Leaders: Megan Jones Patterson, PhD, ACNP Co-lead Bander
Date: 7 A.M - Noonish (option for early departure, if desired) Wednesday, September 22, 2027*
Fees: $75.00 per person
Limited to 8 guests
Location: 15 miles north of Boulder.
Registration: Please see How to Register for an Interludes Trip to register.

Learn about and participate in songbird banding at one of the longest running migratory bird banding stations in Colorado at the limited-access Allegra Collister Nature Preserve north of Boulder. This property is privately owned and managed under a conservation easement with Boulder County and is only accessible as part of visiting the banding station. You will meet the group at sunrise and walk into the banding station (½ mile). 

At the banding station, you will learn about the history of bird banding and why it continues to be important to our understanding of bird populations and movements. You will also get to accompany banders to the mist nets used to capture birds, watch the banding process, and help in the release of the birds. A picnic breakfast and coffee/tea will be provided at the banding station. 

All participants should be comfortable walking over relatively level but uneven terrain on narrow trails. There are no restrooms on site but the group will meet at Pella Crossing to use restrooms before going to the banding station. Encounters with cows, barbed wire, ticks, and other outdoor hazards are possible.

*Bird banding is weather dependent. If we are unable to band on Sept 22nd, the trip will be rescheduled for Friday Sept 24th  (or a subsequent Monday, Wednesday, or Friday in Sept or early Oct if the weather is really uncooperative).

Megan Jones Patterson has a lifelong interest in the intersections of science, outdoors, and education, often with birds being the focal point. She has a doctorate in ecology & evolutionary biology with research focused on cooperative display behaviors of the neotropical manakins, specifically the White-ruffed Manakin in Costa Rica. Education and work have allowed Megan to enjoy birding around the globe; she loves living here in Colorado, where there is great avian diversity. Megan began bird banding in 2003 at Teton Science School in Wyoming and has since banded birds on four continents and with many different species. Megan's current contributions to field ornithology include volunteer bird banding, raptor monitoring, and submissions to eBird. Megan has volunteered with BCAS in various capacities for nearly a decade. 

This trip is part of the Interludes with Nature field trip series. These trips are led by the area’s most knowledgeable birders and naturalists who take participants to places they wouldn’t often get to see. Monies raised by this important fundraising tool send our Teen Naturalists to birding camps.

Cancellation Policy

All cancellations incur a $20.00 fee. If you cancel within 3 weeks of the event, your payment, less the fee, will only be refunded if the spot can be filled. Please consider it a donation for the fine work that Boulder County Audubon does and how much work it is to arrange these trips and keep track of the attendees.