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SCHOLARSHIP REPORTS 2006

2006 Young Birders Conference, Fort Collins, CO

30 June - 5 July 2006

By Josiah Malueg

Day One
Friday June 30th 2006

Even with all the time spent preparing, packing and even traveling; it didn't quite seem real until we got to the hotel were we would be spending the next 5 nights. My brother Micah and I were the first of the young birders to arrive, so we had a little waiting around time before everyone else got there. I took all my stuff to my room and opened the windows. Right outside there was a Red-shafted Flicker probing in the ground for things to eat. It was joined by an American Robin, so I got my first two birds for the conference from the hotel window. (Of course I saw a bunch of birds on the drive up but I'll count those as pre-conference birds.)

It was about 2:30p.m. when I got to the University Inn, in Fort Collins, but it wasn't till around 4:30p.m. that the first van got back from the air port with most of the other participants. As we arrived they gave us our conference shirts and name tags which where very helpful in getting to know everybody, especially for the first two days. Everyone put their stuff in their rooms and then a few of us went across the street to bird on the local college campus. We walked a ways picking up a few of the more common birds. We could hear American Crows mobbing something ahead of us in a grove of spruce. It didn't take long to find out what it was; a nice looking Great Horned Owl sat up near the top of a cottonwood with three frenzied American Crows hopping around in the tree near it and calling. We continued walking, but had to turn back so we'd make it to the conference room at the hotel by 5:00p.m.

Nobody was at the conference room when we got back so we waited a bit until they came and unlocked it. We had a quick introduction and went around the room telling everyone our names, where we were from and what our target bird for the trip was. When the intro was over we ate pizza and talked, then went with the whole group and saw the owl again.

After this, we drove out to the foothills by Fort Collins to find Common Poorwills. On the way we passed a few small ponds and saw various birds like White Pelican, Common Merganser, etc. After taking one dead end road we turned around and drove to another spot where we called for Poorwills. The first Poorwill called back right away, then three or four more started calling. We were able to see one of them sitting on top of a low bush up on the hillside above us. It was still light enough that I could see its white throat really well!

Due to the impending darkness and consequent inability to see, we departed soon after. On the way back we talked birds, then went to our rooms and slept.

Day 2
Saturday July 1st 2006

I woke up to the sound of the hotel's wakeup call right at 4:30a.m. and quickly got out of bed and grabbed all the things I would need for the day ahead, like my bins. I went to the hotel lobby where the others where starting to drift in to grab a quick breakfast. After everyone was up and we had all eaten we loaded into the vans and headed off for Pawnee National Grasslands. As we drove, the sun started to come up over the horizon putting a warm glow into the eastern sky.

Our fist stop was a spot with nesting Burrowing Owls. We could see four young owls sitting next to the mouth of a burrow, so we broke out the scopes and got some great views of the owls, and found two Mountain Plovers off in the distance. By the time we left we had counted over 15 Burrowing owls in the vicinity. Next we got out and birded Crow Valley, picking up species such as, Blue Jay, Brown Thrasher, Orchard Oriole, House Wren, Lark Sparrow, Logger-headed Shrike, Western Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird etc. Right after we got out of the van someone found a Common Nighthawk roosting in a nearby tree. We got a little closer, put the scopes on it, and everybody that could got some great pictures. On our way back to the vans Luke and Bill found a Western Kingbird nest with a huge bull snake in it, it was probably at least a good four feet long. We sadly watched as the kingbirds tried in vain to get it out of their nest, and saw it eat all the young. The Kingbird was so mad that you could really see the red crest on the top of its head.

After Crow Valley, it was out to the short grass prairie to find longspurs etc. It wasn't long before we found a spot where we had McCown's Longspurs flying over and got some pretty good looks at them - this was a life bird for me! Moving on we stopped at another spot where there was a large raptor on top of a windmill next to a stock tank. The wind was blowing its feathers so we got a little confused about what it was at first, but after a more detailed look we realized it was a Golden Eagle. As we were watching the eagle we noticed all the birds arriving to drink at the stock tank so we walked out there to watch them coming in. Tons of McCown's came to drink as well as a bunch of Lark Buntings. We got the most amazing views of them as they hung in the wind coming in for a landing, and Bill got some awesome flight photos. We stayed there for quite awhile and got a Chestnut-Collared Longspur, which was also a lifer for me, but the look I got at it was somewhat disappointing.

