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Greetings!
FALL SEED SALE IS ON! 20% OFF ANYTHING BIRDS EAT - ALL OCTOBER.
Buy as much as you want Use our Seed Vault program and save all year long. We keep it fresh ready for you to pick up anytime.
| WILD DELIGHT AGAIN SPONSORS THE FRBC 2012 PHOTO CONTEST |
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The 1st place winner will receive $200 worth of premium Wild Delight seed!
Pictured here is last year's winning photo of a young fox pup by Phil Lyon.
�The annual Front Range Birding Photo Contest is certainly one of our favorite activities. This is our 7th contest and we are pleased that the Wild Delight Company of Greeley, Colorado continues to sponsor the friendly contest. Every picture that you bring in tells a story and we welcome them all. Birds seem to always offer great photographic opportunities and we would love to see what you find out there. Who knows, maybe your photo will make you famous!
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| 2011 Happy photo winner! |
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2011 winner Phil Lyon picture with FRBC owner Diane Bush.
The contest rules remain essentially the same. We want to see who visits your backyard or who you run across while birding on the trails. Simply let us know when and where you took your best shot.
Many of you continue to give us the wildlife photos you take in and around your backyard. We really appreciate you sharing your joy of nature with us and the many customers who visit the store.
Thanks so much as the pictures are great educational tools!
The photo contest will be all yours and no purchase is necessary. Visitors in the store will be given the opportunity to judge and rank the top 3 entrants. Remember picture quality, subject uniqueness, and creative talent all count in the voting process.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will receive $200, $100, and $75 worth of premium Wild Delight birdseed respectively.
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| Contest Rules |
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Get your pictures in soon! The more they are viewed, the better chance of votes they have.
- 4" x 6" photos of birds & wildlife only
- Accepting photos from Oct 1 till Nov 30
- Voting done in store by customers Dec 1 till Dec 31
- Winners will be announced January 5, 2013
- All species count (even squirrels, bears, elk, deer, & raccoons!)
- 1st place gets $200, 2nd place gets $100, & 3rd gets $75 of premium Wild Delight Bird food
Good luck and good shooting (photos that is!) Look for our upcoming wildlife/Digiscoping Workshop date this Spring. See the details in our event calendar and online at frontrangebirding.com.
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| SPORT BIRDING WITH THE FRONT RANGE BIRDING COMPANY |
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Adding to the highly rewarding backyard bird watching pastime is the equally rewarding adventure of birding in the field. We welcome all who join us on our Front Range hikes, seminars, workshops, and tours. Many of these outings are free.
We believe birding is beyond the hobby definition. Birding is a sport. If you want to see every bird all it takes is some patience, an understanding of nature, and a willingness to get out there and "bird" in multiple seasons, habitats, elevations, and weather conditions. It is a wonderful natural world to explore and we can help to make it fun and easy for you to do.
Come bird with us! Here is a review of upcoming birding events we support at FRBC.
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| BIRDING HUDSON GARDENS |
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Enjoy a beautiful Fall walk in the park with Tom Bush
Saturday, October 6, 2012 8 am till 11 am
Explore with me Hudson Gardens and the fall migrants that commonly frequent the various habitats found there and along the South Platte River. On this walk you'll see songbirds as they migrate and winter residents as they settle into their homes for the colder months. Participants will meet at The Hudson Gardens Gift Shop. Dress for the weather, bring snacks, and binoculars. No prior birding experience is necessary.
Registration: $8/Hudson Gardens member, $10/nonmember. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Call the Hudson Gardens Education Department at (303) 797-8565 ext. 306 or visit shop.hudsongardens.org to register.
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| Walk the Wetlands with the Audubon Society of Greater Denver |
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WALK THE WETLANDS of Chatfield State. This very popular walk always is full of surprises.
Walk the Wetlands are normally scheduled for the first Sunday of every month. Spring and Summer walks are scheduled from 8AM - Noon
LEADERS: Hugh & Urling Kingery
(303-814-2723) and other
Master Birders
Pre-registration is NOT required. Meet in
the parking lot at the Audubon Center at
Chatfield. The Audubon Center is
located on Waterton Road, 4.4 miles south
of C-470 and Wadsworth.
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| Chatfield State Park Tours with Joey Kellner |
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We now support master birder Joey Kellner with his Chatfield State Park walks the last Saturday of January, February and March from 8 am till noon.
Joey Kellner began birding as a teenager (many years ago) and has served as president of the Denver Field Ornithologists (DFO), Joey is a naturalist, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm of not only birds, but reptiles, amphibians, mammals, butterflies, etc. Joey has been leading monthly bird walks at Chatfield State Park for over 13 years.
Joey's Chatfied State Park bird walks are scheduled for 4 hours, but participants are welcome to leave whenever they need to. We will look for birds in a number of locations inside the park. Meet inside Chatfield State Park at the Platte River parking lot (just east of Kingfisher Bridge.) No reservations necessary, just show up! Bring binoculars and scope if you have. Please no pets or small children.
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| FRBC and PARTNERSHIP WITH INTERNATIONAL BIRDING |
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There are many trips offered through our Partnership with International Birding (PIBIRD).
The Partnership for International
Birding combines the best of
effective local logistical operators
with some of the world's best bird
guides. At FRBC we want to offer our
customers a wide variety of
choices to meet their bird watching
travel needs. PIB is a great fit!
Check them out at http://pibird.com/ or give them a call at 1-888-203-7464 ext. 912 or direct at 720-320-1974.
