MCAS Bird Finding Guides Updated

Interactive GIS maps have been added to the MCAS Bird Finding Guides, with pins that connect 1) to locations in the Bird Finding Guides and 2) to eBird Hotspots. This is combining the best of both worlds: BFG offers local information about SLO County locations and eBird offers a wealth of information about specie sightings in SLO County and beyond. Both offer features that appeal to first-time birders and visitors to SLO County, and to the most avid and experienced birders.

Access the guides (via computer, smart phone, or tablet) from the MCAS website menu: BIRDS-->MCAS Bird Finding Guides.

HISTORY: These guides were initiated in 2007 by Al Schmierer, who first focused on The Carrizo Plain, and then were expanded to the rest of the county with help from Tom Edell, Maggie Smith and Mike Stiles, and with website assistance from Paul Andreano and Joanne Aasen. The guides were added to the current MCAS website in 2013.

In 2020, Cuesta College instructor Feride Schroeder and intern Kasia Crowley, in consultation with Joanne Aasen and Bart Beckman of MCAS, created Interactive GIS Maps linking the local information contained in the guides to corresponding eBird Hotspots. Funding for the Cuesta internship was provided by National Science Foundation ATE Grant #1800779 GIS Technology: Mapping, Data Management and Work-Based Learning Across Industry Sectors. eBird is "...the world's largest biodiversity-related citizen science project... ."

Others who have assisted in this newest edition are: Tom Edell, Jay Carroll, Norman Pillsbury, Kathanne Lynch, Wendy McKeown, and Tom Slater. Map photos were contributed by Tanner Chapman and Bart Beckman.

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VIRTUAL Community Program: Birds of SLO County, Part 1 2019, OCT 19th

Program Coordinated and Presented by David Keeling

With music by RD Clark and Jack Collins

Monday, October 19th at 7 pm

[ZOOM info to follow.]

Birds of SLO Part I, 2019 is a slide show featuring outstanding images of hundreds of species of birds taken last year by seventeen of the finest nature photographers in San Luis Obispo county. The photos are amazing and their impact is heightened by the synergistic effect of live guitar accompaniment by RD Clark and Jack Collins.

If you enjoy birds and birding, you’ll enjoy this program. It will be great entertainment and motivation to get out and bird more often in our county. You’d be hard pressed to come up with an example of anything quite like it.

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EUREKA! THE BIRDS OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY - June-July 2020

JUNE-JULY 2020

To VIEW,, PRINT, or DOWNLOAD Eureka! click READ MORE. Then move cursor over the Eureka! displayed below and click the "Pop-out" icon in the top-right corner.

From the now newly opened window, you can read Eureka! OR use the icons in the top-right corner to PRINT or DOWNLOAD Eureka!. 

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VIRTUAL Community Program: Why Birds Flock - SEPT 21st, 7pm

VIRTUAL Community Program (via Zoom)

Sept 21, 2020, 7:00pm

Why Birds Flock

Presenter: Jessica Griffith

 

ZOOM info:

Topic: MCAS September Community Program 

Why Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together 

Presented by Jessica Griffiths
Time: Monday, Sep 21, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time 

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88173298656?pwd=MzBOV1VDa0l1aVdLY2N6TWdMdzRnUT09

 

Meeting ID: 881 7329 8656

Passcode: 961503

 

You may have heard the old saying that birds of a feather flock together. But have you ever stopped to wonder why? Join Jessica Griffiths for a fascinating look at bird flocks and flocking behavior. Why do some species of birds form flocks, while others do not? Can different kinds of birds join together in a flock? Why do geese and ducks fly in a “V” formation? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this presentation, which touches on bird biology and behavior, and highlights some remarkable scientific discoveries. 

 

Jessica Griffiths has been working as a wildlife biologist for nearly 20 years. She currently works as a biologist for Althouse and Meade, Inc. in Paso Robles. Prior to moving to the SLO area, Jessica worked in Big Sur for the Ventana Wildlife Society, overseeing all of their songbird research projects and running the Big Sur Ornithology Lab for several years. She is actively involved with Morro Coast Audubon and leads year-round bird walks for birders of all ages.

 

[Photo by Dennis Bennett]

 

www.morrocoastaudubon.org

805-772-1991

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VIDEO Aug 17th Community Program - Tracking Long-billed Curlews

The Long-billed Curlew: Tracking a Species of Greatest Conservation Need

Now on MCAS YouTube Channel 

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

• Curlew biology
• population declines in Idaho
• satellite transmitter research
• the migration journey
• outreach efforts

 

Long-billed Curlew populations of southwestern Idaho are declining at an alarming rate placing them on Idaho’s “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” list. With the use of satellite transmitter technology, the Intermountain Bird Observatory (IBO) is gaining valuable data as to why.

