Description: FOUR HARBORS AUDUBON SOCIETY AUTUMN LECTURE (Zoom presentation) BIRDING WITHOUT BORDERS:AN EPIC WORLD BIG YEAR
Speaker: Noah Strycker
In 2015, bird nerd Noah Strycker of Oregon became the first human to see more than half of the planet’s bird species in a single, year-long, round-the-world birding trip. Anything could have happened, and a lot did. He was scourged by blood-sucking leeches, suffered fevers and sleep deprivation, survived airline snafus and car break-downs and mudslides and torrential floods, skirted war zones, and had the time of his life. Birding on seven continents and carrying only a pack on his back, Strycker enlisted the enthusiastic support of local birders to tick more than 6,000 species, including Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, a Harpy Eagle in Brazil, a Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Thailand, and a Green-breasted Pitta in Uganda. He shared the adventure in real time on his daily blog(audubon.org/noah), and now he reveals the inside story. This humorous and inspiring presentation about Strycker’s epic World Big Year will leave you with a new appreciation for the birds and birders of the world.
Noah Strycker, 34, is Associate Editor of Birding magazine, the author of five well-regarded books about birds, and a regular contributor of photography and articles toall major bird magazines as well as other media. Strycker set a world Big Year record in 2015, and his 2017 book, Birding Without Borders, relates the experience. His other books are Among Penguins(Oregon State University Press, 2011), The Thing with Feathers (Riverhead Books,2014), Birds of the Photo Ark (National Geographic, 2018), and National Geo-graphic Guide to the Backyard Birds of North America (National Geographic,2019). Strycker has studied birds on six continents with field seasons in Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Australia, Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, and the Farallon Islands. He also works as a naturalist guide on expedition cruises to Antarctica and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, literally spreading the inspiration of birds from pole to pole. Strycker is a competitive tennis player, has run five marathons, and hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. He is based in Oregon, where his backyard has hosted more than 100 species of birds.
This Zoom presentation is free and open to all — Reservations required.
Email: fourharborsheron@gmail.com.