Aspen Journalism
Wildlife biologist Bill Vetter and Western Rivers Regional Program Manager with Audubon Rockies Abby Burk look and listen for birds in the early morning hours in an irrigated pasture in Grand County. They are heading up a bird monitoring program that aims to learn how birds use irrigated agriculture.
Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism
KREMMLING — In the gray light of dawn, hundreds of swallows darted over a pool of standing water in an irrigated field along the Colorado River. The birds were attracted to the early-morning mosquitoes swarming the saturated landscape.
Bill Vetter, a wildlife biologist with Wyoming-based Precision Wildlife Resources, methodically counted the birds. For six minutes, he marked down every bird he saw or heard at eight locations across the ranch, 250 meters apart.