Aiken Audubon Society

Aiken Monthly Mtg Jan. 15 | The Art of Falconry: A Cultural Heritage
2025-01-15 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Denver) | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office, 4255 Sinton Rd, Colorado Springs, 80907
Join us for our first program of 2025! Master Falconer Deanna Curtis is our guest speaker and will be presenting on The Art of Falconry: A Cultural Heritage.

Step into the ancient and captivating world of falconry, a tradition spanning centuries and cultures. Learn about the history and significance of falconry as an art form, its role in cultural heritage, and the unique characteristics and hunting techniques of each bird. Perfect for all ages, this experience offers a rare opportunity to witness these raptors up close and gain a deeper appreciation for the bond between humans and birds of prey.

Deanna had her first raptor encounter at her son’s Cub Scout pack meeting in 1999, where a non-profit organization gave a presentation with live raptors. She was hooked from the first free-flight, and turned to her friend saying, “I am going to get a job doing that!” She started volunteering shortly after and was brought on staff as their head lecturer within two years.
In 2004 Deanna decided to become a licensed falconer and in 2011 became a master falconer. She then started her own non-profit organization in 2007 using non-releasable raptors for educational purposes. To date, she has trained and worked with 22 different species of raptors ranging in size from the small American kestrel to our iconic national symbol, the majestic bald eagle. Deanna was the first female President of the Colorado Hawking Club and has also served as Director-at-Large and as the Public Information Officer for North American Falconers Association. She is also a Certified Interpretive Guide under the auspices of the International Association of Interpretation.
Deanna landed her dream job working for Broadmoor Outfitters in January 2018, blending her two passions in life: raptor education and falconry.

This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office located at 4255 Sinton Road 80907.The classroom entrance is on the back (east side) of the building. The main door will be locked.

The meeting will also be broadcast via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 874 4541 6672
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Win bags of bird seed in our chance drawing! Please bring cash if you would like to participate.Bird seed donated by This Place is For the Birds and Songbird Orchids. Proceeds benefit Aiken Audubon.

Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pmMeeting announcements 7:00pmProgram Presentation 7:15pm

photo credit: Deanna Curtis | Broadmoor Outfitters

Aiken Monthly Meeting Feb. 19 | Female Bird Song: Overlooked & Underheard
2025-02-19 18:30 - 20:30 | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office, 4255 Sinton Rd, Colorado Springs, 80907
Join us, along with Dr. Lauryn Benedict from the University of Northern Colorado, for this month’s meeting and presentation on Female Bird Song: Overlooked & Underheard.
In addition to being a source of joy to listeners, bird song offers an important research system for scientists studying the form and function of animal signals, including language. Bird song research, however, is surprisingly narrowly focused on a few bird species and, in particular, on the males of those species. Although more than 60% of songbird females sing, they are rarely studied. In this presentation Dr. Benedict will explore how history and definitions have driven that trend, and she will talk about recent research on singing female birds.

Lauryn Benedict is fascinated by the social lives of birds. She has spent 20+ years researching birds to figure out how they use sounds to signal meaning and coordinate behaviors. Her recent work examines song and other vocalizations in both males and females. Lauryn holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley. She is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado.

This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office located at 4255 Sinton Road 80907.
The classroom entrance is on the back (east side) of the building. The main door will be locked.
This meeting will also be available via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87557147689?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 875 5714 7689
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Win bags of bird seed in our chance drawing! Please bring cash if you would like to participate.
Bird seed donated by This Place is For the Birds and Songbird Orchids. Proceeds benefit Aiken Audubon.
Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
photo credit: Dr. Lauryn Benedict | University of Northern Colorado

