 A male Common Merganser, photo courtesy of Janet Busi. Come join our LAS volunteers for an informational talk at Galena Creek Visitor Center. This talk starts at 10am and will be covering the waterfowl of Northern Nevada, including ducks, geese and swans. The events is free and open to the public. The Visitor Center is located at 18250 Mt Rose Hwy, Reno, NV 89511, USA. We hope to see you at Galena Creek!
To see a full schedule of upcoming Galena Creek Visitor Center, click here. Longtime LAS member and conservationist Bob Goodman will be leading a talk at Galena Creek, all about the Swan Lake Important Bird Area. "We will be taking a look at the interactions of plants and macroinvertebrates occurring in the waters and soils of Swan Lake Nature Study Area that attract some 175 species of birds on an annual basis. Rather than just list the species that are the food base for birds, we will see them "living free" in 10-gallon tanks where I was able to record life cycles and relationships of species."
As always, the talk is free and open to the public. It will take place at the Galena Creek Visitor Center at 10am. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded a grant to the National Audubon Society (NAS) for its Saline Lakes Program on a project aimed at conserving shorebirds and their important habitat within the Lahontan Valley. NAS, Lahontan Audubon, along with Manomet, will work closely with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and US Fish & Wildlife Service to identify habitat needs for 11 priority shorebird species; examine the habitat management units at Carson Lake and Stillwater in order to identify impediments to and opportunities for improving shorebird management; and improve capacity for monitoring shorebird populations.
The Lahontan Audubon Society is focused on improving the capacity for monitoring shorebird populations. Dr. Alan Gubanich and Mike Goddard are recruiting community science volunteers to monitor shorebird populations. We successfully conducted surveys during the fall migration and will be holding a training for new volunteers for spring surveys. The shorebird identification training program will focus on 22 species, along with some of the rare or uncommon shorebird species we might have the opportunity to see in the field. We will host two classroom sessions (2/19 & 2/26 at 2:00-4:00) at Moana Nursery and two field trips (3/12 & 3/19) to the wetlands as part of the program. We will teach volunteers techniques for navigating to a point, conducting a point count, and accurately recording data. We can provide spotting scopes, binoculars, field guides and GPS units. We are looking for volunteers to help us staff a table at the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience (YWCE). We will have a demonstration table with taxidermy mounts, museum skins, wings, and binoculars for kids to participate in an "Identify the Bird" exercise. There will be hundreds of school children in attendance on Thursday and Friday and the general public is invited on Saturday. This is a great opportunity to share your love of birds with the next generation. Volunteers will be provided lunch and training on educational activities. If you would like to participate, please email education@nevadaaudubon.org with the dates and times that you are available. We are trying to fill the following time slots:
For more details about the event see the flyer below:  If you love birds, meeting new people, and learning while exploring in Nevada, this is the workshop for you. We are recruiting birders of all levels to join us as field trip guides. This workshop will provide you with all the details you need to lead or assist an LAS birding field trip. Experienced and novice guides are invited to join as we share ideas on how to lead birding walks.
The workshop will start with an meet-and-greet online webinar on Friday, February 11th at 4:30 pm. We will follow up the next day with an in-person field trip for a hands-on experience. Then throughout the month of March, our participants will be co-leading and leading their own recurring field trips at some of the many birding hotspots throughout the Washoe Valley. If you are interested in learning more, send an email to field-trips@nevadaudubon.org or fill out our volunteer interest form.  To celebrate the Holiday Season, we are re-featuring another "monthly" bird you might not have seen in person, but you probably heard of: the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). The Northern Cardinal lives primarily east of the Rockies, with a small population in Arizona (hint-hint: The Arizona Cardinals football team’s namesake). From their easily recognizable colors, they have become a famous bird. They are the State bird of seven US states; more than any other American species. BirdNote devoted the episode below all about our favorite red bird: A male Northern Cardinal against a snowy landscape(like the photo above) is commonly seen gracing many a holiday greeting card. But did you know Northern Cardinals were originally only found in the warmer Southern States, like Florida and Louisana? They settled in Northern States and Canadian Provinces in the past century. This BirdNote episode covers this full story of why the Northern Cardinal moved north. Besides the cards you have sent or received this holiday, have you ever seen a Northern Cardinal back east? Let us know in the comments. From all of us at Lahontan Audubon Society: Happy Holidays!
 Richard Podolsky is marine scientist with expertise in the behavioral ecology of seabirds, especially puffins, albatross, shearwaters and petrels. He worked for 11 summers on National Audubon’s Project Puffin that successfully restored Atlantic Puffins to several Maine islands. For his doctoral degree from the University of Michigan, Podolsky restored the Laysan Albatross to the Hawaiian Island, Kauai. Following this study, Dr. Podolsky completed his postdoctoral training at the Charles Darwin Station in the Galápagos Islands where he restored the critically endangered Galápagos Petrel. Podolsky lives in Camden, Maine.
Richard presented on Tuesday, January 25th at 7:00 pm. All photos were taken on the field trip and courtesy of Judy Duffy. Check out her website here: www.judyduffyphotography.com
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