2021 Interludes Trips - To Be Announced
Note for 2021: This year trips will likely be announced as a group in mid-2021 or individual trips will be announced throughout spring/summer of 2021 as we figure out if and how we can safely offer these trips.
Bringing the Natural History of Boulder County Bats to Light
Join Boulder County Audubon on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 to learn to delve into the nocturnal and often enigmatic world of bats with Rick Adams.
Old South St. Vrain Road (Lyons) with Carl Starace
Possible sightings as we stroll along Old St. Vrain Road include Wild Turkey, Great Horned Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, Plumbeous Vireo, Violet Green Swallow, Yellow Breasted Chat, Canyon Wren, Yellow Warbler, and, no doubt, a surprise songbird!
Colorado Birding Challenge – A Grassland Bird Conservation Fundraiser
The Colorado Field Ornithologists invite interested birders and nature enthusiasts to participate in the first annual Colorado Birding Challenge on May 8, 2021.
Wild Patagonia – ONLINE MEETING
Join Boulder County Audubon on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 to explore the wild places of Patagonia, Chile with Anyll Markevich.
Colorado’s Natural Areas Program: highlighting and conserving natural values in Boulder County and across the state – ONLINE MEETING
Join Boulder County Audubon and Lynn Riedel on Tuesday, March 23rd to learn how a small but important state program is conserving biological and geological diversity across Colorado.
Some Birds, Mostly Herps of Lincoln County, CO – SOLD OUT
Leader, John Vanderpoel
Fee: $125
Limited to 8
Monies raised from Interludes with Nature trips, provide the opportunity for Colorado teens, including our Teen Naturalists, to attend nature camps in Maine or the Colorado Rockies.
Registration: Registration information here.
Lincoln County is incredibly rich in reptiles with 11 species of snakes, including 2 kinds of rattlers, 2 species of skinks, Painted Turtles and 4 types of lizards, most notably the Short-horned, a species of special concern. October is the month when snakes heading to their winter hibernacula become easier to spot along dirt roads in eastern Colorado.
We will leave from Boulder on Saturday morning, and in early afternoon, visit a private ranch north of Limon to look for reptiles and birds. During this late migration period, we are likely to find raptors, sapsuckers, lingering warblers and wintering sparrows. After breakfast on Sunday morning, we head east to work the gravel roads for migrating snakes and reptiles. We will drive home later in the afternoon..
Although John is best known as an elite birder, he is passionate about herpetology and makes several trips a year searching out various species in their preferred Colorado habitats.
You are responsible for the cost of your night in the hotel as well as all meals. Most of Limon’s hotels serve breakfast and it won’t be necessary to start early on Sunday. BCAS will provide snacks and soft drinks. We expect all participants to listen carefully and obey all directions from John concerning approaching any snakes. You will risk a “time out” if we feel that you are endangering yourself or others!
Migration Big Day and Big Sit: Postponed to Fall 2020
Leader: Luke Pheneger
Fee: $50
Limited to 15
Monies raised from Interludes with Nature trips, provide the opportunity for Colorado teens, including our Teen Naturalists, to attend nature camps in Maine or the Colorado Rockies.
Registration: Registration information here.
Mid-May is a sweet spot for witnessing the widest variety of migratory birds in Boulder County. Join one of this area’s most accomplished young birders, Luke Pheneger, for a big day adventure in this rich and varied habitat. About 100 species should be attained with the expected mix of ducks, geese, shorebirds, herons, egrets, hummers, woodpeckers and songbirds, including warblers and sparrows. The Sawhill and Walden conservation areas are surrounded by Boulder Creek and include marshes, ponds, meadows and woods. Many rarities have been reported over the years and with Luke’s exceptional eyes and ears, you might well expect some pleasant surprises.
After a full morning of birding, bring a folding chair, take your picnic lunch break and do a Big Sit for a while, while all scan the skies and marshes for more species. Then, it’s back for another loop around the complex to see what has arrived. BCAS will provide soft drinks and treats. Be prepared to walk 2-3 miles and bring a picnic lunch, binos (please ask if you’d like to loan a pair), scopes, cameras and the usual outdoor gear.
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: A Little Night Music With Bugs!! – SOLD OUT
Leader: Scott Severs
Location: TBD
Fee: $35, limited to 8
Join Scott Severs for a late afternoon and early evening musical experience with the singing Orthoptera: crickets, katydids, and cicadas. This Order of insects provides the musical undertones to the nights. We’ll learn how to find them, their adaptions to produce their songs, and simple ways to record their voices. You will be surprised by the variety of songs and and the beauty of the singers.
Bring a camera with a flash and macro lens for close up photos. Scott is one of Boulder County’s best all round naturalists, with a passion for teaching.
Registration Information: here
Marvelous Moths of Boulder County with Pam Piombino
Marvelous Moths of Boulder County with Pam Piombino
Friday, July 24, 2020
7:45 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
No cost, limited to 8, RSVP to Pam Piombino
Leaders: Pam Piombino, piombino.pam@gmail.com
Please join Pam Piombino for an evening introduction to the “night butterflies” of Boulder County, CO. Why moths? They are major and undervalued pollinators, they are major food sources for bats, birds, mammals (including bears!), reptiles, spiders and other insects. They are often as beautiful as their day-flying cousins or incredibly cryptic. There are tens of thousands of species, making them one of the most diverse life forms on the planet.
This evening is timed to be part of an annual event, National Moth Week, during which citizen scientists from around the world put out special lights to lure moths to white sheets. Our findings will be shared with major online biological databases. You will help document diversity, seasonality, distribution and variability. Please no pets, no nets.
