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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
view our CBC web page with info from this year.
Birding cruise around Bainbridge Isalnd with George Gerdts, Sunday, March 21. Leave dock 10 a.m., return about 1:30 p.m. Cost $65. Call 206-842-8138 or email geopandion@aol.com. Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, March 26 – 28 in Othello. www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org Olympic BirdFest, April 9-11, in Sequim. followed by San Juan Islands Birding Cruise, April 11 – 13. 360-681-4076; www.olympicbirdfest.org Gray’s Harbor Shorebird Festival, April 30 – May 2 in Hoquiam. 800- 303-8498; www.shorebirdfestival.com Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, May 12-16 in Leavenworth. 509-548- 5807; www.leavenworthspringbirdfest.com Audubon Adventures is an award-winning environmental education program produced by the National Audubon Society for children in the fourth and fifth grades. Designed by professional environmental educators, the program presents engaging, scientifically accurate information about birds, other wildlife, habitats and conservation. It meets core elementary curriculum standards in Earth Science, Language Arts and Civics. Audubon Adventures comes as a classroom kit serving up to 32 students. Each kit contains a teacher’s manual and covers four topics, with handouts. Kitsap Audubon provides these kits free of charge. Last year KAS donated Audubon Adventures kits to 40 subscribing teachers in the Kitsap County Public Schools. Each kit costs us $ 42.95 ($37 plus $5.95 postage). Multiplied by 40, this is a big part of the KAS annual budget. Help us defray the cost of this program by contributing to the general Audubon Adventures program or by sponsoring your child’s or grandchild’s classroom or the classroom of your choice! Make your check payable to Kitsap Audubon Society and mail it to KAS, PO Box 961, Poulsbo, WA 98370. Specify that your contribution is for Audubon Adventures. Should you have any questions, contact Fay Linger, Education Chair, 360-297-3855 or ernieandfay@centurytel.net Grounds of Change: Did you know that you can protect important bird habitat, promote healthy forests, and support the livelihood of farmers with one cup of coffee? Coffee is the second most widely-traded commodity in the world, behind oil, and it should come as no surprise that coffee drinkers in the U.S. account for the majority of coffee consumption. What would we all do without our morning caffeine buzz to get us going? So what does coffee have to do with birds? Much of the globe’s tropical waistline (between 20˚N and 20˚S latitude) provides the ideal climate and soils for coffee production. In the Americas, this is the same region that our migratory birds visit annually. Traditionally, coffee shrubs were planted under the diverse tropical forest canopy and were allowed to mature slowly to produce the best beans. However, with ever-increasing demand and global poverty, new, sun-tolerant species allow for higher yields on a shorter timeline. The majority of coffee sold today is of the robusta variety and is grown under direct sunlight in the open fields of Vietnam, Brazil and beyond. However, growing coffee quickly comes at a price. Habitat is removed, soil gives way to erosion, and more chemicals are added to the environment to ward away pests. Birds and other wildlife are forced to find new homes, though many habitat specialists simply can’t adapt. The shade coffee plantations of Latin America provide irreplaceable habitat for resident and neotropical migratory bird species. Local farmers also rely on these plantations for security, and various cash crops may be interspersed with coffee plants. As a consumer, your choice to purchase shade-grown coffee will help guarantee a future for coffee farmers while protecting healthy habitat for wildlife, including birds. When purchasing coffee, look for the Bird Friendly® certification seal to know that your coffee is shade-grown, or ask your roaster to learn more. Visit www.shadecoffee.org for more information. Lindsey Edwards, Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign Band-tailed
Pigeon Telemetry--Mary Hrudkaj Sunday morning arrived and I
could again hear the sharpshinned in the area. Around 7:00 the
fellows returned and the traps The satellite data is updated
every 2-3 days. Anyone can monitor it by going to the Western
Ecological Research Center’s website:
www.werc.usgs.gov. Click on
“Satellite Telemetry,” then choose “Band-tailed Pigeons.” Near the
top of the next page click on “Maps.” The birds tagged at my place
outside of Belfair Scrub-Jay
Monitoring Ends–John McDonaldSince 1996, Kitsap Audubon has
been keeping track of Scrub-Jay sightings
in Kitsap County. This jay, until then, had not normally been seen
in our
area. Its range had extended only as far north as southern
Washington.
Then something changed. More members began reporting this jay here.
Were these initial sightings a fluke, or was something else going on?
The
only way to find out was to keep track of Scrub-Jay reports, and that
is how
this project began. After 11 years of monitoring, It now seems
certain that Scrub-Jays have moved into Kitsap County. While their
numbers remain low, it
appears they are here to stay. This past summer brought conclusive
evidence that they are breeding in our area. Young being fed by
parents were reported in both Port Orchard and East Bremerton. It
has been decided that this project has successfully run its course.
