The Hooter Kittitas Audubon February 2018

All Audubon meetings, held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Hal Holmes Cen-

ter next to the Library, September through May (except December), are open to the

public. Please come and meet with us. A brief business session precedes the program.

Stay afterwards for juice, treats, and conversation.

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

Membership Meeting - Thursday, February 15th, 2018

“On Foot Along the Coast of Wales” presented by Steve Moore & Jan Demorest

7:00 PM at Hal Holmes Center next to the library ~ 209 Ruby Street

The western coastlines of Britain display dramatic sea

cliffs stretching for hundreds of miles; many parts of

these scenic shores are lined with continuous footpaths

to which thousands of

ambulatory tourists are

lured each year. Jan

Demorest and Steve

Moore sampled parts of

the Cornwall coast a

few years ago, describ-

ing that trip for Kittitas

Audubon in January

2013.

This past year, it was

Wales that beckoned

us with its justly famous Pembrokeshire Coast Path, a continuous trail 160

miles long, that rounds the southwestern headlands of Wales. Walking

along the cliff-top path exposes you to a backpack-full of visual experienc-

es: contorted rock layers laid bare by the power of the sea, sandy coves

with swimmers and surfers, historic villages with old churches and friendly

pubs, ancient prehistoric ruins and monuments scattered about the country-

side, trailside flowers poking through the gorse and heather, smallish cities

and marine ports, and, of course, birds big and small, seen continually along

the path perching on twigs, flying above, or nesting on offshore rocks. De-

termined to document the birds along the way in photos, we found ourselves

reaching for camera and cellphone as the views changed around each bend

in the coastline.

We walked on our own, but to simplify logistics, hired a local firm to book

accommodations and transport bags. This company was able to customize

(Continued on page 3)

Page 2 The Hooter

Board Notes by Gloria Baldi

From the January 4th meeting ~

National Geographic Magazine is partnering with National Audubon, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and Bird Life International to designate 2018 as “The Year of the Bird”. The intent is to have a multifaceted approach to recogniz-ing and conserving birds. By reviewing their periodicals and websites, we will all learn and enjoy new information about our avian species.

Tom and Diane Gauron attended the Audubon Confer-ence of Washington in Sequim, giving a report on the ses-sions, speeches, and field trips.

Steve Moore and Jan Demorest gave a report on bird-ing on Whidbey Island while participating in South Whid-bey Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count.

The December Board minutes and Treasurer’s reports were approved.

Kris Kaylor reported ten new members to KAS in the month of December.

Rose Piccinini, the new Program Chair stated that all programs are planned through the end of the May, plus into September.

Steve Hall, the new Education Chair, reported that the 5th grade Outdoor Education Program is approaching 50 years, and birding is a part of it. He is pursuing KAS in-volvement. He is also looking at Middle School ideas.

Rose and Meghan Anderson are working on the Christ-mas nestbox building opportunities with Knudson Lumber Co, who furnishes wood, and Wahluke High School shop classes, who cut the wood according to plans.

Norm Peck, because of his participation on the WA State Hydraulic Committee, gave details regarding the dredging of small bodies of water in Washington State. He recom-mended KAS sign a letter to WDFW commission stating our concerns, which the Board approved.

Norm also gave a report on the Wenas Target Shooting Committee, which is finalizing its report. At this time WDFW will patrol the area more frequently and better se-cure backstops and berms.

Judy Hallisey is serving on a Kittitas County committee regarding fishing access to the Yakima River, which will

(Continued on page 3)

Send in your stories & photos!

