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2nd Annual Mountain Plover Festival |
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The Second Annual Mountain Plover Festival was held in Karval on April 25th, 26th and 27th. A wide variety of bird watchers gathered in Karval to observe and enjoy the wildlife of Karval and the surrounding area. Although the Plover was the main attraction, the other wildlife of the area provided a variety of opportunities to learn and observe.
The Mountain Plover is a species of special concern in Colorado. Although the name is misleading, Mountain Plovers do not breed in the mountains or shores. They prefer short grass prairies, freshly plowed fields, other short vegetation areas about two inches or less, and bare ground. More than half of the world's population nests in Colorado, making it the primary breeding ground for the Mountain Plover.
The groups on each day varied in size and visitors came from all over Colorado, and one from New Mexico.
Available for questions and education were Seth Gallagher and Tammy VerCauteren from the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Ken Morgan, Vicky Dreitz, John Koshak and Linda Groat from the Department of Wildlife, and Katy Fitzgerald and Bill Noonan from U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Members of the touring group and local landowners also contributed a great amount of information about wildlife, conservation, and history of the area.
The Karval Community Building was the main meeting place for the event, and also hosted a variety of vendor booths and information.
Friday evening kicked off the festival with Willing Workers serving 47 people at the registration ice cream social.
Saturday's tours began with breakfast at the Branding Iron Calf-A, and a group of about 30 departed on the school bus at 6:00 a.m. The tour group spent the morning on the Weininger-Davis ranch, in pasture area and along Horse Creek. The group then returned for lunch served by Friendship Circle. In the afternoon tours, they visited a variety of different properties, stopping along the tour to observe wildlife along the road.
Karval FFA served approximately 75 for supper, followed by entertainment by Karval Junior/Senior High School music department and cowboy poetry by Floyd Beard.
Sunday Breakfast was served by the Karval Lions Club. After breakfast, a group of about 17 spent the morning touring Karval Lake, a few other areas and spent the remainder of the morning at Stogsdill's on the Horse Creek. The group returned for lunch served by Karval 4-H, and spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring.
Photos from the 2nd Annual Mountail Plover Festival can be viewed by Clicking Here . To submit a photo, please contact us .
Click Here to read the Rocky Mountain News Article
April 2008 Bird List
Saturday:
*W. Meadowlark
*Burrowing Owl
*Killdeer
*Horned Lark
*Mourning Dove
*Mountain Plover
*Say’s Phoebe
*N. Mockingbird
*Amer. Kestrel
*Brewer’s Sparrow
*Red-tailed Hawk
*N. Flicker (red-shafted)*
*Wilson’s Phalarope
*Common Raven
*Mallard
*Gadwall
*White-crowned Sparrow
*Scaled Quail
*White-faced (?) Ibis
*Vesper Sparrow
*Great Horned Owl
*Euro. Starling
*Loggerhead Shrike
*Lark Bunting
*Swainson’s Hawk
*N. Harrier
*Red-winged Blackbird
*Ferruginous Hawk
Sunday:
*(Black-caped Chickadee) –not on official tour
Mourning Dove**
Mountain Plover
*Willet
N. Harrier
Horned Lark
Wilson’s Phalarope
Mallard
W. Meadowlark
*Semipalmated Plover
*Amer. Coot
Say’s Phoebe
*Brown-headed Cowbird
*Brown Thrasher
Red-winged Blackbird
Great Horned Owl
*Lark Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
*Chipping Sparrow
*Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
*Eurasian Collared Dove
*Song Sparrow
Swainson’s Hawk
*Yellow-rumped Warbler – Myrtle’s
*Yellow-rumped Warbler – Audubon’s
*Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
*Cliff Swallow
*Amer. Robin
*Spotted Towhee
Amer. Kestrel
*Downy Woodpecker
*Bullock’s Oriole
*Someone later mentioned they saw a yellow-shafted N. Flicker
**Non-bulleted birds are repeats of the previous day. |
