Birding info: Gorillas on the Mountain

Jill Hedgecock with gorilla

Did you know that gorillas share over 99% of their DNA with humans? Learn about these knuckle-walking great apes as Jill Hedgecock shares her amazing experiences while visiting with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

Main Program: Kenya – A Birding and Wildlife Frontier with Jill Hedgecock

What is it like to touch extinction? Admire nature’s ingenuity in a parrot’s coloration? Marvel at the oddest-looking raptor on the planet? Watch vultures swoop in on the remains of a lion kill?

The fact that Kenya is home to the last two Northern white rhino and one of the largest populations of black rhino is what initially drew Jill Hedgecock to visit Kenya. But its wealth of birdlife was a big attraction too. Kenya is home to 1,100 species of birds—nearly half of the 2,341 bird species found in Africa.

It supports the second largest variety of birdlife in Africa, second only to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenya’s natural resources provided National Geographic moment after National Geographic moment. Jill’s breath caught while watching a lion pick up its cub in the manner of a housecat moving its kitten.  Her heart melted as she observed two cheetah siblings grooming each other. Then there was the laugh-out-loud moment of a juvenile giraffe kicking up his heels. Another highlight was witnessing hundreds of wildebeest cross a crocodile-infested river.  But perhaps her best memory was when her thrill turned to fear as a leopard walked underneath Jill’s safari vehicle – an incident captured on video that will be shared during her talk.

Jill Hedgecock’s long-standing roots run deep with the Mount Diablo Audubon Society, serving as the International Conservation Coordinator in the early 1990s, as a leader of the Black Diamond Mine Christmas count circle for many years, and as a reporter covering the Christmas Bird Count for the last two years. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco. Her novel about a seventeen-year-old girl on safari who finds herself at odds with rhino poachers will be available for purchase at the meeting.  To learn more about Jill’s books visit www.jillhedgecock.com.