A Blue-cheeked jacamar is just one of the numerous birds spotted in the Amazon by Jarrod Swackhamer during his recent stay as a nature guide in Brazil. He will feature some of the more interesting wildlife in his talk to Audubon January 26. (photo by J. Swackhammer)Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society will present a program by Jarrod Swackhamer titled " Puffbirds, Jacamars, and Marmosets: Four Months as a Nature Guide in Brazil" on Friday, January 26 at Harlan Hall on the WNMU campus. This is part of Audubon's first Friday programs but they had to be rescheduled due to construction at Harlan Hall.

Jarrod recently spent three and a half months as a nature guide at Cristalino Lodge in a 44-square mile private rainforest reserve in the southern Amazon state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. National Geographic Traveler rated it as one of 25 best eco-lodges in the world. He also spent a couple of weeks in the biodiverse coastal Atlantic Forest.

Jarrod will talk about his experiences and share photos of the stunning birds, reptiles and mammals he saw in the exotic Amazonian jungles.

Jarrod grew up near the Huachuca Mountains in southeastern Arizona and has had a passion for the natural world since as a child he saw his first lizard. For the past four years he has been doing seasonal bird surveys and mapping desert and riparian species of the Lower Colorado River and conducting detection surveys of Southwestern Willow flycatchers and Yellow-billed cuckoos near here on the Gila River.

The program begins at 7:00 pm at WNMU's Harlan Hall, 12th & Alabama. The presentation is free and the public is welcome. Light refreshments follow.