San Juan Islands Audubon Society

>P.O. Box 595, Eastsound,WA 98245<

May 2002

Audubon Spring Boat Trip SJI Audubon now On’line

Mother’s Day (pg. 3 for details) <http://sjiaudubon.org/>

Officers and Committees

President Barbara Jensen, 5163 Roche Hrb. Rd. Friday Harbor, WA 98250 378-3068
Vice President, Orcas Jerry Kasparek, 322 Pt. Lawrence Rd., Olga, WA 98279 376-5524
Vice President, Lopez John Sangster, 483A Watmough Head Rd., Lopez, WA 98261 468-2962
Vice President, Crane Lou Falb, PO Box 85, Deer Harbor,WA 98243 468-3631
Treasurer-Membership Bob Myhr, 177 Caldwell Dr., Lopez, WA 98261 468-2258
Newsletter David Ridgway, 1172 Discovery Way, Eastsound, WA 98245 376-7057
Education Rebecca J. Wolfe, P.O. Box 336, Shaw Island, WA 98286 468-4144

Audubon Legislative Hot Line — Olympia (206) 547-9017

Send all correspondence for the Newsletter to: SJI Audubon, P.O. Box 595, Eastsound, WA 98245
or e-mail to <[email protected]>
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Membership in the San Juan Islands Audubon Society is $15/year and includes a The Trumpeter.
Send your check to Bob Myhr, 177 Caldwell Dr., Lopez, WA 98261
Membership in the National Audubon Society includes the national magazine and membership in the San
Juan Islands Chapter. Membership includes subscription to The Trumpeter newsletter (5 issues per year).
Renewing members, please use the form sent by the National Audubon Society. If you have moved from another
chapter please inform the National Audubon Membership Data Center to change your affiliation to the San Juans chapter.

New members, please send your check to: Include this code with
National Audubon Society Y 18 all memberships.
P.O. Box 51001
Boulder, CO 80322-1001
National Audubon Society dues:
Basic $35 New Member $20
___________________________________________________________________________________________
 San Juan Islands Audubon

The Trumpeter
May 2002
San Juan Islands Audubon Society P.O. Box 595, Eastsound, WA 98245

Trumpeter and SJI Audubon 2002

Now On-line Field Trips
The San Juan Islands Audubon Society and it’s newsletter The Trum-
peter can now be found on-line at: <http:sjiaudubon.org/>. The site is in it’s January19, Sat. Lopez
infancy and will be going through many changes over time. The site be- February16, Sat. San Juan
March16, Sat. Orcas
longs to the organization so any input would be appreciated. As with The
April 21, Sun. Shaw
Trumpeter, submissions of aticles, letters, stories, photos, field sketches May 18, Sat. Lopez
and anything related to Audubon should be sent to the editor. The ‘Sightings’ June 16,Sun Orcas
section of the web site is updated frequently so please submit anything of July -- No trip
interest. SJI Audubon occasionally has special events in addition to the August17, Sat. San Juan
regularly scheduled bird walks and these will be posted as they beome September 21Sat. Shaw
known. The website will be a way for those who live in other places to keep October 20, Sun. Lopez
in touch withour area. November16, Sat San Juan
December 28, Sat. Christmas Bird
- Count
February Birdwalk - San JuanIsland
The San Juan Island field trip in Feb- Oystercatcher, Sanderlings, Pintails, For more information contact:
ruary started with gray skies, at least it and various Gulls as they went on their John Sangster, Lopez 468-2962
was not snowing. Our first stop was Fe- merry way. The rain stopped, and we Jerry Kasparek, Orcas 376-5524
licitations for a cup of coffee and a sweet decided to go to American Camp with Barb Jensen, San Juan 378-3068
treat. On San Juan Rd. we saw 4 Trum- a stop at Panorama Pond. There we
peter Swans with a juvenile, Mallards, saw Mallards, Buffleheads and Lesser Everyone is welcome on all field
one Northern Shoveler, and two Ameri- Scaup. On the other side of the road trips. Most trips are half day and
can Wigeons. Back into the cars to check the forest was alive with Song Spar- are usually done around noon.
out a pond near Douglas Rd. where we rows, Juncos, Red-Wing Blackbirds, The Island sponsoring the trip
saw six Green -Wing Teal, Northern Spotted Towhee, two Brown Creepers, should provide transportation, so
Shoveler about four American Wigeons. Golden -crowned Kinglets and two Var- please help out when a trip is on
At the corner of Douglas Rd. Bailer Rd. ied Thrush. your island.
we saw a Bald Eagle, and lots of Red- At Redoubt Overlook the wind was
wing and Brewers Blackbirds, Robins cold and we were damp from the rain
so we decided to head for the ferry. A March Bird-Walk
and Crows. Further down the road there
few Northern Flickers and Western The March Bird-walk on Orcas
was a Kestrel, a flock of Canada Geese
and a few sparrow species. Meadowlarks bid us good-bye. The was canceled due to snow and
At the pond along Wold Rd. we saw eight of us had a good time seeing 39 high winds. It was a great morn-
various ducks most of which were Ameri- species and we still had time for an- ing to catch up on some sleep
can Wigeons. When the rain began to other stop at Felicitations to enjoy more for bird and man alike.
fall, we backtracked to False Bay Rd. to treats.
check the bay. The rain didn’t bother an Submitted by Jerry Kasperak

