|
Greetings!
THE FRONT RANGE BIRDING COMPANY - FRBC:
A Nature Center For You and Your
Family
| Walden |
 |
Picture perfect place for birds
The Audubon Society of Greater Denver has put together a great summer trip. This adventure in the heart of Colorado colonial nesting country is sure to delight any and all birders and nature lover/photographers. The trip leaders are myself and Lee Farrell (Lee won the ASGD photo contest last December and is a Walden expert.) It includes a drive up the west side of the Rocky Mountain National Park over Berthoud Pass through Grand Lake to the picturesque town of Walden, Colorado. There on the edge of North Park lies the Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge and several reservoirs teaming with nesting Western Grebes, Eared Grebes, American White Pelicans, Cormorants, Herons, Forster's Terns, numerous ducks, and raptors to include Bald Eagles, Ospreys, hawks, and falcons.
|
The excursion begins Saturday morning August 14th with a rendezvous at the historic Peck House Hotel in Empire, Colorado where the group will observe the multiple hummingbird feeders stretched along the hotel's front porch. While enjoying coffee and snacks and the entertainment of up to 4 species of hummers, we will meet, greet, and review the trip details. From Empire the group will caravan to a key birding spot just past Grand Lake to bird for several mountain species and have lunch. Afterwards the group will travel the scenic and educational drive to Walden. This portion of the trip brings to light the vast damage to the subalpine forest the Mountain Pine Beetle has done. One will wonder what forest succession plan Mother Nature has in store for our Rocky Mountains. In and around Walden (the Moose Capital of Colorado) we will enjoy a bountiful birding and photographic opportunity.
|
Accommodations are in the new wing of the North Park Inn with the Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch at local Walden eateries. Sunday we will return over Cameron Pass and enjoy majestic Poudre Canyon with stops to photograph moose and marvel at more hummingbirds.
|
If you would like to see Western Grebe chicks ride mom's back, a male Ruddy Duck territorially beat his chest, fish herding Pelicans, the seemingly suicidal vertical dive of a Forsters Tern, the avian colonial occupation of reservoir Islands, or hear a Wilson's Snipe winnowing then join myself and Lee Farrell on this ASGD birding adventure. We love to not only spot the birds, but linger with them a while to observe the distinctive behavior that makes each of nature's creatures so special.
Be sure to bring your camera, binoculars, and a spotting scope if you have one. We will focus on optics during the trip and share the many techniques and secrets needed to take great photos of birds, wildlife, and landscapes.
|
For more information contact us at FRBC or the Audubon Society of Greater Denver at (303) 973-9530. Spaces are limited and we expect the trip to fill fast.. Sign up with the ASGD. Cost is $170 for ASGD members, $195 for double occupancy. Non-members add $40. Price includes one night lodging, continental breakfast and Sunday lunch. Saturday lunch and dinner are on your own. All proceeds directly support the Audubon Society of Greater Denver.
|
| CHECK OUT THE FRONT RANGE BIRDING APPROVED TOURS, |
|
|
| NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH HARRY FULLER AS GUIDE - SEPTEMBER 17-22 2010 |
|
|
Tour majestic Northern California with our expert guide Harry Fuller this September.
|
|
Have you always longed to bird the Pacific Coast? In five days, you will add dozens of lifers, if California is new to you. Or, have you
not seen those Black Oystercatchers and Chestnut-backed Chickadees since you got a great digital camera? Well, this is your trip.
Come see the embattled Yellow-billed Magpie, a California endemic decimated by habitat loss and West Nile Virus. As an extra you
will be able to go on one of the Pacific Coast's finest pelagic trips, and you'll have a chance for enjoy some of America's most
elusive species. The whales, Sea Otters, California Sea Lions, Giant Sequoias and Redwoods are a bonus.
Check out the Northern California trip here.
Coming soon. South Texas March 20th - 26th 2011. Photography and digiscoping tour with Bill Schmoker.
|
| SIGN UP FOR A WALK THE WETLANDS BIRD WALK OUTING |
|
WALK THE WETLANDS
The first Sunday of every month from 8 AM till Noon
Join with the Audubon
Society of Greater Denver and
Hugh and Urling Kingery along with other Master
Birders with the ever popular "Walk the Wetlands"
series in Chatfield State Park. Easy walking. Meet
at
the Audubon Center at Chatfield on Waterton Road,.
(Take Wadsworth 4.4 miles south of C-470.) Call
303-
979-2473 for details.
On all walks be sure to check the weather and dress
appropriately. Wear a hat, long pants, and dressing in
layers is always a good rule. Also be sure to bring
binoculars, water, and a
snack lunch.
These free hikes are very educational and
popular. Call us at the store for details and directions.
