Youth Education Committee Fall Updates

Youth Education Committee Fall Updates

Summer has slowly slipped away and so, the Youth Education Committee (YEC) is gearing up for another busy fall. Check out our website and schedule your event.

Do you want a classroom presentation on birds? Great! On what particular aspect do you want the presenter to focus: introducing students to birds, backyard birds, beaks? Or are your students more advanced and need to learn about migration and habitat? Are they interested in owls? What particular workshop will appeal to them?

Are they ready for a walk in a lovely park to see and identify birds? Then, you might be interested in one of our walks with an experienced guide to help you identify birds that you see on land and on the water. You will see a wide variety of birds: on land such as the Black-capped Chickadee, the Northern Flicker, and the Red-breasted Nuthatch. On the lake, look for the Common Goldeneye, the Bufflehead, and the Canada Goose. You might even be lucky enough to spot a Bald Eagle winging its way across the lake. 

Whatever your interest, we are there to help your students learn. Check out our website and give us a call at 425-894-0100.

Preserving Greenspace in King County

Preserving Greenspace in King County

King County Proposition 1, which would restore funding for the Conservation Futures program, will be on the ballot Nov 8, 2022.  This program is one of the most important mechanisms for conserving undeveloped land within the county.  The EAS Board of Directors will be discussing whether to formally endorse Proposition 1 at the September board meeting.  The following offers background information for those interested.

King County has a long history of preserving and protecting our natural resources.  Land conservation in King County—and 13 other counties—is largely funded by the Conservation Futures Program that the state created 50 years ago. However, the Conservation Futures program is currently generating only 50% of the original revenue limiting the capacity to conserve open space.

Over the past 40 years, King County has protected more than 100,00 acres of greenspace including waterways, forests, farmland (through the purchase of development rights), trails, in-holdings within public lands, and urban parks.  Applications from the county, cities, or conservation groups are made to the Conservation Futures Advisory Board which assesses the requests and makes recommendations to the King County Executive. Generally, municipalities provide 50% of the funding with the remaining 50% coming from Conservation Futures grants.  Examples of land preserved through Conservation Futures include Cougar Mountain, Bear Creek Waterways, Issaquah Creek Greenway, Evans Creek, and EasTrail.

With all this success, why do we need Proposition 1?  The King County Land Conservation Initiative (LCI), a collaborative effort between the county, businesses, farmers, and environmental groups to preserve green space, has currently, identified 65,000 additional acres of undeveloped land with the goal of preserving them within the next 30 years.  Continued development and increasing property values have made obtaining these natural areas for the public good more difficult.  While property values have been increasing, funds from the property tax levy used for preserving land through acquisitions has been shrinking. 

In 2001, the legislature capped property tax increases at 1%/year.  This has brought down the Conservation Futures funding from 6.25 cents/ $1,000 to 3.12 cents in 2022 and will be only 2.84 cents in 2023.  This halving of the funding has occurred while property values have increased which has significantly limited the ability to purchase land for conservation.  Conservation Futures funding has simply not kept pace with property values of the remaining open spaces.

What does Proposition 1 do?  If passed, Prop 1 will restore Conservation Futures funding back to the original $.0625 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.  Cost for the average homeowner would be about $2 more per month.  This $2 per month would double our ability to protect the most important open spaces within a single generation. 

Why protect our remaining green space?  Besides providing habitat for birds, protecting our remaining greenspace confronts climate change by protecting mature forests, adds equitable access to greenspace in underserved areas, preserves salmon habitat, protects more homes, farms, and roads from flooding, provides more land for recreation, and protects farmland from development.

Photo of the Month: August

Don and Margaret Larkin are Selected as Photographers of the Month in August

Don and Margaret Larkin were named the Eastside Audubon Society photographers of the month for the second time in August for a series of owl photos. The couple won the EAS Photography Group award in May. 

You can see more of their work on SmugMug and Instagram.

Here is the story behind their owl photographs. 

