Upper Watershed Ecosystems Tour

North American Bears – Evolution, Behavior, and Population Status

Instructor:  W. Perry Conway

Bears are a wilderness icon.  North America has three of the world’s eight species. Boulder County , at one time, had both grizzlies and black bears, now we only have the black.  Learn the natural history of all three North American species through a beautifully illustrated classroom session followed by a field trip.  Food items, habitat needs, and bear signs will all be covered, as well as where to go to view and photograph the three North American species safely and effectively.

W. Perry Conway has been a full-time professional wildlife educator, conservationist, and photographer for over forty years.  He has guided many bear photo and natural history trips in both Canada and Alaska.  He is also very familiar with the black bear populations of Boulder Co.

Indoor class: Thursday, September 14, 6:30-9:00 p.m.

Field class: Saturday, September 16, 6:30 am-11:00 am (carpool to various sites)

Tuition: $75 total for the 2-day class

Registration Opens on Eventbrite Saturday, August 5 for BCNA members and on Tuesday, August 8 for everyone. Limited to 12 participants.

More detailed information will be given to registrants.

BCNA and Boulder County iNaturalist BioBlitz

Saturday, April 29, 10 am – noon, Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain

Started in 2016 as a competition between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the City Nature Challenge is now an international event, motivating people around the world to find and document all living species in their area. Run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Challenge is an annual global bioblitz at the end of April, where cities are in a collaboration-meets-friendly-competition to see not only what we can accomplish when we all work toward a common goal, but also which city can gather the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people in the event.

BCNA and Boulder County Parks and Open Space are working together as part of the Boulder-Denver team to find and document as many species at the Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain as we can. On Saturday, April 29, we will each choose a small area to examine closely and try to photograph every living organism we find, be it a flower, an ant, a fungus, a tree, a hawk, or a lichen. It is highly unlikely anyone will know the name of everything they see, so we will use each other and iNaturalist to help us. If we aren’t certain of identification, that’s okay! The challenge and fun of doing a bioblitz is to find as many different species as you can, to name those you can and to submit a good photograph of all so that others can identify the species you don’t know. Knowledgeable teams will check all reports submitted later.

Data collected can also be added to local Boulder County iNaturalist projects: Flora of Boulder County or Boulder County Wildlife.

This program welcomes individuals, groups, and families. You will need a camera and a way to upload the photos from the camera to iNaturalist or a phone to take pictures of your discoveries in the field and upload them directly using the iNaturalist app. We will show you how to do this if you have not done it before.

We look forward to sharing the excitement of finding lots of species and identifying them together at Rabbit Mountain this April! Let’s see if we can help lift Denver/Boulder into the top 25 on the total number of species observed this year!

Please sign up to join us at Boulder County Discover. Registration is now open. If you do not already have a login for this site, you must create one before registering.

Further information:

• Why is biodiversity so important? – Kim Preshoff
• iNaturalist 

Nature Photography for the Enthusiastic Amateur:  How to Improve Taking and Processing Your Photos

Instructors: Leslie Larson and Vicki Braunagel

Two award-winning nature photographers, with over 10 years of trial-and-error experience in digital photography and post processing, will share what they have learned.  The course is geared for intermediate camera users who know how to use their camera settings but are ready to improve their photography techniques and enhance their computer post processing skills.  

The first session will be an evening of online instruction and discussion on the technical aspects of photography, with an emphasis on how to meet the goals of the class participants. On the second day, we will practice taking photos in the field during an outdoor workshop in the foothills near Lyons. The third day we’ll meet for an indoor session to learn a few basics of post-processing and critique some of the photos from the field class.  

Leslie uses Canon equipment and Photoshop software for post processing. See some of her photos at her website, https://diynaturetravel.com/.

Vicki uses primarily Nikon cameras and processes with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop software.   https://www.vickibraunagelphotos.com/.

Online Class: Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Field Class:  Wednesday, May 24, 2023, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, Lyons area

Indoor Editing/Critique Session: Friday, May 26, 2023, 10 am-noon, Longmont 

Eagles and Other Diurnal Raptors

Instructor:  W. Perry Conway 

Eagles are the largest members of the raptor family. They are large, powerful birds of prey with strong talons, heavy bills, and keen eyesight.  There are 68 species of eagles spread across the globe.  In this class, we will focus on the ecology, evolution, behavior, and population status of North American eagles. You will learn through illustrated lectures, discussions, a field class, and observation of two living eagles at local eagle nest sites.  This is also an excellent opportunity to observe other diurnal raptors during the field class.

W. Perry Conway is a full-time professional naturalist, photographer, guide, and educator.  He has studied eagles on six continents and worked with numerous species of raptors, from kestrels to eagles.  His educational multi-media show, “Eagles on the Wind,” won first prize at a National Educational Film Festival and his images and articles have been published in many North American natural history publications.

Indoor class: Thursday, June 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

Field class: Saturday, June 3, 6:00 am-10:00 am 

Tuition: $75 total for the 2-day class

Register on Eventbrite. Limited to 12 participants.

More detailed information will be given to registrants.

Butterfly ID and Photography

Instructors:  Jan Chu and Cathy Cook

Join Jan and Cathy for this easy hike and field class to learn about the beautiful butterflies of Boulder County and learn tips and tricks for capturing their beauty in photographs.  You will learn more about butterfly habitats, host plants, life cycles, trends, and clues to help identify local butterflies through the stories and experiences of our resident experts on butterflies.  

Jan taught high school biology for 38 years and has led butterfly population citizen science survey teams in Boulder County since 2004, documenting nearly 200 species. Since 1983, Jan has organized the popular and productive annual Fourth of July butterfly count at the Cal-Wood Education Center.

Cathy began her photography journey many years ago by photographing butterflies and is the administrator of the Colorado Front Range Butterflies website. Cathy has years of experience photographing butterflies, wildflowers, and many other subjects and will share tips on how to successfully photograph these elusive creatures.

Field Class:  Thursday, July 13, 8:30-11:30 am

Tuition:  $20 or $35 if you also want a copy of the BCNA field guide Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range-a Photographic Guide to 100 Species, Second Edition, by Janet R. Chu and Stephen R. Jones.

Registration on Eventbrite opens Saturday, June 3 for BCNA members and on Tuesday, June 6 for everyone. Limited to 12 participants.

More detailed information will be given to registrants.