We got back in the vans and drove around a little more but didn't see much in the way of new species, but we saw a bunch of Pronghorns and a drooling cow. Then we went back to Crow Valley where Lori had lunch waiting for us, and Michael gave us a talk on eBird while we were eating. Lori and I went to check and see if the snake was still in the Kingbird's nest after that, but it wasn't. However, we did see a male Bullock's Oriole bringing food to its nest across the road from the kingbird's nest.

When lunch was over, we headed out to the Pawnee Buttes. On the way Niko was clicking off the Lark Buntings we saw. Kai saw one and held up his hand so Niko would count it but he wasn't paying attention so Jesse said, "Hey Bunting Boy, we got another Lark Bunting." After that, the name Bunting Boy stuck and we called him that for the rest of the Conference. The Buttes where amazing - we walked around and saw some cool birds like Prairie Falcon and Rock Wren. It was somewhat hot though and there wasn't much activity, so we hiked around a little exploring and finding what we could. Then we had to go back to the van and load up so we could go back to the hotel…

When we got there we unloaded our junk and some of us went swimming at which time Oscar had arrived, joining us in the pool. After dinner, Michael did a workshop on Techniques of Field Observation, which was pretty informative. After the workshop, we hung out for a while then went to get all the sleep we could.

Day 3
Sunday July 2nd 2006

I woke up to Phil shaking me at 3:30a.m. I had set the alarm clock but had forgotten to turn it on so we almost didn't make it out to the van in time. Fortunately for me; Phil happened to wake up just in time. We quickly grabbed all our gear and headed out to the van where we got our boxed breakfast and were on our way. Since it would still be dark out for a while we tried to sleep a little more on the way but that didn't really happen for me.

Our first stop was up on Cameron Pass where we tried calling for owls but it was already getting light so we didn't have any luck with that. We drove to another spot on the pass and on the way we saw a moose standing just off the road which was really cool (my first real live moose). This time when we got out we heard bunches of birds like Ruby-crowned Kinglets singing. Some of the other species we saw and or heard included Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Tree Swallow, American Robin, Pine Siskin, Wilson's Warbler, Cassin's Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Pine Grosbeak. The Grosbeaks let us get a really good look at them up in the tree tops. We heard a woodpecker drumming but couldn't find it for a long time. It finally came out into the open and landed on a rock pillar that held up a sign, and sure enough it was an American Three-toed Woodpecker, yet another lifer for me!!! It stayed on the signpost for awhile so we all got a pretty good view of it! (Except for poor John, who missed it.) By this time the moose had walked right up by us, so we were able to get really close to it and those armed with cameras took pictures.

The next stop was prompted by an awesome view of a Prairie Falcon perched on a fence post pretty close to the road. I guess the first van missed it but we radioed for them to come back. It stayed on the post for a bit, then flew off. We watched it flying for awhile and when it got out in the distance it started dive-bombing two coyotes that where running across the field. It was so cool to watch. The falcon came around for a couple passes at the coyotes then flew off again. In the distance, we saw a Black-crowned Night-Heron fly past. We also got a great view of a singing Sage Thrasher which was sitting atop a fence post a little farther down the line from where the Prairie Falcon had just been. Across the road from all this there was a row of willows which yielded some pretty good birds such as: Mountain Bluebird, Yellow Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee (a lifer for many of the group), Dusky Flycatcher, Brewer's Sparrow, etc. We watched the flycatchers for awhile trying to get the best possible look at them, then we loaded back into the vans and headed on down the road. Just down the hill, we drove by a spot with American Wigeons, Cliff Swallows, Black-billed Magpies, and a Red-tailed Hawk.

