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Meetings

Meetings

Monthly meetings are held every fourth Tuesday September through May, 6:30 pm (social), 7:00 pm - meeting begins. Meetings are held at South Valley Library, 15650A Wedge Parkway, a boldly designed mustard yellow building ~1 mile from the intersection of Wedge Parkway and Mt. Rose Highway. Enter the meeting room directly from the door on the Wedge Parkway side of the building. We look forward to seeing you there!

September 22, 2009 - George Baumgardner, Curator of Natural History, Nevada State Museum - John James Audubon: Artist and Naturalist

John J. Audubon dedicated most of his life to making images of nature in the Americas of the early 1800s. His most recognized work, “Birds of America,” featured all avian species known from the United States of that time. Using images from this work, George will discuss how Audubon’s art developed, how it differed from similar work of the period, and how it still has impact today. When possible, emphasis will be placed on birds living in the current day western United States.

October 27, 2009 - Mary Gaspari - The Amazing Birds of Prey.

Mary, a licensed master falconer here in Reno, will discuss the history and biology of falconry and bring a couple of her birds for us to see. She currently owns two silver Gyrfalcons and a Cooper's Hawk, which she often takes to various locations for presentations. Mary will also teach us how to identify different birds of prey and discuss current issues pertinent to falconry. Join us for a fun and informative evening and a rare chance to get up close and personal with these marvelous animals. Bring your cameras!

November 24, 2009 - Chris Briggs - Survival, Parasites, and Oedipus: Why are there so many morphs in hawk populations? - Volunteers Appreciation Night

Many species have multiple plumages (morphs) within a given age and sex class. Perhaps no species is quite as obvious as the buteo’s (Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, etc), often making them an identification challenge. Chris Briggs, a PhD candidate at UNR, will investigate several hypotheses about why so many plumages exist in both in raptors in general and Swainson’s Hawks specifically. He will talk about survival over the course of a 30 year study of Swainson’s Hawks in northern California. He will also discuss reproduction and recruitment, parasites and mate preferences to try to disentangle how so many morphs persist and what it all means.

Volunteers Appreciation Night - at the November General Meeting, November 24. Without you, our loyal volunteers, LAS would not be able to function as well as we do. So to say THANKS and to show our appreciation for your dedication and hard work, we invite all volunteers to join us at the November general meeting for a short evening of recognition and camaraderie. We'd like all volunteers to attend, no matter what kind of work you did, and no matter how small it may have seemed to you. To us, all of it is important and we'd like to recognize you for it. We will start the event at 6:45 pm and go about half-an hour, so we don't take too much time from the main speaker that night. Join us for cake and refreshments and good old-fashioned companionship. If you would, please contact Alan Gubanich at aag@unr.nevada.edu or 857-0191 to let him know if you plan to attend, so we know how much refreshments to provide. Looking forward to seeing you there. And Chris Brigg's talk about morphs in buteos is one you won't want to miss anyway!

January 26, 2010 - Pat Kelly & Elmer Bull - The Future of the Carson Lake Wetlands

Carson Lake, south of Fallon, has long been one of the favorite spots for birders, and is part of the Lahontan Valley Wetlands Important Bird Area. Thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds use this area for breeding and for migration stopover. The land has been under federal ownership for years, but it will soon be transferred to the State of Nevada. Pat Kelly, Wildlife Area Manager, and Elmer Bull, Wildlife Staff Specialist (both with the Nevada Department of Wildlife), will first describe what has been done this year with marsh management at Carson Lake, then discuss what has been done, and what remains to be done, in order for the land transfer to take place.

