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SCHOLARSHIP REPORTS 2006

2006 Young Birders Conference, Fort Collins, CO

30 June - 5 July 2006

By Erik Enbody

This past summer I attended my first ABA Young Birder Conference. I was excited that it took place in Colorado, a state I had never birded before. After meeting up with the other young birders from around the country at the Denver International airport, we made our way to our hotel in Fort Collins, which would be home for the next week. That evening, we met with our leaders, Michael O'Brien, Louise Zemaitis, Bill Schmoker, and Steve Howell. A talk on the identification of sparrows by guest speaker Jim Rising helped prepare us for the birds we would encounter in the Pawnee National Grasslands the next day. Before heading off to bed, we drove up into some hilly areas and were able to call in a Common Poorwill, one of the first lifers of the trip for many.

The next morning found us in the Pawnee Grasslands bright and early, where we started off with a group of Burrowing Owls flying around and calling in a field near where an adult and a young Mountain Plover were feeding. A small park called Crow Valley provided excellent views of a number of different western and eastern species of birds, and a somewhat startling sight of a snake feeding in a Western Kingbird nest. Returning to the grasslands, we all enjoyed some distant views of a soaring Ferruginous Hawk and much more confiding views of the ever abundant McCown's Longspurs in the area. Chestnut-collared Longspurs were seen briefly a couple of times and the many flocks of Lark Buntings in the area were enjoyed by all. After returning to our rooms in Fort Collins, Michael presented a very informative demonstration about eBird.org.

The following morning we departed even earlier and tried to call in owls before dawn in the Cameron Pass area. While we were unsuccessful at finding owls, we were rewarded at dawn with Pine Grosbeaks, Cassin's Finches, and great looks at a female Three-toed Woodpecker. The rest of the day was spent birding the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, where we came across a great number of Greater Sage-Grouse (at least 5), a single Prairie Falcon, several Franklin's Gulls, and we obtained some fantastic looks at a badger who watched us from the side of the road.

The next day we made our way up to Rocky Mountain National Park, stopping along the way to watch a few American Dippers bounce along a stream. After a long time searching the tundra-like landscape of the ridges here, and coming across a ridiculously high Yellow-headed Blackbird, we eventually were lucky enough to locate a pair of White-tailed Ptarmigans. A highlight of the trip for many, these two birds hardly even noticed our presence and allowed fantastic photo opportunities. We stopped at a few campgrounds in the park and rounded out our Empidonax flycatchers for the trip when we found Dusky, Hammond's, and Cordilleran Flycatchers all in the same general area. After enjoying a small downpour, we made our way to one last stop where we came across an adult Dusky Grouse and her chicks. These birds could not possibly have been closer, and one of the young nearly walked over one of the camper's feet. That evening, we all enjoyed a talk from Louise Zemaitis on "Birding from a Naturalist's Point of View," which was an interesting presentation on the many different ways to enjoy the rest of nature and birds at the same time.

We got a chance to bird around the Boulder area with Ted Floyd the next day and had an opportunity to get to know the local species a little better. Virginia's Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Bunting, and Canyon Wren were all some of the highlights from this area. A Hammond's/Dusky Flycatcher provided some exciting challenges, and a very informative lesson on this confusing pair was enjoyed by all. After a short trip around a local birding site called Walden Ponds, we met up for lunch and listened to Bill Schmoker give a talk on digiscoping, where he provided some great tips for the many digiscopers present. Later in the evening Steve Howell presented his talk, which was an extremely informative lesson on aging and sexing birds in the field using molt. A successful evening of owling provided everyone with great looks at an Eastern Screech-Owl in a nearby park.

Our last morning we found ourselves in an enormous expanse of grassland with a wide variety of grassland birds all around us. Several Cassin's Sparrows were in the area as well as Grasshopper, Vesper and Brewer's Sparrows, many Western Meadowlarks, and several Lark Buntings performing aerial displays. A local lake nearby, Lake Watson, produced a couple of Golden Eagles and a pair of downy young Barn Owls in the crevice of a cliff face.

After exchanging contact information and final goodbyes, we all headed our separate ways from the hotel. I know that everyone had as much fun at the Young Birder Conference, and enjoyed the variety of landscapes, birds, and other animals of Colorado, as I did. I learned a lot from the leaders and our experiences in the field, and I was able to see some great new birds. I am extremely appreciative of the generous support I received from WildBird magazine through the James F. Clements Memorial Scholarship, which made it possible for me to attend the conference.

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