CFO Convention in Lamar!
May 20, 2024
The Colorado Field Ornithologists annual convention, held in Lamar, Colorado ended up being such a wonderful and immersive event. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up, and it all seemed a little intimidating, but I’m so glad I joined this annual event!
The Colorado Field Ornithologists organization got its start with Robert Niedrach’s students. Robert was an ornithologist at the Denver Museum of Natural History and his students started the Colorado Bird Club in 1935. These participants began venturing out into the field and conducting research, which contributed to ornithology. Around 1962, more and more bird clubs had formed across Colorado. In 1963, the first annual convention, where members, bird enthusiasts, scientists, speakers, and more came together to lay the foundation for the future annual gatherings that would be held. At this point, the Colorado Bird Club renamed itself the Denver Field Ornithologists (since its members were mostly Denver based) and a new club called the Colorado Field Ornithologists took shape. The split was warranted to provide a state-wide organization to support bird clubs and study across Colorado. A few years after the reorganization, in 1967, the first publication Colorado Birds Journal began. This is now called Colorado Birds and is a quarterly publication. Over the last sixty years, the Colorado Field Ornithologists organization has helped bridge the gap between amateur birders, to seasoned professionals, to photographers, tour guides, and enthusiasts alike. The overall mission of CFO is “…devoted to the study, conservation and enjoyment of Colorado's birds.”
Now, in 2024, CFO had their 61st annual convention. Each year the convention considers different locations so birders have a chance to see a variety of birds and habitats alike. This year’s convention in Lamar, Colorado focused on the variety of habitats and migrant hotspots of a “cold, semi-arid climate”. It was intriguing to visit this area, as I have only stopped through on a road trip many years ago, and it would hopefully reveal a host of new birds that I would not normally see near Denver!
A Canyon Towhee (new lifer species for me) posing in the beautiful countryside at Higbee Cemetery (a somewhat historical location south of La Junta, Colorado) - 5-3-2024
I signed Don and I up to do a caravan trip from Fort Collins to Lamar on Thursday, May 2 so we can meet some fellow birders and hopefully see some new birding spots/species along the way. We got an early morning start and caravaned out to Last Chance, Colorado for our first stop. Along the drive to Last Chance we started seeing a nice mix of eastern plains birds, including our state bird the Lark Bunting, along with Horned Larks, Western Meadowlarks, Western Kingbirds, and even a Ring-necked Pheasant! After Last Chance, we made our way along primitive dirt roads northeast of Hugo, Colorado, where our leader mentioned we might get a chance to see the “near-threatened” Mountain Plover. With some persistence, our group was able to locate one among the plowed dirt fields, and it was a treat to lay eyes on one!
The well-disguised Mountain Plover, a shorebird that does not live near mountains or water! 5-2-2024
We managed to make several more stops along the way and add more “lifer” birds to my list. Lifers are simply birds you haven’t ever seen before. For birders, these are exciting occasions and are often met with collective joy and high fives from the group! As the day went on, the heat crept up and we could tell we were getting closer to southeast Colorado. We managed to get into Lamar around 5:30 pm, just in time to check into our hotel and get to the welcome picnic at Willow Creek Park.
We arrived at the park to a larger than expected crowd of birders checking in and mingling. The caterers - from Tavern 1301 - a restaurant located in The Historic Cow Palace (the host hotel) - were busy grilling up delicious burgers and kettle chips. We got our welcome packets, shirt, and hat. As we sat down to dinner, we were delighted to see so many birds all around the park, including another new species - the Mississippi Kite! Apparently, Willow Creek Park is a nesting habitat for these beautiful birds. We later learned that the town of Lamar spread birdseed around the park to draw in some birds for our event! Now it was time to get back to the hotel and get prepped for the next days’s 4 am wake-up and adventure to Higbee!
A Mississippi Kite faces off with a European Starling. Mississippi Kites are expanding their range northward and delighting birders in new places where Kites have never been seen before. 5-4-2024
The next morning, we woke around 4am and gathered at the Historic Cow Palace to meet our group for the day. We would be traveling quite a distance west to La Junta, then south into the rural area of Higbee. This trip would take us into Pinyon-Pine and Cholla territory where we had hopes of laying eyes on ladder-backed woodpeckers, rufous-crowned and black-throated sparrows, canyon towhees, and maybe even a vermillion flycatcher! We headed out well before sunrise and arrived at Higbee Road right as the sun was coming up. At the first stop, everyone jumped out of the cars with enthusiasm, shouting out “canyon towhee!”, “northern mockingbird!”, “curve-billed thrasher!” as others clamored “where!?” The first stop was a bit chaotic as I didn’t know what direction to even look! We all calmed down a bit and made it further down the road to the cemetery. This cemetery is on the Colorado Birding Trail and has yielded some wonderful bird sightings. While we were there, we got a better view of both the Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Canyon Towhee, along with an Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Broad-winged Hawk. All of these were new species for me!
