Peregrine Audubon Society's chapter meetings and programs are generally held on the third Tuesday of each month, September through May, at 7PM. The exception is the December meeting. The December 8 meeting is on the second Monday. We'll update details of our schedule as they become available.
All programs except January and February will be held at 7PM in the City Council Chambers of the Ukiah Civic Center at 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah. The public is always welcome.
Our January and February programs will be held on Zoom. To receive links, subscribe to our mailing list on our home page.
| Board | Programs | Field Trips | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 4 | September 16 | Tim Bray on Birds of Ireland | September 27 | Willits WWTP and Mitigation Lands |
| October 2 | October 21 | John Anderson and Anna Halligan on Working Forests and Wild Salmon | October 25 | Mendocino Redwood Company Navarro Watershed |
| November 6 | November 18 | Tiana Williams-Claussen of the Yurok Tribe on Condors | November 22 | Covelo and Round Valley |
| December 4 | December 8 | Get to Know Your Local Birds! | December 14 | Ukiah CBC |
| January 8 | January 20 | Vishal Subramanyan on California Wildlife: From the Coast to the Mountains | January 24 | Mendocino South Coast |
| February 5 | February 17 | TBD | February 21 | Willits WWTP and Mitigation Lands |
| March 5 | March 17 | TBD | March 21 | Lake Mendocino |
| April 2 | April 21 | Rebecca Rosen on Falconry and Birds of Prey | April 25 | Hopland Research and Extension Center |
| May 7 | May 19 | TBD | May 9 | Magruder Ranch |
Board meetings generally take place on the first Thursday of each month, September through May, at 7 PM. Board meetings are open to the membership. You are always welcome and encouraged to participate. Contact a board member here for details.
Chapter Meetings and Programs
Birds of Ireland
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Atlantic Puffin, Willow Warbler, Northern Gannets and Crake © 2025 Tim Bray.
Join us this evening in welcoming Tim Bray as he shares his stories and photos of the birds of Ireland.
Ireland has long been popular for tourists interested in its history and culture, the beauty of its landscape, and the legendary welcome offered by its people. All of those features also make it a wonderful place to go birding, and interest in birds and birding in Ireland has grown significantly in recent years. It was long disregarded by serious British twitchers because it lacks endemic species and most of its rarities could also be found elsewhere in the British Isles - and truth be told, because the British prejudice against the Irish persisted for generations. But as we found when we toured the country in 2024, Ireland has much to offer the visiting birder, and in many ways birding in Ireland is both easier and more pleasant than the experience elsewhere in Britain or Europe. Most of the country is still rural, and the human population has only recently surpassed what it was in the early 1840s before the Famine. Many excellent bird-rich areas are easily accessed and the birds can often be approached quite closely, a great advantage for photographers. This program will feature photos of some of the 113 species of birds we tallied in our three-week trip, from the ubiquitous to the rarely-seen, highlighting the diversity and beauty of the birds that can be seen around the country.
Tim Bray started birdwatching as a teenager, but only got serious about it after moving to the Mendocino coast. Inspired and challenged by the expertise of people like Art Morley, Toby Tobkin, and David Jensen, he has been working on his game for 25 years and hopes eventually to correctly identify at least half the Gulls he sees. He joined the Board of Directors of MCAS in 2012 and has been its President since 2019. He also co-hosts two radio programs on KZYX: Oak & Thorn, featuring the traditional and contemporary music of Ireland and Scotland; and The Ecology Hour, featuring interviews with scientists exploring how the natural world works.
John Anderson and Anna Halligan on Working Forests and Wild Salmon
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Lawrence Creek, before and after © 2025 John Anderson and Anna Halligan.
Join us for Working Forests and Wild Salmon, a program celebrating 25 years of restoration partnerships that support both healthy watersheds and salmon recovery on productive timberland. Presenters Anna Halligan and John Andersen will share stories from the field, lessons learned from collaborative restoration work, and the connections between salmon recovery and forest stewardship. The Tuesday evening talk will be followed by a Saturday guided field tour highlighting restoration sites and seasonal bird and fish habitat.
Anna Halligan directs Trout Unlimited’s North Coast Coho Project and has over 20 years of restoration experience in coastal California watersheds. The North Coast Coho Project is a unique public-private partnership that leverages professional skills and expertise with public and private funding to implement on-the-ground restoration that promotes healthy forests and rivers and benefit protected salmon populations.
John Andersen is the Director of Forest Policy for Mendocino and Humboldt Redwood Companies and a Registered Professional Forester. Mendocino and Humboldt Redwood Companies own 440,000 acres of redwood and Douglas fir forest managed with a high level of environmental stewardship. John has been sustainably managing redwood and Douglas fir forests for over 30 years from Santa Cruz County to Humboldt County. He currently chairs the California Forest Carbon Coalition and the California Biomass Energy Alliance. He has a BS degree in Forestry and Natural Resources from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Tiana Williams-Claussen of the Yurok Tribe on Condors
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Details to follow
Get to Know Your Local Birds!
