The Hooter Kittitas Audubon

The Southwest Coast Path of Cornwall,

England is one of that country’s long-

distance walking trails. The National Trust

has patched up ancient smuggler-lookout

trails and compiled hundreds of private

easements to assemble a 600 mile long

hiking path that closely follows and over-

looks some of the most beautiful coast-

lines anywhere. This past September we flew to London and railed

to the Southwest to walk some parts of the trail that bend around

the southwest tip of England, Land’s End. Fortunately for us beau-

tiful weather settled in - after “England’s

rainiest summer in 100 years”.

Walking the path is an endless feast for

the senses: green slopes falling away to

cliffs; sandy coves with turquoise blue

water (and surfers!), slate-stone fences

and vegetated hedgerows; native heath

uplands, a tangled mix of blooming

heather and gorse; ghostly stone towers

that mark old tin mines; and English villages and towns with their

charms and antiquities – altogether a perfect mix of wild lands and

civilized comforts. We took photos of birds as we happened on them but didn’t

usually go looking, and tallied about 60 species, including scrub-loving passer-

ines, town-loving corvids, and shore and ocean birds. About 20 of these also

occur in North America, mostly along the Atlantic, and some of the remainder

are closely related (as species-pairs) to New World birds. We will share scenery

as well as highlighting those birds we bumped into (and could get a good shot of

– with beginner’s luck).

Some side trips rounded out our trip after two weeks of

walking: we discovered the Isles of Scilly, offshore from

Land’s End, a cluster of granite islands with a balmy cli-

mate, lush gardens, and sea birds. We visited Tintagel, an old castle perched

on the north Cornwall coast and associated with legends of King Arthur. On

our last free day we biked the Camel River estuary and found many new wad-

ing birds to photograph in the sunshine. The next day – it rained hard, and we

headed home. (Bird photos, clockwise from top: turnstone, wheatear, European

Robin, juvenile Common Moorhen) *See Page 4 for general information on meetings.

January 2013

“Walking Cornwall’s Coastline...and Beginner British Birds”

presented by Jan Demorest & Steve Moore Membership Meeting, Thursday, January 17, 2013 @ 7:00 Pm, Hal Holmes Center

1878 - Prang’s “Birds of Prey, Natural History Series for Children

Page 2 The Hooter

2012 Ellensburg

Christmas Bird

Count Notes

Wow! With fog in the morning and snow falling in the af-

ternoon, we still tied the record for the highest number of

species yet found on our CBC. The only species new for

the Count was the Snowy Owl, which was present from

Dec 9 through the 16th, but was not seen on Count Day.

Of the species found in their highest numbers ever,

three stand out. The previous high for Red Crossbills was

nine, 16 years ago. This year 71 crossbills were found by

five different groups. Five Lincoln’s Sparrows were seen

this year, in the Manastash and Ringer Loop areas. There

are four previous records since 2000, all of single birds.

And as expected, the count of Collared Doves set a new

high; 165 is more than triple the previous high of 50.

How many of these doves can the Valley support?

Since 35 years for a CBC is a long time, I should men-

tion the species seen in their 2nd highest numbers ever:

N. Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Killdeer, Brown Creeper, Be-

wick’s Wren, Pacific Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Am.

Robin, Varied Thrush, and Am. Goldfinch. I don’t see a

pattern here.

Species seen in unusually low numbers, compared to

their last 12-year averages, were: Am. Wigeon and Mal-

lard, about half the average number, Bald Eagles and

Rough-legged Hawks about two-thirds of average, and

Rock Pigeons and Mourning Doves about half their 12-year

average numbers. Mourning Doves have been in steady

decline for about the last 4 years. A problem with declar-

ing Collared Dove to be the reason is that both Mourning

and Rock Doves are only back down to about the same

numbers as they were in the 1990’s.

