Bringing Birds to the Garden: California Native Plants for the Win
Williamson’s Sapsucker & Coffeeberry by Benny Jacobs-Schwartz
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting Jan. 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 herebefore the meeting.
Description:
Did you know California is home to over 5,000 species of native plants and 700 species of birds have been observed here? However, much of the state’s native flora is now in peril, with many species listed as endangered and on the verge of extinction.
Learn the history of these changes and how you can help bring back the birds through grassroots efforts at the home or garden. This presentation will teach you how to plan and maintain a California native plant garden to attract and care for birds visiting your local landscape. Additionally, participants will be introduced to many of the local birds that visit our yards and open spaces.
Bio:
Benny Isaac Jacobs-Schwartz owns and operates a bird-guiding business and lifestyle brand called BIRDS by BIJS (pronounced Bee-jus). With a background in biology, ecology, and outdoor education, Benny has worked professionally for over 10 years as a naturalist guide, expedition trip leader, and international bird guide. Through his business, Benny offers professionally guided birding outings in Southern California and offers small-group birding tours to his favorite tropical locales like Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia.
Benny is a passionate educator and photographer, specializing in birds! Benny is active on social media where he creates fun, educational videos and posts to inspire others about the natural world with the goal of getting folks to put down their phone and pick up their Binos.
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
FAS Release of Liability Form
It’s been far too long since we were able to socialize together. So, bring your favorite dish and join FAS for lunch at noon and birding at the beautiful Sumner Peck Ranch. There is no entry fee and parking is free. FAS will provide drinks and table service. Take the drive from the gates to the parking area at the end of the drive. The picnic area is just below the parking lot, next to the river. Let’s celebrate Fresno Fall birding together! Registration is required so that we have a head count.
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 know herebefore the meeting.
Rich Cimino
Bio:
Birding Northern California for 57 years, Rich has been leading field trips for 24 years.
He is the field guide for Yellowbilled Tours, which offers annual birding tours to Nome
Alaska, as well as Arizona, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Belize, Colombia, Guatemala,
Panama and France.
Rich lives in Marin County, an active member of the Marin Audubon Society and served
for eight years as the conservation chair for the Alameda County Ohlone Audubon Society.
He participated in the Eastern Alameda Breeding Bird Atlas, The Altamont Pass Wind
Turbine Area Golden Eagle & Raptor stakeholder group and avian surveys. Rich is the
co-compiler of the Eastern Alameda County Christmas Bird Count now in its tenth year,
and a participant in four Marin CBC’s and the 2021 Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas.
He is the field guide for Yellowbilled Tours (www.yellowbilledtours.com), which offers annual birding tours to Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, and France.
Register for Fresno Audubon General Meeting Jan. 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 herebefore the meeting.
Description:
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Get ready for a dive into South America’s birdiest country! Together we’ll explore Colombia’s unique ecology, breathtaking scenery, and unparalleled avian diversity! Colombia holds the record with nearly 2,000 bird species and an impressive 80 endemics!
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During our time together we’ll discuss the country’s five regions, conservation successes, and how the mighty Rio Magdalena and Rio Cauca eroded the continent’s spine and split the Andes Mountain Range into three distinct cordilleras. From sloth-eating Harpy Eagles to shy antpittas, and menageries of colorful tanagers and hummingbirds, Colombia’s astonishing diversity will leave you wanting more!
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Bio:
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Benny Isaac Jacobs-Schwartz owns and operates a bird-guiding business and lifestyle brand called BIRDS by BIJS (pronounced Bee-jus). With a background in biology, ecology, and outdoor education, Benny has worked professionally for over 10 years as a naturalist guide, expedition trip leader, and international bird guide. Through his business, Benny offers professionally guided birding outings in Southern California and offers small-group birding tours to his favorite tropical locales like Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia.
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Benny is a passionate educator and photographer, specializing in birds! Benny is active on social media where he creates fun, educational videos and posts to inspire others about the natural world with the goal of getting folks to put down their phone and pick up their Binos.
New to Zoom? Check out all you need to know herebefore the meeting.
Description:
Scott Harris spent 17 months, chasing 53 Raptors across 34 states—his version of a Raptor Big Year. RaptorQuest is about his adventures, misadventures, successes and failures. From -36 degree days, to ones over 100 degrees, to just getting on the bird just in time, to the frustrations of missing one by minutes. It’s about the birds—of course—but it’s also about the people he met, the things he learned and why he’s already working on his next adventure.
Speaker Bio:
Scott Harris and his wife Randi retired to South Carolina in March of 2020-something. Scott will tell you it was one of the best decisions they have made in their 45 years of marriage. It was also when he first started birding – a hobby he never imagined himself participating in, but now can’t imagine living without.
They sold their long-time home and business, Mustang Marketing, a marketing/branding company they had owned for 35 years. They are blessed that both their children and their grandson are also in South Carolina.
While in California, Scott had a syndicated newspaper column and two weekly radio shows. He and his son Justin also hosted a Los Angeles Dodgers weekly live radio show. Scott sat on dozens of boards over the years, including Boys & Girls Club, United Way, The Sheriff’s Foundation, Pepperdine University, Moorpark College and California State University Northridge.
In the month before leaving Ventura County, Scott was honored as Man of the Year, with his company having won Business of the Year two years previously. His interests and hobbies include the largest collection of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley in the world, playing harmonica in a blues band and he has written more than fifty books in the past seven years – though the one he’ll be discussing today is his first entrée into the world of birding and birds.
That book, RaptorQuest: Chasing America’s Raptors, is the story of his year-long adventure tracking down every species of Raptor in the Lower 48 states. And today, we’ll learn about his adventures, misadventures, successes and failures.