Volume 22 Number 2 May 2002

Page 2

Ask Dennis
Exploring the world of birds with noted ornithologist
Dennis Paulson.
Q. To list, or not to list: that is the question.
A. The question has several parts. The first has to do with the lists
most birders keep--life lists, state lists, year lists, yard lists, and the like. What
is the value of these lists? I think they are mostl of value to the individual, but
that value is not inconsequential. Every time you enter a bird in a list, you’re
forging a slightly better connection in your brain. The correct name, how to
spell it, and the fact that you saw it at that time or place all are better imprinted
in your memory. However, the tick boxes in most birding software give you
less return than actually having to write or type the bird’s name; the value of Recent Sightings
many of the time-saving devices we have embraced can be debated. Bob Myhr and Cass Dahlstrom saw
Another question is whether to keep daily lists of the birds you see. I a pair of Golden Eagles at Center
covered this in an earlier column, and the answer is still the same: it’s a great and Mud Bay Roads copulating in
idea, because our lists, especially if expressed in numbers rather than check a large fir tree the weekend of Feb-
ruary 23rd.They still don't know
marks, furnish biodiversity information for future compilers. We know the avian
where the nest is. The pair is often
world is changing, and it’s of great value to document the changes.
at the intersection to the east of
This brings us to the question of whether you should keep lists at all.
Center Road and just north of Mud
The answer, of course, is that this is entirely a personal decision. Many people Bay Road. Ginger Ridgway saw a
enjoy and study birds without keeping lists. The new Sibley field guide has mature Golden Eagle at the Shaw
broken from the tradition of boxes in the index where you can tick off life Ferry dock on March 9th.
birds, acknowledging that all serious birders keep their lists elsewhere, or E-mail recent sight-
perhaps implying there is something more than the list. ings to the editor at:
David Sibley has now produced that something in another hefty vol- <dridgin@rockisland.
ume to be released this fall. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior has com>
been less hyped than the field guide, but is perhaps of greater significance. It
accompanies Kenn Kaufman’s Lives of North American Birds, both excellent
books furnishing information so we can learn about the birds themselves. We
should all proceed beyond identification and attempt to understand the lives
of the birds we identify. What do they do during their daily and annual cycles?
Where do they go when they’re not here? What do they eat and what eats
them? Should we be concerned about their populations? This need not be a
matter of listing, just a matter of observing – both the new generation of books
about them and the birds themselves.
Dr. Dennis Paulson, Director of the Slater Museum of Natural History at
the University of Puget Sound, is author of many publications on birding, THE TRUMPETER
including his latest, Alaska: An Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide. He teaches The Trumpeter is the newsletter of the
for Seattle Audubon Society's Master Birder Program. San Juan Islands Audubon Society pub-
Our thanks to Dr. Paulson and to Earthcare Northwest, the newsletter of lished 4 or 5 times a year. Subscriptions
the Seattle Audubon Society, for permission to reprint this column. are $15.00/year. The Society is a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The
Dennis Paulson writes: "I suppose my first benchmark bird was a editor welcomes articles, photographs,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, the first bird I identified with a new bird book my illustrations, and letters. Opinions ex-
mother gave me for my 12th birthday and the first bird on my life list." pressed in The Trumpeter are those of
the authors and do not necessarily rep-
resent the official position of the S.J.I.
Audubon Society. Original articles, un-
Erratum: The last Trumpeter listed less specifically designated, may be re-
a Black-crowned Night Heron on the printed without permission if credit is
Orcas walk. It was a Great-blue given to this publication and to a spe-
cific author where appropriate.
Heron. (Thanks Lou and Jerry.)
Editor: David Ridgway

