EVENT CALENDAR - Fresno Audubon Society
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count 2024
Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count 2024
Dec 14 all-day
Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count 2024
Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count Details Subject to Change.   On Saturday, December 14, 2024, Fresno Audubon will be hosting the annual Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count, which covers sections of both Fresno and Madera Counties. Participants will be assigned to particular sections, and will...
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Aug
9
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Matt Allshouse- Audubon Conservation Ranching Program. @ Zoom
Aug 9 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Matt Allshouse

The Audubon Conservation Ranching Program

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting August 9th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Title: Audubon Conservation Ranching: Incentivizing Regenerative Grassland Management by Connecting Certified Ranches to Consumer Markets

 

Program Description:

California has roughly 40 million acres of rangelands that provide food production, carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and habitat for a wide range of species. However, this historic land use is under threat with an average of 20,000 acres a year being lost to development or crop conversion. Climate change, invasive species, aquifer depletion, and outdated grazing practices also degrade large portions of grasslands, increasing economic and ecological vulnerability. This in turn has contributed to steep declines in grassland bird species across California and the United States.

 

Audubon launched its Conservation Ranching program (ACR) here in California in 2019. This program is designed to stem the conversion of grassland ecosystems and improve the ecological functions of rangelands by partnering with ranchers to transition to more regenerative grazing approaches via a ranch certification program. This presentation will highlight the ACR program components which includes the development of ranch-specific Habitat Management Plans and a third-party certified set of regenerative grazing practices to increase climate-driven drought resiliency, rebuild soil organic matter, enhance plant diversity and cover, increase water infiltration and carbon sequestration, and increase overall biodiversity. This ecological resilience can translate to economic resilience, as participating producers are able to use the Audubon certification logo on their product – providing a market incentive to landowners to enroll in this program through increased sales or revenue. This presentation will highlight program practices, early results and opportunities for enrollment.

 

Here are some links to program specifics:

https://ca.audubon.org/conservation/conservation-ranching

https://www.audubon.org/news/what-world-conservation-ranching   

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2017/how-cattle-ranchers-are-helping-save-western

Speaker Bio:

Matt Allshouse came to Audubon California from Wyoming and has been the Conservation Ranching Program Manager for the state since September 2019. As a rangeland ecologist, he has 15 years of experience associated with land policy, management, and science. Previously, Matt served as Ranch Manager for Antelope Springs Land and Cattle in Wyoming, as a Biologist for the Peregrine Fund in Belize and Guatemala directing conservation field research, and as Ecologist with the consulting firm Trihydro Corporation focusing on restoration ecology. Matt holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in Environment and Natural Resources, and Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management from University of Wyoming.

Pelayo Alvarez works as the Director of the Conservation Ranching Program in California.  Before joining Audubon Pelayo worked for the Carbon Cycle Institute where he helped establish carbon farming programs across California. Pelayo has experience working with the ranching community, government agencies, academia and other stakeholders on rangeland conservation initiatives including the development of programs to incentivize good stewardship practices on rangelands. Pelayo also worked for Defenders of Wildlife as the Conservation Program Director for the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition where he coordinated research and outreach activities. Pelayo also teaches Rangeland Ecology and Management at American River College in Sacramento. His previous work experience includes positions at UC Davis, The World Bank and The Nature Conservancy. He has a bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine from Universidad de Leon (Spain), a MS degree in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University and a PhD in Ecology from UC Davis.

 



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Sep
13
Tue
2022
General Meeting – John Sterling: Birding Adventures in Morocco @ Zoom
Sep 13 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

John Sterling

Birding Adventures in Morocco

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting September 13th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Title: John Sterling: Birding Adventures in Morocco

 

Program Description:

John will share highlights from his tours’ adventures in Morocco. With its high mountains, high desert, low Sahara desert, agricultural plains, coastal lagoons, cork oak woodland, and coniferous forest, Morocco has much to offer to birds and birders. Home to several endemic bird species as well as North Africa species not readily seen elsewhere, it is also along the major migratory pathway for European migrants including shorebirds, raptors, songbirds and others. Join us for a virtual tour of the country’s birds, landscapes and culture.

 

John Sterling has been a hard core birder in California since he was shown a Pileated Woodpecker in 5th grade camp in 1971.  He is a professional ornithologist and has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, US Forest Service research stations, HT Harvey & Associates, Arizona and Oregon state universities among other organizations since 1981.  John has traveled extensively throughout California learning about local bird distribution and is an authority on that state’s avifauna. In 2015 he set the California’s new big year record with 501 species and has many big day records as well. He has traveled internationally as a guide and ornithologist for many institutions including projects as a Smithsonian ornithologist to Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, The Philippines, Sumatra, Canada and Russia. John currently has his own company, Sterling Wildlife Biology (www.sterlingbirds.com),  specializing in tours, birding classes, research and environmental consulting for The Nature Conservancy, the Kern Water Bank, the California Rice Commission, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Audubon’s International Alliance Program, CA Dept. of Water Resources among other organizations.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Oct
11
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Dan Airola, Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Declining Purple Martin in the Northern California @ Zoom
Oct 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Dan Airola

Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Declining Purple Martin in the Northern California 

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting October 11th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Title: Dan Airola, Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Declining Purple Martin in the Northern California 

 

 

Description: Purple martins have been in long-term decline in California. Since the 1990s, Dan Airola has been studying and working to conserve the last Central Valley population, which nests in elevated freeways and overpasses in Sacramento. He also has conducted status surveys throughout Northern California.  His talk presents these study results and describes conservation measures that have been implemented and are needed to protect and recover the species.

