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WASHINGTON ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 12345 Lake City Way NE, #215 Seattle WA 98125 Information@Wos.Org Washington WOS Annual Tom Bancroft Financial Statement on Pied-billed - page 3 Ornithological Grebes - pg. 8 Society WOSNews No. 184 February - March 2020 From the Board: Backward then Forward Jennifer Kauffman, WOS Vice President At the beginning of each new year, I like to review the highlights of the past year and then look forward to the new year. It has been a pleasure to serve on the WOS board for the past year and a half. I have learned more about our state birds and habitats, met birders from across the state, and been inspired by the many contributions of WOS Board members and volunteers. Thanks to WOS volunteers and friends, I birded in the Okanogan in winter, saw spring warblers at Magee Marsh in Ohio for the first time, and watched my favorite sage birds on a beautiful day at the WOS Moses Lake conference. I also learned about the Washington Bird Records Committee at the conference, met many new birders, and had FUN! 2019 – A Year in Review WOS had a great year in 2019 under the amazing leadership of President Eric Dudley. Highlights include: Jamie Chavez photo Long-tailed Duck Continued on page 6 Birding in Washington with the Most Rare and Unusual Ken Knittle (1951-2020) Mike Denny I first met Ken in the fall of 1987 just after he had moved to College Place with Laurie to start work at the Walla Walla College Dairy. Three first things I learned about this very jolly man were: he had a deep and undying in- terest in county birding, really enjoyed rare and unusual plants, and would fill a portion of his backyard with rare and unusual chickens. Continued on page 10 Left to right: Ken Knittle, Ruth Sullivan, Patrick Sullivan, Mike Denny, Marv Breece WOSNews No. 184 Feb. 2020 - March 2020 Page 1 WASHINGTON ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 12345 Lake City Way NE, #215 Seattle WA 98125 [email protected] www.wos.org The Washington Ornithological Society was chartered in 1988 to increase knowledge of the birds of Washington and to enhance communication among all persons interested in those birds. WOS is a nonprofit educational organization under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. OFFICERS President............................Eric Dudley..................................................................................................president@wos.org Vice President...................Jennifer Kauffman...................................................................................................vp@wos.org Treasurer............................Grace Oliver..................................................................................................treasurer@wos.org Secretary............................Thomas Bancroft..........................................................................................secretary@wos.org COMMITTEE CHAIRS Monthly Meetings...........Cinny Burrell.................................................................................................Meetings@wos.org Field Trips.........................Jen Kunitsugu..............................................................................................FieldTrips@wos.org Patrick Sullivan Young Birders Fund.....Tom Mansfield............................................................................psybf@wos.org Membership.....................Ruth Godding ........................................................................................Membership@wos.org WA Bird Records.............Brad Waggoner.................................................................................................WBRC@wos.org WOSNews Editor.............Ron Post.....................................................................................................WOSNews@wos.org Webmaster........................Jane Hadley................................................................................................Webmaster@wos.org Sales...................................Sharon Ellard .......................................................................................................Sales@wos.org Hospitality.........................April Carson..............................................................................................Hospitality@wos.org Journal Washington Birds.......Ed Swan............................................................................................................Ed@wos.org BOARD MEMBERS Board Member.................Ed Pullen.................................................................................................................edp@wos.org Board Member.................Faye McAdams Hands.........................................................................................Faye@wos.org Board Member.................Kim