Eastside Audubon Society’s Feb. 22 program will feature Dan Varland, founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Coastal Raptors.

Varland will present beautiful photos and information about raptor banding on the local, Washington coast and his 23 years of research, where he and a host of volunteers have captured and banded more than 300 raptors of eight species, including more than 250 Peregrine Falcons and 32 Bald Eagles.

With this wealth of knowledge, he will discuss the conservation importance of banding raptors, including what these birds can tell scientists about their contaminant levels and disease exposure, as well as their dispersal patterns and migration routes.

The program will be held at 7 p.m. in the Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church located at 308 Fourth Ave. South in Kirkland.

“Attendees are in for a rare opportunity to see some amazing photos of some magnificent birds and learn important information about conservation of those birds at the top of the food chain,” Eastside Audubon executive director, Tereza Marks said in a press release.

Eastside Audubon is a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to protect, preserve, and enhance natural ecosystems and our communities for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and people. Eastside Audubon is a local chapter of National Audubon and serves eastern KingCounty from Lake Washington to the Cascade Crest and from the Snohomish County line to interstate 90. The service area includes the towns of Bellevue, Bothell, Carnation, Duvall, Fall City, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Medina, North Bend, Preston, Redmond, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, and Woodinville.