Purple martins are back in the hills

I have been eyeing several known martin locations during my travels and have noticed they have been mostly absent from the usual haunts.  Today, however, I found a male and two females at a single cavity in the middle of an aspen stand, much annoyed at my presence.
 
A good loop drive for martins is from Paonia north on the Stevens Gulch road, then east to 133 along the Buzzard Divide road, then back to Paonia along the highway.  Lots of other things to see along there as well, from tree and violet-green swallows to house wrens to hawks to blue herons.
 
Dennis Garrison

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There are baby grebes at Fruitgrowers!

Take your spotting scope.  Still a wide variety of birds to be seen, from clouds of swallows to a raft of pelicans.  The bald eagles down below Delta appear to have produced at least one chick, as well.

Dennis Garrison

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Annual Picnic June 25

Join us on June 25 for our annual dinner in Montrose. This year we'll
get together for an outdoor potluck at the home of Alan and Susan Reed,
2705 Stellar Court. (Take Vega Drive west from 6700 Road to reach
Stellar Court.) Bring a dish to share and your own service. The chapter
will provide a beverage. fIn addition to dinner we'll have officer
elections, a silent auction, and program by Doug Oren of the U.S.
Geological Survey.
Doug Oren is studying how elk movement in the Crawford area is
affected by human traffic. In the same area, the BLM has begun to
monitor potential traffic impacts on Gunnison Sage-grouse. Funds are
being sought to expand the study to include GPS/radio transmitters for
Sage-grouse, in order to get a better understanding of the interaction
between humans, elk and Sage-grouse.

Bluff Birds

I can't put out state stuff on COBIRDS but I think I can post it
here. I just returned from three and a half days in rainy Bluff, Utah
birding the San Juan River tams, olives and cottonwoods, and it is
highly recommended. Right now it is fairly easy to find Lucy's Warbler
and I think there could be cuckoos in a couple of weeks. Lucy's can be
heard from patches of dead cottonwoods-for instance where the channel
has moved, leaving them suddenly too dry. Good river birding spots
include the southeast edge of town and the BLM land, south of the
airport. A Summer Tanager pair is reportedly nesting in town as we
speak, although I didn't see them. Of course the area also has
Moab-like scenery, but with surprisingly few tourists, and doesn't seem
to have grown that much over the last twenty years.

BD

Riparian Restoration - Volunteers needed!

Volunteers Needed to help with Riparian Restoration efforts along the
Gunnison River .  The BLM will be planting cottonwoods along the Gunnison
River on May 19, 20 and 21 to improve the riparian habitat.  Help is needed
to complete this project and can be anywhere from half-day to all three
days.  This would be a great opportunity for Black Canyon Audubon members
to improve important habitat for birds.  If interested, please contact
Amanda Clements (970-240-5306; amanda_clements@blm.gov).

Cheryl Day

International Migratory Bird Day

Just a reminder that International Migratory Bird Day is coming up.  Typically celebrated the second Saturday in May, the single date has been emphasized less in recent years to accommodate a wide variety of projects and activities that were difficult to fit into a single weekend day.

This year's theme is "Celebrating Birds in Culture".

Information on IMBD can be found at the official IMBD website at www.birdday.org or at the US Fish and Wildlife Service website at http://www.fws.gov/birds/imbd.html

To see what migratory birds are passing through these days, keep an eye on the slideshow to the right.  Photos get added regularly, often daily.  Click on any thumbnail to access the full sized image.  Many of the photos are also available in slightly larger formats as well. If you can't click in time, buttons appear over the thumbnail which allow you to scroll back into the slide show, or forward if you are searching for a particular photo.  If you have need of bird or other photos for non-commercial purposes, contact dennisgarrison@hotmail.com

 

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River Ecology Day in Hotchkiss

Today all the third graders from Hotchkiss Elementary School spent the
afternoon by the North Fork River, the final project for the ecology
unit the third grade has been studying. Among other things the kids
learned about birds from Black Canyon Auduboners Dennis Garrison and me.
We had a ton of fun with these bright children. Dennis shared pictures
and posters about Bird Migration Day (coming up), and taught the kids
how to look at birds' bills to learn what kinds of food they eat. We
brought along BCAS's wonderful bird skins collection, and the kids loved
touching the feathers, beaks, and feet of preserved birds like the great
horned owl, black billed magpie, and red crossbill. We talked about
common birds in the area and watched swallows and Say's Phoebes. Dennis
designed a great game that had kids hunting for food cards to match bird
cards. He set up his scope and we all got a good look at fuzzy yellow
goslings swimming behind the big Canada geese.
Maybe your school needs a river ecology day? Maybe you'd like to
borrow the bird skins to share with children? We would be happy to share.
Jane McGarry

Poem by Jim Harrison

Age Sixty-nine

I keep waiting without knowing
what I'm waiting for.
I saw the setting moon at dawn
roll over the mountain
and perhaps into the dragon's mouth
until tomorrow evening.

There is this circle I walk
that I have learned to love.
I hope one day to be a spiral
but to the birds I'm a circle.

A thousand Spaniards died looking
for gold in a swamp when it was
in the mountains in clear sight beyond.

Here, though, on local earth my heart
is at rest as a groundling, letting
my mind take flight as it will,
no longer waiting for good or bad news.

Often, lately, the night is a cold maw
and stars the scattered white teeth of the gods,
which spare none of us. At dawn I have birds,
clearly divine messengers that I don't understand
yet day by day feel the grace of their intentions.

Jim Harrison <http://poems.com/feature.php?date=14363>

In Search of Small Gods
Copper Canyon Press <http://www.coppercanyonpress.org>

fowarded by Jane McGarry

Coen and Brenda's Ecuador presentation

Western Colorado bird gurus Coen Dexter and Brenda Wright spoke to a crowd of about 50 birding enthusiasts last night at Memorial Hall in Hotchkiss.  They had a wonderful slide show and narrative of birds, bird habitats, lodges, and various icky creatures from their recent trip to Ecuador.
 
Thanks to Coen and Brenda for taking two months to travel to go get the photos (sigh), Jason for technical support, Jane for bringing them to Hotchkiss, and everyone else who lent a hand last night.

 

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Talk at Paonia River Park today

Above:  Jane McGarry and Dennis Garrison describing how to find birds.
 
One of the groups watching tree swallows foraging over the North Fork of the Gunnison
 
 
Jane McGarry and Dennis Garrison gave presentations today at Paonia River Park on how to find birds.  The event was part of the Earth Day celebration sponsored by the North Fork River Improvement Association www.nfria.org .   About twenty children and a mixed bag of teenagers and adults listened to a variety of talks, including the birding talk, a presentation on how to identify tracks and scat, a Leave No Trace talk, and a riparian demonstration put on by NRCS.
 
Cedar Keshet of NFRIA, with help from some BCAS folks, put together a handout of birds likely to be found at the park, which Dennis (wearing his Forest Service hat) laminated so they can be reused.  The birds, however, did not read the handout, and the ones which showed up at the park today were not the ones that were picked for the handout, with the exception of a mallard and a magpie.
 
Other birds seen during the talks and brief walks included:
 
tree swallows (many)
red-winged blackbirds
ravens
crows
a falcon (prairie or peregrine, not close enough to identify)
a golden eagle
a turkey vulture
a red-naped sapsucker
 
Birding was tough, with a gravel pit next door, a highway across the river, and the North Fork in full runoff mode.  All the kids had fun, though, which is all that matters.
 


 

 

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