July-August 2007 Echo Black Hills Audubon Society

8/8/2019 July-August 2007 Echo Black Hills Audubon Society

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Black HillsAudubon Society

Olympia, Washington

Volume 38,

Number 4

July/August 2007

SightingsAs we head into the lazy, hazy days o summer there

wont be much rest or the board o Black Hills Audu-

bon. The Conservation committee is working hard

on the many development issues we ace these days.

With the countless meetings, deadlines or submission

and technical nature o the beast, and beast it is, there

is barely a moment to catch ones breath.

We have also given testimony or the spotted owl

recovery plan, which you will see in the article, has

become the Bush plan to log our most precious old-

growth orests. I have great diculty understanding

how money is more important than the environment,

not only or the owls but the balance or our own spe-

cies is beginning to hang in never-never land.

There was a global warming meeting in Park City,Utah that our own Kris Schoyen attended along with

Nina Carter and Lisa Remlinger, sponsored by Nation-

al Audubon. Climate change is denitely on the minds

o National Audubon. I also will be attending global

warming advocacy training in Washington D.C. in late

June. Meetings are scheduled to talk with our State

Senators at the Capital and boy do I have an ear-ull

or them!! (let me at em)

In August we will hold our annual board planning

retreat. We will be working on a new strategic plan or

our chapter as well as a policy or endowment giving.

Whew, I need a vacation.

I would also like to welcome our newest board mem-

bers, Debbie Nickerson and Whittier Johnson. We are

very excited to have them with us and look orward to

their wisdom and expertise in helping guide our work.

Thanks also to Jean MacGregor or her many out-

standing years o service. Jean is still very active and

very helpul in all our endeavors. Hopeully she will

catch a tiny breath o summer air.

I would like very much to hear rom you, our most

treasured members. How do you think we are do-

ing? What would you like to see us do, not do. Whatwould you say our priorities should be. Do you have

any good bird stories, jokes or items o importance

you would like to pass along? Were in touch, so you

be in touch. Were all in this together so just send

me an e-mail or letter. I cant wait to hear rom you.

Happy Summer.

Linda

No membership meetings for July and August.

We will resume September 20th.


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Black Hills Audubon Society

Tumwater WarehousingThe City o Tumwaters ability to dene its character

is being delayed by an alliance o three warehouse

companies. Reasonable trac, clean air, and an

aesthetic city, are at risk.

The Tumwater City Council heard testimony June

5th on its drat ordinance. This ordinance wouldban warehouses greater than 200,000 square eet

rom certain roads and 1000 eet rom residential

areas. This ordinance revision required an environ-

mental review, a SEPA. The warehouse alliance has

appealed the SEPA Determination o Non-Signi-

cance (DNS). Thereore, the City cannot make a de-

cision on its drat ordinance until a hearing examin-

er issues a decision on the appeal. The decision will

probably be made in July. This gives the warehouses

more time to vest under existing weaker regulations.

Concerns include: warehouses, with alleged ew

jobs, could consume most o Tumwaters Light In-

dustrial zoned land; these huge impervious projects

most likely would increase foods in a known high

ground water area, and hundreds to thousands o

trucks per day could congest 93rd Avenue, spewing

toxic diesel exhaust into Tumwaters air.

Since Targets 2,000,000 square oot distributioncenter was built, Lacey has limited its warehouses to

200,000 square eet. Lacey has adopted stricter land-

scape standards and requires sizeable buers between

warehouses. Dupont banned warehousing entirely.

Tumwater should impose an emergency interim

ordinance or moratorium, which wouldnt require a

SEPA. The City could withdraw the appealed DNS.

This would allow Tumwater the time to design a

balanced ordinance or its Light Industrial areas,

including the Brewery. A warehouse desert is not

desirable.

Rural RezoneFinal hearings on the Rural Rezone will be heard

July 2. Please testiy or contact your Commissioner

i you receive this newsletter by July 2. The hearing

will be at the Worthington Center at 6:00 pm (5300

Pacic Ave SE Lacey, WA).

BHAS attended the Open House or the drat on

May 29. The County has added an innovative

technique option to the minority and majority op-

tions. County sta state that all options have equal

weight, despite the titles o majority and minority.

