Monday,
September 13, 2010
7:00 PM at the Colonie Library
Fire and Aloha:
Four Islands of Hawaii - Scott
Stoner and Denise Hackert-Stoner
Born of fire, the State of Hawaii is the most remote island chain in
the world. It is still growing on one end and eroding into the
sea on the other. The newest, “Big Island,” features both an erupting
volcano and a rainforest with native birds. Maui has the moonscapes of
Haleakala and the fascinating Silversword plant, Oahu has most of the
people (and some beautiful scenery), while the “Garden Isle” of Kaua’i,
the oldest, greenest, most eroded, and perhaps most beautiful of all.
Join us as we share the geology, scenery, plantlife and cultural
history of the Land of Aloha.
Scott is past president of both the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club and the
Audubon Society of the Capital Region. Denise is a past officer
and director of the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club. Scott’s photographic
work has been published in Birder’s World Magazine and Denise’s in the
NYS Conservationist. Their photos have also been exhibited in
local art shows. Denise’s poetry and essays have appeared
in local publications. Scott teaches continuing education bird courses
for two local school districts. Denise and Scott write a nature
column for the Chatham Courier, and have authored a feature article in
the New York State Conservationist. Their essays have also
appeared in several local publications. Together they have
birded, explored, and photographed North America from Hawaii to
Labrador.
Monday,
October 4, 2010
7:00 PM at the Colonie Library
Birding
Costa Rica - Gregg Recer
Costa Rica is a small country -- about the size of West Virginia
-- but the birding opportunities there are huge, with over 800 species
of birds. The country stretches from the Caribbean to the
Pacific, crossing the continental divide at around 10,000 feet in the
process, and has an amazing variety of habitats including lowland rain
forest, cloud forest, beaches, mangroves, dry sub-tropical forest and
high-elevation paramo, among others. The program will feature
photos from national parks and lodges across the middle of the country
highlighting the diversity of Costa Rican birds and scenery.
Gregg Recer is a former HMBC president. He and his wife, Cathy
Graichen, have been birding for over 20 years and have developed a
strong interest in tropical birding, travelling with their son Bryce to
several locations in Central America and the Caribbean over the past
few years.
Monday,
November 1, 2010
7:00 PM at the Colonie Library
The
Birds of Fort Drum - Jeff Bolsinger
Fort Drum is widely recognized as being among the best locations in the
northeastern United States for grassland birds. Grasslands
account for only a small percentage of the military installation,
however, and Fort Drum also has large populations of nightjars,
Golden-winged Warblers, and many other species of conservation
concern. In this presentation, Jeff Bolsinger will discuss some
of the important bird habitats on Fort Drum and the species that they
support, as well as ongoing efforts to monitor and manage these bird
communities.
Jeff Bolsinger caught the birding bug while attending Oregon State
University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in zoology.
After graduating, he spent seven years roaming around the United States
working wherever he could find anybody that would pay him to watch
birds. A job working with Golden-cheeked Warblers at Fort Hood,
Texas led to a graduate project at the University of Massachusetts
studying the vocal behavior of this endangered species. Jeff
received his masters degree in biology in 1997, the same year he was
hired as a full-time biologist on Fort Drum, where he continues to
monitor birds.
Monday,
December 6, 2010
7:00 PM at Five Rivers
HMBC Holiday Party and Program - Speaker TBA
Monday,
January 3, 2011
7:00 PM at the Colonie Library
Ornithological
Research at the New York State Museum - Dr. Jeremy J. Kirchman,
Curator of Birds, New York State Museum
Dr. Jeremy Kirchman grew up in Illinois. He caught the ornithology bug
as a college student when he worked on a field crew of bird surveyors
in the Ozark Mountains. He earned a BA in Biology from Illinois
Wesleyan University in 1994, and a MS in Zoology from Louisiana State
University in 1997, where he studied the population genetics of the
Cave Swallow species complex. It was at LSU that Jeremy first
became interested in museum specimen-based ornithology. From
1997-2000 he worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago,
and from 2000-2001 taught biology at Chicago's St. Gregory High School.
In 2001 Jeremy returned to grad school and earned a Ph.D. in Zoology at
the University of Florida in 2006. His advisor was Dr. David
Steadman, Curator of Birds at the Florida Museum of Natural History,
and his dissertation research was on the speciation and extinction of
flightless rails on Pacific islands. Since 2006 Dr. Kirchman has been
the Curator of Birds at the New York State Museum in Albany, NY, and
Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the State
University of New York at Albany.
His research focuses on historical questions concerning the
biogeography and evolution of birds. His goal is to document
patterns of bird diversification and extinction over the last few
million years and to understand the evolutionary processes that affect
bird populations. He primarily makes use of DNA sequencing
technology, including “ancient DNA” techniques, to examine genetic
differences among populations. Since coming to the NYSM in
2006,he has worked to modernize the Ornithology Collection and to
establish research projects on extinct North American bird species, and
on birds that breed in isolated habitats such as the pitch pine-scrub
oak barrens near Albany, and the boreal forest “islands” at high
elevations in the Catskills and Adirondacks.
His talk on January 3rd, entitled “Ornithological Research at the New
York State Museum” will be an overview of ongoing research projects by
myself, my students, and other collaborators. The talk will also
include a behind-the-scenes look at the labs and the research
collection at the NYSM.
For Audubon
Society of the Capital Region
Program info, go
to: