This program was presented on March 16th, 2021. Scroll down to the original post on this program for a full description. Note that the recording starts with a few minutes of birding small talk to give viewers a chance to join us.
The Birds-of-Paradise Project: Natural history media for science and conservation – with Edwin Scholes – Tuesday, March 16th
Among the most amazing creatures in the world, more than 40 species of birds-of-paradise live in New Guinea’s swaths of the Indo-Pacific rainforest region, one of the largest intact tropical forested areas on Earth.
The stars of the show in National Geographic and PBS Nature TV documentaries, the birds-of-paradise have become icons of New Guinea’s rainforests. Their extraordinary beauty is unlike that of any other birds on Earth, but it’s their wide range of bizarre breeding behaviors that captivates audiences—from elaborate dancing and flaring their elegant plumes to shape-shifting displays that make these exotic species seem like avian transformers.
Edwin Scholes is the founder and leader of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds-of-Paradise Project, and has been studying and documenting them since his first trip to New Guinea in 1999. It was in 1997 as an undergraduate biology student that Ed first saw the BBC documentary film “Attenborough in Paradise.” That film, which was the result of Sir David Attenborough’s lifelong passion for the birds-of-paradise, was the first to capture these birds’ wonder and beauty in any depth. The film inspired Edwin to devote his career to their study and protection.
On Tuesday, March 16th, at 7 p.m., York County Audubon will be delighted to host Ed Scholes to tell us about these amazing creatures, and the efforts to preserve their threatened habitat. FMI: www.birdsofparadiseproject.org
York County Audubon will be presenting this program online. There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Jtyi8u8uRRy5aESZyx_4ZA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope you can join us!
A Video of our February 2021 Program: The Amazing Winter Crow Roost – with Dana Duxbury-Fox and Bob Fox
This program was presented on Feb 16th, 2021. Scroll down to the original post on this program for a full description.
The Amazing Winter Crow Roost – with Bob Fox and Dana Duxbury-Fox – Tuesday, Feb 16th
“It blows your mind. Thousands of them. They just keep rolling in.” It’s a spectacular display of sight and sound, a massive swarm of as many as 20,000 crows, a sky blotted black by their numbers, a crescendo of cawing that slowly fades to an eerie silence, night closing in.
As it has for at least 30 years, this flock of mostly American crows arrives in Lawrence, Mass. in November, and carries out some of the primordial behaviors that still puzzle the amateur birders and professional ornithologists who study what many of them believe are the world’s most clever and social birds.
What brings these thousands of crows – a mix of residents and seasonal migrants from as far as the St. John’s River in Canada — to places like Lawrence for the winter from November to March? Why do they stage so massively in the evenings, then fly off together in the dark to roost elsewhere, then scatter in the morning to forage for food as far as 50 miles away, then return to stage and roost for another night? [Preceding description by Keith Eddings, The Eagle-Tribune]
On Tuesday, February 16th at 7 p.m., York County Audubon will be delighted to host Dana Duxbury-Fox and Bob Fox, who will share a wealth of information about crows. The Foxes are hardly amateurs. The couple from North Andover have birded worldwide through more than half a century, logging over 6,500 of the world’s 10,000 or so species. In 2013, Bob co-authored “The Birds of New Hampshire,” a 473-page illustrated book that chronicles all 427 species living in that state. He helped found Manomet Bird Observatory. Dana has spent 70+ summers in New Hampshire, where she became fascinated by loons. She has long been active in chronicling and protecting bird life. FMI: www.wintercrowroost.com
York County Audubon will be presenting this program online. There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QQf_HF6ZTW2rjfvry-v9rw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope you can join us!
A Year in the Life of North American Owls – with Paul Bannick – Tuesday, January 19th
“If your average picture is worth a thousand words, a Paul Bannick wildlife photograph is worth 20,000. Having worked with wildlife photographers for articles in Audubon, Smithsonian, Sierra, National Wildlife and other magazines for 45 years, I have yet to encounter one who better captures the magic and beauty of the natural world.” Ted Williams, former Editor of Audubon Magazine
On Tuesday, January 19th at 7 p.m., York County Audubon is honored to host award winning author and photographer Paul Bannick. His online Zoom program will feature video, sound and stories from the field, and images from his book, Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls. His dramatic images follow the owls through the course of one year in their distinct habitats, showing their courtship, mating and nesting in spring, fledging and feeding their young in summer, dispersal and gaining independence in fall, and, finally, winter’s migrations and competitions for food.
