The Journal
The following tours being offered during the Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival still have space available:
May 10, Half-Day Birding Tour Offers Optics TrainingThis half-day tour to the Geer Natural Area at the north edge of Cortez will provide birders with a hands-on opportunity to learn or improve skills in using binoculars and spotting scopes. Geer Park’s year-round pond attracts Scrub Jays, Northern Flickers, waterfowl and waders as well as a variety of sparrow and finch species.
May 11, Birding Echo Basin TourLinda Martin, retired Interpretive Ranger, Mesa Verde National Park, guides the 15th Annual Ute Mountain-Mesa Verde Birding Festival’s Birding Echo Basin tour. Visit Hackley Place and portions of the historic Reddert/Brown Ranch, plus a sizeable pond to view – a habitat mix that may attract waterfowl, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Red-naped Sapsucker, warblers, bluebirds, jays, nuthatches and swallows.
May 11, At the Foot of the Mesa Birding Tour This new birding tour visits the iconic RSL Ranch, registered as a Colorado Centennial Farm since the 1980s. Backdropped by Mesa Verde National Park, the ranch holds over a thousand acres of scenic sagebrush habitat. Tour participants will help establish a bird survey baseline for species found within this historic property that encompasses critical connective wildlife habitats.
May 11, Free Family Birding OutingThe free Family Birding Outing takes place from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and is designed for ages 5-12 with an accompanying adult. This activity promotes awareness of kids’ daily surroundings. Explore bird habitats while learning to identify some common local species. Depart from the Cortez Cultural Center at 8:30 a.m. and travel by personal vehicles to the Butler Nature Center and alpaca ranch near Dolores. If desired, bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the tour. Pre-registration required.
May 12, Lost Canyon and the Lake at Summit Ridge Birding TourThis tour offers a variety of birding habitats. Lost Canyon’s riparian corridor, once a route for a historic narrow gauge railroad and the Galloping Goose, attracts flycatchers and other passerine species. Stands of Ponderosa entice Grace’s Warbler, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, jays, and accipiters like Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s hawks. The Summit Lake State Wildlife Area’s avian visitors include waterfowl and shorebirds with willows and aspen trees attracting warblers, sparrows, bluebirds, flycatchers and other species.
May 12, Mother’s Day Special Birding Tour This tour features a Mother’s Day treat that incorporates a morning of birding Mancos hotspots with a gourmet brunch at a unique home that offers a 360-degree scenic view plus more birding opportunities. The tour starts with a visit to a prime cavity nesters site before proceeding to Cottonwood Park to look for grosbeaks, orioles, Black and Say’s phoebes, American Dipper, hummingbirds, and warblers. Later, participants can wander a pinyon-juniper habitat in search of cavity nesters, Violet-Green Swallows, bluebirds, or this year’s poster bird, a Black-throated Gray Warbler. Mothers accompanied by a full-paying offspring receive a discounted tour fee.
For more information about the tours and the 15th Annual Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival, visit www.utemountainmesaverdebirdingfestival.com or call the Cortez Cultural Center, 565-1151, ext. 14.