Aiken Monthly Meeting March 19 | Bringing Back the Lesser Prairie Chicken
2025-03-19 18:30 - 20:30 | Bear Creek Nature Center, 245 Bear Creek Rd, Colorado Springs, CO, 80906
The Lesser Prairie-Chicken is an icon of Colorado’s southeastern prairies. Due to a long list of environmental and anthropogenic factors, they nearly became extirpated in extreme southeast Colorado and southwestern Kansas, in an area that was considered one of the species’ core areas. Additional threats are on the horizon, making their future unclear. How are wildlife managers fighting to bring back this species in southeast Colorado? Join us, along with Jonathan Reitz, to find out and learn more about this beautiful grassland bird.
Jonathan Reitz is a Wildlife Biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Lamar, CO. He has been working on Lesser Prairie-Chicken conservation since 2006. Jonathan helps manage, research, and conserve a long list of big game, small game, and threatened/endangered species in southeast Colorado.
This is an in-person meeting held at the BEAR CREEK NATURE CENTER; 245 Bear Creek Road 80906.
Please enter through the main doors. The meeting room is immediately to your left. Aiken Audubon members will greet you as you arrive and point you in the right direction.
Win bags of bird seed in our chance drawing! Please bring cash if you would like to participate.
Bird seed donated Songbird Orchids & Wild Birds Unlimited. Proceeds benefit Aiken Audubon.
Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
This meeting will also be available via Zoom.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85237692526?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 852 3769 2526
Passcode: [REDACTED]
photo credit: Jonathan Reitz | Colorado Parks & Wildlife

May Monthly Meeting | Celebrating Cranes in Northwest Colorado
2025-05-21 18:30 - 20:30 | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office, 4255 Sinton Rd, Colorado Springs, 80907
Join us this month, along with Megan Karschner, Executive Director of the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition as we Celebrate Cranes in Northwest Colorado!
Megan began as CCCC’s Executive Director in April, 2024. Megan has lived and worked in the Yampa Valley for the past 15 years, most recently as an adjunct faculty member and tutor for Sustainability Studies at Colorado Mountain College. A graduate of Colorado Mountain College’s Outdoor Education and Sustainability Studies programs, Megan earned a master’s degree from Western Colorado University in Environmental Management.
Over the years, Megan has taught, directed and developed outdoor & nature-based educational programs. She has been involved with local food system efforts and has provided community workshops to children & adults in beekeeping, 4-H, food preservation, permaculture and sustainable gardening, and fiber arts.
This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office; 4255 Sinton Road 80907.
Our entrance to the building is located on the EAST side (back side) of the building; not the main entrance. Parking is encouraged in the south and west parking lots.
Win bags of bird seed in our chance drawing! Please bring cash if you would like to participate.
Bird seed donated Songbird Orchids & Wild Birds Unlimited. Proceeds benefit Aiken Audubon.
Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
Can’t join us in person? Watch and listen via Zoom!
Time: May 21, 2025 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87343785363?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 873 4378 5363
Passcode: [REDACTED]
photo credit: Kathy Simpson

October Monthly Meeting | Birding Central California
2025-10-15 18:30 - 20:30 | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office, 4255 Sinton Rd, Colorado Springs, 80907
Birding Central California
Join Jessica (and special guest, Bruce) on a birding adventure around the San Francisco Bay and south to Monterey. You’ll hear how the diversity of habitats, hotspots, and seasons resulted in 200+ species, with the help of eBird and a little luck. Scour the coast and bay for shorebirds, spend an entire day at sea, and hike for warblers and condors. You’ll be inspired to visit this area and search for its unique birds in beautiful settings!
Jessica Miller is the Fountain Creek Nature Center supervisor, President of Aiken Audubon Society, and volunteer leader of the Birds and Brews field trip series. Before moving to Colorado seven years ago, she was the Recreation Director and Head Naturalist for Fripp Island Resort in coastal South Carolina. She’s also been a biological intern for Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. She grew up in Georgia where she earned her B.S. in Biology from Augusta University. When she’s not pretending to be a normal human, she’s planning a birding trip!