Paul’s work can be found prominently in many bird guides, including those from Audubon, Peterson, and The Smithsonian, and has been featured in The New York Times, Audubon, Sunset, Nature’s Best Photography Magazine, and National Geographic online. After a successful career in the software industry, he chose to pursue his passion for wildlife conservation, and now works with Conservation Northwest, a Seattle based non-profit dedicated to protecting, connecting and restoring wildlands and wildlife from the coast of Washington to the Rockies of British Columbia. FMI: http://paulbannick.com/ and on Facebook under Paul Bannick Photography.
There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N-kbcTtzQIOSWua4YG3RdA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope you can join us!
The Birds of Maine – by Peter Vickery
There’s a spectacular new comprehensive book: The Birds of Maine by Peter Vickery. And, fittingly, a wonderful program just presented the story of the creation of this book. If you’re interested in the birds (and birders) of Maine, take a look:
A Video of our November 2020 program: The Narwhal’s Tusk – The Ten Most Remarkable Marine Mammal Adaptations – with Zack Klyver
This program was presented on Nov 17th. Scroll down to the original post on this program for a full description.
The 2021 Maine Birds Desk Calendar is now available!
For many years, our former Board member, Marie Jordan, an avid birder and photographer, has produced a calendar and offered it for sale, with her graciously donating the calendars to YCA to support our educational programs. We’ve always presented them at our fall program meetings, but this year that’s not possible, of course, so we’re making them available by mail.
It’s a desk calendar in a 4” by 6” plastic case that opens into a stand to display each month. Each page features a great photo she took this year of a Maine bird. The cost is $10 plus mailing costs. They’re wonderful anywhere in the house, and also make great gifts! And York County Audubon tremendously appreciates your support for our programs.
To place an order, please make out a check payable to York County Audubon, write Calendar in the memo line, and mail it to Marie Jordan, 32 Crestview Drive, South Portland, ME 04106. Be sure to include the address or addresses that the calendar(s) should be sent to. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Marie at wooddk5555@gmail.com.
The costs including postage and handling are:
1 calendar – $10 plus $4 postage and handling
2 calendars (mailed to one address) – $20 plus $6 postage and handling
3 calendars (mailed to one address) – $30 plus $8.50 postage and handling
4 calendars (mailed to one address) – $35 plus 8.50 postage and handling
Thank you!
The Narwhal’s Tusk: the ten most remarkable marine mammal adaptations – with Zack Klyver – November 17th
Have you ever wondered why a narwhal has a tusk? How sperm whales catch squid in the deep dark ocean? Which whale has the biggest tail, lives the longest, and holds the world migration record? Did you know that whale “waste” results in great plant plankton blooms in the ocean that produce the oxygen we breath, slow climate change and help create more productive fisheries?
On Tuesday, November 17th, York County Audubon is delighted to host an online Zoom program featuring Maine marine mammal naturalist and conservationist Zack Klyver. He will give a presentation based on a book he is writing titled The Narwhal’s Tusk: the ten most remarkable marine mammal adaptations. Over millions of years of evolution, marine mammal physiology has evolved to take full advantage of the world’s oceans. Marine mammals occupy all oceans and major rivers of the world.
Sound and hearing are incredibly important to marine mammals as sound travels through ocean water four to five times more quickly than air. We will explore the magnificent sound production system called echolocation in Sperm Whales – the largest of the toothed whales and the icon of Moby Dick.
Zack will draw on his personal travels from around the world, including the Arctic and Antarctica, and his encounter with the oldest known living blue whale in the world. Learn all about the narwhal’s tusk, how deep marine mammals dive, how long they live, and other examples of astounding adaptations. Recent scientific discoveries have also expanded our knowledge around the important role marine mammals play in oxygen production, carbon sequestration, and the regulation of global climate.
Zack was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1968 and grew up in a commercial fishing family in Eastport, Maine, the eastern most city in the United States. He is a graduate of College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, and has worked for thirty years as a whale watch naturalist guiding whale and seabird watching tours on the Gulf of Maine and around the world. During that time, he led over 3,000 trips with 600,000 people.
