Steamboat’s 15th Yampa Valley Crane Festival Adds Bird Calling Contest

Steamboat Springs —The Yampa River Botanic Park sits quiet on a Tuesday afternoon. The light hits the water, and the only sound is the wind moving through the cottonwoods. In a few hours, that silence will break. Not with traffic. Not with construction. With bird calls.

The 15th annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival kicks off Tuesday, Sept. 1, and it is bigger than anyone expected when Nancy Merrill helped throw the first one together in a rush.

Merrill, who co-founded the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition with Barbara Hughes in May 2012, said she is "thrilled we’re hitting the 15th year." She admitted they had no idea if that first event would stick. It did. In fact, the Steamboat Pilot reported that Merrill said the festival has "surpassed all my expectations."

The short version: six days of events. Sept. 1 through Sept. 6. The festival moves from the Bud Werner Memorial Library to the riverbanks and back again.

It starts with Crane Fest Kids Night in Library Hall at 1289 Lincoln Ave. Then it expands. Guided crane viewings. Bird walks. Live raptors. Films.

But the new piece is the Yampa Valley Bird Calling Contest. It runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the Yampa River Botanic Park. Adults and children compete for prizes in five categories. This is a first for the festival.

The lineup includes heavy hitters. Anne Lacy, vice president of North America Programs at the International Crane Federation, delivers the keynote at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 5 in Library Hall. She is a sandhill and whooping crane expert.

Also on the program: Noah Strycker, author and photographer; Ted Floyd, editor of Birding magazine; Sandra Noll, a naturalist; and Van Graham, a retired wildlife biologist who specializes in the Rocky Mountain population of greater sandhill cranes.

Meg Karschner, executive director of the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition, said her favorite part isn’t a specific speaker or activity. It’s the crowd.

“It’s really the group that comes together for this festival from speakers and workshop leaders, our volunteers, the attendees, people who are local and people who are visitors,” Karschner told the Steamboat Pilot. “It’s such an incredible group of people that come together, and it is our opportunity to showcase the ecology of the Yampa Valley.”

Karschner called it a "fun time to nerd-out on nature."

Make no mistake, this is not just about cranes. The sandhill crane is the headline act, but the festival highlights the entire Yampa Valley ecosystem. The valley’s wetlands draw these birds every summer. They are not permanent residents, but they are the most visible proof that this landscape still works.

The festival’s growth mirrors a shift in how locals view their environment. Fifteen years ago, the cranes were a curiosity. Now they are a community anchor. The Bud Werner Memorial Library becomes a hub for birders, scientists, and families who might otherwise spend the weekend on the slopes or at a brewery.

The schedule is dense. You won’t see everything in one day. The Steamboat Pilot noted that a full schedule is available online at ColoradoCranes.org.

Pat Curran, a part-time Steamboat Springs resident, was seen checking out displays in Library Hall at a past festival. He represents the kind of local who shows up not because he’s an expert, but because he likes to be outside.

The festival ends Sept. 6. The cranes will eventually leave for the south, as they do every year. But the infrastructure to watch them stays. The coalition, the library partnerships, and the volunteer base have outlasted the initial hype.

Merrill said they threw that first festival together in a very short time. They didn’t know if it would last. It did.

The real question isn’t whether the cranes will return next year. They always do. The question is whether enough neighbors will show up to the Botanic Park on Wednesday evening to listen.

The birds are coming. The festival is ready.