Monthly Programs
Next General Meeting Program: Thursday, September 10, 2026 in person at the Nordic Lodge in Coupeville.
Our monthly programs feature a guest speaker presenting a subject of interest to those who love birds. We have nine programs a year, with no program in July, August and December, on the second Thursday of the month, and they are free and open to the public. Drop by and enjoy the company as we all learn something new from our featured guest. See our Calendar or Events List for upcoming programs.
Banner photo by Jann Ledbetter
Deep Birding: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Birds in a Rapidly Changing Climate
with Steve Hampton
7:00 PM, September 10th, 2026
via Zoom and in-person at the Nordic Lodge,
63 Jacobs Rd, Coupeville, Washington
From large-scale habitat changes associated with European colonization to rapid climate change today, the birds of North America have faced, and will face, dramatically changing conditions across the continent. Examining the past, present, and future of our birds, we will explore why some are adapting, and some are not.
This meeting will be held both on Zoom (link emailed upon registration) and in person at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island, Freeland, WA.
Steve Hampton is an award-winning writer who integrates stories of Indigenous history, climate change, and birds. He has been birding since he was 7 years old and has a PhD in natural resource economics. He worked for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife for 25 years, where he was involved in oil spill response, seabird restoration, and coordination with Native communities. He is an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation. He currently serves as the Conservation Chair and CBC compiler for Rainshadow Bird Alliance in Port Townsend. His article in the December 2022 issue of Birding magazine summarized the scientific research on birds and climate change.
Registration not necessary to attend in-person.
The Joys of One-Bird Birding
with Maria Mudd Ruth
Recorded May 14th, 2026
Whidbey Audubon members are no strangers to Pigeon Guillemots. Since 2003, these lively, charming seabirds have gained a wide and devoted following on the island as the focal species of the Salish Sea Guillemot Network. There are now 250 volunteer community scientists in this ever-expanding network of “guillemoteers” and Maria Mudd Ruth is one of them. Though her first encounters with the guillemots on Puget Sound were centered on data collection, Maria’s hour-long surveys led to a curiosity-fueled, multi-year exploration of the guillemots and the lives they live beyond the data sheets. Maria’s new book, The Bird with the Flaming Red Feet, is informed by her thirteen years among the guillemots on an inlet near her home in Olympia. Her slide presentation is a celebration of the Pigeon Guillemot, the Salish Sea Network, community science, and the joys of “one-bird birding.”
Maria Mudd Ruth is the author of more than a dozen books on natural history topics for general audiences, young readers, birders and non-birders alike. Her recent books include critically acclaimed Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet and award-winning A Sideways Look at Clouds. Since 2013, she has been a volunteer community scientist with the Salish Sea Guillemot Network and is the team lead at a raucous guillemot colony on Eld Inlet. To learn more about Maria, visit her website.