On Tuesday, November 17th at 7 p.m., we’re delighted to have Zack present this program. There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R-C17_1FSYKfW_Wi2PkLaQ
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope you can join us!
A Video of our October 2020 program: Conserving Reptiles and Amphibians – a Maine Focus – with Greg LeClair
This program was presented on Oct 20th. Scroll down to the original post on this program for a full description.
The Harlequin – Autumn 2020
Please click on the link below to view the Autumn 2020 issue of our Harlequin newsletter, including a feature article: John James Audubon – Revisited.
https://www.yorkcountyaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Harlequin-Autumn-2020.pdf
Our 2020 Bird Seed Sale is Coming!
Keep your feathered friends happy this winter by treating them to tasty and fresh, premium quality bird food and help support two of your favorite environmental organizations at the same time. Profits from our annual sale support the educational programs of both York County Audubon and the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. A wide variety of types of seed and suet is available, with great pricing, especially if you order early.
Early bird pricing is available if you place your order by 4 p.m. on Friday, October 30th. The instructions for ordering are on the order form which you can access via the link in red below.
Order pick up (and additional opportunity for purchases) will be at the Wells Reserve on Friday, November 13th from 1 – 4 p.m., and Saturday, Nov 14th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with easy access and volunteers on hand to help load your car.
For more information, please access the order form via this link:SeedSale2020Download
Conserving Reptiles and Amphibians – A Maine Focus with Greg LeClair – Oct 20th
Gregory LeClair is a wildlife biologist with a contagious passion for amphibians and reptiles that he has honed from early in his life. In our October Zoom program, he will share his enthusiasm, concerns, and insight into diverse topics including amphibian extinction, the exotic pet trade, habitat destruction, the impact of human attitudes on wildlife conservation, and more. He’ll offer backyard landscaping recommendations, and offer other ways we can become involved in protecting these threatened species. Adults will love this fascinating program. It would also be appropriate for middle school or high school students who are curious about working with wildlife.
Greg LeClair is a master’s student at the University of Maine where he studies environmental DNA (eDNA) applications in turtle conservation. He graduated from Unity College in 2018 with a BS in Wildlife Biology, where he participated in herpetological research projects on snakes, salamanders, frogs, and turtles with Dr. Matthew Chatfield. Greg is the project creator of The Big Night: Maine Amphibian Migration Monitoring and hosts a YouTube show about wildlife conservation, GregmentsBio which features videos that detail the science behind these issues. His research projects focus on applied threatened species conservation with a strong taste for reptiles and amphibians.
On Tuesday, October 20th at 7 p.m., we’re delighted to have Greg present this program. There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K_JjaindRiue2KNQoFQxXA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope you can join us!
A video of our September 2020 program: Seabird Sentinels in the Gulf of Maine – with Dr. Don Lyons
This program was presented on Sept 15th. Scroll down for a full description.
Seabird sentinels in the Gulf of Maine: What they can tell us about the state of our oceans – with Dr. Don Lyons – Sept 15th
By the middle of the 20th century, the populations of many species of seabirds in the Gulf of Maine had been decimated. Puffins had last nested on Eastern Egg Rock in 1885 and terns in 1936. In 1973, National Audubon started a program to reintroduce and establish the Maine breeding grounds for these species, led by seabird visionary Steve Kress. In 2019, forty-five years later, Steve retired and turned over the program to new leadership.
The program has proved exceptionally successful. The population of Atlantic Puffins has grown to more than 1,000 nesting pairs on five coastal Maine islands, and nesting colonies have been restored for over 40,000 other seabirds. Furthermore, the restoration techniques developed in Maine have now been used to bring back more than 50 species of seabirds around the world, many critically endangered. But the work is far from done, as these populations continue to face dramatic new challenges.
On Tuesday, September 15th, at 7 p.m., we’re delighted to welcome Dr. Donald Lyons, who now leads Audubon’s seabird programs in Maine. He’ll share the latest information on the health of our seabird populations, and the outlook going forward. We can now study puffins, terns, and other species to better understand the Gulf of Maine, the looming effects of climate change, and how to manage fisheries for ecosystem health and sustainable economies.
