Rainier Audubon Society March 2009

Rainier Audubon programs are free and open to all.

Federal Way United Methodist Church29645 - 51st Ave. So.

(in unincorporated Auburn) 98001

Directions: In Federal Way, take 320th St. EAST past The Commons, crossing over I-5 and Military Rd. At 321st St, turn left. Stay on 321st as it becomes 51st Ave. So. Follow 51st Ave. to 296th. Church will be on your left at 296th.

Monday, March 16, at 7:00 PMRainier Audubon Presents

Vaux’s Happening and the Monroe Vaux’s Swiftswith Larry Schwitters

Many of you have heard of the thousands of Vaux’s Swifts that arrive each evening at the chimney of a certain Monroe elementary school during the migration season. During last fall's migration, in addition to the Vaux’s Swifts, hundreds of birders, also known as Swifties, gathered to watch the arrival of the swifts. The Monroe chimney is thought to be the third largest swift roost in North America. "Vaux's Happening" is an organization dedicated to promoting the Vaux’s Swift and Larry Schwitters is one of its dedicated members. Larry will be giving a Power Point presentation on the first year of VAUX's HAPPENING, including how they attempted to locate all the Washington state migratory communal roost sites for this species. Once the sites were located, observers attempted both north-bound and south-bound censusing. The project eventually included Oregon and California with the goal of a yearly border-to-border seasonal population count. Vaux's Happening was important in demonstrating the significance of the Monroe Wagner Elementary School site, which Audubon is working on saving from the wrecking ball.

Larry is retired after 29 years in the trenches of public school science education. His work for the American Bird Conservancy in locating the Pacific NW Black Swift waterfall roosting/nesting sites was eventually refocused on the more accessible chimney roosts of the Vaux's Swifts. For more information, please visit the VAUX'S HAPPENING website at www.vauxhappening.org. This will be a truly interesting and educational program. Please join Rainier Audubon with a warm welcome to Larry and the swifts. Refreshments are available before and during the program, while conversation is available always.

MARCH 2009 - PAGE 2

----------NaNcy Streiffert----------------------Steve feldmaN--------------------------Jim tooley -------------------------------dale melaNd----------------------------carol Schulz---------------------------carol StoNer---------------------------Pat toth---------------------------------daN Streiffert-------------------------debra ruSSell--------------------------JaNe GardNer

----------NaNcy hertzel--------------------------aNNette tabor--------------------------NaNcy Streiffert----------------------max PriNSeN----------------------------eriN WoJeWodSki-PriNSeN

----------tricia maclareN-------------

Rainier Audubon SocietyPO Box 778

Auburn WA 98071(253) 796-2203

website: www.RainierAudubon.orgemail: info@rainieraudubon.org

PreSideNt

vice PreSideNt

treaSurer

ProGram chair

field triP chair

backyard habitat chair

memberShiP chair

coNServatioN chair

mailiNG chair

hoSPitality

NeWSletter editor

educatioN chair

chriStmaS bird couNt coordiNator

board member

board member

board member

----(253) 796-2203----(360) 802-5211----(253) 854-3070----(253) 946-1637----(206) 824-7618----(253) 854-3207----(206) 767-4944----(253) 796-2203----(425) 271-0682

----(253) 255-1808----(253) 927-3208----(253) 796-2203----(425) 432-9965----(425) 432-9965----(360) 802-0304

OFFICERS

President’s MessageBy Nancy Streiffert

Hello, Rainier members! I volunteered to be President of Rainier Audubon at the January Board meeting; the Board voted “yes” and now I am learning the responsibilities that others have so ably fulfilled in the past.

Too bad being president does not automatically make one an expert birder! I grew up with binoculars on the kitchen table and have always watched birds and animals as part of hiking, biking, and gardening, but still consider myself to be an amateur. My current passion is native plants and their reintroduction into as much of my own and others’ properties as I can manage! The close links between the birds we love and the native plants that provide them with food through berries, sap, nectar, etc. and indirectly through the insects that they attract, is all part of the amazing natural web that we can help re-weave.

I look forward to working with the members and friends of Rainier to “conserve and restore natural ecosystems, and to protect birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and biological diversity” – our mission – and to have fun doing it! Please step up and let the board members and me know how you’d like to be involved.

