Plumas Audubon Society hosts the third annual Biodiversity Days throughout May. Events include art exhibits, workshops, tours and speakers.

    The Plumas Audubon Society mission is “to promote understanding, appreciation and protection of the biodiversity of the Feather River region through education, research, and the restoration and conservation of natural ecosystems.

    Biodiversity Days events will be held throughout Plumas County highlighting the incredible diversity of the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades.  

    The month-long celebration opens with an art show May 5.  Local artists show their artwork depicting biodiversity in Plumas County at Morning Thunder Café in Quincy through the end of the month.

    Jim Wilcox of the Feather River Coordinated Resource Management group will give a talk about watershed restoration May 5, at 7 p.m. at the Quincy library. He will lead a tour May 30 in Red Clover Valley. Meet at 9 a.m. at the Beckwourth Tavern parking lot. Participants should bring hip waders if they have them. For more information, contact Darrel Jury at 283-0202, ext. 262, or djury@frc.edu.

    John Hafen will speak on beaver biology May 11 at 9 a.m. in room Science 104 at Feather River College.

    Two bird watching ventures are planned the weekend of May 15 – 16. The first explores Sierra Valley under the tutelage of Colin Dillingham, a Forest Service ecologist. Participants should meet in front of Work Connection (next to SavMor) to carpool from East Quincy at 7:30 a.m. In Sierra Valley, meet in the parking area across from the A-23 and Highway 70 junction at 8:15 a.m. Bring a lunch. R.S.V.P. to Dillingham at 283-1133.  

    The next day, May 16, Ryan Burnett with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory will lead a birding excursion to Chester Meadows and Lake Almanor, recognized by the Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area. To carpool from Quincy, meet at the post office at 5:45 a.m. In Chester, meet at the high school parking lot (the end of First Street) at 7 a.m. Bring a lunch. R.S.V.P. to Burnett at rburnett@prbo.org or 258-2869.

    David Arsenault will give a presentation about owls May 21, 6:30 – 9 p.m. in room Science 107 at Feather River College. Arsenault will take participants on an “owl prowl” the next evening, 6 p.m. – midnight. Meet at the Quincy library.

    He will follow that with a nest-box building workshop May 23. Meet at 10 a.m. at the “Big Red Barn” at 574 Quincy Junction Road.  Donations of untreated 1-inch thick wood are appreciated.

    Lane Labbe, owner of the New England Ranch, will teach homeowners how to improve wildlife habitat in their backyards at 5:30 p.m. May 25. The ranch is at the corner of Quincy Junction and Chandler roads.

    To culminate the month’s events, Plumas Audubon Society and Feather River Land Trust will celebrate the completion of a wildlife trail and viewing platform at the Maddelena Ranch in Sierra Valley on May 29. The celebration will include canoeing, birding, botany walks and a free barbecue. Events begin 8 a.m. at the ranch, 1.5 miles south of Highway 70 and A-24.

    One final event is scheduled May 31, a Butterfly Valley botany excursion. Jim Battagin will share his wealth of knowledge of the plants of Butterfly Valley on this morning trip. Meet at Mt. Hough Ranger District Forest Service office at 9:30 a.m.  

    Watch the Events Around Plumas calendar for more details, or contact David Arsenault (david.arsenault1@gmail.com, 283-0455) or Darrel Jury (djury.frc.edu or 283-2939).