Upcoming Public Programs

All BRSS programs are free and open to the public

Many programs offered are virtual using the Zoom app — see details below

Wednesday October 7th @ 7:00PM

on Zoom with john hannan

While our desire to preserve bird populations currently faces many challenges, there is still good news to celebrate. John Hannan, who has worked with multiple bird conservation organizations across the Americas, will share beautiful imagery of our hemisphere’s birds and landscapes while telling us about some of the key bird conservation initiatives happening across the Americas right now. This work, being done by a wide-ranging coalition, has become a core part of National Audubon’s 10-year strategy, and Audubon chapters can play a central role. Together we can help build healthy and sustainable communities all along the flyways of North American migratory birds, protecting the same birds we work to safeguard right here in New York. From massive endeavors to preserve more than 550 million acres of coastal and wetland habitat to community-based science projects you can participate in, John will present an uplifting view of bird conservation in the Americas and ways you can be part of it.

John Hannan is a 40-year veteran of the nonprofit world, most of it in conservation. For National Audubon, he was Director of Development of the Audubon CT field operation and on the planning team for the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Conservation Business Plan. He is a past Chair of the Audubon NY State Chapters’ Council and a past and present President of Bedford Audubon. Prior to Audubon, at the Greentree Foundation, he helped protect thousands of acres of Long Leaf Pine Forest in Georgia and turned a Gilded Age Long Island estate into a Center for International Peace Conferences. At Riverkeeper, he focused on protecting the Hudson River and its watershed, and at New York Cares he created volunteer programs to assist the poor and disabled in NYC. During the 80s and 90s, he helped promote economic stability, human rights, and sustainable development for rural communities in Central America. Over the past 12 years, he has continued forming key partnerships that address conservation and community development, traveling to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Honduras, to name just a few. He supervised the management of over 650 health, education, environmental, and economic development projects conducted by more than 3,000 international volunteers working alongside residents of ~40 rural communities in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Since 2018, he has worked with BirdLife International in support of that partnership’s coordinated global conservation programs. Now retired, helps build local awareness of how migratory birds bring environmental connectivity across our planet and how important it is for us to protect these fragile natural resources we depend upon. Hannan has been a serious birdwatcher, ornithologist, and nature photographer for 40+ years. He currently resides with his wife in Somers, NY.

Where the Wild Birds Are

with Noah Strycker

Special In-Person Presentation on Saturday November 7th at 1:00pm

Yonkers’ Grinton I. Will Public Library 1500 central Park Ave (near Tuckahoe Rd)

Free parking; light refreshments will be served; free and open to the public

BRSS thanks the other Westchester Audubon chapters — Saw Mill River Audubon, Hudson River Audubon and Bedford Audubon — for supporting this program

Take a whirlwind tour of the world from a birder’s-eye view. Noah Strycker roams the many habitats that wild birds call home to bring you the ultimate guide to birding planet Earth. Birds have close relationships with their natural environments, from owls in boreal forests to hardy penguins in Antarctica, chattering parrots in the Amazon rainforest, and showy birds-of-paradise in the jungles of New Guinea. This presentation—based on Noah’s groundbreaking National Geographic book, Birder’s Atlas of the World—will broaden your horizons and give you a fresh perspective on where the wild birds are. He'll also update us on his worldwide Big Year and what he's been up to since that record-breaking adventure in 2015.

Called a “Travel Pioneer” by the BBC and “Birdman of Razzmatazz” by Newsweek, Noah Strycker is a writer and bird man based in Eugene, Oregon. In 2015, during a quest spanning 41 countries and all seven continents, he set a world record by finding 6,042 species of birds in one calendar year, as recounted in his popular book, “Birding Without Borders.” He is Associate Editor of Birding magazine, and has guided nearly 100 trips to Antarctica and the Arctic—literally spreading the joy of birds from pole to pole! Noah’s latest book, published by National Geographic, is the “Birder’s Atlas of the World.” While traveling the globe, Noah also writes and illustrates monthly letters by mail, available at LettersFromNoah.com. 

behind the scenes with merlin sound id

Wednesday January 13th @ 7:00PM

on Zoom with grant van horn

Merlin Sound ID has made it possible for anyone to identify birds by sound, but how does it actually work, and how should birders use it? In this talk, Grant Van Horn will give an accessible overview of how Merlin Sound ID listens to audio and turns it into species suggestions. He’ll describe the recordings used to teach Merlin, how the system continues to improve, and where its strengths and limitations lie. He’ll conclude with a look at some exciting future directions for Sound ID.

