GARAGNEY Larimer County

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Rachel Kolokoff Hopper

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May 8, 2022, 12:07:37 PM5/8/22
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sm...@q.com

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May 8, 2022, 12:49:36 PM5/8/22
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Cobirders,

 

Note that this is only the second documented record in the state of this species.  Mother’s Day picnic at Boyd Lake anyone?

 

Good Birding,

Steve Stachowiak

Highlands Ranch, CO

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Rachel Kolokoff Hopper

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May 8, 2022, 1:10:53 PM5/8/22
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The best location to view the GARGANEY is on Larimer County Rd. 11 near CR 30. Coordinates: 40.46406149926847, -105.04416020361118

Or really the safest option is to go into Boyd Lake State Park and walk north. Be aware CR 11 is a vey busy road and you will have to be very careful.



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Rachel Hopper
rkhphotography.net
r-ho...@comcast.net
Ft. Collins, CO

Nathan Pieplow

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May 8, 2022, 1:15:10 PM5/8/22
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Folks, I am seeing a bunch of birders at the north end of Boyd Lake who drove into the subdivision on the NE side, parked, and walked down to the water. But unless someone got special permission from the landowners, I think we should NOT view the Garganey this way. 

Luke Pheneger drove into the state park and walked north along the path, and has good looks at the Garganey right now. It requires walking maybe a mile, but it's going to be the best option in terms of ethics and landowner relations -- again, unless someone negotiated an access agreement I don't know about.

The bird is also visible from the shoulder of the county road, looking east at the north end of the lake, but this is best for a quick scan and not prolonged looks, because the two-lane highway is busy and the shoulder is muddy. 

Nathan Pieplow
Boulder

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Nathan Pieplow

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May 8, 2022, 1:51:51 PM5/8/22
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According to my eBird track, it is a 0.62 mile walk north from the northernmost parking lot inside the state park, and it took me 11 minutes to get here. Scope views are excellent. 

This is the spot:
Dropped pin

Nathan Pieplow
Boulder

sm...@q.com

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May 8, 2022, 5:25:50 PM5/8/22
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Cobirders,

 

Correction to my earlier post, there are only two previously documented records of this species in the state.  This will be the third once everyone submits their sightings to the Colorado Bird Records Committee.

Eric DeFonso

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May 8, 2022, 11:25:21 PM5/8/22
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Hi everyone,

eBird shows three occurrences of Garganey for Colorado – 1990 (Jackson Res, Morgan Cty), 1992 and 1996 (both at Sombrero Marsh, Boulder Cty). The '90 and '92 records are reflected in the official CBRC documentation, but there appears to be none for the 1996 occurrence. And there appear not to be any rejected or "unaccepted" records for Garganey at any time (e.g., no rejection due to possible provenance concerns).

Does anyone know why the 1996 occurrence was not documented with the CBRC? Aside from perhaps observers then thinking, "Well, someone else will document it," was there possibly some other consideration?

Eric

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Eric DeFonso
near Lyons, Boulder County, CO


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Alexander Brown

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May 9, 2022, 12:28:16 AM5/9/22
to cob...@googlegroups.com, Eric DeFonso, Alexander Brown
Eric et al.,

The 1996 Boulder County occurrence of Garganey was at Sombrero Marsh (as was the March 1992 male Garganey).
I saw the PAIR of Garganeys on 1996 April 24 -- they had been reported on the Rare Bird Alert and were seen 
by many people. By that time I was thinking these were not that unusual (twice in 4 years)!!

Descriptions of both sets of birds are included in my e-bird reports for those dates based on my notes taken at the time.  
There was no reason to suspect any "problems" with the 1996 birds -- though Garganey provenance could always be questions --
no sign of captivity. Birds on both dates were in striking near-breeding plumage.

Alex Brown
Boulder

DAVID A LEATHERMAN

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May 9, 2022, 1:56:31 AM5/9/22
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Eric et al,
My journal entry for 26 April 1996 says: "Garganey (1 pair) LIFE LIST (COLORADO LIFE LIST) First seen early in week at Jim Hamm park in Longmont (not by me), soon showed up in Boulder (Sombrero Marsh).  Mostly in cattails."

I did not own a suitable camera at the time and did not take any photos.  I did not write up a report, because of the reason you surmised (it was not my find and the responsibility of the finder to write up).  Yes, a lame excuse.

Sooo, if you count 1990 at Jackson, 1992 in Boulder, 1996 in Boulder (a male-female pair), and then Brian Tarbox's wonderful find at Boyd Lake in 2022, that makes 5 known Garganeys for Colorado.

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Eric DeFonso <bay....@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 8, 2022 9:25 PM
To: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] GARAGNEY Larimer County
 

Peter Gent

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May 9, 2022, 9:31:07 AM5/9/22
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All,

Eric is correct that there is no documentation of the April 1996 Garganeys at Sombrero Marsh in the CBRC database, so that either nothing was submitted (very likely), or the submission was misplaced (rather unlikely). This was the era when submissions were pieces of paper, and not the easy electronic submissions that we have presently.

I'm told the pair were there for a week, and were seen by many observers: Alex Brown, Dave Leatherman, Maggie Boswell, John Vanderpoel, Bill Kaempfer, etc.  I didn't see them, so must have been out of state. Old submissions of really rare species in Colorado to the CBRC are welcome.

Cheers,  Peter Gent.
Boulder, CO.


Dave Cameron

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May 9, 2022, 2:39:31 PM5/9/22
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I don't see any updates anywhere today on the Garganey-- is anyone aware of any attempts to get on the bird today, successful or otherwise?  

Also, there was some discussion yesterday about permission to walk in the short way... any info on that, one way or the other, would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave Cameron
Denver

Ray, Graham

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May 10, 2022, 1:24:07 AM5/10/22
to Peter Gent, DAVID A LEATHERMAN, Eric DeFonso, COBIRDS
Has anyone seen the Garganey today?

Graham Ray
Denver

From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Peter Gent <ge...@ucar.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 9, 2022 7:30 AM
To: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleat...@msn.com>
Cc: Eric DeFonso <bay....@gmail.com>; COBIRDS <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [cobirds] GARGANEY in Boulder County
 
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