MUSEUM DIRECTOR WILL LEAD SECOND FLOOR FIELD TRIP
Robert McKernan, director of the San Bernardino County Museum, will lead a tour of the second floor of the San Bernardino County Museum at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15. The presentation is free with museum general admission.
The second floor of the museum contains the avian galleries: the water bird hall and the land bird hall. Each gallery displays mounted birds, nests, and eggs. The galleries are organized by bird habitat so visitors can see groups of birds just as they might see find them together in the wild.
“I call this the ‘Second Floor Field Trip’ because the idea is not just to tour the galleries, but to explore them just as you might if you were looking for birds in the field,” said McKernan. “We’ll talk about how to identify birds by distinctive plumage, by their silhouettes, by their songs, and even by their associations with plants, water sources, geographic range, and other environmental factors. When you look at avian displays this way, you can easily transfer this mode of observation to watching birds in the great outdoors.”
Museum Director Robert McKernan of Redlands has been at the museum since 1990, first as Assistant Curator, then Curator and Senior Curator of the Division of Biological Sciences. An ornithologist by training, he completed his graduate training at Arizona State University where he studied Sonoran desert birds; during his graduate studies he worked extensively in Mexico. His primary interest is the ecological patterns of neotropical bird migration. He has worked at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum and the University of California, Riverside. He has led the museum first as Interim Director and now Director since August 2001.
The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays and holiday Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 (adult), $5 (senior or student) and $4 (child aged 5-12). Children under 5 and Museum Association members are admitted free. Parking is free, and the facility is handicapped-accessible. Lunch, snacks, and beverages are available at the museum’s Garden Café from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org or call (909) 307-2669 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.
The San Bernardino County Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. If assistive listening devices or other auxiliary aids are needed in order to participate in museum exhibits or programs, requests should be made through Museum Visitor Services at least three business days prior to your visit. Visitor Services’ telephone number is (909) 307-2669 ext. 229 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.