John Sterling will talk about his adventures on a research trip and co-leading two tours through Paraguay with visits to Argentina’s Iguazu Falls area. From the dry Chaco in the west to the Atlantic Rainforests of the east, this country will soon be on the map for international birders. John was the team leader that developed a curriculum for training birding guides in Paraguay, Belize, Guatemala, and The Bahamas for the National Audubon Society and the Inter American Development Bank. He was able to bird with several of the graduates of the Advanced Training Course. John will talk about the new opportunities for birding ecotourism and will illustrate his talk with some of his thousands of photos.
About the speaker: John has been a hardcore birder in California since he was shown a Pileated Woodpecker in 5th grade camp in 1971. He is a professional ornithologist and has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, US Forest Service research stations, HT Harvey & Associates, Arizona and Oregon state universities among other organizations since 1981. John has traveled extensively throughout California learning about local bird distribution and is an authority on that state’s avifauna. In 2015 he set the California’s new big year record with 501 species and has many big day records as well. He has traveled internationally as a guide and ornithologist for many institutions including projects as a Smithsonian ornithologist to Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, The Philippines, Sumatra, Canada and Russia. John currently has his own company, Sterling Wildlife Biology (www.sterlingbirds.com), specializing in tours, birding classes, research and environmental consulting for The Nature Conservancy, National Audubon’s International Alliance Program, CA Dept. of Water Resources among other organizations.
————————————————————————————————————-
This month’s meeting and presentation by John Sterling will be streamed live to all members with internet access. Streaming via Zoom will allow virtual attendance for many who otherwise could not attend in person, even pre-COVID!
6:45 PM: Meeting open for login. Time to socialize & share recent uncommon sightings or other experiences others might enjoy.
7:00 PM: Short business meeting.
7:15 PM: Presentation from John Sterling.
For Zoom instructions and login, please email auodonnell@gmail.com.