I am posting this trip for four reasons. 1. I like company when I go birding. 2. I want a good start to my birding year. 3. We did not list Floyd Valmont trip in our DFO trips for January. 4. We need to reduce number of cars at parking lot at Valmont.
Note: Do not RSVP in anyway for this trip. Just show up. Here is the trip plan for Saturday, January 8: 1. Meet at Trading Post at Red Rocks by 8 AM. Come earlier if you want (but chase nothing away). Bring bird seed to support supply there is always appreciated. We will hope for Rosy Finches and the beloved 4 (Curve-billed Thrasher, Golden-Crowned Sparrow, White-Throated Sparrow and more). We will likely bird in this area for about 1 to 1.5 hours. 2. About 10 AM bird towards Valmont. 3. We will likely organize car pools on Highway 36 at some spot to reduce parking jam at Valmont. 4. Get to Valmont at about 11:45 and find some parking at that time there. Note: Pointers on Floyd Valmont Birding Extravaganza below. We will likely bird here until dark, hoping for some keen gulls and more. Hope to see you all on Saturday: Charles Thornton-Kolbe, DFO President P.S. I am fully responsible for not getting this included in the DFO Lark Bunting. My bad (as the youth say). Pointers on the Floyd/Excel Valmont Birding Extravaganza (which should have been in DFO's Lark Bunting): 1. The Floyd Valmont Extravaganza has become quite the local/regional event. We've made it "user-friendly" with the 12:00 (noon) start time, plus options for folks with limited mobility (e.g., dads with baby-joggers, folks on electric scooters, that sorta thing). Participation has exeeded 100, with at least 121 people signed up for the Jan. 9, 2010 offering. Expect a similar crowd in 2011. 2. The huge group does break up into smaller groups from 8 to 30. 3. We'll have eight leaders going at several paces form EZ to intensive. One group will be "easy" and laid back--suitable for folks who want to spend just a few hours and not walk long distances. The other groups will walk a fair bit, and encounter the famous/notorious icy plank crossing. 4. It can be COLD and WINDY and down right CHILLY. Sometimes in can be very pleasant. Bring coats of many layers. 5. The leaders include: a. Ted Floyd, Editor of Birding, American Birding Association (ABA); member of Board of Directors, Colo. Field Ornithologists (CFO). b. Jeff Gordon, President, ABA; prominent international bird tour leader. c. Marcel Such, considered to be one of the country's top teenage birders; with younger brother Joel Such, compiles popular "Notes from the Field" column for CFO's journal, Colorado Birds. d. Nathan Pieplw, national expert on bird sounds; Editor, Colorado Birds (CFO). e. Bill Kaempfer, professor and mucky-muck (GOOGLE this and get it right), University of Colorado-Boulder; Vice President (I think??), CFO; long-time Boulder resident and county birding expert. f. Bill Schmoker, Immediate Past President, CFO; one of the country's best-known bird photographers. g. Mike Freiberg, w/Nikon Sports Optics. Also Note: Dave Madonna from Xcel Energy is the Valmont plant engineer and much appreciated host of this event. 6. IMPORTANT. NO RSVP. JUST SHOW UP **BY** NOON. I'd suggest trying to arrive by 11:45 a.m., as there will be serious car congestion. URGE folks to carpool or take the bus. (Bus stop on Arapahoe just a few hundred feet from the plant entrance.) Trip is free and open to the public. 7. Sponsoring Organizations Include: American Birding Association, Boulder Bird Club, Colorado Field Ornithologists, Denver Field Ornithologists, Xcel Energy, Nikon Sport Optics. 8 Summary of Recent Rarities from Past Years: Here are some birds this trip has produced in recent years: in 2010, Mandarin Duck, Thayer's Gull, Iceland Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Great Black-backed Gull; in 2009, Mew Gull; in 2008, Thayer's Gull; in 2007, Thayer's Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Chihuahuan Raven, and Brown Thrasher; and in 2006, Red-necked Grebe, Carolina Wren, and Swamp Sparrow. This trip also produces such goodies as Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Bald Eagle, Harlan's Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Golden Eagle, Merlin, Prairie Falcon, Northern Shrike, and American Pipit. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
