"The Connecticut: New England's Greatest River" Program with the Lakes Region Audubon Chapter
2025-01-09 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
The largest river in New England rises in a small beaver pond near the Canadian border and flows over 400 miles through four states, falling 2,670 feet to the sea through America’s only watershed-based national fish and wildlife refuge. Adair Mulligan leads an armchair tour of this great river in New Hampshire and Vermont, exploring its history and natural beauty through the seasons and among the communities that have sprung up along its banks. Next, the discussion will shift to how the river has influenced the lives of those who live there, and how they, in turn, have affected the river. Much more than a travelogue, this presentation explores the many issues involved in managing the health of this major river, and how citizens from all walks of life have created a vision for its future. (NH Humanities Program.)

Zoom Program: Radar Ornithology: Tracking Migration Under the Cover of Darkness
2025-02-12 19:00 - 20:00 | NH
Earth’s lower atmosphere is a critical ecological habitat. Trillions of organisms live, forage, and migrate through this medium, yet rarely is this space considered a primary habitat for ecological or conservation prioritization. For this reason, it is among the least studied habitats, though it serves as a global conduit for the transfer of biomass, weather, and inorganic materials. Airspaces are increasingly polluted and populated with structures. Fundamental research is necessary to address core questions of population and community ecology. Presenter Dr. Kyle Horton’s seminar will overview advances from the Colorado State University Aeroecology Lab, highlighting insights into bird stopover mapping, migration timing, and r quantification of the aerial niche.
Bio: Kyle Horton, Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at the Aeroecology Lab, has a B.S. in Biology from Canisius College, an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware, and a PhD. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Oklahoma. In his free time, he likes birding, photography, listening to podcasts, watching Marvel and Star Wars series, and relaxing with family.

Where the Beagle has Landed: American Tourists in Darwin's Shadow
2025-03-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Seacoast Science Center, Odiorne State Park, Route 1A, Rye, NH, United States
In the summer of 2023, Kurk Dorsey and his family joined a tour of the Galapagos islands. In this illustrated lecture, we will see some of the highlights of that trip, learn some of the evolutionary history associated with the islands, and hear about how he lost a wedding ring and found a rare bird, almost at the same time.
Bio: Kurk Dorsey aspires to lead North America in submissions rejected by eBird moderators, a skill that he has taken to several other countries. When he is not confused by species that really should not be that tricky, he serves as the president of the New Hampshire Rare Birds Committee and the chair of the History Department at the University of New Hampshire, where he teaches environmental history among other things.

Walking in the Woods with Robert Frost: Lakes Region Chapter
2025-03-20 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Walking in the Woods with Robert Frost: Seeing nature through the words of America’s most-loved poet
Robert Frost’s poetry makes spoken words sparkle and sing. It also gives us an intimate look at nature in New Hampshire. In celebration of both Robert Frost and the natural world around us, author and poet Jeffrey Zygmont recites a selection of Frost’s nature poems, emphasizes their beauty, explains their significance, and describes how they deepen our understanding and appreciation of New Hampshire’s natural environment. The selection includes some of Robert Frost’s best-known poems, and others that equally express admiration for nature. Recited from memory, each poem is accompanied by commentary about the experiences and emotions it conveys, plus background on Frost that gives us insight into the poem’s origin and meaning. The program includes a summary of Frost’s life. This lively discussion and recital of some of Robert Frost’s best poems is a celebration of both New England nature and Robert Frost’s unique gift for capturing it in verse.
Cover image from Wikipedia.

A Passion Project: Thirty-five Years of Migration Research at the Shoals Marine Lab
2025-04-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Seacoast Science Center, Odiorne State Park, Route 1A, Rye, NH, United States
Since 1990, Sara Morris has been the lead bander at the Appledore Island Migration Station, which operates during both fall and spring migration. The station is focused on studying songbird migration and stopover ecology, the short breaks during migration when birds rest, refuel, and wait for favorable weather to continue migratory flights. The team that contributes to this research has added additional studies to help increase our understanding of migration in the annual cycle of birds as well as other aspects of bird biology and birds’ roles in community ecology.
Bio: Sara Morris is currently the Executive Director of the Shoals Marine Lab, an educational field station on Appledore Island, Maine, jointly operated by the University of New Hampshire and Cornell University. Her connection to Appledore and the Shoals Marine Lab dates back to 1990, when she began her studies of bird migration as a graduate student at Cornell University. She received her PhD. in 1996 and joined the faculty at Canisius College that year. At Canisius, she taught a variety of courses including ornithology, vertebrate zoology, field ecology, evolution and ecology, and anatomy and physiology of plants and animals. After more than 27 years at Canisius, including the last nine in academic administration, she retired from Canisius in 2024, received the honor of emeritus status, and immediately accepted the passion project of leading the Shoals Marine Lab. Sara also has enjoyed teaching ornithology at the National Audubon Society’s Camp in Maine each summer since 1990. Sara has served as the President of the Wilson Ornithological Society, was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and currently serves as President of the American Ornithological Society.

