NEW!
Stephen Tarnowski's news corner
14 April 2026 Listen to an interview on KDUR, featuring Stephen Tarnowski (DBC Field trip Coordinator) and Lisa Wilk (Wednesday Morning Walk Leader) interviewed by Louise Snodgrass. In case you missed it, here is another chance.
Gunnison Sage Grouse field trip a success by Kristi Streiffert.
The Durango Bird Club field trip to see the Gunnison Sage-Grouse was successful! Here is our Group Summary of the experience. You can also see various reports on the ebird hotspot called Waunita Hot Springs lek.
A small group of DBC members braved the early morning cold (15 degrees) to witness the unique mating displays of the endemic Gunnison sage-grouse on April 4, 2026. Viewing of the lek (breeding grounds) was from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Waunita State Wildlife Area outside of Gunnison(18.5 from Intersection of HWY 50 and Main), which is only open for viewing a nearby lek about 20 days per year. All the dates and viewing rules are here.
Additional Comments: It is shocking that this amazing bird was only recognized in 2000, making it the first new bird species described in the U.S. in over a century. There are fewer than 5,000 of these birds left, and its status as a near-endemic Colorado makes it even more of a treasure to have in Durango's "backyard." The bird gained threatened status in 2014.
Here is an article about the "discovery" of the bird: Link.
Here is an article about the listing of the bird - at the time, no one was happy about it (conservationists wanted it to be listed as endangered and ranchers wanted to protect it through voluntary efforts): link.
You can (and should!) find lovely videos of the birds close-up, but what we saw was so far away that we just barely made out the tail feathers wagging and wings fluffing. Somehow, though, being physically present made the experience impactful in a way that videos can't match.
Bird watchers look through scope set in a van, which is used as a blind. Photo credit: Kristi Streiffert.
Wednesday morning bird walks will be back in the spring, starting April 1. Come join the fun!
27 May 2024 by Kristi Streiffert
May 10 was "Team Building Day" for hardworking Durango Bird Club board members. We had decided to meet at 7 am at Pastorius Reservoir, bird for a few hours and then eat a picnic brunch. That was the plan anyway. Within the first hour, however, we had spotted an ebird FIRST for La Plata County - a flyover by a Hudsonian Godwit! After looking at each other stunned, someone said, "It landed at the far end!" We alerted other birders in the region via WhatsApp, and then we hurried down to the other end of the lake, where we got good photos.
About the time we were settling in to brunch in the parking lot, birders from the area started pulling up to look for the rare godwit. It looked like law enforcement arriving at an incident. We offered some brunch, but they were too excited by the possibility of spotting the godwit to stop. Though the target bird had flown on by then, an amazing Stilt Sandpiper (a first for several of us) and an uncommon Bobolink made good consolation prizes.
Thank you to all the board members who contribute so much to making our La Plata County birding community awesome.
1 May 2024. From Ryan Votta: "I wanted to share some exciting news about our beloved Pastorius Reservoir State Wildlife Area. This past April Pastorius took top honors for the most species observed at a single eBird hotspot within the entire state of Colorado! Yesterday, we added Great Egret and Lazuli Bunting which put us a single species ahead of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR. Collectively we observed 147 species in April and added two new species to the Pastorius all time list, Mexican Duck and Acorn Woodpecker. Currently Pastorius has a grand total list of 271 species.
Even more impressive is that Pastorius is top of the list for eBird hotspots for the year. We currently have 159, putting us 5 ahead of the second place Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR. Our friends and neighbors to the west in Montezuma County are also off to a terrific start to the year, sitting in 7th place overall on the Colorado County leaderboard with 212 species already observed in 2024."
Northern Shoveler X Cinnamon Teal. Photo by Lisa WilkThis lovely drake was enjoyed on a field trip to Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, March 13-14 2023.Click here to see the list of birds seen.By John Bregar We had a really fun two-day field trip to the San Luis Valley on Monday and Tuesday this week, barely sneaking our adventure in between weather systems. The main draw of our trip was to experience huge flights of Sandhill Cranes at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge -- and we did see lots of cranes! Plus lots of geese, including Greater White-Fronted, Ross's, and Snow Geese. We also explored an intriguing trail and wetland system along the Rio Grande in the town of Alamosa, drove lots of rural agricultural lands, and visited the Russell Lakes State Wildlife Refuge. All of these areas would be interesting to visit later in the year, when so many more species would be present. Highlights of our trip, besides the cranes and geese, included a beautiful hybrid Northern Shoveler X Cinnamon Teal, a couple of Northern Shrike (or possibly the same one twice), two Rough-legged Hawk, a Prairie Falcon, three Great-horned Owl, six American Tree Sparrow, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and two flocks of 30 each Wild Turkey along the Piedra River on our way home. We finished with 50 species on our trip list.
13 April 2024: Birdwatchers, boaters and families visit Lake Nighthorse on opening day by Christian Burney
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