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Colorado Field Ornithologists
Annual Birding Conference
Fort Collins, Colorado ● May 21–24, 2010
2010 Convention Art by Saraiya Ruano
Come join us for the biggest birding event of the year in Colorado! Meet new friends, attend fascinating programs, and of course go birding!
This year’s conference will be based out of Fort Collins, in the northern Front Range region. We’ll be there at the absolute best time of the year for the maximum number of bird species—migrants, breeders, and residents. Along with the expected species, we are bound to find rarities.
Who should attend? Answer: Anybody who’s interested in birds! Expert birders will be there to help beginners, intermediate birders, and anybody else who wants to learn about birds. We especially encourage young birders to attend, and we have several youth scholarships available. See below for details.
Our base of operations will be the Fort Collins Hilton, (click for reservations!) conveniently located along U.S. 287 a few miles west of I-25. That puts us less than an hour from timberline, prairie, and Wyoming. Along with lodging at the main conference site, there are plenty of other hotels and camping options quite close to the Hilton.
We are very excited that the keynote speaker at our evening banquet is Dr. Craig Benkman, the world’s foremost authority on the Red Crossbill. Dr. Benkman will talk about the different “types” of Red Crossbills, several of which may be full species. This topic is of great relevance to Colorado birders, because several Red Crossbill “types” occur regularly in Colorado.
Other presentations will be given by Lynn Wickersham on the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas, Jason Beason on Black Swifts, Tammy VerCauteren on Sludge Dump to Meadow: Making Conservation Happen, and and Tony Leukering on “Nomenclature.”
As usual, there will be an evening “Stump the Chumps” panel; come watch
members of the Colorado Bird Records Committee writhe in agony—and learn about bird identification in the process.
At our banquet, there will be awards, announcements, and a brief members’ meeting. Throughout the meeting, vendors will represent birding organizations, optics companies, and so forth. Join us, too, for an evening book-signing. Meet your favorite authors of books on Colorado birds. Note: The American Birding Association has donated a free copy of its new beginner’s guide, Let’s Go Birding! (byTed Floyd and Bill Schmoker) to each conference attendee.
Attention, Young Birders. We can help with registration costs. Please indicate on your registration form that you are a young birder. Speaking of young birders, CFO is delighted that our official artwork for this year’s conference is by Saraiya Ruano, a sophomore at Colorado College, and a well-known bird artist and writer.
And last, but certainly not least...Field Trips! These are the highlights for most attendees, and this year’s field trips promise to be brilliant. Here are just a few of the offerings:
● Special expedition to learn about Red Crossbills. With Craig Benkman.
● Phantom Canyon Preserve, a spectacular private holding of The Nature Conservancy.
● Bugs. (That’s right. What birds eat.) With David Leatherman.
● Chase! (The only goal of this trip is to find rare birds.) With Mark Peterson.
● Bird Photography Workshop. With Bill Schmoker.
● Slacker Trip: Bare-naked Birding with Ted Floyd. (Rated R.)
● Wyoming Hereford Ranch. One of the greatest migrant traps in the region.
● Atlasing. Birding with a purpose. With Lynn Wickersham.
● Plus, trips to “normal” places like Crow Valley and Estes Park.
● And, all-day trips to Jackson, Prewitt, Jumbo, and beyond.
Please note: The preceding is tentative. Some new trips may be added, and not all of the preceding may run. But the list above should give you a feel for the fantastic trips we are offering.
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