The majority report allows the most development

o the rural area. The minority report protects the

most amount o land. The minority has more blocks

o land, which allows greater connectivity or wild-

lie. The innovative technique has three variations

or calculating housing densities or land with criti-

cal areas. Credit or housing density is not given or

one) critical areas; 2) critical areas and some critical

area buers, and 3) critical areas and all their bu-

ers. BHAS has been an opponent or granting credit

or unbuildable lands or some time.

As o mid-June, some combination o the minority

and the innovative technique options might achieve

the greatest protection or important wildlie and

their habitat in rural Thurston County. We encour-

age the downzoning o land in the Black River

Corridor, Salmon Creek Basin, and western Thur-

ston County in general. However, other areas o the

County also deserve to be downzoned including the

MacAllister Spring aquier recharge area.

The Not So BrieConservation BrieQuality Rock ProductsIn early June, the Court o Appeals (COA) nally

ruled to publish the decision denying QRPs SpecialUse Permit (SUP) to expand a gravel mine and al-

low an asphalt plant immediately adjacent to the

Black River Wildlie Reuge. By reversing their Feb-

ruary decision not to publish the decision, the COA

presumably has increased the importance o the

case. I QRP asks or discretionary review (deadline

around July 1), the COA will probably respond in

two to six months.

Meanwhile, BHAS prods Thurston County, the

Department o Ecology, and Department o Natural

Resources to enorce compliance o the operations

on the original 26 acres. QRP appears to continueto operate with its 5,000 gallons per day exempt

well water limit. One questions how QRP has been

able to mine or seven years, producing 400,000

tons in 2001-2002 according to their own consul-

tant, when very ew acres remained to be mined

in 2000. It is time or the County to inspect QRP to

determine i QRP is observing its 1985 SUP.

Sue Danver, Conservation Chair


3/12Black Hills Audubon Society

The Port Commissioners decided to pres-ent their South Sound Logistics Center (SSLC)update in Tenino on May 14. To their surprise,

140 aroused citizens spoke out against thePorts proposal to have a rail to truck, truckto rail, and warehouse distribution logisticscenter just southeast o Millersylvania Park.These vocal citizens (Friends o RockyPrairie- riendsorockyprairie ) willpersist. They are researching andtalking to everybody with enthusi-asm and alternative ideas. Oneleader has written a prairiesong and is distributing it toradio stations. Another hasmade ceramic butterfies to call

attention to endangered prairiebutterfies.

The County has land use authorityin this matter. Currently, the Countysordinance does not allow warehous-ing more than hal a mile rom I-5. Thislogistic center is 2.5 miles rom I-5.

BHAS contends that the Port will have to revisitits Comprehensive Plan (correctly called a stra-tegic plan), which has not been updated since1994, to include this logistic center. An update

South Sound Logistics CenterFormerly Maytown Aggregates

by the Port Advisory Committee (PAC) wouldbe insucient. From observation, the PAC doesnot appear to provide ormal recommenda-

tions, to the Port Commissioners. The Port oOlympia, to be credible, must do a majorrewrite o its Comprehensive Plan,

including an EIS, invitingsignicant input by the

public at large. Exten-sive scoping shouldbe mandatory in this

eort.

Once the Ports Compre-hensive Plan is updated, the

County, the jurisdiction respon-sible or the Land Use Permits or the

SSLC, would then conduct an EIS or thespecic proposal. Due to the wetlands,

prairies, and storm water issues o thisparcel this Port endeavor may take a long

time, i ever, to come to ruition.

I the trends in oreign trade continue, an alter-native site most likely will have to be identiedi the SSLC is to be stopped. BHAS believes alarge polluting industrial site is an incongruousneighbor or an 800 acre State Fish & Wildliesite o signicant wetlands and prairies.

The Port o Olympia Comprehensive Plan

A Conservation Brie cannot do justice to the

activities by the Port o Olympia. The publicprocess, or lack thereo, by the Port o Olympiaadministration really deserves a dissertation ormanuscript.

Port activists, including Black Hills AudubonSociety, want the Port o Olympia to engage inproper environmental and land use procedure.Currently, the Port o Olympia is piecemealing

many projects that are obviously connected.

