Showing posts with label Deschutes Neighborhood Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deschutes Neighborhood Group. Show all posts

Monday, April 10, 2017

Lake Lawrence Bird Study in Progress:

Lake Lawrence Bird Study in progress - New members invited:




– Lake Lawrence Bird Study in Progress, NEW MEMBERS ENCOURAGED TO JOIN
An exciting citizen science bird study is currently being conducted near waterfowl concentration areas by Lake Lawrence in SE Thurston County. The monitors are made up of mostly residents from the surrounding area and Black Hills Audubon Society members. The group would love to have new members join the project.

The surveys are occurring in an area of high quality bird habitats including a 120 acre wet meadow currently being restored, the Deschutes River, Lake Lawrence and a 23 acre State designated waterfowl concentration wetland. Concerns that birds while in their diurnal and seasonal travels could collide with a 160’ cell phone tower being proposed next to these habitats is prompting this citizen science effort.

The citizen group prepared a study plan which then was peer-reviewed by the Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. The survey’s goal is to 1) identify priority bird species in the area and 2) determine local migratory flyways near the proposed tower site.

The citizen group of 20+ dedicated individuals so far has worked every Thursday in 2017 for a total of 250 hours and will continue working through April and very possibly extend through the summer months. Surveys are done for three hours after sunrise and three hours before dusk. Bald Eagles, American Kestrals, Virginia Rails, Red Tail Hawks, Great Blue Herons, Bufflehead, Merganser and Gadwall ducks are some of the birds often seen from the three monitoring posts.

New volunteers are welcome and can be trained by experienced birders while conducting the survey. The area is pristine and lovely with an unimpeded view of Mt. Rainier. Please join our community effort and you will have fond memories of a secret beauty in southeast Thurston County.

For more information, please contact: Carolyn Chew, email ourwildliferocks@gmail.com.

http://yelmcommunity.org/2017/04/lake-lawrence-bird-study-in-progress-new-members-invited/
 

Thursday, March 16, 2017

UPDATE:Deschutes Neighborhood Group Bird Survey for Sheep Farm





Greetings, Everyone!
Since the beginning of January we have been surveying the bird population every Thursday close to the proposed tower site...3 hours after dawn and 3 hours at dusk.  Black Hills Audubon Members are participating and helping our fledgling birders from our community...It is lots of fun and rewarding!
As the weather changes and birds nest we expect even more activity than ever!

Alex and Carolyn went to the Black Hills Audubon Society (BHAS) Annual Awards Dinner to spread the word of our good works.  A couple more people from BHAS eagerly volunteered!   There are a few pictures below of the event.

Please see the BHAS Dinner Handout (attached)  for the preliminary results of our surveys!
It is so exciting that we have over 3,000 birds counted and about 25 different species!
Help spread the word to the community at large about our Bird Survey for preserving wildlife habitat and all of the wonderful species and bird herds (flocks and gaggles) we have observed. Two pairs of Bald Eagles sat peacefully in a tree for over an hour on the Smith Wetland Property last Thursday.
If you would like to participate in our survey, please contact us at this email (carolyn8chew@gmail.com) or Carolyn (360) 446-0468 and we will get back to you!
We welcome volunteers and you can train while surveying!  We even have beautiful color laminated booklets for identification purposes.

Soon we will put out a press release for the newspapers and they will come out and take pictures!
Best to all,
Deschutes Neighborhood Group