Buses In Boulder Are Going To The Birds
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - It may seem a little strange, but the city of Boulder is now encouraging Regional Transportation District passengers to check out birds when they ride.
It's a way to learn about Colorado's fine feathered friends while encouraging public transportation.
"EcoArts Connections, my organization, commissioned Brian D. Collier, who is this awesome visual artist, to try and do a project with the CU Museum of Natural History," said Marda Kirn, EcoArts Connections Executive Director. "Part of it was to figure out; could we work with the buses? Could we somehow use the arts to inspire people to ride the buses?"
The answer -- "Bus Birding."
"The idea of it is to get people who already ride the bus to be interested in birds and natural environment and what's around them, and to get people who are interested in birds to ride the bus," Kirn said.
From now until October, riders and birders will have the opportunity to "bus bird" if they take the Long Jump route from Boulder to Lafayette.
"That was especially chosen because it goes between an urban, a rural, a suburban kind of zone, you can see all kinds of birds along the way.
"There are 13 stops. They're called Bus Birding Stops, and if you get a chance you'll be able to see one as you go out. And on the signs, they say, 'These are the birds you're likely to see at this stop.'"
So once a rider boards the JUMP bus they can pick up a bird guide in English and Spanish. There are also brochures on either side of the top of the bus.
"It's here, it's now, it's in our backyard. And by riding the bus, which is a very cool, fun, and cost-effective thing to do, you can really help the environment in that way as well," Kirn said.
Although bus birding will run through October, there will be other bird-related activities that will run through December, including bird walks, bird talks, and even bird-themed poetry readings.
LINK: BusBirding.SocietyRNE.net (the Bus Birding website)
LINK: cumuseum.colorado.edu