Also check out trips offered by Tours by Turner.
- Bird Costa Rica March l9-April 2, 2013 with Noted Costa Rican birder, Max Vindas
- Bird Australia October l8-November 4, 2013 with expert local birder/naturalist guides
For more information about these trips, contact Bill Turner at (303) 795-5128/e-mail [email protected].
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| ***BARR LAKE PARK BANDING STATION OPEN THROUGH OCT 14*** |
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Weather permitting, the RMBO banding station at Barr Lake State Park in Brighton, Colo., will be open 6 days a week from 7-11:30 a.m. through Oct. 14..
Free to the general public after paying the $7 per vehicle state park entrance fee. If interested in scheduling a school field trip at the banding station, please contact [email protected] or (303) 659-4348 ext.11
Catch the action before the Barr Lake Banding Station closes on October 14!
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This MacGillivray's Warbler was caught at our Barr Lake Banding Station earlier this week.
A lot of action happening at the banding station!
On all of our birding trips/walks be sure to dress appropriately (layers), bring binoculars, and a snack.
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| Hogback Honey - Available |
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Pure raw local honey.
Great taste and a healthy choice from Colorado.
This honey is all natural and straight from our hives located at Jared's Garden Center in Littleton.
Starting in 2012 Hogback Honey hives are located in the Hudson Garden's Bee Yard in Littleton. Come visit the Bee Yard at Hudson Gardens. You can "meet the beekeepers" and see them at work at scheduled times.
The 2012 drought has been tuff on our bees and we are in contact with other local
beekeepers for access to their honey
crops as well. Currently we feature 3 types of honey: Sweet Clover from the plains, Alfalfa, and a popular "stout" from a mystery flower near Red Rocks Park .
Also now available is our very own hogback Honey "Healing lotion and lip gloss" made from natural oils and wax right from our hives at Jared's Garden Center.
Check out the Jared's Nursery bees in action here at Front Range Birding on Youtube.
Check with us for availability. Enjoy!
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| Best to all from all of us at FRBC |
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Tom, Sara, Diane, Shannon, Dave,
Jennifer, Esther, and Megan
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FRONT RANGE SPECIES PROFILE: The Downy Woodpecker |
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Picoides pubescens
By Chuck Aid - Audubon Master Birder
photo of male Downy by Lee Farrell
Colorado, with its great habitat diversity, is home, at least for part of each year, to ten of North America's 23 species of woodpeckers. Here in the Denver area we have two which regularly occur. One is the large and well-known Northern Flicker, famous for its loud drumming on buildings and stove pipes during breeding season. The other is the diminutive Downy Woodpecker which at less than seven inches in length and weighing less than an ounce, is the smallest woodpecker in Canada and the United States.
In its naturally occurring habitats the Downy Woodpecker is primarily found in lowland and foothill deciduous forests dominated by cottonwood, willow, or aspen trees. This makes it a natural for also showing up throughout the year in our backyards in the greater Denver area. It can be a wonderful treat to watch the acrobatic Downy feeding. As it clings to a tree it is constantly moving, flaking off pieces of bark to dig out a grub or batch of insect eggs, spiraling around a branch, hitching its way down a trunk, slipping to the opposite side of a branch to avoid detection by a small hawk, OR YOU. Last the Downy quickly flies to the next tree in a generally quiet, undulating flight. As you watch you may notice that males tend to forage on smaller branches, while females are seen more often on larger branches and trunks. Of course the presence of trees helps encourage them to visit you. The addition of some available suet will really add some extra enticement. You may also notice, especially through the winter months, that Downys will tend to show up in your yard in conjunction with other birds, such as Chickadees and Nuthatches. There are many thoughts as to why this occurs. The main ones are (1) there is safety in numbers, and (2) more eyes can readily help find food resources.
Roughly 80% of the Downy's diet is insect based with an occasional bit of fruit, berries, seeds, or sap thrown in for variety. Putting out suet is a great supplement for this insectivore. In the spring it helps it meet the increased energy demands of breeding and nesting, providing a ready food supply when insects may still be scarce. In the winter suet can help provide the nutrients necessary to help a Downy make it through the cold months. We have several varieties of suet at the store that Downys are sure to love.
The scientific name for the Downy is Picoides pubescens, meaning "woodpecker having downy plumage" referring specifically to the soft white feathers of the back. Downys are a primarily a black and white woodpecker and very similar in plumage to its larger relative of the mountains, the Hairy Woodpecker (which has hair-like feathers on its white back). The male has a small intensely red patch on the back of the head; and juvenile birds briefly sport a red forehead before obtaining their adult plumage in the early fall. A Downy can be distinguished from a Hairy by its overall smaller size, its relatively much smaller bill, and by the alternating black bars in the white of its outer tail feathers.
When nesting, Downys generally excavate a cavity in a dead branch or a snag, preferring softer wood - Not your house! Similarly in the fall both sexes excavate separate fresh cavities for winter roosts. A Downy will occasionally use a nest box for roosting, though it apparently never uses them for nesting.
Do you have a good Downy story? Come in and share it with us.
Good birding!
Chuck
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The Front Range Birding Company - A Proud Corporate Sponsor of the Audubon Society of Greater Denver and member of the Colorado Field Ornithologist
Great Optics are here at FRBC. Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss, and Vortex all offer exceptional quality products at an exceptional value.
THE TILLEY ENDURABLES AT FRBC: TILLEY HATS GREAT GIFTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN
PARASOL HAND-BLOWN GLASS HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS
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