Photo of barn swallow courtesy of the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society.
As many of our guests know, the weekly Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society presentations held each year during season are some of the most well-attended lectures of the year.
The 2017 Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society presentations are scheduled to be held at The Community House, located at 2173 Periwinkle Way. However, Community House renovations may not be completed in time for the early part of the schedule. Therefore, if needed, the first and possibly additional programs will be held at Sanibel Community Church, located at 1740 Periwinkle Way.
For final location information of the initial lectures, attendees should check the Programs section of the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society website – www.san-capaudubon.org – or call 1-239-395-1878.
The series consists of eight Thursday evening lectures held at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Presentation topics include those of environmental and conservational concern as well as birds and birding. A $5 donation is appreciated, with proceeds after costs being used to promote conservation on Sanibel and in Florida.
This season’s presentations will include:
• January 5 – Birding Eastern Massachusetts and Beyond – For the third consecutive year, wildlife photographer, educator and guide Shawn Carey kicks off our lecture season by sharing sights and sounds from his best places for any birder to visit in this hotbed area for birding.
• January 12 – Getting To Know CREW – Brenda Brooks, executive director at CREW Trust, will share the history, visitor recreational and educational opportunities and the services provided by the largest intact watershed in Southwest Florida, the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW).
• January 19 – Images To Inspire: Nesting of Peregrine Falcons and Barred Owls – San-Cap Audubon’s own Bill Heyd utilizing his remarkable photographs and detailed research returns to provide us entry into the intimate nesting activities of these unique bird species.
• January 26 – Soaring Into The Future of Wildlife & Conservation Medicine – Dr. Heather Barron, hospital director at Sanibel’s Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW), will present a program highlighting the importance of wild bird health and what CROW is doing locally to insure the welfare of our feathered friends.
• February 2 – Better Birding – In this lively and entertaining presentation, Don and Lillian Stokes, renowned authors and longtime Sanibel winter residents, will show you how to be a better birder by identifying birds like a pro, understanding and appreciating bird behavior, caring about the welfare of birds, and sharing in the birding community.
• February 9 – Return To Heron Time – Rejoin Rick Bunting as he again utilizes his unique perspective to expand on the family life of the great blue heron using all new photographs to reveal many interesting new activities and observations.
• February 16 – Rookery Monitoring and Protection in Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve – Stephanie Erickson, preserve manager of the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, provides us with a pictorial overview of Florida’s first aquatic preserve with detailed emphasis on the many rookeries within the preserve.
• February 23 – Florida’s Magnificent Frigatebirds: Origin & Future – Dr. Ken Meyer, founder of Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI), returns to enlighten us on results to date of his GPS tracking studies of the travels and the breeding area of Florida’s magnificent frigatebirds, and the management attempts being made to establish new protected breeding locations.
