The Montclair Bird Club

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For the Zoom link to our online meetings, e-mail montclairbirdclub100@gmail.com.

 

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October 11, 2023

7:30 pm on ZOOM

 

Finding W. H. Hudson 

The Writer Who Came to Britain to Save the Birds 

 

by Conor Mark Jameson     

 

Born in Argentina to immigrant parents from New England, William Henry Hudson would cross the world to Great Britain, where he played an extraordinary role in the creation of the conservation and nature protection movement we know today. Later in life, Hudson "broke America" with his books, which werechampioned by Theodore Roosevelt and others. One of his works became a Hollywood blockbuster, starring Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins. Hudson left all the money he made to conservation. His story, told in a new biography by Conor Mark Jameson, ranges far and wide: a plot-driven period drama with plenty of birds and plenty of humor.  

 

Conor Mark Jameson is an award-winning writer and naturalist. He is the author of Silent Spring Revisited, Shrewdunnit, and Looking for the Goshawk. After 25 years with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, RSPB, and BirdLife International, he now writes full-time, including for television and radio. He is Scots-Irish, Ugandan-born, and now lives in a corner of the forest near Cambridge, England. 

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November 8, 2023

7:30 pm on ZOOM

 

How to Attract Screech Owls

 

by  Jim Wright      

 

The screech owl is the owl most likely to nest in a suburban backyard, but few people know how to entice them to set up residence–or how to thwart those pesky squirrel interlopers. 

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Nature writer Jim Wright, a longtime friend of the Montclair Bird Club, will talk all about his brand-new book from Timber Press, The Screech Owl Companion. Jim thinks the photos alone are worth the price of this entertaining compendium, but see for yourself. The author will be happy to sign copies of this or his other books after his lecture.

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Jim Wright is the author of The Real James Bond, a biography of the author and birdman who fell prey to the world’s most famous case of identity theft. The Wall Street Journal called it “slim and elegant”—like Bond himself. A prize-winning journalist, Jim has written large-format books about Central America’s largest rainforest, Pennsylvania’s legendary Hawk Mountain, and the New Jersey Meadowlands. He writes “The Bird Watcher” column for the Record and maintains several nature blogs. Jim lives with his wife, Patty, in Allendale, NJ, where he is a marsh warden and works to ban the nastiest rat poisons.

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​November 16, 2023

7:30 pm on ZOOM

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Birding and Bird Conservation in Italy

by Marco Valtriani

 

Italy is finally taking its rightful place among the finest birding destinations in the western Palearctic—and the country's importance to breeding, migrating, and wintering birds is gaining the recognition it needs to further significant conservation efforts everywhere from the Venice Lagoon to Sicily and Sardinia. Join the Italian ornithologist Marco Valtriani to learn more about "the boot's" impressive ornithology and the projects underway to preserve it for future generations. 

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A proud native of Tuscany, Marco Valtriani is an ornithologist, conservationist, and birding and natural history tourism expert. He leads birding and walking tours throughout Italy and Western Europe.    

 

Recent meetings

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January 2023: Frank Chapman, CBC Founder and So Much More, by James Huffstodt

February 2023: A Bird Club in San Diego, by Rick Wright

March 2023: The Peregrine Project, by Wayne Quinto Greenstone

April 2023: Piping Plovers on the Rockaway Peninsula, by Chris Allieri

May 2023: Basic Ornithology, by Phil Echo

June 2023: Annual Members and Friends Meeting

September 2023: Build-a-Bird, with Rick Wright

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