ASC Monthly Speakers 2022 -2023
“Belted Kingfisher: Messenger of Wild Waterways”
Don Boucher & Lisa Milbank
April 20, 2023 – 7:30 PM
Don Boucher and Lisa Millbank went house-hunting in early 2014. One of their top priorities was a yard suitable for gardening. They converted the lawn on their quarter-acre suburban lot to a garden for both edible and native plants. In April’s presentation, Don and Lisa will feature some of the surprisingly abundant wildlife and 100 native plant species on their property. They’ll talk about the process of making the yard inviting to nesting birds, pollinating insects and more, and discuss easy ways to add more species richness to any yard. They’ll also cover some of the problems and mistakes they encountered. Throughout the presentation, you’ll also enjoy many photos and videos of the surprising diversity of flora, fauna and fungi that now call their yard home.
Don and Lisa have managed the Neighborhood Naturalist program for about 20 years, which publishes a newsletter featuring local native species, and provides field trips and classes. Don and Lisa are longtime volunteers for the Audubon Society of Corvallis and primarily help with publishing the Chat.
How to See the Monthly Presentations
The 2022 – 2023 Monthly Meetings will be both in-person and available on Zoom! They will be held in the Corvallis Community Center on NW Tyler Ave. in Corvallis. The new location for the meetings is the Oak Room. At 6:30 pm there is a social gathering, followed by a business meeting at 7:00 pm, the program begins at 7:30 pm and lasts about an hour. For those who are viewing the presentation via Zoom, you may wish to tune in at 7:30!
The in-person meetings will also be available on Zoom. ASC members who provided their email address with their membership dues will receive an invitation and instructions the day before the webinar. Members can view the presentation on their computers or phones at home. A few days following the meeting, the link to the recording will be posted on the ASC website (Monthly Meetings) and will be available until the next meeting. (from book jacket)
Meetings are open to the general public, although space is limited. Contact audubon.corvallis@gmail.com for information about accessing the program. More info
2022-2023 Speaker Schedule
Hybrid in-person and Zoom meetings
Mar. 16 – Marina Richie “Belted Kingfishers”
Apr. 20 – Don Boucher & Lisa Millbank “A Yard Full of Native Plants, Birds, Bugs and More”
May 18 – Bob Beschta “Trophic Cascades & Yellowstone”
Past Video Presentations
March 2023
Join Marina Richie for a deep dive into the world of North America’s secretive, jay-sized angler, the subject of her award-winning 2022 book, Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher. America’s secretive, jay-sized angler, the subject of her award-winning 2022 book, Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher. Link to recording
February 2023
Fred Ramsey shared photos and stories of Mongolia trips made by ASC members Fred Ramsey and Jim Faulkner. Ostensibly these were fishing trips for the world’s largest salmonid, but there was a heavy emphasis on Mongolia’s birds. Link to recording
January 2023
Local artist Ram Papish specializes in design and illustration of interpretive panels. His presentation explored education and conservation through his paintings, illustrations, and sculptures. Link to recording
December 2022
Eight presenters shared their favorite photos during the annual ASC Members Slide Show. Bev Clark brought highlights from her Uganda safari, Nikkie Cross from the Dry Tortugas, the Everglades, and Oregon, and Julia Corbett showed her new Oregon favorite birds. Teri Engbring shared Ecuador photos from the cloud forest, highlands, and Galapagos Islands, Tom Heath honed his photography skills with Willamette Valley birds, and Matt Lee shared migrating warblers from the Biggest Week in American Birding (Ohio). Carolyn Peterson used Eye and Dirty Bird themes to showcase Falkland Islands birds, and Sue Powell highlighted birds from a trip to Colombia. Link to recording (Click on center circle with line through it)
November 2022
Wary by nature, yet brave under fire, the magnificent bird has long thrilled the sportsman. Some attribute the bird’s decline to habitat loss, but Worth Mathewson, author of a complete natural history of the species, carefully builds his case to the contrary. Zoom link
October 2022
A key challenge facing the wind industry is the potential for turbines to impact wild animals, both directly, via collisions, and indirectly due to noise pollution, habitat loss, and reduced survival or reproduction. Research Statistician Manuela Huso presented her collaborative work and how the wind industry can lessen the impacts.
September 2022
Kelly Hazen shared information about the natural history of Greater Sage-Grouse and Oregon’s Adopt-A-Lek program. Greater Sage-grouse (GSG) are chicken-sized birds that are found in 13 western U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. Habitat fragmentation and development have caused severe declines for this dramatic bird.
May 2022
Jonathon Valente discussed the OSU College of Forestry Oregon Marbled Murrelet Project (www.oregonmurrelet.org). Launched in 2015, the focus of the project is to understand basic murrelet biology. Jonathon discussed how the research team is using cutting-edge technology to better understand murrelet habitat requirements, movement, and limitations to population growth, as well as how this research will be used to improve management of public and private forest lands.
April 2022
ASC members Matt Lee and Sue Powell shared their photos and stories from their “bucket-list” trip to the Ecuador mainland and Galapagos Islands in October 2021. Ecuador is small but has mega-diverse habitats, including coastal lowlands, foothills, Andean peaks, dry forests, cloud forests, high-altitude Páramo grasslands, Amazonian jungles, and Pacific Islands. This habitat diversity supports 1700 species of birds, more than 130 of which are hummingbirds.
