Vashon-Maury Island Audubon

Thanks to member support and participation, Vashon Audubon had notable accomplishments in 2018-2019:

100% clean electricity by 2045! Audubon members and others, seen above with Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, successfully advocated for legislation to reduce carbon emissions.

Volunteers surveyed Pigeon Guillemots at Point Robinson in collaboration with Vashon Nature Center, contributing to our region’s understanding of these birds.

We also conducted the annual Christmas Bird Count and our popular monthly birding field trips.

Paul Bannick wowed a standing-room-only crowd as he shared his amazing photos of owls at the Vashon Theatre. Three other programs this year focused on climate change and native plants for birds.

Our updated website, vashonaudubon.org, enabled users to join or renew membership online, submit comments and questions, and find an array of birding resources.

Talented young photographers—along with seasoned shutterbugs—contributed to our 2019 Birds of Vashon calendar. Stephen Daly’s Purple Finch was our April bird.

 

Audubon participated in Chautauqua Elementary School’s 4th grade birding program, as we have for nearly 25 years. We presented educational programs and led a field trip. Artist Bruce Morser led the students in creating bird paintings that livened up the VCA breezeway.

 

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Financial and membership reporting for the year ending April 2, 2019

Finances
Income $10,684
Expenses $7,593
Savings $6,073

Membership
Households 179
Individuals 283

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2018 Board members

Julie Burman, President
Scott Anderson, Vice President
Fran O’Reilly, Secretary
Lindsay Hofman, Treasurer
Sarah Driggs, Communications Chair
Randy Smith, Conservation Chair
Steve Macdonald, Membership Chair
Dana Hofman, At-Large
Carol Eggen, At-Large

Key volunteers

Michael Tracy and Michael Sperazza, Programs; Ezra Parker, Field Trips, CBC, and more; Harsi Parker, Education; Richard Rogers, Facebook

Vote for our 2019-2020 board of directors (only Vashon Audubon members may vote)

Last winter’s Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 30, 2018. This was the 20th year for the Vashon count circle and there was strong turnout once again, with 79 people joining teams to count in the field, as well as 23 feeder watchers. This time around the weather was surprisingly cooperative, with mostly clear skies, warm temperatures and relatively little wind.

While a number of teams reported that it was a slow birding day, the overall total of 21,847 individual birds counted was actually slightly above the historical average. The species count came in higher as well, with a total of 117 species tallied on count day, and an additional three records for count week.

Although there were no new species found this year, we did turn up several birds that are not frequently recorded on the CBC. A Snow Goose was spotted by the Quartermaster Harbor boat team, which is only the second time this species has been detected (with the first falling during count week). A lone Canvasback was seen out at Long Lake, which is the fourth sighting for the count, and the first in over a decade, as the last time one was counted was back in 2007.

The owling team on the Kitsap Peninsula turned up a Northern Pygmy-Owl, which is only the second record for the count circle. An individual of the rare Yellow-shafted race of Northern Flicker was seen at Lisabeula Park, as well as a couple of intergrades (birds exhibiting both Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted characteristics) at a feeder watcher’s yard in Gig Harbor – this is the second occurrence for both forms. Finally, a Townsend’s Solitaire was spotted out toward the eastern end of Maury Island, marking the third time this species has been noted.

There were record high counts for a fair number of species: Northern Pintail (42), Ring-necked Duck (260), Lesser Scaup (64), Common Goldeneye (830), Brandt’s Cormorant (187), Cooper’s Hawk (13), Spotted Sandpiper (9), Wilson’s Snipe (13), Ring-billed Gull (46), Eurasian Collared-Dove (35), Northern Flicker (196), Hutton’s Vireo (19), California Scrub-Jay (4), Red-breasted Nuthatch (170), Brown Creeper (30), Bewick’s Wren (72) and Yellow-rumped Warbler (62). A couple tied the previous high count: Red-tailed Hawk (38) and Virginia Rail (5).

A few notable misses were Ring-necked Pheasant, which has been absent for the last two years after being found in all 18 years prior, Sanderling, which has now been missed for the last three years after being present for all 17 before that, and Brant, which was seen in 13 of 19 past years. There were also a couple of record lows for species seen every year: Rock Pigeon (114) and European Starling (379).

Waterfowl numbers were generally up, particularly those species found primarily on freshwater. A few exceptions were American Wigeon (2,345), which was down about 30 percent from its historical average, and White-winged and Black Scoter, both of which were around 50 percent off their mean. Other seabird numbers are rather mixed – while some were relatively steady or increased, others such as the three loon species and Red-necked and Western Grebe continue to come in significantly lower than in the past.

As is often the case, there were few shorebird species seen, although those found were present in good numbers aside from Killdeer (37), which was around 50 percent below average. Overall, alcids were seen in higher numbers than the last few years, although Marbled Murrelet did not make the list. Gulls were very mixed, with some species seen in high or record numbers, while the combined count of Glaucous-winged and “Olympic” Gull (420) was down by about 30 percent.

This was another good year for diurnal raptors and owls, with numbers above average for all the regularly occurring species, with a couple setting or tying record high counts. Woodpeckers were seen at well above average numbers across all of the five species.
Most of the passerine numbers were higher than average, particularly the species that tend to be found in mixed foraging flocks in winter, such as chickadees, wrens and kinglets. Among the species seen every year, only a handful came in noticeably lower than average, including American Crow (825), European Starling (379), Red-winged Blackbird (166), House Finch (120), Red Crossbill (6) and Pine Siskin (671).

– Ezra Parker, Christmas Bird Count coordinator

House Finches may become infected with a bacterial eye disease, avian conjunctivitis, that causes red, swollen, runny, or crusty eyes. Purple Finches, Goldfinches, and other birds may become infected as well.

In extreme cases the eyes become swollen shut and the bird becomes blind. You might observe an infected bird sitting quietly in your yard, clumsily scratching an eye against its foot or a perch. Birds will often sit fluffed up as their energy reserves diminish. While some infected birds recover, most die from starvation, exposure, or predation.

Avian conjunctivitis easily spreads at bird feeders. When a sick bird finds a feeder, it may be reluctant to leave that food source because it cannot see. Healthy birds pick up the infection and spread it to other feeders.

You can help reduce the spread of the disease by following this routine to disinfect your bird feeders:

• Twice each week allow the seed to empty in the feeder.
• Clean any debris and bird droppings from the feeder.
• Clear the feeder and soak it in a solution of one part bleach to 30 parts water solution for 15 minutes.
• Rinse the feeder and allow it to completely dry before refilling it with fresh seed.

Also consider removing your bird feeders this time of year, when the food birds need is naturally abundant.

Beginning this spring, Vashon Audubon will be participating in the National Audubon Climate Watch citizen science program.

We will be using a standardized protocol to record sightings and vocalizations of Red-breasted Nuthatches at 12 sites on Vashon Island. The observations will take place twice a year between May 15 and June 15 and again between January 15 and February 15.

Observations will be done on a single day for 5 minutes at each of the 12 sites. The observations will become part of the national data base used to document changes in nuthatch range as it may relate to climate change.

We are soliciting volunteers to take part in the program. Ideally we would like to have three or four teams with two or three members. We will proving training on island and coordinate data collection.

If you are interested in participating or have questions about the program please contact Scott Anderson at scottvicki1@hotmail.com or 503-385-6475.