Annual Membership Meeting Election of Offi cers and Board

Sunday, December 3, 20061:30 PM – 3 PM

Dan Varland, Dead Wood Tales Grays Harbor PUD Community Room

2720 Sumner Avenue, Aberdeen

from his neck to his rump he is buffy with broader dark brown streaks. His blackish wings have buffy colored edges and his outer wings and the base of his outer tail is yellow, varying from paler to brighter yellow. Females and males are very similar, the male having more yellow. The Pine Siskin is the most fre-quently encountered member of the irruptive winter fi nches. They breed primarily in open conifer-ous forests in the northern parts of North America from Alaska through all of Canada to New-foundland and south to northern New England. They are irregu-larly common to abundant in their breeding areas…perhaps abundant one year and absent the next in a particular location. They are also irregular migrants, stag-ing major irruptions into the cen-tral areas of North America as far south as central Florida. Their abundance depends on the availability of their food source. Their year-round range extends from Alaska through the Rockies to northern Arizona. These irreg-ular and irruptive patterns make it diffi cult to assess their population trends. Pine Siskins prefer a diet of the seeds of conifers and alders as well as a wide variety of weed seeds. They also feed on in-sects, spiders, tree buds and ten-der young vegetable and fl ower shoots. Their courtships begin in Janu-ary or February while they are still in their winter fl ocks. Their

The Sandpiper

November/December 2006

Dead wood talesImagine a forest where all the

trees are fully dressed out in their green leaves and needles and vibrantly alive. As you look around there are no fallen trees or decaying branches on the ground, no snags sticking up high in the distance. Now picture a forest with toppled trees left where they fell, hollows in the sides of dying older trees and snags poking up out of the forest canopy. This is a forest in all stages of birth and decay. Which forest will produce the most diver-sity of wildlife?If you said the second forest you’d be right! Since much of the wildlife in our forests are cavity-dependent, dead and dying trees are essential to maintain a rich biodiversity. Managed forests typically contain fewer of these components, primarily because of shorter harvest rotations and safety issues centered on snag retention during logging operations. At our Membership Meeting

on Sunday, December 3rd, Dan Varland, Wildlife Biologist for Rayonier for more that 13 years, will present a program on the importance of dead and decaying wood to forest biodiversity. Dan’s research has focused on address-ing the habitat needs of forest wildlife, especially threatened and endangered species, in the man-aged forest environment. Dan received Rayonier’s highest award, the Quality Award, for his role in developing an effective method to screen Rayonier forest-land for Marbled Murrelet habitat. Dan has both Bachelor and Master of Science degrees as well as a Ph.D. in Animal Ecology.

Continued on page 4

by Jan McMillan Every fall, on a day I might least expect, I look out my kitchen window and there at my hanging tube feeder sits my favorite back-yard bird…the pine siskin, peck-ing away at his favorite feeder food, niger and hulled sunfl ower seeds. I am always so amazed at how tiny and delicate this little 5 inch long fellow is. This gregarious little bird has a pale, thin, pointed bill, thin-ner than other fi nches. His head, throat and nape are a buffy color streaked with darker brown and

Winter range USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research CenterWinter range USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

BirdStarPine Siskin Pine Siskin Carduelis pinusCarduelis pinus

The President’s Perch

Keeping an eye on Bowerman Basin

By Jan McMillan I know by now you’ve all read about the latest discussions of the possible closing of Bower-man Field in order to attract new industry to the area. I think it would be good to begin to think about how all of this could impact the thousands and thou-sands of shorebirds that reside there year round or stop to feed and rest on their way to their far north breeding grounds.

History In the 1970’s Evergreen College graduate student Steve Herman, now a retired Evergreen College Professor, and other graduate students, naturalists, and con-cerned citizens, recognized the importance of Bowerman Basin as essential habitat for migratory shorebirds. They conducted re-search to document the number of birds and bird species as well as the importance of Bowerman Basin as prime shorebird and bird of prey habitat. Their work led to the establishment of the Grays Harbor National Wild-life Refuge in the early 80’s. As their successors, we have to carry forward that commitment of protection.

