Learn more about peninsula’s flora and fauna at ‘Nature Talks’

Rediscover the spectacular flora and fauna of the Olympic Peninsula this October with the North Olympic Library System.

Nature Talks at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., examines many of the species indigenous to the Olympic Peninsula, including water birds found in local bays and shores, salmon after the removal of the Elwha River dams, as well as the diversity of bees that inhabit Olympic National Park.

All Nature Talks are free to attend and will be at 6:30 p.m. Mondays, Oct. 12, 19 and 26 in the Raymond Carver Room of the Port Angeles Library.

On Oct. 12, Bob Boekelheide presents “Water Birds of Strait and Sound.” This discussion will focus on the waterfowl, loon, grebe, alcid and gull populations found along the bays and coasts of the North Olympic Peninsula in fall and winter, and examine their diets, predators and prey.

Boekelheide’s lifelong interest has been the ecology of marine vertebrates, particularly birds and mammals. Former director of the Dungeness River Audubon Center, he is active on the board of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society. He has participated in marine research projects in the Arctic, Antarctic and Pacific oceans, as well as in California, spending seven years as biologist on the Farallon Islands. He has organized and compiled the annual Sequim-Dungeness Christmas Bird Count and the Clallam County Migratory Bird Count for the past 20 years.

Nature Talks resumes on Oct. 19 with a discussion of the various ecological responses to the removal of the Elwha River dams. The series concludes Monday, Oct. 26, with “A Bit About Bees,” presented by entomologist Jerry Freilich.

Learn more about the Nature Talks discussion series at www.nols.org, call 417-8500 ext. 7717; or send an e-mail to nglaude@nols.org.