Name: Chester Bird Walk #1
Trip Leader: Mitch Poling, PAS Board Member
Date: Friday, August 8, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Location: Chester Railroad Grade
Price: $15 suggested donation
Cap: Limited to 15 participants
Activity Level: 2
Description: Join us for a walk along the Chester Railroad Grade trail bordering the town of Chester. This bird walk is on mostly flat ground and is bordered by riparian vegetation that is prime for wildlife viewing.
Meet at the Olsen Barn Meadow parking area (Map) at 3:30 PM. Bring comfortable shoes for walking, sun protection, water, snacks, bug spray, and binoculars.
Name: Prowl for Owls
Trip Leader: Lauren James, PAS Field Operations Manager
Date: Friday, August 8, 2025
Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Location: Various locations
Price: $30 suggested donation
Cap: Limited to 12 participants
Activity Level: 3. Hiking in the woods in the dark.
Description: Meet at Festival Headquarters at 7:30 PM. High-profile, 4WD vehicles recommended.
After checking in, this trip will travel by caravan to a nearby area of National Forest land to prowl for owls. We’ll stop at various locations to listen and look for owls. The trip includes driving and walking on dirt roads and short walks off-road in the forest. Participants will learn to identify and even imitate the calls of owls.
Bring a headlamp or flashlight, water, binoculars, hiking shoes, warm clothes, a jacket, and bug spray.
Name: Osprey Around the Lake
Trip Leader: Lauren James, PAS Field Operations Manager
Date: Saturday, August 9, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Location: Various locations
Price: $20 suggested donation
Cap: Limited to 12 participants
Activity Level: 3. Hiking on uneven terrain.
Description: Meet at Festival Headquarters at 8:30 AM. Bring sunscreen, water, and closed-toed shoes.
After checking in, this trip will travel by caravan throughout National Forest lands to visit Osprey nest sites, stopping at various sites to look for Osprey and Bald Eagles. Trip includes driving and short walks off road in the forest. Participants will learn to identify birds of prey.
Name: Chester Bird Walk #2
Trip Leader: Paul Hardy of Hardy Conservation
Date: Saturday, August 9, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Location: Chester Railroad Grade
Price: $15 suggested donation
Cap: Limited to 15 participants
Activity Level: 2
Description: Join us for a walk along the Chester Railroad Grade trail bordering the town of Chester. This bird walk is on mostly flat ground and is bordered by riparian vegetation that is prime for wildlife viewing.
Meet at the Olsen Barn Meadow parking area (Map) at 8:30 AM. Bring comfortable shoes for walking, sun protection, water, snacks, bug spray, and binoculars.
Trip Leaders
Mitch Poling, PAS Board Member
Mitch grew up in Michigan and attended Grand Valley State University. There, he studied natural resource management, with an emphasis on wildlife management and ecosystem restoration. After working a couple of seasons for the Forest Service in Baldwin, MI, he began seeking out wildlife work in the Sierras. After moving around to various places, a Northern goshawk surveyor position with the Plumas Audubon Society caught his attention. He moved here for the job, with his partner Jac, and they pretty quickly became enamored with Plumas County. With its unique ecology and beauty, Mitch decided that this is where he wanted to work to promote the wellbeing of wildlife and the ecosystems that they reside in. While living here, he has done surveys for Northern goshawks, black-backed woodpeckers, California spotted owls, Sierra Nevada yellow legged frogs, willow flycatchers, and carnivores, as well as various habitat restoration and fire management efforts with the Forest Service.
Lauren James, PAS Field Operations Manager & Development Assistant
While finishing her degree in Wildlife Conservation, Lauren “LJ” moved from Vermont to Arizona and was enamored with the wild landscapes she found in the west. After a season of fuels reduction in the national forests of Colorado, she came to Plumas county to pursue her primary passion of wildlife conservation and found it with Plumas Audubon Society! She spends her free time on the trails with her dogs, foraging & wildcrafting, and reading.
Paul Hardy, Hardy Conservation
Paul Hardy founded the Feather River Land Trust in 1999, where he served as Executive Director for 17 years. His 30+ years of conservation, land management, and non-profit experience includes working as an avian scientist for the University of Arizona for 3 years, a wildlife biologist on the Plumas National Forest for 5 years, co-creating the Sierra-Cascade Land Trust Council and Northern Sierra Partnership, and serving on the boards of the California Council of Land Trusts and Plumas Audubon Society.
