MAY 18, 2016, 6:45 PM, Pierce County Library Administration Building, 3005 112th St E, Tacoma, WA 98446 (near Highway 512).  Dr. Ursula Valdez teaches at UW-Bothell, is a native of Peru, and refers to herself as a tropical ecologist with a research interest in predator ecology. She has facilitated classes taught simultaneously at the U and in Peru, using Skype. These classes focused on shared concerns between the northwest and Peru of biodiversity and climate change. Professor Valdez is also adept with social media to spread her message. She served as Raptor Ecologist at the Los Amigos River Biological Station and did research in the Amazon rain forest on Forest Falcons for her PhD.  In addition to teaching at the U, she also teaches a field course in the Andes and Amazon in Peru.  Find out about her mission and the very exciting birds she knows personally including Harpy Eagle!
More info:

http://www.uwb.edu/ias/faculty-and-staff/ursulavaldez

http://commons.bcit.ca/catttrax2/peru/action/

Ursula Valdez of Peru and UW-Bothell, an expert on forest falcons

ABC Meeting, February 16, 2016:  6:45 PM, University Place Library:

LIFE NET Nature/Ecuador – Banding:  Special Presentation on LIFE NET Nature and their work in Las Tangaras Reserve near Mindo, Ecuador. Our own intrepid bird banders, Mike Walker, Jerry Broadus, and Clarice Clark, were there in December to band birds and will tell us all about it. Mike has done this for 3 seasons and got Jerry & Clarice to join him this time.  This reserve is WAY off the beaten path, and you are unlikely to stumble across it unless you’ve volunteered.

Mike is a biologist, bird-bander, birding class instructor for Tahoma Audubon, and does many projects including counting swifts at the JBLM chimney with his wife, Jodi.

Jerry and Clarice are surveyors and are past recipients of Tahoma Audubon’s service award for their donation of surveying the Morse Preserve when it was acquired several years ago. Jerry is also an attorney and is currently on the board of directors for Tahoma Audubon. They currently travel extensively in their birdbanding capacity.

Join us to hear these exciting adventures in the tropics and learn about what it takes.   Up to 18 different species of Hummingbirds have been banded during one of these volunteer Decembers!

Clarice Clark and Jerry Broadus banding at TAS’ Morse Preserve.

Mike Walker bands a Toucanet in Ecuador.

The evening of January 28, 2016, ABC held its annual self-congratulatory party with Big Year reports, member photos, and refreshments (Thanks to Vera, Faye, & Kay).

After announcements of coming TAS and ABC events, Big Year reports started with Brian Pendleton, who didn’t start out to do a Big Year, but ended up with the 2nd biggest list for the entire state and #34 in the U.S!  Then Bruce LaBar was up as #1 in Pierce County and #10 in WA.  Ed (#2 in Pierce, 7th in Kitsap) and Kay Pullen talked about their Big Years and the exodus of local birders to Texas in November for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.  Marcus Roening as #3 in the county gave his report next, as well as a report on his July trip to Alaska.  Ken Brown then talked about his Kitsap and state Big Year (#2 in Kitsap) and how eBird has made this kind of birding possible.  Cara Borre’s video account of her Mason County (#1) Big Year was then shown to the audience’s delight.

We had a short break for goodies, at which time those who wore Malheur shirts/caps to celebrate the NWR’s liberation got together:

ABCers support Malheur NWR

We had lots of fun looking at everyone’s 5 best photos from the past year!  Participation was high, and we barely got through before we were thrown out!  Thanks, all!

On January 23, 2016, Dave Grenier led ABCers and other birders around Capitol Lake on a dark and stormy morning!  The weather report was wrong, and in the wrong direction!  It never stopped, but we took on the roles of storm watchers as we experienced the glory and the wetness of the Deschutes River in full roil!

At Tumwater Falls

From Tumwater Falls to the state capitol, we stopped at every stop and saw every bird that was crazy enough to be out!  However, that netted us HUGE numbers of Canvasbacks, not to mention an argument among some of us about whether a particular goose was a Lesser Canada or a Cackler.

A truly memorable morning testing our rain gear and experiencing scenes of watery madness we may never see again.  Thanks, Dave!

The quiet end of Capitol Lake on Jan 23, 2016.