Photo courtesy of George Vlahakis A scarlet Hawaiian honeycreeper, also known as an ‘I’iwi, sits in a sandalwood tree on Maui. George Vlahakis will present a photographic look at Hawaiian birds at 7 p.m. today at the Yakima Area Arboretum.
Tonight's monthly meeting of the Yakima Valley Audubon Society will feature a photographic look at Hawaiian birds, both the ones that live in its lush forests and its seabirds.
Local wildlife photographer George Vlahakis will be the presenter at the 7 p.m. gathering at the Yakima Area Arboretum, which is free and open to the public. His photographs will range from the albatrosses, frigatebirds and migrant shorebirds flying the seas to native land birds and the numerous introduced birds that grace every Hawaiian garden.
Many native Hawaiian birds, because of their isolation, evolved apart from others of their kind, only to be threatened or even driven into extinction after the arrival of European ships that introduced insect pests and non-native birds to the islands.
Map/compass class slated for next week
Cascadians, backpackers, climbers and other backcountry recreationists should put this one on your calendar: a 7 p.m. map-and-compass class next Thursday (May 29), put on by the Yakima Climbing Club at Pacific River and Alpine Sports, 315 W. Yakima Ave. in Yakima.
The Yakima County Search and Rescue's navigation team members Kem Russell and Phil Lazzara will be leading the class, headed by Darrell Monroe from the Department of Ecology. Participants should bring a Green Trails map and their compass.
This class was well attended last year and offers both review and introduction. Donations will be accepted and directed to Project Mobile Command Post for Search and Rescue.
Fly-fishing group sets roundup/swap meet
The Yakima Fly-Fishers Association will hold its inaugural "Membership Roundup/Swap Meet" one Sunday next month, and is encouraging current and prospective members to bring fishing or fly-tying gear they no longer use to swap with others.
The June 22 swap meet will be at Randall Park, off the 44th Avenue access. Participants should bring their own lawn chairs to be able to relax and enjoy the casting and fly-tying demonstrations, casting games, raffles and auctions -- and perhaps munch on hot dogs and burgers.
For more information about joining the association before the event, stop in at Fairbanks Outfitters (formerly Gary's Fly Shoppe), 423 W. Yakima Ave.
Bird Alert: rare pair seen along Pom Pom
A rare find in the Valley, two common bushtits, were observed on the Yakama Indian Reservation, along Pom Pom Road, south of Marion Drain Road. Meanwhile the nearby Lateral C Road between Marion Drain Road and Pumphouse Road, was also productive this week with reports of bobolink, sandhill cranes, Wilson's phalarope, yellow-headed blackbird, sora, and Wilson's snipe that were observed sitting on fence posts in plain view.
A great egret was spotted north of US-97 and a chukar was also noted at the base of Toppenish Ridge. The shrub-steppe along the top of Toppenish Ridge and US-97 held horned lark, vesper sparrow, lark sparrow, sage sparrow, savannah sparrow, and grasshopper sparrow.
Taking the dog for a short walk in the neighborhood this week produced some surprises for one Yakima resident, who first heard then found two long-billed curlew preening on a backyard lawn. She noted a respectable 31 species on her walk including Vaux swift, western tanager, Cassin's vireo, lazuli bunting, orange-crowned warbler and Nashville warbler.
Fort Simcoe State Park, one of the "birdiest" places this time of year, did not let a group of visiting birders down this week. They enjoyed looks at black-chinned hummingbirds, lots of Lewis' woodpeckers, lazuli bunting, western tanager, Nashville warbler, yellow warbler, Wilson's warbler, Bullock's oriole, Say's phoebe and cedar waxwing.
Other birds of note this week included warbling vireo, western tanager and Bullock's orioles all noted at a residence east Grandview; a turkey vulture, slowly working its way north over Selah; and, in the Ahtanum, the distinctive call of the western wood pewee ringing in the woods.
Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 248-1963
This week's correspondent: Kerry L. Turley
Weekend campers may be disappointed
People intent on enjoying that Memorial Day weekend campout are likely to be disappointed this weekend. A lot of campgrounds simply won't be open, thanks to that heavy snow cover, meaning the ones that are open will be jammed.