All this to say, “Keep on Counting”. The information

provided by the CBCs gets more valuable each year. Next

year’s count will be on Saturday December 14. Thanks

again to our hosts, Steve & Linda Hall.

Phil Mattocks, CBC coordinator

Editor’s Choice!

Send in your stories & photos!

The Hooter is the newsletter of

Kittitas Audubon, published

monthly except for July.

~~~~~~~

Submissions from members &

other readers are most wel-

come and encouraged! The editor reserves the right to edit

for space, grammar, and/or suit-

ability. Email text and/or photos to

bobcat@kvalley.com or snail mail

to Jan Demorest, Hooter Editor,

712 E 2nd Ave, Ellensburg, WA

98926. Submissions need to be in

by the 20th of the preceding month.

KAS BOARD MEMBERS President – Jim Briggs 933-2231 Vice President – Bud Rechterman 962-4508 Secretary – Diane Bullock 968-3175 Treasurer – Sharon Lumsden 968-3889 Conservation – Vacant Education – Judy Hallisey 674-6858 Field Trips – Steve Moore 933-1179 *Newsletter – Jan Demorest 933-1179 *Historian – Gloria Lindstrom 925-1807 Programs – Jeb Baldi 933-1558 Publicity – Gerry Sorenson 968-4857 Wildlife Habitat – Joe Meuchel 933-3011 *Bluebird boxes – Jan Demorest 933-1179 Past President — Gloria Baldi 933-1158

Membership – Tuck Forsythe 925-2356

*Christmas Bird Count – Phil Mattocks 962-2191 *Librarian - Ginger Jensen 925-5816 Social/Greeter – Kay Forsythe 925-2356 *NON-VOTING POSITIONS

KAS Board Meetings are held at 4:30

PM on the 1st Thursday of each

month on the third floor of the CWU

Science Bldg, Room 301 (above the

elephant desk). These meetings are

open to the public and all Audubon

members; please come and join in the

discussions. Meetings adjourn by 6:00

or 6:30, after which we all go out for a

sociable dinner ~ NO business discus-

sion allowed!

Future Programs (mark

your calendar!)

February 21st: Members’

Slide Show Extravaganza

* See Page 4 for details See Page 8 for more info!

First Saturday BirdWalk ~ December 1st ~

Before Diane & I left our home this first Saturday

morning of December, the wind was howling and

it was cold. We may have crawled back into bed

but we had agreed to be the leaders while the

Baldis are in the warmth of the Yucatan! We

dressed in layers & put on our rain gear to stop

the wind & headed out. On the freeway driving to

town, we noticed a huge storm blasting the Ma-

nastash canyon & thought it was heading to El-

lensburg. An inauspicious beginning, we nervously

agreed. Maybe no one will show up??? We fortu-

nately got it all wrong. At Rinehart Park, it was

sunny, ~45 degrees with only a slight breeze.

The birds weren’t out in great numbers but Diane

& I enjoyed the company of 4 other birders as we

made our way on our customary route. We did

note that no wildlife seemed to be present on the

Reecer Creek flood plain. We thought that per-

haps someone ran their dogs through prior to our

arrival. How nice it would be to have a birding

blind and some sort of dog/people barrier on that

Southeast corner of the flood plain.

Notable species included: Hairy Woodpecker (we

don’t often see these in the valley), Brown

Creeper, and Golden-crowned Kinglet, plus a large

flock of Dark-eyed (Oregon) Juncos. Total 18

species.

Trip Leader Tom Gauron

McNary NWR, December 8. With relatively

mild weather, four birders combed the

McNary marsh reserves, a famous winter

waterfowl area with a very nice visitor

center, as well as open water stretches

along the Columbia River south of Pasco.

The river mouths of the Snake (Hood

Park) and Walla Walla (Marie Dorion

Park) are especially good spots as well.

Numerous perched redtails and kestrels

made the drive along I-82 entertaining.

Our first stop at Hood Park yielded sev-

eral waterfowl (goldeneye, bufflehead,

