MEETING REPORT – Oct 28, 2015:

Lora Leschner, Partnership Coordinator for Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, mesmerized our group on October 28, 2015, with her global grasp of every facet of conservation concern and her incredible energy. Talk about the right person for the job! She says she sometimes calls herself a behind-the-scenes habitat “broker,” which is about the best description for her job of bringing together lands that need protection or rehabilitation, threatened wildlife and plant/tree species, people who can do the work, and funding sources.

Lora said these Joint Ventures have been around for decades. This particular Habitat Joint Venture is employing some new ideas in the face of less funding. Her Venture taps many funding sources, including Ducks Unlimited, Fish & Wildlife agencies, and land conservancies. It is one of 22 Migratory Bird Joint Ventures (http://mbjv.org/) coast to coast. Apparently funds have been set aside for conservation nationally as mitigation from oil companies and other sources, but actual access to these funds has been stymied. These joint ventures have proved extremely cost-effective, however, working with 5700 partners over their history to enhance, restore, conserve, and protect over 24 million acres of essential habitat. They have leveraged every dollar of federal funds at a ratio of 33-to-1! Wow!

Particular targets for this Joint Venture are coastal wetlands, prairies, and oak woodlands, all of which pertain to Pierce County. What Lora and this Joint Venture provide are offering are partnerships, funding and resources, science-based prioritization, solutions to barriers, and public support. They also make sure that funds which must be matched do find that match. Rare and imperiled species are of prime importance, and focal/surrogate species have been identified for most of them. Grants usually are earmarked for acquisition, restoration, and enhancement, and lately some monitoring. This is something that ABC members can assist with!

Lora finished up with a slide show of beautiful landscapes that have been restored with the help of this Joint Venture, many of which we as birders know well.

Check out the Joint Venture’s great website which has an opportunity to sign up for their newsletters and make contact with them: http://www.pcjv.org/

Click below to enlarge photos. Lora Leschner at ABC on October 28, 2015, and after the meeting having dialog with Joe Tieger and Jerry Broadus.

OCTOBER 28, 6:45 pm, University Place Library meeting room

Join ABC in welcoming wildlife biologist Lora Leschner of the Pacific Coast Habitat Joint Venture (PCHJV), who will present, “Times are Changing: Creating the ideal environment for bird habitat and conservation in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, B.C., and Hawaii.” She will be discussing the role their organization plays in connecting people and groups to resources and funding.

Leschner has been a wildlife biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and then the Regional Wildlife Program Manager for North Puget Sound Region. In the past, Lora worked with Marbled Murrelets and is featured prominently in the best-selling book on that subject, “Rare Bird,” by Maria Mudd Ruth. She also published a study she did on Rhinoceros Auklets breeding on Destruction Island. She received the Special Achievement Award from Pacific Seabird Group for these and many other studies she has done.

We are excited to hear about her work and about the PCHJV. For more info: www.pacificbirds.org.

Join the ABC Club for a very special night featuring: “New Guinea’s Lost Worlds and Elusive Birds of Paradise,” with Bruce Beehler, Naturalist and Explorer, on Thursday, November 5, 2015, from 6:45 to 8:45 PM, at Thompson Hall, University of Puget Sound. $10. Preregistration is requested so we can obtain the appropriate lecture hall. Contact Diane Yorgason-Quinn at Avosetta@hotmail.com.

In this popular lecture illustrated with still and video images, Smithsonian naturalist Bruce Beehler describes his nearly four decades of field study of the birds and rainforests of the great island of New Guinea. The presentation will feature a review of the remarkable diversity of the birdlife inhabiting New Guinea, as well as a focused look at the Birds of Paradise and the amazing plumages and behaviors of the various species in this unique bird family.

In addition, the presentation will take the audience on a field expedition to the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea, perhaps the most isolated and untouched place on planet earth. The scientists on the expedition risked their lives and suffered various hardships, but came away with more than a hundred species of plants and animals new to science. These include some of the most bizarre creatures on earth, a “lost” Bird of Paradise, a Golden-maned Bowerbird unique to this tiny mountain range, a Wattled Honeyeater-bird that blushes when upset, an egg-laying spiny mammal without teeth, and a scary five-pound giant rat.

Beehler’s bio reads like a modern-day biologist Indiana Jones. He is an ornithologist, conservationist, and naturalist. He is currently a Research Associate in the Division of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and is focused on research and writing about nature and natural history. Beehler has spent much of his scientific career studying and working to conserve birds and their forest habitats. After conducting doctoral fieldwork in Papula New Guinea, Beehler worked for ten years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, followed by stints at the Wildlife Conservation Socity, U.S. Department of State, Counterpart International, Conservation International, and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Beehler is an elective Fellow of the American Ornithologists Union and has served on the boards of the American Bird Conservancy, RARE, and the Livingston-Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy. In addition, Beehler served for three years as Chair of American Bird Conservancy’s Policy Council (predecessor to the Bird Conservation Alliance). Beehler has published ten books and authored scores of technical and popular articles about birds and nature. In 2007, Beehler was featured in a Sixty Minutes piece highlighting an expedition he led to the Foja Mountains in the interior of New Guinea in which scores of new species of plants and animals were discovered. Today Beehler carries out natural history exploration and field research focused mainly on wildlife and natural places in the USA.

Besides the Sixty Minutes profile, Beehler was also featured on the northwest’s own Birdnote recently. Read about it here: http://birdnote.org/show/north-spring-migration

We are eagerly awaiting this glimpse into another world and its fantastical bird life through the eyes of this scientist-adventurer.

Click to enlarge:

OCTOBER 28: 6:45 PM, UPlace library: Join ABC in welcoming wildlife biologist Lora Leschner of the Pacific Coast Joint Venture, which focuses on bird habitats in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, B.C., and Hawaii, will present: Times are Changing: Pacific Coast Joint Venture to Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture and creating the ideal environment for bird habitat conservation.

Lora says, “Things are evolving in our organization.” For more info: www.pacificbirds.org.

In the past, Lora worked with Marbled Murrelets and is featured prominently in the best-selling book on that subject, “Rare Bird,” by Maria Mudd Ruth. She also published a study she did on Rhinoceros Auklets breeding on Destruction Island. She received the Special Achievement Award from Pacific Seabird Group for these and many other studies she has done.

We are excited to hear about her work and about the Pacific Coast Joint Venture.

On Monday September 28, 2015, Ken Brown led an ABC field trip to Kitsap County with Jaegers as primary targets. Five carloads of birders started out on the south side of Bainbridge Island at the fish ponds where we hit pay dirt with a huge flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls with smaller numbers of at least 4 other gull species and a Common Tern. We hit the right day for Jaegers as we watched perhaps 5 Parasitic Jaegers go after the small gulls, often successfully.

We dragged ourselves away from that spectacle and headed for Point No Point. We didn’t get that same show at all there, but in the bright sunshine we turned into whale watchers as perhaps two Humpbacks surfaced over and over, delighting us and many others. The clear conditions offered incredible views of the north Cascades with Mt. Baker gleaming gaudily. Sea Lions attracted gulls close to shore, and as well there were small numbers of migrating and wintering waterfowl making an appearance.

After lunch at Norwegian Point/Hansville (where we had a 2nd cycle Herring Gull), we headed for Foulweather Bluff and enjoyed the freshwater ducks on the inland side. Driftwood Key/Hansville again took our breath away as a huge flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls arrived in a ball like so many sanderlings! A late Osprey was a pleasant surprise!

A sunny, fun, and successful day of birding. Thanks, Ken!

Click on photo to enlarge. Bonaparte’s, Humpback, Jaeger, and the group.