Migration Vagrancy in Washington – Matt Bartels

Come join us for an evening of enjoyment with Matt Bartels. Matt Bartels is the current secretary of the Washington Bird Records Committee, Washington Ornithological Society.

Where do Washington vagrants come from and are there patterns that can be uncovered in the strategies that bring them here? Matt Bartels will discuss the processes that lead to vagrancy, and how that applies to Washington rarities. What are the main methods that bring these unusual to our state? WOS uses bird records data to look for patterns in arrivals of the rarest birds in the state and Matt will discuss what might be next.

Birders everywhere are keenly interested in vagrants, as they provide exciting opportunities to view unfamiliar species. It will be fascinating to hear a broad perspective on this phenomenon in Washington State. (Photo, Ruby-throated hummingbird – JM Schneid Wikimedia Commons)

Arrive at 7 p.m. to socialize; programs begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. Annual Dinner March 7, 2020

The Annual Dinner is on March 7th. Reserve your place at our tables. Our theme this year is Feed the Flock- Bring a Friend, so think about who you know who might like to attend. First- time attendees will each receive a gift. Sign up here or print out the registration form and send it in. We’ll also take registrations at the February 13th Speaker Series- we will have forms or assist you electronically. The night will be memorable. Steven Hawley, producer of the film, Damned to Extinction, will be our featured speaker on the topic of Dams, Orcas and Salmon. Price is $45 per person. Below are some highlights of events for which you may sign-up; raffle items and lovely crafts for sale at the dinner.

A Sample of Featured Events available for Sign-Up at the Dinner

Black Hills Audubon offers this exciting list of experiences for your birding pleasure and related interests. Funds raised by your donations will support our education and advocacy programs, while you enjoy these outdoor adventures and opportunities and get to know fellow birders while dining, crafting, and exploring nearby places of natural beauty. Suggested donations and more information will be available at the Dinner. See you there!

GOURMET DINNER FOR 17 – Prepared by Deb Nickerson and Alice Burman

Relax and enjoy a delicious summer dinner in August prepared by Deb Nickerson, Alice Burman and crew. On the menu so far: barbecued salmon, chicken and veggies with an array of side salads and roasted potatoes. Dessert will be fresh fruit crisp where the fruit is gathered from our trees. Beer, wine, drinks and appetizers included. 17 seats available for $50 each. Bon Appetit!

FEATHER FLURRY WITH CHRIS MAYNARD

Here is an event guaranteed to be new to you. Chris Maynard, renowned feather artist, will host a gathering on his property when the swallows are back. He will ―shoot‖ a batch of feathers into the air and you will watch as these aerial acrobats chase and catch the feathers. Refreshments and a tour of Chris’ studio round out the occasion. Priceless!

WOODARD BAY BOAT TRIP WITH HANK AND HELEN HENRY

Picture yourself on the deck of the Henry’s boat enjoying dessert and wine before casting off for a tour of Henderson Inlet and Woodard Bay. The trip is timed to enjoy watching the bats emerge from their nursery on the Bay as well as seeing a vast colony of nesting cormorants. National Geographic quality experience.

GARDEN BRUNCH WITH BOB AND SALLY SUNDSTROM

The Sundstrom’s property is on the edge of a South Sound prairie and has been nurtured for birds and native plants. Take a tour with gardening expert Sally and ask Bob of BirdNote fame about its avian visitors. Then relax on the porch with a delicious brunch and, if lucky, a view of California Quail rummaging on the garden paths.

BAT WALK WITH GREG FALXA

Our local bat guru will lead a group out to the viewing point at Woodard Bay at dusk to view the emerging bats from their nursery under the old trestle. Watch this spectacle as Greg uses his equipment to identify the two bat species which reside here. Dessert and beverage included.

PEREGRINE HORS D’OEUVRES WITH JOE BUCHANEN

How do juvenile Peregrine Falcons learn to hunt? Some learn by going after the bats emerging from the trestle at Woodard Bay. This is something to be seen! Joe, a US Fish and Wildlife biologist, will lead this group to the trestle area before dusk; then let the show begin. Dessert and beverage included.

FUSED GLASS CLASS WITH LESLIE GOLDSTEIN Enjoy an afternoon of relaxing and creative glass work. Leslie has taught this class to many groups and has graciously offered it to us. Participants will make small glass ornamental objects which she will fire in her home kiln and then return to everyone. Good company, good fun, and good dessert as well.

FOREST BATHING WITH SALLY NOLE

Experience the Japanese art of Shinri-yoku, the practice of ―forest bathing‖. Focus your senses on the forest surrounding you as you walk through Sally’s Shelshire Farm near Millersylvania State Park with Kathy Jacobson, environmental educator. Let the birds come to you. Appetizers and beverages will be served. Ahhhhhhh!

