Golden Gate Audubon’s monthly Speaker Series in San Francisco and Berkeley features renowned naturalists, photographers, ornithologists, authors, international travelers, and other fascinating speakers. To cover event costs, we ask non-members for a voluntary donation of $5. Non-members may attend for free if they join that evening. As always, GGAS members are welcome to attend free of charge. Speaker Series venues are:
San Francisco: Sports Basement, 1590 Bryant Street San Francisco 94103
Berkeley: Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda (between Solano and Marin)
Doors open for refreshments at 6:30 p.m. and the speaker will start promptly at 7 p.m.
Thank you to Recology- Our San Francisco Speaker Series Sponsor
Bay Area Woodpeckers
Jeffery R. Martin
San Francisco
Thursday, June 20
6:30 p.m. refreshments,
7p.m. program
Please Note: New venue for San Francisco Speaker Series
Sports Basement
1590 Bryant Street
San Francisco 94103
Woodpeckers have captured the human imagination for generations. The distant sounds of pecking, flashes of red plumage, and inevitable disappearance into the shadows of the forest evoke a sense of wonder about these extraordinary yet elusive creatures. Jeffery Martin’s lecture and close-up high definition video explore the foraging strategies of our eight North Bay woodpecker species. Insect excavation, acorn storage, the use of sap wells and other intriguing behaviors are our focus. Jeff’s video segments illustrate unique evolutionary adaptations. We examine the anatomy of feet, tail, tongue and head which enable agile vertical climbing, adept grabbing of prey, and protection from concussion and dust inhalation. From the exquisite green and rose- colored Lewis’s Woodpecker to the dazzling Northern Flicker, and more, we take a close-up look at the worlds of our eight North Bay Woodpeckers.
Videographer and naturalist, Jeffery Martin has filmed and produced “Bahia Wildlife Habitat” and “Birds of Las Gallinas Marsh” which can be viewed on the web sites of Marin Audubon and Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District. His films, “Woodpecker Haven” and “Birds of Lake Solano and Putah Creek” have been shown regularly at the Lake Solano Visitors Center. A number of years ago, Jeff presented “Foraging Behavior in Large Wading Birds” – a similar lecture and video program for the Golden Gate Audubon Speakers Series. In the past, Jeff has contributed to the slide library, visitor literature and campfire talks for Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and natural history walks and lectures for adults and children. In another vein, he has lectured to college faculty, students, and National Park Service professionals on “visitor motivation” and the “psychology of nature” including on safari in East Africa. In his “day job” Jeff is a clinical psychologist and associate clinical professor at UCSF School of Medicine.
Sahul – A Paradise for Birds
Bob Lewis
Berkeley
Thursday, July 18
6:30 p.m. refreshments,
7p.m. program
Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania are all part of the Australian geological plate, or Sahul. After a brief visit to O’Reilly’s, a wonderful jungle lodge near Brisbane, Australia, we’ll fly to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Our route in PNG will take us from the lowlands in the south of the island to the highlands on the western border, and then on to Mount Hagen, a 12,000’ extinct volcano. New Guinea has 708 species of birds and 5 endemic families, and is home to most species of spectacular Birds of Paradise and fascinating Bowerbirds. We’ll discuss a bit of geological history, a bit of taxonomy, and look at examples of many of PNG’s 70 bird families.
Bob’s second career is very avian. He’s served on the GGAS board where he led the Adult Education Committee. He’s an award-winning photographer and world traveler, and frequent public speaker on avian topics at libraries and Audubon Societies. He co-teaches Master Birding, Avian Evolution and Bay Area Birds, and his bird life list stands at 4992. He is hoping to reach 5000 on GGAS’ Namibia tour in August.
Midway’s Albatrosses
JD Bergeron
San Francisco
Thursday, August 15
6:30 p.m. refreshments,
7p.m. program
Please Note: New venue for San Francisco Speaker Series
Sports Basement
1590 Bryant Street
San Francisco 94103
Midway Atoll is the site of the world’s largest albatross nesting colony as well as other globally important species such as the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and Laysan Duck. Midway Atoll is also the home of Wisdom, of the oldest known wild bird in the Bird Banding Lab’s database. The work conducted by the census team, or “Bird Counters”, provides vital information found few places on Earth to researchers, managers, conservation groups, and the global community interested in preserving and protecting seabirds and their nesting habitats. Since 1991, the annual census of Mōlī (aka Laysan Albatrosses [Phoebastria immutabilis]) and Ka’upu (Black-footed Albatrosses [Phoebastria nigripes]) on Midway Atoll has provided precise and consistent information regarding the numbers of nesting albatross pairs there.