On Friday, November 4, David Lukas will talk about bird bones and skeletons at the Winthrop Library starting at 4 p.m. This fascinating one-hour program will explore the marvelous ways that bird bones and skeletons work together to shape how birds move through the world. As time permits, we might also talk a bit about feathers. In addition to the presentation, David will bring some feathers, bones, and a bird skeleton as examples of what we’re talking about. He will also be giving this same talk at the Tonasket Community Center on Friday, November 11, at 6:30 pm. Contact David is you need any further details, david@lukasguides.com.
Blog
Chelan HawkWatch – 09.25.22
This video shows HawkWatch International’s lead raptor bander, Amanda Hancock, releasing a first year Sharp-shinned hawk up at Chelan Ridge. Captured birds are measured, banded and released.
This was during an NCW Audubon field trip on September 25, 2022, when we visited this particular HawkWatch site. Our group saw several raptors from the observation deck that day and 5 different species, one of which was a very dark-morphed Merlin that flew directly above us before soaring down the ridge to the South.
Crew leader Gary Palmer noted that this has been a good year for sighting raptors up at the Ridge as the total counts are running slightly higher than usual. Counts per season typically range between 2,000-3,000 migrants and up to 17 species.
HawkWatch International, in partnership with the USFS Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, began annual standardized counts at the site in 1998 to monitor and learn more about raptors migrating through the east Cascades of Washington within the Pacific Coast Flyway.
The Chelan Ridge HawkWatch station will stay open barring bad weather until October 27th and they welcome visitors. At: Hawkwatch International – Home you can get directions to the site and learn much more about the organization.
eBird Insights – Investigating the Birds of North Central Washington (Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, and Okanogan counties)
eBird (www.ebird.org), a global bird sighting database holds over 1 BILLION bird sightings around the globe. The NCWAS four-county area has contributed over 1.3 million bird sightings to the global total.
A new report by Bruce McCammon looks at the NCWAS eBird data between 2015 and June 2022 to describe the “Who?”, “When?”, “How Many”?, and “Where” aspects of the 306 bird species that have been reported to eBird from the NCWAS area. You can view or download the report here.
Graphs, charts, and text take a taxonomic approach to describe the North Central Washington bird species. The report concentrates on taxonomic Order, Family, and Species levels.
The report is provided in PDF format to allow you to download for use on your local device or, should you wish, print it. If you decide to print, the paper is set up to print as an 8.5×11 inch booklet using 11×17″ paper. The report uses color in many of the charts and graphs. Color printing can be expensive but the report should print reasonably well in black-and-white to reduce costs.
When you view the report in the free Acrobat Reader, please make sure that you set Reader to show a two-page display with “show cover page” selected as shown below.
A set of preliminary observations is provided at the end of the paper. If you discover patterns or have interesting observations of your own, please let us know by sending an email to ncwaudubon@gmailcom. You can send any questions about the report to NCW Audubon as well.
Methow Valley School Nestboxes: Season 2
In mid April of 2021, middle school shop students built and put up twenty two nest boxes around the Methow Valley school grounds. That first nesting season, the nest boxes in the open areas near the school garden were successfully used by Western Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, and House Wrens. The nest boxes in the surrounding forest areas went largely unused with no active nests seen.
The spring and summer of 2022 tells a different story. The nest boxes in the forest were discovered! By the end of April, one box had a White-Breasted Nuthatch sitting on 5 eggs, four boxes had active Pygmy Nuthatch nests, and four more had active Mountain Chickadee nests. The wooded school grounds were thinned several years ago for fire protection with many of the natural nesting sites for cavity nesting birds removed. This spring it appeared that these secondary cavity nesting birds were hungry for nest sites and it was a joy to see them make use of the boxes.
House Wrens were busy in both wooded and open areas placing twigs in numerous nest boxes. They eventually claimed four boxes. Western Bluebirds and Tree Swallows once again each chose a nest box near the school garden and were quite tolerant of nearby human activity. The White-breasted Nuthatches were feeding 5 young by mid-May and they all fledged successfully by the end of May.
June was a busy month with the Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees fledging many young from their boxes.
The Western Bluebirds fledged their first brood by late June, with the Tree swallows fledging in early July. The bluebirds returned (presumably the same pair) and built another nest in an adjacent nest box. They were once again feeding young by late July. Fortunately the brood survived 100+ degree weather and successfully fledged just a week ago.