Some Raffle Items: May Yours Be the Winning Ticket!

The Annual Dinner committee has rounded up some incredible items for our fundraising effort this year! Below are just some of the offerings to spark your interest. The more tickets you purchase, the more likely you are to win one of these bird-loving prizes. And if you’ve brought a friend you want to encourage to join Black Hills Audubon, these prizes will delight both longtime and novice birders.

An all-day pelagic bird-watching adventure with Westport Seabirds to a deep underwater canyon that supports rich marine life. This canyon, which lies about 30 nautical miles from Grays Harbor, attracts , Storm-Petrels, Shearwaters and Skua.

If you take bird photos with your phone and wish you had more power to zoom into a better view, this gadget will get you closer to the birds. It is a digiscoping adapter designed to fit any phone. Think of the details you’ll capture that have always been just out of reach.

We’ve already had some snow and cold this winter. If you are feeding local hummingbirds you know how important it is to keep your feeder functioning no matter the temperature. This easy- to-install hummingbird feeder heater will assure your birds of much needed nourishment through the season.

And if it’s just too cold and rainy for good bird-watching, gather your birding friends—and friends you wish were birders—for an evening of Wingspan, a beautifully designed board game featuring birds. Highly recommended.

Black Hills Audubon Crafters Create Wonders For Sale “For the Birds”

A group of Audubon members led by Sally Nole are putting their talents to good use by creating bird-related objects that are both useful and beautiful, made for sale at the upcoming Annual Dinner in March. The items listed here are just a taste of what will be offered; please come and peruse—and purchase—for your own use or as gifts for others. Help support Black Hills education and advocacy programs.

Bird-themed etched glass vases of various sizes (no image available) Eco-friendly handmade cloth napkin with pocket/pouch for flatware (included).

Ready to take to your next potluck or picnic without using throw-away plastic and paper.

Machine washable and reusable for years of enjoyment.

Choose a design featuring the BHAS logo or artful bird images

Marbled decoy duck planters

Size ranging from

15‖ x 6″ to 22″ x 13‖

Feb 19 – The Dinosaurs Amongst Us – Kim Dolgin, PhD

Virtually all paleontologists agree that birds evolved from dinosaurs, and most even go so far as to claim that birds are, in fact, living dinosaurs. Learn about the remarkable similarities between birds and the creatures they evolved from with Dr. Kim Adelson, PhD. SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESTORATION; ECOLOGICAL CASCADES IN ACTION, ECOLOGICAL RISKS

By Hal Michael – The Sea Otter is a charismatic animal that ―everybody‖ wants to take home and cuddle. Luxurious coat, dexterous paws, living close to shore, and easily observed all add to the mystique. Couple this with many positive benefits to an ecosystem and who could not like them?

Originally, the Sea Otter ranged from northern Japan, across the Aleutian Islands and now the eastern Pacific Coast to mid Baja California. They may have ranged further south along the Asian coast, but their pelts were highly valued, and those areas were settled long before the more northern and eastern parts of the range. During the late 1700s through the 1800s otters were heavily hunted for their pelts. So much so that by the beginning of the 20th Century, they occurred only in small scattered locations from central California around to Japan. At that time, full protection was offered in the North Pacific and numbers slowly increased. This was also accompanied by attempts to transplant otters from areas of abundance to sites where they had been extirpated. Some worked, some didn’t. The current range in central California is from just north of Monterey Bay south to the Channel Islands. There are a few in Oregon and a few off of Baja. In Washington they range from about Kalaloch to Neah Bay, and then in northern BC through SE Alaska and the Aleutians. Finally, there are herds in northern Japan and Kamchatka/Siberia. They are now relatively easy to find within the centers of their range as they are generally close to shore and easily observed. In Washington, the north coast and outer reaches of the Straits are the best places to look.

Although sea otters are primarily associated with outer coasts, there apparently was a large population in San Francisco Bay in the 1700s and into the early 1800s as they were hunted as part of the Russian operations based out of Fort Ross. Coupled with their invasion of Monterey Bay and sloughs, it is possible that many of the larger bays along the Pacific coast such as Grays Harbor and Willapa could become home to otters in the future. At the same time, should Sea Otters invade bays and sloughs they might come into conflict with the River Otter. The River Otter, while normally found in freshwater, does occur in salt and is often misidentified as Sea Otters here in Puget Sound.

