March Speaker – AVIAN MONITORING ON JBLM

MARCH 9^TH 7 PM VIA ZOOM

AVIAN MONITORING ON JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD 

Tim Leque and Stephanie Augustine

Tim Leque, JBLM Fish and Wildlife, and Stephanie Augustine, Ecostudies Institute, are working on our neighboring military base and plan to give an overview of the avian monitoring that occurs on JBLM including Western Bluebird and Purple Martin nest box programs, as well as conservation efforts to protect the federally threatened Streaked Horned Lark and the state endangered Oregon Vesper Sparrow. Tim will talk about JBLM’s habitat management and ongoing research projects; Stephanie will discuss Ecostudies Institute’s ongoing research projects.

Tim was hired to work with JBLM Fish and Wildlife in 2020 as a Streaked Horned Lark specialist. Aside from larks, he is involved in monitoring Oregon Vesper Sparrows, Purple Martins, Western Bluebirds, Mazama pocket gophers, and amphibians on JBLM. He also assists with habitat management activities, prescribed burning and GIS. He graduated from the Evergreen State College’s Master of Environmental Studies program in 2021, and researched subspecific song discrimination among Washington’s Vesper Sparrows for his thesis. Outside of work, Tim spends his free time birding, hiking, cooking, and playing and listening to music.

Stephanie works on avian research projects in the South Puget Sound and beyond, where her focal species include the Streaked Horned Lark, Oregon Vesper Sparrow, and Western Bluebird. She completed her M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources with a certificate in GIS and Spatial Analysis from West Virginia University in 2022, studying the demography and migration ecology of Canada Warblers in central Appalachia.

She migrated to Washington with her three cats and crested gecko in May 2022 and joined Ecostudies.  When not chasing birds and butterflies, Stephanie can most often be found falling off rock climbing walls, teaching knitting classes, and haunting used book shops.

This free program requires registration at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtd-qoqzwvGdHILrRCpCG7136kqL1J2fnQ

Photo credit: Streaked Horned Lark chicks, by Tim Leque.