The TENTH ANNUAL
ECKERT CRANE DAYS
SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011
&
SATURDAY MARCH 26, 2011
Presented by
Surface Creek Winery & Gallery
and
Colorado
Art Ranch
and
Co-Sponsored by The Black Canyon Chapter
of
the Audubon Society.
LIMITED
EDITION 10TH ANNUAL ECKERT CRANE DAYS POSTERS, SIGNED &
NUMBERED BY THE ARTIST, KURT ISGREEN, WILL BE AVAILABLE AT SURFACE CREEK WINERY & GALLERY.
PLEASE NOTE:
THERE IS ALWAYS UNCERTAINTY WHEN PREDICTING WILDLIFE BEHAVIOR. IF THIS
SPRING'S WEATHER WARNS UP IN A HURRY, MANY CRANES MAY PASS THROUGH
BEFORE OUR FIRST
OFFICIAL PROGRAMS ON MARCH 19th. PLEASE CHECK OUR CRANE COUNTS
PAGE TO SEE HOW THE MIGRATION IS ACTUALLY PROGRESSING.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, March 18, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
There is a $15 suggested donation to Colorado Art Ranch for the day's events.
LIFTOFF 9:00
a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (approximate Mt Daylight Savings Time)
One mile east of Eckert (Highway 65) on North Road
at Fruitgrowers Reservoir.
Black Canyon
Audubon Society (www.blackcanyonaudubon.org)
will host a Sandhill Crane “Liftoff”. Please meet on
the east side of the Fruitgrowers Reservoir from 8:00 a.m. to
10:00 a.m. to observe Sandhill cranes and other Water birds.
BCAS members and others will share their knowledge and scopes with
those who come for the experience. If you do not want to miss the
takeoff, we strongly recommend that you arrive at the Reservoir before
9:00 a.m.
MORNING PRESENTATION
11:00 a.m. Artist Merry Cox will be talk about how her art work explores the subject matter of birds, nests, birdhouses and eggs.
Merry says: The
things I collect were discarded, thrown out, used up and left as trash.
Since we are intimately connected to place, combining these manmade
objects with the ideas of habitat preservation and regeneration makes
me question and examine the community of the environment and our place
in it. I live in a landscape that is stronger in contrast, majestic in
scale, bathed in light and sparser in content. The calming influence of
the wild, the open, the uninhabited affects me most. (The program will start at 11:00 a.m. (or later,
if the Cranes are late taking off) at Surface Creek Winery
& Gallery, 12983 Highway 65, Eckert, Colorado.)
AFTERNOON PRESENTATION 2:00 p.m. Merry Cox will lead a workshop in using found objects to create a bird nest sculpture. $30 for adults, $20 for students.
This
workshop will focus on found objects as the source of material used in
the creating of fun sculptures and wall hangings with a bird bent. The
cast off objects we will use range from the natural, to consumer items,
to industrial or architectural
artifacts. We want to repurpose
these objects into bird nests, bird refuges or just cute bird
hang-outs. We'll talk a bit about how to choose stuff, integrate and
transform stuff and where is your creativity. Participants are
encouraged to bring a stash of found objects to be used and contributed
to a materials exchange.
THINGS TO BRING: gloves, long sleeve shirt you don't like, apron if you
are messy like me, found objects to use and to trade. Needle nose
pliers, reg. pliers, hammer, wire cutters bottles caps, acrylic paint,
if you want color; notebook & pencils, battery operated drill, if
you have one, and small drill bits. If you don't have it, don't buy it.
We can make do. We will supply other needed items.
AFTERNOON LANDING OF CRANES AT FRUITGROWERS
RESERVOIR 4:30 – 5:00 p.m. until Dusk
The next wave of migrating Sandhill Cranes typically
land at the Reservoir from 3.30 to dusk. Watching the
Cranes land is a much different experience than watching them take off
in the morning! (Black Canyon Audubon Society members will be available
the next morning (Sunday) 8:30-10:00 a.m., if a sufficient number of
cranes land Saturday afternoon.)
EVENING RECEPTION 7:00
p.m.
Colorado Art Ranch will be Your Host At Surface Creek Winery and Gallery. Rosemerry Trommer
will be sharing her poetry. Rosemerry is a Colorado treasure and has
written of home, nature, family, love, and the heart, including the
ache.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Saturday, March 26, 2011
LIFTOFF 9:00 a.m. to
1030 a.m. (approximate Mt Daylight Savings Time)
One mile east of Eckert (Highway 65) on North Road
at Fruitgrowers Reservoir.
Black Canyon
Audubon Society (www.blackcanyonaudubon.org)
will host a Sandhill Crane “Liftoff”. Please meet on
the east side of the Fruitgrowers Reservoir from 8:00AM to 10:00AM to
observe Sandhill cranes and other Water birds. BCAS members and
others will share their knowledge and scopes with those who come for
the experience. If you do not want to miss the takeoff, we
strongly recommend that you arrive at the Reservoir before 9:30 AM Mt
Daylight Time .