The development o the Port, the rails system,the airport, and the South Sound LogisticsCenter are all interconnected and deserve anextensive Environmental Impact Statement toassess the eects on Thurston Countys qual-ity o lie. The citizens o Thurston County, whosubsidize the Port, deserve signicant inputand choice in how Thurston County growswisely.


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Feds plan or more logging wont helpspotted owl!By Tim Cullinan and Dominick Dellasala

The column by Ren Lohoeener, Linda Goodman and

Ed Shepard, (Meeting will ocus on northern spot-

ted owl recovery) that appeared in The OlympianMay 23rd is misleading because it omits importantdetails about the evolution o the proposed spot-

ted owl recovery plan. The current drat is not the

one written by a multi-stakeholder recovery

team last summer. That proposal was

dismissed by political appointees in

the Bush Administration, who ordered

substantial changes based on politics,

not science.

Last September, the recovery team recom-

mended a spotted owl recovery strategy

based on the Northwest Forest Plan, the

1994 ederal land management plan still

considered the most scientically cred-

ible strategy or balancing conservation

and timber production. A ew weeks later, the

team was notied that a secret oversight committee

in Washington D.C. ordered the recovery team to

de-link the recovery plan rom the Northwest Forest

Plan. It directed the team to extensively rewrite its

plan, de-emphasizing the well documented link be-

tween spotted owl survival and old growth orests.

The motive, o course, is to accelerate the old

growth logging,

thus rolling backmore than a de-

cade o progress

in saeguarding

the values most

demanded by the

public clean

water, healthy

salmon and

wildlie popula-

tions, open space,

recreation and

ancient orests.

Contrary to

Lohoeeners

assertion, the

addition o a

second alternative was not to generate the broad-

est discussion about recovering spotted owls. The

additional alternative was ordered by the oversight

committee to allow the Forest Service and Bureau o

Land Management, not the qualied experts in the

Fish and Wildlie Service, to decide where and when

spotted owl habitat will be protected. This would

put the ox in charge o the hen house, and lead to a

region-wide shell game that will result in the loss ohundreds o thousands o acres o currently pro-

tected old-growth orests, pushing the spotted owl

closer to the endangered list.

Although the barred owl is a threat, the recovery

team recognized that the legacy o old-growth orest

logging is a major cause o the spotted owls alarm-

ing decline. The reduction in old-growth habitat

made possible by the oversight committees

arbitrary directives will only make matters

worse. Scientists recognize that be-

cause the spotted owl is rapidly

declining rom multiple threats,it needs more habitat protected

in xed reserves, not less.

The recovery team did its best to

write a credible plan, but its eorts were thwarted

by inside-the-beltway political operatives. Fortu-

nately, the extraordinary level o political interven-

tion has attracted the attention o Congress. Now

that more daylight is being ocused on the Bush

administrations manipulation o science, it is time

or the Fish and Wildlie Service to scrap the drat

recovery plan and start anew.

A good step would beto appoint independent

spotted owl scientists

to the recovery team

and insure they can

work in a process ree

rom political interer-

ence. Credible science,

not political ideology,

needs to determine

the best strategy or

conserving the spotted

owl and the old-growth

orests that hang in the

balance.

Note by BHAS: Publiccomments are accepted

until August 25th. To nd out State Audubons posi-

tion go to

ww audubon , or call Lisa at 786-8020.

Reprinted rom The Olympian o June 12, 2007

Contrary to Lohoeeners assertion,the addition o a second alternativewas not to generate the broadest

discussion about recovering spottedowls. The additional alternative was

ordered by the oversight committeeto allow the Forest Service and Bureauo Land Management, not the qualifedexperts in the Fish and Wildlie Service,

to decide where and when spottedowl habitat will be protected.



County shouldbe fghting, notenabling,rural land rushBy Kristin Kelly and Marilyn Hoggarth

Its armland. Its open space. NO, its a car dealer-

ship!

A recent state Court o Appeals ruling will allow a

huge car lot and big box stores to be developed on

prime armland at the intersection o I-5 and High-

way 530, known ar and wide as Island Crossing.