cormorant, Western and Pied-billed

Grebe) offshore, and flocks of smaller

birds (Brewer’s Blackbird, Dark-eyed

Junco, a few Yellow-rumped Warblers) in

cottonwoods, being watched by a pair of

Peregrines and a Merlin. From the car

window we watched the female Merlin

(with Taiga coloration) reduce a starling

to a pile of feathers. Nearby on the Co-

lumbia were a couple of lone White Pelicans (too

weak to migrate?) and Bald Eagles. Burbank

Marsh, the showpiece of McNary, held huge flocks

of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, coming and

going constantly, roaring upward with the pas-

sage of a harrier or eagle, then settling back

down. A blind at the edge of the water makes for

cozy viewing. We kicked ourselves later for not

checking for the smaller Ross’ Goose, but we

logged “blue” Snow Geese, Greater White-

fronteds, Cackling Canadas, and a pair of unusual

white-faced Canadas. (Dr. Phil says these are

most likely

a hybrid

Cackling

Canada

Goose:

“Well, they

are geese.

Among

Cackling

Canadas -

short bill.

That's a

Barnacle

Goose face pattern, but even juvenile Barnacle

Geese are black-chested. My best guess is that

they are an escaped hybrid of some kind, particu-

larly since there are two of them.) One could

spend several more hours in this blind getting

“goose-calibrated”. Other Burbank Marsh birds

included pintail, Hooded Merganser, Mallard,

scaup (only one), and Tundra Swan. At our lunch

stop-with-a-view above

the Columbia we saw

eagles harrying each

other for a duck lunch,

a flock of 40 swans, and

a couple of Krider’s

Redtails – light birds

with partly white heads.

At Dorion Park we found

kestrels and a perched

Cooper’s Hawk and a

recently-dead White-

Crowned Sparrow -

somebody’s lost lunch,

now in our freezer. 44

species seen. A fine day

well-spent!

Steve Moore

Field Trip Reports Page 3 The Hooter

Photo by Steve Moore

Diane Bullock photo

Mystery Goose

Female Merlin lunching on a starling

I wish we’d had Sunday’s weather on Monday, but

except for gusty winds occasionally hitting about 30 m.p.h, conditions weren’t all that bad (by Cle Elum CBC standards), since temperatures were above freez-

ing and there was only a little snow falling in the af-ternoon. We did get a good layer of fresh snow that came down Sunday evening, and that limited access to some places. However, it was the wind that really kept the total number of birds down.

Highlights:

Trumpeter Swan at least 3 on Hansen Rd. Ponds (9 there Sunday) RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER 1 heard up the Teanaway Rd. (1 seen there Sunday) Northern Shrike Two sheltering inside a barn!

(Total seen: 3)

Common Raven High Count of 270 Red-breasted Nuthatch Low Count of 26 American Robin Low Count of 1 BOHEMIAN WAXWING 114 on Burke Rd. GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH Very active flock of ~250 in Hidden Valley

Common Redpoll 220 up the Teanaway, 5 on Iron Horse Trail

We mostly couldn't get into areas burned by the Tay-

lor Bridge Fire and the Table Mountain Fire Complex. Where we were able to bird those areas, the loss of brush seemed to greatly reduce bird numbers. No

Black-backed Woodpeckers were found, and we had a low count for Hairy Woodpeckers (1 bird), so no indi-cation yet of those birds moving into the burned sites. Total Species seen on the count was 68. Scott Dow-nes' HOARY REDPOLL on Sunday up the Teanaway, and Tom Mansfield's NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL spotted

there while he searched for the Hoary later on Sunday bring the Count Week total to 70. Those numbers are pretty typical for the Cle Elum count. Total Birds seen were only 3234, which is our third-lowest total out of 8 years.

