Events

Together with the Newton Marasco Foundation, the 15th annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital is pleased to present A Sense of Wonder. Acclaimed actress Kaiulani Lee has written and will perform this one-woman play based on the life and works of environmentalist Rachel Carson. A Sense of Wonder is the story of one woman's love for the natural world and her fight to defend it. Rachel Carson was thrust into controversy with the 1962 publication of "Silent Spring," which alerted the world to the dangers of chemical pesticides and launched the modern environmental movement. During her lifetime, Miss Carson worked as a marine biologist and zoologist, testified before Congress calling for policies to protect human health and the environment and published a number of books about the beauty of the natural world. She posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award.

Imagine finding a pterodactyl alive and nesting on an obscure island. This is the true story of David Wingate, who, as a 15-year-old boy, helped find the Cahow bird, believed to be extinct for over 300 years, and solve the mystery of its existence. Like the myth of the Phoenix, the Cahow bird is resurrected on the island paradise of Bermuda, a ghost bird returning to teach humanity an important lesson in perseverance. Threatened by man-made development, invasive species and the pesticide DDT, the Cahow has been on the brink of extinction for over four centuries. This against-all-odds story about the ghost bird's struggle for survival takes a dramatic turn when the bird faces the threat of global warming. What can be done to save Nick Berezenko Viewpoint Productions the species once again from oblivion? Rare Bird is a tale of hope, inspiration and commitment to the future of all species.

In April 2005, a report that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, supposedly extinct, had been rediscovered in the Arkansas swamps made front-page news across the country and around the world. The rarest of rare birds, the Ivory-bill is so spectacular that according to legend those who see it spontaneously cry out, "Lord God! What was that?" While for the majority of Americans this sighting came as a wholly unexpected piece of good news from the conservation front, to the inner circle of birders this was the latest installment in a very old, legendary tale of hope and survival. Once common throughout the southeast United States, the bird had vanished over the past century as its forest habitat was devastated, appearing periodically to reawaken hope for threatened species and environments everywhere. This film in progress will tell the story of the Ivory-bill not merely as a quaint piece of natural history, but as a story of faith and doubt, despair and hope regarding our relationship with the environment. Covering the tension between skeptics who regard the bird as fantasy and those with determined faith in its existence, the documentary will also explore the grass-roots conservation of the Arkansas outdoorsmen who most recently sighted the bird.

To RSVP, contact trip leader Paul DeAnna (202) 544-2680 or use the field trip contact form.

DC Audubon will tour this noted birding hot spot, part of the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, located in Montgomery County Maryland. This is a mosaic of diverse wetland habitats interspersed with mature deciduous forest, hedgerows, and open fields in various stages of transition. The area is bordered on the north by deep marsh and open water in three impoundments covering about 60 acres, and on the south by the Potomac River and adjacent C&O Canal. Migrating waterfowl should be present. Red-headed woodpeckers are among the resident birds. We have timed the trip in hopes of witnessing the return of the tree swallows. Meet at the location at 7:30.

Best known for "The Birds of North America," a book of every bird then known in the United States, painted life size, John James Audubon has been referred to as "the nearest thing American art has to a founding father." A one-man compendium of American culture of his time–a scientist, woodsman, hunter, merchant, artist and businessman–Audubon came to exemplify his era and his nation. He saw more of the North American continent than virtually anyone alive. Audubon's life seems invented rather than lived: from bankruptcy to dinner at the White House, from the rugged wilds of America to elite art exhibitions in London, his was a life of contradiction. This documentary profiles a man who was larger than life, providing beautiful detail of Audubon's artwork as well as a portrait of the states of art, science and environmental awareness in the first decades of the 19th century. The environmental legacy of our forefathers and Audubon's impact on the conservation movement of today are also examined.