Ladder-backed Woodpecker posing on Cholla. 5-3-2024
After the cemetery, we came to a bridge that was bustling with bird activity! We ended up seeing some very neat species, including out-of-range Summer Tanagers, a male and female Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Rose-breasted and Blue Grosbeaks, and a Louisiana Waterthrush (previously thought to be a Northern Waterthrush)!
A Louisiana Waterthrush (part of the warbler family) walks along and hunts for insects under the bridge. I'm still not 100% convinced it's a Louisiana versus a Northern - what do you think? 5-3-2024
Everyone was so thrilled by the stop at the bridge, and the sightings we had in this tiny location were amazing! I added another handful of new species to my life list and was excited to see what the rest of the day would bring. Our next stop was at a small rancher’s property (Dave and Brenda Daniher) just on the other side of the bridge. The rancher and his wife try to leave their property as natural as possible, allowing birds to have sanctuary. They mentioned they’ve had vermillion flycatchers and painted buntings nest on their property; they have an active Great Blue Heron heronry; they have the Purgatoire River (pronounced Purgatory) run through their property, along with great stories of how the Spanish lost their gold in the river, but died trying to find it again (thus they were stuck in “purgatory” for which the river was then named). They also breed, raise, and train Shire draft horses. We enjoyed listening to the stories and taking a tour down to the river to look for new species. Along the way we heard a Northern Cardinal call, glimpsed a Yellow-breasted Chat hidden in the bushes, and saw a tattered Turkey Vulture fly overhead. We also heard the Chihuahuan Raven call out to its mate as they flew overhead in the distance. The people were incredibly kind and friendly, and this was a big highlight of our day! You can see their website and get a bit more information about them here.
A Shire mare at the ranch. 5-3-2024
Tattered Turkey Vulture giving us a fly-by. 5-3-2024
We ended our day near Higbee with a surprise snake in the middle of the road! We helped it get across the road safely, then headed back to Lamar to unwind for a few hours before getting up early again for the next day’s adventure!
Gopher Snake on Higbee Valley Road. 5-3-2024
The next day, we got up early again and headed to explore the area around John Martin Reservoir State Park. Today’s goal was to find a couple of rare birds that had been spotted in the area, and see if we could find any shorebirds passing through! We began with a leisurely walk around the campground where we were inundated with Western Kingbirds! It was really fun to see and hear so many all around. Along with Western Kingbirds, we had some fun sightings of a Swainson’s Thrush, Black-necked Stilts, and Red-necked Phalaropes! We even got a better look at a Vermillion Flycatcher. We had seen one the day before, but it was really far away. It was great to see another one close up and get a chance to watch its flight display!
We ended our birding with a detour to the little town of Wiley where there were reports of a Baltimore Oriole was hanging out. We spent a good hour watching and waiting at a resident’s back yard. There were easily a dozen species feeding - house finches, house sparrows, mourning doves, American goldfinches, pine siskins, common grackles, great-tailed grackles, red-winged blackbirds, European starlings, Bullock’s orioles, and even a black-chinned hummingbird and female rose-breasted grosbeak. We were all waiting with bated breath for the star of the show to arrive - and then he did!
Baltimore Oriole. 5-4-2024
After our detour, we arrived back to the Historic Cow Palace for some scientific talks. We enjoyed an in-depth discussion about the Loggerhead Shrike and some theories about how/why it impales its prey. Maybe I’ll have a blog about those birds in the future! We decided we would go out and explore the birding trail behind the Lamar Community College that evening since there had been reports of several more special birds hanging around - including northern cardinal, ovenbird, and great-crested flycatcher! We did end up seeing the Northern Cardinal - another new species for my list!
Northern Cardinal. 5-4-2024
For our final day at the convention, we were signed up to participate in a “chase trip” to see if we could track down unique birds from previous days. This time, we got started even earlier and headed east towards Kansas to see if we could see the lesser prairie chicken on the lek. We arrived southeast of Holly, Colorado, again taking primitive dirt roads to our destination. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the prairie chickens. Our next stop was a random rest stop along I-70 near the Kansas border. At this location we managed to get an interesting assortment of birds, including Harris’ sparrows, a barn owl, a great horned owl, and black-billed magpies. We didn’t stay too long before we were on the way to chase down northern bobwhites at Amache National Historic Site. Even though we did not see any bobwhites, we did get a chance to hear them calling and we got to explore an important historic site. After striking out on 2 species we all really wanted to see, we went back to Lamar to see if we could track down the Greater Roadrunner and Great Crested Flycatcher that had been sighted the previous day.
Our unlucky streak ended and we were successful in seeing both species!
After the excitement of finding the roadrunner and flycatcher, the group decided we would make another stop in Wiley to see if we could turn up the Baltimore Oriole again…then after that we would end our tour at Melody Temple. Melody Temple was a bit of a birders paradise on the southeast plains. Although we didn’t see anything too exciting, it was a nice way to end our event before the long drive home!
If you want to learn more about attending the next CFO conference, joining as a member, or supporting their cause, please visit their website here.
You can see my full photo gallery of this event here.
If you have any questions about anything mentioned here, please reach out to me! Thanks for following along!