A Great Gray Owl flies low over a mountain meadow in the Canadian Rockies where it is hunting pocket gophers and voles.
An OHA Highland Wonders event
TONASKET – On Friday, Jan. 6, award-winning photographer Paul Bannick returns to Highland Wonders with a presentation based on his new book, Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls.
In Owl, Bannick uses his intimate yet dramatic images to follow North American owls through the course of one year and in their distinct habitats. The audience will follow along at the nest as each stage in an owl’s life is chronicled: courtship, mating, and nesting in spring; fledging and feeding of young in summer; dispersal and gaining independence in fall; and, finally, winter’s migrations and competitions for food. For owls, every day brings a new challenge to survive, and this book shows readers how owls use the unique resources available to them in their habitat to face those challenges.
A female Northern Hawk Owl flies from the nest after delivery prey to her two-week-old nestlings. At this time they are insatiable and continue to beg immediately after being fed.
All 19 species found in Canada and the United States are featured in photos and narrative throughout the book, with a special focus on the Northern Pygmy-Owl, Great Gray Owl, Burrowing Owl and Snowy Owl. Paul’s startling images reflect their shared behaviors as well as some surprising exceptions and adaptations. More than just a backdrop, the four featured owl habitats—forest, grassland and steppe, boreal, and Arctic—reveal wildly rich stories of their own.
Owl is a stunning follow-up to Bannick’s bestselling title, The Owl and the Woodpecker, giving bird lovers yet another gorgeous photographic tribute, engaging natural history, and a compelling call to preserve the habitats that sustain these most iconic of birds. Owl was recently selected as one of 15 finalists in the 2017 Pacific Northwest Book Awards Shortlist, by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. More than 350 titles published in 2016 were considered and six winners will be chosen and announced in January 2017 (www.pnba.org/2017-shortlist.html).
Bannick is a widely published wildlife photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat. He has received the Canon Prize of the International Conservation Photography Awards, as well as first place in the “Birds and Their Habitat” category in Audubon magazine’s annual contest. He lives in Seattle; read more at www.paulbannick.com.
The event takes place on Friday, Jan. 6 at the Community Cultural Center, 411 S. Western Ave., in Tonasket. Dinner benefiting the Community Cultural Center is at 5:15 p.m., followed by tea, coffee, desserts and a book signing at 6 p.m. The presentation is at 6:30 p.m. The presentation is free; donations are always welcome. Dinner is $8 for CCC members and $9 for non-members; desserts by donation (benefit for the CCC).
This educational event is provided by Okanogan Highlands Association and hosted at the CCC. OHA is a non-profit organization that works to educate the public on watershed issues. The Highland Wonders educational series features the natural history of the Okanogan Highlands and surrounding areas. OHA’s Education Program is designed to build the community’s capacity for environmental stewardship by increasing understanding of local natural history through a variety of free public learning opportunities.
More info about this and other upcoming events: www.okanoganhighlands.org/education/hw
Questions? julie@okanoganhighlands.org or 509-476-2432.