The Sea Otter is a big weasel but also the smallest marine mammal. They differ from other marine mammals by lacking an insulating blubber layer. As such, they combine a very dense coat with a ravenous appetite. They eat about a third of their weight a day, which is a lot of shellfish. The fact that they eat so much leads to one of their most well-known ecological ―benefits‖. Their consumption of kelp grazers such as abalone and sea urchin leads to the restoration of kelp forests which leads to the restoration of kelp-dependent fish populations. This comes, though, at the expense of the abalone, urchins, and other grazers that humans like to eat.

In the Monterey Bay area, Sea Otters’ taste for crab has resulted in their exerting a significant control on invasive Green Crabs and burrowing crabs in estuaries. So much so, that the estuarine habitat is recovering. The Green Crab is currently found in parts of Washington where efforts are being made to eradicate them. If eradication is unsuccessful then control by otters may be an option. It should be noted though, that the otters like crab, and so would also eat the Red Rock and Dungeness crabs as avidly as Greens.

The conflict between people and otters has been going on for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Middens in Alaska show that indigenous peoples’ diet shifted with the removal of otters. The conflict has further manifested itself along the California coast where the possible reintroduction of otters would likely wipe out the existing fisheries on abalone and urchins. There is vocal opposition to the otters as they would ultimately displace/unemploy fishermen. Otters have already eliminated fishable populations of Pismo Clams in some parts of California. While we don’t have Pismos as our surf clam in Washington, we do have Razor Clams, which the otters do eat. In addition, the otters are vulnerable to viruses that are transmitted from domestic cats to the waterways.

Therein lies the problem. Expansion of the otter populations will come at a direct cost of some resources that we like to consume and to the manner in which we live. Restoration will also benefit other resources that we like. The recovery of sea otters to their whole original range will create some interesting conflicts as to what resources we want.

Currently there are plenty of accessible areas up and down the Pacific Coast where otters can be seen in conjunction with other iconic animals such as Elephant Seals, California Condors, Grey Whales, Northern Fur Seals, and the like. We might even see one of their primary predators, the White Shark. We have seen otters around the rocks offshore from the Kalaloch Lodge and at numerous places on the California Coast from Ano Nuevo State Park south to San Simeon. HOMES FOR PURPLE MARTINS

A cadre of committed volunteers has taken on the work to enhance the colony of Purple Martins that nest on the pilings of Boston Harbor Marina at the north end of Budd Inlet in Olympia (see Jan. 2019 Echo article). Nest box designs were obtained from a successful project in Vancouver, BC. Six boxes were produced here and installed in time for breeding season last spring. From monitoring during the summer of 2019 and inspection at the season end, we could see that birds nested in five of the six boxes. Based on the success we are seeing, we would like to increase the colony size over time by adding more boxes, not only at Boston Harbor but at other sites along the shoreline of Budd Inlet. The success of this effort is due to the generosity of property owners, Boston Harbor neighbors, and BHAS members. Thanks to all!

Further reading on Purple Martin recovery in our state. Join the Great Backyard Bird Count: Presidents’ Day Weekend Feb. 14-17

Looking for a way to enjoy the great outdoors this February? Join millions of bird watchers across North America and the world in a free, fun event that involves all ages. Count birds in your backyard or anywhere to help make your love of nature create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participate in the 23th annual Great Backyard Bird Count during Presidents’ Day weekend, Friday through Monday, February 14-17, 2020.

Led by Audubon and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, anyone – expert or novice — can count birds from wherever they are and enter their tallies online and see the results or their observations and those of thousands of others within minutes. Go to birdcount.org for more information and to submit your observations during the Bird Count weekend.

Young and old, experienced or not, you are invited to take part wherever you are—at home, in schoolyards, at local parks or wildlife refuges. Keep a count for as little as 15 minutes or as long as you wish. On the birdcount.org website, you can compare results from your town or region with others, as checklists pour in from throughout the U.S. and all over the world. In 2019, over 160,000 participants worldwide sent in checklists tallying nearly 7,000 species, more than half the number of known species in the world. Guess what species was reported on the most checklists? See BirdCount.org to find out.

These reports contribute valuable information for science and conservation. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux, as they are affected by short-term weather and long-term climate change. And while they are gathering data, participants – families, teachers, and children — enjoy nature and have fun! The Circles Grow – CBC Circles That Is

Every year thousands of birders across the Western Hemisphere journey out for a day to count birds in an annual Christmas Bird Count. The first of these Christmas Bird Counts was held 120 years ago and has continued since.

The National Audubon Society has taken over the enormous task of coordinating this longest continuing community science project in the world. In Washington alone, there are 46 Christmas Bird Counts. I am wondering if there is interest in a 47th.