Heron Herald to Continue in Printed Format!

Last fall, in an effort to pare expenses, the Rainier Board made the decision to discontinue printing and mailing our newsletter, the award-winning Heron Herald, and try going instead with a web-only version; the changeover was set to begin with the January 2009 issue. But what happened?? Many people expressed sadness at the prospect of having no printed newsletter to read, and many were uncomfortable using only an online newsletter.

The Board revisited the issue, and heartened by recent number-crunching by Jim Tooley, our Treasurer, voted to rescind the web-only option and keep printing and

mailing the Heron Herald! Thus, we are very pleased to inform our members that they will continue to receive the newsletter in their mailboxes on the 1st of every month.

Pieces written by our members are always welcome. Do you have an idea for an article about birds, plants, or the environment? Send your ideas, articles, and photos to us at Info@RainierAudubon.org.

Although for years I have had to use my eyes intensively at short range from morning to night, they have continued to do me good service and I have not fallen into the necessity of encumbering my face with glasses. However, during the fall and winter of 1944-45, when my way of life kept me more closely confined than ever, it became increasingly apparent that they were giving out on me. The letters on a printed page appeared increasingly blurred, and sometimes I was no longer sure of recognizing my friends across the street. Day after day I tested my eyes on the printed page or on signs posted about the city and marked their continuing deterioration.

It was in the second half of January that I began adventuring abroad on Sundays to see how the great outside

world was coming along, and it was then I made my discovery. After every excursion I found my eyes immediately repaired and for several days the letters of the printed page were sharp to my vision, which tended to grow murky again only toward the end of the week. When I began to go out every morning as well as Sundays, my vision returned to its full clarity and so remained. Glasses could not have improved it. The deterioration in my vision (was arrested) after a few hours in the open peering at birds. I have since found that it returns and my vision begins to be blurred when I have not gone abroad for a number of weeks, and that it is always restored as completely by the same means.

- Louis J. Halle, Spring in Washington, 1947

Is Birding Good for Your Eyes?

[Photo by Dan Streiffert]

MARCH 2009 - PAGE 3

Field Trips - By Carol Schulz

Weekly Bird Walksat Nisqually

Wednesdays8:00 AM to 11:30 AMLeader: Phil Kelley

Join Phil on his weekly bird walk as he counts the birds at Nisqually NWR. On the first Wednesday of the month, the group takes a longer hike on the full loop (at least for awhile this spring, depending on construction). The other weeks, the trip is shorter, totaling about four miles. On these weeks, the group walks out to McAllister Creek via the new cross-dike trail, then walks the boardwalk/trail to the Twin Barns, the Nisqually overlook area, and out past where the ring dike used to be. BRING: Good walking shoes or boots, raingear, water, snacks, and $3 for entry fee unless you have a pass. Scopes are welcome.

MEET: At the Visitors Center.

DIRECTIONS: Take I-5 south from Tacoma and exit to Nisqually NWR at exit 114. Take a right at the light.

SIGN-UP: Call or email Phil to confirm details: (360) 459-1499, or scrubjay323@aol.com.

[Note: Big changes are happening at Nisqually! Over the next 3-4 years, while the estuary reconstruction project is going on, check www.fws.gov/nisqually and click on “Events and News.” During the reconstruction, some trails may be closed temporarily.]

MARCH 2009 - PAGE 4

Winter Owl Prowl at Soos CreekSaturday Night, March 7, 2009

10:30 PM to 1:30 AMLeaders: Joe and Liz Miles

Join Friends of Soos Creek Park volunteers Joe and Liz Miles for this late-night program and walk exploring the world of owls! We’ll start indoors for the first hour, learning their calls, ID, and info about our local owl species, then venture outdoors to prowl for owls.

Group size is limited to 15 and reservations are required. Best for adults and children over 13 years. The owls program is sponsored by Kent City Recreation Dept.

MEET: Soos Creek Park Maintenance Shop. Soos Creek Park/Trail. 24810 - 148th Ave. SE in Kent

DIRECTIONS: Take James St. east from Kent. To reach James St, exit 167 at Willis, turn east to Central and north to James. Go east on James as it becomes SE 240th St. Travel about four miles, as 240th dips and turns downhill. Turn right on 148th at the bottom of the hill. The Soos Creek maintenance yard will be down the road about 1/4 mile on the left at a barn and chainlink-fenced parking lot.

