of the Spring Nesting Season: Black-headed

By Sharon Moore

Black-headed Grosbeak –Pheucticus melanocephalus Family: Cardinalidae Order: Passeriformes

These showy, vocal, gregarious are a joy to welcome back to the Pacific Northwest in late spring. After their arduous spring migration from Mexico in late April they’ve taken up residence with us once again, singing mightily from the treetops with their melodious, whistled warble that is faster and higher pitched than the American Robin’s song. The adult call is a sharp tick and the juveniles’ begging call is a low, plaintive, whistled weeoo. The males are currently courting the females with vigorous singing. A surprising fact is that the females are also singing regularly, if in softer tones than the males. Once the pair begins incubating their eggs they also each sing while on the nest. Cornell ornithologists have observed another unusual vocal behavior that may involve the female singing a full “male” song from the nest. This is possibly to trick the male into thinking she is being harassed and needs him to spend more time incubating and protecting her. In these monogamous avian relationships the males usually acquiesce.

As large songbirds, Black-headed have a short neck and a short tail that give them a somewhat stocky appearance. The adult males are striking with vibrant, orange bodies, black heads and black and white wings. The underside of their wings when in flight flashes bright yellow. The female’s head is not black but brown. She has a light orange or buff breast and may have streaks on the sides of her breast. When learning to recognize this bird it’s important not to mistake the male Black-headed Grosbeak for the male Spotted Towhee (Ripilo maculatos). At 7 ¾ inches long, the towhee is equal in size to the grosbeak; however, it has red eyes and a black hood running down to the upper chest. The towhee’s sides are rufous colored, the belly is white and the tail is long and black. The towhee also nests lower than the grosbeak in shrubby understory and is primarily a ground feeder.

The unusual molting pattern of these male Black-headed Grosbeaks bares notice. Though the females reach their definitive breeding colors from the molt that precedes their first breeding season, the males gain their adult coloration in a slower, more complicated process. Young males actually go through two molts during their first summer and fall after fledging. Following their first molt they still look like immatures or even appear to be females. Though these males are often capable of breeding, they are less successful at attracting mates than older males, possibly due to females’ preference for older males. The young males must wait a full year or longer before their next molt occurs to create the bright plumage of fully adult breeding males.

These lovely birds arrive with enthusiasm for the edges of our forests where they can nest safely and access lush, small tree and native shrub understories for the food they need to raise their young. With their thick, triangular bills, they are omnivores which eat across a broad spectrum of insects, seeds, grains, berries, wild and cultivated fruits and even snails and flower buds and blossoms. Generally they forage alone high in flowering, deciduous trees, feeding on buds in the spring. They will also often visit our feeders during the breeding season since they have a special predilection for black-oil sunflower seeds. We currently have two mated pairs and at least one immature male visiting our feeders for those specific seeds.

Black-headed Grosbeak males share much of the burden of raising the young. Initially, though, the female takes on most of the nest-building tasks. First she locates a well-camouflaged spot on an outer branch of a deciduous tree generally up to about 25 feet high. She also locates a good water source nearby. Her construction effort begins by spending considerable time collecting twigs, stems, rootlets and coniferous tree needles for the outer shell of the nest. The exterior of the nest is loosely constructed at about 5 to 7 inches. She then lines the inner surface, a cup 2 to 4 inches deep, with leaves, hair, thin stems, even string. This nest is designed to allow the necessary ventilation to keep the eggs and hatchlings cool in late spring.

Once the nest is complete, the female lays two to five eggs and the male actively assists with the 12-14 day incubation period. He also helps with feeding the newly hatched chicks for the next 10 to 14 day period until they climb out of the nest. Unable to fly for up to two weeks, they remain on the branch close to the nest waiting for their parents to feed them. The chicks are in considerable danger from predators from the time they hatch. Though the parents will tolerate species such as warblers and Bushtits that venture near the nest, they ferociously attack predators such as Western Scrub-Jays and Steller’s Jays. These aerial fights are vicious and the grosbeaks are not always successful in protecting themselves and their young from being killed.

