Trip Leaders: Nathan Pieplow, Dave Sutherland, & Courtney Rella
Participant Limit: 15 participants.
Each spring, tropical migrants return to Boulder to nest. Join bird song expert Nathan Pieplow and naturalist Dave Sutherland at one of our best birding "hot spots" for an exploration of bird songs and calls.
You will learn what birds are saying, how to "bird by ear," and how to record and identify species using Merlin and eBird. Since many of these birds have recently arrived from the tropical rainforest, we will actually use The Birds of Costa Rica as our field guide!
Who Can Participate?: Outings are open to unaccompanied students in sixth grade and up, as well as younger students accompanied by parents. New participants are welcome at any time.
What to Bring: Water and snacks & sun protection. While the focus will be on birding by ear, binculars are recommended. If you would like to borrow a pair of the Boulder County Audubon binoculars, please include this in your RSVP.
Registration Required: To register or for any questions, contact Courtney Rella, dr.cawtney@gmail.com, 732.330.7291
Meeting Location: Neighborhood access point to the lower Bear Canyon trail (search for 1520 Bear Mountain Drive, Boulder). Free street parking is available.
Transportation: Participants must provide their own transportation to teen naturalist trips. A participant list will be shared if participants want to coordinate carpooling among themselves. If you don’t want your contact information shared with other participants, please include this when you register.
Learn more about the BCAS Teen Naturalists.
Trip Leader Bios
Courtney Rella is a dedicated volunteer and advocate for bird conservation and environmental education, with a strong focus on raptors and avian ecology. She serves as a docent and educational outreach volunteer with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, where she works with permanently disabled raptor ambassadors for enrichment and to engage the public through learning and conservation messaging. She is also involved with the Denver Field Ornithologists as a field trip leader and conservation board member, with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies as a raptor nest monitor, and with Longmont Raptor Watch contributing data to long-term research and species protection initiatives. Her interest in birds also sparked a passion for photography, which she uses as another way to observe, document, and share the beauty of avian life. She additionally supports avian research as a bird banding station data volunteer, assisting with the collection and management of data critical to understanding bird populations and migration patterns. Through these roles and interests, she demonstrates a deep commitment to wildlife conservation, citizen science, and environmental education.
Dave Sutherland is an award-winning interpretive naturalist, recently retired from the City of Boulder’s Open Space program. He has a Bachelor’s in biology from Pomona College, and a Master’s in nature interpretation from the University of Idaho. Besides nearly 30 years of work in the Boulder area, Dave has led outdoor education programs in California, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands. Dave is a self-professed natural science geek who uses games and activities to inspire others with his love of nature. He has been training for his job since the age of 4, when he began collecting rocks and butterflies and drawing his own bird books with crayons.