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SCHOLARSHIP REPORTS 2006

2006 Young Birders Conference, Fort Collins, CO

30 June - 5 July 2006

By Kai Reed

It all started back in 2002 when I first got hooked on the ABA programs for young birders – and this year I was back for my third straight Young Birders’ Conference (YBC), this time in Fort Collins, Colorado. After flying over the Rockies on the way to the California YBC, I could hardly wait to get out of the sky and onto the mountains and prairies of northern central Colorado, and this year, thanks to the ABA and Mrs. Richard Andrews I was able to.

On the afternoon of June 30, 2006, I met two of my leaders, Michael O’Brien and Louise Zemaitis at the Denver airport to drive to Fort Collins for the start of the 2006 YBC, and to meet the rest of the group. Once the introductions were over we headed straight out for some night birding on the outskirts of Fort Collins. Most of us were able to catch a glimpse of a Common Poorwill as it sat upon a bush for a moment and we all heard the jays and saw our first magpies, but we didn’t stay out too long since we would be getting up early the next morning for our first full trip.

The next morning we all grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby before heading to the Pawnee National Grasslands in search of the grassland species that call it home. At one of our fist stops we observed a family of Burrowing Owls sitting in the morning sun at the top of their burrows. Further down the road, our local leader, Bill Schmoker, picked out two distant Mountain Plovers. This sighting was my first lifer of the trip. Later on at a pool of water we were treated to excellent views of Horned Larks, Lark Buntings, Chestnut–collared and McCown’s Longspurs as well as a Golden Eagle. We then headed to a campground where we observed a gopher snake raiding the nest of a Western Kingbird. The kingbird was obviously quite irate and mobbed the snake as is downed the last fledgling. After lunch, and a very cooperative Common Nighthawk that we all photographed, we headed to our last stop of the day, the Pawnee Buttes where we saw Lark and Vesper Sparrows, Loggerhead Shrikes, and a distant Prairie Falcon. After hiking around the buttes for a while we headed back to the hotel for some downtime before a presentation on field observation and E-bird by Michael O’Brien.

The next morning would be the earliest departure to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge and Cameron Pass, as well as one of my favorite days. After a failed attempt to find a Boreal Owl on the way to Cameron Pass we were treated to great views of Pine Grosbeaks and a Three-toed Woodpecker, not to mention the moose that was feeding right next to the road as we birded the area. On our way to Arapaho we saw a Prairie Falcon as well as Sage Thrasher and Green Tailed Towhee. At Arapaho we had great looks at nesting Eared Grebes, American Coots, Cinnamon Teal, as well as many species of shorebirds including many Wilson’s Phalaropes. Also making an appearance at the refuge was a Sora with chicks and five Sage Grouse, two of which had chicks. And then there was the badger in its hole on the side on the road which was the non-bird highlight of the day. This sighting inspired our leaders to buy mascots for each van, a badger for one, and the other a raven at a visitors’ center on the way back. Here we saw sapsuckers, Fox Sparrow and Rufus and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds. Once back at the hotel we had the evening off to swim in the pool, play photo quiz, or catch up on sleep for the next morning’s trip.

For the third day of the conference we headed way up in altitude to the Rocky Mountain National Park to look for alpine species, but especially White-tailed Ptarmigan. This species is noted for being very difficult to find, as we found out. We spent a good three hours scouring the mountains and tundra for the motionless ptarmigan before we finally found a pair right next the path at our last stop. We then spent about an hour observing the two feed and walk around between the rocks that they look almost exactly like. We also spent a long time digiscoping, and since most everybody had a digital camera we all got really good pictures. After lunch we were poking around in the woods by the picnic area looking for a sapsucker nest. Having no luck, we were pishing and getting response when it started to rain. We didn’t think much of it since we were in the woods, but when it started to thunder and rain heavier we thought that we should head back to the vans. By this time it had really started to pour and the vans were locked so we took shelter under the trailhead map until the vans were unlocked and we could get in. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a pull off and were treated to a Blue Grouse with chicks. They too were soaked from the rain and stayed very close to the path in the bushes. We then drove back to the hotel for dinner and some free time before Louise’s talk on Birding from a Naturalist’s Point of View.

On the last full day of the conference we birded the Boulder area with local birder, Ted Floyd. Our first stop was Gregory Canyon where we saw Yellow-breasted Chat, Canyon Wren, Virginia’s Warbler, and Townsend’s Solitaire. We had lunch at Walden Ponds where we saw many waterbirds including Green Heron and Redhead, and four kinds of swallows. After lunch we listened to Bill Schmoker’s talk on digiscoping before heading back to the hotel for Steve Howell’s excellent lecture on molt, which was my favorite workshop. After dinner we drove to a local park to do a bit of owling. Within minutes Michael had called one in to right over our heads where we all got amazing views. On the way back to the van we saw at least fifty turkey vultures that we guessed had been spooked from their normal roost by the fireworks, since it was the 4th of July.

On the last day of the conference we birded around Fort Collins getting Savannah Sparrow, Golden Eagles, and a couple of Barn Owls in a hole in a cliff. And then it was over, just as fast as it had started, and we were all taken to the airport to fly home, leaving us all wanting more and looking forward to the next time that we would all see each other.

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