The Paskamansett Bird Club’s October meeting will be on Wednesday October 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Hall of Friends Meeting, 739 Horseneck Road, in South Dartmouth. John Van de Graaff will present images from the many European birding trips he has taken over the past fifteen years.
John and his wife Marylee took their first European birding trip in 2001— to Spain—barely three months after he started photographing birds. They have been birding in Europe nearly every year since. In France they were on their own, concentrating on the Camargue region in the south. Elsewhere they joined English-based nature-tour companies, traveling to a variety of locations in Britain itself. Eastern European trips include Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Albania. Their most northerly ventures were to Swedish Lapland and Norway; other forays took them to Belgium, Portugal, and the Italian Alps. A trip to Sicily is on the calendar for this September. As for species in the show, flamingos, Eurasian cranes and white storks appear frequently, but there are many passerines and raptors as well. John says, “If you haven’t yet birded in the Old World, I hope this show will tempt you.”
John Van de Graaff has been photographing birds since 2001. He travels frequently, in the Americas as well as in Europe. He has given dozens of digital presentations, mainly to birding and photography groups, including most of the major bird clubs in Massachusetts. Gallery venues include the Burnett Gallery in Amherst (2007 and 2012), the Fish and Wildlife Service in Hadley, and Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary. Mass Audubon and other organizations have used many of his images. At home in Northampton he presents annually at the Hampshire Bird Club and is an active member of the Pioneer Valley Photographic Artists. His website is www.birdsbyjohn.com.
The meeting is free, open to the public, and accessible.
•••
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=Y6V5ARRYH689G
Click here to download the entire 10/4/18 issue: 10-04-18 Encampment