The Red-naped Sapsucker, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, and Hoary Redpoll were new birds for the count. Our cumulative species total is now 99 species. Many thanks to the fifteen people who helped with this count!

Michael Hobbs www.marymoor.org/birding.htm

Page 4 Hooter Cle Elum Christmas Bird Count, December 17th, 2012

Annette Williams

Mary Ann Macinko

Janette Tureman

Muriel & Jud Weaver Lynn B Sealey

Thank-you

for renewing

your KAS

membership!

“KAS MEMBERS’ SLIDE SHOW”: For the 3rd year running, members are invited to submit 2 to 20

photos of their choice to share with others at the February 2013 monthly meeting. Images - of birds,

plants, animals, trips or people (your choice!) - will be assembled in a Powerpoint slide show.

New for this year: please submit 2 or 5 (or more) photos, at least 20

years old.

Of birds? Who had a camera that good back

then ??? So how about: of

people we know - on

vacation, or

otherwise having a

good time! Many such older photos will

be either paper or slides, so you may

submit them by mail to:

c/o Steve & Jan, 712 E 2nd Ave

Ellensburg, WA 98926

We will digitize them for the show and return the originals.

So dig out those

old photo boxes

and give it some

thought for a fun

program!

???

All Audubon meetings, held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Hal Holmes Center next to the Library, September through May (except De-cember), are open to the public. Please come

and meet with us. A brief business session pre-cedes the program. Stay afterwards for juice, treats, and conversation.

Many thanks to the Ellensburg Public Library for sponsoring our meetings here!

Birds & Winter (from National Audubon) Page 5 The Hooter

Winter is a great time for watching birds–in many parts of

North America the trees are free of leaves and a scarcity of

natural food makes them more likely to visit feeders. It's

easy to entice new visitors to your yard in winter by offering

food and shelter. Try any of these tips to help birds stay

warm and to draw them into your yard this winter:

Provide high-energy foods such as suet, peanut butter,

and black oil sunflower seed. These foods are all high in

fat and are packed with calories to help birds keep

warm.

Provide a heated birdbath. In some parts of the world it may be difficult for birds to find sources of

unfrozen water. Offering them a mildly heated birdbath will help them stay clean and free of para-

sites. This is also a great way to attract birds that do not usually come to feeders.

Leave nest boxes out throughout the winter, or consider buying or building a roost box. Either of

these will help to shelter birds from cold, wind, rain, and snow. Nest and roost boxes can also offer

protection from predators.

Native plants provide many benefits to birds in the form of food, shelter, and nesting habitat. Many

native plants will provide fruit and seeds throughout the winter. Native plants also attract native

insects, an important source of food for many species of birds. Look for seed or fruit-bearing plants

native to your area at nurseries and native plant sales.

Read more about how to make your yard a healthier and more attractive place for birds.

Here’s an example of birds finding winter food in a local yard: 12/18/12 ~ We have had several Varied Thrushes hanging around our place the last few weeks. Yesterday, on our first significant snowfall day, I captured this male and female munching on apples that we leave on the trees for the birds.

This afternoon we were treated to about twelve plus Mourning Doves that landed right in front of our window - too skittish

to get a photograph. First time we've ever seen that many together.

Gloria & Hal Lindstrom Photos by Gloria Lindstrom

Prairie Falcon seen on the

Ellensburg Christmas Bird Count in Cove Road area.

What a beauty!

