Wyncote Audubon Society Annual Luncheon 2022

The Wyncote Audubon Society is hosting its first annual Luncheon after over three decades of sponsoring our annual gathering as an evening dinner event. The luncheon will remain a wonderful opportunity for members and friends to enjoy the social setting, hear a program presented by an outstanding speaker, and celebrate the work of outstanding people who have made meaningful contributions to conservation.

Featured Program

Louis Agassiz Fuertes – A Celebration of Birds

Robert McCracken Peck

In a visually rich and stimulating PowerPoint presentation, Fuertes’ biographer, Robert McCracken Peck, Curator of Art and Senior Fellow at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (Drexel University), will tell the fascinating story of how this self-taught artist revolutionized wildlife art and popularized bird watching in the early twentieth century. He will put Fuertes’ work in a broad artistic and scientific context, tracing the evolution of American wildlife art from Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon to Roger Tory Peterson, David Sibley, and others. For anyone with an interest in the powerful intersection of birds and art, this talk will be a feast for the eye and mind, presented by a speaker whose books, articles, exhibits and lectures have earned him international recognition as an expert in the field.

Edward Hicks Parry Award:

Judy Stepenaskie will be honored with the presentation of the Edward Hicks Parry Award. This award is given to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Wyncote Audubon Society. Judy is a long time member of the Wyncote Audubon Society. In addition to her work with Wyncote Audubon, Judy established the “Renewable Energy Working Group” that is now the Pennsylvania Audubon Council Renewable Energy Committee. Judy is a lead author of “Utility Scale Solar Siting Guidelines,” a major paper published by the Committee and the focus of a webinar on the evening of December 6, 2022.

John Dornan Conservation Award:

Stephen Maciejewski will be honored with the presentation of the John Dornan Conservation Award. This award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made a major contribution to conservation in our region. Stephen is being honored for his indefatigable commitment to Bird Safe Philly and monitoring the bird collisions in center city Philadelphia for many years. It was Stephen who discovered the massive bird mortality event that took place on October 2, 2020 and led to the creation of Bird Safe Philly, a coalition formed by the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University, National Audubon Society, Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, Valley Forge Audubon Society, and Wyncote Audubon Society. Bird Safe Philly.