I was fortunate enough to be able to break away and attend the Colorado Field
Ornithologists and Western Field Ornithologists annual meeting in Estes Park
Colorado. It took place from June 14 to June 16, had three field trips, one
short evening session, one paper session on Saturday afternoon and the
obligatory banquet and speaker. Of course everything had to start early in
the morning. On Friday I got up at 3:30, and Saturday and Sunday I got a
break and only had to get up at 4:30 am. Fridays field trip was to the
Pawnee Grasslands which had plenty of longspurs, sparrows, Lark Buntings and
mosquitoes and heat. Saturday we went up (12,000) to see the White-tailed
Ptarmigan and we had to leave earlier than expected because of a heavy
snow-storm. Sundays field trip was down at 7000 feet so we were back to heat
and mosquitoes and treacherous terrain. Below are some random notes on the
three days.

Field Trips
Friday
Left at 4am to reach the starting point for the Pawnee Grasslands field trip.
After bird-watching in the tall grass of North Dakota in Minot with the ABA
this was an opportunity to study short-grass prairie. The park we met in
(Crow Campground) had both Orchid Oriole (Icterus spurius) and Bullocks
Oriole (Icterus bullockii), Eastern (Tyrannus tyrannus) and Western kingbird
(Tyrannus verticalis), Northern Mockingbird (Mimulus Polyglottus) , Brown
Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) , Northern Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis),
Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), and Rose-br. Grosbeak (Pheucticus
ludovicianus). Leaving the park we went out in the surrounding area to find
lots of McCowns Longspur (Calcarius mccownii), Chestnut-collared Longspur
(Calcarius ornatus), Cassins Sparrow (Aimophila cassinii) and Lark Buntings
(Calamospiza melanocorys). At one point in the road we listened to the
vocalizing of Cassins Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum
), Brewers Sparrows (Spizella breweri), and flybys from Lark Buntings and
longspurs. We also saw nesting Swainsons Hawk (Buteo swaisoni) and
Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis).

Saturday
The target bird was the White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus). One of the
members of CFO has been involved in a 30 year study of the species. They had
a nest located and we went up to almost 12000 (11,856) to view the bird.
Watching ptarmigan is like watching some of the tundra pick up and move.
Since we had heat and mosquitoes the day before we had hard rain today,
except for the time with the ptarmigan. The snow storm that came was
impressive. We eventually went down in elevation and birded in the rain. I
found a Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) for my other highlight of the
day. Further down in elevation as the rain slowed I saw the rocky mountain
subspecies of the Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus). A few people found
the Three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus).

Sunday
Sylvandale Ranch at about 7000. A mixture of riparian woodland (aspen) and
ponderosa pine. Just imagine walking through Ponderosa Pine while trying not
to step on blooming cactus. Highlight for me on this trip was the Virginia
Warbler (Vermivora virginiae) and the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icterus virens).
The Chats was seen fairly often and were vocalizing. The song of the Spotted
Towhee (Pipilo erthrophthalamus) was very different and I kept asking "Whos
that?". The terrain was rugged and we were off trail a lot and the
combination of the heat, mosquitoes and elevation wore me out. I reminded
myself that I was having a good time.

I had four life records, the White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus),
McCowns Longspur (Calcarius mccownii), Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius
ornatus), and Cassins Sparrow (Aimophila cassinii). There were two species
that I had only seen once before, the Virginia Warbler (Vermivora virginiae)
and the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icterus virens). And one new subspecies the
rocky mountain version of the Hairy Woodpecker.

The programs
In addition to the field trips of course are the programs and there was lots
of information. Sometimes too much. The following papers were presented on
Saturday.
Populations and Movements of the American Coot with Emphasis on the Central
and Pacific Flyways, Ronald Ryder, Dept. of Fishery & Wildlife Biology, CSU.
Shorebird Utilization of the Central Valley of California, David Shuford,
PRBO
Recommendations for Protecting Raptors from Human Disturbance: a Review,
Clinton Miller, City of Boulder Open Space Dept., Boulder
Taxonomy of the Marsh Wrens of Western North America, Philip Unitt, San Diego
Natural History Museum
State of the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas, Hugh Kingery , Coordinator,Colorad
Breeding Bird Atlas
The Field Ornithologists Legacy: Repositories for Field Notes, Kimball
Garrett, Los Angelos County Museum
The Bird Identification Panel, (with Bill Tweit from WOS) as one of the
panel) chaired by Peter Gent.

The Saturday evening program was a talk with slides on the work being done on
the White-tailed Ptarmigan. Im impressed that resources have been gathered
to allow a 30 year study of one bird. One of the findings that was discussed
was the impact of the elk on the ptarmigan. Over the past 20 years the Rocky
Mt. National Park has chosen to not put any controls on the elk population.
To let nature take its course. So of course the elk population is expanding
greatly and it would seem that the elk are coming up and competing with the
ptarmigan for the tundra. Over the same 20 years the Ptarmigan population is
decreasing. Letting nature take its course is a nice idea but unfortunately
in this situation it seems that nature had already been changed a great deal.
Prior to letting nature take its course many of the larger predators were
moved out of the park and there are few population controls on the elk
population. Everybody that I talked to agreed that a study needed to be done
to determine the carrying capacity of elk for the park. The town of Estes
Park is really feeling the impact of the elk. There was a report in the local
newspaper of an elk giving birth near the center of town and chasing two
people who in the course of walking home happened upon the elk, forcing one
of them to dive into the river to escape the elk. But nobody figures that
once the park got to a point that they decided to help control the elk
population that they would have an opportunity to do that once word got out
in the general population. Try and explain to the general population why a
national park has to shoot native elk.

It was a great three days. I got to see a lot of old friends, meet some new
ones, learn about new research, see new terrain and even some new birds.


Jim Rosso
Issaquah
206-392-8440