Programs

Unless otherwise noted, these events are held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, 5001 Pennsylvania Ave. (off 55th St. between Arapahoe and Baseline)

(Currently, it's )

• March 23: Steve Jones, Linda Andes-Georges, and Paula Hansley, "Riparian Renaissance at Coal Creek"

  

  Coal Creek Bald Eagle nest
  
  Coal Creek May Mist
  
  Elk bull strutting with his harem at Coal Creek
  In 1998, Boulder County Audubon approached Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks about fencing (to exclude cattle) and protecting a relatively natural stretch of Coal Creek south of Boulder.  Aided by a generous grant from Terra Foundation, the city was able to complete fencing off 5 miles of the creek corridor in December 1999.  We initiated bird monitoring within the corridor in 1998 and have carried out monthly bird counts since then.  These counts have documented a threefold increase in numbers of native shrub-nesting birds and a doubling in numbers of native cavity-nesting and tree canopy-nesting birds.  Elk have returned to the riparian corridor for the first time in 150 years, and a bald eagle pair has nested successfully.  Boulder County Audubon financed production of a DVD, by John Vanderpoel, that chronicles some of these changes. (NOTE: Click on the thumbnail images above to see larger versions.)

  Steve Jones, Linda Andes-Georges, and Paula Hansley are local naturalists who have initiated and participated in a variety of bird studies, including the Indian Peaks Four-Season Bird Counts, the Boulder County Nature Association wintering raptor and small owl surveys, and the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas.

  
  
• April 27: Chris Ray, "Evidence for Recent Effects of Climate on the Rapidly Shrinking Distribution of the American Pika"

  Throughout the Great Basin, pika colonies are disappearing and remaining pika colonies are retreating upslope as fast as 10 m per year. Chris Ray and her colleagues have investigated potential causes of these trends and concluded that climate change is a major contributor, forcing pikas farther and farther upslope. In the northern and southern Rocky Mountains, pikas are showing signs of being stressed by climate driven variables as well, including diminishing winter snowpacks and changes in the composition of alpine vegetation. Chris will address these threats and also enlighten us on the ecology and social life of these endearing animals. Her presentation will expand on the exceptional talk she gave at the February Boulder County Nature Association annual meeting.

  Ward resident Chris Ray is a research associate at the University of Colorado. Her work focuses on developing mechanistic models for analyzing demographic, genetic, and epidemic dynamics of threatened and isolated species. She received her Ph.D. in population biology from the University of California Davis in 1997. She has been studying pikas for 22 years.