WHEN: Wednesday, March 7, 2018 | 6 – 7:00 pm
WHERE: Burien Community Center, Lakewood Room, 14700 6th Avenue SW, Burien

– and –

WHEN: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | 6 – 7:00 pm
WHERE: Normandy Park Community Club (The Cove), 1500 SW Shorebrook Drive, Normandy Park

Light refreshments will be provided at both events.
Learn about:

• Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)
• The Community Salmon Investigation driven by local community scientists
• Long-term trends in coho and chum salmon returns
• Factors affecting salmon and stream health, including polluted runoff
• Pre-spawn mortality and its impact on local salmon
• How you can contribute to improving watershed health
• Volunteering to count salmon this fall

For additional Information:

• Web search key words “CSI Highline” or www.kingcounty.gov/environment/watersheds/central-puget-sound/miller-walker-creeks/salmon-monitoring.aspx
• Contact Matt Goehring, Miller/Walker Basin Steward, mattgoehring@kingcounty.gov, (206) 263-6826

Letter to the Editor:
This is a note of thanks and appreciation to Dr. Tara Luckie and Karli Rose from the Environmental Science Center, the Burien Parks Department and the many volunteers for organizing and putting on the February 17, 2018 Birdfest.
Kharli Rose of the Environmental Science Center delivered tips on how to ID birds and helped participants learn to recognize and count them at Dottie Harper Park.
Andy Waters, who is one of the owners of Wild Birds Unlimited in Burien, presented on how to attract birds to your backyard, demonstrated what new devices are helpful to feeding and attracting birds and, shared anecdotal stories about the birds most commonly found in Burien. Wild Birds Unlimited is one of the twenty-year sponsors of this event.
The Seattle Audubon Conservation Science Coordinator, Jennifer Lang shared data and stories from 10 years of Puget Sound Seabird Surveys. Seahurst Park was one of the first sites for this study project. And, the project is still looking for coastal bird sighters to help gather data on these open sea birds that come in close to humans for six months of the year. If you are interested in working on this project contact her at Seattle Audubon. Burien Seahurst Park’s waters have lots of these open sea bird visitors annually.
Myself and the kids at the Birdfest event loved pulling a part owl pellets to see what owls eat. We found mostly mice and voles skulls, jaw bones and rib bones. We also discovered a Bushtit nest right outside the window of where the event was held. A serendipitous and delightful surprise. A fun and educational time was had by all. Many thanks!
In Asian cultures, this is the Year of the Dog. For scientists and the Audubon, this is the Year of the Bird in recognition of Audubon’s 100-year anniversary.

– Bob Edgar

[Have an opinion or concern you’d like to share with our ~100,000+ engaged monthly Readers? Please send us your Letter to the Editor via email. Include your full name, please cite your sources, remain civil and – pending our careful review – we’ll consider publishing it.]

• Live music, comedians, and more!
• Comics led by headliner Robert Pidde, local boy turned professional comedian
• Appetizers – No-host bar – Silent auction

Tickets are $20, on sale online at buriencares.org or at the CARES animal shelter/Paws and Relax doggy daycare located at 909 SW 151st Street.
Tickets will also be available at the door.
For more information, call 206-812-2737.

• Wednesday, March 7: 6 – 7  p.m. at the Burien Community Center, 14700 – 6th Ave SW, Burien
• Wednesday, March 14: 6 – 7 p.m. at the Normandy Park Community Club (The Cove), 1500 SW Shorebrook Dr, Normandy Park

“A big thank you to all of this year’s volunteers, and the researchers at University of Washington and NOAA for all they do for our watershed and local salmon!”
Please contact Matt Goehring, Basin Steward, at mgoehring@kingcounty.gov or (206) 263-6826 if you have any questions.

Help make birds count at Bird Fest!

Do you want to learn what birds are in your backyard?
Do you want to help scientists take a snapshot of their populations?
You can do both on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Bird Fest. The event goes from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Burien Community Center, and offers families, friends and neighbors an opportunity to learn about their local birds and plants while participating in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count.
There will be presentations, counts, booths and activities for all ages. Family and bird-friendly activities will include hourly walks and counts, identification games, touching bird skins and mounts, dissecting owl pellets, crafting a pair of binoculars and other activities for children. Participating organizations include:

• Seattle Audubon Society
• Rainier Audubon Society
• Seward Park Audubon Center
• King Conservation District
• Nature Stewards
• Wild Birds Unlimited
• City of Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services

Hourly, Kharli Rose of the Environmental Science Center will deliver tips on how to ID birds and have participants help count them next door at Dottie Harper Park. Andy Waters owns Wild Birds Unlimited in Burien and will present on how to attract birds to your backyard. Knowing what plants and seeds they require will help you draw in more variety or sustain the ones you have around. Seattle Audubon Conservation Science Coordinator Jennifer Lang will share stories from 10 years of Puget Sound Seabird Surveys and let you know how to take part. These have grown to 122 waterfront sites, including Seahurst Park. Volunteers diligently identify, count, and collect data on seabirds in nearshore habitats to learn more about seabird hotspots, both for birding and for conservation.
The Environmental Science Center has coordinated Bird Fest with sponsorship from the City of Burien. It promotes the Great Backyard Bird Count, a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with partner Bird Studies Canada and is made possible in part by founding sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited. In 1998, this was the first online community-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time. Last year, 240,418 worldwide bird watchers helped in the four-day count to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.
If you help count on Feb. 17, those species will be entered into eBird, which is the global online program collecting bird observations every day of the year. If you cannot be at the fest, count that weekend or count whenever you can and submit your findings on eBird. Just 15 minutes can make a big difference for birds!

• To REGISTER for Bird Fest, please visit www.EnvScienceCenter.org, or call 206-248-4266.
• For more information on the Great Backyard Bird Count, visit www.Birdcount.org.
• For more information on the eBird, visit www.ebird.org.

• She has short to medium hair and is solid black with yellow/green eyes.
• She is a 1 year old, weighs about 8 pounds and is very skittish.
• She is an indoor only cat and not wearing a collar.
• She is, however, microchipped.

If you’ve seen her, please call Michael at (206) 353-0720 with any information, anytime, day or night.