Where the Beagle Has Landed with the Lakes Region Chapter
2025-04-17 19:00 - 20:00 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Where the Beagle Has Landed: American Tourists in Darwin’s Shadow
In the summer of 2023, Kurk Dorsey and his family joined a tour of the Galapagos islands. In this illustrated lecture, we will see some of the highlights of that trip, learn some of the evolutionary history associated with the islands, and hear about how he lost a wedding ring and found a rare bird, almost at the same time.
Bio: Kurk Dorsey aspires to lead North America in submissions rejected by eBird moderators, a skill that he has taken to several other countries. When he is not confused by species that really should not be that tricky, he serves as the president of the New Hampshire Rare Birds Committee and the chair of the History Department at the University of New Hampshire, where he teaches environmental history among other things.

Hornbills: A Unique Old-World Family of Birds
2025-05-14 19:00 - 20:00 | Seacoast Science Center, Odiorne State Park, Route 1A, Rye, NH, United States
Dana and Bob Fox are excited to present this talk about the family of birds called Hornbills. Hornbills are an Old-World family of birds which first evolved in Africa over 60 million years ago and then one species radiated to Asia. Today half of the 64 species in the world live in Africa including two land-loving species and half in Asia where new species have evolved as far east as the Solomon Islands. As their name suggests, they have massive bills which are integrally attached to their skulls, and some have an additional special horny crown-like protrusion called a casque above their bills. In 1758, Linnaeus bestowed the name Buceros on the family, Latin for “having ox’s horns.” Another unique feature of most members of this family involves their nesting behavior. Females of almost all species make unique nests in tree cavities using their bills to wall themselves in with a plaster made of mud, droppings, chewed wood and bark and other detritus. They leave only a slit narrow enough to deter predators but sufficiently wide for the male to present food from the outside. The tree hornbills have become very important distributors of tropical fruit seeds. Come hear Dana and Bob’s tales of seeing these marvelous birds and see stunning pictures taken by Tim Layman, the intrepid, talented photographer.
Bio: Dana and Bob Fox both began birding in their youth. They have birded the US (list 750 species) and the world (6500 species) visiting 6 continents and over 40 countries. They have given numerous talks in New England about the birds of countries they have visited and on crows, loons and most recently hummingbirds.
Dana joined the South Shore Bird Club (SSBC) in 1951 when she was 12 years old. She has spent most summers in Tuftonboro, NH where she became fascinated by loons. The Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) presented her with their Spirit of the Loon Award. She is a past Secretary of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Past President of the Merrimack Valley Bird Club and frequent speaker. She has written articles on birding and crows in the American Birding Association’s Birding magazine and one on the Lawrence Crow Roost in Bird Observer. Dana coordinates the Tin Mountain Conservation Group’s Loon Monitoring Project for LPC and helps to train the LPC summer biologists on interacting with volunteers.
Bob, as a student at Harvard and living in Quincy, MA, was an early leader of the SSBC. With Allan Keith, a former member of the SSBC, he co-authored, Birds of New Hampshire, a 477 page book describing the status and distribution of birds known from NH (2013). He has published in Auk and Wilson Bulletin, written species accounts for the first MA Breeding Bird Atlas as well as articles in publications of both NH and Mass Audubon Societies. His MA species list is 451. In the past, Bob collected specimens for five museums including the Museum of Comparative Zoology. In addition, he helped found Manomet Bird Observatory, and is past President of South Shore Bird Club. He received the Goodhue-Elkins Award (2014) from NH Audubon for “contributions to the ornithology of NH.”