With the increasing effects of global warming across the planet, as birders we’re concerned about the future of Black-headed Grosbeaks. In fact, they are currently considered to be a strong, stable population with, as of 2014, fourteen million birds breeding in and much of the U.S. and close to 100% of the total population over-wintering in Mexico. Given these numbers, even with growing urbanization, there is some assurance that the grosbeaks’ strong adaptability will protect them from severe population decline at least in the relatively near future. However, the advance of global warming, if unmitigated, will definitely affect them by causing scarcity of habitat and food sources. For now, the major danger to their wellbeing as a species is far too common nest predation. The Future Scope of Mining in Thurston County

By Sue Danver

The WA Growth Management Act requires a periodic update of Counties’ Comprehensive Plans and related ordinances. For the past two years Thurston County has been updating the Mineral Lands Policy within the Natural Resource Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. The process is entering its final stages with a possible recommendation by the Planning Commission in July or August and a vote by the County Commissioners sometime in late 2020. Watch for a BHAS alert on recommended options prior to the Planning Commission vote.

Below are issues of concern to BHAS that were brought to the attention of the Thurston County Planning Commission:

Designated Mineral Lands Map Update

Since the 2010 Mineral Lands update, WA now requires each county to create a map of all mineral deposits, which, in Thurston County are aggregate (sand and gravel) and quarry rock (basalt). Thurston County accomplished this task and the map was approved in 2019. 142,170+ acres, a large percentage of county lands (not in jurisdictions), have been designated as Mineral Lands. Prior to this new map, only 5,623 acres had this designation. Mining activity will concentrate in the southern portion of the County, which contains an abundance of high- quality gravel. Many of these designated lands will not be mined. People who have land that has been designated can ask to remove their property from designated status. Critical areas cannot be mined. But essentially, open space that is greater than five acres and has mineral designation can become a mine once a Special Use Permit (SUP) is approved. The general need for gravel and aggregate usually gives priority to the development of Mineral Lands.

The Planning Commission will next decide on additional options regarding more lands acquiring Mineral Lands designation: What will be the rules for expanding an already existing mine? What criteria must a parcel, without designation, meet to be granted mineral designation?

No planner, mine owner, or citizen knows how much of Thurston County will actually be devoted to mining or the location of new mines. This uncertainty is frustrating, if not frightening. When employing the most generous expansion and non-designated parcel options, up to 210,000 acres could have mineral designation. Currently, setting limits on the amount of land allowed to be mined with mineral designation is prohibited. BHAS hopes that, in the future, such limits can be included in the Comprehensive Plan.

Support for TC’s Hydrologic Code Requirements for Mine Applications

The sand and gravel aquifers in Thurston County provide water to many streams, wetlands, springs, and seeps that are habitat for fish and wildlife in our region. These aquifers also supply high-quality potable water to drinking wells in rural communities, towns, and cities. Altering groundwater conditions through mining changes the amount, timing, and duration of water availability. Such changes can cause harm, in perpetuity.

Unlike most western Washington counties, Thurston County depends solely on its aquifers for water. We have no runoff from high snow-covered mountains to enhance our water supply. Thus, it is critically important to protect the quality and quantity of Thurston County’s aquifer water. Deep mining, a preferred option to ostensibly reduce the number of mines, usually penetrates the aquifer and can interrupt and disturb the hydrogeological functions. Therefore, BHAS strongly supports the inclusion of pre-permit, hydrogeological analysis/report requirements in the mineral code section of the Thurston County ordinances.

1,000-Foot Separation Distance to Protect Hydrologic Function.

Since around 2000, Thurston County code has required a 1,000-foot separation distance between parks and mines. In this current Comp Plan update, only 36 public parks and preserves have been selected to have a separation distance. The most important reason for this separation is to maintain the hydrologic functioning of the adjacent parklands. Areas with gravel substrates are very sensitive. Habitats of many public parks and preserves support uncommon and even threatened or endangered plants and . Unique prairies – such as West Rocky Prairie — often with a patchwork of rare types of wetlands, reside on the best gravel in Thurston County. The habitats and the important wildlife species associated with these public parks and preserves, especially prairies, depend on specific seasonal fluctuations in groundwater levels and flows. Altering the timing or extent of seasonal water fluctuations can greatly harm the integrity of the parks and disrupt the narrow range of conditions that animals and plants depend on for their life stages. For example, eggs of the Federally-threatened Oregon Spotted Frog will fail if its wetland home water level varies more than 6” during the egg laying period. The flowering of the Federally listed wetland plant Howellia will fail with a similar change in water level.