 

Biography: Dan Airola is a Wildlife Biologist and Ornithologist who has worked for over 40 years on bird conservation issues in Northern California.  His recent research has addressed status, ecology, migration, and conservation of at-risk species, including the Tricolored Blackbird, Swainson’s Hawk, Yellow-billed Magpie, fire-adapted forest species, and migrant songbirds.  Dan also serves the Central Valley Bird Club as a Director, Conservation Chair, and editor of the journal Central Valley Birds.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Nov
8
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Homer Hansen, Raptors @ Zoom
Nov 8 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Homer Hansen

Raptors

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting November 8th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.
Title: Homer Hansen,  “Fall Raptors of Fresno County”

 

Description:

“Fall Raptors of Fresno County”

As winter settles in our neck of the woods, various species of raptors migrate into our locality, both increasing the numbers of common summer residents and adding a few overwintering species as well.  This presentation will provide comparisons of the natural history, behavior, structure, and field marks for several species, including Golden and Bald Eagles, Turkey Vulture,  Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Ferruginous, and Rough-legged Hawk, and Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawk, and American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine and Prairie Falcons.

 

Homer Hansen

 

BIO:

Homer Hansen grew up in Willcox, Arizona surrounded by Sandhill Cranes in winter and Cassin’s Sparrows in summer.  Homer has a passion for sharing bird watching with others and is a regular field trip leader for several festivals and has served as chairman of the Wings Over Willcox Birding & Nature Festival for nearly 20 years.  Homer loves working with youths and co-founded the Sulphur Springs Valley Young Birders Club and the associated Arizona Young Birder’s Camp, non-profits dedicated to educating youths about birds.  He also instructs workshops on sparrows, raptors, flycatchers, warblers, birding by ear, and bird ecology, including: the Lifelong Learning courses for the Tucson Audubon Society, the Southwestern Sparrows IFO for the American Birding Association, and educational workshops for the Western Field Ornithologists (WFO) conferences.  Homer is a life member of the WFO, Cooper Ornithological Society (COS), and Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS), and just completed two terms with the WFO board as chairman of the Student Programs Committee.

 

 



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Dec
13
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Robert Groos, Wild Turkeys, up close and personal @ Zoom
Dec 13 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Robert Groos

Wild Turkeys, Up Close and Personal

Wild Turkeys by Robert Groos

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting December 13th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Title: Robert Groos, Wild Turkeys, up close and personal

 

Description: Wild Turkeys, up close and personal

 

Wild Turkeys roam the foothills of Coarsegold. In early spring, an annual pageant unfolds: traveling leks of hopeful males seeking to mate with willing females. It is a wondrous exposition of biological desire, and much more. I’ve had the good fortune to observe and capture it all with photos and video. In this presentation, you will witness the phenomena of Wild Turkey leks, courtship displays, male to male combat, copulation, predation upon nests, and more. 

 

Don’t be a turkey and miss out on this opportunity to experience the thrill of seeing these magnificent birds at their wild best.

 

Biography: 

 

Robert received a PhD in French from the University of Wisconsin, became a university professor, but eventually left academia to pursue a career in computer technology consulting.

 

He began photographing birds in preparation for a safari in Botswana. What better way to learn how to use a camera than photographing birds, he reasoned. Birds eventually became his favorite photographic subject. “I’ve never met a bird I didn’t want to photograph,” he admits.

 

His photograph of a Cedar Waxwing was selected to appear in a special Audubon Photography Awards gallery of  “our favorite female bird shots 2021.”

 

Choosing to be a bird photographer necessitated becoming an avid birder, and that pursuit led to storytelling about his experiences observing birds.

 

You can read FAS member Robert Groos’ stories on his website: robertgroosphotography.com

 



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Jan
10
Tue
2023
General Meeting – Julie Brown, Why count raptors? @ Zoom
Jan 10 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Julie Brown

Why count raptors?

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting January 10th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Julie Brown

Monitoring migratory raptors in the Americas

 

Description: 

I will be speaking about the Hawk Migration Association of North America, our current programs and the work we do to support the raptor migration monitoring network. I’ll talk about HawkCount.org, the largest citizen science database in the world and how these data are being used to determine raptor population trends across the continent.

