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General Meetings
Held the third Wednesday of each month except June, July, August, and December at 7:00 pm for social time and 7:30 pm for the program at Eaton Canyon Nature Center, 1750 North Altadena Drive, Pasadena.
Directions to Eaton Canyon
Upcoming Programs
Adding Depth to Your Birding
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Jon Fisher and Mickey Long
You would like to find a Clay-colored Sparrow but you don't know where to look. Even if you did know their preferred habitat, could you distinguish it from a Chipping Sparrow or a Brewer's Sparrow? Oh, it's mid-September, the middle of Autumn migration, and the alternate plumages are fast disappearing, plus there is an influx of juvenile birds.
Don't Fear! "Adding Depth To Your Birding" will go beyond just pure identification. It will cover habitats, seasonality and the subtle timing of migrants, as well as where to look for specific species. Come hone your ID skills!
Special Events
The Wrentit Club
All year
Pasadena Audubon Society is promoting eBird and the new
"Wrentit Club". The idea is simple: Identify as many species of bird in Los Angeles County for the calendar year 2010 as you can. Then, submit your year-list to WrentitClub@PasadenaAudubon.org.
Sound easy so far?
After all the lists are submitted, we will
tally and award the following:
- 50-99 The Finches
- 100-140 The Rails
- 150-199 The Vireos
- 200-249 The Owls
- 250+ The Wrentit Club
We will list your total award on a perpetual list/board.
Feel daunted? Don't! Our field trips will indicate
if they count towards your Wrentit Club total (look
for the "WC" icon!) and you are invited to contact John Garrett,
Mark Scheel, or Ron Cyger for tips and recommendations.
So, beginning January 1, 2010, begin tallying! Use of eBird
is not required. But, if you use eBird
( www.eBird.org )
enter your bird lists, it will automatically generate
your year list for LA County, help researchers study
population trends, and gain you brownie points.
Ron Cyger, John Garrett, and Mark Scheel
So, you want to get involved in the Wrentit Club, but are not sure how to get started with eBird?
- Tip #1: Create an eBird account
- Tip #2 Submit a checklist of birds
- Tip #3: Casual Observation and effort
When do I use "Casual Observation" as opposed to the other options?
Letting
us know how you went birding is an important part of completing the data
entry process. By filling out simple effort information we can learn more
about the presence of birds in your area. For example, if you simply choose
"Casual Observation" when in fact you did something more rigorous, we won't
know because you are not required to fill out the effort information. You
might have seen a Bald Eagle fly over your car on the way to work in the
morning, which is truly a casual observation. This is valuable information.
It tells us that a species was at a location on a specific date. On the
other hand you might have seen a Bald Eagle while birding for an hour at
your local refuge and you might have reported all the species you observed,
but still selected "Casual Observation" as the methodology. By submitting a
complete checklist of birds and telling us how much time you spent and how
you collected the data, we can learn much more about the birds in your area.
If you answer "yes" to the question, "Are you reporting all the species you
observed," then you definitely didn't perform a casual observation! From
this type of observation we can learn about the abundance of Bald Eagle
relative to the other species on the checklist, and we can know how much
time you spent trying to find the birds on that checklist, which provides
information on detectability. Think about how easy it is to spot and eagle
compared with say, a rail! If you still choose "Casual Observation" as the
type of observation, these important data will not be included in many of
our analyses and output tools. Be sure to understand the type of survey
you're conducting, and don't be afraid to choose something more rigorous
than "Casual Observation," especially when you are the ones doing all the
work! Read more about this.
What do you mean by "effort" and why do I have to enter time and distance
information?
Information about how much time you spent watching birds and
how far you traveled will help us determine the relative abundance of the
birds you reported. For example, finding 50 Black-capped Chickadees in 15
minutes while standing in one place indicates a much different density of
chickadees than if you recorded 50 Black-capped Chickadees in four hours
while driving 10 miles. Without the time and distance information, eBird
biologists won't be able to make a reliable estimate of density.
- Tip #4: eBird Alerts
A new feature of eBird is *eBird Alerts*. This service will email you on a
regular basis with birds seen in a state that are not on you eBird list
(another good reason to keep up your eBird list).
Go to http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/subscribe-to-ebird-alerts and sign
up.
Then, when you receive the reports from eBird, simply search for "angeles"
to jump to the Los Angeles County reports (or search in any other way to
meet your needs).
Great way to be the first (or, actually second) to know about a bird!
Birding 101
Wednesday, July 14, 21, 28, 2010
7:00pm-8:45 pm
(plus field trips 7/17 and 7/24)
Birding provides enjoyment and challege throughout your life. Birding gets you outdoors on your street or around the world, increases your ability to observe the world around you, increases your appreciation of nature, and is darned fun. So, why put off learning how to be a better birder any longer?
Join us to learn the sights and sounds of our local birds. We will cover identification, optics, sound players, field guides, note-taking, habitats, birding ethics, and many other topics. Class size is limited to about a dozen people, so don't delay!
Location: Eaton Canyon Nature Center
Field trips, July 17 and 24. Time and location to be announced at the first class.
Cost: $50 covers all three classes and two field trips. Payment is payable to "Pasadena Audubon Society" and is due at the first class session.
Leaders: Ron Cyger and Mark Scheel. For questions or to make reservations, contact Birding101@pasadenaaudubon.org.
Sponsored by Pasadena Audubon Society and Eaton Canyon Nature Center.
Audubon Film Fridays
6:45 pm - 10:00 pm
Friday, June 18, 2010: Bambi
Friday, July 16, 2010: Paddle to the Sea and Rock the Boat
Friday, August 27, 2010: Fly Away Home
download flyer in english
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