Gravel pit mine evacuation work in Thurston County can substantially affect the underlying aquifers and groundwater levels, flow and quality in adjacent parcels. Analyses of existing and proposed gravel mine lakes in Western Washington show that groundwater levels decline or increase up- or down- gradient from a newly constructed lake whether, or not, a lake-bed clogging layer forms on the mine lake-bed. The magnitude and extent of the hydrologic changes caused by the excavated gravel-mine lakes vary from site to site. In some very sensitive sites, especially down-gradient, impacts to groundwater could reasonably be anticipated to extend substantially farther than 1,000 feet down-gradient from the new gravel pit lake. In other areas, impacts to groundwater up-gradient may also extend more than 1,000 feet from the mine. BHAS recommends that the 1000-foot separation distance between mines and parks and preserves be maintained.

Decreasing the 1,000-foot separation distance also threatens water quality. Fuels and/or other chemicals stored on site are potential contaminants if they spill. The ability to contain or capture spilled chemicals before moving down- gradient and contaminating off-site water resources is compromised as the separation distance is made smaller.

The Comprehensive Plan and the accompanying code language and direction are critical for maintaining our county’s healthy ecosystems and water resources. This current Mineral Lands Policy update process demonstrates how difficult it is to agree on even a modest modification of policy and code. Yes, we need to allow gravel mines because we all use gravel. But we also need to protect our agricultural and recreational lands, as well as secure clean and abundant water for our citizens, farms, and wildlife. The final language of the Comprehensive Plan update will provide direction for the next eight years and probably longer. Let’s be careful in the policy we choose. Birding Notes from the Field …er… from My Suburban Backyard

Black Hills Audubon Society has been unable to lead field trips, and BHAS birders are reduced to logging their sightings on ebird.com. Therefore, I would like humbly to report the birds I have seen in my backyard and southeast Olympia neighborhood this spring. No doubt an expert birder and birder-by-ear would have more to list. Still, the diversity of birds has been respectable. The weather has been kind, not stormy; perhaps that is why I have been able to see many birds.

Paul Hicks has reported to folks on his distribution list special birds he has spotted or heard. Perhaps others of you have something special to report! Let me know, and we can put it on our website.

I have a suet and seed feeder in my backyard, and across the street, behind houses, there is a water cachement wetland without pedestrian access. My development, Rossmoor I, has both mature tall and deciduous trees, mostly Mountain Ash and maples.

In February and March, our usual native and overwintering birds were active: both kinds of chickadees, juncos, crows, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Spotted Towhees, Stellar’s Jay, Western Scrub Jay. Anna’s Hummingbirds stayed close. Northern Flickers, Downy Woodpeckers, and Bushtits feasted on suet. Golden-crowned Sparrows arrived in the early spring; Song Sparrows and White-Crowned Sparrows started singing their songs. A few houses down the street, Starlings roost, but they rarely came to my feeders this spring.

Very occasionally, Townsend’s Warblers, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and Golden-Crowned Kinglet visited.

April brought lots more activity. Every dawn and dusk, thirty or more Mallards flew over our house to and from the wetland. They continue to fly over every evening. (This is not as impressive as last year’s approximately thirty Wood Ducks (!) who flew from the wetland to land smack in our front yard last spring.) A Leucistic Towhee (see photo) started hanging out in our cul-de-sac and continues to live behind a neighbor’s house. A Bald Eagle, mobbed by crows, soared overhead, as did Red-Tailed Hawk. Across the cul-de-sac one morning, atop a Douglas Fir, sat an Evening Grosbeak, spotlit by the morning sun. A single Rufous Hummingbird tried to bully Anna’s Hummingbirds away from the nectar, but our yard is Anna’s territory. Violet-Green Swallows scouted the neighborhood. They, and Tree Swallows, used to be common in our neighborhood, but development in southeast Olympia has, sadly, made our neighborhood much less attractive to them. Bewick’s Wrens buzzed. Canada and Cackling Geese flew overhead. In the mornings, Eurasian Collared Doves cooed. One afternoon, a Brown Creeper investigated a Douglas Fir next to my house.