Photo by Lee Barnes

Prairie

Falcon

Page 6 Hooter Ellensburg Christmas Bird Count - December 15, 2012 30 observers in 9 parties, plus 3 at feeders; 69 party hrs, plus 2 hrs owling. Fog in AM, snow & overcast PM. 24-27 degrees, no wind, 1-4” snow cover, most still water frozen. Highest ever counts for the 35 years of the Ellensburg CBC are in boldface.

Double-cr Cormorant 2 Black-billed Magpie 768

Canada Goose 1003 Am. Crow 20

Cackling Goose 33 Raven 107

Tundra Swan 3 Horned Lark 30

Am. Wigeon 21 Black-capped Chickadee 273

Mallard 240 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1

Green-winged Teal 54 Mountain Chickadee 1

“Common Teal” 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 9

Ring-necked Duck 27 White-breasted Nuthatch 1

Lesser Scaup 13 Brown Creeper 17

Bufflehead 18 Bewick’s Wren 21

Common Goldeneye 31 Pacific Wren 10

Barrow’s Goldeneye 9 Marsh Wren 1

Hooded Merganser 13 Am. Dipper 5

Common Merganser 53 Golden-crowned Kinglet 56

California Quail 1422 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7

Gray Partridge 23 Townsend’s Solitaire 1

Ring-necked Pheasant 6 Hermit Thrush 1

Pied –billed Grebe 2 Am. Robin 331

Great Blue Heron 58 Varied Thursh 61

Bald Eagle 9a 5i Bohemian Waxwing 1

N. Harrier 55 Cedar Waxwing 9

Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 Starling 3074

Cooper’s Hawk 22 Spotted Towhee 8

Red-tailed Hawk 311 Lincoln’s Sparrow 5

“Harlan’s Hawk” 1 Song Sparrow 111

Rough-legged Hawk 24 Fox Sparrow 4

Buteo, sp. 3 White-crowned Sparrow 182

Golden Eagle 1 Golden-crowned Sparrow 1

Am. Kestrel 116 Dark-eyed Junco 1273

Prairie Falcon 4 “Slate-colored Junco” 2

Killdeer 20 Red-winged Blackbird 375

Common Snipe 19 Brewer’s Blackbird 110

Rock Pigeon 201 Cassin’s Finch 10

Mourning Dove 347 House Finch 969

Eur. Collared Dove 165 Red Crossbill 71

Barn Owl 3 Pine Siskin 31

Great Horned Owl 14 Am. Goldfinch 934

Barred Owl 1 Common Redpoll 9

Short-eared Owl 2 Evening Grosbeak 20

W. Screech-Owl 1 House Sparrow 748

Belted Kingfisher 29

Downy Woodpecker 62 Total Birds 14,298

N. Flicker 126 Total Species 83

Northern Shrike 1 Seen only in Count Week:

Steller’s Jay 41 Merlin, Snowy Owl

Observers: Jeb & Gloria Baldi, Lee Barnes, Gordon Crane & Joan Cawley-Crane, Lana Cruse, Jan Demorest & Steve Moore (co-compiler), Scott Downes, Wayne Erickson, Deb Essman, Kay Forsythe, Tom & Diane Gauron, Steve & Linda Hall, Judy Hallisey, Don Knoke, Noel Knoke, Doug Kuehn, Hal & Gloria Lindstrom, Phil Mattocks (co-compiler), Norm Peck, Jo Ellen Richards, Gerry & Marilyn Sorenson, Walter Szeliga, Cricket Webb, and Cynthia Wilson, Kittitas Audubon Society. (see comments on Page 2)

Page 7 Hooter

Darling Bird Studios, ©2007 UNA

Membership & other news!

BECOME A KITTITAS AUDUBON MEMBER!! (Or renew your membership)

Receive The Hooter ~ help support education and conservation activities and projects!

Two options are available:

OPTION 1: Membership in National Audubon includes a subscription to the magazine, Audubon, membership in the local chapter (KAS), and KAS monthly newsletter, THE HOOTER

____ Join as a new National Audubon member $20 (includes KAS membership)

____ Renew a National Audubon membership $35

Make check payable to: National Audubon Society Include this form and mail to: Membership Data Center, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235

Name ___________________________ Address __________________________________________

City _____________________________ State, ZIP _________________________________________

Chapter Code COZY220Z

OPTION 2: Membership in only the local chapter, KAS, includes the monthly newsletter, THE HOOTER

____ Join the local Kittitas Audubon Society (KAS) chapter $20

____ Renew your KAS membership $20

____ Make a donation to KAS $______ (amount)

Make check payable to KAS and mail to: KAS, P.O. Box 1443, Ellensburg, WA 98926

Name ____________________________________ Phone __________________________________

Address __________________________________ Cell _____________________________________

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State, ZIP _________________________________ Would you like to receive The Hooter electronically?

May we print your name in The Hooter as a new, Yes ____ No, prefer paper edition ____

renewing, or donating member? Yes ___ No ____

Kittitas Audubon is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational society.

All memberships and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

Membership forms are also available on our Web site: Kittitasaudubon.org.

For membership information contact Membership Chair, Tuck Forsythe ~ forsythe@fairpoint.net

Check out BirdKitt!! Get the latest news on bird sightings in Kittitas County from our very own regional “BirdKitt”, an online “listserve” for all persons interested in bird sightings in Kittitas County. You can post your own sightings and sign on to have new postings

sent directly to your email address.

If you are not already signed up, here’s how to do it: send an email to subscribe@yahoogroups.com . Reply to the first email about Birdkitt that you re-ceive from “yahoogroups”. To unsubscribe: send email to birdkitt- unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com . If you have difficulty, contact Chris Caviezel chris.caviezel@gmail.com

Send your name,

mailing address, &

email address to: info@kittitasaudubon.org

At the beginning of

each month, we’ll send

you an email with a

quick link to the new

Hooter.

Wanna get the

Hooter online?

Upcoming KAS Field Trips

THANKS TO KITTITAS COUNTY BUSINESSES

SUPPORTING KAS! Inland Internet, Roslyn,

donates Internet service for our Website. Old Mill

Country Store, Ellensburg ~ Provides a discount on bird seed to KAS members and prints our county bird

lists. Get your bird seed here!

Kittitas Audubon

P.O. Box 1443

Ellensburg WA 98926

JANUARY

5th, Saturday ~ First Saturday Bird Walk,

Irene Rinehart Park. Continuing a January tra-

dition: we’ll meet at Irene Rinehart parking lot at

8 AM, head for breakfast at the Bar 14 Res-

taurant, and re-assemble afterward at 9 am,

back at Irene Rinehart parking lot, for a 2 ½-

hour walk. Winter-wonderland specialties to look

for are waterfowl on the ponds, Brown Creeper,

dipper, and eagles. Frosty foliage and riverside

icicles are frequent photogenic sidelights. Jeb &

Gloria Baldi lead: 933-1558.

19th-20th, Saturday-Sunday ~ Waterville Pla-

teau, Columbia River and Okanogan High-

lands. Overnight trip. Past Waterville excur-

sions have yielded Snow Buntings, a Snowy Owl,

and lots of raptors. Extending the trip to a sec-

ond day north of Brewster, we’ll explore the lake-

spotted woods of the Okanogan. Objectives are

arctic fugitives, waterfowl, and unusual large rap-

tors and owls. Overnight in Pateros with views

of Lake Pateros from the motel , and a nice bak-

ery & pizza spot next door. Call Steve & Jan, 509

-933-1179.

FEBRUARY

2nd, Saturday ~ First Saturday Bird Walk,

Irene Rinehart Park. Meet 8 AM at Rinehart

parking lot at the river’s edge. Last year, Tundra

Swans, Least Sandpipers and Dippers were found

sheltering in our neighborhood park. Mid-winter

dishes up surprises in exchange for nippy nose

and fingers. Jeb and Gloria Baldi lead; 933-1558.

The Hooter - January 2013 The Newsletter of Kittitas Audubon - http://www.kittitasaudubon.org

The mission of Kittitas Audubon is to develop an

appreciation of nature through education and conservation,

with a focus on birds.

Program ~ January 17h 7:00 PM

Cornwall’s SW Coastal Path

Don’t Miss It!!!

Look for details in February Hooter!