The Hooter Kittitas Audubon October 2017
All Audubon meetings, held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Hal Holmes Center 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, October 19th, 2017
“Birding in Cuba ~ Tobacco & Rum” presented by Judy Hallisey, KAS President
7:00 PM at Hal Holmes Center next to the library ~ 209 Ruby Street
Cuba, the largest island of the West Indies, lies just 90 miles south of the continental US, but seems so very far away. Since 1959, this island has been in-accessible to most Americans and the topic of much discord in our government. But in December, 2014, relations between the USA and Cuba began to warm and travel became possible. Judy Hallisey traveled to Cuba in the spring of 2017 to learn about the cul-ture, history, and landscapes of Cuba, and yes, to go birding! Traveling with a small group led by biolo-gists from Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, she listed 26 of the 28 endemic birds of Cuba with a total of
138 bird spe-cies and visited 17 different habitat types. But the trip was so much more than birds! Upon landing in this intriguing country, she knew right away that this country was different from what had been expected. From old classic cars to animal-drawn carts, to Fla-menco dancing and Latin music to ancient Spanish church bell towers, Cuban culture was as heavy in the air as the humidity. Judy will share her birding experiences along with her insights into Cuba’s history, its current state, and its people. Judy Hallisey is the current president of Kittitas Audubon Society and active in Audubon’s climate change initiative. She has a life-long passion for natural resources and holds a BS in Forest Re-sources and an MS in Watershed Science. After a career with the Forest Service and retiring as District Ranger in Cle Elum, Judy now combines her love of birds with love of traveling. ~ photos by Judy Hallisey
Bee Hummingbird
Havana street scene
Page 2 The Hooter
Board Notes by Gloria Baldi
Minutes and Treasurer’s reports were approved.
Reports on birds, especially the migration of specific species, were given:
• Jan Demorest and Steve Moore counted 525 Vaux Swifts entering Johnson’s Auto Glass on South 1
st Street in Ya-
kima. Since the demolition of the old hospital in Ellensburg there have been only a few reports of the swifts entering
chimneys of local private homes for night roosting. (Please
let a board member know if you observe swifts roosting
locally.)
• A rare Swallow-tailed Gull has been sighted in Seattle, very far from its home in the Galapagos. It has remained in the area for a few weeks.
Jan and Steve also counted shorebirds in the Columbia Basin for International Shorebird Day.
Thanks to Tom and Diane Gauron for leading the September First Saturday BirdWalk.
There was a short discussion on recognizing donors, and how they should be entered in the membership categories. It was decided to have a separate list with no annual membership request.
At the October Board meeting, one of our scholarship recipients, Lindsey Millward, will give a short presentation on her research project. Our second recipient, Scott Kugel, will attend the Novem-ber Board meeting. A discussion ensued about a number of ideas that recipients might perform for KAS.
Climate Change
• Barry Brunson with Tom and Diane Gauron participated in a discussion following the viewing of An Inconvenient Truth Sequel in Roslyn.
• Judy Hallisey gave a climate change presentation to the Upper County Rotary Club with help from Barry.
Barry Brunson continues to work with Our Environment and others responding to the City’s questions about the solar power resolution.
Discussion continued about membership, specifically National Audubon ‘only’ members and phasing out the paper Hooter with the exception of a few copies. No decisions were made, but our by-laws will need updating once we do decide.
Advertising in the Hooter was discussed. It was decided that if a person has items for sale related to birds, birding or bird conserva-tion, the ad can be placed with the editor determining the appropri-ateness.
Join us October 5th across from the Library and meet our scholar-
ship recipient. Gloria Baldi
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-
[email protected] 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.
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 – OPEN
Field Trips – Steve Moore
Historian – Gloria Lindstrom 925-1807
Programs – committee 933-1179
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 – OPEN
*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!
What You Missed! Evolution of Birds Program
What an evening! Connie Sidles, Master Birder and author, has a degree in Egyptology from the University of Chicago where she also stud-ied paleontology.
Connie kept us on the edge of our seats as we moved through history from 130 million years ago to the present. It was a masterful presen-tation which included fossilized images of the earliest dinosaurs with feathers. Connie de-scribed the structures of feather and bone en-gaging the audience in sequences of ‘wing flap-ping’ to help demonstrate her evaluations of bird anatomy. When we finally arrived at the slides of the first real ‘bird’ in the fossil records, the journey of the ‘Evolution of Birds’ made complete sense. The artists’ renderings of these creatures was compelling!
