EVENT CALENDAR - Fresno Audubon Society
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
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2
3
4
Field Trip to River West Madera 8:00 am
Field Trip to River West Madera @ River West Madera
Dec 4 @ 8:00 am – 12:30 pm
Field Trip to River West Madera @ River West Madera
Field Trip to River West Madera Wednesday December 4, 2024 REGISTRATION Link    All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here River West Madera December 4, 2024 ...
5
6
7
Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR 6:45 am
Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR
Dec 7 @ 6:45 am – 5:45 pm
Saturday Field Trip - Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR
Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR Registration required for all FAS field trips. All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here Registration for this...
8
9
10
11
Merced Wildlife Refuge  (off Sandy Mush Rd) Location Change 10:00 am
Merced Wildlife Refuge  (off Sandy Mush Rd) Location Change @ Merced Wildlife Refuge
Dec 11 @ 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
Merced Wildlife Refuge  (off Sandy Mush Rd) Location Change @ Merced Wildlife Refuge
Audubon Field Trip to Merced Wildlife Refuge Location changed from Eastman OR Hensley (TBD) due to lack of birds in this location. All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also...
12
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28
Field Trip to River West Open Space 8:00 am
Field Trip to River West Open Space @ River West Open Space
Dec 28 @ 8:00 am – 12:30 pm
Field Trip to River West Open Space @ River West Open Space
Field Trip to River West Open Space Saturday, December 28, 2024 Event Details Subject to Change All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here Register here! Join...
29
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Dec
14
Tue
2021
General Meeting – Waterbirds Without Water by Rachel Zwillenger @ Zoom
Dec 14 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Waterbirds without Water ⏤ Virtual General Meeting

Rachel Zwillinger

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting December 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.

In her presentation on drought and migratory birds in California’s Central Valley, Rachel will provide an overview of Central Valley wetlands and their importance for the Pacific Flyway, explain how drought is impacting the Valley’s bird habitats, and discuss actions we can take to ensure a more drought-resilient future.

Rachel Zwillinger bio

As the Water Policy Advisor for Defenders’ California Program, Rachel focuses on protecting the fish and wildlife that depend upon California’s waterways and wetlands. Among other priorities, she works to ensure that wetlands in the Central Valley receive sufficient water to support birds as they migrate along the Pacific Flyway, and strives to protect endangered salmon and other native species that depend upon the San Francisco Bay-Delta and upstream habitats.

Before joining Defenders of Wildlife, Rachel worked for three years as a litigation fellow for Altshuler Berzon LLP and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Prior to her fellowship, Rachel served as a law clerk to Judge John T. Noonan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Judge Marilyn Huff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Rachel received a J.D. and M.S. from Stanford University, where she graduated Order of the Coif, and received her undergraduate degree in geosciences from Princeton University.



Membership Drive now underway!
If you haven’t yet joined Fresno Audubon this season, please join here for a low cost annual membership. NEW this year you’ll receive a copy of our ‘Birding Resource Guide’ which provides tips about local area birding along with a Fresno Audubon sticker!

Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Dec
18
Sat
2021
Field Trip to Roeding Park @ Roeding Park (meet at the pond near Storyland)
Dec 18 @ 7:30 am – 12:30 pm

Field Trip to Roeding Park, Saturday, December 18, 2021

Please join Fresno Audubon as we bird Roeding Park on Saturday, December 18. Roeding Park is an easy-to-get-to local destination that has quite a variety of bird life year round. While the heron rookery may not be active right now, there is still plenty to see and hear, including many year round and winter residents that inhabit the ponds and the many trees found around the park. Some of our target species for the outing include Red-shouldered Hawk, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Orange-crowned Warbler. Roeding Park is located at 890 W. Belmont Avenue, Fresno, CA 93728. There is a $5 per vehicle entry fee that is paid at the kiosk on the way in. We will meet at the pond by Storyland at 7:30 AM (36.752873, -119.825141). The outing will last until approximately 12:00 or 12:30 PM. Participants should bring snacks, water, lunch (if desired), hat, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. We ask that participants be vaccinated, wear masks, and practice social distancing protocols. Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com or 515-357-0122. Please register here.

Everyone must do their own risk assessment before participating, but we believe risks to be very low if we follow state and CDC guidelines. By registering you will be agreeing to our liability waiver and will not need to sign again onsite.

We will operate the event according to state and county guidelines: Masks must be warn in public except when outdoors and maintaining at least 6 feet of social distance from others not in their household. You must have a face covering with you at all times and must put it on if you are within 6 feet of others who are not in your household

Jan
11
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Tropical Birds by Benny Jacobs-Schwartz @ Zoom
Jan 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Tropical Birds ⏤ Virtual General Meeting

Benny Jacobs-Schwartz

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting January 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.