Summer day camps were held at the school garden and it was fun for the children to see the different types of nests built by the different species. A highlight is always watching young faces light up at the sight of baby birds in a nest box. It was a productive season for the Methow Valley school grounds with nearly 80 young birds flying out of boxes into the world!
Fun Features from Bird Fest 2022 by Susan Sampson
The Keynote Address
This year’s keynote speaker for Bird Fest was Derek Sheffield, who is a poet, naturalist, and English professor at Wenatchee Valley College. He spoke about humans’ most frequent interface with wildlife—our encounters with birds in both our natural and built environments. Birds, he noted, have led to wonder, inspiration, and art. By contrast, “There is no marmot festival,” he said.
Sheffield described his own awakening to nature, especially birds, when he lived in a cabin on a remote shoreline with no outside communications. There, he wrote his first notable poem, about Pigeon Guillemots. For Bird Fest, he recited or read a handful of works involving birds from notable poets: “For the Wren Trapped in the Cathedral” by Pattiann Rogers; “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver; and “Sparrow Envy” by Dr. Drew Lanham. “I would find haven in thorniest thickets,” Lanham wrote.
Sheffield then turned to the alarming loss of bird populations and species occurring right now due to habitat loss and plastic pollution. He played a brief, wordless video by Chris Jordan, creator of “Midway: Message from the Gyre,” revealing the contents of the stomachs of sea birds that have died from ingesting bits of plastic. Birds swallowed pieces from the size of tiny beads up to whole bottle caps.
Returning to lighter ideas, Sheffield noted how birders nickname birds like “LBJs” and “Butterbutts,” and refer to them as “somebodies” as though they were human. He recounted an argument between famous bird artist David Allen Sibley and Dr. Dan Stephens, who teaches ornithology at Wenatchee Valley College. Sibley thought he heard a MacGillivray’s Warbler. Dr. Stephens corrected him, “No, it’s a Nashville Warbler.” Dr. Stephens contends that birds have regional dialects and Sibley was just more familiar with East Coast birds.
Sheffield read “Ornithology Lesson” by Jan Wallace, a poem about the amazing breeding acrobatics of Bald Eagles. Then he recited a haiku, of sorts. A Japanese haiku is a short poem invoking nature and the seasons. It has come to mean a poem of 17 syllables in English. He quoted a haiku about the nuthatch: “Honk honk honk honk honk…” You can guess the rest.
The Art Class
Charlene Collins Freeman, an award-winning watercolor artist, taught a Zoom class on drawing and painting birds. She worked from emailed photographic models. She provided some good tips for this duffer:
- Start by drawing a light line from the outside of the bird’s thigh to capture its stance.
- Along that construction line, draw an oval for the body and a circle for the head, being careful to overlap the circle onto the oval appropriately to the model. Not all birds have long necks.
- Draw a light line from eye to beak to establish their relative placement. Sketch in the eye, but DON’T MAKE THE EYE TOO BIG.
- Draw a light line from the first construction line through the tail to indicate its length and direction.
- Sketch in the bird. Erase construction lines.
- Notice that a bird’s legs are not straight toothpicks. Not only are they canted front to back, they are splayed from side to side.
- As you paint, leave unpainted a white highlight in the bird’s eye. Add it later with something besides watercolor if you mess it up.
- Use a wet brush and damp paper for smooth-looking surfaces and a dry brush on dry paper for rougher looking textures.
- It’s nice to have the colors in the bird picked up in the background; that’s natural, too. The little buggers can be cryptic.
Because each color needed to dry before the next was added, the class didn’t terminate with the two-hour Zoom meeting. Freeman will send the class participants an electronic link that will be good for a year to follow her completing her demonstrations.
I’m no Sibley, but I had fun.
Comment on protecting America’s Western Arctic
Mary Gallagher provided the following material.
Worried about the decline in bird populations? Climate Concerns? Act Now! YOUR Voice Matters!
On July 8, 2022, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) addressing the implications of ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project for America’s Western Arctic. This project poses a potential disaster for this fragile Arctic region, home to Indigenous communities and bountiful wildlife including caribou, fish and migratory birds. This project will have additional impacts on our current climate issues. Please submit a public comment to prevent this project from moving forward before AUGUST 19, 2022.
The SEIS documents are now available at this BLM site.