Identifying Trees and Shrubs and Their Ecological Role as Habitat for Birds
2025-06-10 08:30 - 11:30 | NH
This program will be from 8:30-11:30 am at Burley Farm in Epping. The program will be limited to 15 participants. This event will be held entirely outdoors and will be held as long as it is not raining. Participants should bring their binoculars and clothing appropriate for the weather conditions at the time of the event.
This program, by Matt Tarr of UNH Cooperative Extension, will teach you how to identify the most common native and non-native shrubs that comprise many bird habitats in NH. We will identify each shrub species, discuss how each species functions as bird habitat, and which shrubs you want to encourage on your land to benefit birds. We will also be looking and listening for birds (of course!) and sharing our tips for how to identify the birds we encounter during the trip.
Bio: Matt Tarr is an Extension Professor and State Wildlife Habitat Specialist for the University of NH Cooperative Extension. Much of Matt’s research and work is focused on determining how non-native shrubs function as habitat for songbirds and on how birds respond to land-use and habitat management practices at different landscape scales. Matt is an avid birder who enjoys photographing and recording birds.

Bhutan: The Birds of the Last Himalayan Kingdom with the Seacoast Chapter
2025-09-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Seacoast Science Center, Odiorne State Park, Route 1A, Rye, NH, United States
Program: Bhutan: The Birds of the Last Himalayan Kingdom
With over 730 bird species in a country only 50% larger than New Hampshire, Bhutan boasts an incredible diversity of life in habitats that vary from subtropical forests to Himalayan peaks. This talk will follow James Smith’s journey through Bhutan with a dumbstruck look on his face and usually only a vague sense of the birds he was seeing. From show-stopping species such as Hornbills, Monals and Tragopans, to 20 warblers that all look identical, we’ll explore the highs and lows of this magical country and the birds that call it home.
Bio: James Smith is an enthusiastic amateur birder whose newfound claims to fame include being the easternmost tourist in Bhutan (at the time) and the first Westerner to ever beat a bird guide in the game of Carrom. Back home, he is a staunchly NH-first birder, who is happiest in beautiful places with birds he can almost identify.

Otter Daze with the Lakes Region Chapter
2025-09-17 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Join Joe Callanan as he presents the incredible story behind a single day photographing a mother River Otter and her 3 young for over 4 hours!
River Otters are a beautiful and wild part of our local habitats, but they are seldom seen. Usually, an Otter sighting tends to be over in the blink of an eye as these playful and successful predators are perpetually in motion and can vanish at will.
Otters are not territorial; their lives are spent traveling along a large circuit, going from pond to stream to lake. Always relying on fish as the main dish, they also eat a wide variety of other creatures along the way, from frogs to turtles to rodents.
So imagine the surprise and wonder in store when Joe discovered a River Otter family and was able to study and photograph their antics for four hours straight!
River Otters are part of a wonderful web of aquatic life.
Come get an inside look at the fascinating lives these creatures lead, and see many of the other wild animals they encounter.

Butterflies Without Borders: Tracking Monarch Migration with the Seacoast Chapter
2025-10-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Seacoast Science Center, Odiorne State Park, Route 1A, Rye, NH, United States
Program: Butterflies Without Borders: Tracking Monarch Migration
The Monarch is a formerly abundant butterfly species that has experienced dramatic and widespread declines since the early 1990s. Conservation efforts are underway across the US to understand and take action to stop this decline. In this presentation, we will examine the natural history of Monarchs, explore some of the cutting-edge technologies and methods used to track Monarch movements and discuss the tracking data NH Audubon biologists have gathered from migrating Monarchs.
Bio: Lindsay Herlihy is a biologist and naturalist-educator with NH Audubon. She has been tagging Monarchs with NHA for three years and is taking the lead on the Monarch Motus tagging program in 2025.

Birding the Straits of Gibraltar with the Lakes Region Chapter
2025-10-16 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Huge flocks of White Storks and Black Kites whirl over this dramatic and historic part of Spain.
Surprisingly little visited, this spring migration bottleneck concentrates phenomenal numbers of birds from Short-toed Eagles to Alpine Swifts, and even the bizarre looking Eurasian Hoopoe and Northern Bald Ibis.
But wait, there’s more! Roman ruins, historic towns, bull fighting rings, orange groves, and lunch at 4:00 p.m. are all part of the experience. Add in the dramatic Strait of Gibraltar and there is lots to enjoy in this relatively remote part of Spain.
Cover image from Maritime Studies South Africa.