We stopped in Walden to get gas, and while they where filling the vans we got out and tried to count all the California Gulls that where flying around. I think the count ended up somewhere around 30 but I can't remember exactly. Next, it was out to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, where we would pick up as many nesting water birds as we could. On the short drive from Walden to the refuge we picked up; Vesper Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Lesser Scaup, and Golden Eagle. One of the first ponds that we stopped a, and the area around it, yielded most of what we hoped to find in the way of waterfowl etc. While scoping the pond we saw Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, lots of American Coots, Pied-billed Grebe, Gadwall, Canvasback, a Franklin's Gull flying over, Killdeer, American Avocet, Wilson's Phalarope, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, and Western Meadowlarks. By far the best bird of that stop, at least that everyone saw (Steve may have had a Yellow Rail flying over but was not sure) was the female Greater Sage Grouse and it's baby that John spotted not to far from our group. This was a lifer for me so I was really happy when we got it in the scope and watched it slowly working its way farther from us through the tall grass.

The next couple of stops helped us clean up the birds we had missed with the addtion of some of the following to our list: Eared Grebe, Northern Shoveler, and Wilson's Snipe. The most outstanding sighting however was a Sora with two babies. It was right next to the road but unfortunately for those of us in the back of the trailing van; it was really a challenge to see it through everyone's heads. The Sora however, was cooperative enough that we did finally succeed! The rest of our drive through the refuge got us Swainson's Hawks, Northern (red-shafted) Flicker, Forester's Tern, and another Greater Sage Grouse, which flew across the road right in front of us. We stopped for a smashed California Gull, which Steve picked up off the road to show us an example of a bird's topography. It wasn't a very fresh kill so as you can imagine it had a bad odor and was a bit bedraggled, a beetle even fell out of its eye socket while Steve was talking.

We ate lunch at a picnic area by Walden, then went to another large pond near the picnic area. Here we got Black Terns, Franklin's Gulls, Willet, Northern Pintail etc. As well as many of the birds, we had already seen. On the way to the next place we saw a Badger sitting by a culvert that ran under the road, it was so close to the road and it just sat there for awhile and then went and dug on the side of the road. Like the Sora it was a battle for Niko and I (who were in the back) to see it. Nevertheless we did at last get some decent looks by smashing our faces up against the window. Steve, who was in the passenger seat of the front van, only about 10 feet from the badger, was able to get some amazing pictures with Bill's camera. It was so cool!!! Farther up the road, we saw two more Greater Sage Grouse walk across the road giving us a total of 7 that day! Bill got a picture of the adult flying, and we watched them walk off into the grass. At this stop, there where tons of nesting Cliff Swallows at the outhouse. Elise tried to get some pictures, but unfortunately, it started raining so she didn't.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a gift shop. Here we picked up a few more really cool birds as well as some lifers for a few people. We got awesome looks at a Slate-colored Fox Sparrow. They had some feeders put up so we got American Gold Finches, Pine Siskins, Red Crossbill, more White-crowned Sparrows etc. They also had hummingbird feeders out so we got both Broad-tailed and Rufous Hummingbirds. Several of us waited around the hummingbird feeder and got a female Broad-tail to land on our finger when it came to drink - that was really fun! And of course those with cameras shot some pretty swell pictures of the hummers, despite the weird lighting since it was overcast. Then each van got a mascot at the gift shop. Michael and Louise's van (the back van) got a stuffed badger for their mascot, and Bill and Steve's van (the front van) got a stuffed Raven for their mascot. And Bunting Boy got his own personal mascot a male Lark Bunting!

Back at the hotel after unloading and getting rid of all our trash, we went and ate Italian food then came back and hung out in the pool and the conference room, and of course, we eventually went to bed.

Day 4
Monday July 3rd 2006

Thank God, we got to sleep in, after such a long day. Today we didn't have to get up until 4:30a.m! We gathered in the lobby as usual and ate breakfast. As soon as everyone was done eating we loaded up in the vans and headed off to Rocky Mountain National Park where we would be for most of the day. On the way we stopped so Lori could get lunch for us and while we were there we went across the road to look for American Dippers from the bridge. Everyone in our van was hoping to find one since the other van had seen one just before. Sure enough, the first place I looked not to far down stream there was an adult Dipper along with a fledgling. We quickly set up the scopes, and thanks to their cooperation, we were all able to get some really good looks at the Dippers.

