FCAS Presents
JJ Audubon
"The gay bunting erects his white crest, and gives utterance to the joy he feels in the presence of his brooding mate; the willow grouse on the rock crows his challenge aloud; each floweret, chilled by the night air, expands its pure petals; the gentle breeze shakes from the blades of grass the heavy dewdrops."
J. J. Audubon, engraved by H. B. Hall, based on a painting by Henry Inman. Engraving from The Life of John James Audubon, the Naturalist, edited by his widow. New York: G. P. Putnams' Sons, 1894.
Swan Lakes
Steve Jones
Author
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Dr.
Social Time: 7 p.m.; Program 7:20 p.m.
Steve Jones believes the recovery of Trumpeter Swans from just a dozen or so known individuals during the 1920s to 55,000 today is one of North America's most heartening wildlife success stories. The recovery is vividly apparent in the Nebraska Sandhills where preservation of historic nesting and wintering areas has led to an increase in the Trumpeter Swan population from zero in 1910 to nearly 1,000 today. Steve, through impressively beautiful photos, will take us on a visit to several of these locations, including two nesting lakes that were named after the swans during the 1880s before the birds were completely extirpated from the Great Plains. He will explore with us the uniqueness of the Sandhills' trumpeter swans, probably the only truly nonmigratory swan population in North America, and the tenderness, fidelity, and courage of nesting families.
Steve Jones is author of The Last Prairie, a Sandhills Journal, and co-author of The Short-grass Prairie, the Peterson Field Guide to the North American Prairie, Colorado Nature Almanac, Wild Boulder County, and Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range. Steve organized the first comprehensive small owl and wintering raptor surveys in Boulder County and helped plan and carry out the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas. His 25 years of consulting work includes more than two-dozen breeding bird and resource inventories for city, county, and state open space programs. He taught in the Boulder Valley Public Schools for 33 years.
Join us April 13 at the Fort Collins Senior Center. This program is free and open to the public. 