Current Status For the last several years the Refuge and Bowerman Basin have become an important part of life on the Harbor. Hundreds of area school children come through each year to see the shorebirds and learn about their habitat and what threats they face here on the coast from de-velopment, pollution and inva-

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sive species like spartina. The Refuge is the “Star At-traction” of the annual Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival, held each year during the peak of the spring migration. Bus loads of tourists and local citizens walk the boardwalk with their binocu-lars and scopes to view the birds as they feed in the basin. The birds co-exist with the airport at its current level of activity. Recently a group of local of-fi cials and state and federal leg-islators have begun to explore the possibility of establishing a Nature Center at the Refuge to create a more accessible year-round Refuge program for the local community and tourists.

Important Bird Area (IBA)Bowerman Basin has been des-ignated as an IBA for Washing-ton State. The IBA program has two goals: (1) to identify the sites most essential for long-term conservation of birds and (2) to take action to ensure the conservation of these sites. An IBA site provides essential hab-itat for one or more species of birds. Potential IBA sites are rigorously evaluated and se-lected based on standard bio-logical criteria and expert orni-thologist’s review. Bowerman Basin is a Category 1 IBA, one that is a site for endangered or threatened species, or species of special concern to Washington State.

What You Can Do to Help Pro-tect Bowerman Basin and the Grays Harbor National Wild-life Refuge There is much you can do. ∑ Stay alert and read about the discussions that are taking place at the higher decision making levels of our local and state gov-ernment∑ Let your local and federal of-fi cials know that protecting the

birds at Bowerman Basin and enhancing the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge are important to you. Insist that they make it a priority in their decision making.∑ Attend any future hearings related to airport expansion or relocation or Bowerman Basin area development. Provide oral or written testimony.∑ Write letters to the Editor of The Daily World, North Coast News, South Beach Bulletin, Chinook Observer and other newspapers and publications about your concerns.∑ Talk to your neighbors, fam-ily and friends about why pro-tection of Bowerman Basin is important. Bowerman Basin and the Grays Harbor National Wildlife are a vital part of life in Grays Harbor, contributing to tour-ism, our children’s education, our economic health, our iden-tity as a community and our quality of life. Let’s all make a commitment to protect Bower-man Basin, the Refuge and the thousands of birds that depend on them.

GHAS Mission The mission of the Grays Harbor Audubon Society Harbor Audubon Society Haris to seek a sustainable bal-ance between human activ-ity and the needs of the en-vironment; and to promote enjoyment of birds and the natural world

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The Chehalis River Discovery Trail

By Janine Gates The City of Centralia has a new nature trail for the pub-lic to use and enjoy. Dedicated on September 23, the Cheha-lis River Discovery Trail near Grand Mound is the result of a three year partnership between local and state government and environmental activists. Janet Strong, president of the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust, passionately thanked a crowd of about 75 trail support-ers and volunteers, acknowl-edging them for their efforts. The Land Trust is a non-profi t organization dedicated to the conservation, protection and restoration of ecologically sen-sitive lands in the Chehalis Riv-er Basin. Strong has been involved with the land trust since its founding in 1994, starting their offi ce out of her home in McCleary, six miles from the Chehalis River. She and the Land Trust have worked on the trail project for three years. StellaJoe Straebler of Centralia came to the dedication because “this shows what citizens, with cooperation from city offi cials and the community, can accom-plish.” Straebler, active with the Friends of Seminary Hill Natu-ral Area for 25 years, and friend Lynn Williams walked the new trail after the dedication. Attesting to the high level of cooperation between local ac-tivists and government, brief

