February 2012

TOPIC:  Waterbirds of the Great Lakes

SPEAKER:  Tom Prestby

WHEN:  Tuesday, February 21

TIME:  7:00 pm Refreshments
TIME:  7:30 pm Program

WHERE:  Capitol Lakes Retirement Community -- click for map
333 W. Main Street, Madison

PARKING:  Free – ramp across the street. Enter off Washington Place (between W.Main St. and W. Washington Ave.). Push blue button to obtain ticket and park in spaces marked “Capitol Lakes Reserved.” After the program, Capitol Lakes front desk will validate your ticket.

PRE-MEETING DINNER:  You are invited to join Madison Audubon board members and friends at the pre-program dinner with our speaker beginning at 5:15.

Paisan's 131 West Wilson Street

QUESTIONS?:  Please call the MAS office at (608)255-2473.

RIt’s been a good year to watch ducks and geese on Madison’s lakes, but identification is always a challenge because the waterfowl frequently refuse to be right by the shore where you’re standing. In the fall of 2009, Tom Prestby was the fall waterbird counter at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This task included counting all migrating waterbirds every day for 8 hours from August 15th until November 15th. Tom will share the experience he gained identifying these migrants where views were often quick and challenging, and where identification needed to be made in a matter of seconds. He will focus on not only the basics of waterbird ID, but also the keys to making identification in challenging circumstances with poor looks at the birds. In addition to identification, Tom will touch on the best places in Wisconsin to see migrant waterbirds, how to count large groups quickly. He will share some stories from his time at Whitefish Point.

Tom Prestby is a graduate of UW-Madison and currently works as a bird research technician for the Wisconsin DNR. He has enjoyed bird watching as a hobby since he was a young child watching Bald Eagles fly up and down the Mississippi River at his grandparents’ house in La Crescent, MN. His curiosity in eagles escalated into becoming a fanatical birder and now, a biologist. Some of the projects he currently works on in his position with the DNR include boreal bird, northern forest bird, marshbird, and grassland bird monitoring.