MORNING PRESENTATION
11:00 a.m
Cranes of the Rocky Mountains and
Cranes of the World
Evelyn Horn
Evelyn Horn, a Colorado
native and retired elementary teacher, has lived in Eckert with her
husband,
Allen, for over eightteen years. Their home is about half a mile from
Fruitgrowers Reservoir or Hart's Basin.
Since first
experiencing the cranes' migration, she has been enamored with these
majestic
birds, and has been their volunteer monitor since 1995. Her love of
cranes lead
her to make a two-week trip to the International Crane Foundation (ICF)
in Baraboo,
Wisconsin
to see all fifteen species of the world's cranes. to the Platte River
in Nebraska and, most recently, to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in
Texas to pursue a close viewing of Whooping Cranes. With a new
powerpoint presentation, Evelyn will share
some of
those experiences and lead a discussion during her presentation at
Eckert Crane Days.
She has
conducted numerous seminars on Cranes, native plants and wildflowers;
prepared
brochures and led interpretive walks for various agencies and civic
groups.
Her columns appear in the Delta County Independent and
in The Fence
Post.
Her
newly released third book Intriguing Discoveries with the Naturalist in Training and her second book is Still
Following the
Feathered and the Flowered; Quiet Adventures in the Realm of Birds and
Flowers will be available on Eckert Crane Days, March
19th
and 26th.
(The
afternoon program will start at 2:00 p.m. at Surface Creek Winery
& Gallery, 12983 Highway 65, Eckert, Colorado.)
AFTERNOON
PRESENTATION 2:00 p.m.
Protecting Cranes at Important Bird Areas
Ken Strom
This program will look at some of the
special habitats that are critically important to cranes and that are
being conserved through the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) program, a
global initiative that is administered in the U.S. by the National
Audubon Society. The Sandhill Cranes that migrate through Colorado
gather at IBAs in the San Luis Valley, at Fruitgrowers Reservoir, and on
the Yampa River, as well as at points north.
Another population of
Sandhill Cranes migrates north through the Great Plains each spring,
with a break along the way for their celebrated gathering at another IBA
on the Platte River in Nebraska - the largest gathering of cranes in
the world, as well as an important rest area for the wild flock of
Whooping Cranes. Some amazing work is being done at each of these IBAs
to ensure the long-term protection of the cranes and their habitats.
We'll also look at crane habitats beyond our borders, and some of the
other species that are benefitting from the efforts of conservationists
to restore and protect the last best habitats for these magical birds.
Ken
Strom directs Audubon Colorado, the state office of the National
Audubon Society. A graduate of Cornell University, Ken is an ecologist
who has specialized in the management and restoration of wetland
habitats of waterbirds and other wildlife, especially the cranes of the
world. Sandhill Cranes have been a focus of his conservation and
education work since the 1970's, when he helped study and care for a
pair of captive cranes from the eastern flock at a nature preserve in
South Carolina. From 1983 to 1994 he was Manager of Audubon's Rowe
Sanctuary for Sandhill Cranes, Whooping Cranes and other migratory birds
on the Platte River in Nebraska. This work led to several international
partnerships that he coordinated in the 1990's with conservationists in
Russia, China and Pakistan, assisting them with conservation efforts
for cranes and their river habitats in the face of mounting human
pressures. He worked with colleagues at the International Crane
Foundation to help with the development of the Muraviovka Nature
Preserve for endangered cranes in Siberia.
He is currently guiding the
development of a new Audubon conservation outreach and education program
that will use the story of the Sandhill Cranes to engage Coloradans of
all ages in the conservation of Colorado's special landscapes that
sustain our birds and other wildlife. Before coming to Audubon
Colorado, Ken was the Director of Audubon's Population & Habitat
program, working nationwide and globally to address the impacts of human
population growth on wildlife habitats around the world. For 4 years
he also directed the Audubon Ecology Camp in the Rockies, an adult field
education program based in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Ken has
published numerous articles on wildlife conservation and co-edited the
book Sharing the Earth. He lives in Erie, Colorado, with his wife Pat
Waak..
AFTERNOON LANDING OF CRANES AT FRUITGROWERS
RESERVOIR 4:30 – 5:00 p.m. until Dusk
The next wave of migrating Sandhill Crane typically
land at the Reservoir from 3.30 to dusk. Watching the
Cranes land is a much different experience than watching them take off
in the morning! (Black Canyon Audubon Society members will be available
the next morning (Sunday) 8:30-10:00 a.m., if a sufficient number of
cranes land Saturday afternoon.)
SEE OUR LODGING PAGE FOR OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS IN
THE AREA.
