Our Audubon Annual Dinner speaker will be West Virginia-based author and conservation- ist Katie Fallon, co-founder of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, a nonprofit research, education and rehabilitation center for injured birds. Katie is a member of the In- ternational Association of Avian Trainers and Educators and has glove-trained a wide varie- ty of raptor species.

Katie will speak about one of her favorite birds, a species she profiled in her book Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird, which will be available for sale and signing after the program. Turkey Vultures are the most widely distributed and abundant scavenging birds of prey on the planet—found from central Canada to the southern tip of Argentina and almost everywhere in between. They are large, familiar birds that, despite being ubiquitous and recognizable, are historically shunned, feared, reviled and thoroughly misunderstood. Katie follows a year in the life of a typical North American Turkey Vulture and examines all aspects of the bird’s natural history: breeding, incubating, raising chicks, migrating, and roosting with the goal of using scientific facts to counter the too often negative myths that surround this magnificent bird.

Tickets are $35 per person for dinner and the program. Buy your tickets at the August 1 and September 5 meetings or by mail.

The dinner menu includes:

Meat or Zucchini Lasagna OR Ratatouille Italian Green Beans
Caesar Salad
Texas Toast Garlic Bread

Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
Bowl of Mixed fruit (pineapple, strawberries, and grapes) Fresh Brewed Iced Tea and Water

Cash Bar from 5:00 to 7:30 PM includes:

Conservesa (Freetail Beer supporting Zoo Conservation initiatives), light beer, red and white wine, margaritas