will be held at the Mariposa Methodist Church parish hall on Sixth Street between Highway 140 and Bullion Street.

Illustrated with images from worldwide travels with Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, Cheeseman will tell stories of the new insights into the lives of seabirds through recent science, especially GPS-based telemetry. Scientists are only now learning about the truly magnificent lives of these penguins and albatross, just as they face sharp declines at the hands of industrial fishing and climate change. He frequently travels across the southern ocean to Antarctica and to its sub-Antarctic islands, the heart of penguin and albatross habitat. It is there that he will take attendees on an entertaining and educational journey, diving with penguins and soaring with albatross, the world's greatest mariners.

Cheeseman’s abiding love of penguins and albatross stems from a lifetime of guiding travelers to remote seabird breeding colonies. He grew up traveling extensively with Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris and began studying and photographing wildlife early in life. Just as Cheeseman completed a master's degree in tropical conservation biology at Duke University, the icy grip of the Antarctic took hold of his heart, and he returned to his home state of California to lead and organize expeditions.

Residents can join naturalist and popular expedition leader Ted Cheeseman for a slide presentation that describes what it is to be a seabird in the vast, unforgiving desert of the open ocean. How is it that albatross can fly 14,000 miles on a single feeding trip to bring home just one meal for a chick? How can penguins thrive and raise chicks in the world's harshest environments, but cannot survive in mild temperate waters? Cheeseman will present a slide program, “Albatross and Penguins: The World through the Eyes of a Seabird,” at the monthly meeting of the Yosemite Area Audubon Society on Thursday, May 13, at 7 p.m. The presentation These voyages take him around the globe several times each year, allowing him to share his love for the natural world with travelers. Through voyages to Antarctica he has witnessed the decline of his favorite of all birds, the wandering albatross, inspiring him to keep abreast of the most recent bird science and to become involved with conservation efforts to protect these magnificent birds.

Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris has agreed to donate $500 to Yosemite Area Audubon Society for each local member who signs up for their next Antarctica voyage, scheduled for December 2011/January 2012.

Cheeseman’s presentation is open and free to the public, although donations to defray program costs and to support Audubon’s local activities are welcome. Refreshments will be available.

The Yosemite Area Audubon Society will also offer a birding trip to Foresta in Yosemite National Park on Saturday, May 15, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Midpines County Park on Highway 140. Suitable for beginners, the trip is free and the public is welcome. Bring binoculars, field guides, lunch and beverages.

Call 742-5579 for additional information about either the program or the birding trip.

The Yosemite Area Audubon Society is a local chapter of the National Audubon Society and Audubon California, the state affiliate. The Audubon mission 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.