Dear Reader,
Spring is for babies! Caren Willoughby and Tom Rice report lots of baby Wood Ducks on Devil's Lake (Lincoln City) this spring! They said the success rate is much higher this year than last. Caren is also monitoring our Lincoln City Osprey pairs - a couple of nests have failed, but there are hungry young in several nests. I've been fortunate to see Osprey regularly flying past my windows with large ocean perch and other fish. Check our map of Osprey nest sites.
ANNUAL MEETING
We held our annual meeting online on June 25th. If you missed it, we have a recording that you can view (about 40 minutes in length).
Board of Directors
We elected two new board members and re-elected four others. At the July board meeting, we elected officers. Our Board of Directors for 2020-21 is:
dawn villaescusa, President
Steve Griffiths, Vice-President & Conservation chair
Nora Sherwood, Secretary
[vacant], Treasurer
Miracle Fingerson (new)
Halle Renn, Membership coordinator Tom Rice
Ernie Rose, Newsletter editor & Business liaison
Ruth Shelly (new)
Caren Willoughby, Education coordinator
Visit our website to learn more about our Board. We have open positions and would love to have you join us! We're especially interested in folks from Tillamook county and south Lincoln County.
BIRD WALKS
Our bird walks are cancelled through August. We are making decisions month-to- month and will continue to keep you updated.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Beach Clean-up Bingo: We're partnering with Lincoln City Parks & Rec to bring you Beach Clean-up Bingo. Pick up a Bingo card at various locations, clean-up some beach debris, take a selfie and post it on Facebook, and be entered to win prizes! Drawings are August 15th and September 15th.
Black Oystercatcher info flyer: We partnered with US Fish & Wildlife, Portland Audubon, and Friends of Otter Rock to develop a lovely handout to inform visitors about protecting Black Oystercatchers on the coast. These rack card size handouts are available at locations up and down the coast, or you can order them from us or print your own.
Alder Island Loop Trail (Millport Slough, Siletz Bay) interpretive signage. Our team is finalizing the design and layout for the eight interpretive panels. US Fish & Wildlife plans to install them this fall.
CITIZEN SCIENCE
Marbled Murrelet surveys: A huge thank you to all of you who responded to the request for boat drivers!
Oregon Marine Reserves Bio-Blitz 2020
July 17th through 26th - Bio-blitzes are usually conducted on a single day in groups, with teams of experts to assist. Due to the pandemic, the July bio-blitzes will be conducted by volunteers over a ten day period. You can help!
CONSERVATION -
ROCKY HABITAT PROJECT
We hope that you've enjoyed the Rocky Habitat articles in The Kingfisher. We're also featuring our project on our website - this month's feature article is about the new rocky habitat site designations and how they will be used to protect special rocky sites along the coast.
In June, we hired Kent Doughty as our Rocky Habitat project coordinator. Kent resides at the Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge and is working part-time for us.
Webinars: Our first "On the Rocks" Rocky Habitat webinar, featuring Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge presented by Roy Lowe, is available to stream.
Be sure to join our My Favorite Rocky Habitat Facebook group and share your photos and stories of your favorite spots along the coast!
That's it for this month.
Stay Safe and be well!
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dawn villaescusa, President Audubon Society of Lincoln City