The 10th Annual Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival is pleased to announce that Richard Cachor Taylor, author of the popular photo field guide, Birds of Southeastern Arizona and other Borderland guidebooks, is the festival's 2014 keynote speaker.
Every serious birder dreams of someday adding an Elegant Trogon to a birding life-list. In 1977, while Taylor was studying trogons in the Chiracahua and Huachuca mountains of southern Arizona, he logged the only known encounter in the U.S. with an Eared Quetzal, Central America's beautiful Bird of Paradise. Taylor's Saturday-evening topic focuses on Six Seasons of the Apache Year. The 2014 poster features a regional cavity nester - the stunning Lewis' Woodpecker.
The 2014 Birding Festival schedule includes overnight trips to Moab and Telluride, two pontoon boat tours on McPhee Reservoir, plus several new day tours and an extra evening tour for owling. Tours that have garnered high species counts are offered again.
All tours rely on qualified birding guides who volunteer time and expertise. Vans are donated to transport festival participants to the birding sites.
Donations from individuals and businesses, in the form of cash or items for the Silent Auction, help make the Birding Festival an event that benefits the Cultural Center and surrounding Four Corners communities. The festival attracts participants from as far away as Florida.
The UMMV Birding Festival's volunteer planning committee meets at the Cortez Cultural Center every other Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Anyone interested in assisting with the festival, including one-time activities such as addressing mailings, is invited to attend.
Contact Debbie or Anne at the Cortez Cultural Center, 970-565-1151 for information. Details about the festival are available at www.utemountainmesaverdebirdingfestival.org.