Rogue Valley Audubon Society’s Annual Holiday Party!

Save the Date!

When: Friday, December 5, 2025 at 6 PM

Where: MUCC Lidgate Hall (1801 E Jackson St, Medford, OR 97504)

We’re planning another great sea-sonal gathering to celebrate a won-derful year of birding. Join fellow members for an evening of food, entertainment, and prizes!

Author Paul Bannick explores  the often secret lives of woodpeckers from Alaska’s boreal forests to the oak woodlands of the West and Midwest and from the ribbon of Ponderosa Pine habitats that stretches from British Columbia through much of the Western states until they transition in southern Arizona to the Sierra Madre pine-oak that forms the spine of Mexico. Paul also explores the diversity in arid ecosystems straddling the US-Mexico border and the wet tropical habitats from Florida through the Caribbean Islands and southeastern Mexico.

Through first-hand experiences, more than 200 never-before published photographs and the latest science, Paul examines woodpeckers in every season: their courtship and nest selection in spring; life in the nest during summer; fledging and gaining independence in autumn; and the challenges of surviving the winter.

Paul also takes a closer look at the most important woodpecker habitats in North America and what we can do to protect them.

Bloomsbury Books
290 East Main St. Ashland
Saturday December 13th  7:00 to 8:00 pm

Paul is both the author and photographer of five books  including two best-selling bird books, Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls and The Owl and The Woodpecker, Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds as well as “Snowy Owl: A Visual Natural History” and “Great Gray Owl: A Visual Natural History”

Ashland Christmas Bird Count
Date: Sunday, December 21, 2026
Coordinator: Jon Pope – jonath.pope@gmail.com

Medford Christmas Bird Count
Date: Saturday January 3, 2026
Coordinator: Rebekah – rebekah.bergkoetter@gmail.com

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.

One of the biggest challenges in identifying ways to help migratory birds is that we simply don’t know where they are for most of the year. Without this basic information, it is challenging to identify and prioritize conservation actions. Archival GPS tags light enough to place on small songbirds have been available for about a decade, and they are revolutionizing our understanding of bird migration and migratory connectivity.
KBO, along with partners at USFS, USGS, Cape Arago Audubon, and Avifauna Northwest, is using lightweight archival GPS tags to track the migratory routes and overwintering locations of both Oregon Vesper Sparrow and Western Purple Martin, two imperiled subspecies unique to the western U.S. These are the first studies of their kind with these subspecies – the first to track them with GPS technology year-round! The birds have returned with fascinating information, revealing new discoveries about their incredible journeys, including unexpected lengthy fall stopovers – and for the martins, winters on the beach in southeastern Brazil. In this talk, Sarah will share photos and maps from the research, and give a peek into the amazing window we now have into what our Western Purple Martins and Oregon Vesper Sparrows are up to after they leave Oregon, and the incredible voyages they undertake.

Dr. Sarah Rockwell is a Senior Research Biologist at Klamath Bird Observatory, where she manages several research programs studying the ecology of bird species of conservation concern, and monitoring avian response to riparian, oak, and coniferous forest restoration. Sarah joined KBO in 2013 after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland and Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, where she studied the ecology of the then-endangered Kirtland’s Warbler in her home state of Michigan. She earned her B.A. in Biology in 2002 from Kalamazoo College, where she fell in love with birds during her study abroad experience in Ecuador. She lives in Ashland, OR, with her husband and 5-yr-old daughter.

Location: Medford Congregational Church of Christ- Lidgate Hall, 1801 E. Jackson St., Medford

Time: 7:00 pm (coffee/tea/cookies will be served beginning at 6:30 pm)

Zoom instructions: the Zoom link will be posted on the Rogue Valley Audubon webpage the day of the meeting.