Cobirders,
2014 has been a spring migration of historic proportions for us birders here in Colorado. For instance, by my count I can come up with 40 warbler species reported for the state this spring (there are only 47 warblers on the Colorado Bird Records Committee list for the state).
Nevertheless, all good things come to an end, as the old yarn goes. Migration reports are fizzling out. Except for a Blue-winged Warbler here or an Eastern Wood Pewee there we have pretty much run through the season.
But don’t despair, now is the time to get ready for fall migration by signing up for the Colorado Field Ornithologists’ annual convention—scheduled for the last weekend in August (Thursday, August 28 through Labor Day, Monday, September 1st) in Sterling, Colorado. The last weekend of August is probably the peak of fall migration with hoards of shorebirds joining a steady push of migratory song birds as well as many eastern species pushing west to check out Colorado on their way south. So the birding at the convention will be terrific. But we will also feature the many extras that you have come to expect from a CFO convention: a no-charge Thursday night welcome BBQ; the ID Challenge; our annual scientific paper session presenting fascinating research results about Colorado birds; and our annual convention banquet featuring out keynote speaker, author and birder extraordinaire, Jon L. Dunn.
For years I’ve organized field trips to the northeast corner of the state at the end of August to capture this migration and the thrills range from the rare species, like Buff-breasted Sandpiper, for which we have only a very narrow window of opportunity at the end of August, to huge and breath taking congregations of more common species like 3,000 American White Pelicans, 1,000 Black Terns or 5,000 Baird’s Sandpipers. This is birding not to be missed.
And you won’t miss it if you sign up for this year’s CFO Convention by visiting http://cfobirds.org/convention/2014/index.htm
Bill Kaempfer
President, CFO
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