International Bird guide, naturalist and photographer, Benny Jacobs-Schwartz will share his dazzling bird photos, captivating videos, and animated story-telling to bring a slice of the tropics to California.
Delving into topics of migration, tropical speciation, and bio-diversity, this media rich journey will share some of the fascinating and unique birds that inhabit the new-world tropics.
Sure to both educate and entertain, this presentation will certainly leave you with a deeper understanding of tropical ecology, and knowledge about where some of our backyard birds spend their winters!

Speaker Bio:

Benny Isaac Jacobs-Schwartz owns and operates a bird guiding business and lifestyle brand called BIRDS by BIJS (pronounced Bee-jus). Working seasonally as a naturalist guide, expedition trip leader, and international bird guide, Benny works in a variety of locations. Most recently bringing him to such exotic places like coastal Alaska, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Ecuadorian cloud forest.

Seasonally Benny or BIJS, is based in Los Angeles, where he leads public and private birding adventures to urban hotspots. He is also a passionate photographer, specializing in birds. He uses his impressive collection of content to leverage his prolific social media presence. Benny hopes his love of the natural world will inspire others to conserve the open spaces around them and look up more often from their phones!

He also serves full-time as the Program Director for an Outdoor Education non-profit called Biocitizen Los Angeles. They offer natural history education, hikes, backpacking and various outdoor camps for kids across Los Angeles!


Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Feb
8
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Sleuthing into the secret lives of wood ducks by Dr. John Eadie @ Zoom
Feb 8 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Sleuthing into the secret lives of wood ducks ⏤ Virtual General Meeting

Dr. John Eadie

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting January 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.

Biologists have studied the charismatic wood duck for well over a century. What more could we possibly learn? As it turns out, quite a bit. New technology is revealing a rich and complex social underworld that is proving to be quite astonishing. We are employing automatic logging devices (passive integrated transponders, or PIT tags) that record every nest site a female visits, and population-wide genetic analyses of all breeding females and their offspring to follow the breeding behavior and entire life histories of wood ducks on several sites in California. We are focusing on a particularly curious nesting behavior whereby females lay eggs in the nests of other females in the same population (termed conspecific brood parasitism or CBP). Females in a wide variety of bird species lay their eggs in the nests of other conspecifics but despite its widespread occurrence the factors that promote parasitic nesting behavior remain poorly understood, in part because the sneaky parasitic females are rarely identified, but also because the information needed to assess the possible benefits of this behavior are often lacking. Are these females friends or foe? Does this behavior add or detract from the survival of females and their young, or the sustainability of the population? Our studies are providing some new insights and, in some cases, surprising us with the wide range of behavioral interactions among females in this enigmatic species of cavity-nesting duck.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. John Eadie is a Professor and the Dennis G. Raveling Waterfowl Chair in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis. He joined the faculty at UC Davis in 1995 from Zoology University of British Columbia, where he completed by PhD degree. His research interests include the ecology, conservation and management of waterfowl and wetlands. His current work focuses on the management and conservation of wetland habitats, breeding waterfowl (mallards and wood ducks) in California, and linking ecological theory to wildlife management and conservation. He uses a combination of experimental and observational field studies, molecular genetic techniques in the lab, and population modeling approaches in his research.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Feb
9
Wed
2022
Field Trip to River West Open Space @ River West Open Space
Feb 9 @ 9:00 am – 12:30 pm

Field Trip to River West Open Space, Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Register here!

Join Fresno Audubon for a bird hike at River West Open Space on Wednesday, February 9. We will meet at 9am as it is frequently foggy in the morning in the river bottom.

This is a rich area with many target species. We can expect to see a wide variety of ducks, including Goldeneye, Mergansers, and Bufflehead. There are many resident raptors – including Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and occasional Osprey and Bald Eagle sightings. There are many songbirds waiting to be discovered as well – sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and Loggerhead Shrikes. It is not unusual to log more than 40 species.

Participants should bring snacks, water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. There really isn’t anywhere to eat lunch at this property; we will likely be wrapping up by 12:30. FAS is asking that participants be vaccinated and wear masks in addition to following social distancing protocols. Registration is required for this event.

The trip leader is Susan Estep. She can be reached at (402)212-1215 or sbse820@gmail.com if you have any questions. There is plenty of on street parking available on River View Dr and W Bluff Ave. It is about a 3-mile loop of flat walking. There are no restrooms or water available so come prepared!

Register here!

Feb
18
Fri
2022
Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
Feb 18 – Feb 21 all-day

For anyone curious about the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), it is a four day event held every February in which birders everywhere of all skill levels are encouraged to spend at least 15 minutes counting birds and submit an eBird list. The 2022 GBBC will run from February 18-21. More information can be found at this link: https://www.birdcount.org/participate/

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com or 515-357-0122.

Feb
19
Sat
2022
Field Trip to Wildwood Native Park @ Wildwood Native Park
Feb 19 @ 8:00 am – 1:00 pm

Field Trip to Wildwood Native Park, Saturday, February 19, 2022

Please register here.

Join FAS on Saturday, February 19 as we take part in the 2022 Great Backyard Bird Count by birding at Wildwood Native Park and the surrounding areas. Wildwood Native Park is located in Madera County, just north of Fresno, right off of the 41: https://goo.gl/maps/SKW27jQZhu7kCWpr6  Our target species include Red-shouldered Hawk, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Hermit Thrush, Lesser Goldfinch, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and many more! We will be meeting at 8:00 AM in the parking lot. Participants should bring snacks, lunch (if desired), water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. We will likely be wrapping up between noon and 1:00 PM. FAS is requiring that participants be vaccinated and wear masks in addition to following social distancing protocols. Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com or 515-357-0122. Please register here.

For anyone curious about the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), it is a four day event held every February in which birders everywhere of all skill levels are encouraged to spend at least 15 minutes counting birds and submit an eBird list. The 2022 GBBC will run from February 18-21. More information can be found at this link: https://www.birdcount.org/participate/

Mar
8
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Homer Hansen “Early Spring Sparrows” @ Zoom
Mar 8 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Homer Hansen

“Early Spring Sparrows”

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting March 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.

 

As spring approaches, our wintering sparrows prepare to leave and breeding species start to arrive, making it an ideal time to see a wide diversity of species.  Part of the challenge of identifying sparrows is recognizing their generic and species specific traits, including behavior and physical characteristics.  This presentation will give an overview of a handful of similar species that share common habitat but have differences of natural history, behavior, and field marks that help tell them apart.  Some of the similar species that will be discussed include Chipping and Brewer’s; White-crowned, White-throated, and Golden-crowned; Savannah and Vesper, and Sagebrush and Bell’s Sparrows.  

 

Speaker 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 (if not for COVID, 2021 would have been the 6th annual camp).  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.
Mar
9
Wed
2022
The Raptor Trail Field Trip on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam @ The Raptor Trail on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam
Mar 9 @ 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

The Raptor Trail on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam

Registration is required for this event.

Register Here

 

Join FAS for birding along the Kings River.  The trail begins across from the parking lot on the south side of the bridge just below Pine Flat Dam.  See map here: https://goo.gl/maps/WGfg5aFDtSBFFBD29. The trail is an easy walk of approximately a mile and a quarter each way, but be aware there is some uneven terrain and river rocks create a cobblestone surface in parts.  Some of our target species include Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, and Osprey.

 

Meet in the parking lot at the south side of the bridge.  If you want to look for directions from the eBird map, the Raptor Trail is just across the river from the North Riverside Access Park eBird Hotspot. GPS Coordinates 36.8298592686927, -119.33621274737327.

 

 

Participants should bring snacks, lunch (if desired), water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. FAS is requiring that participants be vaccinated and wear masks when social distancing is not possible. Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader John McDaniel at (559) 779-7186 or email mandomac@comcast.net.

Register Here

Mar
19
Sat
2022
Clovis Botanical Gardens: Dry Creek Park and Cottonwood Park Field Trips @ Clovis Botanical Gardens
Mar 19 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Clovis Botanical Garden: Dry Creek Park and Cottonwood Park

Separate registration is required for either walk.

Register for 9:00 walk

Register for 10:30 walk

 

FAS will be hosting two birding walks on Saturday March 19, 2022 during the Spring Plant Sale at the Clovis Botanical Gardens.  We will bird the Dry Creek Park area next to the Clovis Botanical Gardens as well as the ponding basin across the street in Cottonwood Park. 

 

These will be short 1-1 ½ hour walks.  The 9:00 am walk will be led by Susan Heidebrecht and the 10:30 am walk will be led by Judy Johnson.  

 

We expect to see a good variety of birds including warblers, bushtits, raptors, owls, and waterfowl.  

 

You can also check out the Spring Plant Sale at the Clovis Botanical Gardens either before or after the bird walk.  

 

We will meet for the walks at the Audubon table by the entrance to the Botanical Gardens. FAS is requiring that participants be vaccinated and wear masks when social distancing is not possible.

 

Separate registration is required for each walk.

Register for 9:00 walk

Register for 10:30 walk

Contact Info:

9:00 Walk- Susan Heidebrecht sunheidebrecht@comcast.net (559) 313-1776

10:30 Walk- Judy Johnson jajohn1@comcast.net (559) 977-2787