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CAMP REPORTS 2004

A report on RMBO On the Wing Camp

26 June-7 July 2004

By Travis Hayward

Dear American Birding Association,

I would like to give my sincerest thank you. Without the generous scholarship grant from all of you, I would not have been able to go on this unbelievable expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Because I have been a part of On the Wing for the past two years, I have gone farther and gotten more involved in birding than I ever thought I would. Not only that, but the other campers came from a variety of different backgrounds and origins. In the end, I learned a lot more about birding and I met some good friends. Thanks again for the scholarship.

Following this thank-you, is a brief summary of the trip:

This year at On the Wing, our group of 12 campers and two counselors did fun stuff every day. The first afternoon we went on a brief hike around Barr Lake, right next to the Stone House in Brighton, Colorado, where we stayed the night and ate breakfast the next morning. The second day, we drove up to the peak of Mt. Evans in a blizzard. There we took a quick hike, and headed back down towards our destination: a national park 20 miles north of Grand Junction in an aspen/mixed conifer habitat. Since the drive there was so long, we had to pitch tents in the early evening.

The next morning, we took another hike, about two or three miles, through the region and saw many types of birds like Purple Martins, Downy Woodpeckers and varieties of finches, sparrows, and wrens, as well as about five Turkey Vultures and a Red-Tailed hawk. That afternoon, we went over to one of the campers' homes for a mid-day cookout and relaxing at their pool. That evening, we went looking for Boreal Owls at Grand Mesa with someone from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and slept at the Audubon House in Grand Junction. The next day, we went to Mesa Verde National Park and visited the cliff dwellings. There we saw Violet-Green Swallows, Cliff Swallows, and even a Prairie Falcon. That evening, we camped at a Mesa Verde campsite.

The following day, we drove a long way from Grand Junction, to The Great Sand Dunes, near Hooper, CO, where three of the campers came from (they were brothers). We stayed at a campsite there for two nights. The first night, we took a small night-hike around the base of the sand dunes and looked at the stars. The next day; we went across the valley to do some bird banding. While we were there, we caught a Green-Tailed Towhee and a few Warbling Vireos. After that, we went to a waterfall that was climbable. That afternoon, we went to the Great Sand Dunes public pool and stayed for almost three hours. That night, we almost scaled Great Dune, one of the highest dunes in the Great Sand Dunes national park.

The day after that, we traveled to Chico Basin Ranch. We were supposed to see the fireworks a few miles away for the 4th of July, but it had rained hard the previous day, and the dirt roads were really muddy and we couldn't drive the slow, five miles to the highway. However, since we didn't go to the fireworks, we stayed at our campsite. It was in the middle of a small nest of trees and near a marsh habitat. We set up the mist nets, and about five minutes later, we caught the first nighthawk ever for our banding group. The day after that, we packed up because it was so buggy and there weren't many birds around, and toured a real working ranch area.

The next day, gave presentations at the Denver CDOW offices. The presentations were about the 14 different habitat regions that we drove through and the birds we saw during the whole trip. The areas were places like the alpine tundra, grasslands, mixed conifer, aspen, and a bunch of other habitats. The information each person gathered was the types of flora and fauna spotted in the vicinity. We stayed at the Stone House again for one more night after that The last day, were had to say farewell to each other.

Thanks again so very much for helping me have a great experience at OTW.

August 2004

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