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CBAS Annual Meeting by Margaret Schiffner
On June 9, 2023, members and guests gathered for the Central Basin Audubon Society’s annual meeting and dinner in the courtyard of a member’s North Mae Valley home.
President Gayle Talbot welcomed everyone and started the evening’s events by honoring a few key individuals. John Moody was first to receive a token of appreciation for his dedication as the Education & Scholarship Chairman for over a decade. Others receiving tokens of appreciation were Steve and Jane Stiger and Gary Ham for their “above and beyond” volunteer work with the ARK elementary school program.
John Moody, with the aid of incoming Scholarship Chairman Jacob Towne, presented continuing Education scholarship awards of $5000 to both Jared Goetz and McKinley Fulk.
Jared will be returning to Washington State University this fall. He has been accepted to the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine Doctoral program, which will take four years to complete.
McKinley will be returning to the University of Idaho to continue her studies toward a degree in Environmental Engineering.
A brief board meeting presented the following elected to serve as the CBAS 2023-2024 Board of Officers:
President, Gayle Talbot Director, Twila Herrin
Vice President, Steve Stiger Director, Jackie Chase
Secretary, Jane Stiger
Director, Judy Rogers
Treasurer, Margaret Schiffner
The evening concluded with several door prizes provided by John Moody. Everyone had a great time.
From the Desk of the President
ACOW is Back!
If you are interested in representing CBAS in attending this event, please let one of the board members know ASAP. Thank you!
“Our annual event, the Audubon Council of Washington (ACOW), is coming back this September 29 - October 1 for an in-person statewide gathering. Join us for a full or partial weekend of community and conservation at the Mountaineers Program Center in Seattle. We will cover shared conservation issues, legislative strategies, workshops on equity, diversity, and inclusion, and learning from our network. We are delighted to welcome guest speakers Rebecca Heisman, author of Flight Paths and Ursula Valdez, ecologist and conservationist involved in social research, conservation education, and building capacity in conservation and field ecology. We can’t wait to put our heads together to tackle some of the biggest conservation challenges in Washington.”
Since Margaret Heming indicated that she is interested in attending ACOW, the CBAS Bird Walk scheduled for Sept. 30 will be moved up to Sept. 23. Go to our website, centralbasinaudubonsociety.org, for more details, or find Central Basin Audubon Society on Facebook. Carpooling is available!
Remember, YOU are invited to attend CBAS Board Meetings on the first Friday of every month (except Dec) at 1:00 PM at the home of Margaret Schiffner. Call in advance for directions. Your input is always welcome!
ACOW 2023: Together for Birds
from Audubon Washington website
ACOW 2023: Together for Birds
The Seattle Mountaineer Program Center -
GOODMAN A, 7700
Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
Audubon Washington and the chapters of the King County region are pleased to welcome back chapters from across Washington State for the biggest ACOW to date at Sand Point on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.
Friday, September 29 fromFriday, September 29 from 2:00PM - 6:00PM
Join us for Friday afternoon conservation sessions and voting on WSACC resolutions. We’ll have a pizza dinner and hear from our guest speaker, Rebecca Heisman, author of lightpaths.
Saturday, September 30 fromSaturday, September 30 from 9:00AM - 6:00PM
We’ll kick off Saturday with a morning bird walk and jump into a day of conservation and EDIB workshops. We’ll celebrate the winner of the Helen Engle award and hear from guest speaker and researcher Ursula Valdez.
Sunday, October 1 - Field Trip Day!
Next Steps:
How to Register:
Go to wa.audubon.org and click “Register for ACOW 2023!” At the very
top right of the page, then follow the Next Steps on the website
CBAS Bird Walk Report by Margaret Heming
June 24, 2023,
Bird Walk at Potholes State ParkBird Walk at Potholes State Park
Paula Zanter-Stout, Gayle Talbot, Jackie Chase, Vic and Cheryl Rasmussen, and I (Margaret Heming) had a productive bird walk at the State Park. We saw and heard at least 21 species, which I posted to eBird. Highlights included seeing a Downy Woodpecker family, Spotted Sandpipers with a newly hatched baby, and Cedar Waxwings right over our heads! We also saw a Great Horned Owl nest, but no owl. We all appreciated that Vic brought his scope to share with us and were glad that Paula was there to share her knowledge of the state park. Some of us are planning to visit the park in the wintertime to see the Bald Eagles Paula told us about.
July 29, 2023,
Bird Walk at Rocky Ford Creek
near Trout Lodge Hatcherynear Trout Lodge Hatchery Seven of us had fun birding at Rocky Ford Creek. Paula, Jackie, Vic, Shiraz Vira, and I happily welcomed two new birders to our group: Sheila Klokkevold and Lindsey. We all enjoyed the donuts that Shiraz brought for us! We didn’t see as many species as we did in June, but what we saw was exciting. We could hear several Marsh Wrens near us. It was challenging to spot them, but eventually we did! Paula got a wonderful photo of one of the wrens. The pelicans were very entertaining! One flew right at us,creating a moment none of us will forget.
Spotlight on Photographer: Paula Zanter-Stout
We are fortunate, once again, to feature photography from this member, as her photos have been featured in various publications. She is one of our two identified “Experts” and an Admin on our Facebook page. She writes:
I am originally from Michigan, and my fascination with photography came from my mom, who always enjoyed capturing family moments on film. My parents had a love of nature and the outdoors, which I did as well.
My first 35mm camera came as a graduation present from my sister and her
husband, who was an avid photographer. He thought I had “an eye” for taking some good photos at the time.
When I moved to the Detroit area for work, and even prior to that, I really loved going to concerts and capturing those moments on film. The concert photography was pretty short-lived - just a few years - as I met my husband while visiting Washington on vacation and moved to Moses Lake in 1986.
My first bird photo was of a California quail. I’d never seen one before, and I fell in love with them. I’ve always enjoyed taking photos of our area, nature, sunrises, sunsets, but especially the birds. We are so fortunate to be located in a wonderful migratory path, fall and spring, for so many types of birds. In late spring and summer, birds that nest and call our area home are varied, from the large to the tiny, and it really keeps the hobby of bird sighting and
photography something I enjoy daily.
Since retiring in 2018, I got my first DSLR camera in 2021 for the specific purpose of bird photography, both in our backyard, but also at sites around Grant County. Prior to that, I was just using my cell phone and a point-and-shoot camera for bees at flowers and that type of thing. To photograph birds, it required not only a zoom lens but a more technologically advanced camera.
Thank You So Much!
We appreciate the following for renewing their membership to CBAS:
Martin & Ann Schempp, Wayne Edwards, Gary & Karlene Utter, and Chris Branwart.
Welcome back members
Paula Zanter-Stout & Ed Stout
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