jbh@hpcndaw.HP.COM (Joel Hurmence) (03/16/90)
Someone posted a note a few days ago about attending the ABA Convention in Fort Collins, Colorado. I live in Fort Collins and will be attending some of the convention activities. If you have any questions about the Fort Collins area, I'd be happy to try to answer them. See you in June. Joel Hurmence jbh%hpcndaw@hplabs.hp.com
mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (06/30/90)
I have just returned from the ABA convention, which was held in Ft. Collins, Colorado. I understand that this is the first ABA convention to sell out. The fact that Roger Tory Peterson was scheduled to be the primary speaker at the banquet may have had something to do with that. Since my brother lives in Ft. Collins, and is an avid birder, I decided to come in a week before the convention. We planned on using this time to take a trip to Yellowstone and to do some local birding. Upon calling my brother the night before I was scheduled to leave, I learned that a Swainson's Warbler had been hanging around the Cache La Poudre River for almost two weeks. Our plan was to leave for Yellowstone early on Saturday morning but, needless to say, that was put off for a couple of hours while we searched for the warbler. Unfortunately, we did not find it, and it was not seen again. I arrived a day too late. So we headed off for Yellowstone; my brother Joe, my 10 year old nephew Adam, my brother's friend Dave, and me. It was a long drive through the state of Wyoming, made even longer by stopping periodically to check out LBJs along the road. It was my brother's hope to find a Sage Sparrow by doing this. Although this didn't produce a Sage Sparrow, other birds were seen; such as Sage Thrasher, Vesper Sparrow, Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Mountain Bluebird, Lark Bunting, Swainson's Hawk, Red Naped Sapsucker, and Gray Catbird, among others. Wyoming seems to be a desert covered with sagebrush, and liberally sprinkled with Pronghorn Antelope. That is, until you get to the northwest corner; where you run smack into the majestic Tetons. We entered Grand Teton National Park and drove north through it into Yellowstone. The damage from the fires of two years ago were still very much in evidence. Some areas still didn't even have grass growing and, although the burned trees were still standing, the maturation of new pines could take decades. We drove out the west entrance and into Idaho, where we had reservations at an inn along the north fork of the Snake River. One of our objectives at Yellowstone was to find Black Backed and Three Toed Woodpeckers. We figured on there being an explosion of these species because of the fires two years ago. A letter to the park naturalist resulted in some suggested locations and a referral to a seasonal park maintenance employee named Gail. We drove into Yellowstone on Sunday morning to find Gail and learn where the best locations were for the woodpeckers. To our surprise, when we found Gail at the visitor's center, she dropped everything and personally took us out to the spots where she had seen the woodpeckers. In the pouring rain no less! We found both woodpeckers, a male Black Backed at a nest hole and a female Three Toed foraging. Although they were not around in large numbers, Trumpeter Swan seemed to be easy to find. We had an excellent close-up view of one, who seemed to be soliciting handouts (though I didn't see him get one) at a parking area along the river, while its mate sat on a nest across the river. Sandhill Cranes were also evident in small numbers. The next morning we took off early into the Targhee National Forest in search of Great Gray Owl. We had read an article in the ABA newsletter, Winging It, about birding "West of Yellowstone", and were following its directions as to finding the owl. We drove up Kilgore-Yale Road about 3 miles past the point where the pavement ends. There was a large open meadow which seemed to be, as the article said, "prime habitat for the Great Gray Owl". We spent some time scanning the meadow and its fringes for any sign of a gray blob sitting in a tree somewhere, or flying along. We finally gave up and decided to continue on to the next open meadow. As we passed the end of the meadow in the car, 10 year old Adam yelled "there's an owl!". My brother slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Dave from the back seat through the windshield, and we all piled out of the car. Sure enough, no more than 20 ft. off the side of the road was a Great Gray Owl sitting on top of a broken pine tree about 25 ft. tall. The bird was crouched down in the bowl formed by the broken top of the tree with its head sticking out over the top. It watched us intently wherever we walked, and we assumed that it was a female sitting on eggs. We later found the male sitting in the trees nearby and were able to get quite close views. They are truly impressive birds. Later we went to breakfast and Adam ordered steak and eggs, a breakfast he wasn't allowed to have the previous day. We then headed a little south to Harriman State Park to try and find Red Necked Grebes in breeding plumage on Silver Lake. We managed to find a couple, but the area on and around the lake turned out to be a fantastic birding site. We found about 40 species of birds