I have agreed to lead a birdwatching group for the Estes Park Newcomers group for the next year (which runs July to June). The previous leader of the group was in failing health and while she could still be wheeled along and use her binoculars and decades of bird identification, she was limited by oxygen and she’s now living down in Boulder where hopefully the air is thicker and hopefully she can still occasionally get out for a birdwalk or birdroll, or whatever it might be for someone in a wheelchair.
I also am lamenting the dissolution of the Newcomer’s group’s Nature Photography group, when the two leading ladies “graduated” from Newcomers and cannot lead their groups anymore. This is supposed to encourage change, but sometimes, if nobody will step up, the groups end, which to me is a much greater tragedy than a five year membership limit. Some Newcomers groups don’t have a membership limit on years. Ours does. This has been the way for many years, and is accepted. I’m actually still able to be involved because we were granted an extra two years when Covid limited people’s participation in activities.
Anyway, I look forward to having a chance to lead the birding group to areas that are different from where we’ve been limited to the last couple of years. I am asking you Kosacks for ideas for where, in northern Colorado, we might be able to take birdwatching trips. Even just in the Estes area, we see different birds as we move from the area around Lake Estes, to grassland and scattered Ponderosa pine woodlands at lower (7000 foot elevations) just a little bit higher to thicker woods around the edges of Rocky Mountain National Park. I’ve hosted the group a couple of times to come out to see my birdfeeders around my house (8300 feet) and they see birds they don’t see down around town. I don’t see bluebirds up here, or some of the other meadow birds.
I’m looking for recommendations that you might have for where I could lead the group to get some variety. I’m willing to see if people might want to go up in the mountains to see what can be found up at Beaver Meadows and some other park sites. I think I might get some carpooling arranged to go down to some of the Open Space parks in either Boulder County or Larimer County where we might see migratory birds in woodlands, at quarry ponds, along some of the lower rivers where there may be waterfowl that I’m not as familiar with. I would really, really like to see a male wood duck (on my bucket list, just because it’s so handsome). I think we have a flyway for raptors going by along the front range, but I’m not sure. I might even be able to get some folks who would like to go see Sandhill cranes, either in the Sandhills of Nebraska or perhaps over in the San Luis valley. I also remember very fondly visiting a National Wildlife Refuge in SE Nebraska to see flights of tens of thousands of snow geese migrating, and I would love to see if I could arrange for our group to see something like that.
I also will be encouraging the group to bring cameras. Sure, binoculars are the tool of choice, but I have taken many, many photographs as we’ve been out looking for birds. Birds are generally the main subject, but I take photos of flowers, beautiful woodsy clearings, streams and lakes, elk and other furry wildlife. Some of those photos have made their way into my diaries here on Daily Kos, and I hope to get to see some of the pictures other people take. One of my big sources of angst is that it seems like everybody but me shares pictures over Facebook, and I’ve resisted having an account all these years. As a leader, I should be able to lead people through the various fun aspects of the group. It will be tough if I have to tell them I just don’t do Facebook.
So, I would appreciate any suggestions for any places where I could take my group within a couple of hours of Estes Park (it takes a full hour to get out of the mountains to Boulder, Loveland, Fort Collins, Longmont, etc). If you know of any online resources, like a place to monitor for rare bird sightings, or public programs that we might attend, I would be very grateful.
Well, I could go on and on and on, posting pictures from various trips that have nature as a subject, but I think you get an idea why I might want to take my camera rather than binoculars to preserve the memories. I hope you folks are able to give me some ideas for some good birding locations and also some good online resources. If they have to be Facebook, I may just have to bite the bullet.
In the meantime, the floor is yours to tell me whatever is happening in your corner of Colorado. Looking forward to hearing from you...