This decision, suddenly reversing multiple previous

decisions by growth management hearings boards,

the Superior Court, and the Appeals Court itsel, is

very disturbing. More disturbing is the larger pat-

tern o vanishing armland and the willingness o

elected ocials to let it happen. I we, as a state andas a county, are really serious about keeping arm-

ing a viable industry here, we need to change the

decisions were makingrom the Court o Appeals

decision to the decisions made daily about the ate

o Snohomishs agricultural lands by our County

Council.

Most o whats let o county armland lies in the

foodplains o our two major river basins - the Still-

aguamish and Snohomish. Even in these requently

fooded areas, population growth has brought

tremendous pressure or development, everything

rom car lots and airport expansions to radio tow-ers, wetland banks, recreation, and clusters o rural

McMansions. Farmers, i buying land to arm, can-

not match the prices oered by speculators, and i

retiring, cant be expected to sell their major asset

at a raction o its air market value. I we are seri-

ous about keeping a viable arming industry here

in Snohomish County, we need policies that truly

enable armland preservation and uphold land use

regulation in a consistent ashion.

The County Council needs to listen to local groups

like Agriculture or Tomorrow, the Stillaguamish

Flood Control District and Futurewise, as well asdozens o neighborhood groups and thousands o

citizens who want to protect both armland and the

benets that a vibrant arming industry brings to the

place we all live in. While lawyers and judges may

parse the legalities o building car lots on prime ag-

ricultural land in the foodplain, the County Council

has a broader responsibility.

Our tax dollars should be used to help keep arm-

land protected and producing - not used to ght

legal battles to pave it over. Short-term prot is not

the only engine o progress and prosperity. Far rom

it. Locally grown products like milk, vegetables, hay,

nursery stock, grains, and seeds and corn or the

growing biodiesel industry, support local industry,

are resher, and burn less uel in transport to the

local consumer. Floodplain land kept in agriculture

greatly reduces the cost, borne by the public, ofood damage to inrastructure and property, and

better protects against impacts to the habitat o

wildlie, salmon, steelhead, and the general health

o the Puget Sound.

The county is working on a program called Transer

o Development Rights (TDR) to preserve armland,

but progress awaits hard policy decisions. Briefy,

TDR enables landowners to recover the market

value o their armland by selling the development

rights, thereby preserving the land or agriculture.

Developers who purchase these rights can use

them to increase building densities elsewhere. Butprograms across the country show that or TDR to

succeed, zoning and density rules must be strict

enough to make it a sound business option or both

sellers and buyers. County zoning that allows 10-

acre subdivision o armland can make TDR a tough

sell, and ew developers will pay or higher densi-

ties they can get just by making a docket request.

This years docket requests total almost 100 acres o

proposed conversions.

The need is immediate. Despite pro-arming rheto-

ric and some eort to work with armers, Snohom-

ish County is moving toward a rural land rush,with armland as a major target. How the council

responds will ultimately decide the ate o arm-

ing in our county. You just cant expect sustainable

agriculture where the land is continually converted

piece by piece to housing and commercial devel-

opment, and armers increasingly nd themselves

surrounded by unaordable land and incompatible

uses.

A viable arming industry requires a commitment

by everyone. It takes a commitment rom the public,

rom consumers and rom county government, in

addition to continuing investment by the armers

themselves. It means letting our elected ocials

know that you do not want any more armland to

disappear.

Kristin Kelly is Snohomish County program director orFuturewise. Marilyn Hoggarth is president o Agriculture

or Tomorrow and a armer in the Stillaguamish RiverValley.


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Black Hills Audubon is helping to support an excit-

ing statewide process to strengthen and expand

environmental education or everyone who lives,

works, and plays in Washington. Led by the Envi-

ronmental Education Association o Washington,E3 stands or Education, Economy, and Environ-

ment underscoring the idea a healthy educational

system, healthy economies, and environmental

quality are all intertwined and interdependent.

The E3 Washington initiative ( e3washington

) is a planning process that will involve 18

regional meetings across the state over a two-year

period. On Friday, June 1st, over 200 community

leaders interested in or involved in environmental

education in Thurston or Mason Counties met at

The Evergreen State College or one such meet-

ing; the meetings participants worked to identiy

E Washington Builds Support orEnvironmental Education

qualities o the environmentally literate citizen o

the uture and the strategies required to create these

citizens. The recommendations that emerge rom

each o these regional meetings will lead to regional

environmental education plans and also contributeto a statewide plan.

