Gilpin Gamble wins jackpot

[David Suddjian]

DFO rolled the dice and hit the jackpot right away with a House Sparrow, a good Gilpin bird, heard calling as we drove through Central City with the windows down. There was moderate rejoicing, as this was a new county bird for most of our group, but it was afterall a House Sparrow. Feeling good, we let it ride and had thrills wandering among the flowering currents at Central City cemeteries, where hummers were abundant. We knew Lady Gilpin was smiling on us, so we doubled down at Central City Reservoir. Spin the wheel! DFO wins again! A singing male Black-and-white Warbler! He was along the county road just south of where the reservoir's main inlet stream crosses, foraging in aspens near a green metal gate. Here are some pics by Nate Bond.

ph. Nate Bond

We thought it may be a first county record for Gilpin, as the eBird county bar charts did not list the species. But the CFO county birding page checklist for Gilpin shows a prior occurrence (no info on when). 

https://coloradocountybirding.org/Checklists/

The eBird bar chart for Gilpin lists one species of warbler (Grace's) that is missing from the CFO County Birding checklist, and the CFO county checklist has two species not represented in eBird (Nor. Waterthrush and Prothonotary; Black-and-white now being spoken for). 

Did you know there are 8 whole weeks of the year that have fewer than 20 checklists ever submitted for Gilpin County, yet it is so close to a major urban area. 

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley, Littleton CO

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[Ted Floyd]

Hey, all.

As if to validate David Suddjian's point, I proudly present this output from eBird:

It's my performance in various counties in northern Colorado. You may bow down and worship me.

Totally unrelated, but here are some fun pics from County Road U in Yuma County this past Sat., May 28. All by © Hannah Floyd.


Upland Sandpiper


Common Nighthawk


Horned Lark

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder (so close to Gilpin) Co., Colo.