Christmas Bird Counts are held within a 15-mile diameter circle. Every bird seen within that circle is counted (even starlings). This data is used to track species and population trends on a continent-wide scale. There are many areas around the state that have never had a Christmas Bird Count and one of those is in our backyard – Scatter Creek. The proposed Scatter Creek Christmas Bird Count would help track populations of the species that winter on one of Washington’s most endangered ecosystems. The South Sound prairies are a shell of what they once were, now relegated to only a few disconnected areas. South Thurston county was once covered in prairie and now much of it is covered in houses, roads, and potential warehouses.

If Black Hills Audubon organized a count in the Scatter Creek-Littlerock-Maytown-Capitol Forest area, would you be interested in joining? If there is enough interest, we will pursue this idea which ultimately helps the birds.

If you would be interested in counting this area, please let me know. Thank you.

Dalton Spencer [email protected]

Scatter Creek CBC Center: 46.893278,-123.032216 Towns included: Rochester, Grand Mound. Little Rock, Maytown, South Union, Tumwater Public Areas included: Capitol State Forest, Black Lake, Millersylvania State Park, Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve, West Rocky Prairie, Glacial Heritage Preserve, Scatter Creek Wildlife Recreation Area, Black River Habitat Management Area, Black River Unit of Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

Bird of the Winter Season

By Sharon Moore

Bushtit – Psaltriparus minimus Order: Passeriformes Family: Aegithalidae

Have you ever wandered through an urban neighborhood looking up into the tree canopy and down into the shrub understory searching for bird nests? On just such a mission one spring morning in Olympia’s Capitol Neighborhood, I was disappointed, after nearly an hour, at not finding any active nests. About to walk on, I glanced around the yards in my view and glimpsed some unusual, long shapes hanging from a heavily leafed deciduous tree. What could those be? I wondered. Binoculars in hand, I focused on a number of tiny birds, which I couldn’t identify, moving quickly in and out from what I now saw were hanging nests. That marked my delighted discovery of a busy Bushtit flock readying their ―homes‖ to welcome new families of nestlings.

My reading later that day revealed that just one species of this small avian family, Aegithalidae, occurs in the New World. Even more interesting is that Bushtits have arrived in the Pacific Northwest only in the last half-century or so. These diminutive birds barely measure 2.8‖ to 3.1‖ long and weigh a mere 0.1 to 0.2 oz. With long tails and stubby, short bills, they are large- headed and appear plump for their size. Blending colors from brown to gray, they have brown crowns, gray wings and light gray breasts.

Bushtits live from sea level to 10,000 ft. Though they don’t migrate south for the winter, they may travel to lower altitudes joining other Bushtit flocks, huddling together in dense vegetative cover for protection from cold weather. Highly sociable and energetic, these tiny, animated birds fly in busy family flocks of 10 to 40 birds. Moving through open evergreen woodlands, along streamsides and around urban and suburban landscapes their search for food is constant. Spiders as well as aphids, ants, wasps, beetles and caterpillars which the Bushtits forage from the undersides of leaves make up their primarily diet. Occasionally, they even feed on berries and seeds. Though Bushtits rarely frequent yard feeders, you might attract them to your property by densely planting more native shrubs and small trees. In winter there’s a slight chance they may also appreciate hulled sunflower seeds, suet, mealworms and peanut hearts you offer at your feeders.

These lively birds display many interesting characteristics. Often they mix with other small songbirds such as kinglets, chickadees and warblers when foraging. Tiny acrobats, they hang upside down as they move along tree branches in search of tasty protein, calling continuously with high-pitched chips and twitters to stay close to the flock. Though they have no real song, they will mob predators using loud, intense calls. Their full alarm call is shrill. When foraging, they fly single-file, generally short distances, behind one specific leader. Due to their small wings, they are not strong flyers. The nest-building responsibilities of Bushtits are complex. To begin, the monogamous male and female explore possible nest sites by hanging spider webs on various branches of tree-trunks from heights of 3 to 100 ft. Once they choose a site, they may spend from one to two months building their architecturally intricate hanging nest. During construction they create a stretchy sac with spider webs, grasses and moss. As they continue the building process they might stretch the nest downward by sitting in it for a while. Ultimately the nest may be 12 inches long with a hole in the side near the top that leads down into the nest. The interior finishing touches include soft plant fiber, fur and feathers. The pair camouflages the outside with material from the tree in which the nest now hangs. We can thank the Bushtits for being recyclers. Next spring they will move their old nest material to use at their new site.