E3 is also a momentum-building eort, in that

environmental education must grow. In school and

college settings, in workplaces, and in neighbor-

hoods, all o us need the knowledge, skills, and mo-

tivation to become the best possible stewards o our

landscapes and communities. For that to happen,

environmental education needs wider support, more

resources, and greater visibility. The E3 Washing-

ton initiative represents an exciting rst step: watch

their website or continuing developments and

the emerging statewide plan!

Feeders could be killing songbirdsBy Lisa Stier, reporter

Bird lovers, take heed. Local birds are getting sick

and dying o a disease caused by salmonella. The

bacteria are transmitted by bird droppings and can

be spread among birds at eeders.

The state Department o Fish and Wildlie is advising

people to take down their eeders or a ew weeks or

until the end o summer. The other option is imple-menting a routine o astidious daily cleaning.

You can help a whole lot by cleaning up, but in the

ace o an epidemic like we have going on, you have

to clean every day, said Kristin Manseld, a Fish

and Wildlie veterinarian. Otherwise, theyre prob-

ably hurting the birds more than theyre helping.

All kinds o birds can carry the bacteria without

showing symptoms o the disease, which is called

salmonellosis. Sick birds will act tame, fung their

eathers and allowing people to approach. Little can

be done to treat them, Manseld said.

The birds most likely to get sick are songbirds in-

cluding nches, grosbeaks and pine siskins. These

birds oten fock at eeders.

Manseld said the bacteria are always present, but about

every three to our years a disease outbreak occurs. This

year is somewhat unusual or how widespread it is, she

said. In recent weeks, residents in Eastern and Western

Washington have reported about our dozen dead gold-

nches, pine siskins and purple nches.

Some o them were tested at Washington State Uni-

versity to conrm the salmonellosis.

Ocials with the state Health Department said its

possible but unlikely that humans could be sickened

by salmonella rom the birds. Exposure could occur

rom handling inected birds or their droppings, or i

a pet were to catch a sick bird.Researchers also are waiting to see how local bird

populations are aected this summer by West Nile

virus, transmitted most requently by inected mos-

quitoes. It kills crows, ravens and jays, and causes

serious illness in less than one percent o people

inected with the virus.

Last year West Nile virus killed more than a dozen

birds in Washington. That number could climb.

We could be in or a big year this year, Manseld

said.

Avian infuenza, a disease that has killed countless wildand domestic birds in Asia and parts o Europe, the Near

East and Arica, has not been ound in the United States.

P-I reporter Lisa Stier can be reached at

(206) 448-8042 or [email protected] her blog on the environment at

blog.seattlepi.com/environment.

1998-2007 Seattle Post-IntelligencerReprinted rom the Seattle Post-Intelligencer



On Wednesday, July 11, Nisqually NationalWildlie Reuge will begin its 20th annual Sum-mer Lecture Series. The 2007 Summer LectureSeries is titled, Celebrating 20 years withGreat Hits, and eatures a va-riety o talks on environmentaltopics ranging rom butterfies toglobal warming. The ree lec-tures are held every Wednesdayevening during July and Auguststarting July 11.

All lectures begin at 7:00p.m. and are held at theNisqually National Wildlie

Reuge Visitor Center audito-rium. Attendance is limited to 100 andseating will be issued starting at 6:00 p.m. ona rst-come basis. The entrance ee is waivedor those attending the lectures. On lecturenights, the Visitor Center will be open until7:00 p.m. and again ater the lecture. For moreinormation, call the Reuge Oce, (360) 753-9467 or visit www.ws.gov/nisqually.