Dr. Lyons is a Director of Conservation Science for the National Audubon Society, and has spent his career in work directly aligned with Audubon’s Seabird Restoration Program, including the last 20 years at Oregon State University.
There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pnBG6K83SKiQABEvKfIcIg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope you can join us!
A Video of our August 2020 program: 23 Reasons to Go Outside – with Josh Fecteau
23 Reasons To Go Outside: Snapshots from a Daily Practice of Nature Observation – with Josh Fecteau – an online program, Tuesday, August 18th at 7 p.m.
Interested in discovering some of the birds, plants and nature that are often hiding in plain sight all around us? Local naturalist Josh Fecteau will share some of the wild treasures he’s found near his home in Kennebunkport, and encourage all of us to go outside to make rewarding discoveries of our own.
On Tuesday, August 18th, at 7 p.m., York County Audubon will be presenting this program online. The program is available free of charge, but advance registration is required. Please use the link in red below.
Josh grew up along the southern Maine coast. In his early 20’s, he discovered his passion for the natural world. Since then, he has spent countless hours exploring New England, observing and interacting with his surroundings in fresh, exciting ways.
In 2017, he gave free reign to his passion for birds, and ended up setting a Maine Big Year record, observing 317 different bird species in Maine in that calendar year, including quite a few rarities.
Another passion is his love of wild native plants, especially edible ones. Over the years, he has presented a variety of workshops and programs on foraging for edible wild plants, providing guidelines and tips for safe, successful and satisfying foraging in your backyard and beyond.
His strong desire to share his love of the natural world with others who are hungry for wild connection inspires his blog, joshfecteau.com, where he is making steady progress toward his goal of providing 237 Reasons to Go Outside.
There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_99GMz9RoS5WBHAVLhst5Fg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
A video of of our July 2020 program: Bird Photography – with Laurie Pocher
Thanks so much to Laurie for this great program (which starts about 30 seconds into this video):
Online via Zoom: Improving Your Bird Photography – with Laurie Pocher – Tuesday, July 21st
Bird photography has never been more popular, and we’d like to offer some help to improve your results and your enjoyment as well! On Tuesday, July 21st, at 7 p.m., we’ll be presenting our second online Zoom program, this time on Improving Your Bird Photography. To register for this event, please click on the link in the paragraph in bold font at the bottom of this post.
If you’ve ever tried to photograph birds, you know it’s often not easy. Your subjects are small, fast, and shy… they move around a lot, they’re most active early and late in the day, they hang out in trees and shrubs… and they fly. It can be difficult at times just to get a clear view of one, never mind capture a photo. It can be frustrating, for sure. But it can also be incredibly rewarding when everything comes together and you nail the shot.
Laurie Pocher, a member of our YCA Board, is an amateur Nature & Wildlife Photographer, who has been mildly obsessed with birds for 25+ years. In our July program, she’ll offer some tips and suggestions to help you overcome some of the challenges in photographing birds. We’ll discuss camera equipment and settings that can help in different situations, and review composition and editing tips to enhance your bird photos and increase your odds of capturing frame-worthy images. You don’t need an advanced camera to get some great shots. Your photo skills can be improved, even for shots taken with your phone!
There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ct7kPR1XRBa7HyoL7KmtPw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
A Video of our June 2020 program: An Artist’s View of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge – with Michael Boardman
On June 16th, Michael Boardman presented a wonderful program on his experiences in Alaska. He had been selected by the US Fish & Wildlife Service to be the Artist-in-Residence at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While we don’t have a video of that program to share, here’s a link to the program he presented for the Alaska Wilderness League in May, which was virtually the same as the one he presented for York County Audubon. Enjoy!
Note: there are a couple of introductions related to the Alaska Wilderness League at the beginning of the video. Michael’s program starts at the 10:00 minute mark, and you can jump ahead to that if you wish. Just slide your cursor along the “time bar” that runs just above the start/pause button and volume control at the bottom of the screen.
https://p.widencdn.net/8bgjh1/Michael-Boardman-Geography-of-Hope-Event-May-2020
For more information on Michael’s work, please visit http://www.mboardman.com
And also http://www.coyotees.com