The Birds of Ecuador: From the Andes to the Amazon with the Seacoast Chapter
2025-11-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Seacoast Science Center, Odiorne State Park, Route 1A, Rye, NH, United States
Program: The Birds of Ecuador-From the Andes to the Amazon
Steve Mirick will give an overview of the incredible bird and wildlife diversity found in Ecuador as driven by the altitudinal forces of the Andes Mountains. He will also provide some thoughts on ecotourism and places to visit in the country.
Bio: Steve Mirick has been birding for over 40 years and has been an active volunteer with NH Audubon and its Seacoast Chapter for most of those years. He has focused most of his birding in New Hampshire, but has also traveled to Central and South America where he has visited 8 countries.

A Visit to Lake Umbagog with Bob Quinn with the Lakes Region Chapter
2025-11-20 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
In far northeastern NH lies the richest wildlife area in all of the Granite State- Lake Umbagog. William Brewster, the paragon of 19th century field ornithologists described it as “…like many a precious stone, has beauty and charm due to the effectiveness of its perfect setting ….”
The Umbagog region is still one of the wildest, most bird-rich, areas in northern New England. In this slide show Bob Quinn will share the dramatic scenery of this remote area as well as talk about some of the fascinating changes in Umbagog’s bird life over the last 140 years. The focus of the program will be on the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge and it’s efforts to protect this dazzling northern lake and the surrounding forests. Bob will also share his visit to Umbagog during the 2024 solar eclipse.
This program is perfect for the wildlife enthusiast as well as those wanting to explore a little known corner of New England.

Zoom Program: Wildlife Adaptations in Winter with the Seacoast Chapter
2025-12-10 19:30 - 21:00 | NH
Zoom Program: Wildlife Adaptations in Winter
Note: This is a program change from the previous published December program.
Contact Dan Hubbard for questions: 603-978-0218 or danielhubbard@peoplepc.com.
Sign up here.
Wildlife use various strategies to survive our cold winters, including migration, hibernation, and adaptation. We will examine these strategies for local wildlife, focusing on the adaptation strategies of ruffed grouse, snowshoe hare, beaver, moose, and others. We will discuss the role of snow and snowpack, the trigger mechanism for shorter daylight hours on the hypothalamus, and plant adaptations in winter.
Bio: The speaker is David Govatski from Jefferson, NH. David retired after a 33-year career with the US Forest Service and now works as a Naturalist in New England and a ship naturalist in Alaska.

Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds with the Seacoast Chapter
2026-01-14 19:30 - 21:00 | NH
Zoom Program: Feather Trails-A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds
Contact Dan Hubbard for sign up: 603-978-0218 or danielhubbard@peoplepc.com.
Birds are visible, vocal sentinels that alert us to environmental harms. In her book, Feather Trails-A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds, Sophie Osborn shares her experiences reintroducing endangered Peregrine Falcons, Hawaiian Crows and California Condors to the wild. Sophie explores the threats that imperiled these birds and reveals that what harmed them threatens us too. She will discuss what led to the endangerment of these three captivating species, recount the efforts of biologists to recover their populations and read a few excerpts fom her book that describe what it was like to work with these magnificent birds.
Bio: Sophie A. H. Osborn is an award-winning environmental writer and wildlife biologist whose work has included the study and conservation of more than a dozen bird species in the Americas. She contributed to reintroduction efforts for several endangered birds and served as the field manager for the California Condor Recovery Program in Arizona for four years. Her first book, Condors in Canyon Country, won the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award for Nature and the Environment. Reviewers for the American Birding Association (ABA) chose her second book, Feather Trails, as their favorite bird book of 2024. Sophie also writes the Words for Birds blog on Substack.

What's Wild: Eric Orff with the Lakes Region Chapter
2026-01-15 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
On Thursday, January 15th at 7:00 p.m. at the Loon Center in Moultonborough, the Lakes Region Chapter of the New Hampshire Audubon Society will present a program called What’s Wild, by veteran wildlife biologist Eric Orff.
Join Eric for humorous and educational stories from his 50-year career in New Hampshire, covering topics like wildlife conservation, climate change, and his experiences with animals like bats and bears. From riding deer to rescuing moose from swimming pools to snakes in a bathroom, he has seen many oddities.
As the state’s first bear biologist in the 1970s, Eric began a half-century career as a “forest ranger who works with animals,” his stated dream job as a 7-year-old. Eric has worked both at NH Fish & Game and the National Wildlife Federation, and continues to protect the natural environment of New Hampshire.
Eric is the author of “What’s Wild,” which details many more of his experiences.
The Loon Center is located on Lee’s Mill Road; follow the signs on Blake Road from Route 25 near the Moultonborough Central School, or from Rte. 109 turn on to Lee Road and turn left on Lee’s Mill Road.