A big KAS ‘Thanks’ to Connie for a wonderful presentation that instructed, engaged and en-tertained us all.
~ Meghan Anderson
Don’t miss another one of these fascinat-ing programs! This month, we travel to Cuba with KAS president, Judy Hallisey, for birds, culture, and landscapes. (see page 1)
Field Trip Reports Page 3 The Hooter
September 1st ~ First Saturday Birdwalk, Irene Rinehart Park ~ Only one other person joined Diane & I. A calm, clear-sky day, starting off about 60o, warming to 70 by the time we re-turned to our cars.
We saw 17 bird species plus a beaver:
Red-winged Blackbird Downy Woodpecker
American Robin Western Wood Peewee
Starling Northern Flicker
Red-tailed Hawk Song Sparrow
Killdeer Brown-headed Cowbird
Eurasian Collared Dove Great Blue Heron
Belted Kingfisher Black-capped Chickadee
Cedar Waxwing Osprey
Turkey Vulture
~ Tom Gauron
The Archaeopteryx's body structure is very close to that of the dinosaurs (artist’s rendering)
April 13-15, 2018. Guided birding trips, boat
tours, live auction & raffle, gala banquet, and
more. Our featured speaker: nature guide/
photographer Claudio Vidal. Enjoy a three-day
pre-festival birding cruise of the San Juan Is-
lands, April 10-12. Stay on for our Neah Bay
post-trip on April 16-17: two days birding coastal
Washington. Program information and registra-
tion at www.olympicbirdfest.org
It may seem early, but the field trips and
boat trips fill quickly. These are excellent
trips - plan ahead!
Did you take your feeders down for the summer? Well, now it’s time to bring them out, give them a good clean-ing, and fill them with fresh seeds for our feathered friends who are passing through on their migration travels, and for our resident birds settling in for the winter.
Here’s an article from Bend, OR, by Kevin Lair, of Wild Birds Unlimited 4/7/07.
1) What plants are used for wild bird food, and where are they grown?
1. Black oil Sunflower seed - Midwest, plains states
2. Striped Sunflower seed - Midwest, plains states
3. Safflower - Utah, Southern California
4. White Proso Millet - Midwest, plains states
5. Peanuts - Southeast US
6. Corn - Midwest
7. Nyjer - India, Myanmar, east Africa
8. Tree Nuts (Almonds, Filberts, Cashews, Brazil Nuts)
9. Cherries, Cranberries, Raisins: dehydrated, processed for human consumption.
Seeds often used as filler - birds tend not to eat, but is cheap and adds weight:
Milo/Sorghum - Midwest, plains states
Red Millet - Midwest, plains states
Oats - Midwest, plains states
Canary Grass Seed - Midwest, plains states
Rape Seed - Midwest, plains states
With the exception of Nyjer, all seeds are grown domestically. Therefore, if there are any weed seed contaminants they are apt to be plants that already grow as weeds in areas where the bird-seed is grown. Because all Nyjer that is import-ed is heat sterilized, birdseed is not a potential
source of new foreign noxious weed species to North America.
All of the tree nuts and fruit, as well as shelled sunflower, shelled peanuts, and hulled millet are grown and processed for human consumption. Human consumption quality carries the highest standards for processing and cleanliness. Some of these seeds and nuts end up in the bird food market because they were roasted too dark or have blemishes or other cosmetic imperfections.
2) Is there a “weed free” certification for bird-seed?
No, but the USDA does periodic testing of most large birdseed suppliers and, to a lesser degree, retail businesses. They test to ensure that the contents of the bag analysis (% min fiber, fat, protein), % other crop seeds, % weed seeds, and % dust and debris.
If USDA deems problems, they can re- quire the seed to be better cleaned, la- bels changed. They can levy fines or pen- alties, and then retest to ensure that the required changes and improvements in quality have been made. If the problem is not addressed or is deemed to be sig- nificant, a “stop sale” order may be placed on the seed.
3) What steps are taken to minimize contamina-tion of birdseed with other seeds?
1. Treatment of the plants in the field to minimize the amount of weed plants. Pre-harvest use of herbicides to minimize the amount of non-target plants growing.
2. Cleaning of the seed following harvest-ing. This is done using a series of filtering screens and aspirators. The screens and aspirators remove debris including dust, dirt, stems and other plant parts, shells and seed fragments based on size and weight.
