Winter 2014 Whistler is online

Details

Click to Download the pdfThe Fall 2014 Whistler is available now.

 

Read more of its content:

  • Annual Lake Sacajawea Bird Walk and Social
  • Amphibian Egg Mass Surveys
  • Membership Form,
  • In Memory of Bill Lammi
  • CBC information
  • Rail and Marine Oil Transportation Hearing
  • Online Bird Resources
  • "To Do" list from your backyard wildlife family
  • 10years no-LNG Anniversary
  • Field trips and programs

 

 

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Fall 2014 Whistler is online

Details

Click to Download the pdfThe Fall 2014 Whistler is available now.

 

Read more of its content:

  • Rare Sighting of a Brown Thrasher in Pacific County
  • Vaux's Swift watching in Rainier,
  • The Whistler goes quarterly
  • Membership Form,
  • WHAS contact information
  • Oregon denies permit for coal terminal
  • 2014 CBC dates
  • Proposed Killing of 25% of Double-Crested Cormorant
  • Summer Picnic Impressions
  • Birding and Leisure in Southern Arizona
  • Bird Watching Australia
  • Loving Hummingbirds to Death
  • WHAS Fieldtrips and Programs

 

WHAS opposes Fossil Fuel Export Facilities

Details

A Resolution to Oppose Fossil Fuel Export Facilities
In Washington and Oregon

Willapa Hills Audubon Society
Passed by Vote of the Board of Directors, June 11, 2014

 
Whereas: Fossil Fuel Export facilities are proposed at many NW locations including Whatcom County, Grays Harbor County, Coos Bay, at several locations along the Columbia River, and new proposals appear with increasing frequency; and,

Whereas: The increased burning of fossil fuels will lead to increased levels of greenhouse gas in the global environment, pollution, and dangerous climate change; and,

Whereas: The extraction of most newly exportable fossil fuels is most often environmentally unsound, such as mountain-top removal in search of coal, strip coal mining, the fracking process in search of oil and gas, or of poor quality, such as the tar sands oil of Canada; and,

Whereas: The transport of fossil fuels, particularly by rail, is most often dangerous and/or dirty and disruptive, and requires large scale facilities in wetlands and next to ecologically sensitive waterways; and, Whereas: Conservation of United States' fossil fuel resources is a national security and energy independence issue, worthy of detailed debate; and,

Whereas: Conservation of energy in the US is becoming increasingly important; and,

Whereas: Willapa Hills Audubon already opposes several proposed LNG ports along the lower Columbia River, and the proposed coal export facility at Longview, and oil export at Clatskanie; now, then,

Be it Hereby Resolved: Willapa Hills Audubon opposes all export of fossil fuels from NW American ports, (with the possible exception of derivatives of natural gas, which will be determined on a case by case basis), and that this resolution will stand until changed or amended in future.

This resolution is available as a pdf here.

July - August 2014 Whistler is online

Details

Click to Download the pdfThe July / August 2014 Whistler is available now.

 

Read more of its content:

  • Invitation to the WHAS Annual Picnic for Members and Friends
  • Conservation Faces Many Challenges 
  • Membership Form
  • WHAS contact information
  • Betty Mayfield 1930-2014
  • Osprey Nest near Woodland
  • Birding and Leisure in Southern Arizona
  • Purple Martins are welcome at Indian Jack Slough
  • Summer Birding on the Long Beach Peninsula
  • Longview Reynold’s Aluminium Smelter Cleanup
  • Loving Hummingbirds to Death
  • WHAS Programs and Field Trips;

 

Osprey nest near Woodland

Details

Pair of Osprey - Robert VanNatta

Pair of Osprey - Robert VanNatta

There is an active Osprey nest west of Woodland next to the Columbia River in a public access area. Robert VanNatta was able to park beside where he set up the camera outside the dike. He got quite a show that morning as an eagle came by just after these photos were taken, and the Osprey went after the eagle and chased it off.