SIGN-UP: Call Kent Commons at (253) 856-5000. This trip FILLS EARLY. For further information, email or call Joe Miles at (253) 629-00123 or at joe.miles@att.net. Joe can answer your questions, but cannot arrange the sign-ups.

Field Trips, continued on page 5

Rainier Audubon would like to take a moment to recognize an outstanding member, Leonard Peyton. Mr. Peyton is

well-known for his contributions to the birding community, including recordings of bird songs in Alaska for Cornell University, and extensive studies of Common Redpolls.

We inadvertently omitted Leonard Peyton’s name from our CBC recognition article in last months’ Heron Herald, and we sincerely apologize for that. Mr. Peyton submitted a feeder watch list for our CBC. He and his wife lived in Fairbanks for many years until he retired, and are now

residents of Des Moines. We are proud to count Mr. Peyton as a member of Rainier.

Field Trips, cont.

Othello Sandhill Crane Festival

Friday through Sunday, March 20 - 22Othello, WA

Reported by Carol Schulz

The Othello Sandhill Crane Festival is a wonderful birding festival in eastern Washington. The FIELD TRIPS, lectures, and banquet served at the high school are all famous now; and quite a few participants and speakers come from out of state. The field trips leave in school buses, vans, and cars from the high school.

Registration information and tour info is available at www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org or by calling (866) 726-3445 toll-free after 4 pm.

The most popular trips and accommodations fill early, so register ASAP. For more information about the festival, call or email Carol at (206) 827-7618 or linusq@att.net. Email is preferred.

Des Moines and Tukwila Parks & TrailsSaturday, March 14, 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Leader: Carol Schulz

Join us as we visit Grandview Park, the Black River heronry in Tukwila, and the fishing pier, beach, and new trail in Des Moines. The herons should be building their nests at the heronry in Tukwila, which is actually a Renton City Park. The herons continued nesting there last year despite a Bald Eagle nest nearby. The herons have become more aggressive toward the eagles during the nesting season, and are building their nests farther back in the forest. There may be over 50 nests being built when we visit, and the leaves should not be hiding them since it will still be early in the season. In Des Moines, we will look at the salt water birds, and walk up the new Des Moines Creek Trail which has been extended up from Beach Park. At the parks we will hear birds singing their spring songs (great for learning bird song). We will be walking about one mile on paved and unpaved trails.

[Photo above: Great Blue Heron by Dan Streiffert]

BRING: Warm clothes, lunch, drinks, and snacks. Scopes are very welcome.

MEET: Des Moines P&R, 8:00 AM. Those who wish to leave early may bring their own cars.

DIRECTIONS: Take I-5 to exit 149. Turn east about 1 block to Military Rd. Turn north (left) on Military. P&R is on the left.

SIGN-UP: Call Carol at (206) 824-7618, or email linusq@att.net. Email is preferred.

MARCH 2009 - PAGE 5

MARCH 2009 - PAGE 6

Here it is, the early part of February, and although the days are getting a bit longer, we’re still deep into winter. My yard, near Covington, seems rather dull and I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary, bird-wise, for a long time. The snow in December brought many Fox Sparrows and a Hermit Thrush, but they disappeared when the snow melted. There are the usual juncos, Golden-crowned and Song sparrows, Spotted Towhees and jays in and around the brush piles near the feeders. A Sharp-shinned Hawk cruises through now and then and everything goes quiet for awhile.

The pair of suet logs usually have some chickadees, a nuthatch, or a flicker working away on them. A handsome pair of Hairy Woodpeckers have been coming regularly this winter, and once in a while the great Pileated Woodpecker will swoop in and take over the logs in its audacious way, scattering all the other birds!

Bushtits seem more numerous than ever. They sometimes work their way across the grassy meadow out front, flitting from bush to bush around the house and then land on the suet logs. Sometimes there are SO many of them crammed onto those vertical logs that they make me think of aphids on a rose stem. What delightful little guys! It’s hard not to smile when you watch a flock of Bushtits.