Zoom Program with the Seacoast Chapter: North American Bird Declines are Greatest Where Species are Most Abundant
2026-02-11 19:00 - 20:30 | NH
This program is a follow-up to our February 2021 30 Billion Birds Lost program by Ken Rosenberg of Cornell. This program will discuss a new expansive study of North American bird population trends that was published in Science May 2025.
Effective bird conservation has been limited by a lack of fine-scale population data. This talk presents new analyses using data from eBird to estimate changes in abundance for 495 North American bird species from 2007 to 2021 at a 27-kilometer resolution. Results reveal widespread but spatially complex declines; while 75% of species are declining overall, 97% show both increasing and decreasing trends in different areas. Strikingly, declines are often steepest where species are most abundant. These findings offer a new lens on population dynamics and provide sharper tools to guide urgent, targeted conservation efforts.
Bio: Dr. Courtney Davis is an Assistant Professor of Global Biodiversity and Ecoinformatics at Cornell University. Her research integrates large-scale data science, ecology, and conservation biology to understand the status and trends of biodiversity. She leads interdisciplinary projects that harness participatory science data, remote sensing, AI, and statistical modeling to inform conservation decision making and practice. Her work has been featured in leading scientific journals and widely used by agencies, NGOs, and the private sector working to conserve global biodiversity.

Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Birds with the Lakes Region Audubon Chapter
2026-02-19 19:00 - 20:00 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Grassland birds such as the Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark are declining throughout their ranges. In this talk we review the history and ecology of these species, with a focus on New Hampshire and the Northeast U.S., then shift to the conservation challenges they face and some of the things people can do to overcome these threats.

Birds and Other Creatures of Ghana program with the Seacoast Chapter
2026-03-11 19:00 - 20:30 | NH
Birds and Other Creatures of Ghana – Wednesday, March 11
In October 2024, Kathryn and Roger Frieden went on a group birding trip to Ghana where they saw many fascinating birds and other creatures. In this program, Kathryn will share information about their adventure (and Roger’s photos).
Bio: Kathryn and Roger Frieden started birding and learning about birds around 15 years ago when their children were all off to college. Their first birding trip was to south Texas with Mass Audubon in 2011, and they have been enjoying birding travel ever since. In 2015, Kathryn started volunteering for NH Bird Records shortly after retiring as an OB-GYN physician. They lived in Manchester for many years, and moved to Nottingham 8 years ago, so now they get to include Pawtuckaway Lake birds in their yard list.
Contact: Dan Hubbard, 603 978-0218, danielhubbard@peoplepc.com

A Birding Cruise around Cape Horn with the Lakes Region Chapter
2026-03-19 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Join Becky Suomala on a boat trip from Santiago, Chile around Cape Horn to Buenos Aires. In addition to seabirding for albatross and the other pelagic species in southern waters, there were landbird stops in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. One of the highlights was a visit to a penguin colony on the Falkland Islands. See some of the great seabirds, landbirds, and even some mammals like guanacos as well as the beauty of Cape Horn, the Strait of Magellan, and the Beagle Channel.
Cover photo by Becky Suomala.

Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Bird program with the Seacoast Chapter
2026-04-08 19:00 - 20:30 | NH
Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Bird – Wednesday, April 8
Grassland birds such as the Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark are declining throughout their ranges. In this talk, we review the history and ecology of these species, with a focus on New Hampshire and the Northeast US, then shift to the conservation challenges they face and some of the things people can do to overcome these threats.
Bio: Pam Hunt has been interested in birds since the tender age of 12, when an uncle took her to Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge in NJ. She went on to earn a B.S. in biology from Cornell University, M.A. in zoology from the University of Montana, and then a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College in 1995. Pam came to NH Audubon in 2000 after five years as adjunct faculty at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH. In her current position as Avian Conservation Biologist, she works closely with NH Fish and Game to coordinate and prioritize bird research and monitoring in the state, and also authored NH’s “State of the Birds” report. Specific areas of interest include habitat use by early successional birds (particularly whip-poor-wills), conservation of aerial insectivores (e.g., swifts and swallows), and the effects of events outside the breeding season on long-distance migrants. Pam also coordinated the “NH Dragonfly Survey,” a five-year project that mapped distributions of these insects throughout the state and remains active in the dragonfly field.
Contact: Dan Hubbard, 603 978-0218, danielhubbard@peoplepc.com

Returning North with the Spring with the Lakes Region Chapter
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:30 | The Loon Center, 183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, NH, 03254, United States
Returning North with the Spring: Retracing the Journey of Naturalist Edwin Way Teale

In 1947, Edwin Way Teale, the most popular naturalist in the decade between Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, followed the progress of spring over four months from the Everglades to the summit of Mount Washington. His best-selling book, North with the Spring, recounts the epic journey he and his wife Nellie undertook.

