Did you say WOOD THRUSH?

8 December 2021

A few days earlier, Cynthia Madsen reported a Wood Thrush in her yard in Centennial Colorado. What in the world is a Wood Thrush doing in Colorado in December!? The bird was coming to her water feature at semi-frequent intervals, so I was really interested in trying for the bird. The bird came in every couple hours on the first day that birders looked for it, which was a day I wasn't able to go for it. I decided to give it a go on the 8th and see if I could snag this goodie for the green big year. The bird had been more regular in afternoon, but it was seen about noon the day before so I left in the morning and was able to commit about 4 hours to wait for it.

Cynthia's house was only 13.5 miles away, so quick trip! Ha! I arrive, after navigating a lot of roads and paths that I was not familiar with and she said the bird is here! WHAT? NO WAY!? I leave my bike against her house and sneak in, but the bird was gone. It only perched on her back fence for a few seconds and was gone. Gah! I wasn't too deterred since the bird had been seen 3 times already! Now the wait begins. Now if I had just left a couple minutes earlier, I could have gotten it very quickly. Alas it wasn't to be.

Cynthia had her dining room arranged with a bunch of chairs for folks to sit and wait and watch out her back doors. Cynthia was a great host and a group of folks and I waited for a while. At one point Rob and I raised her chandelier so we wouldn't keep hitting our heads on it. After 75 minutes, the bird came into the tree above her porch and dropped down to the water feature! Everyone got great views. We all moved slowly so we didn't spook the bird, which was quite skittish. After a couple minutes the bird left and we all celebrated. And I ate the 3 homemade cookies I'd made the day before with the kids.

What a GREAT bird for Colorado and in December. Cynthia was a wonderful host and allowed us to watch and wait. The Wood Thrush was Green Big Year bird #281, which tied Thomas Heinrich's total from 2020. I never thought 275 was really possible given family, work, time constraints, etc., but here I am at 281! It's been a heck of a ride, literally.

It was really fun getting the Wood Thrush and celebrating this bird with Cynthia and others. I did NOT expect a wood thrush this year!

Digibin shot of the Wood Thrush!

Thanks to Cynthia for the group photo of us waiting (and me eating, of course).

Totals:
Green Big Year species list: 281 (as of Dec 8)
2021 Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year Species List

Pledge or donate here to the new Joe Roller Memorial Grant. Thank you.

https://cobirds.org/CFO/Grants/

Thanks for reading!
Scott

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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