Constance Sidles will give a presentation on the Montlake Fill at the Kitsap Audubon meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Poulsbo Library.

Sidles began birding in the Montlake Fill in 1986 and has seen 186 different species of birds there. She has written five books and more than 500 articles.

In her newest collection of 32 essays “Fill of Joy,” she describes in luminous prose the natural beauty and wonder she finds at Montlake Fill, an island of nature in a sea of urban development.

This is not a book just about birds, however. It is also a guide that describes how to find joy in ordinary life by connecting with nature and to each other. By studying the interactions of the wild creatures who share our planet, Sidles distills the essence of what it means to be human — and happy.

For more information, visit www.kitsapaudubon.org or call 360-692-8180.