Calendar

2013

Island Audubon Field Trip
Saturday May 11 & June 8 from 8-10 am
Meet at Park & Ride at Ober Park
You don't have to be a member or an experienced birder to participate and no reservations are necessary -- just come down to Ober Park at 8:00 o'clock and join us for a fun visit to birding spots around the Island. 
Each bird walk is led by highly experienced birders.
More Info

Audubon Program
Biogeography of New Zealand Birds
Mel Galbraith, Ecologist
Thursday, May 9, 7 p.m.
Land Trust Building, 10014 SW Bank Rd.
Free and open to all
Ecologist Mel Galbraith presents Biogeography of New Zealand Birds. Mel comes to Vashon compliments of a Fulbright travel award, promoting the sharing of knowledge between New Zealand and USA.

Millennia ago, as Earth’s crustal plates shifted, New Zealand separated from the larger land masses of Gondwana and Australia. This rafting, creating New Zealand as an island, occurred before mammals evolved. As mammals evolved elsewhere, New Zealand had no mammals, except for two bat species, most likely wind carried from Australia.

Due to biologic evolution and isolated geography, New Zealand birds evolved unique traits, such as gigantism, melanism and flightlessness. The birds occupy ecosystem niches from underground to tree tops. About 1,400-1,500 years ago, humans, first the Maori and then Europeans, arrived with their rats, cats, and ferrets—all bird predators. Human disturbance of flora further compromised bird populations. Today, New Zealand engages in bird conservation and habitat restoration projects. Mel works on one such project on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Mel is Auckland Regional Representative for the Ornithological Society of New Zealand and is lecturer in ecology in the Department of Natural Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology in Aukland. For further information, go to www.osnz.org.nz.

Vashon Beach Naturalists Course
2013 Course Now Open for Registration
Classes on Wednesday evenings:
February 13, March 13, April 10, & May 8 with Field Trips TBA.

Learn Beach Secrets! Meet Nudibranchs Face to Face!
Course is FREE, but there will be a materials fee of $50 (scholarships are available). In exchange you agree to volunteer as a beach guide for six or more Vashon Beach Naturalist public programs.

Classes meet at Vashon College 6:00-9:00pm on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, February through May. You also attend five or more beach exploration sessions for hands-on learning, dates to be announced later.

For more information call Rayna 463- 3153 or Erin 463-0303.
More Info and Registration

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Long-tailed Sylph (Hummingbird)
photo by Nate Chappell