All Chapter meetings till further notice will be conducted virtually on ZOOM , please contact Don for more information –Greatauk4@gmail.com
Endangered and Threatened Butterflies of New Jersey by Sharon Weber on behalf of NJ Butterfly Club
September 13th, 2022 @ 7:30 pm
Of New Jersey’s 110 species of butterflies, 7 are listed, or recommended to be listed, as Endangered, 10 are considered Threatened, and 11 more have declined enough to be categorized as Special Concern. Learn which species these are, what has happened to them, and what is being done to prevent their disappearance from New Jersey.
Sharon Wander, along with her husband, Wade, is a self-employed environmental consultant, providing wetland delineation and permitting services and conducting surveys for Endangered and Threatened species. She has long been an active New Jersey naturalist, interested in birds, herptiles, plants, and butterflies (as well as moths and other insects). Sharon is a past president of the New Jersey Butterfly Club, and served on the 2014 NJDEP committee that evaluated the conservation status of the state’s butterfly species. The Wanders’ Fredon Township butterfly garden has attracted a state-record 84 species.
Al Batt, humorist, naturalist
October 11, 2022 @ 7:30PM
Al Batt of Hartland is a writer, speaker, storyteller and humorist. Al writes humor and nature columns for newspapers and does regular radio shows about nature. He is author of the book, “A Life Gone to the Birds” and a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest and Watching Backyard Birds. He is a trustee of the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines, Alaska, and speaks at various festivals, conferences and conventions all over the world. He has received the Ed Franey Conservation Media Award from the Izaak Walton League and the Thomas Sadler Roberts Award from the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union for lifetime contributions to birding. Al speaks to anyone who will listen. His mother thinks he’s a big deal.
Hummingbirds Jewels of the Air
November 8, 2022 @ 7:30 pm
Sandy Lockerman, a licensed bird bander, will discuss the intriguing world of hummingbirds. She will help you to take a look as some of their unique adaptations and migration mysteries. In addition to her ongoing ruby-throat project, she will update you on the documentation efforts being made of western hummingbirds in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Sandy has been a bird bander for 25 years and spent 15 of those years travelling annually to the large Fort Morgan, Alabama bird banding station where banding hundreds of Gulf of Mexico migrating songbirds and hummingbirds was an everyday occurrence. She began researching songbird migration in Pennsylvania at Wildwood Park in Harrisburg where she spent many years as, first a volunteer, then as a full-time environmental educator. She also is involved with Project Owlnet where she bands and studies northern saw-whet owl during their autumn migration.
It’s a Bug, Bug, Bug, Bug World! by Wade Wander
December 6th, 2022 @ 7:30 pm
An exploration of the amazing diversity of insect life. Many people are taught to fear and loathe anything with 6 legs, but the functioning of ecosystems around the world depends on the services of these fascinating creatures. With the “Insect Apocalypse” already upon us, it is time to give some appreciation to the “little things that run the world.”
Wade Wander, along with his wife, Sharon, is a partner in Wander Ecological Consultants, investigating wetlands and conducting surveys for Endangered and Threatened species. He has been an active New Jersey naturalist since childhood, interested in birds, reptiles and amphibians, plants, and butterflies (and of course, moths and other insects). He is a past president of the New Jersey Butterfly Club, for which he is a frequent speaker and field-trip leader. At the moth station he runs at their home in Sussex County, Wade has recorded more than 1100 species of moths since 2001.
All programs and events are free and open to the public. We are supported by memberships and donations.
If you have suggestions or would like to help with future programs, please contact Marilyn Sadowski msadowskibcas@gmail.com