The Hooter is the

newsletter of Kit-

titas Audubon,

published monthly

except for July.

~~~~~~~

Submissions from readers are most welcome and encouraged!

The editor reserves the right to edit for

space, grammar, and/or suitability.

Email text and/or photos to bob-

cat@kvalley.com or snail mail to Jan

Demorest, Hooter Editor, 712 E 2nd

Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926. Sub-

missions need to be in by the

20th of the preceding month.

The mission of Kittitas Audubon is to develop an appreciation of nature through education

and conservation, with a focus on birds.

KAS BOARD MEMBERS President – Judy Hallisey 270-792-9188

Vice President – Barb Masberg 509-406-3104

Secretary – Jim Briggs 933-2231

Treasurer – Sharon Lumsden 968-3889

Conservation – Norm Peck 933-4233

Education – Steve Hall 925-4877

Field Trips – Steve Moore 933-1179

Historian – Gloria Lindstrom 925-1807

Programs – Rose Piccinini 509-631-0591 Publicity – Meghan Anderson 253-987-7629

Scholarship – Gloria Baldi 933-1558

Climate Change–Barry Brunson: 270-792-9186

Past President – Tom Gauron 968-3175

*Newsletter – Jan Demorest 933-1179

Membership – Kris Kaylor 509-304-4103

*Bluebird boxes – Jan Demorest 933-1179

*Social Greeter – Kay Forsythe 925-2356

*Christmas Bird Count–Phil Mattocks

*non-voting members

KAS Board Meetings are held at 4:30

PM ~ 1st Thursday of each month at

the Methodist Church across from

The Ellensburg Public Library. 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, then we all go

out for a sociable dinner ~ NO busi-

ness discussion allowed!

Field Trip Reports Page 3 The Hooter

January 6 ~ Saturday

Birdwalk, Rinehart

Park ~ Instead

of a “normal”

and hoped-for

New Year’s

arctic wonder-

land, this year

we encoun-

tered the rem-

nants of thaw-

ing weather, slipping and sliding over rough frozen

patches that shortened the walk to a stroll up and

down the park entrance road. The woodland trail

was too icy to navigate. Eight of us turned out to

share a Yellow Church breakfast, and then to

peer through a fog blanket that began to lift under

weak sunshine at mid-morning. All was quiet until

about 10 am, when all at once flocks of multiple

species - chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and

Downy Woodpeckers - began to appear in the

branches above us. What was notable about the

day is that a couple of birds often seen just once

were in “clumps”: 3 or 4 dippers were active un-

der the bridge and heard again upstream, and a

similar number of Brown Creepers were gleaning

up the trunks of trees along the road – I don’t

think we’ve ever seen so many before. Bewick’s

Wrens were around and vocal too, and we got a

good look at a single Song Sparrow nibbling grass

seeds on the roadside, practically at our feet. With

1 eagle and 1 redtail as well, we logged 16 spe-

cies to call it a day.

~ Steve Moore

also help birding access.

Norm reported that there will no longer be Atlan-tic salmon fish farms off Washington’s shores. (This decision is due in part to the inability to con-tain fish when the nets tear.)

Meghan Anderson is gathering materials for a booth to be used at Home Shows and other events. The purchase of banners was authorized by the Board.

Gloria Baldi stated the Scholarship applications are ready to go out mid-month for 2018-2019 re-cipients.

Several members attended, and some spoke, at the state EFSEC hearing regarding the solar farm project in Kittitas County. If the project is ap-proved, Judy Hallisey encouraged the TUUSSO Energy Company to plant native flowers beneath the panels for the benefit to birds.

Barry Brunson, Judy Hallisey and Meghan An-derson have been active with the Our Environ-ment group.

All members are welcome to attend the Board meetings. Please come!

(Continued from page 2) Board Notes

the trip based on the distance we wanted to

walk in a day, 7-10 miles. Allowance was

made for extra days to tour Pembroke’s minia-

ture city of St. David’s, and to visit an island

wildlife preserve by boat. On the trail we of-

ten found that, with photo stops and the stud-

ied appreciation of nature’s spectacles, one

mile/hour was a good average. Our program