First Ever Black-throated Sparrow seen in Woodland

Details
May was an exciting month for rare migrants in Cowlitz County. The headliner had to be the county's first ever record of Black-throated Sparrow. The bird was seen and photographed in a Woodland yard on the 20th and seen briefly the next morning before it disappeared.  Primarily a species of the arid southwest U.S., there are a few nesting on arid slopes near Vantage in eastern Washington, but to find a migrant west of the Cascades is very rare.
 
Other birds recorded less than annually included a Swainson's Hawk seen soaring over the Woodland Bottoms for a few minutes on the 4th, before disappearing to the south. A Wilson's Phalarope was seen by a number of people when it spent the 10th in a Woodland Bottoms pond. Starting on the 15th a Yellow-breasted Chat spent at least 6 days singing at Willow Grove, to delight of many. 
 
While not showing on this list, a hybrid Lazuli x Indigo Bunting was found singing on territory near Cougar on the 29th. With only a handful of records in Washington state, this spot has become famous among folks who are into these phenomenon, since this is the 5th consecutive year for this hybrid at this location.
 
Lastly a migration extravaganza was witnessed on the 5th as 4000 Band-tailed Pigeons streamed north along the Columbia River at Kalama in a half hour.

2014 Cowlitz County Bird List (January Update)

Details

Another year with a nice start, mostly due to a fine Christmas Bird Count on New Years Day. The headliner was the second ever record of Rusty Blackbird for Cowlitz County found on 52nd Ave in west Longview. A Sora found the same day on Washburn Road was very unusual for winter. Keep those reports coming.

You find our bird lists here.

May - June 2014 Whistler is online

Details

Click to Download the pdfThe May / JUne 2014 Whistler is available now.

Read more of its content:

  • Indian Jack Slough Update
  • New Board Officers Announced
  • Membership Form,
  • WHAS contact information
  • Board Meeting Notes
  • Washington Birding Trail ID’s Lake Sacajawea
  • Update on Conservation Concerns
  • Wood Duck Boxes installed
  • Images from recent field trip to Woodland Bottoms
  • Earth Day Booth a Big Success
  • WHAS Programs and Field Trips;

 

WHAS recent Field Trip featured in The Daily News

Details

TDN image

Willapa Hills Audubon's recent field trip to local birding locations at an industrial park, a sewage lagoon and a mothballed nuclear power plant was featured in Longview's The Daily News. The participants spotted 51st species that morning including a rare (for Longview) red-shouldered hawk at Willow Grove.

2014 Cowlitz Columbia CBC Recap

Details

By Bob Reistroffer

23 field observers and eight feeder watchers joined and spent the cool sunny day finding 17,172 birds with 98 species recorded during the 33rd Cowlity Columbia Christmas Bird Count. The temperature ranged from 21° to 41°. Also during count week an additional 7 species were reported.

We had several high counts: 54 Pied-billed Grebes, 430 Northern Shovelers, 225 Buffelheads, 78 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, 72 Red-tailed Hawks, 22 Bald Eagles, 264 Mourning Doves, 24 Kingfishers, 24 Downy Woodpeckers, 11 Red-breasted Sapsuckers, 23 Common Ravens, 70 Chestnut-backed Chickadees, 22 Red-breasted Nuthatchs, 946 Oregon Dark-eyed Juncos, 175 White-crowned Sparrows, and 510 Golden-crowned Sparrows.

Seen during count week: Green Heron, Rough-legged Hawk, Long-billed Dowitcher, Horned Lark, Pygmy Owl, Saw-whet Owl, and Gray Jay.

Not seen for many years: 1 Hutton’s Vireo, 4 Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Thank you all for a great job. Hope to see you all next year on Friday, Jan 1, 2016.

 

Upcoming Events

Jun 20;
Coffenbury Lake Bird Walk
Jun 27;
Trestle Bay Bird Walk
Jun 28;
WHAS regular Board meeting - online via Zoom!
Aug 16;
WHAS Summer Picnic
Sep 13;
WHAS 50th Anniversary Celebration

Audubon WA News

National Audubon News