COURTESY/BOBBY GUTIERREZ PHOTOS
For 21 years Mary Cunningham has taken Meeker elementary and middle school students on field trips around town to introduce kids to local and migrating bird species in celebration of World Migratory Bird Day. Though Cunningham has officially retired from her role at the U.S. Forest Service, she’s still educating local students — and adults — about birds.
The theme of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day was “Water Conservation: Water — Sustaining Bird Life.”
Cunningham led tours last week and this week around town, joined last week by Daisy DeBelle with Environment for the Americas out of Boulder, for groups of schoolchildren in grades 4-7.
Some of the identified species included a great blue heron, mallard drakes, barn swallows, yellow warblers and black phoebes.
The fourth graders received a special treat: free ice cream from Wendll’s on their way back to school.