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A Barred Owl Family 

By Don and Margaret Larkin 

Barred Owl #2 – Margaret Larkin, 450 mm, 1/30 sec, F 8, ISO 2500 

In June, during our evening walk just before sunset, my wife Margaret and I were excited to hear a faint and familiar sound coming from the woods.  This sound was a lot different from the usual chickadee and song sparrow calls that we normally hear.  This was a soft hissing sound that could only come from a juvenile owl calling out to be fed by its parents.  We spotted the owl and soon discovered it had a sibling nearby.  Both parents were busy hunting for food while the owlets were practicing their flying skills and exploring the woods.  Over the next couple of months, we were able to sit quietly and watch the owl family go about their evening routine.  As the owlets grew, they became more confident and courageous.  They appeared to be just as curious about us as we were about them.  The parent owls didn’t seem to worry, and they were calm and relaxed while we were there.  

What is it about owls that make even non-birders stop and gaze at them with amazement?  Is it because we remember reading about them in children’s books or seeing them in movies as the wisest of all birds?  Since Greek times, owls have been considered wise because of their heightened senses and their association with the night.  Their night vision and superior hearing abilities allow them to easily catch prey and protect themselves from danger in the dark. They are mysterious birds who fly without making a sound, and whose presence can only be heard at night by their familiar hooting calls.  Owls are also difficult to see during the day because their feathers blend so well with their surroundings.       

Barred Owl #3- Margaret Larkin, 550 mm, 1/40 sec, f 6.3, ISO 2500  

We are also fascinated with owls because they seem to have some human “personality”.  Sometimes we see an owl’s behavior or body language and can’t help but imagine that they think the same way we do.  Over the years, Margaret and I have focused a lot of our photographic attention on owls because we see them demonstrate behavior that we admire in humans, such as strength, patience, skill, caring, and family commitment.  Perhaps it is these qualities that make owls so fascinating and wise.        

 The series of photos show the parent owls relaxing and showing affection, and one owlet waiting for the parents to feed him.   

Barred Owl #1 – Don Larkin,  500 mm, 1/30 sec, F 6.7, ISO 2500

Barred Owl #4 – Don Larkin,  500 mm,  1/45 sec, F 5.6, ISO 8000 

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About the Eastside Audubon Photograph of the Month Award 

The Photo of the Month award was instituted to recognize the work of the Photo Group Members. The group members meet monthly to show their latest photos and videos as well as share their knowledge of photography and wildlife. To attend the meetings, please join the group’s announcement list.

Photo of the Month: July

Jay Galvin is the June Photographer of the Month

Canon 5D Mark IV | Tamron 150-600 mm lens | 1 /640.of a second at f/8 | ISO 1600

Jay Galvin, a long-time member of the Eastside Audubon Society photography group, was selected as the Photographer of the Month for his series of photos of a Virginia Rail he shot at Flaming Geyser State Park.

“The Virginia Rail that came out of the reeds in front of me and proceeded to preen itself for a couple of minutes,” he says. “Flaming Geyser State Park is a great marsh for photographing all kinds of avians all year long. The bird knew I was watching it, but it seemed not to care as I clicked away with my Canon 5D Mark IV!”

Jay started photographing birds when he purchased in 2005 his first digital camera, a 12.8 megapixel Canon 5D. He gravitated towards bird photography as they are close-at-hand and often willing subjects.

More of Jay’s work is available on Facebook.

Canon 5D Mark IV | Tamron 150-600 mm lens | 1 /800.of a second at f/8 | ISO 1600

About the Eastside Audubon Photograph of the Month Award 

The Photo of the Month award was instituted to recognize the work of the Photo Group Members. The group members meet monthly to show their latest photos and videos as well as share their knowledge of photography and wildlife. To attend the meeting, please join the group’s announcement list.

Canon 5D Mark IV | Tamron 150-600 mm lens | 1 /800.of a second at f/8 | ISO 1600

How We're Connected: Forests, Palm Oil, and You

AlTo Update, June 2022

How We’re Connected: Forests, Palm Oil, and You

Editor's note: How We're Connected is AlTo's occasional series about the connections between conservation and local communities in Tompotika with the outside world, particularly members of the Global Consumer Class. This is the first of a two-part series about Palm Oil, by AlTo's Senior Science Advisor Galen Priest, PhD.