This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office; 4255 Sinton Road 80907. SEE BELOW for Zoom link to attend virtually from home. Our entrance to the building is located on the EAST side (back side) of the building; not the main entrance. Parking is encouraged in the south and west parking lots.
Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5770180765?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 577 018 0765
Passcode: [REDACTED]

NOVEMBER MONTHLY MEETING | THE BIRDING DICTIONARY
2025-11-19 18:30 - 20:30 | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office, 4255 Sinton Rd, Colorado Springs, 80907
Join Rosemary Mosco, author of the new book The Birding Dictionary, for an entertaining and enlightening look into birding terminology.
Rosemary is an author, illustrator, and speaker whose work connects people with the natural world.
She’s written and drawn for The New York Times, Audubon, Rewiring America, the PBS Kids show Elinor Wonders Why, Ranger Rick, and more, and makes a regular comic strip in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Living Bird magazine. She creates science books for kids and adults and the nature comic Bird and Moon, which won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic and was the subject of an award-winning museum exhibit. Her climate change comics were exhibited at AAAS headquarters and the Peabody Essex Museum. She gives engaging talks and workshops to groups of all ages.
Rosemary is a graduate of the Field Naturalist Program. She judged a bird tattoo contest (twice!) and co-founded an event celebrating invertebrate butts.
You can learn more about her in this Audubon profile.
This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office; 4255 Sinton Road 80907. Our entrance to the building is located on the EAST side (back side) of the building; not the main entrance. Parking is encouraged in the south and west parking lots.
Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
Zoom Link: Join Zoom meeting
Meeting ID: 577 018 0765
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz.

JANUARY MONTHLY MEETING:THE EFFECTS OF WILDFIRE SMOKE ON MIGRATING BIRDS
2026-01-21 18:00 - 21:00 | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office, 4255 Sinton Rd, Colorado Springs, 80907
Join Aiken Audubon with Megan Miller presenting her research on The Effects of Wildfire Smoke on Migrating Birds.
Wildfire smoke is an emerging threat to birds at both the individual and population level. Limited studies associate smoke exposure with slower weight gain in House Wren nestlings, reduced banding capture rates and poorer body condition among those captured birds, and large-scale avoidance behavior from migrating birds. Megan investigated whether exposure to poor air quality could affect the oxidative balance system in passerines migrating through Southern Colorado during spring and fall migration.
Megan Miller has been a part of Colorado’s birding community since her first Christmas Bird Count in 2006. She completed a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology in 2017 at Colorado State University and then spent some time doing field work across the country. She has worked on projects studying birds in apple orchards, seabirds, black-throated blue warbler ecology, and migration banding stations. In January 2025 she completed her masters degree at Colorado State University Pueblo on the impact of wildfire smoke on migrating birds. Megan received a grant from Aiken Audubon to help fund this research.

This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office; 4255 Sinton Road 80907. Our entrance to the building is located on the EAST side (back side) of the building; not the main entrance. Parking is encouraged in the south and west parking lots.
Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
Join us via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5770180765?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 577 018 0765

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Photo Credit: Megan Miller

FEBRUARY MONTHLY MEETING: Grasslands to Woodlands: breeding and migration ecology of priority species at range periphery in the Great Plains.
2026-02-18 18:30 - 21:00 | Bear Creek Nature Center, 245 Bear Creek Rd, Colorado Springs, CO, 80906
Two important notes about our February meeting: Change of venue to Bear Creek Nature Center and Death by Chocolate themed snacks.

Join Aiken Audubon with Stephen Brenner presenting Grasslands to Woodlands: breeding and migration ecology of priority species at range periphery in the Great Plains.
The Great Plains of North America is home to many imperiled grassland bird species. As grassland ecosystems continue to decline across North America, information on populations of priority grassland birds in different regions is critical to develop regional and range-wide conservation plans. Additionally, the Great Plains is often described as a biological crossroads where “East-meets-West”, offering unique opportunities to study many species at range periphery. This talk will highlight some of the recent research conducted in Nebraska on a variety of different bird species during the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, from nesting behavior to tracking hemispheric migrations.
Stephen Brenner is an Avian Biologist with the National Audubon Society – Great Plains region. Stephen has worked on a variety bird-related research projects across the US and internationally before settling in western Nebraska. He will be presenting his program via zoom.

