Yampa Valley Crane Festival Logo

2013 Yampa Valley Crane Festival: Sunday

Sunday, September 8, 2013 - 12:00am
  • Community-wide

Sunday's Yampa Valley Crane Festival events include a sunrise crane viewing, birding by boat, two hands-on art workshops with Joan Hoffmann, a free film and a talk by one of the world's top crane scientists.

Most crane festival events are free, open to the public, and require no pre-registration.  A few activities or services require pre-registration due to a limit on the number of participants and/or a fee. These are indicated in the event descriptions below.

CRANE VIEWING MAPS!
We've been scouting the Greater Sandhill Cranes' hangouts around the Yampa Valley! Download and view maps here to venture out where you're most likely to find them. The document is a four-page pdf for easy viewing and printing at home. During the festival, printed copies will also be available at the festival info desk outside Library Hall at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Avenue.

Sunday's Yampa Valley Crane Festival schedule:

6:15 a.m.   Sunrise crane viewing
A shuttle departs from the Stockbridge Transit Center at 1505 Lincoln Avenue at 5:45 a.m. and returns there at approximately 8:45 a.m. 
**Pre-registration required for shuttle service only. To reserve a seat on the shuttle call 970-846-5556. $5 suggested donation to help cover fuel costs. Any unreserved seats will be filled first-come-first-serve at the Stockbridge departure site.

9-10 a.m.  Sketch-A-Crane workshop with Joan Hoffmann
Plein air painter Joan Hoffman teaches a free crane sketching workshop in Library Hall at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Avenue. All ages are welcome and art supplies will be provided.

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Crane displays at the Library
Educational displays about cranes and their habitat on display in the entry to Library Hall at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Avenue.
 
10 a.m.-5 p.m.  Crane Festival Art Show at The Depot
The official Crane Festival Art show, in partnership with the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, featuring more than 30 works in a variety of media on display at The Depot, 1001 13th Street.

10:30 & 11:30 a.m.    Birding by Pontoon Boat at Stagecoach State Park  SORRY, THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL!
Enjoy a birding tour by boat along the shores of Stagecoach Reservoir. Although Sandhill Cranes may not be visible, plenty of other birds and wildlife will be. Each tour will last approximately 45 minutes to an hour and will be led by an interpreter. All ages welcome. Life jackets will be provided. Please bring drinking water, sun block, camera and binoculars. No fee for the boat tour, but all vehicles entering the park are required to display a valid State Parks pass. (Daily pass available for $7 at park entrance.) Limited number of participants.
** Pre-registration required. REGISTRATION CLOSED.

11 a.m.- 2 p.m.    En Plein Air Painting Workshop with Joan Hoffmann
Meet at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. Bring any painting medium and your art supplies, plus an easel or fold-up table. The workshop includes instruction, demonstration and insightful critique. Beginner or experienced painters are welcome! Limited to 20 participants.
** Pre-registration and $30 fee required. To register, call 970-846-5556.

1:30 p.m.   Cranes of the Rockies film
Film screens in Library Hall at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Avenue. Run time: 1 hour

3 p.m.    “Rocky Mountain Greater Sandhill Cranes” talk with avian researcher and leading expert Rod Drewien  
The talk will be in Library Hall at  the Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Avenue.

About the speaker
Dr. Rod Drewien has studied migratory birds throughout western North America (from arctic Alaska and Canada to southern Mexico) since 1963 and worked with sandhill cranes and whooping cranes in the Rocky Mountain region and elsewhere since 1969 and 1975, respectively.  He supervised the whooping crane cross-foster experiment in the Rocky Mountains, 1975-94, on contract to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was an advisor and member of the U.S. Whooping Crane Recovery Team for 18 years, 1976-94.  He was the U.S. representative for 12 years (1977-88) working with the Canadian Wildlife Service to develop and implement a capture, banding, and marking program for wild, juvenile whooping cranes in Wood Buffalo National Park, Northwest Territories, Canada.  He has been involved in the capture and banding of over 200 whooping cranes in Canada and the U. S. and has captured and banded over 1,700 sandhill cranes in the Rocky Mountains.

Since 1969, he has studied sandhill cranes in the Rocky Mountain region, including their breeding, migration, and wintering ecology and some of these studies are ongoing.  He developed a fall population survey for Rocky Mountain sandhill cranes, which is now operational and conducted annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and states in the Pacific Flyway, as well as a population recruitment (annual productivity) survey which has been ongoing for 29 years.  In addition to crane studies, he has worked on trumpeter and tundra swans, 3 species of geese, ducks, and other migratory birds.  He has extensive experience conducting surveys of cranes and waterfowl in Mexico with annual winter surveys starting in 1970 and some continuing to present.  He has published over 50 scientific papers on migratory birds, including 36 on sandhill and whooping cranes.

4-8 p.m.     Make a Crane Painting at Splatz Canvas and Wine
Drop in and paint a picture of a crane at your own pace, with minimal direction, while you sip wine. Cost ranges from $10-$35 depending upon the size of your canvas selection. Splatz Canvas and Wine is located at 1104 Lincoln Avenue.

Ongoing      Crane art display at Wild Goose Coffee at the Granary
Visit the display during regular business hours throughout September. Wild Goose Coffee at the Granary is located at 198 E. Lincoln Avenue in Hayden.  

Ongoing      Crane art in Steamboat Springs galleries    
Crane art is being featured at several Steamboat Springs galleries: The Artists' Gallery of Steamboat (1009 Lincoln Ave.) and Images of Nature (730 Lincoln Ave.). After the festival, the official Crane Art Show, in partnership with the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, will be open at the Depot (1001 13th St.) from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, throughout September.

Links to daily schedules:

About the festival
The second annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival takes place September 6-9, 2013 in Steamboat Springs and Hayden. The Greater Sandhill Crane is an iconic species of the Yampa Valley. Returning in the spring, cranes nest and raise their young in wetland areas throughout the valley. In late summer and early fall, hundreds of cranes from the Rocky Mountain flock join the local birds to rest and feed before continuing their journey south. The festival includes daily crane viewings, expert speakers, films, art exhibits, workshops, family activities and more. All community activities and events are free unless otherwise indicated in the program!

About the festival sponsor
The Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition (CCCC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of Sandhill Cranes in Colorado -- and lead organizer for the Yampa Valley Crane Festival each fall. Help support CCCC and the 2013 Yampa Valley Crane Festival by printing and submitting the donation form (A pdf, "CCCCSupport") at  the bottom of this page.

Festival partners
Abby Jensen Photography, BookTrails/Off the Beaten Path, Bud Werner Memorial Library, Ciao Gelato, City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Conservation Colorado, Council of the Humane Society of the U.S., Gerhard Assenmacher Photography, Klauzer & Tremaine, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, Steamboat Springs Arts Council, The Nature Conservancy, Tom Thurston at Stagecoach Marina, U.S. Forest Service, Yampa Valley Birding Club, Yampa Valley Land Trust & Yampatika

Questions about the Yampa Valley Crane Festival? Please send us an email.