EVENT CALENDAR - Fresno Audubon Society
Mar
27
Sun
2022
FAS Board Meeting @ Zoom meeting
Mar 27 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Contact rsnow@fresnoaudubon.org for login credentials

Apr
12
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Pamela Flick “Wolves in California” @ Zoom
Apr 12 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Pamela Flick

“Wolves in California”

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting April 12th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
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New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

The Return of Gray Wolves to California

Once common throughout much of North America, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) was driven to localized extinction in most areas of the contiguous United States by the mid-1930s through bounties and wildly successful predator control efforts. The last wild gray wolf in California was shot in Lassen County in 1924. 

Flash forward to late December 2011, when a young male wolf known as OR-7 entered our state from Oregon, making him the first known wild wolf in the Golden State in nearly 90 years. In Summer 2015, news spread that California’s first resident wolf family, dubbed the Shasta Pack for the massive dormant volcano near where they were discovered, had settled into eastern Siskiyou County. The following summer, we learned about the Lassen Pack, which straddles the Lassen/Plumas county line and has produced pups every year since 2017. Yet another pair of wolves, known as the Whaleback Pack in Siskiyou County, produced seven pups in 2021. Wolves are no longer merely passing through; they’re settling in and making themselves at home here in our state.

This presentation will provide an overview of gray wolf natural history, ecological role and current distribution and population in North America and here in California. The historic reintroduction efforts in the northern Rockies to bring wolves back from the brink of extinction will be discussed, as will implications for wolf recovery in the western states with an emphasis on the importance of coexistence and moving beyond myths.

Speaker Bio:

Pamela Flick is the California Program Director for Defenders of Wildlife based in Sacramento, where she engages on a variety of issues statewide including gray wolf recovery, responsible renewable energy planning and development, forest resilience and fire restoration, and advancing conservation of imperiled species and natural communities.

Pam is a founding member of the Pacific Wolf Coalition and has served as an advisor to the Department of Fish and Wildlife in development of the Conservation Plan for Gray Wolves in California and the Department’s wolf conflict compensation pilot program. She currently serves on Sierra Forest Legacy’s advisory board, the Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council advisory committee, and the Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Working Group.

Prior to joining Defenders in 2005, Pam worked to permanently protect public lands and rivers throughout the Golden State in various roles within the California Wild Heritage Campaign, Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign and at Friends of the River.

Pam graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Sacramento with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Biological Sciences. She also holds associate degrees in Biology and Liberal Studies from Sierra College and is a Certified California Naturalist through the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She is a third-generation Californian and hails from Mariposa.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Apr
24
Sun
2022
FAS Board Meeting @ Zoom meeting
Apr 24 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Contact rsnow@fresnoaudubon.org for login credentials

May
10
Tue
2022
General Meeting – “Dan Airola – Yellow-billed Magpies” @ Zoom
May 10 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Dan Airola

Yellow-Billed Magpie Population Status in Urban Sacramento

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting May 10th, 7:00pm
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New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

Program Description

Dan’s talk covers his studies of the Yellow-billed Magpie population that occupies parks and other open space areas within the urban Sacramento area. Dan documents the previously unstudied ecology of Central Valley magpie populations. He also describes new information that explains the occurrence and abundance of magpies in this area. He also solves the mystery of how magpies appear to have maintained stable and healthy populations in this urban area, while populations in more rural areas have been decimated by West Nile virus.

Speaker Bio:

Dan Airola is a Wildlife Biologist and Ornithologist,  who has lived in the Central Valley since 1985. Dan conducts research and conservation efforts for birds of concern in northern California, often with a community science component. He began studies of Yellow-billed Magpies during 2020 after discovering that almost no ecological study of the species had occurred in the Central Valley. His other research and conservation program species include the Tricolored Blackbird, Purple Martin, Swainson’s Hawk, Osprey, and migratory and wintering songbirds. He is a Board member and Conservation Chair of the Central Valley Bird Club, and Editor of the journal Central Valley Birds. His recent book on 30 years of Purple Martin research and management is available at cvbirds.org.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
May
29
Sun
2022
FAS Board Meeting @ Zoom meeting
May 29 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Contact rsnow@fresnoaudubon.org for login credentials

Jun
14
Tue
2022
General Meeting – Lily Douglas- The Central Valley Joint Venture – creating habitat for migrating birds @ Zoom
Jun 14 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Lily Douglas

The Central Valley Joint Venture

-creating habitat for migrating birds

 

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting June 14th, 7:00pm
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Lily Douglas with Tricolored Blackbird

 

Program Description:

 

The Central Valley is a critically important part of the Pacific Flyway, which extends from the Arctic to South America, and is used by over 100 million birds of 400 species every year. Approximately 95% of natural habitat in the Central Valley has been transformed for human uses, and unpredictable water supplies and other climate change impacts threaten the future of farms, wetlands, and other bird habitats.