Part One: The Palm Oil Conundrum

Tropical rainforests are critical for life on Earth. As the "lungs of the planet," they stabilize the global climate by absorbing carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, clean the air and water, and maintain a healthy water cycle. They are also the planet’s most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystem, hosting about half of all the world’s species. On a local level, tropical rainforests prevent flooding, offer soil stability and landslide protection, and provide medicine and other products that sustain local communities.

Indonesia is home to the world’s third largest tropical rainforest and is the single most biodiverse country in the world. But, as a result of global demand for palm oil, tropical forests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and elsewhere are rapidly being clear-cut, burned, and replaced with oil palm plantations. Currently there are at least 16 million hectares (61,800 square miles) of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, an area larger than the U.S. state of Georgia, or roughly the size of South Korea. In Indonesia alone, 3.1 million hectares (12,000 square miles) of rainforest were destroyed, cleared, and converted to palm oil between 2001 and 2019, and it is estimated that approximately 20% of the total palm oil land is located in illegal areas such as protected forests. While rates of deforestation for palm oil have been slowing in the last decade in Indonesia, the conversion of rainforest to oil palm is ongoing. Many experts are concerned that a recent uptick in palm oil prices paired with signs from the Indonesian government mean rates of conversion may be set to increase.

Lowland areas which are especially precious as wild habitat and agricultural land for farmers are especially vulnerable to conversion for oil palm. This land in Tompotika has been cleared for oil palm planting (left) but was once rich Tompotika tropical rainforest (right). Photos: Kevin Schafer.

Palm oil is extracted from fruits and seeds (kernels) of several palm species, most commonly the African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) which has been used as a source of vegetable oil for millennia. In 2021, global palm oil production exceeded that of any other vegetable oil, with 75 million metric tons produced, 68% of which came from Indonesia. Last year, the U.S. accounted for just 2% of global palm oil consumption (1.6 million metric tons), yet this is an astonishing 4.8 kilograms (10.6 lbs) of palm oil consumed for every person in the United States in a single year. Globally, 68% of palm oil is consumed in the form of food products, 27% is used in industrial applications and consumer products such as soaps, detergents, and cosmetics, and the remaining 5% is used for biofuel. It is estimated that around half of all packaged goods in grocery stores contain palm oil in some form. It is now ubiquitous in our food and consumer products, but how, and why, has palm oil become so entrenched in our everyday lives? 

Palm oil is extracted from the fruits and kernels (seeds) of the Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis. Photos: T.K. Naliaka (left), Arodi (right).

In the 1990’s health professionals and  consumers became increasingly concerned about the health problems caused by consuming trans fatty acids ("trans fats"), found mostly in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.  Food manufacturers thus sought a healthier, equally shelf-stable, and cheap alternative to sell to consumers. From a health and commercial perspective, palm oil is an ideal substitute. It is free of trans fats, semi-solid at room temperature, resistant to oxidation and spoiling, odorless and nearly tasteless when purified, and can withstand high cooking temperatures. Palm oil is also cheap and efficient to grow. One hectare of oil palm produces 2.84 metric tons of oil per year, four times the amount of oil per unit of land that can be produced from any other common vegetable oil crop. While palm oil was already being used to some extent in food products, in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s food manufacturers rapidly replaced unhealthy hydrogenated vegetable oils with palm oil. With demand for palm oil on the rise, developing countries where palm oil is produced saw an opportunity for economic growth.  The palm oil boom was on, and Indonesia’s expansion of oil palm production made it the largest global producer by 2006.

While palm oil has many desirable qualities for use in food and consumer goods, the problem lies in where and how it is produced. More and more tropical forests, so critical for life on earth, are being destroyed for oil palm plantations. Oil palm grows only in a narrow band of climate along the equator, in areas formerly occupied by the world’s tropical rainforests as well as some of the economically poorest human communities. Not only is oil palm replacing the rainforests that stabilize global climate and host much of the world’s biodiversity, but fires set to clear land for plantations are releasing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide from forest and peat carbon sinks, further accelerating global climate change. While a few native species can forage on oil palms and persist in plantations, from a biodiversity standpoint, monocultures of oil palm constitute what some call a “green desert” relative to the productive and diverse rainforests they replace. Shrinking habitat is having drastic impacts on Indonesia’s megafauna such as Orangutans, Sumatran Tigers, Pygmy Elephants, Javan and Sumatran Rhinos, and Sulawesi's own Maleo bird. In fact, it is estimated that palm expansion could impact 54% of all threatened mammal species and 64% of all threatened birds worldwide.

