BCAS Articles
Conservation Corner - September 2026
Read on to find out what BCAS’s Conservation Committee has been working on in recent months.
Photo credit: Grasshopper Sparrow by Matthew Studebaker
Nature Almanac: Hardy prairie plants thrive in dry conditions and provide critical food for late-summer insects
In many years, when the snow-on-the-mountain plant blooms on dry, gravelly prairies, it’s a sign that snow may soon be falling in the mountains nearby. In this year’s hot, dry summer, some wildflowers, including snow-on-the-mountain, seem to have flowered earlier and more sparsely than usual.
A Birder’s Paradise
2026 Hog Island Scholarship recipient Calliope Scott remembers a beautiful place, special birds, and kind people at camp in June.
Photo by Calliope Scott.
Nature Almanac: Goldfinches Time Nesting to Take Advantage of Ripening Thistles
In our area, bird nesting season begins as early as January, when Great Horned Owls start incubating eggs. By early June, most songbirds are on eggs or tending fledglings. Late to the party are goldfinches, who often don’t begin building nests until July. Why the delay?
July Nature Almanac: Nectar from Summer Wildflowers Helps Ladies and Admirals Achieve Flights of Wonder
It seems appropriate that some of our most striking butterflies, the Ladies and Admirals, adorn some of our showiest summer wildflowers.
June Nature Almanac: Penstemons AKA Beardtongues
About 250 penstemon species flourish throughout the United States, with 62 to 65 species native to Colorado.
Conservation Action - Weigh in for Wildlife on the North Foothills Bikeway
Take the online survey by May 31. Read on for project details and suggestions for your responses.
May Nature Almanac: Cactus Blossoms Brighten a Dry Spring
During one of our driest late winters and early springs on record, our little ball cacti have been putting on vivid displays on rocky ridge tops in the foothills.
Teen Naturalists Hug Flamingos and Learn About Endangered Birds at Denver Zoo
We had an amazing time with the Boulder County Audubon Society Teen Naturalist program meeting and learning about birds at the Denver Zoo. Thumbnail photo by Courtney Rella.
Conservation Corner - April 2026
Lend your voice to keeping Boulder’s dedicated Open Space sales tax, shaping Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks’ Multimodal Assessment Project, and more.
April Nature Almanac: False Flowers Fool Pollinators
It looks like a flower. To insects, it smells and tastes like a flower. But actually, it’s a rust fungus!
URGENT ACTION ALERT - Boulder’s Dedicated Open Space Sales Tax is Under Threat!
Boulder’s dedicated Open Space Sales Tax is being threatened by an attempt to combine it with other sales taxes. Read on for details and how you can help protect Boulder’s Open Space legacy and keep the sales tax dedicated to Open Space, as Boulder voters have approved over decades.
March Nature Almanac: Cavity-nesting Ducks Court and Dance
For some of us who have seen colorful Wood Ducks flying into tree cavities or their downy young leaping from woodpecker holes, cavity nesting may seem like an anomaly among waterfowl. Surprisingly, six of Colorado’s nesting ducks lay their eggs in tree cavities or cliff hollows.
Teen Naturalists Tour the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program
In February 2026, the Teen Naturalists from the Boulder County Audubon Society had their second outing of the year to learn more about birds of prey in Ft. Collins at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program.
Teen Naturalists Delve Into DMNS Collections
… Some teens got to peek into a large bin with beetles cleaning bones by eating flesh off then. Other teens didn’t like bugs or the odor produced and hung back….
Conservation Corner - February 2026
See what BCAS’s Conservation Committee has been working on, and read about upcoming opportunities to help protect the wildlife and habitats we all care about, by lending your voice to upcoming projects and issues
Winter Ducks in Warm Weather: Teen Naturalist January 2026
The Boulder County Audubon Teen Naturalists program kicked off 2026 with a photography-focused outing to Prospect Park in Wheat Ridge, CO to observe and photograph wintering ducks.
February Nature Almanac: Wollemi Pines Give Us Hope For The Future
Wollemi pines were abundant during the Cretaceous Period and may have been browsed on by dinosaurs. Known only from leaf fossils they were thought to have gone extinct two million years ago until, in 1994, park ranger David Noble rappelled into a remote Australian canyon and found a small grove of Wollemi pines!
2025 Boulder Christmas Bird Count Results
The 84th Boulder CBC was held on a mercifully calm 14 December 2025. Our count day total of 110 species ties our best tally in the last 10 years, with 5 more count-week species coming in to reach 115 total for our 2025 count window. Our participation was outstanding, with 184 folks contributing their talents in the field and watching feeders.
January Nature Almanac: Warm Early Winter Offers Unique Views of Diving Ducks
This year’s December 22 high of 76° F in Boulder and Denver came close to that record, and temperatures remained warm enough this fall to keep local ponds and lakes ice-free throughout December and into January.