 

The Central Valley Joint Venture (CVJV) partners with private landowners, local governments, non-profit organizations, and others to conserve Central Valley birds and their habitats for current and future generations. In 2021, the CVJV released its updated Implementation Plan, laying out objectives to support healthy bird populations and benefit people and communities in the Central Valley. Lily Douglas, the CVJV’s Assistant Coordinator, will discuss the formation of the migratory bird joint ventures, the history and structure of the CVJV, the updated Implementation Plan, and how you can help.

 

Speaker Bio:

 

Lily Douglas is the Assistant Coordinator of the Central Valley Joint Venture for migratory bird habitat conservation. She has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for nine years, previously in roles implementing the Endangered Species Act for species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Prior to that she worked with Greater Sage-Grouse for the Bureau of Land Management and as a GIS Analyst with an environmental consulting firm. Lily also sits on the Board of Directors for the Central Valley Bird Club and co-authored the book Sacramento County Breeding Birds: A Tale of Two Atlases and Three Decades of Change, released last year.



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
Jul
12
Tue
2022
General Meeting July 2022- Jack Jefferys- Hakalau Forest NWR and the birds of Hawaii @ Zoom
Jul 12 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

 Virtual General Meeting

Jack Jefferys

Hakalau Forest NWR and the Birds of Hawaii.

Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting July 12th, 7:00pm
This meeting will be broadcast online via Zoom
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New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know here before the meeting.

 

Program Description:

The Hawaiian Archipelago is the most isolated chain of islands in the world, over twenty-five hundred miles from the nearest continent.  Very few plants and animals have ever reached these remote islands on their own, but those that did, evolved over time and became unique to the Islands.  About five and a half million years ago,  a small flock of finch like birds from Asia, likely blown off course, arrived in the Hawaiian islands.  Unrestricted food supplies and adaptations through competition for these food resources created evolutionary opportunities for speciation through specialization of bill forms and body size.  From this one colonization the Hawaiian Honeycreepers evolved into over fifty different bird species found nowhere else on earth.  Some Honeycreepers, like the scarlet I’iwi, evolved long curved bills to feed on nectar in the curved flowers of native plants,  like those of the Bell flower family or Lobelias and provide for their pollination.  Other bird species adapted to feed on insects in different ways. For example, the tiny Hawaii Akepa, with its short straight bill, crossed at the tip,  gleans micro insects from leaf buds.  The Akialoa’s long thin bill, almost as long as its body, was used to poke deep into tree crevices to find insects that no other bird could reach.  The Akiapola’au has one of the most unusual bills in the bird world.  Its upper bill is long, thin and down curved, and lower bill short straight and stout feeds like a woodpecker, but with its mouth open.  It pecks into the tree wood with its lower short-stout bill, then uses the upper long curved bill to reach into the hole to wrench out wood-boring beetle larvae.  Today, only 17 Hawaiian Honeycreepers species remain in the Islands, but with continued habitat protection and restoration as is happening at Hakalau Forest NWR on Hawaii Island and other areas in the State, as well as captive breeding and release, and active research on control of mosquitoes and avian diseases, the remaining Hawaiian Honeycreepers will hopefully survive far into the future. 

Speaker Bio:

Jack Jeffrey, a longtime resident of Hawaii Island, is a professional wildlife and nature photographer, birding guide, and wildlife biologist.  He is intimately familiar with Hawaii’s remote rainforests, hidden valleys, and rare endemic birds. He brings to his images the knowledge from over 50 years of observation and study of Hawaii’s native forest birds, as well as those in other places from his travels around the world.  He combines a naturalist’s curiosity with a photographer’s patience and technical skill to produce beautiful images.  

Jack is recipient of the prestigious “Ansel Adams Award for Nature Photography”, and is a USFWS  “Endangered Species Recovery Champion”.  He has also received the coveted Nature Conservancy of Hawaii Kako’o Aina Award, Hawaii Sierra Club Conservationist of the Year Award, and the Hawaii Audubon Society Conservationist of the Year Award.  Now retired from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, he is enjoying more time traveling with his wife Gretchen, leading tours and photographing wildlife and nature around the world.  

 



Fresno Audubon Society
Thank you for your continued involvement in and support of Fresno Audubon Society.
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
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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.
Aug
28
Sun
2022
FAS Board Meeting @ Zoom meeting
Aug 28 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Contact rsnow@fresnoaudubon.org for login credentials

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.