The Hooter Kittitas Audubon August 2017

All Audubon meetings, held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Hal Holmes Center next to the Library, September through May (except December), are open to the public. Please come and meet with us. A brief business session precedes the program. Stay afterwards for juice, treats, and conversation.

Many thanks to the Ellensburg Public Library for sponsoring our meetings here!

ANNUAL KITTITAS AUDUBON SUMMER SOCIAL

Thursday, August 17th Come at 5:30 when the grills will fire up!

Where? 1831 Hanson Road Hal & Gloria Lindstrom’s “garden park” ……..and we can wish Hal and Gloria a ‘Happy Anniversary

because this year’s date falls on their 66th…….

Grilled burgers and all the trimmings furnished by KAS

Please bring: an appetizer, a salad, or a dessert,

beverages of choice, plus plate, utensils , & drinking

cup/glass for each member of your party!!!

PLEASE CALL BY 8/14 933-1558 TO INDICATE YOU WILL BE

COMING. We need to know how many hamburger patties to buy and how many veggie burgers.

Come meet your fellow bird-lovers & learn more about why people look for

birds, feed birds, care about birds, and share birding experiences.

And why else should you come??? Well, there’s the free burgers…(and they are

really good!!!) And probably some homemade pies...mmmm...

All KAS members, family, and friends are welcome.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Darling Bird Studios, ©2007 UNA

Page 2 The Hooter

Board Notes by Gloria Baldi

Because of no Hooter in July, two months of KAS Board action are com-piled. Minutes were approved each month.

The next fiscal year’s budget was discussed in detail. Some items were eliminated or reduced so as not to spend from the Buzzetti capi-tal account.

Treasurer’s reports were approved each month.

A presentation was given in response to designing a new KAS logo.

Because of Tuck Forsythe’s untimely death, several board members are reconstructing member lists for Hooters and e-mail deliveries, local members and National Audubon members, as well as determin-ing the process for label printing.

Norm Peck gave reports on the first Wenas Target Shooting Adviso-ry Committee, and asked for points of concern in addition to lead and safety. Fire risk and the Audubon Memorial Day Campout were add-ed.

Norm also reported on the Hydraulic Code Implementation Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

Judy Hallisey is presenting Firewise programs to various groups.

Barry Brunson and Judy Hallisey attended a three-day Climate Reality Leadership Corps training workshop, a highly energizing experience with Al Gore. (More in an upcoming Hooter.)

Judy Hallisey and Jim Briggs participated in the Cle Elum Middle School Bioblitz, an in-depth ecological study for students.

With no Program Chair, various Board members are securing speak-ers for the coming year.

KAS signed on to a letter of concern for the Icicle Resource Manage-ment Strategy because of the potential effects on the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

Joe Meuchel has been our outstanding representative on the Wild-horse Windfarm Technical Advisory Committee for many years, but is now unable to continue. Thank you, Joe!! The Board appointed Janet Nelson to the position, with Norm Peck as alternate. Norm reported the grazing regimen has vastly improved habitat and may support Sage Grouse.

(Continued on page 3)

Send in your stories & photos!

