D.F.O. Monthly Meeting
Nick Komar - The Gulls of Colorado
Monday, January 24, 2011
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
7:30 p.m.
Colorado is a mecca for bird diversity within the USA, but few people
think of gulls with respect to this diversity. Yet Colorado’s Front Range
has become one of the premier gull observation sites in the interior United
States; this was recently demonstrated by the famous visit of the Ross’s
Gull to Denver’s Cherry Creek Reservoir. This is partly due to human
population growth – we provide plenty of irresistible offal in our landfills,
as
well as numerous venues for gull revelry, drinking, and fine dining among our
myriad man-made reservoirs. It is also due to the very source of Colorado’s
avian diversity itself – the location of Colorado at a continental
crossroads, the intersection of the Western mountains and the Eastern plains.
In
addition to several species of gulls that commonly populate the interior of
the continent, Colorado is occasionally visited by maritime stragglers from
all directions of the compass – north, south, east, and west. To the
delight of birders at least twenty-one species of gulls have graced Colorado’s
lakes and landfills, and more species are certain to show up in the future. A
small group of birders suffers an odd predilection for studying gulls and
that group is always on the lookout for Colorado’s next gull species. These
people call themselves larophiles (the gull’s avian family is Laridae), or
gull-lovers. Nick Komar is one such larophile. At the January DFO
meeting, Nick will present “Gulls of Colorado”, a photographic overview of
Colorado’s gulls, with insights on where they come from, how to identify them,
and
which ones to look for next.
Nick has been an active member of Northern Colorado’s birding
community since he moved to Fort Collins from Massachusetts in 1997. It was
at
that point that he began his career as a biologist for the U.S. Public Health
Service (working on West Nile Virus and many other topics), an occupation
which allowed him to continue his lifelong study of birds. Missing the
familiar coast of New England, Nick was drawn to the “seagulls” that abound in
Colorado. Nick now considers himself a “larophile” – a lover of gulls –
and frequently finds himself perched on some frigid lakeshore with one eye
glued to a telescope studying gulls flying into a distant communal roost on a
cold winter evening. During one interview when asked about the spectacle of
Bald Eagles Nick responded, “Eagles are dull. Gulls are much more
interesting.” Nick published an article and photographs in Colorado Birds
documenting Ring-billed Gulls feasting in midair on Russian Olive fruits.
Nick
led the CFO field trip to view Colorado’s first state record of a Kelp Gull in
2003, and has led numerous gull workshops for Fort Collins Audubon Society.
Join DFO for an interesting and informative evening discussing this
sometimes intimidating group of feathered creatures -- you yourself may come
away from this presentation as DFO’s newest larophile!
Future Meetings
February 28, 2011
Paul Bannick -- Owls and Woodpeckers of the West: A Visual Feast
As in his recent book, Paul will take DFO members on a visual and
auditory exploration of habitats of the West through the owls and woodpeckers
that most define and enrich them.
March 28, 2011
An unusual DFO meeting offer: A DMNS Behind the Scenes Museum Tour
Directions
The Denver Field Ornithologists monthly meetings are held in Ricketson
Auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in City Park. These
meetings are free and open to the public and occur on the 4th Monday of each
month August through April (except December). Park on the north side of the
Museum and walk around and enter through the Museum's west door. Plan to
arrive by 7:15 p.m.; DOORS OPEN BY 7:00 AND ARE LOCKED AT 7:30 P.M. If late,
you can enter through the security/volunteer door, but this does create
problems for our hosts at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Submitted by Chris A. Blakeslee - DFO Board Member
Centennial, Colorado
[email protected]
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