Wayne et al.,
Our first swallows on CBCs in Coos were back in 1996 and then again the
following year. We have had them on several other CBCs also. Yep, it must
have been weird at the time for sure. Purple Martins in winter- can you
enlighten me on that sighting??? I have seen them in January in Homestead,
Florida but that is the eastern subspecies. The western ones typically
arrive in Coos Bay by 1 April although we have had really early records in
late March. We are almost always the earliest to report them in OR.
Winter records??? Got photos : )
With the Calliope report we are talking about a report that is close to two
months early (especially in WA), I would hope a few people would scratch
their heads and maybe even ask for a description of the bird and hopefully
maybe get a confirmation if possible? From what I remember of the posting
the observer made it sound like he expected more to follow instead of
saying- wow, how crazy, a Calliope in January which is what I would have
thought if I saw one! That isn't to say one day one will be reported in
January and will be confirmed. It would just be nice to hear some more
about the bird that was observed- male, female? Did the observer get good
looks? Did he maybe mean Rufous or Anna's and not Calliope? Even Rufous
would be on the real early end? Makes me wonder about Anna's or even
Costa's? Lots of Anna's moving now, we have one feeder I have to fill up
every day now, there are a bunch of male Anna's hitting it. Anyhow, lots of
questions in my mind...
In this age of climate change I think many less experienced bird watchers
are of the mind set that anything is possible anytime anywhere. Sometimes
yes, more often probably no. It can't hurt to treat early and late dates
like rare bird reports can it? Of course knowledge of what is considered
early and late only comes with experience which is really valuable in
helping one know where and when to look for birds. Also, I would hope that
people would not take offense to being challenged on really early or late
dates in the same manner people are asked for documentation on rare bird
sightings. When I was a newbie birder I frequently got called on my IDs,
some of which were way out in left field. I learned a lot in the
process. Understanding bird phenology only comes with time and experience
though so I think it should be one of those things us "old timers" mention
when we see early and late dates that don't jive with our years of birding
experience. In our current birding world people of all experience levels
are sharing their sightings on forums such as this and mistakes will be
made, it is part of birding. Hopefully OBOL can continue to be a good forum
for helping people learn about bird phenology in their area so that they
can recognize when a bird is really early or late. This is a skill many of
us old timers take for granted but which many younger birders have not yet
cultivated. In Coos I have spent many a spring scouring the county for
early and late birds and have developed a really good feeling for phenology
in my neck of the woods and elsewhere in the state. Anyhow, I feel like I
should say something on OBOL when early and late information is reported
that just doesn't sound right.
Still hoping to see my first Rufous in Coos- could be any day now but
usually not until middle of Feb.
Merry early migration- pseudospring is upon us!
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay
On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 9:39 AM, <whoffman@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi -
Your reaction reminds me of my reaction the first time I heard of swallows
being seen on an Oregon CBC. And Purple Martins this winter too???
Wayne
------------------------------
*From: *"Tim Rodenkirk" <timrodenkirk@xxxxxxxxx>
*To: *"obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent: *Monday, February 1, 2016 4:59:14 AM
*Subject: *[obol] Re: Calliope Hummers in January????
I looked in BOGR and the earliest record they have for Calliope is March
22, 1998 at Lebanon- no wintering records. Interestingly, no one has even
commented on this bird on OBOl (I had one person reply to me saying they
thought the earliest migrant day would be 1 April) I guess with global
climate change hasppening- some people believe anything is possible? Sure
seems like one of the most unusual reports I have seen on OBOL in a long
time.
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay
On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 5:48 PM, Tim Rodenkirk <timrodenkirk@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I was quickly going through my OBOL e-mails this morning and forgot to
comment on the Calliope report which I believe was for WA. Is this the
earliest ever for WA- maybe would be for OR also? Are there wintering
records even in NW? I know they don't usually show up until April so I was
wondering what the heck when I saw the posting- to early for April fools?
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay
PS: I know of Costa's winter records for OR so maybe there are Calliopes
also? Way to early for migrants.