Bushtits’ spring breeding activities are intense. Clutches are normally 4 to 10 eggs, the incubation period is 12 to 13 days and the nesting time is 18 to 19 days. Both parents incubate and share the brooding and feeding of the young. They often have helpers with the feeding responsibilities from usually unmated males or breeders whose own nests have failed. While the young occupy the nest, the breeding pair plus helpers all sleep in the nest as well. Once the first set of nestlings is raised, the bonded pair usually remains at the nest to raise a second brood in the same season. An interesting phenomenon with these birds is that some nests contain huge clutches of eggs thought to result from communal nesting in which several females place eggs in one nest. The reasons for this complex social system are not well understood.

Bushtits have been here long enough now to be considered fairly common birds in the Pacific Northwest. They adjust well to various types of habitat; hence, their populations are quite stable. Given its general stability, the species’ wide, variable habitat choices suggest it is often adaptable to various conditions in many ecosystems. In the future, this adaptability may help the Bushtit to survive at least in the early decades of projected climate change. During summer in the Pacific Northwest, if temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), the Bushtit is predicted to lose 30% of its range. However, if the species is able to relocate, it may regain up to 19% of its lost range. For winter, the numbers point to a similar possibility. If the Bushtit can move to higher, cooler ground such as the Olympic Peninsula, it may regain 22% of the range it will have lost at lower, warmer elevations. Should temperatures continue to rise, nearly all bird species will find less range in which they can survive, and the likelihood of extinctions will be high. And certainly these rising temperatures will put all other wildlife and humans at risk as well.

Bird-banding Training Scholarships

BHAS will again offer two scholarships for bird-banding training this coming spring. The six days of training will be presented at Glacial Heritage Preserve over two long week-ends, scheduled for April 24-27 and May 2-4, 2020, by the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM). The cost for training each person is $500; BHAS will provide $450 of the fee for each scholarship recipient, so each participant will have to provide the remaining $50. After the training, each recipient will be expected to make a short presentation at a BHAS program meeting and participate in volunteer bird-banding using her/his new skills. Bird Banding Training 2020 Brochure

If you are interested in participating in this training and applying for one of the scholarships, please provide a statement that includes:

(1) Information such as college major or concentration, career plans, any professional work related to wildlife , and your experience with birds,

(2) Why you would be well suited to receive the training.

(3) How this training will be applied to your professional work, personal pursuits, and/or interests.

Send your statement, by March 1, to Deb Nickerson, Education Committee Chair, BHAS, at [email protected]. Volunteer Opportunities – February 2020

All chapter work is done by volunteers for whom we are very grateful. There are many opportunities to become involved at a level that is comfortable for you.

Great Backyard Bird Count: The 23rd annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 14, through Monday, February 17, 2020. Please visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information and be sure to check out the latest educational and promotional resources.

Annual Dinner: Activities are gearing up for our Annual Dinner. Sally Nole is our dinner chair and would love hearing from you. [email protected] is looking for helpers for the day of the event.

Program Meeting Help: We need greeters for program evenings, the second Thursday of the month. The greeter opens the door (which stays locked) to let people in for the program and says hello. Short 15 minute shift between 7 and 7:30 pm. Contact Carla Miller [email protected].

Snacks needed: Does anyone out there love making cookies? Snacks are needed for our program meetings on Thursday, February 6 and March 12. Sweet breads are also appreciated. Let Carla Miller know if you can help. [email protected] BHAS BOARD MEETING REVIEW – January 3, 2020

Highlights of the January 3, 2020 BHAS Board meeting:  David Sisk was welcomed as our newest Board member.  The Education Committee has made a $2000 donation to the Eye on Nature program at Nisqually NWR.  Our two Christmas Bird Counts have been successfully completed. The possibility of starting a third one in the south prairie region was discussed. The Avian Science Committee will do some preliminary investigation of this idea.  Also discussed was the possibility of hosting an event highlighting the Willapa Hills Trail. We might coordinate with the Gray’s Harbor Audubon chapter to do bird walks along the trail during spring migration.  The recipient of the 2019 Volunteer of the Year was chosen and will be honored at our Annual Dinner in March.  The Volunteer Co-coordinators presented a possible on-line calendar website on which our committee chairs could keep track of volunteer hours and tasks. This would be very helpful when our yearly reports and grant applications are due.  The By-laws Committee is working on updating our by-laws, specifically the section that discusses membership and newsletter functions.  The Conservation Committee continues to work on preventing the property owned by the Port of Tacoma from being rezoned for the NorthPoint warehouse complex. The hydrology report commissioned by BHAS has now been submitted to the Thurston County commissioners.  The Purple Martin nest boxes that BHAS installed at Boston Harbor have been cleaned and readied for next spring. Five out of the six showed evidence of use.