speeches by Centralia Mayor Tim Browning, State Represen-tative Gary Alexander, Jenni-fer Kelly of U.S. Congressman Brian Baird’s offi ce, and others applauded the group’s efforts in making the trail a reality. A ribbon cutting ceremony at the trail’s entrance concluded the remarks. Project funding and involve-ment came from several agen-cies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washing-ton Salmon Recovery Funding Board of the Interagency Com-mittee for Outdoor Recreation, and the Washington State De-partment of Ecology. Twenty four markers along the trail correspond with a self-guided tour booklet, available to the public at the trail head. Sev-eral benches will soon be placed along the trail, allowing close up views of the Chehalis River and wildlife. As part of the group’s efforts, over 7,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted along a one mile portion of the Cheha-lis River. The restoration plant-ings will protect salmon and wildlife in and near the river. Over 600 students, ranging from 4th graders to Centralia College students have participated with the plantings. Many of those students were in attendance at the dedication. “I wanted to see how the trees I planted were doing,” said Christina Bubnick, 16, a junior at Rochester High School. Bub-nick came out to the trail about three or four years ago to par-ticipate. Kathy Jacobson, Chehalis Ba-sin Education Consortium Co-ordinator for Education School District #113, has been working with the Chehalis Land Trust for six years. She and Rochester Middle School teacher Martin Woodruff work with students, involving them with the trail

as part of the “Project Science” class. They have been bringing students to the trail for several years. Students are rewarded for their work with a fi eld study, which is an opportunity for stu-dents to come out and refl ect on their experiences and record their wildlife observations. The fl at, one and a half mile trail is made of dirt, compact gravel and sand. It borders ac-tive agricultural fi elds on one side, and follows the Chehalis River in two directions, making it a three mile hike round trip. Diverse eco-systems including the newly planted riparian zone, a coniferous forest of Douglas

continued on page 4

AnnouncingGHAS annual Christmas AnnouncingGHAS annual Christmas Announcing

bird countSaturday, December 23, 2006 To participate in this impor-tant national/international bird count, contact Bob Morse, Grays Harbor Bird Count Coordinator at (360) 943-8600. You will be assigned to a team and spend the day counting birds at one of several locations in the county. You don’t have to be an expert birder. All you need is a willingness to help count. Dress warmly, bring your rain gear and plenty of water. Your group will bird in the morning, break for lunch and then conclude your day with a supper meeting of all the teams to tally up your counts and hear the results. It’s fun and it helps us track our bird popula-tions from year to year. The East County bird count at Satsop will be held Tuesday De-cember 26th.

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Pine Siskins continued from page 1nests are in evergreen trees, and are shallow, saucer shaped and heavily insulated with twigs, roots, grasses, leaves, fur, li-chen, hair etc. The female sits on her eggs almost continuously for about 13 days, leaving only for brief periods. The usually 1 to 5 eggs are greenish blue with brown speckles. They nest in loose colonies and fl ock togeth-er to forage.

Membership meeting Election of board members

The nominating committee members, Ann Haarer, Dianna Moore and Gary Utter are busy in November putting together a slate of offi cers and board mem-bers for the December 3rd An-nual Members Meeting. They will present a single slate but members can nominate other candidates from the fl oor. The only requirement is that you get the permission of the person be-ing nominated. The board meets 5 times a year. They make decisions about the direction of the chapter, set chapter policy, monitor and ap-prove all fi nancial decisions and generally guide the work of the chapter. Board members also work closely with the Conser-vation Committee of Washing-ton Audubon on key local and statewide conservation issues. We hope you will attend the members meeting in December and participate in the election process.

Sunday, December 3, 2006 1:30 -3:00 PM PUD Building Com-munity Room 2720 Sumner Avenue, AberdeenParking and Entrance in the rear

Photo by Janine Gates

Firs and cedar, a maple grove, and black cottonwoods sup-ports habitat for wildlife includ-ing salmon, birds, beaver, otter, coyotes, deer, and a resident pair of bald eagles. The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust has experienced success with other projects in its 12 year history. Across the river from the Discovery Trail around trail marker 9 is a half-mile long ma-ture black cottonwood stand, reputed to be the largest such grove left along the Chehalis River. It is protected under a conservation easement between the private landowner and the Land Trust. A conservation easement is a legally binding agreement be-tween a landowner and a conser-vation group or agency, restrict-ing certain land uses in order to protect the conservation values of a property. As an incentive, a conservation easement general-ly offers a landowner signifi cant tax benefi ts. The Chehalis River Discovery Trail, located off Old Highway 99 near the Centralia Waste-water Treatment Plant, will be open Monday through Saturday during daylight hours. Motor-ized vehicles, horses, bikes, and jogging are not allowed. Dogs

Chehalis Trail continued from page 3

Parking and Entrance in the

are discouraged, however, if one chooses to bring them, they must be on a leash at all times, and their waste must be picked up. For specifi c directions or more information about the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust, contact (360) 807-0764 or www.cheha-lislandtrust.org.

