Virtual General Meeting Rich Cimino Topic: Birds of the Western Andes Mountains of Colombia Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting Nov. 12th, 7:00pm This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom Register to receive login information. New to Zoom? Check out all you need to...
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting September 13th, 7:00pm
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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.
Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Declining Purple Martin in the Northern California
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting October 11th, 7:00pm
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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.
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting November 8th, 7:00pm
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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.
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting December 13th, 7:00pm
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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.
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting January 10th, 7:00pm
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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.
