Red Tails May/June 2025
- naomihanvey
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
Click below to download a PDF of the newsletter!
From the Desk of the President
By Gayle Talbot, President
It’s definitely spring and I am hoping to get this issue in the mail early enough to remind people to attend our first 2025 Bird Walk on Saturday, April 26th. We will meet at Sun Lakes State Park to watch Golden Eagles. Here’s Margaret Heming’s description:
34400 Park Lake Rd NE, Coulee City, WA
We will meet at the Caribou Trail parking area at 8:15 a.m. Bring Discover pass, binoculars, snacks, water, AND a chair and your coffee! The plan is to spend some time sitting near the parking area and watching the Golden Eagle nest as well as watching for other birds in the area. We may also do some hiking on the Caribou Trail or the Deep Lake Trail. Follow the Deep Lake Road to access the trails. Call Margaret if you have questions: 509-475-3143
The May Bird Walk is Gettys Cove (south of Vantage) on Saturday, May 31st. More information on our Facebook page and Website in May, or call Margaret Heming.
March was a busy month, not only because of the Sandhill Crane Festival, but I did four presentations to the fifth graders at Lakeview Terrace and Sage Point on the CBAS Pollinator Garden/Habitat Hero Project. This is the third year challenging local students who toured the CNWR as fourth graders in our ARK (Audubon Refuge Keepers) program, to create a backyard habitat for wildlife. There are awards for those who show evidence of their work!
May is the month our dedicated volunteers go into the schools to present our ARK program to fourth graders and then take them, via slow-moving school bus, through the refuge to their three environmental field studies. This year we have added Groff Elementary! Most of you know Groff had to be closed this spring and all of next year due to problems and poor construction of the building. This will not deter us from including Groff!
Our Central Basin Audubon Society Annual Meeting will be held at the beautiful home of Margaret Schiffner again this year. Friday, June 13th is the date, with social time beginning at 5:30 p.m. and a light dinner at 6:00 p.m. This is an evening of celebration that we look forward to, presenting our Ron Van Nurden Scholarship Awards to deserving students! All interested members are invited to attend! To RSVP, please call Margaret Schiffner or any other board member.
Sandhill Crane Festival 2025 Report
By Gayle Talbot, President
We want to thank the Sandhill Crane Festival for inviting CBAS once again to attend this event! Right on time, Sandhill Cranes visited the Basin for Othello’s 27th annual festival, always the next-to-last weekend of March. The festival draws people from as far away as New Hampshire to view these large migrating birds. There are so many activities to take part in, from lectures to tours to projects for kids! The cranes themselves are attracted to the area’s rich croplands and wetlands for their stopover on their trip north to Homer, Alaska.
CBAS board members Margaret Schiffner, Jane Stiger, and Gayle Talbot attended as vendors at the ARK (Audubon Refuge Keepers) booth, answering questions and talking about the many activities our chapter is involved in, especially for elementary school children. Upon viewing our scrapbook of the past few years, many visitors remarked that they wished their own Audubon chapter had these kinds of activities. That is exactly why we attend this event, so we can share ideas with others and glean ideas from them as well!
We did appreciate seeing our own chapter members and friends stop by to visit because it is a long eight-hour day, and some of us do not get out to the Bird Walks to visit with our active folks. Many people asked about the Bird Walks, picked up information on Backyard Habitats or our Red Tails newsletter, and kids especially liked the Peanut Butter Cup Bird Feeder Kits that we gave away (along with a tiny Reese’s). We were so happy to see our former CNWR Manager, Eileen Hails, who had just been rehired a couple days earlier! She thanked us for stepping up and supporting her by calling our Fourth District Representative.
Of course, we were really excited when we had a few visitors interested in joining our Central Basin Audubon chapter. This festival is one of the ways that our group grows and stays viable. We do appreciate all of our members and friends, whether they are friends of our very active Facebook page: Central Basin Audubon Society, or visitors to our informational website. Every official membership helps fund our chapter and activities. For a membership form and more information, see our website: centralbasinaudubonsociety.org and click on “Get Involved.” Thank you!
Spotlight on a Scholarship Recipient
By John Moody, Scholarship Chairman
It is a joy to watch the progress of each Central Basin Audubon Society Scholarship recipient. One of those individuals is McKinley Iris Fulk, who graduated from Ephrata High School in 2021. McKinley enrolled at the University of Idaho to pursue a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. During the summer of 2024, McKinley interned with Gray and Osborne, Inc. at their corporate office in Wenatchee. This May, McKinley will receive her Bachelor of Science Degree from the U of I. After graduation, McKinley will spend this summer overseas working in Spain. Also, she has been offered a job with an engineering firm when she returns this coming fall. The Central Basin Audubon Society awarded McKinley a Ron Van Nurden Memorial Scholarship for each of her undergraduate years at the University of Idaho. CBAS is so very proud of McKinley!
Thank You So Much!
By Margaret Schiffner, Treasurer
We are thrilled to welcome Margaret Sells, Moses Lake, as our newest member! Thank you Steve and Jane Stiger, Othello, WA and Bishop Spray, Moses Lake, WA for membership renewals. We also wish to thank Frances Irwin, Moses Lake; Smart Payables, Centennial, CO and The Give Lively Foundation, New York, NY for their donations to our Ron Van Nurden Memorial Scholarship program.
Thank you Naomi Hanvey, Paula Zanter-Stout and A&H Printers for their continued work on this issue of Red Tails. What a blessing you are to CBAS!
