Addenbrooke Park "Trumpeter Swans" are DECOYS! (Jefferson)

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W. Robert Shade III

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Mar 8, 2020, 6:12:47 PM3/8/20
to CoBirds Rare Bird Alert
They had me fooled for about 20 minutes. They are perfectly done, including thick necks and perfect big black bills. But I was alarmed when I noticed an aluminum cable attached to one, and then realized that the "male" in the lead and the "female" (head demurely bowed) were always very close together. Three pairs in three different parts of what is really a small pond. And then come to think of it, they always held exactly the same posture. And why were not all six together? I shot up a whole roll of film☺ getting "excellent" close-ups. It is a cautionary tale for us birders who have all had the experience of "knowing" exactly what we are seeing and being oblivious to some obvious clues to the contrary. 

Why? 1. An elaborate (and expensive) hoax to fool us twitchers?
2. An attempt to attract the real thing? 3. An elaborate decoration by park officials who have money to burn? 

You should go just to see how good these fakes are!

Bob Shade
Lakewood

Caleb A

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:30:18 AM3/9/20
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Haha, that reminds me of when I found a decoy Mute Swan on one of my neighborhood patch bodies of water. It gave me great pause, but I was so suspicious of the good fortune, and after investigating, I was sorely disappointed, but slightly humored, that someone had put one out on the water. Thankfully it's been removed now, so I can bird in peace ;)
The birds are happy, and so am I.
~Caleb Alons 
 

Carl Bendorf

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Mar 9, 2020, 7:30:23 PM3/9/20
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Of course, there is the famous incident involving Roger Tory Peterson and the Dovekie decoy that was planted during a Christmas Bird Count in the Bronx in the 1930's.  This link will take you to the book excerpt describing this amusing tale---there's even a bit of a Colorado connection!

Longmont, CO

Migrant

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Mar 10, 2020, 10:12:12 AM3/10/20
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A couple of years ago there was a great egret being reported on a pond in north Jeffco- maybe up on Indiana or MacIntyre? Anyway, I went by for a look, and the egret, which was oddly immobile, proved to be a fairly convincing statue. It was not hard to understand how it could fool an observer, especially on a busy street where observations might be “drive by”.

Norm Lewis
Jeffco


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On Mar 9, 2020, at 5:30 PM, Carl Bendorf <carlb...@gmail.com> wrote:


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Charles Hundertmark

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Mar 10, 2020, 10:18:48 AM3/10/20
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I still have fond memories of a Christmas Bird Count when a group of us were looking at a flock of geese on the ice of a frozen lake. We were trying to get a good count. We were also becoming a bit suspicious of the lack of movement, when a figure emerged from the middle of the flock and began rearranging the geese.

Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO

Eric DeFonso

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Mar 10, 2020, 12:39:04 PM3/10/20
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Yeah, I don't know who could be so daft as to confuse that Great Egret statue near 80th and Indiana with an actual bird. Oh wait, that was me!

But hey, I was just chasing someone else's report! It's not easy to get Great Egret in Jeffco.

-------
Eric DeFonso
near Lyons, Boulder County, CO


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