Monday, December 8, 2025 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Acorn Woodpecker and Anna's Hummingbird by Kent Leland. Photos © 2023
This evening will be our annual Know Your Local Birds Slideshow and Christmas Bird Count Review with George Gibbs and Bob Keiffer. Bob will be presenting his excellent slideshow introduction to our local wintering birds. George will update us on signup details.
Winter is here, the holidays are with us, and our local birds are helping themselves at our feeders again. Every year I am determined to identify those little critters, each and every one! Sure I make some progress, but what of those tough ones that look so similar, those little brown jobs hopping around under the feeder? Yes, I know most are sparrows and surely those feeding above are finches, but which species is each? I definitely need an expert!
Peregrine Audubon's Christmas Bird Count (CBC) has those experts who can help bring us a step closer to our goal. Join us on Monday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ukiah City Council Chambers when Bob Keiffer will point out distinguishing field marks of our Ukiah area birds. He will discuss and illustrate the sparrows and finches, jays and blackbirds, ducks and waders, as well as the raptors, the hawks and owls, all in living color.
Bring your tough questions for the experts. What birds can I expect in my back yard this winter? How do sparrows and finches differ? Is it really possible to see eagles in the Ukiah Valley? What are the ducks and gulls at Lake Mendocino? Anyone interested in bird calls? Our speaker can help with that too.
Peregrine Audubon also offers help in the field. Beginners and experienced birders can come to the December 8 meeting at 7PM and sign up for the Count, which takes place on Sunday, December 14. We will explain how the Christmas Bird Count works, introduce team leaders, and match you with a group that can best help take you that next step toward better bird biology.
The really avid begin before daybreak and in all kinds of weather. The rest of us can participate for parts of the day or even count at home if we live within the 15-mile diameter count circle (which includes Ukiah). There will be a beginners' count starting at 10AM and meeting at the gate to Mendocino College on Hensley Creek Road..
We meet after the CBC for a potluck dinner in the Alex Rorabaugh Center meeting room at 1640 South State Street. Bring a dish, something to drink, and your eating utensils and join us at 5:00 p.m.
Vishal Subramanyan on California Wildlife: From Coast to Mountains
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 7PM - Zoom Meeting
To receive a link, subscribe to our mailing list on our home page.
Golden Eagle, Bobcat, American Kestrel and Vishal © 2025 Vishal Subramanyan.
Join 22 year old wildlife photographer Vishal Subramanyan on a visual journey of California’s wildlife - from coast to mountains. He'll share stories behind his most challenging shots, reveal techniques for capturing elusive wildlife, and discuss the conservation messages behind his work.
Vishal Subramanyan is an award-winning wildlife photographer, videographer, and National Geographic Young Explorer. As a freelance storyteller, he partners with leading conservation organizations in California and beyond to create stories that inspire deeper connections between people and nature. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2024 with degrees in ecology and statistics.
His work has been featured by National Geographic, CNN, NPR, Smithsonian, and the LA Times, and has won prestigious awards,including Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Through his work, Vishal shares compelling wildlife stories that spark curiosity and drive conservation action.
TBD
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 7PM - Zoom Meeting
To receive a link, subscribe to our mailing list on our home page.
TBD
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Rebecca Rosen on Falconry and Birds of Prey
Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Rebecca Rosen and friend, Spectacled Owl and Barbary Falcon © 2025 Rebecca Rosen.
Tonight we are thrilled to welcome back Rebecca Rosen and her birds!
Falconry is an ancient form of hunting that uses hawks, falcons, eagles, or owls to catch prey. Join Rebecca, a professional falconer, to hear how she uses falcons and other raptors to help vintners protect their crops from flocks of invasive birds. Rebecca will explain the important role that birds of prey play in our ecosystems and introduce us to three of her raptors – a Harris’ Hawk, a Barbary Falcon, and a Spectacled Owl. She will describe how each is unique from other birds of prey, and we will get to see each one up close and personal! School age children are welcome. The program will begin promptly at 7:00, so please arrive on time!
TBD
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 7PM - Ukiah City Council Chambers
Field Trips
Field Trip Guidelines: Everyone is welcome! These guidelines apply to all Peregrine Field Trips. Please take a moment to read them if you are new, or use them to refresh your memory if you have birded with us before. The times listed are the departure times - not the assembly times. Please arrive early! Many of the trips are out of the area and require an hour or more of driving, so promptness is necessary.
Due to insurance requirements, Peregrine Audubon leaders are not allowed to organize carpools. Participants are, however, encouraged to voluntarily share rides. Any carpool arrangements are private arrangements between the driver and the passengers. Drivers must carry adequate insurance coverage. Please be courteous and share gas expenses with the driver
Most trips are all day affairs, but at times various people need to get back sooner. By arriving 15-20 minutes early such necessary travel arrangements can be made. You will probably want to take a pack with lunch, water, hat and appropriate clothing - coats, rain gear, etc. - , binoculars*, camera, and perhaps notepad and field guides.
*Binoculars are important, but loaner pairs may be available for newcomers. If you have some to loan, please bring them along.
