2023 CFO-WFO Joint Convention Wrap Up

This year, CFO held its annual convention jointly with Western Field Ornithologists (WFO) at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Summit County, July 19-23.  There were 237 people registered for the joint convention, far more than either organization typically has at its annual conventions.

Activities included staples for CFO conventions, including the welcome picnic on Wednesday afternoon. Full-day field trips were offered on Thursday and Sunday, with half-day field trips on Friday and Saturday exploring local and distant areas of central Colorado.

County-busting trips went as far afield as Grand and Jackson counties, while local trips to Loveland Pass and other high-elevation sites presented opportunities for Colorado specialties like White-tailed Ptarmigan and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch. Many trips were successful in locating Cassia Crossbills, another mountain specialty only recently discovered in Colorado.

WFO conventions typically place greater emphasis on science presentations than CFO conventions, so this year we had two half days of presentations. A new addition to the convention was the well-received BioBlitz which utilized iNaturalist to document taxa (not just birds!) seen during the convention.

On Saturday night, long-serving board member Sue Riffe was awarded the CFO Board of Directors Award for her service.

Thank you so much to the many vendors who participated this year, as well as the volunteers who helped organize this convention.  Further details on the convention, including a list of the science presentations, will be in the next edition (Fall 2023) of the Colorado Birds journal.

Doug Faulkner, 2023 CFO Convention Committee Chair