For more information: https://alaskawild.org/blog/conocophillips-willow-oil-development-proposal-threatens-landscapes-communities-and-our-climate/
Animating eBird data
eBird use is increasing in North Central Washington. That’s a good thing. There’s a certain satisfaction in watching your checklist count grow over time or knowing that your observations are used in the background science that researchers employ.
But what about our local use? Can we use eBird to answer questions that we may have? For instance, “what is the pattern of Anna’s Hummingbirds observations over time”? Or “how do Anna’s Hummingbird eBird entries in Chelan county stack up against a big, westside county like King county”?
The short (51 second) video shows the timeline for Anna’s Hummingbirds over time. The data values used have been normalized to make the data from the highly populated King county comparable to the smaller population Chelan county.
How does this match up with your expectations? Is it surprising to see that King county has a much greater population of Anna’s than Chelan county? Did it surprise you to see the first eBird Anna’s entry in Chelan county show up in 2008?
I believe that the North Central Washington Audubon Society chapter becomes better informed and more interested and connected to our birds if we see our data used. That’s a long way to say “more to come”.
Stay tuned and let us know what you think about this type of presentation. Thanks.
2022 Collaborative eBird Species List
The use of eBird to document bird species seen in the NCWAS four-county area (Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Okanogan) continues to grow. The list below contains the 206 species seen and documented in eBird between January 2022 and April 2022. How many of the 206 species have you seen this year?
A downloadable list that is sorted by taxonomic family can be accessed by clicking here.
The bird species added to the collaborative list in April 2022 are:
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Harlequin Duck
Greater Sage-Grouse
American White Pelican
Swainson’s Hawk
Sora
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Long-billed Curlew
Spotted Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Caspian Tern
Band-tailed Pigeon
Vaux’s Swift
Calliope Hummingbird
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Dusky Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Western Wood-Pewee
Bank Swallow
House Wren
Common Yellowthroat
Nashville Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Western Tanager
Brown-headed Cowbird
All of the 206 species seen so far in 2022 are listed below
American Wigeon
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Blue-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Canvasback
Cinnamon Teal
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Eurasian Wigeon
Gadwall
Greater Scaup
Greater White-fronted Goose
Green-winged Teal
Harlequin Duck
Hooded Merganser
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Red-breasted Merganser
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Snow Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
White-winged Scoter
Wood Duck
California Quail
Chukar
Dusky Grouse
Gray Partridge
Greater Sage-Grouse
Ring-necked Pheasant
Ruffed Grouse
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Sooty Grouse
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Pacific Loon
Eared Grebe
Horned Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Cooper’s Hawk
Golden Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Turkey Vulture
American Coot
Sora
Virginia Rail
Sandhill Crane
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Long-billed Curlew
Spotted Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Wilson’s Snipe
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Band-tailed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl
Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
Long-eared Owl
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Short-eared Owl
Snowy Owl
Western Screech-Owl
Vaux’s Swift
White-throated Swift
Anna’s Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
White-headed Woodpecker
Williamson’s Sapsucker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon
Dusky Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Say’s Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Western Wood-Pewee
Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Shrike
Cassin’s Vireo
Warbling Vireo
American Crow
Black-billed Magpie
Blue Jay
California Scrub-Jay
Canada Jay
Clark’s Nutcracker
Common Raven
Steller’s Jay
Horned Lark
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Pygmy Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Treecreepers
Brown Creeper
Bewick’s Wren
Canyon Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Pacific Wren
Rock Wren
American Dipper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Mountain Bluebird
Townsend’s Solitaire
Varied Thrush
Western Bluebird
Sage Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Common Yellowthroat
Nashville Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Tree Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Fox Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Harris’s Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Sagebrush Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Swamp Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Western Tanager
Brewer’s Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
American Goldfinch
Cassin’s Finch
Common Redpoll
Evening Grosbeak
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Pine Grosbeak
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
House Sparrow
Deadhorse Lake Field Trip
This past Tuesday morning, May 24th, a group of 8 birders met up with Juliet Rhodes and myself in Twisp and headed up to Frost Road for a fun filled morning of birding. As we neared our parking area, a Yellow-breasted Chat was spotted on top of a roadside snag. It miraculously stayed put and sang its cheery song long enough for everyone to get a nice look at it. What a great way to start the day! We then walked up the road to Shaw Lake where we had good showings of Ruddy Ducks, Redheads and a Yellow-headed Blackbird. The male Ruddy Ducks always look so beautiful this time of year with their bright rusty plumage and blue bill.
