Gyrfalcon in Southern Fort Collins, Larimer County

[Andrew Bankert]

Yesterday I found a Gyfralcon in southern Fort Collins while birding along Taft Hill Road.  It was refound this morning by a few birders on the tall power poles along Trilby Road where it intersects Taft Hill Road.  I think you can safely pull off along Trilby Road west of Taft Hill Road since it looks like a small dirt road, but please be respectful of any signs marking private property or private roads at the west end of Trilby.

Good Birding,

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins  

[Carl Bendorf]

At 10 am, no falcon seen over the last hour. Currently on birder is watching along Trilby west of Taft Hill and we are near landfill entrance watching as well.

Carl Bendorf
Longmont

[Brandon]

The landfill is a good place to look.  The one Pueblo Gyrfalcon a while back was seen at our landfill, and all the gulls flew.  The Gyrfalcon up at Rawhide Energy Station, was eating on geese all winter.  Are there photos of it yet, is it an adult or immature bird?  There hasn't been one reported in Colorado, in a few years, hopefully it hangs around for people to see it.

Brandon K. Percival

Pueblo West, CO

[Carl Bendorf]

No falcon as of 11:20 at landfill.

Carl Bendorf
Longmont

[Andrew Bankert]

Here is the link to the photos that have been posted on eBird:  https://ebird.org/species/gyrfal/US-CO.  They are a little trickier to find now that it is considered a sensitive species, but you can still see the media at least.  

The bird is an immature and seems to be a male from what my falconry friends have said.  

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins

[Nicholas Komar]

Some comments on the Gyrfalcon search:
1. If you visit the Larimer County landfill be sure to check in at one of the pay windows (or the main office) and follow instructions for parking from landfill employees. The gyr was first seen chasing gulls and perched on a telephone pole yesterday afternoon around 3:30 pm.
2. Trilby Road (dirt road west from Taft Hill Road) is a safe vantage-point to survey the grassland habitat and the landfill one mile north. The gyr came and landed atop the tall rusty power line poles twice between 7 and 7:30 this morning.
3. Taft Hill Rd is unsafe to park on, or even to drive slowly. Vehicle and truck traffic move at 70 mph on this two lane road.
4. Hidden Springs road west of the landfill is a private gated community.
5. I think another place to search would be the south end of Horsetooth Reservoir (where the landfill gulls go to loaf during the day). It is only a mile away from the landfill as the crow flies , and has more tall metal poles that could serve as perch. To get there drive north past landfill and turn left on Harmony Road. To access the Reservoir recreational area a fee is required. There are some free roadside pullouts as well.

Nick Komar
Fort Collins CO

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[colorad...@aol.com]

Thanks to Andy for posting such a timely announcement of the Gyr that enabled so many of us to be on location at dawn and thus enjoy such a great bird.  Such timeliness really helps all those interested in chasing such a beast to have a better chance to see it and enables all that are interested, rather than just small, local cliques.

Sincerely

Tony Leukering

currently Wiley, CO

cob...@googlegroups.com

Google Groups

Gyrfalcon in Southern Fort Collins, Larimer County

Andrew Bankert <abanke...@my.fit.edu>: Dec 04 09:26AM -0700

[Joe Roller]

As Tony said, let's all use CObirds!

The eBird daily report I get did not even mention the GYRF, perhaps because it is in review.

CObirds and eBird have different, overlapping and key roles. 

If you use COBirds, please post to CObirds.

If you use the Colorado RBA, please post to CObirds.

Big fan of eBird, CObirds and the RBA

Joe Roller, Denver

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[Carl Bendorf]

Thanks, Tony!   Was it seen from Trilby Road again?

Carl Bendorf

Longmont

[Sean Walters]

Hello Joe and all,

The eBird daily report you got did not mention Gyr because it never should at this point. eBird treats this as a "sensitive" species and it is blocked from most output data. As an aside, it was accepted by reviewers rather quickly (within 1 hour of it being submitted). I think most people agree that the burden does not fall on the reviewer for publicizing someone else's sighting. As far as I am aware, this is why eBird sends out unreviewed sightings in the daily reports.

Best,

Sean Walters

Fort Collins, CO

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