Education:

Monthly Educational Meetings:

Our monthly educational meetings include guest speakers, unusual bird sightings, refreshments, and conversation. Visitors are always welcomed!

Our meetings are held at 7-9 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month (except July and August when we take a summer break) in the Camellia Room at The Gardens of Heather Farn’s, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek.

6:30 p.m. Doors open
7:00 p.m. Birding Information
7:25 p.m. Business meeting
7:40 p.m. Social time, refreshments and door prize drawing
8:05 p.m. Program

Map of 1540 Marchbanks Dr
Walnut Creek, CA 94598-2158

Directions to 1540 Marchbanks Dr
Walnut Creek, CA 94598-2158

Classes:

DENISE WIGHT CLASSES / FIELD TRIPS

Visit Denise's Website for more information and dates.

Trivia: What bird has the greatest wingspan?

The Wandering Albatross with a wingspan up to 11 foot 11 inches (the Andean Condor and Marabou Stork have up to 10.5 foot wingspans - the greatest wingspan of landbirds).

The wandering albatross is a truly remarkable bird. South Atlantic residents of the species have been known to make regular fishing trips that take them as far as the seas off Uruguay and southern Brazil. Round trips of thousands of miles over several days repeated frequently, and all to catch food for themselves and their young. Any visiting ship to the South Atlantic will almost certainly at some time be followed by one or more albatross, wheeling and turning around the ship, following at a distance hypnotically and silently.

The juvenile Wandering Albatross is recognisable by the dark wing tips. As the bird ages, the dark patches recede further to the tips of the wings, so it becomes whiter. After leaving the nest they are thought not to return to land again for 7 to 10 years when they return to the island where they were born. Albatrosses mate for life and can live to be 80 - 85 years old probably making them the animal that travels farther than any other in their life-time.

The birds rarely flap their wings. They swoop low over the never ending swell of the southern ocean, dipping down when the sea falls and rising on the air that is pushed up again when the wave rises. In this manner they are able to fly continuously and cover vast distances with the minimum of effort. There is even a mechanism within the base of the wing to "lock" it in an extended position so the bird doesn't need to strain to keep its "arms" out.

The albatross is a large bird with a large chick. The chick is so large (12kg when it leaves the nest) that it takes just over 12 months to develop fully. This means that the albatross is in the same select group as king and emperor penguins in that it has a breeding cycle that stretches over 2 years.

In folklore the bird carries the soul of dead mariners. If a sailor kills the bird, bad luck would fall upon him for the rest of his natural life. This was not a universal belief as the feet of the albatross were once used as tobacco pouches.

Albatross are facing a decline due to illegal and unregulated longline fishing. Populations of Wandering Albatross are declining at an estimated 1% per year, exposing them to probable extinction within the century if nothing is done to protect them.

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