The expansion of palm oil is also disastrous for the people who live where it is grown.  Despite bringing billions of dollars into Indonesia, for the most part the expansion of palm oil does not benefit the people living in poor rural populations where it is grown. Rampant corruption means that palm oil money is consolidated in the hands of corrupt government officials and wealthy families. Permits for land previously leased to farmers by village authorities, which provided income and food for the rural population, are given to shell companies created under the names of family members and friends of government officials. These shell companies then sell the leases to oil palm conglomerates, grabbing the land away from rural farmers to enrich the shell company owners. Villages and smallholders are powerless as the state-issued palm plantation permits trump all previous land use agreements. In some instances, farmers have no knowledge that their land rights have been sold out from under them until bulldozers and armed security guards arrive to level their crops and homes.

Rainforests are often illegally clear-cut to make way for palm oil plantations throughout Indonesia (left). Farms and forests which once supported rural people and wildlife are turned to palm oil estates. For formerly self-sufficient farmers turned plantation laborers, the wages are low and the work is back-breaking (right). Photos: AD Partners (left), Hursutimbul (right).

Farmers and local people who do own land may be offered compensation by palm oil companies to buy their land. But agreements are often brokered using deceptive tactics, including promises to share profits or to set aside portions of the established palm plantation for the original owners to farm themselves. More often than not, such promises go unfulfilled, and local people simply lose their land. Some who lose their self-sufficiency and livelihoods may go to work on the palm oil estates as day laborers, but the wages are low, with higher-paying jobs in the palm estates going to more specialized outsiders. Those in poor rural communities who choose not to work for the palm plantations have little alternative but to clear additional land (often illegally) in order to reestablish subsistence farms or their own small palm oil plantation.

So, what can YOU do about the palm oil conundrum?  Worldwide, oil palm is here to stay: switching to a different vegetable oil would likely require even more land and cause more environmental destruction. On the grand scale, as with most environmental problems, controlling worldwide human population will help. Individual consumers, however, can commit to using only truly sustainable, conflict-free palm oil (more on this in Part Two), reducing or completely avoiding consumption of conventionally-produced palm oil. Though sometimes a bit of a challenge, the key here is heightened attention to label-reading and a healthier lifestyle.

Palm oil is estimated to be in half of all packaged goods at our grocery stores. Yet, if you look at the products in your home or at the store you won't always see the words ‘palm oil’ among the ingredients. This is because palm oil may be labelled generically, as "vegetable oil," or, more commonly, it is refined into derivatives. These derivatives account for about 60% of all palm oil consumed, and go under hundreds of different names. To complicate matters further for the responsible consumer, some of these derivatives can be sourced from any of the common vegetable oils, though palm oil is the dominant vegetable oil on the market, making it the most likely source. Common palm oil derivatives include any substance that includes the words “palm” or “kernel” such as Palmolein, Etyl Palmitate, and Sodium Kernelate; and most products using the root words -stear-, -laur-, and -glyc-. A few examples include Stearate, Sodium Laureth/Lauryl Sulfate, and Glycerin/Glycerol. Such additives are ubiquitous on store shelves; for virtually all products that include these ingredients, however, so-called "natural" or alternative products are available that avoid the palm oil ingredients. Read the labels.

And here's the good news: the consumer changes we can make to solve the oil palm conundrum are the same changes in our consumption habits that we already know will support healthier bodies and a more just economy. Reducing your personal palm oil consumption can be seen as yet another reason to make those win-win changes: cut back on all pre-packaged and processed foods. Buy more fresh and locally-produced food. Consume more fresh fruits and vegetables. These actions are not only healthier for you and more environmentally friendly in general, but they will also drastically reduce the amount of palm oil you consume. Also, carefully reading the labels and monitoring your use of soaps, shampoos, and detergents is another way to reduce your personal palm oil consumption while simultaneously reducing a critical source of pollution in aquatic habitats. For those of us in the Global Consumer Class, whenever possible, we should try to simply use less, and avoid waste. By being aware and reducing our consumption we can help curb the rate of palm oil expansion, reducing the rate of tropical deforestation.

