Monterey Bay Birding Festival

Though not hosted by the Sierra Club, this event may be of interest to members. We will be tabling and would love volunteers to come help us out! Comment below to help!

This year’s festival takes place Friday, September 23rd, through Sunday, September 25th, 2016, and promises to be one of the best ever, with stimulating field trips, workshops, and speakers, including multiple new offerings. Strategically hosted during fall migration, the festival provides participants with over 250 bird species, as well as whales, dolphins, and otters on pelagic tours of Monterey Bay.

This year’s exceptional speakers include Bruce Lyon, professor of Evolutionary Ecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, presenting: Reconsider the Coot: the Crazy Reproductive Antics of a Common Marsh Denizen; Alvaro Jaramillo, researcher, author, and owner of Alvaro’s Adventures, presenting: Birding the Blob: Effects of Weird Warm Weather and the Drought on Birds; Karine Tokatlian, Director of San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory’s Plover Program, presenting: Breeding Success of San Francisco Bay’s Western Snowy Plovers in the Wake of a Changing Environment; and Kate Marianchild, author and naturalist, presenting: California’s Oak Woodlands…Tantalizing Tidbits about “Boring” Birds.

Entertaining and practical workshops include: birding photography techniques for beginners through advanced; birding optics demystified; bird sketching in the field; bird identification through bird sounds; and nature poetry. They and many more complement over fifty field trips and educational lectures offered.

To round out activities, the festival will hold: “A Taste of the Pajaro Valley” reception, featuring delicious locally grown foods and wine; “Family Days,” hosted by the City of Watsonville Nature Center, offering family fun for kids of all ages; a tasty pancake breakfast hosted by community volunteers; and a day of soundscape programs, films, and workshops hosted by the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be in one of the most beautiful places on the planet during fall migration, the Monterey Bay on the California Central Coast. The Monterey Bay has so much to show you!

http://www.montereybaybirding.org

23rd: 3-7pm
24th: 3-7pm
25th: 10:30am- 3:30pm