Friends of Smith Mountain Lake State Park
Friday, March 29, 2024

Clyde Kessler-May 7

 
Mr. Kessler is a native of Franklin County and has lived in Radford for the past 30 years. He works at the library at Virginia Tech, and has been doing field research on birds, butterflies, and dragonflies for more than forty years, including volunteer and funded projects. He is a regional editor for Virginia Birds, a publication of the Virginia Society of Ornithology. He is also a founding member of Blue Ridge Discovery Center, an environmental education organization, with projects in southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina.
 
In his talk, Mr. Kessler will focus on beginning to observe birds, and bird behaviors. He will key in on ways to distinguish similar species such as Carolina and Black-capped Chickadees, and House and Purple Finches. He’ll also discuss the importance of identifying birds by their songs, and call notes. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions about birds.