will trace the highlights of our route and intro-

duce the birds of Britain - pipits to peregrines

and chaffinches to choughs - that we encoun-

tered on the path.

(Continued from page 1) The Coast of Wales

The Year of the Bird

Celebrating 100 Years of the Migratory Bird

Treaty Act

In 2018, we mark the centennial of the Mi-gratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful

and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature

lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate the “Year of the Bird” and commit

to protecting birds today and for the next hundred years. https://

www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/year-of-the-bird/

Kittitas Audubon will be celebrating with informative and inspiring features in each issue of The Hooter during

this special year of raising awareness about birds.

Apologies for miscommunica-tions about this BirdWalk! We

are truly sorry that anyone missed the walk. We hope you’ll forgive us, and join us at anoth-

er First Saturday BirdWalk!

Each year in April, two CWU students are selected

by a committee of CWU professors and a Kittitas

Audubon representative from applications submit-

ted for a $2500 scholarship each to be used for

tuition or expenses for a research project. (Three

KAS members advise our representative.) Five

scholarships have been awarded over the last

three years, and in April 2018, two more will be

given. The five varied projects of the recipients

have all supported the mission of KAS.

For 2017 and 2018 Lindsay Millward and Scott Ku-

gel were selected. Both are graduate students.

SCOTT KUGEL

Scott Kugel is a second-year graduate student in

Central Washington University's Cultural and Envi-

ronmental Re-

source Manage-

ment program.

Originally from

Anchorage,

Alaska, Scott

received a

bachelor's de-

gree in Geology

in 2014 from

the College of

Wooster in

Wooster, Ohio.

He has always

had interests in

water resources

and how they

impact the nat-

ural world around us. To that end, his research is

examining the environmental impact of several

abandoned hard rock mines on the water quality

of the upper Yakima River.

Scott is looking at the ore processing techniques

used by miners during the turn of the 20th century

to see if they have lasting environmental effects

that can seriously impact the health and well-

being of the species that rely on the river. He

spent this past summer conducting research on

these mines, visiting several of them, and collect-

ing water and sediment samples that he has ana-

lyzed to evaluate how harmful they may be. He

plans to finish his thesis this spring, after which he

would like to move to a job as a Park Ranger for

the National Park Service.

LINDSAY MILLWARD

Lindsay Millward is a terrestrial population and

community ecologist with research interest in con-

servation biology, road ecology, and human-

wildlife interactions. She received her B.S. in Biol-

ogy from Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Pre-

vious research experience includes observing red

kangaroo behavior at the Nashville Zoo, recording

dolphin wake and bow riding behaviors in the Mis-

sissippi Sound, and measuring decomposition

rates of invasive exotic honeysuckle in a terrestrial

forest.

We know Washington State Department of Trans-

portation (WSDOT) is expanding I-90 east of

Snoqualmie Pass and has constructed wildlife

crossing structures (WCS) and underpasses similar

to the natural environment to address the effects

on wildlife of

increased

traffic vol-

umes, wider

roads, and

wildlife-

vehicle colli-

sions, in ad-

dition to al-

lowing the

connectivity

of species

between the

Central Cas-

cades and

the Cascades

to the south

of I-90. Few

studies have evaluated the use of the crossing

structures by small mammals. As indicators of

healthy ecosystems, small mammals serve many

important roles functioning as prey species and

dispersers of seeds and mycorrhizal fungal spores.

Her objective is to use mark-recapture, tracking

stations, and wildlife cameras to evaluate which

small mammals are using the wildlife undercross-

ing and if they were using those installed with