 

Biography: 

Julie Brown is the Raptor Migration and Programs Director at HMANA since 2008. Prior to her work at HMANA,  she migrated throughout the US and tropics working as field biologist primarily with raptors, focusing on human impact studies,  migration research and behavioral studies.  Julie received her BS in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Maine and received her MS in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England where she studied Peregrine Falcon migration in Costa Rica. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband who she met hawkwatching and her two bird loving children.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Feb
14
Tue
2023
General Meeting – Larry Parmeter, How the Birds Taught Humanity to Fly @ Zoom
Feb 14 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Larry Parmeter

How the Birds Taught Humanity to Fly

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting February 14th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Larry Parmeter

How the Birds Taught Humanity to Fly

 

Description: 

Since the dawn of recorded history, humans have wanted to fly like the birds. Although many studied the secret of avian flight during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, it was not until the Industrial Revolution that the technological tools for humanity to fly became available. By the mid and late 1800s, spurred on by the science of bird flight, dozens of people, and the Wright Brothers were not the first, were attempting to master human flight. This culminated in the early 20th century with pioneering aviators on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Pacific as well, joining the birds in the air. 

 

Biography: 

Larry is a retired high school English teacher who currently teaches for the Osher Adult Continuing  Education Program at Fresno State. He has been a member of Fresno Audubon for over 30 years, and was its president during the 1990s. He currently leads field trips for both Audubon and the San Joaquin River Parkway, and is also involved in the Parkway’s  environmental education program for elementary school students. He has also had a longtime interest in the space program and aviation, which led him to tonight’s presentation.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Mar
14
Tue
2023
General Meeting – Speaker Robert Groos: Zambia Safari @ Zoom
Mar 14 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Robert Groos

Zambia Safari

Lilac-breasted Roller by Robert Groos

 

Description

FAS members travel alert:
Join Robert Groos on safari to Zambia. No need to fly all the way to the other side of the world. On this photo and video expedition, you will experience the birds and other wildlife (lions, leopards, elephants, zebra, antelope, of course) of Zambia as if you were sitting by my side in the safari jeep. Enjoy an incredible travel experience, informative as well as entertaining, without leaving the comfort of your own home.
Come along with me. I want you by my side on March 14, 2023

 

Biography

Robert received a PhD in French from the University of Wisconsin, became a university professor, but eventually left academia to pursue a career in computer technology consulting.

He began photographing birds in preparation for a safari in Botswana. What better way to learn how to use a camera than photographing birds, he reasoned. Birds eventually became his favorite photographic subject. “I’ve never met a bird I didn’t want to photograph,” he admits.

His photograph of a Cedar Waxwing was selected to appear in a special Audubon Photography Awards gallery of  “our favorite female bird shots 2021.”

Choosing to be a bird photographer necessitated becoming an avid birder, and that pursuit led to storytelling about his experiences observing birds.

You can read FAS member Robert Groos’ stories on his website: robertgroosphotography.com

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting March 14th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

 

Biography: 

 



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Apr
1
Sat
2023
Latino Outdoors Fresno – Bird Watching and Picnic at Roeding Park @ https://latinooutdoors.org/eventbrite-event/bird-watching-and-picnic-at-roeding-park/
Apr 1 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Apr
11
Tue
2023
General Meeting – April 2023 Daniel S Karp: Harmonizing Bird Conservation with Food Production in Farming Landscapes @ Zoom
Apr 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Daniel S Karp

Harmonizing Bird Conservation with Food Production in Farming Landscapes

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting April 11th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
 Register to receive login information.

New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Daniel S Karp: Harmonizing Bird Conservation with Food Production in Farming Landscapes

 

Description: 

A critical challenge for this century is transitioning towards sustainable farming systems that simultaneously produce food and conserve wildlife. Yet conservation scientists and practitioners have traditionally fixated on protected areas and overlooked opportunities for conserving wildlife alongside us in working landscapes. Daniel uses ecological research to develop strategies for co-managing agriculture for bird conservation, crop production, and food-safety outcomes, both in the tropics and here in California. For this talk, Daniel will first discuss how climate change and habitat conversion are affecting tropical bird communities, and how shifts in farming practices may mitigate their combined impacts. Then, Daniel will shift his focus to California agricultural systems, where birds play multiple roles on farms, not only consuming crops and spreading foodborne diseases, but also consuming crop pests. Daniel will outline his lab’s work striving to find ways to manage California birds and take advantage of the benefits they can provide farmers, while minimizing harms to food production. 

Biography: 

Daniel Karp is an associate professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at UC Davis. Daniel completed his Ph.D. in 2013 and undergraduate studies in 2009 at Stanford University’s Department of Biology. Following his graduate studies, Daniel became an inaugural NatureNet postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and the Nature Conservancy. He then received a Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at The University of British Colombia, before beginning his position at UC Davis in 2017. 



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.