Opening Keynote Wednesday, January 22nd

Rosemary Mosco, “Pigeons, Sparrows, and More: The Surprising Human Histories and Behaviors of Common Birds”

Thursday, January 23rd

Jerry Lorenz, “Return of the American Flamingo to Florida”

Friday, January 24th

Kenn Kaufman, “The Birds That Audubon Missed”

Saturday, January 25th

Amar Ayyash, “Gull and Man”

Wed. Jan. 22, 6:00pm; Limit 100 Registrants $20

Rosemary Mosco, “Pigeons, Sparrows, and More: The Surprising Human Histories and Behaviors of Common Birds”“

Talk Description: TBD

Bio – Rosemary Mosco is a science writer and naturalist who makes books and cartoons that connect people with the natural world and who gives engaging talks and workshops to groups of all ages. She’s written and drawn for The New York Times, Audubon, the PBS show Elinor Wonders Why, The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids, Ranger Rick, and more, and makes a regular comic strip in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Living Bird magazine. She creates acclaimed science books for kids and adults and the nature comic Bird and Moon, which won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic and was the subject of an award-winning museum exhibit. Her climate change comics were exhibited at AAAS headquarters and the Peabody Essex Museum. 

Rosemary holds a Masters of Science from the Field Naturalist Program. She also served as a judge for a Festival of Bad Ad-hoc Hypotheses, judged a bird tattoo contest, and co-founded a week celebrating invertebrate butts.

Thurs. Jan. 23, 6:00pm; Limit 100 Registrants $20

Dr. Jerry Lorenz, “Return of the American Flamingo to Florida“

Talk Description: Over 100 American Flamingos were caught up in Hurricane Idalia, a powerful and destructive Category 4 hurricane that hit the Big Bend region in late August 2023. Dr. Jerry Lorenz, Audubon Florida’s director of research, led a February 2024 flamingo survey and believes that the flamingos recorded represent “the floor of this new population,” and that there are likely more. The return of flamingos is an encouraging sign that the birds are adapting even while rising sea levels threaten their habitats.

At Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a flamingo had been sighted in 1992 and not since, until Idalia. Currently 16 have settled in the nearby Mosquito Lagoon. Sightings around Florida may signal the return of one of the state’s most celebrated symbols. Dr. Lorenz will tell us all about it.

Bio – Jerry Lorenz is the State Research Director for Audubon Florida and has spent more than 25 years performing applied ecological studies in Florida Bay and the Everglades.  The effect of water management practices on Florida Bay in food web dynamics of the Roseate Spoonbill has been his primary research focus.  His results have been used to design structural and operational changes that benefit ailing Florida Bay and are guiding Everglades Restoration.  Although primarily focused on the ecology of spoonbills, he has also authored or co-authored scientific manuscripts on myriad subjects including mangrove ecology, conceptual ecological models, exotic fish introductions to the Everglades, reddish egret nesting ecology, wading birds in general, and most recently has delved into the ecology of American Flamingos in Florida.  He earned a doctorate in Marine Biology from the University of Miami, has been a member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council for more than 20 years and was a founding member of the Florida Oceans Council.

Fri., Jan. 24, 6:00pm; Limit 100 Registrants $20

Kenn Kaufman,“The Birds that Audubon Missed”

Talk Description: Intense competition. Raging ambition. Towering egos. Heroic effort alternating with plagiarism and fraud. That was the state of bird study in eastern North America in the early 1800s, as a few intrepid characters raced to find the last few bird species that were still unknown to science. ​When Kenn Kaufman began delving into this period in ornithological history, he was surprised to see how many events of two centuries ago have a direct connection to our experience of birding today. The book that resulted from his research, The Birds That Audubon Missed, is a celebration of discovery and rediscovery, the lure of the unknown, the complexity of nature, and the endless power of birds to delight and amaze us.

Bio – Kenn burst onto the North American birding scene as a teenager in the 1970s, pursuing birds all over the continent, chronicled in his highly amusing classic Kingbird Highway. After several years as a professional bird tour leader, taking groups to all seven continents, he transitioned to a career as a writer, editor, and illustrator. Most of his energy currently goes into writing books and painting bird portraits. His 13 books include seven titles in his own series, Kaufman Field Guides, designed to encourage beginners by making the first steps in nature study as easy as possible. His new book, The Birds That Audubon Missed,  was published this May. Kenn is a field editor for the National Audubon Society and a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society. He is the only person to have received the American Birding Association’s lifetime achievement award twice. Kenn lives in Oak Harbor, Ohio, with his wife Kimberly Kaufman, also a dedicated naturalist.

“subject to change without notice”

Sat. Jan. 25, 6:00pm; Limit 100 Registrants $20

Amar Ayyash, “Man and Gull“

Talk Description: Many birders have a love-hate relationship with gulls. But increasingly people are being drawn to this family of birds, the Laridae, and are eagerly calling themselves “larophiles”. Amar Ayyash is both an expert on the gulls of North America and an evangelist for “gull recreation”. In this talk, he will share why gulls are so fascinating. He will also highlight key identification field marks for separating gull species and some of the often-ignored topics in gull-study such as the aging process and molt.