WILD AND WONDERFUL
SPEAKER SERIES
This monthly online Speaker Series will showcase our outstanding roster of naturalists, filmmakers, ornithologists, photographers, and other fascinating speakers.
Expect our Speaker Series email alerts the day before our scheduled online events. The emails will have important details including our Zoom link and passcode. Our online Speaker Series has a first come, first serve sign-in basis with a limit of 100 participants. If you’d like to sign up for our general emails, including our Speaker Series email alerts, please contact us at admin@swwings.org. Use buttons below to register for individual talks.
Each of our online Speaker Series presentations will begin at 11 AM Arizona Time. There is no cost to sign in to our online series; but, if you would like to make a donation to Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival, please see the Home Page.
A recorded version of the last talk will be available for several weeks afterwards - here.
See a full list of future talks - here.
SPECIAL HOLIDAY SERIES
ERIC MOORE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020 at 11 AM Arizona Time
The ABCs of Birding Optics
Confused by optics jargon such as eye-relief, exit-pupil, interpupillary distance, objective lens, field of view and color fidelity? Want to know what those numbers mean on a pair of binocular, such as 8x42, 10x42? Eric Moore will give a presentation on optical equipment covering both binoculars and spotting scopes designed for birders.
Eric Moore, owner of Jay's Bird Barn and Arizona Field Optics in Prescott, Arizona, has been a life-long birder. Eric grew up in Tucson and at a young age birded extensively all over southeastern Arizona. Eric has an intimate knowledge of optical equipment, including binoculars and scopes and knows what the unique demands are for quality birding optics. With the perspective of being a birder, and not just a business owner, Eric understands the importance of quality optical equipment to maximize birding experiences--both at home and in the field.
JIM KOWEEK
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020 at 11 AM Arizona Time
Grassland Plant ID Made Easy
This talk, by Jim Koweek, will cover local plant ID with an emphasis on the plants' relationship with wildlife. Best of all, this will be done with no boring technical language.
Jim Koweek is the owner of Arizona Revegetation & Monitoring Co. and the author of Grassland Plant ID For Everyone – Except Folks That Take Boring Technical Stuff Too Seriously. For the last four decades he has worked with seed, plants and rock in SE Arizona. The results are not always pretty. In his spare time, he can be found playing mandolin in local watering holes around Sonoita.
PREVIOUS TALK
If you missed the talk below, you can watch it again until December 26, 2020. To view, please CLICK HERE
JILLIAN COWLES
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 at 11 AM Arizona Time
Sharing, Caring and Thievery: Arachnid Behavior and Interaction
In this presentation, Jillian Cowles will introduce you to the surprising world of arachnids. These small neighbors live right under our noses and every community has its different individuals: those that share, those that care, and those that steal. Some are gregarious, while others are loners. Arachnids may be devoted mothers, chivalrous mates, and team players. They can also be resourceful sneak thieves. You will meet fiercely devoted mother green lynx spiders, chivalrous cellar spiders, and altruistic vinegaroons. You will also meet hitch-hiking pseudoscorpions, mites partnering with carrion beetles, and the tiny thief Argyrodes as it steals from its formidable host, the
black widow.
At the age of eighteen Jillian Cowles came to southern Arizona with the dream of seeing a Gila monster in the wild. She fell in love with the desert (and her spouse) and stayed. While working as a clinical microbiologist at University Medical Center in Tucson (now retired), she was able to document the plants and animals of the desert. She started photographing wildflowers, and the occasional crab spider or green lynx spider would insinuate itself into the photos. Before long, spiders and other arachnids had practically hijacked the photographic database, resulting in the publication of her book, Amazing Arachnids, published by Princeton University Press in 2018. Her photographs have appeared in numerous publications, as well as arachnid courses, a TV show, and a building mural. Sometimes dreams really do come true, and Gila monsters are now her familiar friends and neighbors.
LIST OF UPCOMING ONLINE SPEAKER TALKS
2020
DECEMBER 9: ABCs of Birding Optics - Eric Moore
DECEMBER 30: Grassland Plant ID Made Easy - Jim Koweek
2021
JANUARY 27: Northern Jaguar Project: Protecting the World’s Northernmost Jaguars - Diane Hadley
FEBRUARY 24: Bluebirds, Robins and Thrushes - Kathe Anderson
MARCH 24: Twelve New Clouds - Glenn Minuth
APRIL 28: Wildlife, Rescue, Rehabilitation, Release and Coexistence - Angeline Fahey
This list may be subject to change