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CAMP REPORTS 2004

A report on RMBO On the Wing Camp

26 June-7 July 2004

By Tim White

Camp On The Wing was a great experience for me. I spent each day surrounded by other people like me – something I rarely have the privilege to experience.

When I first arrived, I was greeted by Jenny Rectenwald, one of our two main leaders. Jennie took another of the campers, Brennan Kroger, and me back to the Old Stone House, the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory branch where we would spend the night. When I arrived, I met Glenn Giroir, our other main leader, and after an afternoon of introductions interspersed with brief games and walks along the lake, we went inside and ate. We unpacked our bags upstairs and camped out on the floor. By nine o'clock, everyone was ready for bed, and we all sat around and played card games in our pajamas until late. The next morning, we woke up early, and packed all our belongings up again. Then we piled into our rented van and headed out to Grand Junction.

Most mornings of the trip began like this – packing everything up to move on. This ensured that we made it to lots of great birding spots: Colorado National Monument, Box Canyon, Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre National Forest, Great Sand Dunes National Monument, and many more. On the way to some of these places, we stopped to go birding. On our second day, for example, while we were on our way to Grand Junction, we took a brief trip up to the top of Mount Evans to look for Rosy-finches and Ptarmigan. Unfortunately, we missed both of these species, but we did see American Pipits, White-crowned Sparrows, a Townsend's Solitaire, and Mountain Goats.

The best day of the trip for me was the fourth day. We started the day with an early breakfast in our campsite in the Uncompahgre National Forest. At about seven, Rich Levad, a man who does research for RMBO, showed up to take us birding.

We walked across a large field of sagebrush, and then up a hill of aspens. Within five minutes, we had gotten awesome looks at a MacGillivray's Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrows, and Mountain Bluebirds. When we got back we packed up camp and hopped in the van. We followed Rich to a spot in a grove of aspens, where we pulled off the road. Rich and Glenn explained that the Warbling Vireo was an important indicator species of aspen forests, and it made sense. Warbling Vireos were all around singing. Then we walked down a little trail to where there was a colony of Purple Martins. They were all in a big dead tree, along with Western Bluebirds. We also saw a Northern Harrier, several Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, and lots of White-crowned Sparrows.

When we got back to the van, we said goodbye to Rich and headed out. We stopped at a large stand of ponderosa pine for Pygmy Nuthatches. Within a few minutes, we had a nuthatch answering our tape. But it was a White-breasted, not a Pygmy. We were just about to leave when we saw a woodpecker fly between two trees. Glenn though it might be a Williamson's Sapsucker, so naturally everyone was really excited. Jennie got the tape set to the sapsucker, and we all held our breath. Then, two sapsuckers, a male and a female, both flew up into the trees right in front of us. After ten minutes or so, we got back in the van in high spirits. Our next stop would be Grand Mesa.

We got to the Mesa just in time for lunch. I had never seen a Pine Grosbeak, so when Glenn said he saw one fly up from the side of the road and I missed it, I was really annoyed. But he said we would see one at the visitors' center .

He was right. As soon as I got up onto the deck of the visitors' center, two flew down into a spruce tree not five feet away. They were the most incredible birds I had ever seen. Sam was also there, and he had never seen them either. So it was pretty exciting for both of us.

When we got to the picnic tables, we saw a couple of Clark's Nutcrackers right above a group of people eating lunch. We hoped they would come to our table, but they didn't. We did, however see lots of Pine Siskins flying over, and hear a Hermit thrush. The view from our table was amazing. We could see for miles and miles.

Just as we finished lunch Tom Holland showed up to take us to look for Boreal Owls. We drove along a winding road to where the nest boxes were supposed to be. On the way, Jennie spotted some birds on a gravelly slope. She said they had looked red. Glenn guessed that they were Crossbills, and most people wanted to go back a stop. But Tom was leading us, and he was going on, so we couldn't.

When we stopped, we were in a stretch of woods that looked just like the rest. Tom led us back about a hundred yards along the road, and then into the forest. The nest box was about a hundred feet back. We walked as quietly as possible to the base of the tree, and then waited while Tom scratched the base of the tree with a stick. The owl poked its head out and looked down at Tom. Those who had good cameras started taking pictures, while the rest of us just stared. It was incredible to see an owl generally considered so rare. After a few minutes we decided to head back to the van. By this time everyone was complaining about the mosquitoes. Obviously none of them had ever been to the Southeast.

On the way back, we stopped where Jennie had seen the Crossbills, and sure enough, there they were, right along the road, with Cassin's Finches and Pine Siskins.

We also stopped at the visitors center again to look for grosbeaks, but none showed up, so we headed back to Grand Junction.

Each of the next eight days continued in this vein. We would get up, do some awesome birding, and move on. Not only was I able to spend hours each day doing my favorite activity (birding, of course), but I was also able to do it among other young birders. On The Wing was one of the best experiences of my life.

These young birders attended the camps/events they report on with the help of ABA scholarships.