Back on our way again we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park, and started heading up towards alpine tundra to get White-tailed Ptarmigan; my personal target bird. Up on the tundra there were scads of Mountain Bluebirds and we all got some amazing views of the luminous blue in the plumage of many of the males. We walked out along a small trail hoping to find Ptarmigan and picking up whatever other alpine tundra birds we could. We were able to get stunning views of both an amazing eco-zone and some of its accompanying bird life. This included; singing White-crowned Sparrows, Horned Larks, American Pipits, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds flying over, American Robins, and my very first ever, male Yellow-headed Blackbird for alpine tundra habitat! It seemed odd to have a Yellow-headed Black bird up in alpine tundra for no apparent reason, but it was pretty exciting to find. We continued birding along this trail for awhile scanning the surrounding area with binos and scopes trying to pick up a Ptarmigan, but we eventually decided to go elsewhere to continue our search. We made a quick stop at the visitor's center to use the restrooms and then went on.

The next stop was by a much more used trail (it was even paved) but Ptarmigans had been seen there before so we went to try our luck. Just down the slope from where we had parked there were several Marmots as well as a Pika. They put the scopes on them, started taking pictures, and didn't stop for a while, the other half of the group got kind of impatient waiting for them across the road. As we were hiking up Bill was saying to Lori "this is right where we had them before" when all of a sudden he stopped and said, "There they are." Sure enough, not very far off the trail sat two White-tailed Ptarmigan, a lifer for me. Everybody crowded around the scopes and after we all had a good look, we digiscoped them. The male and female stayed pretty close to each other the whole time. Interestingly enough, the male sat by a more whitish splotched rock most of the time and the female sat by a browner one right next to it so they both blended in perfectly. It seemed like we watched them for at least an hour (though it might not have been quite that long). They were still both in about the same spot when we left. So in short we got about the best opportunity to watch Ptarmigan that you could ask for!!!

From here, we drove back down. At one lookout area where we stopped, we got amazing looks at a male and a female Pine Grosbeak, which landed on the rocks just below us. It was awesome. Here, we also saw Clark's Nutcrackers and a Townsend's Solitaire (one of the surprisingly few for the trip). We continued down a ways, then stopped again to eat lunch and try to get both species of sapsuckers, which had been reported nesting there. This spot yielded some good birds so we ended up eating while we birded. We picked up Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Red-napped Sapsucker, Green-tailed Towhee, Steller's Jay etc. After we had finished eating we walked down the trail to where the sapsucker nest where supposed to be but we didn't find them. However, we got some excellent looks at a Hammond's Flycatcher, and somewhat less excellent looks at a Cordilleran Flycatcher. We also got all three possible species of nuthatches (White-breasted, Red-breasted, and Pygmy) all in the same spot. That was a nice addition to the day. We where standing under some huge pines when it started raining, so we waited there for a minute trying to stay dry but it only got worse. It started pouring down so we ran from tree to tree until it opened up into a meadow and then we had to abandon the idea of staying at least a little bit dry. We made a run for it and got completely soaked. At the start of the trail there was a sign with an over hanging roof so we all huddled under it until Bill and Michael pulled the vans up to get us. After being rained out of that spot, we went back up the road to another place to see what else we could find. By this time, it was only dripping compared to the downpour before so we got out and birded around in the rain for a while. It was fun, but also very cold since I had forgotten to get my rain jacket from the hotel that morning and ended up very wet. However, the birding in that spot was totally worth it! We saw Yellow-rumped Warblers singing and flying from tree to tree, as well as Warbling Vireos. I was still standing at the base of the trail when someone said "Blue Grouse." Needless to say, that got everybody's attention and we all hurried over to see it. A female Blue Grouse and three young were foraging right next to the trail. It seemed like they didn't even notice us; they completely ignored our presence and went on foraging. After a bit the female sat down under a bush and all three young crawled under her wing one at a time. We watched her for a long time and then moved up the trail. We didn't go that much farther but we got some fair looks at a MacGillivray's Warbler, and saw a few Mountain Chickadees. The Mac was hard to get a look at although we where really close because it stayed in the dense brush most of the time. On the way back down when we got back to where the Blue Grouse was, and the young came out from under the female's wing and all started walking around eating the buds of the little willows. One of the young got pretty close to Niko and Oscar, but then the female walked right up to them. It got so close that it was only about a foot from my hand. It was amazing. Both Oscar and Elise got some pictures when it walked up to us and I think they turned out pretty good. This was pretty much the best viewing opportunity you could ever hope to get for a Blue (now Dusky) Grouse!!!