In 2012, John Harris set out to retrace Teale’s route, stopping at unfamiliar wild places on the same calendar date on which Teale visited. Using Teale’s journal notes and photographs, Harris examined and compared changes in the flora, fauna, and lives of the people along the way. His account documents the losses, details the transformations, and celebrates the victories, for a remarkable number of east coast refuges have grown wilder during the intervening years.

John R. Harris is currently an adjunct faculty member in Environmental Science at Franklin Pierce University. He holds a Ph.D. in British and American literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has taught courses in nature writing, environmental literacy, regional history, American literature, and composition at Franklin Pierce University. In addition, he has organized and helped to edit two regional anthologies, Where the Mountain Stands Alone and Beyond the Notches: Stories of North Country New Hampshire.

Belize, a Perfect Winter Birding Getaway program with the Seacoast Chapter
2026-05-13 19:00 - 20:30 | NH
Belize, a Perfect Winter Birding Getaway – Wednesday, May 13
Join Becky Suomala on a (virtual) birding trip to tropical Belize in Central America. This English-speaking country has great birding, but also unique archeological sites, and snorkeling from its islands in the Caribbean. From birds to butterflies, fish and scenery, Becky will share highlights from these special places. Her photos are from a recent February trip with several friends that was a perfect winter birding getaway.
Bio: Rebecca Suomala is a Biologist Emerita with NH Audubon. She worked for NH Audubon from 1988 until 2024 in a variety of positions. In 2005, she completed her Master’s in Wildlife Ecology from the University of New Hampshire, conducting research into songbird migration stopover for her thesis. She studied Common Nighthawks for almost 20 years and has banded birds on Appledore Island since 1994. As an avid birder, she has explored much of New Hampshire and has traveled to many national and international birding destinations.
Contact: Dan Hubbard, 603 978-0218, danielhubbard@peoplepc.com

Behind the Scenes Habitat Management At Odiorne Point State Park program with the Seacoast Chapter
2026-06-10 19:00 - 20:30 | NH
Behind the Scenes Habitat Management At Odiorne Point State Park – Wednesday, June 10
Odiorne Point State Park is not only a favorite birding Hot Spot, it is also where one of the largest and most successful invasive plant control projects in NH has been improving habitat for birds and other wildlife. During this program, we will look for birds and learn from the Rockingham County Conservation District about all of the incredible habitat work that has been completed and still planned at Odiorne.
Bio: Arianna Spear, Tracy Degnan and Lenny Lord of the Rockingham County Conservation District and Matt Tarr of the UNH Cooperative Extension.
Contact: Dan Hubbard, 603 978-0218, danielhubbard@peoplepc.com

The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet program with the Seacoast Chapter
2026-07-08 19:00 - 20:30 | NH
The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet – Wednesday, July 8
At a time when the news for birds (for the planet!) has rarely seemed more grim, there is reason for hope. Despite the odds today, all around the world people are actually reviving bird populations, providing a roadmap for wider recovery. In his newest book, The Return of the Oystercatcher, best-selling author and researcher Scott Weidensaul shows why creating a world that works for birds will work for everything, including us. He’ll trace this inspiring arc from a tiny island off the Maine coast to the bird-rich Danube Delta on the Ukrainian border, and vulture restoration in the mountains of Bulgaria to across the world’s largest and most intact forest in Canada where Indigenous communities are permanently protecting hundreds of millions of acres of some of the most important migratory bird habitat on Earth. This is a dose of optimism we all need.
Bio: Scott Weidensaul is the author of nearly 30 books on natural history, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Living on the Wind and his New York Times bestseller A World on the Wing. His latest book, Return of the Oystercatcher coming in April 2026, showcases what’s working for bird conservation around the world. Weidensaul is a contributing editor for Audubon magazine, a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest, and writes for a variety of other publications including the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory’s Living Bird publication. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and an active field researcher, studying Saw-whet Owl migration for 30 years, as well as winter hummingbirds in the East, bird migration in Alaska, and the winter movements of Snowy Owls through Project SNOWstorm, which he co-founded.
Contact: Dan Hubbard, 603 978-0218, danielhubbard@peoplepc.com
