Membership Programs

Please join the San Joaquin Audubon Society to see what we are doing.  This month's program is a shining example of what we do with your contributions as funding for this project by the San Joaquin Audubon Society helped get it off the ground.

California's Central Valley is, arguably, North America's most important wintering area for raptors. Larger numbers and a greater variety of open country raptors winter here than anywhere else on the continent. In spite of this, there has been very little research on winter raptors in the Valley. When one considers the recent rapid conversion of Central Valley grasslands to urban and intense agricultural uses, this lack of information makes conservation planning very difficult.

To address this, Zach Smith and Ed Pandolfino created a project to survey winter raptors in the Valley. For three winters volunteers surveyed roadside routes from Shasta County in the north to Kings County in the south. Zach and Ed will present some of the conclusions from this work that shed light on the important habitats for various species and the variations in abundance and diversity across our region.

Ed Pandolfino is on the board of Sierra Foothills Audubon Society and serves as its Placer County Conservation Chair. He is also on the board of Western Field Ornithologists and is one of the Regional Editors for northern California for the publication, North American Birds.

This is our annual joint San Joaquin Audubon Society and Delta Sierra Group, regional unit of the Motherlode Chapter of the Sierra Club, program.  This joint meeting is a great way to get like-minded people together to share ideas.
 
For most birdwatchers and nature lovers, learning about bird behavior is interesting but it doesn’t rank up there with new places or new species.  This presentation might change your mind.  Sandhill Cranes are great communicators and their size makes them easy to watch.  Cranes communicate with each other in a variety of different ways and this presentation will help you recognize many of these.  You will learn about their common vocalizations, body language and how to recognize juveniles, tell subspecies apart, distinguish between dancing and aggression and many other details that will help you better understand and appreciate Sandhill Cranes. Your presenter is Paul Tebbel, who has worked with cranes since 1976, including 11 years as the director of Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River in Nebraska where more cranes gather every spring than any other location in the world. Paul is also a river conservationist and is currently executive director of Friends of the River in Sacramento.  This presentation will be of interest to serious birders and beginners alike.
 
Paul Tebbel first worked on cranes in the 1970’s doing research on Sandhill Cranes in Michigan and Ontario.  After a decade of work in the private sector, he took over Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River where he helped central Nebraska communities build their magnificent spring bird migration spectacle.  His morning long workshops on crane behavior have sold out at the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico every year since 2001.  His current paying job is as Executive Director of Friends of the River in Sacramento.

October 2010