FALL FIELD TRIPS:

AUG 7: THELER WETLANDS – 7 AM: Meet at Theler Wetlands at Belfair. About 4 hours on level paths. See great birds AND great public art! No need to sign up — Just show up. If you need to Google directions, the address is 22871 NE SR3, Belfair 98529. This will be led by Faye McAdams Hands and John Riegsecker and will be a twice-a-month event. Assume this will be cancelled if really bad weather. FIRST AND THIRD THURSDAYS at 7 AM for the summer months. A later start time will be initiated sometime in the fall.

AUG 8-9: Coast trip with Ken Brown. Leave at 6:00am from P&R at I-5 and SR512. 2 days of coastal shorebirding, unless something interesting to chase shows up. We will motel, eat dinner out. Bring lunches, rubber boots. Call Ken at 360-876-9509 to reserve and set up carpooling.

AUG 12: Sehmel Homestead Park/Gig Harbor with Melissa Sherwood. June 17th, 8 AM. Enter park, turn right at the baseball fields and head south to the Heritage and Masters Gardens. Call Melissa with questions at 253-851-7230. She tends to cancel the trip during heavy windstorms. Sign up with Melissa directly. Future walk on Sept 23.

August 17, 7:30am – 5:00pm – Mt. Rainier/Sunrise Ptarmigan Hike: No, it’s not at dawn, but we’ll be hiking from Sunrise in Mt. Rainier National Park to Fremont Lookout to chase the elusive White-tailed Ptarmigan. Ptarmigan families are frequently seen in this area in August. We’ll enjoy a 5.6 mile roundtrip family-friendly hike with an elevation gain of 900 feet through wildflowers on our own favorite backyard mountain. Great territorial views on a clear day. Non-birders are very welcome. Trip leader is Martha Scoville, volunteer Meadow Rover for Mt. Rainier National Park, with birding help from Brian Pendleton. Meet at the first floor of the Tacoma Dome park-n-ride lot, 610 Puyallup Ave., at 7:30 am, and we will carpool to Sunrise. If you do not wish to carpool, meet at 9:30 at Sunrise by flagpole in front of the Visitors Center. Wear hiking boots and bring plenty of water, sunscreen, bug repellant, and a lunch. Rain or shine – bring appropriate garb. Don’t forget your Golden Age/Federal Parks Entrance Pass should you have one. Register by contacting Martha at mscoville@harbornet.com or (253) 752-5014 (h)/ (253) 221-7346 (cell).

AUG 21: JBLM Eagles Pride Golf Course: Denis DeSilvis leads periodic field trips to this area with the next one coming up on Thursday, September 18. They meet the third Thursday of each month at 8:00AM. Starting point is Bldg # 1514, Driving Range Tee, Eagles Pride Golf Course, I-5 Exit 116, Mounts Road Exit. Anyone is welcome to join, and you don’t have to have a base pass. For more info, contact Denis at: avnacrs4birds@outlook.com

AUG 23-24: Westport and Ocean Shores, including a pelagic trip. Art Wang will repeat the popular field trip to get pelagic birds and early shorebird migrants. It’s not too early to sign up with Westport Seabirds, which filled rapidly last year. To sign up for the pelagic trip on Saturday, contact Westport Seabirds at pmand001@comcast.net or call 360-268-9141. The boat trip portion of the field trip will leave Westport at 6:00 am on Saturday, Aug. 23. Say that you are part of the Tahoma Audubon field trip. Cost is $140, payable 30 days in advance. See www.westportseabirds.com.

AUG 30 (Saturday): Selleck swift chimney – Spend the sunset hour at Selleck hoping to see Vaux Swifts do their chimney trick (we got skunked last year, so trying the early part of the migration this time). See next Towhee for details or contact Diane Y-Q at Avosetta@hotmail.com

SEPT 6, 7, 8: KEN BROWN will lead a 3-day trip, Sat, Sun & Mon, Sept. 6, 7, & 8, to central & eastern Wash. looking for shorebirds & migrant songbirds. We will hit several areas going over, Getty’s cove, Gingko, Winchester sewage lagoon, Perch pt. Staying overnite in Othello. Para ponds, Washtucna, Lyons Ferry, Lind Coulee and possibly Potholes sp. in some order. E-mail for reservation, kennethwbrown@hotmail.com.

SEPT 14 (Sunday): JBLM Swift Chimney – Celebrate our local swift chimney! If you or your interested friend has base access, please join us to see a real spectacle! Still no official base field trip, so limited to those who have base access. Plan to be there an hour before sunset. For directions to the chimney, contact Diane Y-Q at Avosetta@hotmail.com

SEPT ??: Visit the swift chimney at the old Northern State Hospital at Sedro-Woolley. This is the tallest chimney on the swift’s route and has sometimes been the busiest. We will add on to Skagit Audubon’s field trip to assure access to what is now a Job Corps Center and will announce the date as soon as we know it.

September 28 (Sunday): 8:00am – 2pm. Montlake Fill, Seattle: “In My Nature” Field Trip with Connie Sidles The first book of the Fall for Tahoma Audubon’s Nature Book Club is In My Nature: A Birder’s Year at the Montlake Fill, by Constance Sidles. Following the book club discussion on Sept. 9, 1:30 pm, at the Hess Center, we’ll have a field trip to explore the birds and places in the book. You do not have to be a book club member to participate in the field trip. Meet at the Tacoma Dome Park-N-Ride, 610 Puyallup Ave., at 8 am, on Sunday, Sept. 28, and we will car-pool to the Montlake Fill (east of Husky Stadium). Bring lunch. We will tour the fabled Fill, search for fall migrants, and return in the early afternoon. Make reservations by emailing ArtNancy@harbornet.com or calling trip leader Art Wang at 253-209-4420. Special guest: Author Connie Sidles will join us and show us the places she loves at the Montlake Fill!