This is an in-person meeting held at the Bear Creek Nature Center 245 Bear Creek Road 80906. Please note change of venue for this meeting.
6:30 p.m. – Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) Death by Chocolate – please bring your favorite chocolate snack to share for this annual favorite
7:00 p.m. – Meeting announcements
7:15 p.m. – Program Presentation
Join Zoom Meeting:
click here to join
Meeting ID: 577 018 0765
Passcode: [REDACTED]
photo credit: Steven Brenner

March Monthly Meeting:Birding Mongolia with Mike and Gana Endres
2026-03-18 18:30 - 21:00
Birding in Mongolia
Join naturalist, author, and professional photographer Mike Endres of Little Wing Photo as he shares his experiences of traveling Mongolia in search of birds, culture, and scenery. He will be joined by his wife Gana, a native of Mongolia, who will share her personal knowledge of Mongolian culture and history. Five of the fifteen species of cranes can be found in Mongolia, mostly in the Khurkh River Valley in the eastern part of the country. This will be an entertaining presentation for those interested in this part of the world or maybe planning a trip to there.
Mike has had a decades long interest in wildlife photography, especially cranes. His lengthy time in the Army has provided him with opportunities that most will never experience. During that time, he always had a camera in hand and a willingness to explore the wildlife and culture of whatever part of the world he happened to be in. Join him for an evening of entertainment as he shares his experiences from numerous visits to Mongolia, including his own wedding.
This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office; 4255 Sinton Road 80907. Our entrance to the building is located on the EAST side (back side) of the building; not the main entrance. Parking is encouraged in the south and west parking lots.
If you would prefer to attend via zoom, here is the link:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5770180765?pwd=[REDACTED]

Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm

photo credits:Mike Endres

April Monthly Meeting: An Unplanned Journey with Birds with Amy Seglund
2026-04-15 18:30 - 21:00
An Unplanned Journey with Birds
Join Amy Seglund, Species Conservation Program Manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and last year’s Colorado Field Ornithology convention Keynote Speaker in our Aiken Audubon April monthly meeting as she presents via Zoom.
As a young graduate student, she had her mind set on studying mammalian carnivores. Then, a birding moment changed her life and led her down an unexpected path in avian conservation. She will share some highlights and accomplishments of her path and why birds are wonderful to study.
Amy Seglund has worked for Colorado Parks and Wildlife for the past 19 years as a Species Conservation Program Manager. Much of her work has focused on two alpine bird species, the southern white-tailed ptarmigan and brown-capped rosy-finch. Amy’s newest endeavor is to understand pinyon jay breeding biology. Before coming to Colorado, Amy worked with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for 4 years as a conservation biologist with her efforts focused on peregrine falcons, yellow-billed cuckoos, southwestern willow flycatchers, and Lewis’s woodpeckers. Amy received her MS in wildlife biology at Humboldt State University where her graduate research focused on the Pacific fisher. She spent 2 years in Guatemala in the Peace Corps assessing the avifauna in the cloud, subtropical, and spine forests. Amy was the 2023 recipient of the Richard G. Levad Award which honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to bird conservation.

This is an in-person meeting held at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Office; 4255 Sinton Road 80907. Our entrance to the building is located on the EAST side (back side) of the building; not the main entrance. Parking is encouraged in the south and west parking lots.
If you would prefer to attend via zoom, here is the link:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5770180765?pwd=[REDACTED]

Snacks & Bird Talk (meet & mingle) 6:30pm
Meeting announcements 7:00pm
Program Presentation 7:15pm
photo credit: Amy Seglund