In Part Two of this series, next month, we will look at palm oil sustainability certification schemes, other efforts to rein in environmental and human abuses in the palm oil industry, and how consumer pressure from people just like you has already helped enormously, and can make a big difference going forward.

Alliance for Tompotika Conservation

21416 – 86th Ave. SW

Vashon, WA 98070

206-463-7720

info@tompotika.org

We’re Looking for a Few New Board Members for 2023

We’re Looking for a Few New Board Members for 2023

Written by Lori Danielson

Eastside Audubon is seeking four new board members in the next few months. Being on the board is a great opportunity to meet new people and support an important environmental conservation voice on the Eastside. Our current board is a very welcoming group and works well together to advance the work we all care about and support our staff and volunteers. We have a great mix of people who really care about birds, the environment, and our organization.

Diversity on the board is really important to us, so we’re looking for candidates of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and neighborhoods, as well as younger professionals.

The board positions that we’re looking to fill include:

• Birding

• Community Outreach

• Volunteer Coordination

• Financial Development

We have job descriptions for each of these positions and can provide those on request.

Besides the board chair positions, we have other open projects for volunteers too, including coordinating our program night speakers, citizen science, holiday gift wrap event, and our Birdathon fundraiser, among others. 

We’ll be holding an online open house to talk about volunteer openings on Monday, September 12th at 7 p.m. via Zoom. In it, we’ll talk about the organization, the open positions, and we’ll answer questions.

If you’re interested or know someone who might fit the bill, register here to get the Zoom link for the virtual open house. 

Photo of the Month: June

Jim Haas and Jeff Lane Are Named Photographers of the Month 

Jim Haas and Jeff Lane were the co-winners of the Eastside Audubon Society Photo of the Month award in June. 

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Jim was honored for his shot of a Merganser that was ferrying her young at the south end of Lake Washington near the mouth of the Cedar River.  

“The Merganser swam up to a pile of logs in the lake, gathered her ducklings, and was headed back to her nest when I took the picture,” he says. “It looked like a good ride until the mother saw something and dove after it.” 

This was the third time the Photography Group honored Jim’s work. 

Photo Details

The sun was behind the birds and required the use of Topaz DeNoise to adjust lighting and remove the noise in both photos.

Merganser ferries her young

Sony A7iv | 200-600 mm lens at 600 mm | 1/2000 of a second at f/9 | ISO 1000

The ups and downs of a free ride

Sony A7iv | 200-600 mm lens at 600 mm | 1/2000 of a second at f/9 | ISO 1000

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Jeff was honored for his shot of a grebe at Yellowstone National Park. His work has been featured at the Parklane Gallery. Jeff has been shooting photographs for some 30 years and strives to “capture images good enough to get an emotional response from viewers.”

More of his work can be viewed at jlanephotos.com.

Photo Details

Grebe at Yellowstone National Park

Nikon Z9 | NIKKOR 500 mm | 1/640 of a second at f/11 | ISO 1600

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About the Eastside Audubon Photograph of the Month Award 

The Photo of the Month award was instituted to recognize the work of the Photo Group Members. The group members meet monthly to show their latest photos and videos as well as share their knowledge of photography and wildlife. To attend the meeting, please join the group’s announcement list.

Don’t Forget the Insects!

Don’t Forget the Insects!

Written by Jim Rettig

Birders spend a lot of time (and money) looking at, learning about, and photographing birds.  It’s a terrific hobby:  it gets you outside, keeps you active, opens up the beauty and complexity of the natural world, helps you make new and lasting friends, puts you in touch with conservation organizations locally and around the world, and can get you active in local conservation efforts. And it also opens up other areas of interest, such as insects:  dragonflies and butterflies to name two.