Where to Meet: Details will be provided to those who RSVP.
Emeralds? In The Woods? High Elevation Dragonflies and Butterflies – SOLD OUT
Leader: John Barr
Fee: $35
Participants are expected to comply with current government social distancing requirements and precautions. Participants must wear face masks throughout the event and must maintain 6 feet distance from other participants who are not members of the same household. Participants are discouraged from carpooling to and from this event with other participants who are not members of the same household.
Banding Baby Barn Owls (2 spaces open)
Banding Baby Barn Owls (2 spaces open)
Leader: Scott Rashid
Date: Early evening, last third of June, 2020, depending on the birds
Location: TBD
Limited to 12 people
Fee: $50.00
Monies raised from Interludes with Nature trips, provide the opportunity for Colorado teens, including our Teen Naturalists, to attend nature camps in Maine or the Colorado Rockies.
Registration: Registration information here.
Back by popular demand: In 2014, Scott Rashid, of the Center for Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute, (CARRI), embarked on an experiment. Would there be more Barn Owls in Boulder County if there were more breeding cavities? With grants from Boulder County Audubon and others, Scott began installing nest boxes on private properties in northern Boulder County. Since then, dozens of baby Barn Owls have fledged and been banded. Thousands of people have addictively watched one of his live web cams to follow the fascinating processes of courtship, breeding, brooding, hatching and the feeding of these enigmatic birds.
Join us early one evening to watch Scott band the nestlings from one of these sites on private property. Scott will talk about the biology of this very special species and the amazing places in which some of his bands have been recovered. You will have charming photo ops and perhaps the opportunity to even hold one of the young.
Scott is an artist as well as a licensed bander and rehabilitator. He has authored and illustrated the following books, all of which are available through him: Small Mountain Owls, The Great Horned Owl, an In-Depth Study and Northern Goshawk, The Gray Ghost. His newest, published in October of 2019: Exploring The World Of The Barn Owl.
Birds of Sawhill Ponds with Jack and Ryan Bushong
Birds of Sawhill Ponds with Jack and Ryan Bushong
Sunday, May 31, 2030, 7 a.m.-10 a.m.
Free, limit 23
Leaders: Jack and Ryan Bushong
Walden and Sawhill Ponds are fantastic this time of year. Shorebirds are migrating through the ponds and marshes of this lovely wildlife area. We may find Marbled Godwits, Short and Long-billed Dowitchers, Long-billed Curlews, Whimbrels, Phalaropes, Sandpipers, Ploves, Ibis, Avocets or Black-necked Stilts. The ponds should also feature Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teals as well as a host of other ducks that haven’t yet left. As a bonus, it is also the peak of migration for Broad-winged Hawks. Plus warblers have started showing up, including Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, and almost anything else.
Where to Meet: Meet at the Cottonwood Marsh (Walden Ponds) parking lot off of 75th Street. Bring the usual gear, good walking shoes, hats, water, snacks, scopes and binoculars.
Shorebirds in the Grass with Steve Jones
Join longtime Boulder Audubon member and former president Steve Jones to learn about the shorebirds in the grasslands on Tuesday, May 26th 2020. In addition, to the fascinating talk by Steve, this meeting will include the BCAS Board elections and the presentation of our annual awards. To nominate yourself or someone else, please write crossbill@boulderaudubon.org by 15 April 2020.
It seems strange but more than a dozen familiar shore and wading birds don’t nest by the ocean at all. These “upland” shorebirds and waders lay their eggs in the soft grasses of some of our most verdant prairies, or sometimes on bare sand flanked by tufts of grass. Though the presentation, we’ll journey to the Nebraska Sandhills to explore the lives of Piping Plovers, Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, Willets, Upland Sandpipers, Black-necked Stilts, White-faced Ibis, and many more. Along the way, we will explore why so many of these species are thriving in this oasis on the Western Plains.
Steve Jones is author of The Last Prairie, a Sandhills Journal, and co-author of The Shortgrass Prairie, the Peterson Field Guide to the North American Prairie, Colorado Nature Almanac, Wild Boulder County, and Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range. Steve organized the first comprehensive small owl and wintering raptor surveys in Boulder County. He helped organize and carry out the first and second Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas projects. His 28 years of consulting work includes more than three-dozen breeding bird and resource inventories for city, county, and state open space programs. He taught in the Boulder Valley Public Schools for 33 years, and he is a past president of both the Boulder County Audubon Society and Boulder County Nature Association.
The Language of Birds with Nathan Pieplow - online meeting
Join bird song specialist, Nathan Pieplow, for an evening of song exploration. Birding by ear opens up new birding opportunities but is frequently a challenge for many bird enthusiasts. Nathan’s research and publications help bring understanding to vocalization with visualization of calls and songs.
Nathan Pieplow is a professor of writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado. He is also a specialist in avian vocalizations and the author of The Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America and The Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Western North America. You can learn more about his ongoing research into vocalizations on his site earbirding.org.
Denver - Boulder City Nature Challenge 2020
Join the Denver-Boulder City Nature Challenge 2020 and help us show the world how biodiverse the Denver-Boulder region is by documenting as many plant & wildlife observations as you can on iNaturalist during the four-day BioBlitz! Please observe any local restrictions but as this is an individual or family activity, you can do this even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BioBlitz: April 24-27, 2020
Species IDs: April 28-May 3, 2020
Its easy:
Download the free iNaturalist app & create an account.
Get outside & take photos of insects, wildlife, & plants
Upload to iNaturalist with a species name, location & date
You can also learn more about the global City Nature Challenge.