February Newsletter and Events Are Online

February 2017 Newsletter is Online

     Go to www.northcascadesaudubon.org to download the PDF. (Click "Newsletter" in the menu.) 

 

February Events and Field Trips Are Online

    Visit our website to see what's coming up this month. (Upcoming events are listed on the home page as well as on the Calendar.)

Deepwater Horizon Disaster:

How Oil Spills Affect Local People and Wildlife

Don’t miss this special presentation sponsored by North Cascades Audubon Society and RE Sources for a Sustainable Community! Wednesday, February 15, 7 – 9 PM, Whatcom Museum: Old City Hall. Melanie Driscoll, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon’s Gulf Coast and Mississippi Flyway, will discuss the need for prevention of oil spills, preparedness for an organization to find a role in the event of a major spill, and her thoughts about the particular risks facing Native Americans and others living by the Salish Sea.  Her perspective comes from her involvement in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and subsequent years of involvement in the response and now restoration efforts.  She will discuss that spill’s effects on wildlife, the environment, and local communities.  During the disaster, she initiated wildlife survey efforts and provided biological interpretation regarding the relief effort to news media, the public, and the environmental community. She also led Audubon’s conservation planning in response to the disaster and initiated Audubon’s volunteer response effort. 

General Membership Meeting with Steve and Martha Ellis

     This month's exciting membership meeting! Mark your calendar. See below for date, time, and location.

Loons of the Salish Sea. Up to a thousand red-throated loons gather each year at Deception Pass. Where do they and the other loon species that grace the Salish Sea come from? What’s so special about loons? This program will answer these and other loon questions. The talk will feature the special adaptations that allow loons to be so successful at pursuing fish, and will give tips on identifying each species. There will be discussion on where and when to view each of these charismatic species, but the focus will be on how loons go about fishing for a living. The program concludes with a short segment on the long history of human and loon interaction. Come and hear the haunting calls of the loons that make them so compelling.Steve and Martha Ellis are long-time residents of Coupeville and have been giving talks on a wide variety of natural history topics for over 25 years. Steve is currently the Vice President of Whidbey Audubon Society (WAS) and lived among loons in Alaska for 24 years.  Martha is a former WAS board member and belongs to the Washington Native Plant Society.

Always on the 4th Tuesday of the month:February 28th, 7pm at the Whatcom Museum,** free & open to the public! 

**in the Rotunda Room of the Old City Hall building