July 11: Wings o Beauty

Speaker: Idie Ulch, Founding President, Wash-ington Butterfy Association, Photo Editor oButterfies o Cascadia

July 18: Restoring the Friendly Flame:Fire in the Dry Forests o the Pacifc NW

Speaker: James Agee, Proessor o Forest Re-sources, University o Washington

July 25: A New Earthquake Paradigmor Western Washington

Speaker: Brian Sherrod, Research Geologist,

U.S. Geological Survey and University o Wash-ington

August 1: Refections on 25 Years oRainorest Studies

Speaker: Nalini Nadkarni, Faculty,The Evergreen State College

August 8: Rainbows on theWing: Dragonfies

Speaker: Dennis Paulson,Author, Director Emeritus,Slater Museum o Natural

History and University o PugetSound

August 15: The Future

o Water, Ice, and SnowUnder Global Warming

Speaker: Peter Rhines, Proes-sor o Oceanography and Atmo-spheric Sciences, University oWashington

August 22: The Secret Lives oWhales: Tracking the Movements andUnderwater Behavior o Blue and

Humpback Whales

Speaker: John Calambokidis, Research Biolo-gist, Cascadia Research Institute

August 29: Wildlie o South PugetSound Ramblings about SeldomSeen Critters

Speaker: Kelly McAllister, Habitat ConnectivityBiologist, Washington Department o Transpor-tation

For more inormation contactSheila McCartan (360) 753-9467

sheila_mccartan ws

Celebrating 0 Years with Great HitsTheme o 20th Annual Summer Lecture Series atNisqually National Wildlie Reuge


8/12


Birding in Eastern Washington Trip ReportThirteen birders participated in BHASs two-day

eld trip to eastern Washington on the rst weekendo May. The trip started with a lie bird or many

o us at Elk Heights east o Cle Elum, where three

Black-backed Woodpeckers were observed. Thisspecies was also new or Virginia Mouw and her

660th North Ameri-

can bird. It was

exciting or all o us

to share this bird

with her. Lie birds

dont fy by oten or

Virginia anymore.

The woodpeckers

stayed with us ora long time, moving

up the burned snags

starting at ground

level, giving us close

looks and a good

show.

The rest o the trip

was just as wonder-

ul, with 110 bird

species sighted on

the trip, most o which came as we meandered east

o the Columbia River in Grant and Adams Coun-ties. Frenchmens Coulee and its walls o columnar

basalt gave us extended looks o two Chukar, RockWrens, a Prairie Falcon, a Raven nest with chicks,and the song o the Canyon Wren. Other stopsyielded sightings o American Avocets, WilsonsPhalaropes, Black-necked Stilts, SwainsonsHawks, many other birds, and even 41 paintedturtles! Near the end o the rst day outside Othello,

we watched two Burrowing Owls sitting on topo a concrete irrigation ditch and a third poking its

head out o a nest hole, totally camoufaged with

the cement and ground. The last stop o the day

was to see the declining Washington Ground Squir-

rel in Warden.

Our second day began at Moses Lake Park viewing

a pair o Townsends Solitaires. Next was a visitto Potholes Reservoir to see Washingtons larg-

est heron rookery,

where many nests o

Great Blue Her-ons, Great Egrets,Black-crownedNight Herons, and

Double-crestedCormorants werepresent. We then

drove north to Wil-son Creek, where

coulee walls held a

Barn Owl, another

Raven nest, and apair o FerruginousHawks chasinga Golden Eaglerom their territory.

This location also

contained a lakeside

pasture, where our

species o blackbirds were seen: Tricolored, Yel-low-headed, Red-winged, and Brewers.

It was a wonderul weekend, with desert fowers

blooming among the sagebrush. The blue lupine,

pink and lilac phlox, red paintbrush, and yellow

fowers made the shrub-steppe seem as i we were

in an Impressionist painting. Thank you to trip

leaders Gary Wiles and Kristen Stewart or this eld

trip. It was well organized and we all enjoyed great

views o birds that we dont normally get to see in

western Washington.

Jan Sharkey

Virginia Mouw longtime BHAS member and avid birder.

Field Trip Reports

Field Trip reports continued on page 11



July 2007Thursday mornings weekly, beginning at 8:15 am. Nisqually WildlieReuge birding hikes. Meet at the Nisqually check-in desk. This is or moreexperienced birders. On the rst Thurs. o the month, they walk the 5 1/2mi.loop and on the other days they walk the McAllister Creek trail and north tothe photo blind loop. No registration necessary, just show up. Leader PhilKelly

August 2007Thursday mornings, begins at 8:15 am: Nisqually Wildlie Reuge birdinghikes. Meet at the Nisqually check-in desk. No registration necessary, justshow up. Leader Phil Kelly.

