The 2017 event counted 160 unique species of birds, including the Savannah Sparrow – a new sighting for the festival.
The sparrow was sighted during the Blue Lake Ranch/La Plata River tour. Participants visited the old Fort Lewis compound before proceeding south along the La Plata River to Blue Lake Ranch, where they spent the night.
Since its inception, the festival has documented 244 total species, nearly half the verified avian species within Colorado. Days before this year’s festival, local artist Chris Vest, who creates the promotional posters for the event, observed and photographed a Red-faced warbler at his home near Dolores.
Vest suspected that the bird, typically only found in high-elevation forests of Arizona and New Mexico, was blown off course by spring storms.
“I observed what I assumed was just another house finch, but the bird was gleaning the foliage in a manner much more consistent with warbler behavior,” he said. “Only later did I learn that it was only the second sighting of the bird in Colorado, the previous being in 1993.”
In addition to providing a wealth of data to the birding community, the festival’s main goal is to raise money for the Cortez Cultural Center.
Executive Director Becky Levy notes it’s one of the cultural center’s largest fundraising events.
“We have a lot of people who come down from the Front Range and Arizona and New Mexico that come every year,” said birding festival chairwoman Diana Cherbak. “The next year, they bring a friend, and it kind of grows that way. It’s fun when you see somebody who’s coming here just for the birding festival, and they’re coming from Connecticut. They’re coming to the area just for the festival.”
The 2017 festival featured 45-year veteran speaker, writer and naturalist Kevin Cook, who delivered the keynote program, “200 Miles of Birding in 200 Years.”
“It was fun being at the festival and getting back to Cortez,” he said. “I hadn’t been in three to four years. There were people there from everywhere, not just locals, and it was amazing to see.”
