ACES Birding and Conversation: Stories of Success in Bird Conservation

Scott Weidensaul joined ACES birders for this special field trip to share his newly released book The Return of the Oystercatcher and its bird conservation success stories from around the world. We began at Basalt River Park where we enjoyed watching a juvenile osprey practicing flying and attempting to catch fish, many yellow warblers, a female lazuli bunting, and Lewis’s woodpeckers. Birding our way up the Frying Pan River, we saw an American dipper nest, white-throated swifts high about the cliffs of the Seven Castles, and a western tanager. Conversations came up throughout the morning, as the group took the opportunity to discuss questions and ideas with Scott along the trails. Cap K Ranch hosted us for the conversation portion of the trip, where we gathered beneath a stand of aspens overlooking a pond to discuss Scott’s books and our questions for him. It was inspiring and educational to learn about the impetus for the book, how Scott chose the stories he included, the book publishing process for the bird/conservation genre, and more details about the people, places, and birds. We also enjoyed learning more about Scott’s background in journalism, his work on field ornithology, and how he has brought these two realms together in over 30 books, bringing birds and conservation topics to mainstream audiences to great success. Join us later this week for Hummingbird Studies as these birds captivate our attention on their fall migration through the Southern Rockies.