August 4, Saturday: Paradise at Mount Rainier. 6 am to late ater-noon. Leader Kristin Stewart. Meet at Martin Way Park and Ride.Come prepared or mountain weather. Bring ood and water. Limit o4 cars, approximately 16 participants. Call BHAS oce at 360 352-7299 to register.

The nearly annual trip to Mt Rainier is more about enjoying thewildfowers, and the beauty o the mountain, than it is about hardcorebirding. We do usually hike to Panorama Point in search o White-tailed Ptar-migan, and Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and have been successul about halo the time. The trail to Panorama Point is about 1600 eet o elevation gainrom the parking lot, and is reasonably strenuous. No one is expected to hikethe whole way i they do not wish to do so, although the best wildfowers areound at the higher elevations at this time o the year. Mountain birds are notabundant, but sometimes we have nice sightings.


10/1210


Black Hills Audubon Society1063 Capitol Way So., Rm 205, Olympia, WA 98501

Phone: 360-352-7299

Website: www.blackhillsaudubon.com

E-mail: bhas blackhillsaudubon.org

Black Hills Audubon Societyis a non-protorganization. A member chapter o the National

Audubon Society, it represents Audubon members in

Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties.

Our goals are to maintain, restore and protect our

ecosystems or uture generations, and to promote

environmental education and nature-based

recreation.

General membership meetings are held at 7 p.m. on

the third Thursday evening o each month, Sep-

tember through June, at the Capitol Museum Coach

House, 211 West 21st Street, in Olympia.

Board meetings are at 5:30 p.m. on the second

Wednesday o each month. The site varies rom

month to month, so please call us at the oce i

you would like to sit in.

Phone and e-mail messages are welcome, but please

remember that we are a volunteer-based organization,

and it may take us a ew days to get back to you.

The Echo is published bi-monthly. Editors: Bill and

Linda Johnson. Layout and design by Lee Miller.

Graphics by Nature Icons/Ultimate Symbol unless

initialed.

Material or The Echo should be sent to PO Box2524, Olympia, WA 98507, or e-mailed to Linda

Johnson at lindashair comcast.net

Deadline or the September/October 2007 issue is

August 10, 2007.

Board o Directors 00-00

OfcersPresident: Linda Johnson ............. 503-957-1812

lindashair comcast.net

Co-Vice Presidents:

Kris Schoyen ...........................360-754-1710

kshoyen hotmail.com

Sam Merrill .................................360-866-8839

smerrill zhonka.net

Secretary: Susan Markey .... 360-438-9048

slmarkey comcast.net

Treasurer: Mike OMalley ....360-943-2369

michael.omalley comcast.net

Board Members At LargeConnie Christy ..................................

360-570-1214

Christy. omcast.net

Carol Evans ...................

866-8531carollouh msn.com

Debbie Nickerson ..................

360-754-5397

Debranick gmail.com

Whittier Johnson ........................360-866-8156

Whittierwj2 com

Committee Chairs (Board Members)

Membership: Margery Beeler ......360-943-5709

mswampcat aol.com

Conservation: Sue Danver ............360-705-9247

sdanver7 aol.com

Webmaster: Deb Jaqua ................360-491-3325

djaqua comcast.net

Field Trips: Kristin Stewart ..........360-456-5098

kristinstewart01 comcast.net

Programs: Kris Schoyen .. 360-754-1710

kshoyen hotmail.comEcho Editors: Bill and

Linda Johnson .........

503-957-1812

lindashair comcast.net

Member VolunteersForest Issues: David Jennings ..

