The CHATTER November 2022
Do You Have an Interest in a 2023 Bird Photography Class?
Because interest in bird photography has always been so strong among ECAS members who enjoy sharing their photography, ECAS is considering offering a bird photography class that we would schedule for a date in 2023. We would appreciate if you could answer our short survey so that we can judge potential interest and get some guidance about what type of class or classes to offer.
Member Planet Questionnaire
Birders’ Night November 17, 2022, 7p.m. - Vaux’s Swifts
Please join us for a presentation about Vaux’s Swifts of the Pacific Northwest by Larry Schwitters, National Audubon Society (NAS) Vaux’s swift coordinator. LeeAnn Kriegh will also show us some of the bird pictures from our best local photographers that she used in her book, The Nature of Bend. The meeting will start at 7 p.m., Thursday, November 17, at The Environmental Center of Bend or on Zoom. Larry will be presenting via Zoom.
The Audubon’s Vaux’s Happening Project began in 2007 as a successful effort to save a school chimney that was one of only two well-known, big-number Vaux’s roost sites in Washington State. This chimney is now recognized as a Partners In Flight, Important Bird Area of Global significance. The project quickly expanded into an attempt to locate, raise awareness of, and hopefully preserve the important roost sites used by this species all along their migratory path. The project has now documented over 200 roosting sites from the Yukon to Guatemala used by over 20 million swifts in the last 30 migrations. Bend hosts one of the large migration roosting sites for Vaux’s Swifts in the chimney of the Boys and Girls Club building. Bend data has been collected since 2008; Mary Ann Kruse and Bob Johnson have been monitoring this site and reporting data to Larry since 2011. Larry will also share images and information captured by the project's chimney surveillance cameras, precision temperature recorders, and radio tracking transmitters.
 Larry Schwitters (on the left in photo) earned a Master of Science degree from East Texas State University and spent thirty years in the trenches of public education, mostly as a middle school science teacher and coach in the Renton, WA School District. After an early retirement, his first involvement with the avian Apodidae family was Black Swift field research for the American Bird Conservancy. His experiences in this endeavor were the subject of the cover story for the American Birding Association’s Winging It magazine. His last 16 years have focused on the smaller Vaux’s Swift. His efforts are covered in the Birder’s World featured article, “46 Minutes of WOW”.
If anyone has suggestions for future programs, please contact Gordon Wetzel at gordonwetzel@gmail.com.
Winter Raptor Surveys Begin
On November 1, the Bend, OR based East Cascades Audubon Society’s Winter Raptor Survey Project will begin its 19th survey season. This is a very large and active citizen science project that has provided a very large data base to the Peregrine Fund to augment their worldwide data base for birds of prey.
Oregon has 185 routes and the following are in need of a volunteer to do surveys this winter:
Clatskanie 40 miles
Gresham 47
Azalea - Glendale 34
Canyonville 47
Jacksonville 36
Tulelake East (CA) 73
Malin 48
Juntura 46
We ask that our volunteers commit to one survey per month during December through February, that they have a good grasp of raptor ID, and that they have at least binoculars to search for and ID birds, spotting scopes are preferable but not required. Surveys can be scheduled any day of the month that matches up with your life schedule each month.
If this sounds like something that you would like to be a part of, please email me as soon as you can with your route choice(s) and I will work with you to get prepared for the effort. This is a great opportunity to learn about raptors in your chosen area, hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.
Jeff Fleischer, Project Coordinator
Board Member Openings For ECAS
ECAS will have openings for up to four Board members starting in 2023. If you are interested in helping ECAS by becoming a Board member email us at ecasmp@ecaudubon.org or ecaudubon@gmail.com and we’ll contact you to discuss this topic. Elections will be held by a survey through Member Planet in mid December. ECAS members will receive an email with information about candidates and how to vote.
Cabin Lake Volunteers
If you have visited Cabin Lake in Lake County, Oregon, you know what a wonderful location it is for birding. Part of the reason for this is because volunteers have watched over it to ensure water for wildlife is available in the guzzler, invasive weeds are controlled and the viewing blinds are kept in good condition. If you, and perhaps a couple of your friends, would like to help with maintenance of these tasks let us know by emailing ecaudubon@gmail.com.
| GOOD BIRDING!
Golden Eagle by Amanda Rogers
|
|
|
|
|
| Contact: East Cascades Audubon Society PO Box 565, Bend, OR 97709
(541) 241-2190 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.png)