February 20, 2010 - Bobby Harrison-The Call of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Rediscovering the Holy Grail of Birds - MEETING WILL BE AT MOANA LANE NURSERY (Moana Location) - in the Education building. Social 6:30PM - Talk 7:00PM

For more than 60 years, every potential sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker was met with ridicule and scorn. Respected researchers and naturalists were branded as quacks just for having the temerity to say that the ivory-bill still exists. But Bobby Harrison and Tim Gallagher refused accept the grim conclusion of most scientists that the ivory-bill was extinct. Both became interested in the ivory-bill in 1972 after reading that the Holy Grail of birds had been seen in eastern Texas. Then like all previous sighting of this ghost, the professional world of ornithology labeled the sighting as a mis-identified pileated woodpecker. But that sighting began both Harrison and Gallagher, who did not know each other at the time on a life long quest to find the phantom of the bayou. Once Harrison and Gallagher discovered each other’s life long passion for the bird they joined forces and began traveling through the South, interviewing people who claimed to have seen this ghost bird of the shadowy swamp. And if a sighting seemed credible, they hit the swamp, wading through hip-deep, boot-sucking mud and canoeing through turgid, mud brown bayous where deadly cottonmouths abound. On one of these trips, checking a recent sighting by an Arkansas kayaker, an unmistakable ivory-bill flew past at close range in front of their canoe. This sighting-the first confirmed sighting since 1944 that two qualified observers had positively identified an ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States-quickly led to the largest search ever launched to find a rare bird and ultimately to the announcement in April, 2005 of the rediscovery of the species. Bobby will tell the story of the ivory-bills near demise and miraculous resurrection. His program will cover the current controversy of the ivory-bills rediscovery, and using video analysis dispel the critiques claims of misidentification. Mr. Harrison will discuss the current search effort and evidence of ivory-bills that have been recently found in other states. He will also show his unpublished Ivory-billed woodpecker video that was shot on September 4, 2004. For 33 years Bobby sought the holy grail of birds. His story is a first hand account of its rediscovery, a story that you will not want to miss.

BOBBY R. HARRISON - Biographical Sketch

Bobby Harrison is an award winning nature photographer, speaker, writer, and educator based in Huntsville, Alabama. Mr. Harrison holds a B.F.A. in Photography from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and a M.S. in Media Technology from Alabama A&M University. He is currently the Director of the Art Program at Oakwood University, Huntsville, Alabama, where he holds the rank of Associate Professor.

He is also the founder and president of the newly established Ivory-billed Woodpecker Foundation Inc., a 501 (c) 3 non profit organization dedicated to: The location, recovery, protection, management, preservation and conservation of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and other rare, endangered and threatened species populations and their habitats, through scientific research and documentation, and the education of the general public.

Mr. Harrison is a charter member of the North American Nature Photography Association, and served on the Board of Directors from January 2001 to February 2004. In February 2004 he made national and international headlines when he became one of the two people that rediscovered the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Eastern Arkansas, a species though extinct for 60 years.

Mr. Harrison has published articles and photographs in various national and international magazines and calendars such as: Audubon, Living bird, Birder's World, Wildbird, Nature's Best, Bird Watchers Digest, Natural History, National and International Wildlife, American Photo, Birds and Blooms, Sinra, Outdoor Photographer, Outdoor and Travel Photographer, as well as other publications. Calendars include Birder's World, Audubon, and Sanibel Island. He currently writes a column for Living Bird Magazine titled, Great Birding Escapes.

His travels have taken him from the Pribilof Islands and the Alaska mainland to Venezuela, from the Arizona deserts to coastal Maine, to photograph his favorite subject: birds. He has traveled widely throughout North America giving slide presentations on birds and bird photography, and the ivory-billed woodpecker.

He is the winner of the 2001 Nature's Best / Cemex International Photography Awards in the Backyard Habitat, professional category. The winning image was on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for six months. The 2001 Nature's Best / Cemex award is Mr. Harrison's third time as a winner in this prestigious competition. In 2000 he was a Highly Honored winner in the Wildlife, professional category. In 1997 he was the winner in the Animal Antics professional category. Mr. Harrison was also a published finalist in the 2003, American Photo magazine contest. He has also won over two-dozen Photography awards at the Southern Wildlife Festival held in Decatur, Alabama. In 2006 one of Mr. Harrison's image was selected by Nature's Best magazine as one of the top one hundred nature images of the last decade.

Mr. Harrison is one of the featured photographers in a thirteen part television series entitled Nature's Best Photography. The program was produced by the National Wildlife Federation and Nikon Inc. and aired on the Outdoor cable network in the fall of 1998.

