Program Meetings

In 2015, bird nerd Noah Strycker of Oregon became the first human to see more than half of the planet’s bird species in a single, yearlong, round-the-world birding trip. Anything could have happened, and a lot did. He was scourged by blood-sucking leeches, suffered fevers and sleep deprivation, survived airline snafus, car breakdowns, mudslides and torrential floods, skirted war zones, and had the time of his life. Birding on seven continents and carrying only a pack on his back, Noah enlisted the enthusiastic support of local birders to tick off more than 6,000 species, including Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, a Harpy Eagle in Brazil, a Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Thailand, and a Green-breasted Pitta in Uganda. He shared the adventure in real time on his daily blog (audubon.org/noah), and now he reveals the inside story in talks and slide shows. This humorous and inspiring presentation about Noah’s epic World Big Year will leave you with a new appreciation for the birds and birders of the world.

Among the rarest and most imperiled birds in the world, the California Condor is the subject of our May program. Susan Haig, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and a professor of wildlife ecology at OSU, will share some of her deep knowledge on Condors. 

Lane County Audubon Society Board elections will be held at the May 23 Program Meeting.

 The following incumbent candidates are running for the Board: Jim Maloney, Ron Renchler, Debbie Schlenoff, Maeve Sowles, Caryn Stoess, and Herb Wisner.

Oregon’s hiking guru takes us on a slide show tour of new trails he discovered while researching the latest (fourth) edition of his book, 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Southern Oregon & Northern California. We’ll discover hidden lakes in the Trinity Alps, relocated trails at Crater Lake, and wildflower meadows in the Siskiyous. As always, Bill spices his talk with notes on the geology, wildlife, and history.

Much of migration is driven by the seasonal availability of bugs in the northern latitudes. In this lively and informative slide show, we’ll look at numerous examples and discover how important birds are to the overall health of various ecosystems.

Oregon – what a wonderful place to learn birding!

Years ago, when I was asked to become Conservation Chair of Lane County Audubon Society, I eagerly put on that hat – a great platform to advocate for conservation, I thought. And it turned out that it was.

I also found out that when you wear that hat, people expect you to know birds. Even though I had been teaching nature photography for ten years, I had paid little attention to birds.

John F. Helmer will speak about the Steens Mountain area in Eastern Oregon, its origins, history, recreational highlights, and management. John is the Recreation Representative to the Steens Mountain Advisory Council, a group composed of land owners, environmentalists, ranchers, the Burns Paiute tribe, and others advising the BLM on creative approaches to managing 428,000 acres of public land in Harney County. Come hear about this unique and wild Oregon treasure, hot topics for the coming year, and how you can influence its future.

The Elliott State Forest is an irreplaceable Oregon treasure. This approximately 93,000-acre coastal rainforest is nestled between Coos Bay and Reedsport in Oregon’s coastal range. While it is home to many species including the imperiled Coho Salmon, the Elliott is perhaps most well known for the habitat it provides the federally threatened Marbled Murrelet and the Northern Spotted Owl.