habitat features. Part of last summer was spent

collecting this data. Preliminary results indicate

high abundance of generalist species (mice and

voles) and lower diversity near the crossing struc-

ture compared to the adjacent forest. The results

of her study will provide baseline data, offer a

snapshot of small mammal crossing structure use,

and suggest habitat improvements to WSDOT.

Upon completion of her M.S. degree this summer,

Lindsay plans to work as a wildlife technician and

ultimately earn her PhD.

Page 4 The Hooter KAS Offers Scholarships!

Short-eared Owls Survey WA

The Western Asio Flammeus Landscape

Study (WAfLS) is a citizen science project

designed to gather information to better evalu-

ate the population status of this species. Such

information is needed by conservation practi-

tioners who want to design management ac-

tions that will reverse the Short-eared Owl

population declines. Visit this website to read

about the survey and sign up!

http://www.avianknowledgenorthwest.net/citizen-science/short-eared-owls

Many sites in Eastern Washington have been claimed, but there are still a bunch waiting for you!

Volunteer Citizen Science Projects Page 5 The Hooter

NASA’s earth science division is seeking citizen

science volunteers who snowmobile, snowshoe, or

cross country ski, to measure snowpack in the

backcountry. Maybe this is something we could ad-

vertise or promote among communities of people

who do such things? Details are at:

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/

scientists-seek-us-backcountry-skiers-to-

measure-snowpack/

I learned of this via the 15 Jan newsfeed (I’m way

behind in my reading!) from Sigma Xi, The Scien-

tific Research Honor Society.

~ Barry Brunson

Love to Ski, Snowshoe, Snowmobile?

Need Volunteers to Measure Snowpack in the Backcountry!!!

“If you take care of birds, you take care of most of the environmental problems in the world.”

Thomas Lovejoy ~

Biologist and Godfather of Biodiversity

40th Ellensburg Christmas Bird Count - December 16th, 2017 Page 6 The Hooter

White-fronted Goose 17 Northern Shrike 1

Cackling Goose 6 Steller’s Jay 88

Canada Goose 1324 Scrub Jay 1

Snow Goose 4 Black-billed Magpie 395

Trumpeter Swan 4 Am. Crow 11

Gadwall 1 Raven 184

Am. Wigeon 56 Black-capped Chickadee 328

Mallard 412 Mountain Chickadee 7

Green-winged Teal 24 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3

Ring-necked Duck 60 Red-breasted Nuthatch 27

Lesser Scaup 4 White-breasted Nuthatch 4

Bufflehead 16 Brown Creeper 4

Common Goldeneye 34 Bewick’s Wren 23

Barrow’s Goldeneye 2 Pacific Wren 4

Hooded Merganser 36 Marsh Wren 2

Common Merganser 134 Am. Dipper 3

Wild Turkey 46 Golden-crowned Kinglet 13

California Quail 772 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4

Great Blue Heron 61 Hermit Thrush 1

Bald Eagle (19a,9i) 28 Am. Robin 9

N. Harrier 18 Varied Thrush 7

Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 Cedar Waxwing 20

Cooper’s Hawk 21 Starling 3020

Red-tailed Hawk 318 Audubon’s Warbler 1

Rough-legged Hawk 15 Spotted Towhee 3

Buteo, sp 3 Am. Tree Sparrow 3

Am. Kestrel 58 Fox Sparrow 4

Merlin 2 Song Sparrow 106

Prairie Falcon 1 White-crowned Sparrow 73

Am. Coot 5 Golden-crowned Sparrow 20

Killdeer 3 Dark-eyed Junco 519

Wilson’s Snipe 8 “Slate-colored Junco” 2

Rock Pigeon 218 Red-winged Blackbird 239

Eur. Collared Dove 754 Brewer’s Blackbird 87

Mourning Dove 269 Brown-headed Cowbird 10

Barn Owl 7 House Finch 788

Great Horned Owl 10 Red Crossbill 2

Long-eared Owl 1 Common Redpoll 63

W. Screech Owl 1 Pine Siskin 7

Anna’s Hummingbird 1 Am. Goldfinch 357

Belted Kingfisher 12 House Sparrow 1115

Downy Woodpecker 49

Hairy Woodpecker 2 Total Birds 12,510

N. Flicker 56 Total Species 84

Red-breasted Sapsucker 1

Seen also during Count Week: Barred Owl

Twenty-nine observers in 9 parties, plus two at feeders; 64 party hours, plus 2 hours owling.

Cloudy/overcast all day, 24-40 degrees, 0-4” snow, ponds mostly frozen, creeks mostly open.

A new all-time high species count, two new species for the Count, and five highest ever species counts

for the 40 years of the Ellensburg CBC are in boldface.

