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For most people, Nepal typically evokes images of the Himalayas, Mount Everest, mountain climbers and the challenging conditions they face, sherpas, and, perhaps, yaks.
Yet Nepal also offers experiences not often associated with the high mountain realm. Karen Amstutz of El Portal is an ambassador who is promoting some of those experiences. She will share some of her own in a slide presentation, "Budding Birders in Nepal," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12 at the monthly Yosemite Area Audubon Society program at the Mariposa Methodist Church parish hall on 6th Street in downtown Mariposa.
After many journeys to this part of the world, mostly with her husband, Paul, and their three daughters, Karen became familiar enough with the birds, language, and people of Nepal, that she created a birdwatching program for secondary students there. With a grant from the Himalayan Children's Foundation, she and Paul recently returned to Nepal to resume their program for a second year.
Karen stayed for a month, led birding outings every Saturday and taught classes several nights a week.
"We covered all aspects of ornithology, touched on conservation biology, especially local issues, and had a great time looking for birds together," she said. "What a mutual learning experience this was."
Karen will have many colorful stories and touching images of young Nepali birders learning to use binoculars and field guides to identify birds and discovering birds' fascinating life histories and behaviors.
After earning a bachelor's degree from University of California Davis and a masters from Humboldt State University, Karen worked as a field instructor for the Yosemite Institute from 1991 to 1994. She also worked as a naturalist for the East Bay Regional Parks and taught for the University of California Santa Cruz Extension/Sierra Institute. She has worked for the National Park Service as a seasonal ranger-naturalist at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite since 1997, using her off-seasons to travel extensively with her family throughout the world.
An adventurer, Karen has bicycled, rafted, kayaked, backpacked and/or trekked in many countries, each time renewing her passion for birding and reminding herself that "there are no real borders on this earth. We all breathe the same air, drink the same water ... watch the same sun rise and set every day. And, like birds, we navigate by the same stars and stop our travels when we get to the right place -- to meet our basic needs."
Like all Audubon programs, Amstutz's presentation is open and free to the public, although donations to support the local chapter's activities are welcome. Refreshments will be available.
The mission of the National Audubon Society, the namesake of noted 19th-century naturalist and bird painter John James Audubon; its state affiliate, Audubon California; and local chapters such as the Yosemite Area Audubon Society is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.
