In this fast paced PowerPoint Presentation, Larry Schwitters of Issaquah, Washington, will examine Audubon's ongoing citizen science project, Vaux's Happening, launched eight years ago to gather the data necessary to make a compelling case for the preservation of what has proven to be one of the most significant Vaux's Swift communal migratory roost sites in North America. Vaux's Happening quickly expanded into an attempt to locate, raise awareness of, and hopefully preserve the important roost sites used by this species all along their migratory path. In the last fourteen migrations the project has documented over seven million Vaux's Swift roosting events from San Diego to the Yukon. Schwitters will also share images and information captured by the project's chimney surveillance cameras and precision temperature recorders.
Larry Schwitters holds a Master's of Science degree and spent 30 years in the trenches of public education, mostly as a Middle School Science Teacher and Coach in the Seattle area.
He spent four years tracking down Black Swifts at Washington State's waterfalls for the American Bird Conservancy before his involvement with Audubon Vaux's Happening.
Willapa Hills Audubon Society (WHAS) is sponsoring this presentation. For several years, members have participated in the annual count of migrating Vaux Swifts. This fall WHAS will plan a gathering to observe the migrating swifts, to be announced at a later date.
The program is at 7:00 PM, Sunday, March 29, at the Kelso Senior Center, 106 NW 8th, Kelso, WA.
The event is free and open to the public