On the Chinook Pass (State Route 410) side of the Naches Ranger District, the Lodgepole, Pleasant Valley, Hells Crossing and Cougar -- all managed by Northwest Land Management -- are not expected to be open for this weekend. All of the Forest Service-managed campgrounds on the 410 side are scheduled to be open by Friday, based on how quickly work crews can take care of potentially dangerous trees -- dangerous as in being a threat to fall -- and snags. Kaner Flats and Crow Creek should be open sometime today.
On the White Pass (Highway 12) corridor, all of the campgrounds should be open except for Dog and Leech lakes, which are still surrounded by several feet of snow.
Some trails are open -- Bear Canyon, Edgar Rock, Umtanem and Cowiche Canyon among them -- but most trails into the high country won't go very far before being lost under the blanket of snow.
Campers to the north will be even more disappointed. A washout of the Icicle River Road out of Leavenworth has blocked access to three popular Forest Service campgrounds -- Chatter Creek, Rock Island and Black Pine -- that typically draw about 300 people over Memorial Day weekend.
AROUND AND ABOUT
CAMPGROUND CLOSURE: The Salmon La Sac Campground will be closed for construction work through July 2, while work crews complete a repair-and-upgrade campground project that began in 2006. On July 3 -- just in time for the holiday weekend -- the campground will open for the summer. But the 30-year-old bridge at Salmon La Sac over the Cle Elum River is scheduled for replacement this summer, meaning there may be delays of up to two hours for people wanting to cross the old bridge during construction.
RANGER STATION CLOSURE: The Cle Elum Ranger Station will be closed on June 5 so district employees to attend an Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Centennial event. The office will reopen on its regular schedule the next day. For more information, call the office at 852-1100.
COWLITZ SPRINGER RULE: Starting last Saturday, anglers must release any spring chinook salmon they catch on the Kalama and lower Cowlitz rivers due to a shortfall in hatchery returns, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced last week. But starting Friday, anglers may retain up to three hatchery-reared steelhead on the Cowlitz and North Fork Lewis rivers.
LAST CLAM DIG: Clam enthusiasts received the go-ahead Wednesday to proceed with the season's final razor clam dig this Saturday only. Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks beaches were approved for the one-day morning dig after marine toxin tests showed the clams were safe to eat. Low tide at the beaches will be 9:58 a.m., at minus-1/2 foot. No digging will be allowed after noon. No digging will be allowed at Long Beach, where the state's annual allowable catch has been reached. Kalaloch remains closed to harvest.
STURGEON FESTIVAL: The 12th annual Sturgeon Festival -- honoring the most primitive inhabitant of the Columbia River ecosystem -- is set for May 31 and June 1 at Vancouver's Water Resources Education Center. Special events include Portland Audubon Society's Birds of Prey, Wild on Wildlife Live Bird & Mammal Show, the "Gracie Learns the 3 Rs" puppet show, Creature Feature Reptile Zoo, storyteller Ed Edmo and Eartha the Clown.
ON THE CALENDAR
TODAY: The Yakima Valley Audubon Society will hold a bird walk at Yakima Sportsman State Park to watch for late-arriving migrating birds. The group will meet at 8 a.m. at the first parking area inside the main gate.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY: The Cascadians have a hike planned to Snow Mountain on Saturday and an intermediate Eagle Creek hike set for Sunday. For meeting time and place for these hikes (which are open to prospective Cascadians as well as already active ones), call Maurine Peck at 453-4244.
TUESDAY: The Cascadians will do a hike of Swakane Canyon out of Wenatchee. Participants meet at 8 a.m. at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart parking lot and carpool from there, generally breaking into two groups (one faster, one more leisurely) for the hike itself.
THURSDAY (MAY 29): The Cascadians' Pokies group will hike to Umtanum Creek Falls in the Wenas. For meeting time and place, call Grace Anderson at 966-3934.
JUNE 12: The Yakima Valley Audubon Society will hold its annual search for yellow- breasted chat, Bullock's oriole, black-headed grosbeak and lazuli bunting at the Cowiche Canyon. Participants will meet up at 8 a.m. at the canyon's Weikel Road entrance. (That's Summitview west to Weikel, turn right and then, after a half-mile, turn right at the Cowiche Canyon sign.)
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