Next bird walk in the Methow

Just a short post to let you know that our next Audubon Methow Valley Bird Walk is September 8th. We will continue to meet at the MVSTA parking lot in Winthrop at 7:30 am. We are heading down valley to Cassimir or Bridgeport Bar on the Columbia in hopes of seeing American White Pelicans and other waterbirds. Bring your lunch and something to drink and of course your bird books and binos. This might be a good trip to have a scope or two along. And bring your ideas for future bird walks!

Another Audubon Bird Walk in the Methow

Five of us met at the MVSTA parking lot in Winthrop Monday for the last of our scheduled summer bird walks. It was a lovely morning as we all piled into a Prius to make the drive to North Cascades Basecamp. The Basecamp is stop number 40 on the Cascade Loop of the Great Washington Birding Trail, produced by Audubon Washington and it is open to birders to walk its trails at no charge. We knew we were late in the season to see the nesting species but Kim, the owner had said we might get to see some special birds anyway. She was right. We were treated to spectacular views of the resident Peregrine Falcon family! The young recently fledged and have been seen regularly hunting in the forest surrounding the Basecamp. We saw both young and an adult. At one point along the river, we noticed feathers falling from the air! We turned and saw one of the parents plucking a tiny bird in the tree above us!

She didn't seem too concerned about us.

Here is our short species list:

Peregrine Falcon

Western Wood-Pewee
Unidentified Empidonax
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Yellow Warbler
Western Tanager
Red Crossbill
Pine Siskin
There were other calls that we heard but we were unable to identify them.

Next month we will venture further afield, traveling down the Methow to the Columbia in hopes of seeing American White Pelicans and other water birds. We are still discussing a date in the first half of September. Watch this blog and the NCW Audubon Wild Phlox for the announcement.

Where Raptors Soar: Chelan Ridge Hawk Migration Festival

Join the Methow Valley Ranger District, North Central Washington Audubon Society, and HawkWatch International for a free family event to learn about and celebrate raptors as they journey to winter territories. Shop vendors, see live birds, and take a field trip to the spectacular Chelan Ridge Raptor Migration Site. This amazing, interactive raptor event will take place at Memorial Park in Pateros, Washington on September 25, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The festival will have art projects for kids, hands on activities, and raptor exhibits. Attendees can also go on birding field trips with experts to identify waterfowl and migrating songbirds while exploring along the Columbia River. During the day, shuttles will run from Pateros to Chelan Ridge where families, bird lovers, and learners of all ages will be able to see raptors like Sharp-shinned Hawks up close before they are banded and released. This is an amazing experience with environmental education and interpretation conducted by an on-site educator, Forest Service personnel, and other volunteers.

A Merlin captured and banded at the HawkWatch site in September of 2008. Photo by Teri J Pieper

On Sunday, continuing the celebration of Hawk Migration, the North Cascades Basecamp, a festival sponsor, will be hosting a pancake breakfast with an expert speaker and then providing a guide for a field trip to Harts Pass, another excellent place to view migrating raptors. Call 509.996.2334 for more information or see their booth at the festival in Pateros.

This festival is scheduled to coincide with the peak of southbound migration of raptors at Chelan Ridge—the best place in Washington to view fall migrating raptors. All three partners have a mission to provide education to our communities and this hands-on event is a great opportunity. This educational effort is focused on raptors and the ecosystems upon which we all rely. According to Kent Woodruff, a biologist for the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, "The Chelan Ridge project is good news for hawks, which in some cases still face challenges for survival. It’s also great for nature enthusiasts who like to see animals in the wild doing what comes naturally and see scientists at work trying to learn more about the raptors as they migrate south to spend the winter."

To pre-register for the field trips leaving from Pateros and to reserve a space in the shuttle to Chelan Ridge, please call 509-731-4790.

For more information about this free festival, please visit http://www.ncwaudubon.org/ or email festival@ncwaudubon.org.

North Central Washington Audubon Society works to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and their habitats, for the benefit of people and the biological diversity of North Central Washington.

HawkWatch International (HWI) is a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the environment through education, long-term monitoring, and scientific research on raptors as indicators of ecosystem health.

Methow Valley Ranger District, U.S. Forest Service celebrates 100 Years of Caring for the Land and Serving People.

Another day at the computer, but I added 1 new species to my life list

Sitting in front of my computer on a near-100 degree day, it's hard to believe I just added another species to my life list. But I did, and maybe you did too, without even knowing it and hopefully doing something more life affirming than staring at your computer. Here's how it happens.

The FIFTY-FIRST SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION
CHECK-LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS hits the streets this month, and a pdf copy just landed like a sodden copy of The New York Times in my in-box. For the non-bird nerds out there, this is the annual culmination of the work of a lot of pointy headed people who spend significant portions of their lives lumping and splitting. Species, that is. This year there are 12 authors on the paper, and I'd be willing to bet they were all really good in high school debate club and they still like to argue. A lot.

These days, the re-ordering of avian taxonomies is driven largely by genetic analysis. While the details of this type of work are pretty tedious and mostly take place far from actual birds and under fluorescent lighting in windowless rooms, the outcome is often quite interesting. And the AOU supplement spares us most of that back story.

In the latest supplement there is a lot of renaming of Orders, but usually just by a letter or two. There is also the inevitable re-arrangement of Orders and Families, meaning some groups of birds are now recognized as older or younger than previously thought. This ranking determines the arrangement of the content in field guides, so these sorts of changes keep publishers in business and also guarantees that you won't be able to find anything in your next field guide without fanning through pages like an old lady stuck in an un-air conditioned church.

For most of us bird watchers, things get a bit more interesting at the species level. This time around, genetics (and song and lack of inter-breeding) have determined that what used to be the Winter Wren here in Washington is now the Pacific Wren. What used to be the Winter Wren in New England, where I first encountered the species, is still the Winter Wren. Thus the new species on my list and maybe yours too.

Eventually all of this exciting news will be published on the AOU's web site. For now it is in volume 127 of The Auk, which you can find in the library of most universities, should you be near one, or on line, should you wish to pay for the privilege. Or you can relax and just wait for the next edition of Sibley's to come out!