Thorburn.......................................................................................................Kim@wos.org Board Member.................Will Brooks............................................................................................................Will@wos.org Board Member.................Bob Flores...............................................................................................................Bob@wos.org Contents From the Board page 1 Birding with Ken Knittle (1951-2020) page 1 Annual Financial Statement page 3 Birding Point Brown to Ocean Shores page 4 Olympic Bird Fest page 5 Meet a new WOS Volunteer page 7 Pied-billed Grebes in Our Hemisphere page 8 Washington Field Notes pages 11 and 22 Citizen Science and Climate Change page 16 WOSNews No. 184 Feb. 2020 - March 2020 Page 2 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Washington Ornithological Society Financial Statement For Year Ended December 31, 2019 Assets Bank - General Checking $ 25,553 Bank - General Savings $ 64,327 Patrick Sullivan Young Birder's Fund $ 18,892 (PSYBF) [restricted funds] TOTAL ASSETS $ 108,771 Liabilities PSYBF [restricted] $ 18,892 Equity $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Retained earnings $ 92,104 Net Income $ (2,224) TOTAL EQUITY $ 108,771 Income and Expenses Income Conference Registration $ 13,545 Donations - General Fund $ 1,488 Donations - PS Young Birder Fund $ 1,420 Membership Dues $ 10,665 Sales and Tax $ 2,772 Interest $ 19 Total Income $ 29,909 Expenses Administrative $ 832 Annual Conference Expenses $ 8,001 Annual Conference Refunds $ 900 Annual Conference Event Management $ 381 Bank Charge $ 68 Board Meeting $ 383 Clothing $ 6,253 Facility Rental/CUH $ 3,690 WOSNews No. 184 Feb. 2020 - March 2020 Page 3 Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat: A Tweeters Birding Website Posting from January, 2020 Perhaps a few of you have been trying to get out and do a little birding despite the sometimes challenging weather of the last couple of days. Yesterday, Frank Caruso had two East Coast birding friends in town on a quest to see a cou- ple of our winter rock pipers that would be lifers for them. Their tight schedules did not allow for weather delays so yesterday, super early, we headed for the coast, despite the forecast for significant rain and strong winds. Looking at rainfall heading toward us on Raindar, we decided we might minimize rain impact on our birding by going first to Point Brown in Ocean Shores – always a good bet for winter rock pipers, but…bad idea. As we headed south toward the point, it was clear that it Marbled Godwits, Doug Greenberg photo was going to be super windy and when we finally bundled up and got to the beach, huge waves were breaking over the top of the jetty. There were a few Sanderlings on the beach and six Dunlin hunkered down behind a small log, but clearly, no chance for any of our targets. Defeat. So, a little discouraged about the birds but awed by the waves, we headed back toward Aberdeen/Hoquiam – Note that SR 109 is still closed due to mudslides and a slight, well signed (~10 min.) detour is needed to actu- ally get to or from Ocean Shores. On the south side of the Bay, we headed first toward Tokeland, with a stop at Cranberry Beach Rd. to look for Snowy Plovers. They were nowhere to be found, but, near the end of the grav- eled beach access road there were good numbers of Least SP, Dunlin, and Sanderlings trying to feed in the lee of slight ruts; a couple of Western SP were also present, providing Frank and I with our first FOY of the day. In the Tokeland Marina, we found the hoped-for Marbled Godwits and Willets, huddled in separate groups, waiting out the wind and high tide. MAGO was a lifer for the Easterners, so the day was looking up. Partial victory! In the grassy boat/camper parking lot behind the boat launch, there were more Dunlin, Sanderling, and Least SP, plus over a dozen Semi-palmated Plovers and a single Black-bellied Plover – answering in part, our question of what do shorebirds do when the shore is untenable? A large group of Cacklers and White-fronted Geese, along with a few Brant, were grazing in a grassy swale on the way out of Tokeland along Emerson Ave. Wanting one last try for the rock pipers, we headed for Westport Harbor. Several hundred more Marbled Godwits were crowded on the floats at the south end of the marina, but no rock pipers were visible from the platform looking channelward at the north end. As a last gasp, we stopped and climbed the wet and very windy boulders on the breakwater, east of the observa- tion tower. There, on the 2nd and 3rd groins east of the tower, were all three target species: about a dozen Black Turnstones, half a dozen Surfbirds, and a single (seen) Rock Sandpiper, all dodging up and down as impressive rollers broke on the rocks. A couple more lifers for our Eastern
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