The little Anna’s Hummingbird was perched on top of the high-bush cranberry early this morning when I went out to put shelled peanuts in the feeder next to the fir tree. I am hoping to attract a flying squirrel some night since my neighbor tells me we have them here. But mostly it is chickadees who fly in and out of the narrow opening of this covered feeder, carrying the nuts away one by one until the two cups of nuts I put out each day have all disappeared by the end of the day.

Now and then a Band-tailed Pigeon comes to the platform feeder for sunflower seeds. And sometimes there’s a small flock of these large, gray birds that descend from the tall firs where they perch. I have waited a long time for these shy beauties to discover my yard. One day, there was a Band-tailed Pigeon and a Mourning Dove sitting not far from each

other in a tall alder tree.

Large flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds have been showing up recently in the tall cottonwoods. I love their noisy, harsh calls. They will soon be taking up habitation in the cattails of the area.

Walking the path into the woods and down the hill to the Soos Creek trail below will often start a tiny Winter Wren chattering and scolding as we intrude in his territory. Walking along the trail, we don’t see many birds these days. Maybe they are there, but just not singing or moving around much. It always seems like there should be more

woodpeckers and sapsuckers in the snags and alders along the trail. Aside from an occasional Song Sparrow, you can walk for quite awhile and not hear or see anything. Even the heron rookery has not had much activity lately. Where are the Brown Creepers that we see in the spring and summer? I thought they were year-round birds…Oh the wonders and mysteries of our local birds!

This afternoon, I told my walking friend I would be writing an

article about what’s going on in our yards and in the area, so we paid special attention as we walked the trail, for signs of birds. There were several robins, a jay and flicker calling in the distance, but mostly it was fairly still. UNTIL a tiny Bewick’s Wren began scolding and worked its way right up to within two yards of us -- right out in the open along the side of the trail. He hopped along the ground poking that needle-sharp bill in, around, and under stems and vegetation foraging for insects. No binoculars necessary -- that distinct white eyebrow was so pronounced! What a perky, busy little fellow ... probably the best close-up view I’ve had of a Bewick’s Wren EVER! And then a few yards farther down the trail we noted the resident Red-tailed Hawk perched on the tall electric tower where he often sits. While we were looking at him, an Anna’s Hummingbird flew past and perched on the top of a short willow clump. He raised his beak to the sky and sang his little ‘rachetty’ song again and again while we stood marveling at him.

(Continued on page 7)

February in the GardenBy Linda Bartlett

Bushtits by Dan Streiffert

MARCH 2009 - PAGE 7

2009 Spring Birding Festivals

OthellO Sandhill Crane FeStivalMarch 20, 21, 22

www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org

OlyMpiC peninSula BirdFeStapril 3, 4, 5

www.olympicbirdfest.org

WingS Over WaternOrthWeSt Birding FeStival

april 18www.blainechamber.com/wow

Brant WildliFe FeStival (BC)March 7 through april 25www.brantfestival.bc.ca

grayS harBOr ShOreBird FeStivalapril 24, 25, 26

www.shorebirdfestival.com

February in the Garden(continued from page 6)

The bright yellow skunk cabbage flower in some of the ditches is already beginning to poke up about four inches, which is a welcome sign that spring is on its way. And the yellow catkins of the native hazelnuts have become very noticeable and showy in the last few days. Just a few more warm days and the Indian plum blossoms and pussy willows will be popping out.

By the end of the month, that great chorus of little tree frogs will be serenading in the wet meadows and shallow ponds everywhere. Back up from the trail, my yard now seems quite busy. I guess that may be why we often don’t see much down on the trail. The birds are all up in peoples’ yards who have put out feeders for them.

I called my neighbor to check on the Great Horned Owls that we’ve been hearing at night. The Barn Owls in his barn have families (did you know that they will nest year around if food is plentiful?) and the Great Horned pair are scoping out the tree where they often nest behind his house. He also got a Saw-whet to answer to a tape behind his place last Friday night. So, even though I long for the more colorful tanagers, warblers, grosbeaks, and other neo-tropical migrants that we see in the summer, the birds ARE out there, probably looking for signs of spring as much as we are right now.

THINK GLOBALLY

ACT LOCALLY

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