360-866-7551

nativeorest gamil.com

Echo Designer: Lee Miller ............360-753-0942

aleemiller igc.org

Bird ID: Dave McNett ...................360-357-3695Bird Sightings, Bird ID, Birding in Ernest:

Bill Shelmerdine ........................... 360-866-9106

gorn1 msn.com

Bird Feeder Cleaning ....................360-754-5397

debbienickerson mac.com

Oce Support: Carol Evans, Carolyn Harmon



Y127XCH

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Mail completed orm with your check(s):Membership, Black Hills Audubon Society, PO Box 2524, Olympia, WA 98507

Goodrich Pond andTrail Trip ReportThis morning, Sherry and I led a Black Hills Audu-

bon trip to the Goodrich pond and trail. The day

started o rainy but eased throughout the morn-

ing, so we could all enjoy the walk. The pond

was about a quarter ull, but had lots o activity.Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Bufe-head, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, and

Mallards dominated the pond. As or shorebirds, 10Dunlin, two Greater yellowlegs, 6 Killdeer,and 4 Long-billed Curlews were seen. Lotso swallows were fitting about everywhere,which include Tree, Violet-green, Barn, and

Cli, Some Wood Ducks and CommonMergansers were seen on the river, and apair o Bald Eagles were perched next totheir nest tree.

Golden-crowned Sparrows are still lin-gering, and White-crowned and Savannah Spar-rows have shown up. Common Yellowthroat, Or-ange-crowned Warbler, Scrub Jay, Red-breastedSapsucker, Brown Creeper, Varied Thrush, and

Chehalis RiverDiscovery Trail trip

reportRain, thats what we woke up to on the morning

o Saturday, April 7. With no sign o letting up,

our eld trip to the Chehalis River Discovery

Trail was in serious jeopardy. At the park-

ing lot our group gathered, and a vote was

put out. Do we or dont we? Amazingly, a

unanimous decision was made. The trip

was on. Scanning the pond at the trailheadwas the rst part o our journey. We saw AmericanWigeons, Green-winged Teals, Pintails, Bufe-

Morning Dove were all seen along the trail.

The curlews were seen oraging in the muddyedges along the pond and up on the grassy banks

to the right. Now is the time to check the pond on a

regular basis to see what else shows up.

Dave Hayden

Continued on back page


12/12

Black Hills Audubon SocietyPO Box 2524Olympia WA 985072524

Nonprot Org.US Postage

PAID

Olympia WAPermit #87

heads, Shovelers, Dunlin, and Greater Yellowlegs.Our best birds o the day were our Long-billed Cur-lews, which were a rst or Lewis County. Our walkalong the trail did not disappoint our group, either.

We saw Red-breasted Sapsucker, Brown Creeper,Varied Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Com-mon Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Sparrow, CliSwallow, Scrub Jay, Bald Eagle at the nest, Wood

Duck in a back slough, and Black-tailed Deer. As ourtrip came to a close, we were all educated by Janet

Strong rom the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust, on

the history o this new trail and land purchase by the

city o Centralia. On the bright side (no, not the sun),

we managed to tally 46 species or the day despite the

weather conditions.

Dave Hayden

Ridgefeld Trip ReportOn May 19th, I led a Black Hills Audubon eld trip

down to the River S unit o Ridgeeld NWR. The

main highlight o the day was 21 White-aced Ibislocated at the northern end o Ruddy Lake. While

scanning the Ibis with our scope, we noticed one with

a darker ace, and lacking prominent white mark-

ings around the eye. We assumed it may have been

a Glossy Ibis, but beore we could get any photosor study the birds or a little longer, they all few o

towards Bachelor Island. Only our remained, but our

Ibis in question let. Thats just how things go some-

times.

During the day we searched or more Ibis at other

locations, but ound none. Our group had such a good

time the rst time around, we all opted to make asecond trip around.

Other noted birds were: one breeding plumage EaredGrebe, Northern Pintails, one Eurasian Wigeonin the mix with Americans, two Blue-winged Teal,one Green-winged Teal, many Cinnamon Teal andRuddy Ducks, 5 Redheads, 3 Lesser Scaups, two

Great Egrets, three American Bitterns, heard manySora and Virginia Rails, two Greater Yellowlegs,3 Turkey Vultures, 3 Western Wood Pewees, oneWillow Flycatcher, one Northern Rough-wingedSwallow, 3 Vauxs Swits, 3 White-breasted Nut-hatches, several Yellow Warblers, one WilsonsWarbler, 11 Yellow-headed Blackbirds, two Bull-ocks Orioles, two Black-headed Grosbeaks, andone Western Tanager.

Dave Hayden

July-August 2007 Echo Black Hills Audubon Society

Documents

Transcript of July-August 2007 Echo Black Hills Audubon Society