After all this it was back to the hotel; we hung out for a while and went swimming (the hot tub was so nice after being cold and soaking wet). After swimming we ate dinner and then had a great workshop by Louise on Birding from a Naturalist Point of View. and finally got off to bed.

Day 5
Tuesday July 4th 2006

This was another early morning where we all got up then made our ways to the lobby to eat a quick breakfast before we loaded up in the vans to go birding. This time we headed to Boulder to spend the day, or at least part of it, birding with Ted Floyd. Ted is the editor of Birding Magazine as well as an especially skilled birder in his local area. We stopped in Boulder to pick him up then continued to where we would spend the morning.

As soon as we got out of the car, we started seeing and hearing all kinds of birds. Right away we got: Cliff Swallows, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Gray Catbird, Black-head Grosbeak, Yellow-breasted Chat, Downy Woodpecker, Western Tanager, Brown-headed Cowbird, Lazuli Bunting, Lesser Goldfinch, Violet-green Swallow, Green-tailed Towhee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Virgina's Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Swift, Canyon Wren, Western Wood-Pewee, Townsend's Solitaire etc. We birded all along the road on the way up to the parking area and then worked our way up a trail for a bit. Along the way we stopped, listened, looked, and discussed some of the identification characteristics etc. of many of the birds we saw. Steve, Michael, and Ted had a bit of an argument over the identity of an empid that they saw and eventually came to the conclusion that we'd have to leave it as unidentified.

Our next stop was at Walden Ponds. Probably the most exiting bird there was a Green Heron, which we were able to get some fair views of. Other than that there where scads of White Pelicans sitting out on an island in the middle of the pond and flying around overhead, as well as several species of breeding waterfowl. We walked around a few of the ponds, and picked up a few more species. Then we went back to the picnic pavilions and ate lunch. After lunch, we had our Digital Photography workshop by Bill. He had been going to do it the day before but that's when we were rained out so it was moved back a day. After this we went back to the hotel where we swam, and hung out, and nearly fell asleep during Steve's molt talk. It was a good talk but I know a bunch of us were super tired. We ate and had a panel discussion with the leaders and Jessie, a former young birder (now a getting older one) who dropped in. It was awesome!

After a long July 4th, instead of going to watch the fireworks we went to look for an Eastern Screech-Owl. Rachel Hopper had told us where to look for it in a park in the middle of Fort Collins, and sure enough, it came right away! It was the fastest owling I have ever done. As soon as Michael began calling the owl came right in and perched in the tree in front of us so we got it in the flash light!

Day 6
Wednesday July 5th 2006

This morning we left at about 6:00a.m. with Rachel Hopper to go look for Cassin's Sparrow. Sure enough, we got them almost instantly at our first stop. It was a bit foggy but nonetheless we were able to get some pretty good scope views of the Cassin's as well as other birds like Lark Bunting. Here we took a few group photos.

Our next stop was at a reservoir where we saw a ton of Great Blue Herons out on a little island somewhere around 30 of them! But by far the best birds of this stop were a family of Barn Owls which Michael found sticking their heads out of a little hole in the cliff above us. At first they where pretty easy to see but then they went in a little farther which made viewing a bit more difficult. We also saw more common birds such as; American Robin, Eastern Kingbird, Double-crested Cormorant and so on. The Eastern Kingbirds were sweet because you could see the little patch of red on their head if you were at the right angle. We also saw a Golden Eagle sitting perched up on the rock face. In one spot some of us laid down in the trail to cut out the noise of the river, so we could hear the bird songs better and I think Bill got some good pictures of us doing that.

After our short tour of the area it was time for half of us to go back to the hotel and for the other half to go straight to the airport. So we said some good-byes and loaded up. Back at the hotel, we packed up our luggage and I had to say good-bye to everyone else who would be leaving for the airport. All in all the 2006 YBC was an AMAZING event and I'd definitely have to say that the very worst part of it was having to say goodbye to all the great friends I made over the last 5 days. I was able to learn a ton from both the leaders and the other participants, and I can safely say that the YBC made me a better birder. So, I sincerely thank both the American Birding Association and the Colorado Field Ornithologists whose youth scholarship programs made it possible for me to go to this outstanding event!!! I would also encourage other young birders to attend upcoming YBCs.

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