Bird Watching!
From the Desk of the President
By Gayle Talbot, President
It’s definitely spring and I am hoping to get this issue in the mail early enough to remind people to attend our first 2025 Bird Walk on Saturday, April 26th. We will meet at Sun Lakes State Park to watch Golden Eagles. Here’s Margaret Heming’s description:
34400 Park Lake Rd NE, Coulee City, WA
We will meet at the Caribou Trail parking area at 8:15 a.m. Bring Discover pass, binoculars, snacks, water, AND a chair and your coffee! The plan is to spend some time sitting near the parking area and watching the Golden Eagle nest as well as watching for other birds in the area. We may also do some hiking on the Caribou Trail or the Deep Lake Trail. Follow the Deep Lake Road to access the trails. Call Margaret if you have questions: 509-475-3143
The May Bird Walk is Gettys Cove (south of Vantage) on Saturday, May 31st. More information on our Facebook page and Website in May, or call Margaret Heming.
March was a busy month, not only because of the Sandhill Crane Festival, but I did four presentations to the fifth graders at Lakeview Terrace and Sage Point on the CBAS Pollinator Garden/Habitat Hero Project. This is the third year challenging local students who toured the CNWR as fourth graders in our ARK (Audubon Refuge Keepers) program, to create a backyard habitat for wildlife. There are awards for those who show evidence of their work!
May is the month our dedicated volunteers go into the schools to present our ARK program to fourth graders and then take them, via slow-moving school bus, through the refuge to their three environmental field studies. This year we have added Groff Elementary! Most of you know Groff had to be closed this spring and all of next year due to problems and poor construction of the building. This will not deter us from including Groff!
Our Central Basin Audubon Society Annual Meeting will be held at the beautiful home of Margaret Schiffner again this year. Friday, June 13th is the date, with social time beginning at 5:30 p.m. and a light dinner at 6:00 p.m. This is an evening of celebration that we look forward to, presenting our Ron Van Nurden Scholarship Awards to deserving students! All interested members are invited to attend! To RSVP, please call Margaret Schiffner or any other board member.
Sandhill Crane Festival 2025 Report
By Gayle Talbot, President
We want to thank the Sandhill Crane Festival for inviting CBAS once again to attend this event! Right on time, Sandhill Cranes visited the Basin for Othello’s 27th annual festival, always the next-to-last weekend of March. The festival draws people from as far away as New Hampshire to view these large migrating birds. There are so many activities to take part in, from lectures to tours to projects for kids! The cranes themselves are attracted to the area’s rich croplands and wetlands for their stopover on their trip north to Homer, Alaska.
CBAS board members Margaret Schiffner, Jane Stiger, and Gayle Talbot attended as vendors at the ARK (Audubon Refuge Keepers) booth, answering questions and talking about the many activities our chapter is involved in, especially for elementary school children. Upon viewing our scrapbook of the past few years, many visitors remarked that they wished their own Audubon chapter had these kinds of activities. That is exactly why we attend this event, so we can share ideas with others and glean ideas from them as well!
We did appreciate seeing our own chapter members and friends stop by to visit because it is a long eight-hour day, and some of us do not get out to the Bird Walks to visit with our active folks. Many people asked about the Bird Walks, picked up information on Backyard Habitats or our Red Tails newsletter, and kids especially liked the Peanut Butter Cup Bird Feeder Kits that we gave away (along with a tiny Reese’s). We were so happy to see our former CNWR Manager, Eileen Hails, who had just been rehired a couple days earlier! She thanked us for stepping up and supporting her by calling our Fourth District Representative.
Of course, we were really excited when we had a few visitors interested in joining our Central Basin Audubon chapter. This festival is one of the ways that our group grows and stays viable. We do appreciate all of our members and friends, whether they are friends of our very active Facebook page: Central Basin Audubon Society, or visitors to our informational website. Every official membership helps fund our chapter and activities. For a membership form and more information, see our website: centralbasinaudubonsociety.org and click on “Get Involved.” Thank you!
Spotlight on a Scholarship Recipient
By John Moody, Scholarship Chairman
It is a joy to watch the progress of each Central Basin Audubon Society Scholarship recipient. One of those individuals is McKinley Iris Fulk, who graduated from Ephrata High School in 2021. McKinley enrolled at the University of Idaho to pursue a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. During the summer of 2024, McKinley interned with Gray and Osborne, Inc. at their corporate office in Wenatchee. This May, McKinley will receive her Bachelor of Science Degree from the U of I. After graduation, McKinley will spend this summer overseas working in Spain. Also, she has been offered a job with an engineering firm when she returns this coming fall. The Central Basin Audubon Society awarded McKinley a Ron Van Nurden Memorial Scholarship for each of her undergraduate years at the University of Idaho. CBAS is so very proud of McKinley!
Thank You So Much!
By Margaret Schiffner, Treasurer
We are thrilled to welcome Margaret Sells, Moses Lake, as our newest member! Thank you Steve and Jane Stiger, Othello, WA and Bishop Spray, Moses Lake, WA for membership renewals. We also wish to thank Frances Irwin, Moses Lake; Smart Payables, Centennial, CO and The Give Lively Foundation, New York, NY for their donations to our Ron Van Nurden Memorial Scholarship program.
Thank you Naomi Hanvey, Paula Zanter-Stout and A&H Printers for their continued work on this issue of Red Tails. What a blessing you are to CBAS!
Bird Watching!
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