I live a mile from the LBA Woods and walk there often, especially now with COVID-19 restrictions. One afternoon on the footpath around the ball fields in late April, four Townsend’s Warblers chipped a couple of feet about my head, heedless of me, seeking bugs. Pacific-Slope Flycatchers, Pacific Wrens, and Purple were thick. Band-Tailed Pigeons stayed high, and Mourning Doves sighed. A Raven patrolled the canopy.

At Fort Steilacoom (admittedly not in my backyard) , the Ruby-Crowned Kinglets were a dime a dozen.

In the first week of May, American Goldfinches, Western Tanagers, Black- Headed Grosbeaks, and Wilson’s Warblers all arrived in our cul-de-sac, active and vocal. In fact, a pair of brave Wilson’s Warblers sought bugs for about fifteen minutes in an old rhododendron right outside the window where I sit at my laptop.(!) Four Western Tanagers cavorted in the Mountain Ash across the street. Red-Breasted Sapsuckers tapped. A mother and baby House started visiting the feeder every morning.

This is also not my backyard: we visited Darlin Creek in late April, where Black- Throated Gray Warblers were busy at Darlin Creek’s parking area. Yellow- Rumped Warblers and Orange-Crowned Warblers were also thick. We heard Common Yellowthroat. Red-Winged Blackbirds nested in the reeds. Marsh Wren chittered. Four Bufflehead and a Hooded Merganser pair floated on Lake Lucinda. Brown Cowbirds whistled from up high.

As long as I am cheating with the limits of “my backyard,” I will also report Barn Swallow, House Wren, and Turkey Vulture on the Chehalis-Western Bike Trail. On May 10, there was an Olive-Sided Flycatcher atop a tall, tall snag.

Finally, we await the fledging of Chestnut-Backed Chickadees from one of our yard’s bird boxes. Oh those parents are working hard!

Entertainment For Those Times we Have to Stay Home

Even though our world is beginning to open up, many of us – especially we seniors – will most likely continue to find that we are not having the breadth of birding adventures that we are used to. Many of us will forego airplane travel; others will avoid crowded trails and viewpoints. And so, I thought might be nice to share a list of “birdy” documentaries that can help to fill a paucity of diverse birding experiences. At the very least, they are good for a very rainy day or for an August heat wave when our birds are scarce!

In no particular order…

Winged Migration This 90-minute, 2001 French film was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary category. Using primarily aerial photography – you feel you are flying right next to the birds – it depicts a variety of long- distance migrants, including geese, stork, and pelicans. Winged Migration can be rented from Amazon or iTunes for $3.99.

The Birders: A Melodic Journey through Northern Columbia This 52- minute documentary is a real find! It is very new, and so I am guessing that most of you haven’t yet heard of it. It was designed for “birders in quarantine”, and so comes with a checklist of the more than 100 species that are shown. The film follows photographers who are traveling the Northern Columbia Great Birding Trail, and covers a number of different ecosystems (the Pacific Coast, the Andes, the Amazon, etc.). The photographers spend a fair amount of time talking about their journey rather than always focusing on the birds, which some folk will appreciate and others will not. The quality of the photography is outstanding (the main one works for National Geographic) and the birds are magnificent! You can view the film and download a checklist of the depicted species at https://www.wherenext.com/blog/storytelling-agency-birding- documentary-film. If that link isn’t working, you can watch it for free (minus checklist) on YouTube at https://youtu.be/T-jn1_thxK8.