 

Come listen to first-hand field accounts from Heather Hayes, a research biologist and the Community Science Coordinator for the IBO and learn about the biology of these charismatic birds including information about their habitats, nesting requirements and migratory journey. We will also discuss how satellite technology is not only uncovering some of their mysteries but is also connecting communities across state lines and international borders.

 

Heather Hayes is a research biologist and the Community Science Coordinator for the Intermountain Bird Observatory (IBO) in Boise, Idaho. She works on many research projects that include the Long-billed Curlew Satellite Tracking program, the 8-state WAfLS community science program (Western Asio flammeus Landscape Study) for Short-eared Owls, and the IBO’s Hummingbird Monitoring Program.

 

Heather is also extremely passionate about her role as Community Outreach Coordinator, developing K-12 STEM curriculum and conducting “Curlews in the Classroom” programming. She loves the ability to integrate her fieldwork with education, bringing a unique perspective into not only the classroom but into Hunter’s Education classes as well. Her outreach efforts also extend to IBO’s banding research stations, where she serves as the visitor coordinator for the public.

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SWEET SPRINGS Breeding Bird Survey

(Photo by Kaaren Perry)

Seventh annual Sweet Springs Breeding Bird Survey has been completed and the annual report is now available. Take a look at what happened this year. LOTS of photos of breeding birds and closeups of nests (no locations identified).

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Virtual COMMUMITY PROGRAM: Tracking Long-billed Curlews, AUG 17th, 7pm

[Zoom info at bottom]

The Long-billed Curlew:

Tracking a Species of Greatest Conservation Need

Presenter: Heather Hayes

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

• Curlew biology
• population declines in Idaho
• satellite transmitter research
• the migration journey
• outreach efforts

Long-billed Curlew populations of southwestern Idaho are declining at an alarming rate placing them on Idaho’s “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” list. With the use of satellite transmitter technology, the Intermountain Bird Observatory (IBO) is gaining valuable data as to why.

Come listen to first-hand field accounts from Heather Hayes, a research biologist and the Community Science Coordinator for the IBO and learn about the biology of these charismatic birds including information about their habitats, nesting requirements and migratory journey. We will also discuss how satellite technology is not only uncovering some of their mysteries but is also connecting communities across state lines and international borders.

Heather Hayes is a research biologist and the Community Science Coordinator for the Intermountain Bird Observatory (IBO) in Boise, Idaho. She works on many research projects that include the Long-billed Curlew Satellite Tracking program, the 8-state WAfLS community science program (Western Asio flammeus Landscape Study) for Short-eared Owls, and the IBO’s Hummingbird Monitoring Program.

Heather is also extremely passionate about her role as Community Outreach Coordinator, developing K-12 STEM curriculum and conducting “Curlews in the Classroom” programming. She loves the ability to integrate her fieldwork with education, bringing a unique perspective into not only the classroom but into Hunter’s Education classes as well. Her outreach efforts also extend to IBO’s banding research stations, where she serves as the visitor coordinator for the public.

ZOOM INFO:

Topic: MCAS August Community Program

Time: Aug 17, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88550168592?pwd=UThmRm9zdDNlOWc5c1lpZWJ6SDh0UT09

Meeting ID: 885 5016 8592

Password: 502604

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VIDEO: JUNE 15th Community Program - Wolf Ecology and Reintro to Yellowstone NP

Wolf Ecology and Reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park

Presented by Dave Clendenen

[link at bottom]

After intro by MCAS president, Judy Neuhauser, Dave gives a presentation about wolf ecology and their reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park and the northern Rocky Mountains. The presentation also focuses on the wolf’s polarizing nature, and conflicts with human society arising from this species’ presence in the wild. It will also examine the critically important role that wolves play in maintaining the health and balance of the ecosystems in which they exist.

Dave Clendenen is a biologist and naturalist, living with his wife Sherryl in San Luis Obispo. He graduated from Cal Poly in 1981, earning a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management, with a concentration in wildlife biology. He worked for 15 years on the California Condor Recovery Project, and was the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s lead biologist for condor recovery in southern California when he departed the project in 1997. During those years he also participated in the reintroduction of bald eagles on Catalina Island, and worked on a bald eagle study in central Arizona. He was also a hack site attendant, releasing a group of peregrine falcons near Mono Lake in 1984. In 1997, he took a position with The Wildlands Conservancy as preserve manager of Wind Wolves Preserve in Kern County. In 2014 he came full circle, returning to Cal Poly, where he is a technician in the Biology Department. Dave is also currently the Land Manager for Morro Coast Audubon Society (MCAS), managing stewardship of Sweet Springs Nature Preserve and other MCAS properties. Since 2003, Dave and Sherryl have volunteered with Rick McIntyre and the National Park Service for two to three weeks each summer, assisting with observation of reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone.

MCAS YouTube Channel

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