Observers: Jeb & Gloria Baldi (co-compiler), Dick & Ter-ry Carkner, Gordon Crane, Joan Cawley-Crane, Lana Cruse, Jan Demorest, Bob Dittrick, Scott Downes, Sierra Downes, Deb Essman, Kay Forsythe, Tom & Diane Gauron, Judy Hallisey, Steve Hall, Doug Kuehn, Hal & Gloria Lindstrom, Phil Mattocks (co-compiler), Steve Moore, Lisa Morehead, Norm Peck, Brad Rasmusson, JoEllen Richards, Roma Stokes, Walter Szeliga, Margy Taylor, and Judd & Muriel Weaver for the Kittitas Audubon Society.

The weather this year for the weeks preceding the Count was almost balmy. Last year was extremely cold; yet both years saw the highest or almost highest-ever va-riety of species. This year five species were found in their highest ever numbers for the Ellensburg Count. The usual 30 observers participated, for the usual number of field hours. Perhaps there actually is a more varied avifauna in the Kittitas Valley recently, or maybe we observers are getting smarter about finding birds in our areas.

Canada Geese were again well above their 12-year av-erage. There was a new high for White-fronteds, and a few Cackling and Snow Geese were around. Numbers of ducks were up also; Mallards, American Wigeons, Ring-necked Ducks, Common Goldeneye, Hooded & Common Mergansers were all present in about double their 12-yr averages. Two Barrow’s Goldeneyes on the Yakima River off the Ringer Loop were the first seen on the Count since 2012.

The Rough-legged Hawk count was low; all other hawks were at about average numbers. Bald Eagles were at nor-mal numbers after last year’s all-time high. The Red-shouldered Hawk found last year along Woodhouse Road apparently did not return. The two Merlins found were in town; one just south of the water tower and the other south of the High School.

There was a new high count of “Wild” Turkeys; 46 seen by four! Groups. The last Gray Partridge was seen on the Count in 2012; surely that is a coincidence.

We have counted about 900-1300 doves & pigeons here every winter since 2001. This year the count of Eur. Collared Doves was up 43% from last year to a new high count of 754. And we were still below 1300 doves count-ed within the Circle. It is no surprise that the count of Mourning Doves has been below their 12-yr average 6 years out of the last 7, and lower each year since 2013. Up to now I have been saying that E. Collared Doves are a tree dove and prefer the thicker trees of towns, while Mourning Doves prefer countrysides with brush and sparse trees, and so the two could coexist. We shall see.

Five species of owls were found, as is usual, and with counting the Barred Owl of Count Week. However, one of these five was a Long-eared Owl, found at Helen McCabe Park for the first record for the Ellensburg CBC.

The other new species for the CBC is an Anna’s Hummingbird that has been coming in to the feeder at Norm Peck’s house in town. We wish this tiny bird good

luck. Global warming yes or no, it is still cold in the Kittitas Valley in the winter.

The Lindstroms found a Red-breasted Sapsucker in their yard, for the first one seen here since one was seen every other year 2001-2005 in Steve & Linda Hall’s yard.

The 88 Steller’s Jays was a new high count for the CBC; the old high was 64 in 1996. One of the California Scrub Jays resident since 2011 was still around to be seen. Mag-pies, crows, and ravens were in their usual numbers, whereas all three species of chickadees were seen in above average numbers. Red-breasted Nuthatches set a new high count, 60% higher than the old high of 17 seen in 1989.

Steve Hall & I found almost no small birds in our area and we thought they had all gone up to the mountains. However, total counts of wrens, thrushes, most sparrows, blackbirds, House Finch, Goldfinch… all about normal. There were only about half the average number of White-crowned Sparrows and juncos, and there was one Audu-bon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler, at Doug Kuehn’s feeders. We wish it well also.

Finch excitement was provided by 63 Common Red-polls, along Fairview Road just north of Watson Road. (I heard that the flock was not seen there the next day). There were also 74 Pine Siskins spread among four groups and two feeders, for the highest count since 2004.

