to Great Birding!
Found Species I Didn’t Even Know About!
I’ve had the pleasure of birding with Colorado Birding Adventures in both winter and summer, and both trips exceeded my expectations! My first trip was… in Feb. 2018 with Christian. I had an ambitious “wish list” of species, and he found most of them. This required quite a bit of persistence and expertise; esp. for the 3-toed Woodpecker. I lived in Colorado for awhile back in the ’90s, but I had never seen the area of the Sawatch Range/Collegiate Peaks in Colorado, which was quite beautiful and Christian found many of my target birds there. Then in June 2019 I booked a trip with Carl. Initially, I was focused on Mountain Plover, Lark Bunting Green-tailed Towhee, and a few other species I was missing from my Life list, but Carl was able to utilize my ebird account to prepare a “target list” of likely birds for June in Colorado that I was missing from my life list. Well, this was fantastic and educational! I did two full days with Carl, the first in Rocky mountain National Park, and the second in the Pawnee National Grasslands, and ended up with 21 Life birds, when I really only expected 5 or 6. Wow!!! We also saw numerous mammals, including an amazing encounter with a Badger who was eating prey! I love to take photos of birds, and both Christian and Carl were patient and accommodating for this and I am so pleased with the photos. It was also wonderful that they did the driving, as birding in Colorado requires covering significant distances, so that was a HUGE bonus. These days were definitely some of the best of both my winter and summer vacations!! Read more “Found Species I Didn’t Even Know About!”
Some of the Best Birding Days I’ve Ever Experienced
Birding in Colorado was a “Rocky Mountain High” for me! I spent two packed days of birding with Colorado Birding Adventures while my wife was… in Denver on a business trip. Those two days were easily some of the best days of birding I’ve ever experienced. Carl Bendorf, lead guide and owner, made it an experience of a lifetime by getting me on practically all the birds I was desiring to see. (He even made a herculean effort in getting me on a White-tailed Ptarmigan in spite of striking out because of the difficult periods of snow and extreme winds at 12,000 feet. That effort was a reflection of just the kind of birding guide he is.) I loved spending those two days with Carl, especially that very special moment between him, myself, and a Northern Pygmy Owl, which was my highest target bird on my list for the trip. The time with Carl solidified a birding philosophy of mine, that it’s not “just” about the birds, it’s also about the birding friendships developed along the way. My wife was busy with business and couldn’t do any birding with me while we were out there. After listening to me tell of my adventures and seeing my photos, she is excited about getting back out as soon as we can. When we return, we’ll be hooking back up with Colorado Birding Adventures. If you’re looking for experienced, expert, and personal birding…I HIGHLY RECOMMEND… Carl Bendorf and Colorado Birding Adventures. Read more “Some of the Best Birding Days I’ve Ever Experienced”
Can’t Recommend Enough!
“I recently had a phenomenal 2.5 days of birding with Carl Bendorf, the owner of Colorado Birding Adventures. I am an experienced bird photographer but… had never had the opportunity to photograph in Colorado. I reached out to Carl to not only help maximize my time but take advantage of his skill and experience to find things I likely wouldn’t on my own. My investment really paid off. I was able to get excellent shots of multiple species including several I had never seen or photographed before. Some highlights include superb photos of Black-billed Magpie, Steller’s Jay, Canada Jay, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Prairie Falcon, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Pygmy Nuthatch, American Dipper, Townsend’s Solitaire, and of course the extremely elusive White-tailed Ptarmigan! The ptarmigan was by far the most exciting. We spent several hours well above 12,000 feet looking and were finally rewarded with amazing and close views. I took more than 10,000 images in our time together and am just now going through them. On a personal note, Carl is the quintessential gentleman. Not only is he knowledgeable, he has a tremendously amiable personality that no doubt allowed him to thrive in his previous life as a development officer at a major university. It was an absolute pleasure getting to know him in our short time together. I have no doubt I will be taking advantage of his services again in the near future. I cannot recommend him enough for anyone wanting to see the amazing birds of Colorado.” Read more “Can’t Recommend Enough!”