As we walked slowly to Deadhorse Lake, close views were seen of Black-headed Grosbeaks, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and Mountain Bluebirds. One male Mountain Bluebird appeared to be guarding a nearby nestbox as he didn’t budge from his perch as we walked by. At Deadhorse Lake, more Ruddy Ducks were seen along with Ring-necked Ducks and a handsome Barrow’s Goldeneye male.
One of the best things about this field trip was that there was never a dull moment. As soon as we finished observing one bird, another new one would appear. We all greatly appreciated Juliet’s excellent auditory birding skills which helped us learn new bird songs. More birds were recorded as we walked back to our starting point and the morning ended with a tally of 52 species. A perfect way to spend a sunny morning in May.
| Canada Goose |
| Cinnamon Teal |
| Mallard |
| Redhead |
| Ring-necked Duck |
| Barrow’s Goldeneye |
| Ruddy Duck |
| Dusky Grouse (heard) |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| Calliope Hummingbird |
| American Coot |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Cooper’s Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Lewis’s Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| Western Wood-Pewee |
| Dusky Flycatcher |
| Western Kingbird |
| Eastern Kingbird |
| Common Raven |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| Tree Swallow |
| Barn Swallow |
| House Wren |
| European Starling |
| Western Bluebird |
| Mountain Bluebird |
| American Robin |
| Pine Siskin |
| American Goldfinch |
| Chipping Sparrow |
| Lark Sparrow |
| White-crowned Sparrow |
| Vesper Sparrow (heard) |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| Song Sparrow |
| Spotted Towhee |
| Yellow-breasted Chat |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Bullock’s Oriole |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Yellow Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Wilson’s Warbler |
| Western Tanager |
| Black-headed Grosbeak |
| Lazuli Bunting |
NCW Audubon Upcoming Field Trips
Hi Birders,
NCW Audubon has three field trips scheduled for this coming May 24th, June 6th and June 12th. Grab your binoculars and come join us! Please see trip details below.
Deadhorse Lake Field Trip- May 24th
Join Juliet Rhodes and Janet Bauer for a morning bird walk to Deadhorse Lake from Frost Road on May 24th. A nice variety of birds should be seen with the arrival of our summer residents.
Expect to walk 2-3 miles on gently rolling dirt roads and pathways. Please bring binoculars, water, and good walking shoes. We will meet up at the Twisp Community Center parking lot at 8am and will be out for 2-3 hours. Trip is limited to 8 participants. To sign up, please email trip co-leader Janet Bauer at jsrbauer@gmail.com.
Nespelem to Goose Lake and Beyond- June 6th
By early June, all the spring breeding birds should be present in our region. We will spend a full day birding between the Nespelem River and Goose Lake, with the likelihood of continuing on to the Aeneas Valley. We’ll have an excellent chance to see several species that are uncommon in our area, such as American Redstart and Northern Waterthrush. Dress for the weather and bring lunch, snacks, water, etc. There will be only limited walking along unpaved roadways. We will meet at 6 am at the Sweet River Bakery in Pateros (203 Lakeshore Drive) and expect to return by 5 pm. This trip is limited to ten birders. To reserve your space, email trip co-leaders Art Campbell at rapakivi@methow.com or DJ Jones at
djtrillium@icloud.com.
NOTE: Participants must be fully vaccinated (two shots plus a booster), practice
social distancing in the field, and wear a mask (N95 preferred) when carpooling. Thank you for your cooperation!
Okanogan Highlands Field Trip- June 12th
Come bird the Okanogan Highlands! This day-long adventure will begin in Tonasket, ascending from the Okanogan Valley to roam through the varied habitats of the Highlands and sample its wonderful bird life. Our tour last year identified 92 species in the cliffs, wet meadows, shrub steppe, grassland, forest, riparian, wetlands and open water habitat along the way, and we missed some of the regulars!. Plan to walk short distances over level to slightly rolling terrain. Please bring lunch, water, sun protection and anything else you need to enjoy a day in the Highlands with the birds.
Date: Sunday, June 12: meet at 7:30am with projected end time of 4:30pm. Group size limit: 8 Covid precautions: participants should be vaccinated, practice social distancing in the field, and bring a mask to wear for carpooling.
Contact Todd Thorn to reserve your space with the group and for meeting directions, at water.thrush@yahoo.com