Birders travel to Wichita in hopes of spotting gray-crowned rosy finch

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — KSN Photojournalist James Heier talked to a couple of birdwatchers who traveled to Wichita on Tuesday to see a gray-crowned rosy finch, which is not often spotted in the area.

“I’m from Kansas City. I’ve never seen one, so I thought, ‘a three-hour drive, might as well try,'” said Lisa Owens, a birder. “I don’t normally go this far for a bird, but this one’s a good one.”

“It’s hot news in the birding world. There’s a grey-crowned rosy finch that showed up here in the Great Plains Nature Center,” said Carol Morgan, another birder, who is from Topeka.

“It shouldn’t be here. It should be way high in the mountains,” said Owens.

“Think Colorado,” said Morgan. “To have one in Wichita is remarkable.”

Owens has been watching birds for 15 years.

“Yeah, it just immediately hit me. I just said, ‘I want to see all the birds,'” said Owens.

“Whether it’s birding, or maybe someone has a passion for automobiles, you know, something. Something just turns you on about it, and birds are it for me,” said Morgan.

Unfortunately for Morgan and Owens, they did not spot the bird.

“As of seven o’clock tonight, the grey-crowned rosy finch is a no-show. We’ve seen everything from spotted towhees to white-throated sparrows, and a sharp-shinned hawk flew over,” said Morgan.

“Six hours. We call it ‘dipping,'” said Owens. “Dipping is when you try to get a bird, and you don’t get it.”

Nevertheless, Morgan said she still had a good time.

“It’s fun. It’s great to be with our tribe, you know? And we all share the same enthusiasm,” said Morgan.