Thanks to all observers. As we keep saying, these data become more valuable with each year. Put Saturday, De-cember 15, 2018 on your calendar for next winter, and thanks again to our hosts Steve and Linda Hall.

Gloria Baldi & Phil Mattocks, compilers.

40th Ellensburg Christmas Bird Count - December 16th, 2017 Page 7 The Hooter

Page 8 The Hooter Climate Change Communication

(The other) Washington

Some recent news doesn’t bode well for either

birds or people (especially the younger and yet-to-

be-born generations).

On killing birds

On 22 Dec 2017, the Deputy Solicitor of the De-

partment of the Interior issued a legal opinion that

overturns decades of interpretation of the 1918

Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This new view asserts

that the MBTA prohibits only intentional killing,

and will not be applied to things that incidentally

kill lots of birds, e.g., oil field wastewater evapora-

tion ponds and communication towers. How radi-

cal a change is this? Seventeen former top DOI

officials sent a strong letter of protest to Ryan Zin-

ke. They include all but one of the Directors of the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1973, span-

ning the administrations of Nixon, Carter, Ford,

Clinton, and both Bushes. See the detailed article

by Elizabeth Shogren in the 26 Jan 2018 High

Country News:

https://tinyurl.com/yc8hfeab

For the actual letter signed by the 17 former offi-

cials, see: https://tinyurl.com/y77jfnzu.

The MBTA itself was one of the first wildlife protec-

tion laws ever enacted. “Its creation was one of

the National Audubon Society’s first major victo-

ries,” as stated in an article that contains more

detailed analysis by the NAS. See:

https://tinyurl.com/y8rk5m5x

Please note that the NAS article ends with an ex-

hortation for us to write our congressional repre-

sentatives, and urge them to oppose any legisla-

tion that would weaken the MBTA. Oh, this was

but one among many policies that the DOI re-

scinded in late Dec, via “Order 3360” signed by

the Deputy Secretary, with no public fanfare.

Among the others was to erase the entire climate

change chapter of the DOI manual. For more spe-

cifics, see: https://tinyurl.com/y9uk4c75

On solar panels

Donald Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imported

solar cells and solar panels, ostensibly to help do-

mestic manufacturers who claimed to be harmed

by cheap imports. Two companies that had com-

plained were Suniva and SolarWorld. The Solar

Energy Industries Association is a trade associa-

tion representing all aspects of U.S. solar industry.

It estimates that the tariffs will cause the loss of

23,000 jobs in the U.S., including many in manu-

facturing. See the article by Kirsten Korosec in the

23 Jan Fortune: https://tinyurl.com/y9f4kkzy

It evokes some sense of irony that Suniva is ma-

jority owned by the Chinese firm Shunfeng, and

that SolarWorld is a German company with a sub-

sidiary in Oregon.

More extreme weather events

For years, those of us urging action on climate

change have shared the scientific consensus that

the increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmos-

phere leads, indirectly but inexorably, to an in-

creasing frequency of increasingly extreme weath-

er events. However, we typically include a caveat

about not being able to assign blame on climate

change for any specific event. That caveat is be-

coming less necessary. For details see the 2 Jan

Scientific American/ClimateWire article “Scientists

Can Now Blame Individual Natural Disasters on

Climate change” by Chelsea Harvey

at: https://tinyurl.com/yd8q22c8

~ Barry Brunson, Chair,

Climate Change Committee

Membership Thanks!!! Rose Piccinini ~ family New!

Don & Sue Sorenson ~ individual renewal

Martha Wyckoff ~ lifetime membership!

Susan Bangs ~ individual renewal

Gerald & Marilyn Sorenson ~ Hawk renewal

Dr. R.D. Perkins ~ individual renewal

Diane Driscoll ~ individual renewal

Keith & Karen Johnson ~ Bluebird renewal

Membership Form ~ Kittitas Audubon Society

Please make checks payable to: Kittitas Audubon Society, P.O. Box 1443, Ellensburg, WA 98926