Nature Relaxation: Birds of the Rainforest f you want mindless, beautiful imagery, this one-hour long, narration-less compilation of clips of jungle birds singing and squawking away can’t be beat. You’ll see hummers, cockatoos, macaws, toucans and more. It can be viewed for free on YouTube at https://youtu.be/tbodhmmqa-g. There is a small watermark in the lower corner: if you want to avoid it you can go to https://watch.naturerelaxation.com/videos/birds-of-the-rainforest-4k-no- music, but you’ll need to pay a subscription fee or start a trial subscription. The March of the Penguins This feature-length 2005 film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, follows the lives of Emperor Penguins as they make the 70- mile overland journey to their breeding grounds and subsequently court, lay a single egg per pair, and care for their young. This film won the 2006 Academy Award for best documentary and has a 94% rating by Rotten Tomatoes. It can be rented for $2.99 from Amazon Prime or 99¢ from iTunes. Those of you who subscribe to Hulu can also enjoy The March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step, which follows the development of a young penguin as he and his family make the return journey back to the sea.

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos Filmed in northern Tanzania, this 2008 feature-length film displays the lifecycle of lesser flamingos. Although produced by Disney this is not a children’s film: nature is red in tooth and claw. The birds, scenery and photography are beautiful. It can be rented from YouTube or GooglePlay for $2.99

Designed to Dance: Birds of Paradise This 50-minute long film follows photographer Todashi Shimada as he tracks multiple species of birds of paradise in New Guinea and films the males dancing. It was produced by NHK- World, Japan’s equivalent of PBS. (Don’t worry, the narration is in English). It can be viewed for free on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20N6o6QwWhY.

Naturescapes: Eight Hours of Beautiful Birds If you want to see Washington State birds in all their glory, an 18-minue promo for a soon-to-be- released relaxation video, this one is a good choice. It should please those who miss getting out and seeing local birds and, especially, for beginners who want to practice their local bird identifying skills. It can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QEOrpj1EbM. The Naturescapes site itself is at https://www.naturescapesmusic.com/collections/pure-relaxing- nature. They have other bird videos for sale, and if you like the promo you can go to it to get the full version once it is available.

Peregrine Falcon: Lord of the Skies Available at https://www.amazon.com/Peregrine-Falcon-Skies-Vincent- Chabloz/dp/B07KF5CQMH for free if you have Amazon Prime. Numerous reviews cite mistakes about several specific facts (e.g. speeds of various animals), but the film is still a very moving piece about these glorious raptors. Birds are shown in varied habitats, including urban ones, and a lot of time is devoted to rearing young. This 50-minute film can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Peregrine-Falcon-Skies-Vincent- Chabloz/dp/B07KF5CQMH.

I’ve got lots more, and if there is enough interest, I can add to this list in next month’s Echo. Happy armchair birding! Armchair Birding: Birds at My Table: Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why It Matters

By Darryl Jones

This is not the usual kind of book on feeding wild birds, with tips on feeder styles and seeds. Darryl Jones is a Griffith University Professor and Deputy Director of Environmental Futures Research Institute, in Brisbane, Australia. He asks a lot of hard questions about the how, when, and especially why a growing number of people in many countries feed birds and then he dives into any research that exists to find the answers. He pokes and probes, travels everywhere to meet others in this field or anyone he thinks might have some inklings of the meaning and impact of this practice. He examines his own bird feeding and those of friends and neighbors, casually and in rigorously designed studies. Darryl Jones really wants to know!

He is aware that many—probably most—feeders of birds begin this curious habit without much knowledge of birds or deep thought about the impact of their largesse. Often, he found, people begin feeding birds by scattering bread crumbs, kitchen scraps, or purchased seed because there had been a winter storm or other instance of harsh weather, perhaps a drought. One fascinating tidbit he reveals is the differing cultural choices of what to feed birds: in Australia it is not uncommon to provide large amounts of raw meat, hamburger and sausages, for instance. It turns out many common Australian birds are carnivorous. It is startling to imagine the sight—and smell.