The Hooter is the

newsletter of Kit-

titas Audubon,

published monthly

except for July.

~~~~~~~

Submissions from readers are most welcome and encouraged!

The editor reserves the right to edit for

space, grammar, and/or suitability.

Email text and/or photos to bob-

cat@kvalley.com or snail mail to Jan

Demorest, Hooter Editor, 712 E 2nd

Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926. Sub-

missions need to be in by the

20th of the preceding month.

The mission of Kittitas Audubon is to develop an appreciation of nature

through education and conservation, with a focus on birds.

KAS BOARD MEMBERS President – Judy Hallisey 270-792-9188

Vice President – Barb Masberg 509-406-3104

Secretary – Jim Briggs 933-2231

Treasurer – Sharon Lumsden 968-3889

Conservation – Norm Peck 933-4233

Education – OPEN

Field Trips – Steve Moore 933-1179

Historian – Gloria Lindstrom 925-1807

Programs – OPEN

Publicity – Meghan Anderson 253-987-7629

Scholarship – Gloria Baldi 933-1558

Climate Change–Barry Brunson: 270-792-9186

Past President – Tom Gauron 968-3175

*Newsletter – Jan Demorest 933-1179

*Membership – OPEN

*Bluebird boxes – Jan Demorest 933-1179

*Social Greeter – Kay Forsythe 925-2356

*Christmas Bird Count–Phil Mattocks

*non-voting members

KAS Board Meetings are held at 4:30

PM ~ 1st Thursday of each month at

the Methodist Church across from

The Ellensburg Public Library. These

meetings are open to the public and

all Audubon members; please come

and join in the discussions. Meetings

adjourn by 6:00 or 6:30, then we all go

out for a sociable dinner ~ NO busi-

ness discussion allowed!

Field Trip Reports Page 3 The Hooter

July 8 ~ Saturday Birdwalk, Rinehart Park ~ Nine walkers turned out on a warm day with a

bit of breeze. A photographer from the El-

lensburg Chamber of Commerce came along to photograph the group in its element, plus a bird or two. The splashiest color on this

sunshiny day were the mostly-hidden Yellow Warblers, a glimpse of a female Bullock’s Oriole, a couple of Black-headed Grosbeaks and many Cedar

Waxwings flycatching over the river. Three kinds of swallows, the usual res-ident chickadees and Downy Wood-pecker (neither one especially fre-

quent), a Common Merganser on the river, and two kinds of blackbirds, but

only one corvid (magpie croaking from a nest) rounded out a list of 33 spe-

cies.

My favorites were the Spotted Sandpipers brav-ing the river spray for a chance at a tidbit on the

logs and river rocks, before heading for the bank

with their snappy flight.

~ Steve Moore

Spotted Sandpiper (SCM)

It was decided KAS will not participate in the Ellensburg Film Festival this year.

Proposal to re-open the John Wayne Trail railroad bridge over the Columbia south of Vantage, and its impact on the bridge’s established Great Blue Heron rookery was discussed; heron expertise is being sought.

The annual picnic duties were assigned to several board members.

Join us the first Thursday of any month at 4:30 at the Methodist Church (across from the Li-

brary). Bird behavior and sightings always enter the conversation!

(Continued from page 2) KAS Board Notes

Teanaway Community Forest

Fellow Kittitas Audubon members, Grange Members

and Friends,

Here is the July "Recreation News" from DNR. Grange member Jeri Downs, who is

also a member of the TCF Advi-sory Board, has asked this infor-mation be passed along to our email list to get the word out to

as many locals as possible. It is important the DNR receive re-sponses from folks who live in

this area. Aug. 24th is the deadline for responding. Please do fill out this questionnaire.

Here is a direct link to the user survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S66T26C

NEXT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Teanaway Community Forest Thursday, August 10, 2017 3-6 p.m. Putnam Centennial Center 719 E 3rd St Cle Elum, WA, 98922 Note: Committee members will be available for a meet-and-greet starting at 2:30 p.m. The public is always welcome to attend Advi-sory Committee meetings.

July 21, 2017 To the Editor, Ellensburg Daily Record,

We live in a beautiful area where we depend upon and take pride in clean water and clean air. Others aren’t so fortunate. Did you know our major electrical utility, Pu-get Sound Energy, gets 31 percent of its energy supply from a dirty coal-fired power plant — Colstrip — in East-ern Montana?

PSE acknowledges this on their own website, where 2015 data show 60 percent of their power supply comes from fossil fuels, 34 percent comes from hydroelectric, and only 4 percent comes from wind. While we don’t see the pollu-tion here in Washington state, residents of Eastern Mon-tana and those downwind and downstream suffer the effects of polluted air and contaminated water. Colstrip is the third worst point source of carbon emissions in the USA, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Think about that the next time you flip on a light switch!

I urge Puget Sound Energy to retire all four units of its dirty Colstrip coal plant by 2025 and replace the power supply with renewable energy. In addition, as Puget Sound Energy renegotiates its contract for coal supplies, it needs to ensure that contract clauses provide off-ramps so

coal is not supplied beyond 2025. We have plentiful wind and solar power in our region, and large storage batteries are being commercially developed to meet energy demands. The cost of clean energy continues to drop dra-matically, making renewable energy economically compet-itive.

