Been seeing lots of unusual finches this winter? Mid-Coast Audubon and Camden Public Library will host a free online Zoom presentation about our northern finch winter visitors on Thursday, March 18 at 6 p.m. To register for the event, please email Julia Pierce (jpierce@librarycamden.org) to request the Zoom login information.

Irruptions of these fascinating birds from the north inspired Matthew Young to launch the Finch Research Network (FiRN) in fall 2020. Matthew will discuss what an irruption is, and highlight Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks, Evening Grosbeaks, and the distribution and ecology of different Red Crossbill flight calls. Matt will also introduce FiRN and its citizen science opportunities.

Young has been observing and enjoying nature since a very young age, and received an M.S. in ornithology in 2003. He worked at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology where he was project lead on the first Finch Irruptive Bird Survey for Bird Source. He was the Collections Management Leader/Audio Engineer at the Macaulay Library for 12 years where he edited sounds for several Merlin packs around the world in addition to being the lead audio engineer on such guides as the Songs of the Warblers of North America, Audubon Society Voices of Hawaii’s Birds, and the Cornell Lab’s Guides to Bird Sounds.

Mid-Coast Audubon’s mission is to promote long-term, responsible use of natural resources through informed membership, education and community awareness. For listings of other free programs and field trips hosted by Mid-Coast Audubon, visit their website at https://midcoast.maineaudubon.org/events/