Sept. 14, 2007

" The 10 Greatest Birds of the Last 30 Years" - presented by Jeff Gordon .

Jeffrey A. Gordon is a writer, tour leader, and naturalist who lives in Lewes, Delaware. He currently serves as Field Editor for Bird Watcher's Digest, and is a frequent speaker at various birding and nature festivals. For more information on Jeff’s activities, visit his website .

October 19 , 2007

"Birds and Wildlife of S. Alaska and the Arctic Tundra" with Kevin Karlson

Kevin Karlson is a wildlife photographer specializing in birds. Living near Cape May, NJ, he has over 80,000 images representing most of the major bird families in North America . To see some of these images, browse the photo galleries, or contact Kevin for specific needs.

He recently co-authored a comprehensive volume called The Shorebird Guide. This innovative work proposes a simpler and more effective approach to field identification of birds. He is also President of Jaeger Tours, Inc., a birding/nature tour company .

November 16 , 2007

" Butterflies of the Lower Rio Grande Valley" with Naomi Murphy

Naomi is an extraordinary photographer who has made numerous trips to the Valley to watch and photograph its butterflies. The area is well known for its rich biodiversity and you can see as many butterflies in the four county area in the lower Rio Grande as in the entire Eastern region of North America.

December 2, 2007 ANNUAL DINNER at Williamson’s Restaurant Speaker: Sam Fried: The Intimate Galapagos – An Island Adventure After 25 years as a trial lawyer, Sam quit practicing law to devote himself to his true passions: birding, photography, writing, lecturing, and leading wildlife tours. Sam has written numerous articles for the major United States birding magazines, including WildBird, Birder's World, Birding, and Bird Watcher's Digest, as well as other nature, wildlife, and photography magazines. He also wrote several chapters in the popular new book Birdwatching, published by the Discovery Channel and Insight Guides. Sam enjoys sharing his passion for nature with others.

From his home base in Bloomfield, Connecticut, Sam performs his animated slide-illustrated lectures throughout the Northeast. In 1998, Sam and his wife, Donna Mages, founded Flights of Fancy Adventures , a touring company that offers trips to North, South, and Central America."We love to take people to new places and watch their eyes and spirits open wider and wider as they experience what the world has to offer," says Sam.

Isolated 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are a natural laboratory of evolution, ready to reveal their ancient secrets to those who come quietly, look carefully and are open to discovery. The animals here never developed any fear of humans and are as curious about you as you are of them. We will visit many islands, many with their own distinctly evolved species, developing in response to the characteristics of the individual islands. From Darwin's enigmatic finches, giant tortoises, lizards, sea lions, penguins, iguanas, flamingoes and fish, we explore above and below the water to discover the intimate lives of the Galapagos.

January 18, 2008 Andy Smith on "Brazil: The Pantanal" Andy has had a passion for photography for many years, developing a large portfolio of slides from around the world during his travels. In the last several years his interest in bringing people in touch with the natural world has led to a focus on nature photography, with a particular emphasis on birds. His award-winning photography has been exhibited at Neumann College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Drew University, the Ocean City Arts Center in New Jersey, Jenkins Arboretum, the Mill Grove Audubon Center, Palmyra Cove Nature Center, and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. Andy Smith has lived in the Darby Creek Watershed in the town of Devon, Pennsylvania for 20 years.

The Pantanal, located primarily in Brazil with small parts in Bolivia and Paraguay, is the largest wetland in the world with an estimated 3% of the world's wetland area. It is home to over 650 species of birds, around 100 species of mammals, and 80 species of reptiles. This program provides a brief overview of some of the birds, mammals and reptiles, including several endangered or threatened species.

February 15, 2008 Adrian Binns presents "The Dry Tortugas" Growing up in Morocco and being educated in England, the cultural differences and the birds of the Western Palearctic formed the backbone of Adrian's formative years, before moving to Southeastern Pennsylvania in 1977. Following a career as a tennis professional and an ecological landscape designer, Adrian began leading eco-tours for a variety of organizations and is now field director of Jaeger Tours leading birding tours worldwide. A past president of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC), one of the oldest bird clubs in the country and a member of the Nikon/DVOC World Series of Birding Team and Nikon Pro Staff, Adrian is an accomplished avian illustrator and well published photographer.

You will take a virtual visit to The Dry Tortugas, one of North America’s premier birding destinations, 70 miles west of Key West, during the height of spring migration. Nearly all the eastern wood warblers pass through these islands along with many other passerines; a Caribbean vagrant is always possible and it is home to an impressive seabird colony of Sooty Terns and Brown Noddy's.

March 21, 2008 Dan Mummert on " Barn Owl Conservation" Dan Mummert is the Wildlife Diversity Biologist for the PA Game Commission’s southeast region. Before working in the southeast region, Dan was the Diversity Biologist for south central Pennsylvania. He previously worked as a wildlife biologist in California, Utah, Arizona, Maryland, and Delaware. Dan has a Master’s degree in Forestry and Wildlife Biology from Northern Arizona University and an Entomology degree with an emphasis on Wildlife Conservation from the University of Delaware. Dan was born and raised in Harrisburg and is happy to have come full circle by returning to Pennsylvania to raise his own family and help to conserve its wildlife.

Barn Owls, which have been in decline for several decades, are a species of concern that have great management and recovery potential in the southeastern and south central portions of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has developed a Barn Owl Conservation Initiative to help in the conservation and potential recovery of this species. This program will discuss this initiative, barn owl natural history, and what you can do to help.

April 18, 2008 “How to Misidentify Birds Like an Expert” with Don Freiday Don Freiday is Director of Birding Programs for New Jersey Audubon Society’s Cape May Bird Observatory. A New Jersey native, Don’s degree in Natural Resource Management and Applied Ecology is from Rutgers University, where for several years he taught Wildlife Ecology to undergraduates. Don has worked in the field of nature interpretation and/or wildlife biology for over 20 years, during which time he has led numerous nature tours to Arizona, Colorado, California, Montana, Newfoundland, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, among others. He has also sought and studied birds and other wildlife in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Kenya.

A regional coordinator for the New Jersey Breeding Bird Atlas, Don is also a past member of the New Jersey Bird Records Committee and a present member of the executive board of the NJ Chapter of the Wildlife Society. Don is an author and columnist on nature, with two books to his credit: A Precious Place: a Naturalist Explores New Jersey, and Wild Journeys: Migration in New Jersey, which he co-authored with Brian Vernachio and Dale Rosselet. In his free time, Don enjoys birding, fishing, hunting, cycling, canoeing, gardening and cooking.

Anyone can put the wrong name to a bird, but it takes an expert to make a truly awful call. Don Freiday, who claims to have been on winning teams in both the NJ World Series of Birding and the Great Texas Birding Classic, and whose misidentifications span 22 years, 25 states, and 5 countries, will tell you how and perhaps even why the experts do it.

May 16, 2008 Annual Meeting Election of Officers and Photo Group Winners. Program: Wisshickon Valley Watershed with Jamie Stewart Jamie Stewart is a retired electrical engineer with a background in industrial controls design. A graduate of Germantown Academy, he lives in Upper Dublin. Jamie sharpened his skills in nature photography while on birding trips to both North and South America. He shoots with a Canon 20D for wildlife and a Canon 5D for landscapes and people.

Jamie is active with the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, and recently co-authored Wissahickon: Worth Preserving. Proceeds from the book go to WVWA.

Jamie’s talk will focus on the Wissahickon Watershed, and will feature images of familiar spots, as well as on current efforts by WVWA to acquire more land for preservation.