Every December, thousands of volunteers across North America head outdoors to count birds — helping scientists understand how our feathered neighbors are doing. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) isn’t just a fun birding day — it’s the oldest and largest citizen science project in the world, and it depends entirely on volunteers like you.
Eastside Audubon is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities supporting local conservation and education efforts.
The Puget Sound Seabird Survey is looking for birders in King County to join this established Community Science program.
In the quiet of the woods the bubbling song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet erupted, and the high trill of the Brown Creeper signaled its presence. The hormonal drive to breed had birds singing regardless of the weather.
As EAS prepares to move their location to another office, The Youth Education Committee has been reorganizing their materials and found a large box of bird projector slides that are no longer needed. They are old-fashioned slides used in slide projectors. If you are interested in taking the slides, anywho who can pick them up at the current EAS office is welcome to!
Please contact Mary Britton-Simmons for more information:
(425) 894-0100
marybs98272@gmail.com
Birding skills can be improved by looking at the whole bird before focusing on a single field mark. This theme is prominent in National Geographic Birding Essentials (Alderfer and Dunn, 2005). In the chapter on Identifying Birds the authors discuss the process of looking at birds using four attributes: size, structure, plumage, and behavior, which I summarize below.
At the end of June 2022, Eastside Audubon’s lease with the Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church for office space will end. The church had asked us to reduce our office space by half by July 2022, down to approximately 210 square feet, in order to renew our lease. The board felt that such a significant reduction wasn’t feasible due to the amount of educational material, bird mounts and equipment we have, plus the need to have working space for our Executive Director, volunteers and interns. So we’re embarking on the search for a new office location.
We want to thank the church for providing our organization space for many years (decades!) and being a good partner and accommodating landlord.
We plan to continue using the church’s sanctuary for our monthly membership meetings when they resume in person, but we’re looking for new office and storage space on the eastside. We need your help in that search.
Do you have commercial real estate experience or knowledge of potential nonprofit space that could be leased or shared? If so, the board wants your assistance. Please contact Jeremy Lucas at jeremy.lucas79@gmail.com to learn more.
Eastside Audubon offers a variety of engaging volunteer opportunities for people of all experience levels. Volunteers are important and valued members of the organization and our volunteer positions can enhance your knowledge of conservation, birds, communication, leadership and nonprofit organizations. Whether you have a lifetime interest in nature or are just getting started, Eastside Audubon has a place for you.
What you’ll do: Attend monthly board meetings (via Zoom) and take meeting minutes.
Requirements: Skill in taking notes and recording them in an electronic document. No prior experience necessary.
Schedule & location: Board meetings are held in the evening on the fourth Tuesday of the month, year round, via Zoom or at the Kirkland office of Eastside Audubon.
What you’ll do: Assist the board in recruiting and onboarding new volunteers. Follow up with people who have expressed interest in volunteering to match them with open positions. Help organize volunteer appreciation events.
Requirements: Enjoy talking with and meeting new people. Good organizational skills. No prior experience necessary.
Schedule & location: Flexible schedule, year round. Work from home or the Eastside Audubon office in Kirkland.
A favorite walk is resuming this spring at Kirkland's Juanita Bay Park. One-hour interpretive walks at 1 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month, led by Eastside Audubon's rangers, are your opportunity to learn more about birds and other wildlife at this shoreline park on Lake Washington. These easy walks take place on paved walkways and boardwalks and they're open to adults, children 6 years or older when accompanied by an adult, and people with disabilities. You don't need to register; just meet at 1 p.m. at the park's kiosk near the parking lot. See our website calendar for dates. Enjoy getting outside and learning more about this beautiful place so close to home!
The place where I live is really important to me. Not just my house, but the quality of my neighborhood and community, my city and state. I want to live in a place where birds, animals and people flourish together, a place that’s safe, not polluted, has affordable houses, and that has thriving small businesses and well-functioning government and schools.
During the winter, with lots of birds possibly gathering at your feeders, it’s important to remember to clean them regularly in order to avoid the possible spread of disease. A recent (January 2022) update from Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife indicated they have been receiving some reports of dead or sick Pine Siskins and other songbirds. They went on to say,
“At this point we are hesitant to declare this an outbreak like last year's salmonellosis outbreak in birds, but we do want to remind people that if you find a dead or sick bird (common signs are that they appear tame, lethargic, and have fluffed out feathers) near your bird feeder, please take it down for a couple weeks to encourage birds to spread out and not spread salmonellosis to each other. Or, if you don't want to take your feeder down, you can thoroughly wash it every day. Information on salmonellosis in birds, as well as how to effectively clean feeders and report dead or sick birds to help us track this illness is in a blog post we originally posted last year at Frequently asked questions on salmonellosis in wild birds | by The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | Medium.”
Seattle Audubon also has posted feeder guidance to limit disease. Please take some time this season to protect the birds you feed.
Written by Kendall Wiggins
Kendall Wiggins, Master of Education
On a foggy winter morning, it’s easy to miss the nondescript turn into the Snoqualmie Wildlife Area at Stillwater, located between Carnation and Duvall in the Snoqualmie Valley. One by one, cars pull off the highway into a tiny dirt parking lot surrounded by ponds and grasses. Here, among the reeds and water-filled potholes, a group of eager birders has gathered. The group comprises members of all ages and from many places, with a wealth of experiences to share. Chilly and excited, we set out along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, binoculars and scopes in hand.
Almost immediately, we are greeted by droves of vocal European starlings, red-winged blackbirds, and American robins perched at the tops of the bare winter trees. We spend time observing a mixed flock of ruby and golden-crowned kinglets, black-capped chickadees and brown creepers which seem to move with us down the trail. We wonder: Are we following them, or are they following us?
Throughout the walk, song sparrows, spotted towhees, and Pacific wrens keep us company as they forage in the brush and on islands of grasses in the ponds along the trail. Keen eyes spot chestnut-backed chickadees, Bewick’s wrens and a fox sparrow in the nearby shrubs. Intermittent Steller’s jays undulate between trees overhead and a common raven calls from behind the tall conifers. In the distance, double-crested cormorants fly above the Snoqualmie River as it winds its way through the valley.
Red-naped and Red-breasted Sapsucker Hybrid by Raghav Mehta
The trail is quiet for a while until we see a large flock of bushtits flitting through some low shrubs, accompanied by lone kinglets and chickadees. These adorable little birds lift our spirits as the fog begins to clear and we glimpse blue sky. Some group members continue ahead to spot the first waterfowl of the day, while others stick around and discover a sapsucker conundrum.
After many minutes of deliberation with many group members weighing in, we decide this bird is most likely a red-breasted and red-naped sapsucker hybrid, though its call was clearly that of a red-breasted sapsucker. A bald eagle watches the entire exchange from a tree across the field.
Cover photo credit by Mick Thompson.