Although there will no longer be any official tracking of Scrub-Jay
sightings, please continue to report these jays to Joan Carson so
she can include them in her Sightings column. It will be
interesting to see how large a population develops. Scrub-Jays
appear to be expanding
their range into eastern Washington as well. A newspaper clipping
sent to
me by Em Norton of East Bremerton (whose yard is now famous for
attracting a small flock of Scrub-Jays), notes that jays have been
seen in
Yakima, Fort Simcoe, Sunnyside and the Oak Creek Wildlife Area.
My thanks to all who have reported Scrub-Jay sightings. Thanks also
to Sponsor
Audubon Adventures
Consider A Gift Membership:
Alternative gifts are becoming increasingly
popular. Such gifts include
a charitable contribution in someone’s name or a gift membership
that
provides year-round enjoyment and support for an organization that
you
know shares that person’s values and interests. For the bird lovers
on
your list, we hope you will consider the Kitsap Audubon Society. Elizabeth Warren has mentioned that she will collect dead birds that anyone finds to take with her to the Burke Museum in Seattle, where she has long served as a docent. Please put the bird into a plastic bag and note on it the date and location when and where found. Then keep them in the freezer until you can contact her at 360-297-2151 or at bizw11@msn.com to make arrangements to get it to her. Thanks, Elizabeth.You can do these easy things RIGHT NOW to help protect our precious environment: RECYCLE as much as possible, items including paper (newspaper, office paper, cereal-type cardboard boxes, corrugated cardboard), glass, plastic, aluminum, steel & scrap metal, batteries. Call the Kitsap County Public Works Open Line with any questions on Recycling at: 337-5777 from Bainbridge Is., 253-851-4147 from Ollala, or 1-800-825-4940 from anywhere else in Kitsap. CONSERVE ENERGY, use energy efficient lighting such as compact fluorescent light bulbs (these really do work!!), and ask Puget Sound Energy about purchasing “Green Power” for a nominal monthly installment of $4. Call 1-888-225-5773.An excellent fundraising idea: For any relative's or friend's birthday, anniversary, graduation, or any special occasion, where you may be stumped for what to get them, consider a donation to Kitsap Audubon Society in honor of this event. KAS will then send them a lovely card (printed on recycled paper!), acknowledging that a donation has been made in their honor to KAS. We also will send you a thank you letter, noting the amount of your tax deductible donation, for income tax purposes. Your gift will recognize a special occasion, while directly benefiting KAS' missions of environmental study, habitat preservation, and public education. Contact our president@kitsapaudubon.org for more details. We can always use donations, so this is something very worthwhile to consider............Thank you. Companies and Organizations Who Support KASWild Birds Unlimited in Gig Harbor gives a percentage from their sales to KAS members back to Kitsap Audubon Society. Please let them know you are a KAS member.Bainbridge Island One Call For All annual community drive. Kitsap Audubon Society is on this form. Bainbridge Island residents can designate that they want their contributions to go to KAS.Raffle Table Donations are provided each month by Wild Birds Unlimited in Gig Harbor and by KAS members. Our sincere thanks to these organizations and businesses for their support of Kitsap Audubon. Stillwaters Environmental Education Center Thanks to a grant from the Suquamish Tribe, and with help from a number of local agencies, Stillwaters EEC has commenced planning for the construction of a nature center and connecting trails on 200+ acres along the lower Carpenter Creek watershed in Kingston. For more information on the Center or on their planned projects, call them at 360-297-2876, or email to SwatersEEC@cs.comMERLIN Sightings Wanted!! Detailed year-round observations of Merlins are needed for scientific research of the Merlin in Washington. Merlins can be easily confused with American Kestrels or Sharp shinned Hawks. Please refer to your field guide for a comparison. You can contribute by relaying positive sightings of Merlins (note exact location, date & time, bird description and behavior description) to David Drummond, Principal Investigator at 360-671-3804 or merlinology@hotmail.com. Coastal Forest Merlin Project P.O. Box4123, Bellingham, WA 98227Some Pesticide Trivia: Of the billions of pounds of pesticides used each year in the U.S., less than 1% of it actually reaches a pest. The highly toxic chemical diazinon is an ingredient in almost every lawn weed and feed product. Everything we put onto the ground will eventually find its way into the water.Thank You! Jim UlrichA popular feature of KAS membership meetings is the Door Prize Raffle. The variety and quality of items is outstanding. Most of this is due to Jim Ulrich's generosity. As the Owner of Wild Birds Unlimited in Gig Harbor, Jim donates dozens of items to KAS. We are lucky to have his support! |
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Send
us an e-mail
Kitsap Audubon Society PO Box 961 Poulsbo, Washington 98370 |
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