Join Boulder County Audubon in an online meeting on January 26th, 2021 to learn from Sue Cass about the fascinating history of Burrowing Owls in Boulder County and the work done by our County, City, and many BCAS members who have volunteered to monitor these charismatic owls.

In 1909, Junius Henderson, founder and first Curator of the University of Colorado Henderson Museum of Natural History, declared Burrowing Owl “our most abundant owl on the plains”. Boy, have things changed! By the 1990s, Burrowing Owl had nearly disappeared from Boulder County. In 2008, Boulder County Parks and Open Space (BCPOS), City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) and the Boulder County Audubon Society (BCAS), with support from the Boulder County Nature Association (BCNA), united in a single cause to locate and monitor every Burrowing Owl nest in the County and the fact that Burrowing Owl is a prairie dog commensal interfuses survival challenges for both species here on the burgeoning Front Range! This is a report on thirteen years of Burrowing Owl monitoring in Boulder County!

Sue Cass is the proud matriarch of a six-generation Boulder family and a passionate life-long birder. Sue has contributed enormously to the local ecological community, for which the Boulder County Audubon Society awarded Sue its 2014 Environmental Conservation Award and in 2015 Sue received Boulder County Parks and Open Space Environmental Stewardship Award. Sue’s contributions include serving on the Board of Directors of Boulder County Nature Association, since 2001, currently as president; serving on the BCPOS Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee; coordinating the BCNA Winter Raptor Survey since 2001, and coordinator the volunteers for the last 10 years for the BCPOS Burrowing Owl Survey. Sue is also a Volunteer Naturalist for Boulder County Parks and Open Space since 2001 and provides advanced training in raptor ecology and field ID for new Volunteer Naturalists and raptor nest monitors in addition to field ID and instruction on interpretive public programming on the broader subject of the birds of Boulder County.

When: Tuesday, January 26, 2021.   The presentation starting at 7:15 PM. Everyone is encouraged to join early to work through any connection issues (the meeting room will be open at ~7:00 PM).

Where: This meeting was held online. You can watch a recording of the presentation on the BCAS YouTube channel.