All residents within Kittitas County would benefit from 100 percent clean energy. I urge our county and our city officials to commit to achieving 100 percent clean energy, with Puget Sound Energy leading by example.

Judy Hallisey

Cle Elum

Judy is our new KAS president, as well as a

member of the Climate Change Committee.

Please consider helping to promote clean ener-

gy. Writing letters, contacting legislators and

local officials, talking to friends and relatives,

campaigning for candidates that are committed

to making clean energy a priority ~ these and

other actions will help pave the way to our

cleaner future.

Page 4 The Hooter Clean, Renewable Energy

Residential Solar Power Pays!

Did you know that if you’re a Pu-get Sound Energy customer and install solar panels, you will re-

ceive $.504 per KWH for the solar power they buy from you? It’s true!

Each year they will pay you up to $5000 for the power you produce!

Germany’s transition from coal to renewable energy offers lessons for the rest of the world

The country's decades-long shift from industrial mining to clean energy has brought both challenge and oppor-

tunity. https://ensia.com/features/germanys-transition-

coal-renewable-energy-offers-lessons-rest-world/

Gelsenkirchen’s Science Park, built on the site of a for-

mer coal-powered steel plant, is home to 51 businesses

and 900 solar panels. Photo courtesy of GFDL

Former coal-fired steel plant in northwestern Germany,

near Essen

Announcements, Actions, Anomalies! Page 5 The Hooter

It’s 105° F!!! How do the birds cool off?

On a hot summer’s day, you can watch a bird like a crow very, very carefully. And you’ll never see it sweat. Because birds don’t have sweat glands. Instead, they’ve evolved a variety of other ways to keep cool. One of them is panting. As the bird breathes rapidly, its throat quiv-ering, heat’s carried out of its body via the lungs and air sacs. The lungs are a one-way system, so cool air coming in doesn’t get mixed up with warm air coming out. Holding its bill open, the bird also oscillates a tiny bone in a part of its throat where there are a lot of blood vessels. The oscillations bring more blood to the area, allowing heat from the blood to dissipate. Bare skin on the legs, face, and beak also help the cooling. So do puffing out feathers, fluttering wings, or splashing in a puddle or birdbath. (Cedar Waxwings in a stream, photo above) And soaring birds like hawks can simply ride the updrafts far above ground, to where the air is cool-er. Closer to the ground, birds can also do what we do to avoid overheating — Keep busy during cooler hours, and take it easy in the shade as the day heats up. Mary McCann for BirdNote, a regular feature on NPR ~ from Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

30 Activities and Observations

for Exploring the World of Birds

By Monica Russo,

Photographs by Kevin Byron

You can order this juvenile nonfiction

book through Jerrol’s, Pine Street

Books, or other local bookstores. Sup-

port your local independent booksellers!

Cornell photo by Susam Murrey

Kittitas Audubon Needs Help!

We have three important posi-

tions that need to be filled:

1. Program chair

2. Membership chair

3. Education chair

If you’ve felt the desire to help out in a more active way with the work and mission

of Kittitas Audubon, please talk with one of our board members at the next meeting/picnic, or send

an email to kittitasaudubon@hotmail.com.

We can provide you with a “job” description and dis-cuss the role you will play! We hope you’ll consider

joining us!

Page 6 The Climate Change News

News. Here is a classic of mixed messaging: “I

have good news and bad news.” Recently, I’ve

become fond of a statement, credited to envi-

ronmentalist Donella Meadows, speaking about

the prospects for a sustainable future: “There

is too much bad news to justify complacency.

There is too much good news to justify des-

pair.” Judy and I heard this quoted during the

late June leadership training put on by the Cli-

mate Reality Project in Bellevue. The workshop

itself (about which we’ll have more to say at a

later time!) provided much proof of the truth of

the statement!

Bad news (regrettably, only a partial list):

• We have an administration at the federal lev-

el populated by people who deny the estab-

lished science of climate change, even as the

evidence piles up around the world.

• Instead of leading the way in the effort to

combat global warming, the President has de-

clared his intention to withdraw from the Dec

2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

Good news (happily, only a really partial list):

• Instead of a stampede of others following the

US lead in withdrawing, so far none of the oth-

er 194 signatory nations has expressed an in-

tent to withdraw. On the contrary, many are

doubling down and renewing their efforts to

reduce greenhouse gases.

• The bipartisan US Conference of Mayors, on

26 Jun 2017, approved a resolution that estab-

lishes support for the goal of moving to 100

percent clean and renewable energy in cities

nationwide.

• A growing number of cities and counties are

moving in this very positive direction, including

Atlanta, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Sarasota, Co-

