Please note: WOS does not hold monthly meetings over the summer.

Meetings will resume in October.

October 6, 2008: The Status of Western Grebes in Washington

Dr. Joe Gaydos

The Western Grebe population has declined 95% over the last decade. Dr. Gaydos will discuss what we know about the causes behind this decline, where we need more information, and where we can start with restoration. Dr. Gaydos obtained his veterinary medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a PhD at the University of Georgia, where he served as wildlife disease diagnostician in the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study program, gaining extensive knowledge and experience in wildlife health. He has recently been hired by the Marine Ecosystem Health Program, which coordinates research projects to assess, restore, and enhance the health of wildlife populations and habitat along the Pacific Coast. From a base of operations in the San Juan Islands, Dr. Gaydos will help the program achieve its mission of restoring ecosystem and wildlife health to the inner coastal waters of Washington and British Columbia, and will serve as a scientific resource available to individuals and organizations seeking vital information on ecosystem and wildlife health issues.

November 3, 2008:  South Africa in Spring (Actually Fall)

Dr. Dennis Paulson

Dennis Paulson showed us a dazzling array of bird species from his two weeks in Namibia in April 2008, and now he's going to follow up with photos from another two weeks spent in South Africa on the same trip. He and his wife visited the highlands of that country for a few days, then dropped down to the coastal plain of KwaZulu-Natal all the way to the Indian Ocean. While visiting numerous game preserves, some of them among the most famous in the world, they observed and photographed many species of birds as well as some of the charistmatic mammals for which the continent is famous. And don't be surprised at photos of dragonflies and other smaller creatures they encountered.

Directions: From I-5, take SR 520 East.  Take the Montlake Blvd. NE exit and turn north towards the University of Washington campus. Stay in right lane and go north on Montlake Blvd. over the bridge and past the stadium.  The road will curve to the right around the Montlake Fill and merge with NE 45th St.  You will quickly approach a five-way intersection.  At the intersection, turn right onto Mary Gates Memorial Drive.  The Center for Urban Horticulture is two long blocks down on the right.  There is plenty of free parking at the facility.  We use the main meeting room, the backside of which faces the road. Bus numbers 25, 65, and 75 all stop at NE 45th and Mary Gates Memorial Drive.

Map: For a map, click here.

Washington Ornithological Society. PO Box 31783. Seattle WA. 98103-1783.

Email us: information@wos.org

Photo of Western Grebe above by Tom Munson