Willits Mitigation Lands and Waste Water Treatment Plant
Saturday September 27, 2025
Peregrine Audubon in conjunction with MCRCD, Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, will be doing a bird focused field trip on the Willits Bypass Mitigation Lands along Outlet Creek. We hope to see early raptors migrating into the valley, White Tailed Kites and Early Northern Harriers, and see the tail end of the neotropical migration south along the riparian corridors. The Dogwood, poison oak, blackberry, and rose hips will be ripe and attracting may juvenile birds on their migration from north to south for the Fall and Winter. The tule Elk should have begun bugling so we should hear some of them too.
This trip will have limited space available so you must RSVP at: marisela@mcrcd.org We will meet at 8:30 at the Mendocino County Museum.
Mendocino Redwood Company Navarro Watershed
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Details to follow
Covelo and Round Valley
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Join us for a fall visit to the Round Valley area, one of our favorite destinations. This beautiful valley with its open grasslands and large Valley Oaks is home to a number of winter visitors not commonly seen in the Ukiah area. In past years birds of note here have included Bald Eagles, Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks, Peregrine and Prairie Falcons, Lewis’s Woodpeckers, and Canyon Wrens. Time and weather permitting we will continue east to the Black Butte/Eel River campground for a picnic and more birding. Meet before our 8:00 am departure from the CVS parking lot, or at 8:30 at the parking lot in front of Willits High School. We should reach Covelo and Keith’s Market around 11:00.
Ukiah Christmas Bird Count
Sunday, December 14, 2025
The CBC itself is a good opportunity for birders of all experience levels to help us identify and count birds. For details, please attend our December 8 presentation at the Ukiah City Council Chambers or contact George at ggibbs@pacific.net.
Mendocino South Coast
Saturday, January 24, 2026
We will be making a birding trip to the south coast of Mendocino County, focusing on the Point Arena and Manchester areas. This is an excellent area for raptors including Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks. The Garcia River area is also the winter home for Tundra Swans and other waterfowl. Those interested in car-pooling can meet at the CVS parking lot along Orchard Avenue. It is a long drive, so plan on leaving at 7:30. Dress in layers and pack a lunch. This is pretty much a full-day trip so if you need to leave early please plan to drive your own vehicle.
PLEASE NOTE: The trip leaders, Marisela De Santa Anna (707-841-7172) and Helen Menasian (707-489-9932) will not be carpooling. They will be scoping out the Pt. Arena area on Friday the 24th and staying the night at Wildflower Boutique Motel in Pt. Arena. Marisela and Helen WILL MEET THE GROUP AT THE POINT ARENA PIER AT 9:30 AM ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 25. We have some birders from the coast joining us, so this should be a fun day! Please join us!
For those that want to make it a two-day trip, we recommend the Wildflower Boutique Motel, 160 Main Street, Pt. Arena, CA 95468. Phone: 707-207-6665.
Willits Mitigation Lands and Waste Water Treatment Plant
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Peregrine Audubon in conjunction with MCRCD, Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, will be doing a bird focused field trip on the Willits Bypass Mitigation Lands along Outlet Creek.
Lake Mendocino North Shore
Saturday, March 21, 2026
We will be birding the north end of Lake Mendocino this morning. We will be focusing on the stretch between the boat launch adjacent to the inlet, and along the Pomo A day-use area. There are great views of the lake from this location, so we will be searching through the water birds for wintering ducks and grebes. Loons are a possibility here as well. Other target birds will include wintering song birds and raptors along the lake shore. Bald Eagle is a good possibility. We will be leaving the CVS parking lot at 8:00 and expect to arrive at the parking area above the north boat launch at 8:30.
Hopland Research and Extension Center
Saturday, April 25, 2026
We will be birding this beautiful 5300-acre field station on a trip led by Chuck Vaughn. We will visit a variety of habitats including oak woodlands, chaparral, and riparian areas, and will see and hear the diversity of birds that live there.We hope to see residents like Bell's and Rufous-crowned Sparrows. If our timing is good we might also see Golden Eagles, Grasshopper Sparrows, and a number of neotropical migrants. This trip requires short hikes. We will leave from the Ukiah CVS parking lot at 8:00 am, or you can meet us at the Hopland Center at 8:30. Bring your lunch, water, and binoculars. RSVP is required for this field trip as there is limited space, and reservations will be made for Pereegrine members only on a first-come basis. Please send an email to Chuck Vaughn (cevaughn@pacific.net).
Magruder Ranch
Saturday, May 9, 2026
We will be visiting the Magruder Ranch in Potter Valley with our leader, Helen Magruder Menasian. The Magruder family has owned this property for 100 years. The 2,400 acres of fertile bottom land, rolling oak savannah hills and rugged chaparral rangeland provide an array of habitats for wildlife, and habitat conservation is an important component of the Magruder Ranch management. We will leave from the CVS parking lot in Ukiah at 8 am, or you can meet us at the old Potter Valley bridge site along the Russian River (1/4 mile north of Hwy 20 on Potter Valley Road) at 8:30. Bring your lunch, water, binoculars, and favorite field guides.
Last revised September 9, 2025.