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 corvidc...@aol.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.