3. Cleaning of all machinery at the seed processing facility. This contributes to the overall cleanliness of the birdseed, but especially helps prevent contamination with other seeds that the plant may be processing. This will minimize the amount of other crop seeds (not on the label) that are found in the birdseed.
Thanks to Marianne Gordon for contributing this article.
For more Wild Birds Unlimited information go to this website:
https://www.wbu.com/
Page 4 Hooter Get Out Those Bird Feeders!
Birdseed: Potential Contamination and
Noxious Weeds
A Poem for October Page 5 The Hooter
Thank You to Renewing Members
Jeb & Gloria Baldi
Linda Lapin
~ 19th Century
The mission of Kittitas Audubon is to develop an appreciation of nature through education and conservation, with a focus on
birds.
Page 6 Hooter Climate Change News
Exxon. You likely have heard that about 97%
of active climate scientists agree with the ba-
sics of climate change: global warming is hap-
pening, it creates a multitude of changes in
climate worldwide, Exhibit A is the increase in
the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere,
which increase chiefly arises from burning fos-
sil fuels. Oh, and that the National Audubon
Society identifies climate change as the #1
threat to birds.
Well, that’s not
fake news at
all, it’s quite
accurate. What
might be a bit
surprising is
that the scien-
tists at Exxon
have been
quite in agree-
ment—in pri-
vate and within
scientific cir-
cles. Publicly,
however, Exxon
has continued
to spend big
bucks encour-
aging doubt about that very science. This
comes from a peer-reviewed publication by
Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes in the 23
Aug 2017 issue of Environmental Research Let-
ters [http://iopscience.iop.org/
article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa815f].
Directly related is a fascinating first-person ac-
count by Katherine Hayhoe, now a professor at
Texas Tech, entitled “I was an Exxon-funded
climate scientist” [http://tinyurl.com/
yaqp2d8r].
Military. The U.S. Military appears to agree
with the sentiment by Neil deGrasse Tyson de-
picted here. In spite of statements at the high-
est federal level about global warming being a
hoax, the military is taking climate change into
account in its preparations. I recommend the
article by Tara Copp in the 12 Sep 2017 issue
of Military Times [http://tinyurl.com/
yabmppf3].
Sage grouse. Our neck of the woods is one of
few remaining habitats for these fascinating
critters. Their future is especially threatened
down south (i.e., Utah, not my native
“downSouth”). The Bureau of Land Manage-
ment tried to auction off almost 15,000 acres
of desert—including home of Utah’s most im-
periled population of greater sage grouse—for
oil and gas development. Only 4,100 acres
sold, and those won’t be developed until pro-
tests are resolved, including as plaintiffs the
Center for Biological Diversity, the Western
Watersheds Project, The Wilderness Society,
and National Audubon. See the article by Brian
Maffly in the 13 Sep issue of the Salt Lake
Tribune [http://inyurl.com/ybfa8vco].
Oh, and for those acres, the BLM netted the
rather less-than-princely sum of $14,837!
~ Barry Brunson, Chair - Climate
Change Committee
Bushnell spotting scope for sale - $100
Bushnell Natureview spotting scope 15-45x60.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/bushnell-
natureview15-45x60.html
Basically brand new, I think I used it once...
comes with carrying case and mini-tripod. In
Ellensburg.
Contact: [email protected]
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Upcoming KAS Field Trips
October
7th, Saturday ~ First Saturday Bird Walk, Irene Rinehart Park. Pumpkin and cornstalk time. Look for some iconic Fall birds among the yellowing leaves, searching out the seeds and berries that will keep them warm and healthy as the weather turns south. See it all at Irene Rine-hart riverside park, starting at the parking lot off of Umptanum Rd at 8 AM for a 3-hour walk. Leader Jim Briggs. Call 933-2231 for info.
19th, Thursday ~ 7 PM at Hal Holmes ~ “Birding in Cuba” ~ presentation by Judy Hallisey. See details on Page 1. Free and open to all! Cookies & pickles & punch!
November
4th, Saturday ~ First Saturday Bird Walk, Irene Rinehart Park. As the breath turns frosty and leaves are now seriously yellow and falling about our shoulders, resident birds and
others down from the mountains are prepared to make a home among the cottonwoods. For a 3- hour walk in bracing weather: Irene Rinehart riv-erside park, starting at the parking lot off of Umptanum Rd at 8 AM. Steve and Jan lead; 933-1179.
Kittitas Audubon
P.O. Box 1443
Ellensburg WA 98926
The Hooter ~ October 2017 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!
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