Space is limited so call early to reserve your quick tour
of Front Range natural habitats.
|
| We also like TOURS BY TURNER |
|
|
Those in the know love the birding adventures offered
by Bill Turner. The two we are most fond of are:
Bird Australia
October 22-November 9, 2010
trips are led by Bill Turner with expert
local
birder/naturalist guides. Maximum
group size is ten.
The Australia tour will visit the renowned
birding
locales of O'Reilly's at Lamington National Park,
Kakadu National Park, and the Atherton
Tablelands/Daintree areas in northeast Queensland.
The land cost is $5595 per person double occupancy
with airfare approximately $l800 from Denver.
Maximum group size is l6.
For complete itineraries and bird list, please contact
Bill Turner at (303) 795-5128 or e-mail him at
[email protected].
|
| 2010 FRBC OPEN HOUSE A GREAT SUCCESS |
|
We at Front Range birding would like to express our deepest gratitude to all those that support our nature store. It is our great pleasure to host the annual open house and support The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund.
We hope we serve you well. Please let us know where we can improve.
|
Big Pappas at Open House.
|
| SUMMER CONTAINER SALE IS ON THROUGH SEPTEMBER |
|
Till the end of summer you can get 50 percent off any 20 or 25 pound bag of birdseed when purchasing a 10 gallon S&K container. These are great birdseed storage bins and the savings on seed cannot be beat.
Limit is 4 bags of seed at 1/2 half price. You can mix and match any bag of seed. The container cost is only 26.95.
While supplies last. A great deal even if you don't need a can.
|
| HAPPY BIRDING! |
|
|
Tom, Diane, Shannon, Dave, Jennifer, and Sara.
|
|
Sticky (but sweet) Business |
|
|
|
The dog days of summer are almost on us. That means hobby beekeepers such as myself are beginning to prepare for the fall harvest of a Colorado treasure well worth the toil of our labor of love. Our own beehives of "Hogback Honey" located at Jared's Garden Center are promising to produce a bumper crop of sweet clover and Alfalfa honey that many of our customers rave about. However the incredible rich taste this local wild flower honey yields is only one reason I do this loony business. My curiosity with nature is peaked by the unique and fascinating honeybee lifestyle. No other insect in the Animal Kingdom accomplishes and contributes so much without harming, killing, or maiming in order to survive. While providing for itself, the honeybee pollinates the vast croplands of America that are invaluable to our economy and supper table. It is said that without the honeybee there would be no supper for most of us.
Not to be confused with aggressive wasps and yellow jackets, the vegetarian honeybee is actually passive in nature and only stings when provoked. This social insect's survival depends on the group dynamics of up to fifty thousand bees in a single colony. Hard work, strict job descriptions, and coordinated interaction of all members dictate the hive's success. Thousands of worker bees (undeveloped females), a few hundred drones (males), and a single queen make up the hive. No single bee can live on their own. The workers forage, protect the hive, tend young, clean up, and make honey. The queen has one duty - lay up to 1,000 eggs per day depending on the season and hive needs. A selected female egg will become a queen if fed what is known as "royal jelly" by workers. Drones are simply unfertilized eggs that become the lazy males that hang out in the hive. Since they come from an unfertilized egg, drones have no father. but they do have a grandfather on their mother's side. Huh?? The drone does have a purpose though and that is to mate with any available virgin queen. Sounds appealing but after one mating his life is almost immediately over! Virgin queens will mate with 18 or so drones and store enough sperm to produce about a million bees in their lifetimes.
Our intrepid bees have many enemies. A recent phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has plagued them and bewildered us. No one knows the CCD cause which has wiped out two thirds of the feral hives in America and a great number of agricultural hives. Some studies reported by CNN link the problem with cell phones. Another report called "One Simple Thing" champions urban beekeepers such as myself for filling the void and becoming the bees knees road to survival.
My wife Diane does cringe at the thought of what the upcoming harvest will do to our kitchen floor. One drop of honey seems to give an annoying stick to the bottom of your shoe with every step taken in the entire house. That aside the back bending harvest, extraction, straining, and canning of the honey is a self-rewarding joy I look forward to. We expect our best crop yet and are currently taking reservations for this nature's best sweetener.
Like to know more about the beekeeping hobby? Contact us at FRBC. We are happy to mentor on the birds and/or the bees anytime.
|
The Front Range Birding Company - A Proud Corporate Sponsor of the Audubon Society of Greater Denver
Great Optics are here at FRBC. Leica, Swarovski, and Vortex are offering exceptional deals on their high quality products.
THE TILLEY ENDURABLES AT FRBC: TILLEY HATS GREAT GIFTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN
PARASOL HAND-BLOWN GLASS HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS
|