Janine Gates, a resident of Olym-pia, likes to attend local events, walk around town, talk to people, and write. She also just started her photography business. Please contact her through her website at www.janinegatespho-tography.com.

Some tips for attracting Pine Siskins to your yard: ∑ Don’t cut down your tall weeds but leave them to go to seed.∑ Include niger seed and shelled or whole sunfl ower seeds in your tube bird feeders.You can also put sunfl ower seeds in your ground feeders. ∑ Don’t forget to include a bird bath or two in your yard and keep the water fresh.∑ I’m told they like suet…espe-cially insect suet.

photo by George Jameson

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Making wind energy compatible with birds Making wind energy compatible with birds Making wind energy

and wildlife: avoiding the compatible with birds and wildlife: avoiding the compatible with birds

salmon-dams controversyand wildlife: avoiding the salmon-dams controversyand wildlife: avoiding the

By Tim Cullinan and Nina Carter

In recent years the development of industrial-scale wind energy facilities has accelerated rapidly in the Northwest and throughout the country. Since 1980, advanc-es in technology have resulted in a ten-fold decrease in the cost of producing wind energy. Con-sequently, wind generated ener-gy is now economically viable, even in the Northwest where it must compete with subsidized hydropower. Currently, wind power contributes enough en-ergy to heat 1.6 million Ameri-can homes. At current rates of growth, that number could reach 2.3 million by 2006 and 6.3 mil-lion by 2010. In California, the recent adoption of a Renewable Energy Portfolio, requiring an increasing percentage of power from alternative energy, is driv-ing state and federal agencies to adopt guidelines to site wind fa-cilities. In Washington, there are currently six major wind gen-eration facilities under develop-ment. Other coastal and plains states are targeted for more wind facilities to meet a growing de-mand for alternative energy. With the rise in development of wind power, there is increasing concern among conservation-ists about cumulative impacts

on birds and wildlife. While Audubon and other conserva-tionists strongly support wind power as a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, research has shown that wind turbines can reduce the quality of habitat for ground-nesting birds, can impact mi-grating birds and fragment habi-tat for other wildlife. Monitoring of wind power facilities reveals that birds and bats are vulner-able to collisions with turbine blades and towers. At the moment, siting wind fa-cilities to avoid cumulative im-pacts to bird populations is not coordinated at a state, regional or federal scale. At the locale scale, pre-construction assessments of risks to birds are passed on as few as three months of monitor-ing. Audubon supports two-year studies of local bird populations to adequately assess migrat-ing populations, which vary throughout the year. State and federal agencies have published voluntary siting guidelines, but do not provide adequate tools to allow the industry to make sound siting decisions. The wind industry is current-ly seeking the expertise of or-nithologists and conservation groups like Audubon to assist them in developing siting poli-cies that limit negative impacts to birds and other wildlife. De-veloping sound policies early on will allow industry investors to avoid costly negotiations and mitigation in the future and en-able the industry to be sustain-able into the future. We have all witnessed the lengthy and expensive restoration work for salmon due to dam construction in the Pacifi c Northwest. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. We should plan ahead for wind power and make it a truly sustainable, bird and wildlife friendly source of energy.