Name __________________________________________Phone___________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________________

City___________________________________________State________Zip___________________

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Is this a renewal or a new membership? New_____ Renewal______

Would you like to receive occasional emails related to Audubon issues? Yes ___ No___

Join with any of these Annual Membership Options: (check your option below)

Kittitas Audubon Society Individual Membership $20 ____ Family Membership $30 ____

Premium Memberships: Bluebird $50 ____ Kestrel $75 ____ Hawk $100 ____

Lifetime Individual Membership: $300 ____ Lifetime Family Membership $500 ____

Business Membership $200 ____ Business Lifetime Membership $1000 ____

Make a Charitable Donation: What interests you? We want to know!

Please enter dollar amount donation below:

Scholarship Fund $______________ Nest Boxes $_____________

Bird Surveys $_______________ General Interest $______________

Community Education $_______________ Special Committees $______________

May we list your name in The Hooter to acknowledge your membership/donation? Yes ___ No___

Your generous donation to a specific project is symbolic. Kittitas Audubon is a chapter of National Audubon Society serving the communities of Kittitas County, Washington. Go to kittitasaudubon.org for more information. KAS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Give the Gift of Kittitas Audubon for a year! This gift membership is for:

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You may join National Audubon Society separately by visiting their website at: http://www.audubon.org

YES: I want to 'Go Green' by receiving The Hooter Newsletter online version only

Choosing the online newsletter option saves KAS $15 Annually in printing/mailing costs!

Go Green and enjoy the online version in Color!

Upcoming KAS Field Trips

February

3rd, Saturday ~ First Saturday BirdWalk, Irene Rinehart Park. Meet at 8 AM at Irene Rinehart parking lot for a 3-hour walk to look for waterfowl, early-returning blackbirds and robins, and riparian residents. Steve & Jan lead; 933-1179.

16th—19th ~ 21st Annual Great Backyard Bird Count ~ Count birds any or all days for 15 minutes or more, wherever you are! See Page 3 for information and visit birdcount.org

17th, Saturday ~ Fort Simcoe, Yakima County. This will be a full-day trip, with return by suppertime. The farmlands and brushy water-ways below Wapato are rich in raptors this time of year. We weave our way along farm roads to the old fort last visited by KAS in 2014. Oak woods around the grounds attract Lewis’ Wood-peckers, and this year an Acorn Woodpecker has joined them for part of the winter. Our last trip also turned up swans, a

March

3rd, Saturday ~ First Saturday BirdWalk, Irene Rinehart Park. Meet at 8 AM at Irene Rinehart parking lot for a 3-hour walk. A hint of spring weather may bring noisy wrens, nesting Redtails, wailing Killdeers, and maybe a swallow or two checking out available real estate. Lead-ers Jan Demorest & Judy Hallisey; 933-1179 or 270-792-9188.

Kittitas Audubon

P.O. Box 1443

Ellensburg WA

98926

The Hooter ~ February 2018 The Newsletter of Kittitas Audubon - http://www.kittitasaudubon.org

THANK YOU…..TO KITTITAS COUNTY BUSINESSES SUPPORTING KAS! Inland Internet, Roslyn ~ donates Internet service for our Website: http://www.kittitasaudubon.org

Old Mill Country Store, Ellensburg ~ Provides a discount on bird seed to KAS members.

Get your bird seed here!

Save

paper, print-

ing, postage. If

you would pre-

fer to receive

the electronic

version, send

your name, mailing address, &

email address to:

kittitasaudubon@hotmail.com

At the beginning of each

month, we’ll send you an email

with a quick link to the new

Hooter.

GET “THE HOOTER”

ONLINE

Action Alert!

Please write letters to your Washington State legis-lators! Bills related to climate change SB6253

and carbon emissions HB 2338 are proceeding to the floor for discussion and vote.

Visit WA State legislative agenda. Contact Tom

Dent tom.dent@leg.wa.gov and Judy Warnick

warnick.src.wastateleg.org (if you live in this dis-

trict).