Insects and other invertebrates play key ecological roles in the complex and intricate natural world, and are critical to the survival of countless other species.  According to Merrill Peterson, “The diversity of life . . . reaches a pinnacle in the insect world. . . . Indeed, according to current estimates, insects account for about two-thirds of the species of multicellular organisms [and] the variety of insects is enough to boggle the mind.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, there are more than 30,000 species of insects, and if you were to thoroughly sample the fauna of your backyard, you would almost certainly find more species of insects than the entire diversity of birds in the U.S. and Canada.” ¹

Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly by Jim Rettig

Herbivorous insects drive plant diversity by making plants evolve new defenses so they aren’t always eaten.  Herbivores  limit the ability of a single plant species to dominate the landscape (except when we use pesticides and herbicides that enable invasive species to push out natives).   As pollinators, insects enable flowering plants to thrive.  They feed on dead matter which facilitates microbial breakdown thus recycling nutrients and make them available to other plants.  And, of course, insects become food for birds, fish, amphibians, and mammals such as Grizzly Bears in Montana which eat migrating moths.  Insects provide humans with honey, silk, wax, dyes, and, in some cultures, food. They are also essential subjects in medical and basic biological research.  

Unfortunately, just as bird populations are decreasing, so too are populations of insect species. 

You know the reasons:  among them are the increasing use of herbicides and pesticides, monocultural farming, habitat loss, and invasive species that offer no food to local insects.

So in urging all of us not to forget the insects, I offer eight things we can do to create insect-friendly habitats.  The eight listed here summarize an article written by Akito Y. Kawahara and others, which appeared in a National Academy of Sciences publication.²

1. Convert lawns into diverse natural habitats.  In the United States alone there are over 40 million acres of lawns, all biodiversity deserts.  Even if we converted only 10% or our lawns, that could significantly aid insect conservation.  And if every school and local park did the same, usable habitat for insects would increase by millions of acres.

2. Grow native plants.  Members of Audubon know this already.  Native insects and birds need native plants, plants they they have evolved with over millions of years.

3. Reduce pesticide and herbicide use.  Or stop using these products altogether.  They not only kill insects and plants, many are harmful to humans in various ways.  

4. Limit the use of exterior lighting.  Light pollution attracts nocturnal insects.  Artificial lights are powerful sensory traps that can kill insects through exhaustion or predation.

5. Lessen soap runoff from washing vehicles and building exteriors, and reduce use of driveway sealants and de-icing salts.  Soaps, sealants and salts produce significant quantities of pollutants that can drain into local water systems killing aquatic insects.  Use biodegradable soaps, soy-based sealants, and shovels or snowblowers to get rid of the snow and ice.

6. Increase the awareness and appreciation of insects by countering negative perceptions of insects.  Get to know the benefits that insects bring to humankind.  Such benefits can easily be remembered as the “5Ps”:  1) Pollinators, 2) Prey, 3) Physical decomposers, 4) Progress — helping science and technology, 5) Pleasure — they bring beauty, delight, and fascination to those who look.

7. Become an educator, ambassador, and advocate for insect conservation.  Point them out to your children and grandchildren.  Join The Xerces Society³ which is dedicated to conserving, enhancing, and protecting insects and other invertebrates.  It publishes a new activity book called X Kids that uses story-telling and science-based activities to help children discover the environment around them.

8. Get involved in local politics, support science, and vote!  Political action at the local level can significantly advance insect conservation.

Golden Crab Spider with Fly by Jim Rettig

A few years ago, my two sons and I hiked into Yellow Aster Butte in the North Cascades.  When I walked out a few days later I took lots of time getting to the car because I was photographing such a wide variety of blooming flowers.  Very impressive.  And when I think of how insects drove plants to evolve to defend themselves from these predators, resulting in such a great variety if blossoming beauties, I give thanks to the Creator for both the flora and fauna.  

Don’t forget the insects.

¹Merrill A. Peterson, Pacific Northwest INSECTS, Seattle Audubon, 2018

² If you’d like to get a copy of this article, contact me at jrettigtanager@gmail.com.

³Contact The Xerces Society at xerces.org or call toll-free 855-232-6639.