Also see tag “Marilyn Mackett” for presentation summaries.
November 9th, 2009 – “Eye to Eye with Southern Nevada Birds”
Scott Page will be presenting photographic images, with accompanying vocalizations, of many southern Nevada birds. The talk will include information about locations, techniques, equipment, and resources for photographing birds in our area. The presentation will include many slides, about 68 of which are color bird images he has taken with digital and telephoto lens equipment.
Scott Page began birding at age 18 and has birded thousands of hours near his home in Brevard County, FL. While in Florida, he participated in Christmas Birds Counts, refuge bird surveys, and field trips sponsored by the Indian River Audubon Society in Cocoa, FL. There, he was privileged to have birded with Allan Cruickshank, a contemporary of Roger Tory Peterson. It was on Merritt Island NWR where Scott was fortunate to have added to his life list the now extinct Dusky Seaside Sparrow. In the early-1970s, Scott moved to upstate New York and birded throughout the northeast U.S., New England, and southern Canada including the famed Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary of Cornell University, on waterfowl surveys of Ithaca Lake, and Christmas Bird Counts in various locations.
He arrived in Las Vegas in 1978 for a job in the environmental sciences and became a member of Red Rock Audubon in 1980. He is a past member of the Nevada Bird Records Committee, and currently belongs to the American Birding Association. He has participated in many Red Rock Audubon Christmas Bird Counts on Lake Mead, Corn Creek, and Henderson. He currently conducts birding exploration trips for UNLV’s Educational Outreach program, runs a U.S. Geological Survey breeding bird survey route near Nelson, NV. His bird photos appear on Cornell University’s “All About Birds” website, and in other natural history publications. Scott is employed by UNLV’s Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies.
October 12th, 2009 – “Don and Noriko Carroll”
One of the smallest birds in the world indeed changed the life of New York advertising photographers into the motion picture producers. Documenting the lucky finding of the tiny hummingbird’s nest on the clothesline in their new home in Las Vegas, Don and Noriko Carroll turned their photographs of Honey, the mother hummingbird, and her little chicks into the best selling book of its kind.
The Carroll team spent an additional three years documenting Honey’s life on HD video. This charming 45 minute nature documentary invites you to witness personal life of hummingbirds, such as breathtaking moment of Honey laying her eggs and the tiny hatchlings, Ray and Zen, pecking themselves into a new life in stunning close-up photography.
To read more about their project, visit www.hummingbirdstory.com.
Red Rock Audubon Society members who purchase the DVD will receive a signed copy.
September 14th 2009 – “Rare and At-Risk Birds of Japan”
Doug Walsh will be giving a presentation on rare and at-risk bird species of Japan. The majority of images presented will be of Stellers sea eagles, white-tailed sea eagles, and red-crowned cranes, all from Hokkaido Japan. The focus of the discussion will be how in Asia these birds are making a strong come back and how this has come about with several wonderful images. Time permitting; Doug will give a brief presentation on British puffins from this past summer!
An avid photographer, Doug was the Photographer of the Year for Las Vegas and has had numerous images published in major publications, nature and children’s magazines. His extensive eagle galleries are the recipient of many recent photo awards and one of his Steller sea eagles was selected this year as the image of the quarter by Birders World! Presently some of his award winning images are on display at the Whitney library.
Doug is a retired American Airline Boeing 777 Captain with 34 years of worldwide flying. He is particularly interested in the similarities in operational behavior of aluminum birds and nature’s birds. His lifelong love of aviation informs his photography and if it is large or fast and flies Doug wants to photograph it! He will take questions from the floor during the presentation. Doug joined Audubon as a result of the Burrowing Owl project and his web site (which is predominantly birds) can be found at: www.Dougwalshphoto.com.
April 13th, 2009 – “Important Bird Area Program”
Robin Powell will be giving a presentation on the Nevada Important Bird Areas Program, including brief descriptions and photographs of the priority Important Bird Areas and some of the program’s efforts to conserve these areas. In fact, the Important Bird Areas, or IBAs, Program is a world-wide effort to identify the most important places for bird populations and to focus conservation efforts. Within Nevada, there are 39 recognized IBAs which are sites that provide essential breeding, migration, or wintering habitat for one or more species of birds.
The Nevada IBA Program is focused on the protection, preservation, conservation, and restoration of the 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. The NV IBA program focuses on monitoring and conserving the unique habitats that make these sites Important Bird Areas.
Ms. Powell has been the Nevada Director of Bird Conservation through the National Audubon Society for over 2 years and with over 10 years experience as a conservation ecologist on various natural resource management issues throughout Nevada.
March 9th, 2009 – “Urban Burrowing Owl Project”
Christiana Manville will be giving a presentation on the Urban Burrowing Owl Monitoring Project in the Las Vegas Valley, a joint effort between Red Rock Audubon Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). The goals of this project are to map the location of burrowing owl burrows and determine the reproductive success of urban burrowing owls. This information is used to assist in the conservation of this special status species. In 2008, 35 volunteers, consisting of Audubon members and other concerned citizens, monitored 34 nest burrows throughout the breeding season. Come and find out what they learned.
Christiana has been a wildlife biologist with the Service for six years, working mostly with Endangered Species Act regulations and migratory birds. She developed this project in response to the public’s concern about burrowing owls being threatened by urban development.
February 9th, 2009 – “Wildlife Rehabilitation in Casper Wyoming”
Our February meeting will feature a presentation on Wildlife Rehabilitation by Merlyn and Lynn Herold. Their presentation will cover what wildlife rehabilitation involves including training and permits. They will discuss various techniques used to rehabilitate a wild bird or small mammal from intake to release, along with training and preparation to optimize the animal’s ability to adjust to the wild environment following human intervention.
Prior to moving to Las Vegas, Merlyn and Lynn worked as Certified Wildlife Rehabilitators in Casper, WY, from 2000 to 2007. They were known as Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. They cared for all native migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Act and small mammals. During the 7-year period, they took in over 2,000 sick, injured or orphaned animals and were able to return approximately 60% back to the wild. The Herolds moved to the Las Vegas area after a severe snowstorm destroyed their facilities in May of 2007.
January 12th, 2009 – “Wild Wing Project”
Lisa Ross, with Wild Wing Project will join us for the January meeting and show a wonderful multimedia program on Owls that she developed this year. The program provides an educational component to help better explain the unique features of this family of raptors. She will also bring in her live red-tailed hawk ‘Max’, as well as some other raptors.
Lisa has been working with injured wildlife, in particular birds, throughout southern Nevada for over 20 years. Wild Wing works with several qualified veterinarians and they freely share their professional time and talents by donating medical evaluations, testing, and even surgeries to help treat ill and injured wildlife. She is knowledgeable on many different aspects of bird care and behavior.