Grant Van Horn is a machine-learning researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where he works on the machine-learning models used in the Merlin Bird ID app. His work focuses on building practical tools that help people engage with nature. Grant received his PhD from Caltech, where he studied how to train and deploy large-scale machine learning models on mobile devices. That work contributed to technologies now used in iNaturalist, Seek, and Merlin. He is currently on leave from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is an assistant professor of computer science.

The joys and challenges of purple martins

with Mary McKitrick

February TBD

on Zoom or LIVE TBD

Ornithologist Mary McKitrick has been instrumental in establishing breeding locations for Purple Martins in Massachusetts. Join us for a very engaging talk about all things purple martin with this well-known ornithologist.

More Than Just Bird Food: The Extraordinary Ecology of Caterpillars

Wednesday March 10th @ 7:00PM

on Zoom with Lucy McKay

Join Lucy McKay from The Caterpillar Lab to learn about the fascinating native caterpillars that feed our beloved songbirds. Although often overlooked, caterpillars are truly the unsung heroes of the natural world, vital for our ecosystems. Beyond their importance to the environment, caterpillars are beautiful, diverse, and endlessly fascinating creatures in their own right. Lucy will discuss just how important caterpillars are as a food source for birds as well as going deeper into the amazing stories of the caterpillars themselves.

Lucy McKay is the lead caterpillar wrangler at The Caterpillar Lab, a New Hampshire-based educational outreach organization dedicated to sharing the amazing world of caterpillars through educational programs, research, and photography. Along with caterpillars, Lucy is passionate about birds and has volunteered with numerous environmental organizations including monitoring songbirds for the National Park Service, counting piping plovers for New Hampshire Fish and Game, and surveying mountaintop birds for the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. She holds a degree in Environmental Biology and Applied Ecology from Cornell University.

Writing in Nature, the BRSS Audubon Edition

Sunday April 11th at Rye Marshlands Conservancy

220 Boston Post Road, Rye

9:00AM to 11:00AM (rain-date April 18th)

in person with Nicole Butterfield

Are you interested in writing and spending time in nature? Can you imagine combining a bird walk with an opportunity to jot down some observations and musings? Come out and join educator Nicole Butterfield for an easy day-hike through the most inspiring sections of the Marshlands Conservancy. As we move along the trail, you will hear seasonal readings by writers who transform the way we see the natural world. You will also have the opportunity to lend your own voice to the long tradition of writing in and about nature, but sharing your work is entirely optional. Bring a notebook, your favorite pencil or pen, and your binoculars. We look forward to seeing you there!

Nicole Grieco Butterfield is a writer, educator, and bird photographer based in Westchester County, New York. A graduate of Wesleyan University (BA), Sarah Lawrence College (MFA), and Middlebury College (MA), she has taught for over 30 years. Passionate about student-centered, experiential education, she has devoted her career to designing and delivering hands-on, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of language and literature. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, swimming, and beachcombing.

The world of Dragonflies

with Ed Lam

Wednesday May 12th at 7:00 pm

Do you know your dragonflies? Ed Lam, author and illustrator of Dragonflies of North America and Damselflies of the Northeast, will lead us through an exploration of these large and beautiful insects.

Ed Lam, author and illustrator of Dragonflies of North America and Damselflies of the Northeast, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cooper Union and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts. He did several years of editorial illustration work, primarily for the New York Times, particularly the Book Review. His editorial clients include Time, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and various imprints of Random House, Houghton Mifflin, and Harper Collins. In recent years he has turned his attention to natural science illustration, contributing work to various field guides, brochures, and other publications. His natural science clients include the Central Park Conservancy, Newark Museum, and Massachusetts Audubon.