Note:  December’s meeting is on the 12^th at 6:30! Also, there will be a January meeting on Monday, Jan. 16^th at 6:30.  Jay Bogiatto (faculty, Dept. of Biology, CSUC) will speak on migratory waterfowl in the Valley.

This year, there will be a General Meeting on the second Monday of the month (instead of the third) so we can better prepare for the upcoming Chico Christmas Bird Count (CBC).  The usual meeting day would have been one day after the CBC.  Phil Johnson, our newly elected President, will talk to us about the Chico CBC and also the Oroville Christmas Bird Count.  He will provide an overview and analysis of the data collected from the last several years as well as a bird-identification show to get people ready to participate in the count. He will also discuss habitat loss within the CBC areas during the five decades since the count began.  All of you folks who have been in the area for a while are encouraged to share comments on the loss of habitat that you have noticed over the years.  Also, John (J.T.) Lewis will present a slide show of some of his photos of birds.

The November General Meeting opened with attendees relating bird sightings (or lack thereof).  Among those discussed were great numbers of Sandhill Cranes seen in the Central Flyway and whether or not there were more or fewer White-faced Ibises and Long-billed Curlews in the Valley than in previous years (no determination).  Mike Skram and Mike Fisher spoke of a Harlequin Duck they saw the day before at the Stockton Sewage Ponds while attending the 9^th Annual Central Valley Birding Club Symposium.  Steve Emmons then presented a slide show of birds that included some striking close-ups of hummingbirds (including Rufous, Calliope and Black-chinned) that he and John (J.T.) Lewis had seen in British Columbia.  Phil Johnson closed out the evening with an interesting slide show of non-bird wildlife he had photographed.