Annual Meeting 2008

All members and friends of the Mount Washington Observatory are invited to gather in scenic Jackson, New Hampshire for the 2008 Annual Meeting at the historic Eagle Mountain House. Held in the shadow of Mount Washington, the 2008 Annual Meeting features an informative presentation by Conservation Biologist Kent McFarland of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Please join us for the meeting, a scrumptious dinner and a grand celebration of this special institution.

Schedule

Dinner consists of a split plate comprised of Grilled Breast of Chicken topped with a tomato basil salsa and a hand cut salmon fillet prepared with a secret bourbon marinade, served with rice and fresh seasonal veggies. Vegetarian option is Grilled vegetable ravioli in a creamy spinach sauce garnished with roasted plum tomatoes.

"Mount Washington Birds and Butterflies Can Change the World"

Since Europeans first arrived in New England we have lost Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Passenger Pigeon, Heath Hen, and most recently the Regal Fritillary. These four birds and a butterfly are extinct. Gone from the face of the earth forever. This is part of what Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson has named the sixth great extinction (the fifth wiped out the dinosaurs). The current extinction rate is anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than at any time over the past 60 million years. A bird, Bicknell's Thrush, and two butterflies, White Mountain Arctic and White Mountain Fritillary, that call Mount Washington home may become victims in the 6th great extinction wave unless we dramatically change our ways. These species are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine we call earth. Understanding the ecology of these species, the threats they face and mitigating these threats to enable their survival on Mt. Washington will take nothing less than changing how humanity lives on the earth. With our hard work and help, Mt. Washington birds and butterflies can help change our relationship with the world.

About Kent McFarland

Kent McFarland received his Masters degree in Biology from Antioch University New England in Keene, NH where he studied the effects of roads on the bird community in a Belize rainforest with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. He completed his undergraduate degree in environmental studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. He was a Peace Corps volunteer working with rural farmers in Caazapa, Paraguay from 1989-1992 where he learned Spanish and met his wife Clare, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. It was the bright birds of Paraguay that attracted Kent to ornithology. After a few months in the country he bought a cheap pair of binoculars and an Argentinian bird guide and became addicted to birds. He has been a member of the Woodstock Fire Department since 2001.