Volume 22 Issue 2 May 2002

Page 3

In Search of Skagit Rarities

I’d been reading in the Tweeters email digest about the rare Falcated Audubon Spring Boat-trip
Teal being seen on the Samish Flats near Edison. So I decided to take the Sunday May 12th
early ferry on my planned March 7th trip to Seattle and spend a half a day San Juan Islands Audubon is
taking a look. planning a Spring Boating Trip
I arrived at the West 90 parking lot about 9:00 a.m., and two cars on Mother's Day, Sunday May
pulled in immediately after me, occupants leaning out open windows to 12th. The trip, through Deer
ask, “Have you seen it? Is it here?” One of them had flown up from Eu- Harbor Charters, will leave
gene and driven up from Seattle that morning. This was the first time I’d from Deer Harbor on Orcas at
encountered a long distance birder arriving to nab a life list first. For me, it around 10:30AM and last 3-4
was just convenient to stop by and interesting. As I got out of my car and
hours. We will cruise the San
kitted up with binoculars and scope, and boots, a man arrived from the
direction of the dike. When eagerly questioned, he said he had seen “it” on Juan Islands looking for birds
the bay “down in the corner”. and marine mammals while
As I reached the dike and started scanning the bay, filled with hun- enjoying the scenery. The cost
dreds of widgeons and occasional other ducks, I stopped to appreciate a is $25 per person (30 passen-
sunny morning with views of mountains all around. There was no immedi- gers maximum). A check will
ate sign of the Falcated Duck, so I turned back toward the fields to watch hold your space. For more info
a Short-eared Owl and a couple of harriers hunting. Then I walked out call Ginger Ridgway at 376-
along the dike about a half-mile to spend hours of intense study of widgeons 7057.
and alas no rarities.
Finally I had to leave to make my appointment in Seattle, so I re-
turned along the dike to encounter a group of birders with many scopes Bill Clark Hawk ID Seminar
trained out on the bay. They had spotted “it”, but “it” was about a mile a Succes at Padilla Bay
away. Could I have a look? Someone graciously allowed me to use his Bill Clark, the noted author, re-
scope and tried to tell me what to look for. “It’s got its head down, it’s to the searcher and raptor expert
right of the line to that building, it has whitish shoulders”. I decided I could
gave an advanced hawk ID
see the bird he was talking about, but I couldn’t tell anything about it. No
Falcated Teal for my life list – I have to be able to tell what it is by myself… class in February at the
However, as I walked off the dike toward the parking lot, I noticed a bird in Breazeale Padilla Bay Interpre-
the bushes nearby. A quick look revealed a Common Redpoll, another tive Center which sponsored it
unusual visitor this winter (although usually appearing in flocks). A lifetime in conjunction with the Falcon
first for me, and I returned to my car delighted with a beautiful morning Reasearch Group. The seminar
spent birding and a look at a new bird. lasted two days with the morn-
“Tweeters” is found at < http://www.scn.org/earth/tweeters/index.html> ings for lecture and slides; the
The West 90 is a 90-degree bend in the Samish Island Road (see DeLorme Wash- afternoons were in the field.
ington Gazetteer) Submitted by Mary Blackstone.
There was an overview of North
American raptors but he fo-
cused on local raptors and their
IDing problems (i.e. Sharp-
shinned Hawk compared to
Cooper’s hawk and immature
Bald Eagles and their age). The
April Birdwalk - Shaw field study was very thrilling;
The April 20th Bird-walk on Shaw Swallow species. Some of the high- one stop we saw a Merlin hunt-
had twelve participants who en- lights were Greater Yellowlegs, Green- ing, a Peregrine in a stand of
joyed the good birding weather. winged Teal, two Horned Grebe in Poplars and a Cooper’s hawk
Our stops included the Commu- summer plummage and immature flying over low and close. We
nity Center, the old Moody prop- males of Surf Scoter and Red-breasted
had four falcons the first day
erty, Squaw Bay, U. of W. lands Merganser. A total of 45 species were
seen. To view the complete list go to and the Gyrfalcon on Sunday.
and the County Park. Many early
transitional species were seen <http://sjiaudubon.org/ > and click on Two of Bill’s book are Hawks of
including Savannah Sparrow, ‘birdwalks’. North America and A Photo-
White-crowned Sparrow, Com- graphic Guide to NorthRaptors,
mon Yellowthroat and three bothwith Brian S. Wheeler.

Volume 22 Issue 2 May 2002