Audubon Washington’s goal is to assist the wind power in-dustry to make sound siting decisions, avoid construction delays or expensive mitigation measures, while at the same time conserve bird populations and the habitats they depend on. In 2005, Audubon Washington began working with Washing-ton State and several federal agencies to improve the plan-ning frame-work for siting wind power facilities, with the goal of reducing both the local and cumulative risks to bird popula-tions in Washington State. We attended national, state and local meeting to negotiate guidelines or site-specifi c projects (Nation-al Wind Coordinating Council; Wildlife Working Group sub-committee; Washington State Fish and Wildlife; county proj-ects). Audubon worked with the Geographic Information System (GIS) Laboratory at the Uni-versity of Washington to cre-ate (GIS) maps to analyze sites where high potential for wind development and high risk to birds may occur.Now our goals are to:∑ Conserve resident and migra-tory bird populations and their habitats∑ Improve the scientifi c meth-ods used to assess the risks of and develop mitigation for wind energy facilities.∑ Improve state and federal siting guidelines to avoid or decrease impact on birds and wildlife.∑ Encourage construction of wind energy facilities in areas where there is a low risk of im-pacts on birds. If residents in Washington want to help make our wind farms safe for bird and wildlife, then they should support Audubon Washington’s work as we advo-cate better siting guidelines at state and federal levels.

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Bottle Beach project pre-sentation on January 7thBottle Beach project pre-sentation on January 7thBottle Beach project pre-

For the last year members of Grays Harbor Audubon have been working with Washington State Parks and other stakehold-ers on the development of Bottle Beach. The new plan calls for handicapped access features, a parking lot, a new trail through the park and bird blinds for ob-serving shorebird as well as other park birds. On January 7th, Parks staff will present the proposed new plan to the Grays Harbor Audubon board of direc-tors. The presentation will be at 1:00 pm, before the regular board meeting. Members are welcome to come for the parks presentation portion of the meet-ing at 1 pm. It’s an opportunity to see what the features of the new park will be and provide last minute input.

What’s so bad about English Ivy (hedera helix)?English Ivy (hedera helix)?English Ivy

Gardeners and homeowners in the Pacifi c Northwest have planted English ivy for years as an attractive, low-maintenance alternative to lawns; it is ever-green, relatively pest-free, cold-hardy, fast-growing, and re-quires little care. It also does not like to stay contained. When ivy spreads beyond its intended bor-ders within an urban landscape, as it inevitably does, it causes tremendous damage to all three zones of a plant community—the forest fl oor, the shrub layer and the canopy. In the under-story, it forms a thick evergreen mat which quickly smothers and kills other plants and shrubs. This tangled mat is not used by our native wildlife. If there is a tree nearby, it then begins to climb. Interestingly, ivy only reaches maturity and goes to seed after it has grown up a vertical sur-face, a fact that may be the driv-ing force behind its vigorous climbing habitat. As a climbing vine, it engulfs and kills the tree branches one by one as it wraps around them and continues on up, blocking light from reach-ing the tree’s leaves. The tree it-self is steadily weakened by the choked, dying branches and by the sheer weight of the vines it is now carrying. The estimated weight of ivy removed from one tree in Olympic National Park was 2100 lbs.

There are no biological controls currently available for English ivy. If you have ivy in your yard, make sure it stays contained. If you don’t have ivy, don’t plant any. Reprinted with thanks from the Heron Herald

How long does a bird live?How long does a bird live?How long does a bird

Generally, the larger a bird is, the longer its life expectancy. Small birds, such as migratory songbirds, appear to live as little as two years, on the aver-age. They could live longer – for instance, one Black-capped Chickadee is known to have lived 10 years and an American Goldfi nch 7 years, but life in the out-of-doors for a little bird is dangerous and unpredictable, and most of their lives are cut short. Predators, disease, acci-dents, migration stress, starva-tion, habitat loss, and hunting are among the hazards. Bigger birds seem to live longer. Many waterfowl have survived as long as 30 years, and gulls and alba-trosses have been recorded at 30 to 40 years of age. Reprinted with thanks from the Heron Herald.

Tribal leaders remind us

Whatever befalls the earth be-falls the children of the earth. We do not weave the web of life-we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

Chief Seattle

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fi sh been caught will we realize we can’t eat money.”

Cree Indian Wisdom

Salmon recovery begins and ends with the Big H - habitat.

