12/10/26: “Birding in Northern Costa Rica”
Monthly Meetings and Programs
Meeting location has changed to Baldridge Hall, Montrose United Methodist Church, 647 South 1st Street. All are welcome and there is no charge, though donations are gratefully appreciated. For additional information or to let us know that you would like to do a presentation, please contact Caroline Evans via the BCAS email.
To join via Zoom USE THIS LINK
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8192
Meeting ID: 819 2091 0200
Passcode: 503883
Join instructions: https://us06web.zoom.us/meetin
Barb Bernhardt and Verlee Sanburg: Birding in Northern Costa Rica: From Tanagers to Toucans (and a LOT in-between!)
Thursday, December 10, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Baldridge Hall, Montrose United Methodist Church, 647 South 1st Street, Montrose
Two birding pals, Barb and Verlee, joined up for a birding trip to Northern Costa Rica on a Road Scholar “Micro-Group” program in early December of 2024.
About our speakers: Barb Bernhardt has been birding her whole life, having been raised in a family of avid birders. Her mother Harriet attended Cornell University and studied ornithology with Arthur A. Allen, who was instrumental in the founding of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Barb credits her mother for fostering her lifelong interest in birds. Barb has a special interest in the Common Loon. She has picked up where her parents left off in contributing time to “Project Loon Watch” in Northern Wisconsin, as well as the “Loon Project,” counting and documenting Common Loon presence and breeding activity on Trout Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin.
Verlee Sanburg has had a lifelong love of birds, and became a serious birder and bird photographer after retiring from nursing in 2020. She is now remarkably devoted to this hobby, spending countless hours in the field documenting her observations. Verlee has become well-known in the BCAS community as someone who produces exceptional photographs of birds and other wildlife, many of which show them doing things quite unexpected, and often quite entertaining. Verlee shares her love of birds with her mother Shirley. Verlee is a regular photographic contributor to the BCAS newsletter Canyon Wrenderings, as well as being a regular contributor to “ebird,” which is the global online database and citizen science project managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. More than 70 of her photographs and three of her audio recordings have been utilized by Merlin and the Macaulay Library for training purposes.
Barb and Verlee write, “We hope you will join us as we take you on a photo-packed presentation of our memorable birding trip to Northern Costa Rica! After all, it’s all about birds!”
The Collared Aracari, member of the Toucan family, flips a bite of papaya into the air so it can be swallowed easily. Photo by Verlee Sandburg
Black-collared Hawks are tropical birds whose preferred food is fish like our summer resident, the osprey. Unlike the osprey, Black-collared Hawks have a more varied diet including insects, small reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. Photo by Barbara Bernhardt.
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Deb Liggett: Pilgrim, Paddler, Poet
Date: Thursday, January 14, 2027
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Baldridge Hall, Montrose United Methodist Church, 647 South 1st Street, Montrose
Deb’s program will be part national park history, part inspiration, and a small irreverent peek behind the curtain. She is known for both her humor and her passion.
About our speaker: Deb Liggett is retired from the National Park Service. She worked her way up the food chain from Great Sand Dunes as a seasonal employee, to Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks as the superintendent, including half-a-dozen parks as steppingstones in between.
Deb’s essays and poems have previously appeared in Alaska Magazine, Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry, Pilgrimage, Cirque, Windfall: A Journal of Poetry and Place, and elsewhere. Her work has been anthologized in The Wonder of It All: 100 Stories from the National Park Service, and in Being Home. Her essay “The Middle of Nowhere” won the Toyon Literary Magazine’s Environmental Justice Award in 2019. Her book about her life in parks, Pilgrim, Paddler, Poet: The Ranger Chronicles was published in 2021. Copies of her book will be available.
Check her out at https://therangerchronicles.net
Deb and Jay Liggett enjoying a cup of coffee, along a path ” less travelled,”
Via de La Plata, Spain. Photo by Deb Liggett
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Sheridan Steele: From Bear Dens to the Oval Office
Thursday, February 11, 2027
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Baldridge Hall, Montrose United Methodist Church, 647 South 1st Street, Montrose
Sheridan Steele, retired Black Canyon National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area Superintendent, will recount stories from his 38 years managing national parks. Sheridan will focus on amusing stories from his years of experience and include a strong land conservation message. Among Sheridan’s many contributions in the service of America’s park lands, has been his work in acquiring and protecting lands adjacent to existing national parks.
About our speaker: Sheridan graduated from Ohio State University with a MS in Natural Resources Management. His last assignment was superintendent of Acadia National Park where he and wife, Barb, spent 12 years enjoying the park, the job and beautiful Maine. Barb, a retired nurse, and Sheridan now spend their summers in Maine and the rest of the year in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. They have two children and two grandchildren, all who live in Colorado. Barb and Sheridan enjoy travel, camping, hiking, photography and their miniature dachshund, Charlie.
Families enjoy tide-pooling and studying specimens with a ranger.
Photo by Sheridan Steele
Red Maple and Paper Birch shimmer at Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park.
Photo by Sheridan Steele