including; Osprey, Black Tern, Caspian Tern, Peregrine Falcon, Wilson's Phalarope, Spotted Sandpiper (on a nest), Red Crossbill, Mountain Bluebird, Cassin's Finch, nine species of ducks, and four species of swallows. On the way home we saw Yellow Headed Blackbird (grooonk), Long Billed Curlew (it's always strange seeing these away from the water), Golden Eagle, and Prairie Falcon. The rest of the week before the convention I killed with some local birding trips. I went to Chatfield State Recreation Area, just south of Denver, chasing after a Yellow Throated Vireo, which had been reported on the RBA. I also got a good look at a Yellow Breasted Chat, which I hadn't seen in a couple of years. Joe, Adam, and I took a preliminary trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked the trail up to Loch Vale hoping to get a decent look at a Black Swift, which we did. Broad Tailed Hummingbirds seemed to be everywhere, the metallic trilling of their wings giving them away as the third species of the genus selasphorus. We also saw Townsend's Solitaire, Mountain Chickadee, American Dipper, Gray Jay, and Pine Grosbeak. A hike out on the tundra (what an exertion) produced an up-close and personal view of a male Rosy Finch (brown-capped). American Pipits also nest on the tundra. They are quite buffy colored on the face and underparts, unlike the streaky look they have when they are in their winter plumage. Sunday evening Joe and I went up a canyon where Flammulated Owl had been heard calling the previous year. We played a tape and got a quick response, eventually getting a pretty good look at one calling above us. The convention itself consisted of two days of workshops, each workshop lasting a half day, two and a half days of field trips, and a day devoted to an autograph party and banquet. The workshops were held on Tuesday and Saturday. I chose to attend Birds of the Night by Rick Bowers, Shorebird ID by Jon Dunn, Sparrows by Kenn Kaufman, and Confusing Fall Warblers by Guy McKaskie. The workshops dealt mainly with locating and identifying these bird groups. The autograph party was an interesting event. I arrived a little late and found the authors and artists seated behind tables that lined the hall of the hotel. The tables seemed to be devoid of autograph seekers, except for one; the table where Kenn Kaufman was seated had a line that stretched down the hall and around the corner. This must have given the others quite a complex. Of course, it didn't hurt that Kenn had just come out with a new book, Advanced Birding, that many people had just picked up there at the convention. I thought it a bit humorous that one of the authors, sitting by himself at his table, was reading a book; it was a copy of Advanced Birding. On Wednesday, I went on the field trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. This trip pretty much mirrored the one that I took the previous weekend, except for a couple of different birds. As we got off the bus, a singing Dusky Flycatcher was sitting at the top of a tree. I really didn't get a good look at it (we had to look towards the sun), it was identified from voice by Shawneen Finnegan. However, I did get excellent looks at a Hammond's Flycatcher. And, of course, there was the White Tailed Ptarmigan. Everything had been set up for this bird. When over 100 people unloaded from three buses, the Colorado Department of Fish and Game was ready and waiting. A ranger led us all up the hillside and had us fan out in front of a graduate student who had a bird all staked out. The grad student pointed continuously at the bird and slowly walked toward it, causing it to slowly walk away from her and give away its location to those of us watching from below. I guess that the Fish and Game people decided it was better to show these people a bird in a controlled situation than to have them trampling all over the tundra trying to find one for themselves. The Friday field trip took me over Cameron Pass and to the Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located in a large, high elevation, sagebrush covered valley known as North Park. It borders the Illinois River and has numerous ponds, many of them man-made. One of the primary purposes of the refuge is to manage for waterfowl. While Brewer's Sparrow and Sage Thrasher could be found in the sagebrush, the ponds held abundant waterfowl; Canada Goose, Blue Winged Teal, Gadwall, Cinnamon Teal, Green Winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, Redhead, Northern Pintail; as well as American Avocet, American Coot, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Forster's Tern, Pied Billed Grebe, Wilson's Phalarope, and Eared Grebe. Another interesting sighting was a large flock of about 20 Common Nighthawks wheeling about over some scrubby willows. I had never seen this many nighthawks at one time before. The bird of the trip, however, was the Sage Grouse. One of the trip leaders was a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and had done research on the grouse. He knew the exact spot to go to in order to find the bird. Again, three bus loads of people piled out and, this time, we spread out through the sagebrush and started walking. We had gone no more than 150 yards or so when a female flushed out of the sage and took off for the cover near the road. She