lumbia SC, Hanover NH, Moab UT, and closer

to home, Portland & Multnomah County

(jointly), and Edmonds WA. Already, 30 US

cities have resolved to move to 100% renewa-

ble by some specified date.

Things to see & do.

• The 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth raised

public consciousness about climate change.

Now we have An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to

Power. Available nationwide in August (by Par-

amount), we should encourage our local thea-

ters to carry it. Here is a review worth reading:

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/24/538391386/

despite-climate-change-setbacksal-gore-comes

-down-on-the-side-of-hope

And when the opportunity arises, go see it with

some friends!

The local group Our Environment presented a

resolution to the City Council calling for El-

lensburg to be 25% solar by 2025. While mod-

est by the 100%-renewable standards pledged

by some locations, this would be a great step

forward for us. Please contact your representa-

tives to encourage serious consideration and

eventual adoption!

~ Barry Brunson, Climate Change Committee

GET “THE HOOTER”

ONLINE

Save paper, printing, postage. If

you would prefer to receive the

electronic version, send your

name, mailing address, & email

address to: kittitasaudubon@hotmail.com

At the beginning of each month, we’ll send you

an email with a quick link to the new Hooter.

Welcome New Members:

Robert Hickey

Thanks for Renewing! Eric & Joanne Fleischman (family) Lynn Sealey

Thank You!

Membership Form ~ Kittitas Audubon Society

Please make checks payable to: Kittitas Audubon Society, P.O. Box 1443, Ellensburg, WA 98926

Name __________________________________________Phone___________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________________

City___________________________________________State________Zip___________________

Email Address____________________________________________________________________

Would you like to receive occasional emails related to Audubon issues? Yes ___ No___

Join with any of these Annual Membership Options: (check your option below)

Kittitas Audubon Society Individual Membership $20 ____ Family Membership $30 ____

Premium Memberships: Bluebird $50 ____ Kestrel $75 ____ Hawk $100 ____

Lifetime Individual Membership: $300 ____ Lifetime Family Membership $500 ____

Business Membership $200 ____ Business Lifetime Membership $1000 ____

Make a Charitable Donation: What interests you? We want to know!

Please enter dollar amount donation below:

Scholarship Fund $______________ Nest Boxes $_____________

Bird Surveys $_______________ General Interest $______________

Community Education $_______________ Special Committees $______________

May we list your name in The Hooter to acknowledge your membership/donation? Yes ___ No___

Your generous donation to a specific project is symbolic. Kittitas Audubon is a chapter of National Audubon Society serving the communities of Kittitas County, Washington. Go to kittitasaudubon.org for more information. KAS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Give the Gift of Kittitas Audubon for a year! This gift membership is for:

Name ________________________________________Phone_____________________

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City _________________________________State________Zip________________

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You may join National Audubon Society separately by visiting their website at:

http://www.audubon.org

YES: I want to 'Go Green' by receiving The Hooter Newsletter online version only _____

Choosing the online newsletter option saves KAS $15 Annually in printing/mailing costs!

Go Green and enjoy the online version in Color!

Upcoming KAS Field Trips

August

5th, Saturday ~ First Saturday Bird Walk, Irene Rinehart Park. Swallows, Spotted Sand-pipers and Yellow Warblers will be leaving soon – until next year! August species counts on our walks can be as high as 30. Meet at 8 AM at Irene Rinehart parking lot by the river for a 3-hour walk in the shade of the cottonwoods. Jan & Steve lead: 933-1179 for info or questions.

9th, Wednesday ~ Mid-week Head for the Hills. Beat the heat on a high-clearance drive to the top of Mission Ridge via Coleman and Dawson Green Dots. The snow patches are gone and views abound. Looking for high country birds: solitaires, nutcrackers and woodpeckers. Jan & Ste-ve lead; please call 933-1179.

September

2nd, Saturday ~ First Saturday Bird Walk, Irene Rinehart Park. Take a healthy break on Labor Day weekend, and contemplate summer’s end. Many birds have courted, nested and raised a family; now they’re planning a vacation in the tropics, leaving us to wonder what kind of winter is in store for us this year. Meet at 8 AM at Irene Rinehart parking lot by the river for a 3-

hour walk in the sunshine. Leader TBA.

Come join us August 9th for a ride up to Mission Ridge on the

backroads!

Kittitas Audubon

P.O. Box 1443

Ellensburg WA 98926

The Hooter ~ August 2017 The Newsletter of Kittitas Audubon - http://www.kittitasaudubon.org

THANK YOU…..TO KITTITAS COUNTY BUSINESSES SUPPORTING KAS! Inland Internet, Roslyn ~ donates Internet service for our Website: http://www.kittitasaudubon.org

Old Mill Country Store, Ellensburg ~ Provides a discount on bird seed to KAS members.

Get your bird seed here!

Come on in. The water’s fine!!!