BY MELISSA HOWELL
A cacophony of songbird melodies fills the surrounding woods, lakes, fields and ponds during the warmer spring and
summer months. While their chorus is 
largely silenced during the winter months, there are still plenty of local birding
opportunities during the winter.
“This is the most popular sporting activity in America,” says J.D. Birchmeier of Longmont, member of the Boulder Bird Club and executive board member for the Boulder County Audubon Society. “It has more people doing it. Most are strictly looking out the back window at what comes to their birdfeeder. So there’s no such thing as a true beginner, because everybody knows a robin. And there is no one who will call themselves an expert, just some might know more than others.”
Birchmeier says a typical bird trip in the summer nets a sighting of approximately 60 different species, while a winter bird trip yields about 30 species.
Golden eagles and bald eagles stay in Colorado year-round; according to Birchmeier, there are five pairs of bald eagles that nest in Boulder County: one pair west of Longmont, one pair south of Longmont, one pair east of Boulder, one pair west of Boulder, and the other pair’s location isn’t widely known.
“Nobody wants them to be bothered,” Birchmeier says. “Unless everyone knows about it – like the osprey at the fairgrounds – no one will tell you about it.”
While the osprey migrate to Texas for the winter and the Swainson’s hawks winter in Argentina, a number of hawk species reside in the area throughout the year: Ferruginous, red-tails, Cooper’s, Kestrel, sharp-shinned and rump-legged, while rough-legged hawks come to Colorado from Canada in the winter.
Another year-round resident is the great horned owls. Like eagles and hawks, great horned owls start breeding around the first of February, and they can often be found in old hawk or heron nests. Xcel Energy has an owl cam installed at the Valmont power
station 260 feet up, where viewers can observe great horned owls raising their young. Visit the owl cam at http://birdcam.xcelenergy.com/owl.html.
Around the Longmont area, Birchmeier says Birch and McCall lakes off of Highway 66; Lagerman Resevoir; Golden Ponds; Roger’s Grove across from the fairgrounds; Union Reservoir; and the woods on the south side of town are some of the best birding areas.
Birding can be done alone, but birding with a group of people optimizes the chance of seeing a wider variety of species. Several local birding groups
offer field trips and events throughout the year, including the Boulder Bird Club, the Boulder County Audubon
Society, and the Boulder County Nature Association. Most of the field trips are free.
“Show up and act dumb,” Birchmeier says with a smile. “Field trips for the Boulder Bird Club are free, just offer $1 for gas. Knowledgeable birders take you out, and anyone can go, no matter how much or little you know. We pretty well take anybody. We had people from Poland last year, and an Australian that came with us all summer. The locals know the birds and where to find them.”
Along with many guidebooks available, Birchmeier recommends “Birds of the Rocky Mountains” as a good guide for those interested in birding; there is also a children’s version available. Also, the Colorado Field Ornithologists have many good online resources.
