First Wednesday Bird Walk

Join RVAS for our monthly outing to Denman Wildlife Area. Walks begin at 8:30 am and end before noon, and are led by Jim Hostick. The gate will be open from 8:00 – 8:20 am. Participants need to purchase an ODFW Area Parking Permit at the ODFW Office, Sportsman’s Warehouse on Delta Waters and Highway 62 in Medford, or at Bi-Mart. We request that all participants be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Directions to meeting spot: We will meet at the entrance off Agate Rd. between 1/4 and 1/2 mile past the fire station on the left side of the road. Coming out Table Rock Rd., turn right on Antelope Rd. and go to the light on Agate Rd. and turn left. The fire station will be on your left at the corner of Ave. G and Agate Rd. Go 1/4 to /12 mile past the fire station and the gate will be on your left. Coming out on Highway 62 to Antelope Rd., turn left and go to the next light. Turn right and continue to the gate on Agate Rd.

Plan on joining us on January 28, when Pepper Trail will present his talk “A Bird’s-Eye View of Climate Change.”  Pepper will highlight the many ways that climate change is impacting birds, from the polar regions to the tropics, and right here in Oregon.  These include effects on bird distribution, the timing of migration, the availability of food resources, and the spread of diseases.   It’s a rapidly changing world, and birds are some of the best indicators warning us of what’s to come.

Bio: Pepper Trail is well-known in southern Oregon as a naturalist and writer.  He was the ornithologist at the National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory for over 20 years, until his retirement in 2021.   He is the long-time conservation co-chair of Rogue Valley Audubon, and has been active in many regional environmental efforts, particularly the establishment and expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.  When not pursuing birds, wildflowers, and bumble bees in southern Oregon, he leads natural history expeditions around the world.

This will be an in person talk held at the Medford Congregational Church in Lidgate Hall (Lidgate Hall is located behind the Medford Congregational United Church of Christ, 1801 East Jackson Street, Medford).