S Estes St and S. Kipling

Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year

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