Lucas became interested in birding while on a backpacking trip at Point Reyes. One night a great horned owl perched outside his tent and called into the early morning hours, and was there to greet him when he opened the tent at daybreak. Since that moment he has taken a keen interest in observing birds. He has been inspired by his Uncle Tom Stephenson, who wrote the Warbler Guide; Lisa Hug a well known Bay Area birder who leads the Young Birders group called YAMS (Young Ancient Murrelets), and his Dad, a life-long birder who grew up watching birds with Arthur Allen and other avid birders from Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology.

Lucas is fascinated by bird behavior and how birds fit into their larger ecological community. Beyond observing birds, Lucas has become interested in bird art, photography as well. He has given a number of bird presentations in his school using photos he and his Dad have taken; and is scheduled to present at Napa-Solano Audubon sharing his experiences of birding in Kauai.

Lucas loves exploring new places and has birded extensively throughout Northern California. He has had many bird discoveries/firsts during the past 2 years, including the latest Fall record in the Bay Area of a Blackburnian Warbler (Sonoma – December 6, 2016), the 3rd sighting of a Black-tailed Gull in Northern California, (Monterey – January 12, 2017), and recently the 1st record of a Black-throated Green Warbler for Marin County in over 6 years, (Point Reyes – December 13, 2017). During the past 2 years, Lucas has observed over 400 species in Northern California. (Quite an accomplishment for an 11-year-old birder.)

Lucas utilizes Cornell’s eBird database to record all of his bird sightings. He also frequently reports to the North Bay Birds section of Birding List Digest to assist other Bay Area birders in locating uncommon and rare species. He regularly participates in local Napa-Solano Audubon and Redwood Regional Ornithological Society Field Trips where he is well known for his keen eyesight, near photographic memory of bird field marks, and knowledge of bird songs and call notes.

Show Notes:

Mentioned in this episode:

The Warbler Guide

Condor Spotter

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

BirdCallsRadio ON THE GO! Subscribe & listen to our podcast for Mac users at Apple Podcasts, PC users at Stitcher, Google Play. Including Spotify and iHeartRadio on any device automatically so you won’t miss an episode; and please leave us a rating and review if you would be so kind! We appreciate it!

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter and be part of something greater. and stay up to date on all our episodes and exclusive offers by clicking here on BirdCallsRadio and fly down to the bottom and sign up with your email. All emails are confidential.

To Support BirdCallsRadio & Podcast DONATE NOW

The post BCR 104: Lucas Stephenson, Young Birder appeared first on BirdCallsRadio™ | Exploring birdlife around the world™.