Jones finds that winter-feeding is the most widely practiced program and the most accepted. Until recently, it was quite frowned upon to feed birds at any other time. There was a belief, strenuously propagated, that feeding birds during their nesting time would actually be harmful; there was a fear that nestlings would choke on human offerings or die from unbalanced diets. That turned out to be unfounded but it was a deeply felt supposition in many places. There are other cultural beliefs and taboos that still shape this pastime but, as he discovered, very little actual knowledge or sustained scientific research on the topic. Jones had more questions than answers; partial information only led him on to dig deeper and search out more research that would fill in some of the gaping blanks he discovered. This is a relentlessly science-based inspection of a somewhat cavalier human behavior, a fascinating contrast in approaches.

Jones did find more and more people feeding birds in many places. And he did come to some conclusions about how this movement had developed, seemingly spontaneously, if not definitively. More people live in cities and suburbs and are looking for some connection to nature, now tenuous or lost. Feeding birds recreates that contact, that opportunity to see birds close up and to feel you are doing something to help them survive and even thrive. There is an acknowledgement that we’ve paved over and disrupted the birds’ normal places and that we ought to compensate birds for what we’ve destroyed. And, secondly, there is now a growing bird feeding industry happily supplying us with “mass produced, ready-made, packaged mixes” and myriad designed feeders that enable us to indulge this pursuit with ease. So long as we are availing ourselves of quality, fresh, appropriate mixes, this has been a boon, but there is no doubt the industry has both facilitated and helped create this newfound practice.

There isn’t room here to more than hint at Jones’ wide-ranging analysis beyond the obvious. He examines far beyond the choices of black sunflower seeds or nyger—the British name for thistle seed, suet or mealworms, asking what do birds really need and not just what is available in the marketplace, through different life phases and seasons. How does it change bird behavior to habituate them to approach a feeder when other species are present with whom they would not normally interact? Do feeders create disease vectors? How does feeding impact the timing of breeding season and the numbers of surviving offspring? And how do the changing outcomes impact population trends and species survival? And larger still, do these changes—and there were behavioral changes—impact entire ecosystems? What are we doing to the balance of nature? Are birds that are weaker surviving and reproducing, thereby influencing the evolution of species? Are humans really helping or thoughtlessly interfering? More research is needed!

But one thing was certain, that although Jones found that there is much still to be learned about the impact of bird-feeding on birds, and that more research was crucial, it is abundantly clear that feeding birds has the power to change the world because it changes humans. In the Anthropocene*, what humans do matters. Feeding birds helps us reconnect to nature; it stokes our need to engage, to wonder and to care. It is a chance to address our “extinction of experience” and bring birds and other animals back into our lives. With better science to examine our role and responsibilities, we can feed the birds with more wisdom and cherish our shared moment, especially in this time of bird- watching from our confined home spaces. Darryl Jones has a lot to tell us about this path forward. We are all a part of this global experiment.

*Definition from http://www.anthropocene.info/, a website dedicated to the discussion of this new geological era: “The Anthropocene defines Earth’s most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, or anthropogenic, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes are now altered by humans.” The word combines the root “anthropo”, meaning “human” with the root “-cene”, the standard suffix for “epoch” in geologic time. Annual Picnic Cancelled

Sadly, our annual June picnic has been cancelled for 2020 due, of course, to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It has been our practice to gather on the

2nd Thursday evening of June at the picnic shelter at Priest Point Park for a bird walk followed by a potluck dinner. This was a wonderful time of fellowship for our members as well as an opportunity to recognize our amazing volunteers. At this point, nothing has been scheduled as an alternate event as the future for group gatherings is not clear. Our fingers are doubly crossed that we will be able to resume this tradition in the June of 2021. Thank you for your understanding.

Annual Dinner Sponsors

Although our March Annual Dinner had to be postponed (and maybe cancelled altogether), the following businesses and individuals graciously offered Black Hills Audubon goods and services to use as fundraising items. Our appreciation to them is boundless and we hope you will consider patronizing these businesses whenever possible.

Boston Harbor Marina, Hummers Heated Delight, Kayak Nisqually, Seattle Audubon, Stottle Winery, Eastside Urban Farm to Garden Center, Featherfolio, Westport Seabirds, Wild Birds Unlimited, Olympic Mountain Ice Cream, Fish Brewing, and Gull Harbor Mercantile.