MONTE VISTA, Colo. (KDVR) — Bird-gazers, gather your focus for fowl and aim it south, where an annual bird festival is primed to launch once several thousand cranes park their flock in the San Luis Valley later this week.
Approximately 20,000 sandhill cranes are heading to Colorado, where they are expected to carry out a six-week stay before continuing their migratory pattern north of the border. As a result, the bird-watching community of Monte Vista will be holding its 39th annual Monte Vista Crane Festival from March 11-13.
“This is one of the great wildlife migrations in the country that people can actually get out and see,” said Catherine Brons, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Southwest Region education and volunteer coordinator.
The event is being held in a hybrid format this year with both in-person events, at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge located at 6120 Colorado 15, as well as virtual ones that can be attended without migrating to southern Colorado yourself. A lack of event-sanctioned bus transportation coupled with outdoor meetings aims to keep the spread of the still-present COVID-19 pandemic to a minimum.
Monte Vista Crane Festival events
- March 11: Blanca wetlands tour
- March 11-13: Sandhill crane orientation meet-ups (free ticket required)
- March 11-13: Photography workshops run by award-winning photographer Ed MacKerrow
- March 11-20: Featured talks and videos when you can’t watch cranes (prerecorded crane footage)
- March 12: Birding trail tour: ornithologist-led tour along trail in southeast Alamosa
- March 12: Alamosa refuge tour (in-vehicle tour, one ticket required per car)
- March 12: Dry Creek archaeology Tour, led by forest archaeologist Price Heiner
- March 12: Explore Penitente Canyon
If you are unable to travel to Monte Vista to attend any of these events, you can view the free on-demand videos that the Crane Festival has archived on their website. These will be available to stream until March 20.
“The Monte Vista Crane Festival is an exciting event that CPW and our wonderful volunteers take pride in being a part of,” Brons said.
According to officials at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, these distinctive-call-carrying cranes are the largest in North America, carrying a wingspan of 7 feet on average and standing roughly around 4 feet tall. There are currently only 15 species of cranes still in existence around the world. The only one that ever ventures into the Rocky Mountain State is the sandhill crane, of which there are five subspecies.
Additionally, a plethora of Canada geese and ducks will also be traveling through the region while making their way north to warmer climates, and their presence should be ripe for the picking for nature photographers.
Those running the festival are asking anyone planning to partake to keep in mind that there is limited availability for each event, so please only attend one in-person event to ensure as many people as possible can enjoy the festival.
Organizers include the Friends of the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuges, the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce, the City of Monte Vista and the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Complex.