The Biggest Week in American Birding – Fall Monthly Speaker Series Returns Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m.

Napa Solano Audubon’s monthly speaker series returns on Thursday, September 11, 7:00 PM, at the Napa Valley Lutheran Church. We hope that you join us to kick off another season on birding adventures with NSAS.

The Biggest Week is one of the largest birding festivals in the U.S. held in early May just East of Toledo on the shores of Lake Erie. This annual Festival draws upwards of 10,000 birders from around the country. Northern Ohio is considered by some to be the “warbler capital of the world” as thousands of migrating warblers land on the shores of Lake Erie to refuel, before crossing this great expanse of water and continuing on their journey North. The heart of the festival happens at Black Swamp Bird Observatory’s Magee Marsh Board Walk, a 2.5 mile path through the shoreline marsh. Magee is unique in that the high water table keeps most trees at shortened heights, providing more exceptional views of our spring migrants. This, coupled with the fact that early May is when most trees are just beginning to bud, before leaves make viewing more challenging, is why the Biggest Week is so exciting. During this year’s 9-day festival at the Boardwalk, along with a number of local area hotspots, birders observed 243 species including 36 North American Warblers.

About the Presenter:

Mark has been the President of our Chapter, Napa-Solano Audubon, for the past 5 years. He began birding in the 4th grade and his birding knowledge expanded dramatically when his family moved to Ithaca, NY where he birded regularly with his mentor, Dr. Arthur Allen, founder of Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology and other leading experts from the Lab. During college he worked summers at Sapsucker Wood’s and for the Massachusetts Audubon Society before heading west and directing Environmental Education Programs at Foresta Institute in Washoe Valley, Nevada. After a career of more than 30 years in public education in Benicia and Napa Valley schools, he is enjoying retirement. When Mark’s son, Lucas, caught the “Birding Bug,” Mark turned from his passion for portrait and landscape photography to focus on birds. With Lucas, he has traveled to every corner of California, Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Florida, and Costa Rica observing and photographing birds. This Spring, after previously attending the Biggest Week 8 years ago with Lucas, Mark returned to the festival with his brother Tom and our very own Tom Slyker and took hundreds of photos of Ohio’s migrants and resident birds. He is excited to share his experiences with our community and his friends from Napa-Solano Audubon.