Audubon club announces upcoming programs

The Susquehanna Valley Audubon club recently announced the meeting program for the coming season.

On Tuesday, Sept. 19, the Susquehanna Valley Audubon club will host a presentation on Project Puffin. The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the 

Page Manor Community Room located at 502 Church St. in Athens.

Audubon’s Project Puffin is the inspiring story of the restoration of puffins to the abandoned nesting colonies off the coast of Maine by Dr. Steven Kress. Hunters extirpated puffins in the late 1800s. Under Dr. Kress’ direction, more than a thousand puffins are now living on three islands off the coast of Maine. Techniques developed by this project are now used to restore bird populations of rare and endangered colonial seabirds around the globe.

The speaker, Aubrey Alamshah, is a wildlife biologist with a BA in Pre-Professional Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University. She specializes in ornithology and has experience in research, education, fieldwork and rehabilitation.   

Her research was primarily with raptors, but she has experience with passerines and seabirds. She has worked on Egg Rock Island in Maine with Steve Kress and has spent time taking care of puffin chicks.   

She will be presenting a program on the 40-plus years of the Puffin Project and will be able to answer questions regarding puffins, their successes and the challenges they are facing.

The Audubon meetings start with a dish to pass dinner at 6 p.m. Those attending the dinner are asked to bring their own table service and a dish to share. The hosts for the meeting, Marsha Zwierlein, Jack Callear and Rose Helmbright, will provide coffee, tea and a dessert. 

For more information, contact Inga at (607) 425-7426 or visit www.susquehannavalleyaudubon.org. Programs are open to the public and free.

Marsha Zwierlein and Jack Callear will present “A trip to Alaska” at the Oct. 17 meeting. Jerry Acton is the speaker at the Nov. 21 meeting on Landscaping for Birds. The club does not meet in December. 

Dan Rhodes will start the new year of talks on Jan. 16 with a program on Fungi. The February meeting is the snow date, and the program is to be announced. On March 20, Dick Allyn has a great program on the Great Blue Heron. April 17 will feature Meena Haribal from Cornell University and her trip to Brazil. 

The club will return to outdoor events in May.