Billy Frank Jr.

photo by Mac Knight,

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GHAS Board of Directors

Rose DuBois 532-4067 dub@techline.comAnn Haarer 268-1004 ann27jan@aol.comSteve Hallstrom 273-9280 toltfarm@jps.netTheressa Julius 537-4386 tmjulius@tss.netArnie Martin 612-0437 arnold6.martin@comcast.netJan McMillan 268-1004 Mcmomjan@aol.comDianna Moore 289-5048 dlmoor2@coastaccess.comLinda Orgel 648-2476 ldotorg@olearycreek.comRenee Prine 268-0485Dean Schwickerath 495-3101 dschwick@techline.comDiane Schwickerath 495-3101 dschwick@techline.comJanet Strong 495-3950 strongjan@copper.netGary Utter 269-0157 kngutter@coastaccess.com

Chapter Offi cers

President Jan McMillan, 268-1004 Mcmomjan@aol.comVice President Janet Strong, 495-3950

strongjan@copper.netTreasurer Diane Schwickerath 495-3101

dschwick@techline.comSecretary Dianna Moore, 289-5048

dlmoor2@coastaccess.com

Committee Chairs

Newsletter R.D. Grunbaum, 648-2476rd@olearycreek.com

Membership/Hospitality Ann Haarer, 268-1004ann27jan@aol.com

Conservation Dean Schwickerath, 495-3101dschwick@techline.com

Education Janet Strong, 495-3950strongjan@copper.net

Field Trips vacantPrograms Jan McMillan, 268-1004 Mcomomjan@aol.comPublicity Jan McMillan, 268-1004 Mcmomjan@aol.comOther Audubon Contacts

GHAS voice mail (800) 303-8498State Audubon (360) 786-8020National Audubon (212) 979-3000GHAS Website http://www.ghas.org

Are you interested in re-ceiving The Sandpiper on-Sandpiper on-Sandpiperline? Send us your email address and we can forward the latest issue the moment it is ready to publish or visit http://ghas.org to view the newsletter as a color pdf fi le.

Save the Datefor the 2007 Grays Harbor Shorebird FestivalFriday through Sunday, April 27th through 29th

Highlights include∑A Friday Night Key Note Speaker∑ Field Trips to Westport, Tokeland, Bottle Beach, Ocean Shores and more!∑Trips to the Refuge Boardwalk to see Birds∑Saturday Night Ban-quet and Auction∑Workshops, Lectures ∑Vendors

We will need lots of vol-unteers. Contact Jan Mc-Millan at (360) 258-1004 if you would like to help at next years festival.

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ANNUAL GRAYS HARBOR AUDUBON

CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

If you would like to join Grays Harbor Audubon Society (GHAS), please fi ll out the form below, make check payable to Grays Harbor Audubon Society and return it with your check to:

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Montesano, WA 98563

Chapter Memberships include a subscription to The Sandpiper newsletter. All Chapter Member-The Sandpiper newsletter. All Chapter Member-The Sandpiperships above the Sandpiper category provide fi nancial support to our Chapter. The Grays Harbor Audubon Society is totally self-supporting.

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If your newsletter is stamped with Last Issue-Please Renew, be sure to fi ll out the Membership Form above and send it in to keep your membership active and keep receiving the newsletter! Thanks!

page 8

Membership MeetingGrays Harbor PUDCommunity Room

Sunday, December 3, 20061:30 - 3:00 PM

New members and children

welcome.

News & Editorialsend materials to P.O. Box 1044

Westport, 98595-1044or email to

rd@olearycreek.comCopy deadline January 5th

rd@olearycreek.comCopy deadline January 5th

rd@olearycreek.com

Inside this IssueDead wood tales 1Birdstar 1President’s Perch 2Discovery Trail 3Christmas Count 3Trail continued 4Birdstar continued 4Membership Meeting 4Wind Energy 5English Ivy 6Bird life span 6Bottle Beach 6Board & Offi cers 7Member Application 8

The SandpiperP.O. Box 470The Sandpiper.O. Box 470The SandpiperP.O. Box 470PMontesano, WA 98563

Non Profi t Org.U.S. PostagePAIDOlympia, WAPermit # 359