flew right in front of me and gave me good looks at her field marks. The people who didn't get a look were repositioned in front and the bird was flushed again. Unfortunately, this was carried one step too far when the bird, who had taken refuge under a small willow, was flushed once more and ended up beating its wings vainly against the willow branches before getting out from under the tree. This brought a number of complaints from the crowd, but the bird made it a moot point by flying so far away that it could not have been found again. Sunday, the last day of the convention, had been slated for a number of half day field trips around the local Ft. Collins area. This was made much more exciting than it sounded when, before the Saturday workshops, it was announced that a Boreal Owl had been found in a nest box near Cameron Pass. Those people who had signed up for a local field trip were given an opportunity to change to an owl trip. Needless to say, over 200 people decided to go see the owl. Five buses left for the pass early Sunday morning and drove straight to the location. The person in charge of the operation was Ron Ryder (sp?), a professor from Colorado State University, who was studying the owls and had put up the nest box. He gave us instructions, reiterating what we had been told by the local leaders on the bus, that we had to file into an open area in front of the nest box, in single file and in total silence. This was accomplished without a problem, and we stood arrayed in the small amphitheater with our binoculars trained on the box (scopes weren't allowed, due to space constraints). Ron then went up and scratched on the tree holding the nest box (evidently, Pine Martens are a principal predator of the owl, and the scratching simulates them climbing up the tree). The owl instantly appeared at the nest hole and, ignoring the multitude standing before it, leaned out of the hole and peered down the tree trunk, looking for the source of the noise. Only when it was satisfied that there was no danger, did the owl look up at the throng of people. For a full 2 minutes or more the owl sat contemplating us with an unconcerned look while we watched back in silence. It was hard to believe that such a large group of people could remain so well behaved, but we did it. Only after the owl had retreated back into the box and we were filing out, did people start to talk; and then in low whispers. It was a fitting end to a great convention trip. I had picked up eleven life birds, the best of which had to be the owls. I don't know if I'll be able to make it to another ABA convention (the next one is in Mobile, Alabama; but I don't have a brother living there), but I'll not soon forget this one. species list * = lifer WESTERN GREBE RED NECKED GREBE EARED GREBE PIED BILLED GREBE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON GREAT BLUE HERON SANDHILL CRANE *TRUMPETER SWAN CANADA GOOSE MALLARD GADWALL GREEN WINGED TEAL AMERICAN WIGEON NORTHERN PINTAIL NORTHERN SHOVELER BLUE WINGED TEAL CINNAMON TEAL RUDDY DUCK REDHEAD RING NECKED DUCK GREATER SCAUP LESSER SCAUP BARROW'S GOLDENEYE BUFFLEHEAD COMMON MERGANSER AMERICAN COOT AMERICAN AVOCET KILLDEER LONG BILLED CURLEW WILLET LESSER YELLOWLEGS SPOTTED SANDPIPER WILSON'S PHALAROPE CALIFORNIA GULL FORSTER'S TERN BLACK TERN CASPIAN TERN TURKEY VULTURE GOLDEN EAGLE NORTHERN HARRIER RED TAILED HAWK SWAINSON'S HAWK OSPREY AMERICAN KESTREL PRAIRIE FALCON PEREGRINE FALCON *WHITE TAILED PTARMIGAN *SAGE GROUSE ROCK DOVE MOURNING DOVE *GREAT GRAY OWL EASTERN SCREECH OWL *FLAMMULATED OWL *BOREAL OWL COMMON NIGHTHAWK BLACK SWIFT WHITE THROATED SWIFT BROAD TAILED HUMMINGBIRD BELTED KINGFISHER NORTHERN FLICKER RED NAPED SAPSUCKER DOWNY WOODPECKER HAIRY WOODPECKER *THREE TOED WOODPECKER BLACK BACKED WOODPECKER EASTERN KINGBIRD WESTERN KINGBIRD OLIVE SIDED FLYCATCHER WESTERN WOOD PEWEE DUSKY FLYCATCHER HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER HORNED LARK TREE SWALLOW VIOLET GREEN SWALLOW NORTHERN ROUGH WINGED SWALLOW CLIFF SWALLOW BARN SWALLOW STELLER'S JAY *GRAY JAY CLARK'S NUTCRACKER BLACK BILLED MAGPIE AMERICAN CROW COMMON RAVEN BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEE MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCH RED BREASTED NUTHATCH PYGMY NUTHATCH HOUSE WREN CANYON WREN ROCK WREN RUBY CROWNED KINGLET MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE SWAINSON'S THRUSH HERMIT THRUSH AMERICAN ROBIN LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE GRAY CATBIRD SAGE THRASHER AMERICAN PIPIT AMERICAN DIPPER EUROPEAN STARLING *YELLOW THROATED VIREO SOLITARY VIREO WARBLING VIREO VIRGINIA'S WARBLER YELLOW RUMPED WARBLER YELLOW WARBLER MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER WILSON'S WARBLER COMMON YELLOWTHROAT YELLOW BREASTED CHAT BLACK HEADED GROSBEAK LAZULI BUNTING RUFOUS SIDED TOWHEE VESPER SPARROW SAVANNAH SPARROW SONG SPARROW CHIPPING SPARROW BREWER'S SPARROW DARK EYED JUNCO WHITE CROWNED SPARROW LINCOLN'S SPARROW LARK BUNTING WESTERN MEADOWLARK YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD RED WINGED BLACKBIRD BREWER'S BLACKBIRD BROWN HEADED COWBIRD COMMON GRACKLE NORTHERN ORIOLE WESTERN TANAGER HOUSE SPARROW PINE SISKIN AMERICAN GOLDFINCH LESSER GOLDFINCH RED CROSSBILL *PINE GROSBEAK *ROSY FINCH CASSIN'S FINCH HOUSE FINCH