POMONA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE
Formerly Pomona Valley Audubon Society

Meetings are free of charge and ALL are welcome!

Monthly meetings are held from 7:00-9:00 PM on the first Thursday of each month September-June in the Padua Room of Alexander Hughes Community Center, 1700 Danbury Dr., Claremont, adjacent to Lewis Park.

Our meetings begin promptly at 7 PM with a short bird identification (or teaching) session to help you become a better birder, followed by light refreshments and a short business meeting. Guest speakers present an evening program related to birds and/or conservation. Guests are welcome. Meeting is over by 9:00 PM.

Directions: On Towne Ave. head north from Foothill Blvd or south from the 210 freeway. Turn east on Scripps Drive (signal) and then turn south on Danbury Dr. (no signal). Hughes Center is a large ex-school building on the east side of the Danbury. The Padua room is on the south side of the building. There is easy parking and access on both the west and south sides of the building.

Mask use is based on your comfort level and current guidelines.

Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month, from September to June. 

                           Fall 2025  Meetings and Events

Community Meeting Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 7 p.m.  Nina Karnovsky and Students – Sagehen studies of oyster catchers, pelicans, puffins, and terns!

 

Come learn about the summer research adventures of Pomona College students (Sagehens) in Prof. Nina Karnovsky’s lab! Anji will share her studies of American Oystercatchers and Black Skimmers in North Carolina. Max will describe how he and the Common Terns weathered a storm in the Gulf of Maine. Thomas will present his kayak surveys of tagged pelicans here in Southern California. Mark will take you to Seal Island, Maine, where he studied Atlantic Puffins, Black Guillemots, Razorbills, and Leach’s Storm-Petrels—and will share photos of the unexpected birds he discovered there.

Nina Karnovsky is the Willard George Halstead Zoology Professor at Pomona College where she teaches (as she puts it) “many different flavors of ecology” but really enjoys her Avian Ecology class. 

Community Meeting Thursday, October 2, 2025, at 7 p.m.

Brian Elliott – Birding Down Under: The Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia

Last December, PVBA member Brian Elliott joined a 15-day small-ship birding and natural history cruise to the remote Subantarctic Islands south of New Zealand. These UNESCO World Heritage islands host the world’s most diverse seabird populations, including ten species of albatross and seven species of penguins. Land excursions bring visitors close to penguins, giant elephant seals, and unique megaherbs, while Zodiac cruises offer spectacular pelagic birding. Join Brian as he shares stunning photos and stories from these wild, little-visited islands.

Brian worked as a geologist before a long career teaching high school physics and environmental science. Retirement has allowed him to travel the globe on many birding trips. He is an accomplished rock climber and wilderness adventurer and has enjoyed these activities in more than 25 countries and on all 7 continents.  In addition to leading birding outings for PVBA, he is also an outings leader for the San Gorgonio Chapter of the Sierra Club. 

Community Meeting Thursday, November 7, 2024, at 7 p.m.

Alicia Wszelaki & Matthew Nothelfer – Join Us for Special Screening of HAWKWATCH

Join the directors, producers, and editors of Path 88 Productions for a special screening of HAWKWATCH, a documentary highlighting the spring migration of Swainson’s Hawks through the Borrego Valley. Alicia & Matt will introduce the film and lead a Q&A session afterward. The Borrego Valley hosts one of the largest spring gatherings of migrating Swainson’s Hawks in North America. Come learn about this remarkable migration and the people working to protect it!

Visit the website to watch the trailer at  www.BorregoSpringsHawkwatch.com.  The runtime is about 45 minutes. 

HAWKWATCH is the latest documentary by the award-winning team of Alicia Wszelaki and Matthew Nothelfer. Their Path 88 Productions studio has been writing, producing, directing, and editing domestic and international projects for the last three decades. Their documentaries combine social issues with education, while inspiring others to make change.  For more information, visit www.path88productions.com

DECEMBER COMMUNITY MEETING WILL BE ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 Meeting details coming soon

                                      FALL EVENTS

fall is a busy time for our chapter with lots of community outreach events, three in October and one in November. And our calendar is “falling” into place.  If you’d like to participate in any of the following outreach events, email tinastoner@earthlink.net.

The 2025 dates:

Halloween Nature Crawl at the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center – Sat. October 11

Things That Go Bump in the Night – Fri and Sat. October 17 and 18

Village Venture in the Claremont Village – Sat. Oct. 25

Fall in the Farm – Sat. November 22