In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of The Explores Club in New York City. On March 18, 2006 Bobby, along with Tim Gallagher received The Explores Clubs Presidents Award for Conservation at their annual gala. This prestigious award is given for a significant contribution to science through exploration. In December 2006 Mr. Harrison was the recipient of the Judah P. Benjamin Conservation Award, presented by The United Daughters of the Confederacy. In May, 2007 he also received the Conservation Achievement Award from The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

He is best known for his life long quest to find the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a bird thought by most ornithologists to be extinct. On February 27, 2004 he and colleague Tim Gallagher rediscovered the long thought extinct bird in eastern Arkansas. Their sighting was the first time since 1944 that two qualified observers had positively identified an ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States. The sighting quickly led to the largest search ever launched to find a rare bird and ultimately to the announcement in April, 2005 the rediscovery of the species.

February 23, 2010 - Tom Howell - Birding in Malawi and Zambia, Africa

Tom and Ann Howell will recap their seventh trip to Africa in November 2008, which included Malawi and Zambia. Malawi is a relatively unknown tourist attraction for most Americans travelling to Africa, but European birders know Malawi very well, especially the British. The two main stops in Malawi included Liwonde National Park (Mvuu Wilderness Lodge) in the south and the Nyika Plateau (Chelinda Camp) in the north. The trip was finished up with 4 days at Zambia's South Luangwa National Park (Mfuwe Lodge). Besides the requisite bird life, there will be plenty of larger "animal" photos included in the presentation.

March 23, 2010 - Bird Identification Panel - Round 3

Join us again for one of the highlights of the season. Our panel of experts will return to help us improve our birding identification skills. Submit some of your favorite photos of local and state-wide birds and Martin Meyers, Greg Scyphers, Kirk Hardie and Larry Neel will try to identify them for you, plus tell you how they came to their conclusions. Get there early -- last year there was standing room only for this favorite program. See the "Bird Photos Needed..." announcement on our Home Page for information on how to submit photos.

April 27, 2010 - Robin Powell - The IBA Program: Habitat Conservation and Rehabilitation Projects

Join us for an overview of the Nevada Important Bird Areas Program, including brief descriptions, photographs of the priority Areas and some of the program's efforts to conserve these areas. The Nevada IBA Program is focused on the protection, preservation, conservation, and restoration of each Area's habitat, which is not only beneficial to the bird species, but wildlife in general. Each IBA has varying degrees of resource challenges and issues ranging from invasive plants, habitat degradation, development, and water quantity/quality. There are 39 recognized IBAs in Nevada which are sites that provide essential breeding, migration, or wintering habitat for one or more species. Robin, Nevada's Director of Bird Conservation for the last 3-plus years, will share with us some of the challenges of the IBA program along with some of its successes.

May 25, 2010 - Tony Wasley (NDOW) - General History, Biology and Behavior of the Himalayan Snowcock in Nevada

Birders travel from all over the country to try to see this bird. And a difficult job it is. The Himalayan Snowcock, a native of Asia, was introduced into the Ruby Mountains of eastern Nevada in 1963. Today that is the only location in North America where the bird can be found, and many birders (and hunters alike) consider it a trophy bird to add to their list. It resides on rocky slopes above 10,000 feet and blends in so well with its environment that you'd swear it was a rock moving, if you saw one move at all. Tony Wasley has studied this bird for several years, and he will delight us with an informative and entertaining presentation about this intriguing species.

NOTE: a change in location for this meeting. The South Valleys Library will be unavailable due to its use for early voting in May, so this meeting will take place at Moana Nursery, at it's Moana Lane and Lakeside Drive location. We will meet at our usual time in the educational workshop building, located on the west side of the parking lot (not in the nursery itself). Many thanks to Moana Nursery for agreeing to let us use their facility again.

June 4, 2010 - Avian Art and Vine

Lahontan Audubon is hosting our first ever wine tasting and silent auction on June 4, 2010 at Moana Nursery from 6-8:30 pm. The silent auction and raffle witll feature paintings, photos, sculptures and more, many from local artists. In addition, there will be gift baskets, golf packages, spa packages and lots of fun stuff! The funds raised will help purchase a specially designed trailer with bird and nature exhibits for our education and outreach programs.

For more information please see page 6 of the May/June Newsletter.