Monthly Presentations
2026-2027
HOPE CHURCH
77 West 11th Street, Holland
7:00 PM -- Commons Hall
Social Time: 6:30 PM
All programs are free
Click here for a program brochure and membership application
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Sep 8 |
No Birdbrains Here: The Latest on Bird Learning,
Instinct and Intelligence Susan Schneider, PhD, Western Michigan University A fascinating thing has been revealed: birds can learn from consequences, as we and many other species can. Baby chicks learn to peck accurately, wild mockingbirds learn to recognize individual people, and pigeons have learned to categorize art and music. Even instinctive behaviors like imprinting can be more flexible than scientists used to think, and songbird song appears particularly malleable. Join Holland Audubon Club at our season opener as we explore bird learning and intelligence, from everyday foraging, to learning through observing, to tool use. Susan will share her keen knowledge on how such adaptability may be critical as wild birds attempt to adjust to the many threats they face today and how scientists also take advantage of this powerful learning ability to help save endangered species. A poignant, timely program you’ll find intriguing and not to be missed. A behavioral and biopsychologist, Dr. Schneider is an expert on learning principles, with many academic publications. She’s also an avid birder and field trip leader. A Kalamazoo Audubon Board member, Schneider has served on the boards of four Audubon chapters and been president of two. Her award-winning book, The Science of Consequences, covers basic learning principles, their role in nature-nurture relations, and their broad range of applications. It was a selection of the Scientific American Book Club. A member of the psychology faculty at Western Michigan University, Schneider is currently focused on applying learning principles to the climate crisis. |
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Oct 13 |
The Splendor Next
Door: Finding Birds Close to Home Steve Jessmore, Photojournalist The endangered Piping Plover journey has seen many ups and downs and one photojournalist has spent a good deal of time documenting this hopeful adventure. Join us as Steve Jessmore shares his encounters with these elusive little creatures, along with the many visually stunning images he has captured throughout his amazing 35 year career as a photojournalist published in National Audubon magazine, Smithsonian, Ducks Unlimited, among others. His insight on bird behavior and their habitats are revealed in the stories and award-winning pictures he will share with us. His stunning images of our beautiful wetlands and freshwater habitats will be a real treat not to be missed. Steve Jessmore is an award-winning Alto, Michigan bird and conservation photographer and creator of Birds Doing Stuff®. A five-time Michigan Photographer of the Year and recipient of three National Audubon Photography Awards, his work documents birds, freshwater ecosystems, and vanishing habitat throughout the Great Lakes region. His first book "The Splendor Next Door", An Invitation to Discover Birds and Nature Close to Home, was created over five years and more than 250 mornings at Reeds Lake, and encourages us to slow down, notice the small changes and find a nearby place worth knowing—and protecting. |
| Nov 10 | In Search of
Michigan Birds: Recent Highlights behind the Lens John Fleming, Photographer, instructor |
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Dec 8 |
Insights into Owl
Research: Michigan’s Upper Penninsula and Beyond Nova & Chris Neri, Owl Researchers & Photographers |
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Jan 12 |
Ken Cook’s ‘Best of’ Photos Ken Cook, Wildlife Photographer and World Traveler |
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Feb 9 |
Birding in Borneo Steve Hamberg, HAC President and World Traveler |
| Mar 9 |
The Comeback Continues: Great
Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Sarah Saunders, Conservation Biologist, National Audubon Society |
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Apr 13 |
Chimney Swift Conservation in
Michigan Chad Machinski, Michigan Audubon |
| May 11 | Tales from
the 50-50-50 Birding Road Curtis Dykstra, Ottawa County Parks Naturalist |