It was a trip down memory lane on Wednesday, June 24, 2015, for Shelley Parker, who was anxious to show Pat Damron and Vera Cragin some of her favorite places where she camped with her Dad as a child.

Salmon la Sac was our first stop. At Bullfrog Pond: Catbird, Evening Grosbeak, Cedar Waxwings, Goldfinch, an unseen Sora calling, and many singing Red-winged Blackbirds. It was a perfect morning, and there was lots of activity at this beautiful spot.

Railroad Ponds close to Cle Elum were quiet, but there were a few of the resident birds showing their colors. This is a busy road on weekdays with many very large trucks making their way to load and deliver gravel, etc. Try this on weekends and especially in winter when the waterfowl are abundant and the road is easier to travel.

The Teanaway River Valley was a pleasant drive with lots of surprises along the way. Fourteen young Turkeys were being herded along the edge of the road by two adults. A Dusky Grouse was standing proudly on a steep bank while a Ruffed Grouse took up residence in the middle of the road looking like he was never going to move.

Birds were plentiful and the area very peaceful. Try it when you are not rushing to other good spots.

— V. Cragin

Click on photos to enlarge. All photos by Pat Damron: Harlequin chicks with mom; Dusky Grouse; male Kestrel; Turkey family; Western Tanager; and Ruffed Grouse.

On June 25, 2015, Wendy Connally riveted the attention of the ABC’ers lucky enough to attend. She was happy we were mostly using eBird, but she showed how much more useful our entries could be if we could record exactly where each bird is seen, now that the data is being used by researchers who will be key in protecting the wildlife.

She notified us that BirdLog for recording to eBird in the field would be phased out in favor of a newer better app called eBird Mobile. More here: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/ebird_mobile_ios1/

Wendy reports back:

“I truly enjoyed our time together – loved the energy and engagement in that room … Such a small world and many WA-TX connections. I hope you got some good information out of the presentation, and please contact me if you have any questions. As promised, here are a few links from last night’s presentation:

· Washington State Wildlife Action Plan – resources and revision schedule, contact to provide your comments at bottom of this page: http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/cwcs/

· Washington Species of Greatest Conservation Need http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/cwcs/#sgcn use the “Birds” link in the bulleted list at the bottom of this page or the “Birds” links in the righthand sidebar for lists and fact sheets.

· Once the SWAP has been finalized, a useful approach is to review the Habitats of Greatest Conservation Need section and cross-reference that with the Species Fact Sheets to see which birds need more information AND where those birds might be found. Field Trip!! Every state has a State Wildlife Action Plan and Species of Greatest Conservation Need list … just in case you’re traveling and want to eBird for their benefit too.

TEXAS RARITIES:

Please share this short list of Central TX birding sites for GCWA and/or BCVI which we discussed briefly last night, plus I’d encourage you to look into the area a bit more for local parks, too (e.g. Friedrich Wilderness Park in San Antonio, Cibolo Nature Center):

· USFWS Balcones Canyonlands NWR

· Balcones Canyonlands HCP Preserves

· Pedernales Falls State Park

· Government Canyon SNA

· Lost Maples SNA

· Kickapoo Cavern State Park

· Devils River State Natural Area

· Fort Hood (some public areas)

· Hill Country Conservancy and other central Texas land trusts

I may be offering an eBird Northwest technical training next winter (February – March sometime), shopping that around to various chapters. I’ll keep you posted if that comes together since a few folks asked for that last night. Am happy to visit with your group again sometime if you think there’s a subject I could support for you related to eBird or Washington’s SGCN.

Wendy Connally, Citizen Science Coordinator, WDFW Wildlife Diversity Conservation Assessment, (360) 902.2695 office direct, Wendy.Connally@dfw.wa.gov

Click on photos below to enlarge: