Yesterday, my friend Susan and I saw 42 species of birds in Vancouver, Washington. Many were spring migrants. The red-breasted sapsucker made its presence known by tap, tap tapping on the old trees in the city. Keeping it company was a well-dressed female downy woodpecker. She was searching …
LONG BEACH — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for four days of digging beginning Feb. 20.
Not long ago four of us, each a citizen scientist, ventured to Tarlatt of the South Bay Unit of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. Our plan was to clean the nesting boxes in preparation of the 2020 breeding bird season. In addition, we made notes about the nests’ appearance and determined…
LONG BEACH — With a 2019-20 harvest quota of 5.2 million razor clams, there was little chance that diggers between south Pacific County’s Benson Beach and Leadbetter Point would run out of allocation. Rough winter surf and sopping-wet weather mean the remaining months of clam season have abo…
It all began when the rustic bunting came to town a few months ago. A tiny songbird belonging to the warbler family was one of its companions at Cape D, along with red-breasted nuthatches and chestnut-backed chickadees.
OLYMPIA — State shellfish managers have tentatively scheduled razor clam digs on ocean beaches for dates through April.
PACIFIC COUNTY — In 2002 the Chinook Observer’s Damian Mulinix, on one of his first professional assignments, went looking for bigfoot in the hills above State Route 401 with Eric Fremstadt of Astoria.
Although he’s one of the biggest names in the Bigfoot world, Bob Gimlin never tries to force his beliefs onto strangers.
The American robin with its beautiful warm, orange breast is a sight for sore eyes during the grey days of winter. It is often thought of as a harbinger of spring, but many will remain on the Peninsula during the winter.
OCEAN PARK and LONG BEACH — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for seven days of digging beginning Feb. 6.
OLYMPIA — Young people, veterans and members of the active military can take advantage of a special one-day waterfowl hunt is scheduled statewide on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
I went visiting at Rushlight Lake, also called Paul’s Lake on some maps showing Ocean Park. I was greeted by a cacophony of sound from the resident bird life which is always exciting on the lake and in its vicinity. The most prominent and loudest vocalist was the red-winged blackbird, and as…
OCEAN PARK and LONG BEACH — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for six days of digging through Jan. 26.
On the Beach for the Birds
I always look forward to the annual Christmas Bird Count. This year it happened on Dec. 21, 2019. Part of the area me and my friends Susan and Bette Lu were assigned to was a 14-acre piece of wetland. We also were given the ocean beaches from just south of Klipsan to the Peninsula’s north-end tip.
Even from a distance, a bobcat resting near Chinook Valley Road became aware of having its photo taken on Jan. 4 near Chinook. Though not rare in Pacific, bobcats are rarely observed, being shy of humans and often hunting at night.
LONG BEACH and OCEAN PARK — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for seven days of digging beginning Jan. 8.
Adding a suet feeder to a variety of feeders and bird bath in the yard usually works very well if you want to see a few new species up close and personal.
PENINSULA — A type of fish rarely found north of San Francisco washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula during recent heavy surf.
ASTORIA — Beaver play a critical role in riparian and wetland systems, often creating better habitat in a site than humans can construct with big money and machinery. Beaver also can cause issues when in close proximity to the built environment. Wildlife biologist Jakob Shockey will touch up…
LONG BEACH — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for four days of digging beginning Feb. 20.
Not long ago four of us, each a citizen scientist, ventured to Tarlatt of the South Bay Unit of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. Our plan was to clean the nesting boxes in preparation of …
LONG BEACH — With a 2019-20 harvest quota of 5.2 million razor clams, there was little chance that diggers between south Pacific County’s Benson Beach and Leadbetter Point would run out of all…
It all began when the rustic bunting came to town a few months ago. A tiny songbird belonging to the warbler family was one of its companions at Cape D, along with red-breasted nuthatches and …
OLYMPIA — State shellfish managers have tentatively scheduled razor clam digs on ocean beaches for dates through April.
PACIFIC COUNTY — In 2002 the Chinook Observer’s Damian Mulinix, on one of his first professional assignments, went looking for bigfoot in the hills above State Route 401 with Eric Fremstadt of…
Although he’s one of the biggest names in the Bigfoot world, Bob Gimlin never tries to force his beliefs onto strangers.
The American robin with its beautiful warm, orange breast is a sight for sore eyes during the grey days of winter. It is often thought of as a harbinger of spring, but many will remain on the …
OCEAN PARK and LONG BEACH — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for seven days of digging beginning Feb. 6.
OLYMPIA — Young people, veterans and members of the active military can take advantage of a special one-day waterfowl hunt is scheduled statewide on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, the Washington Depa…
I went visiting at Rushlight Lake, also called Paul’s Lake on some maps showing Ocean Park. I was greeted by a cacophony of sound from the resident bird life which is always exciting on the la…
OCEAN PARK and LONG BEACH — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for six days of digging through Jan. 26.
On the Beach for the Birds
I always look forward to the annual Christmas Bird Count. This year it happened on Dec. 21, 2019. Part of the area me and my friends Susan and Bette Lu were assigned to was a 14-acre piece of …
Even from a distance, a bobcat resting near Chinook Valley Road became aware of having its photo taken on Jan. 4 near Chinook. Though not rare in Pacific, bobcats are rarely observed, being sh…
LONG BEACH and OCEAN PARK — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for seven days of digging beginning Jan. 8.
Adding a suet feeder to a variety of feeders and bird bath in the yard usually works very well if you want to see a few new species up close and personal.
PENINSULA — A type of fish rarely found north of San Francisco washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula during recent heavy surf.
ASTORIA — Beaver play a critical role in riparian and wetland systems, often creating better habitat in a site than humans can construct with big money and machinery. Beaver also can cause iss…
On this day as the king tides develop, the water comes closer to the house, and so too do the water birds and waders. It is time to enjoy being lakeside or on golden pond for a few days. The s…
OLYMPIA — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for five days of digging beginning Dec. 23 and continuing through Dec. 29 with a break in the middle for the Christmas holiday.
OLYMPIA — The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board on Dec. 16 announced awarding $26.1 million in grants for projects across the state aimed at bringing salmon back from the brink of extin…
A day last week was like no other for birds on our Peninsula. There is a most exciting rarity in town, the rustic bunting.
Soon, 269 more Oregon silverspot butterflies will be flying among the early blue violets along the West Coast, thanks to the Oregon Zoo’s butterfly conservation lab.
Twelve species of woodpeckers breed in the Pacific Northwest. They are excavating specialists, colorful, and energetic. Their behavior is interesting and they are fun to watch.
OLYMPIA — Razor clam diggers can return to ocean beaches for a seven-day opening beginning Dec. 10.
I pulled up a chair to see what excitement the November “king tides” would bring. They did not disappoint! A ribbon of water snaked its way inland from the bay up the path that was visible and…
OLYMPIA — After a brief scare in October when levels of a marine toxin ticked slightly upward — though still well within safety limits — razor clam season on the south Washington coast has bee…
The last two days have a been a whirlwind for viewing and counting shorebirds along with any diurnal raptors in the area that might influence the presence and numbers of shorebirds in the area…
Not that long ago, in February 2019, I wrote about the Sandhill cranes that overwinter on the Columbia Land Trust property on the Lower River Road in Vancouver, Washington. They were exciting …
The vast marine heatwave that spread warm temperatures across the northeast Pacific Ocean late in the summer and fall of 2019 has declined in size and pulled back from the West Coast, possibly…
Last year I wrote about the raptors and prey, such as the ducks and shorebirds, we can see during upcoming king tide days.
RAYMOND — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has closed Willapa Bay and its surrounding tributaries to all salmon fishing for the second year in a row.
When I walk in the yard or the field, around the wetland or among the trees, I learn more than just being stationary and looking out the window or from the deck at these habitats. So, I do a w…
It’s a blustery day. Mother Nature is winding up to produce gale force winds at the beach. The clouds have rolled in and grey is the color of the day. Nevertheless, two hardy souls decided to …
Lately, there have been several hundred magnificent big white birds feeding and resting in Young’s Bay. They stand out due to their very large wing span of about 9 feet, black flight feathers …
OLYMPIA — This summer, Weyerhaeuser enrolled 6,638 acres in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Private Lands Access program. WDFW reopened this section of forest as Feel Free to …
In the last few weeks we have learned that birds are speaking to us with an urgency like never before!
A few weeks ago a friend was lamenting the fact that she had to get busy and put her garden “to bed” for the winter, because the days and nights were beginning to get chilly. Flowers, grasses …
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this decision Tuesday morning:
A few Saturdays ago, I was up at the crack of dawn so I could board the SeaBreeze Charters boat, the Four Seasons, for a trip out into ocean to find pelagic birds. Wings Over Willapa was in fu…
Chance Sturgell, 2, admires his mom’s driver while at the Julie Brown Memorial Foundation golf tournament fundraiser. Brown, an Ilwaco High School graduate, died in 2002. The event raised fund…
ASTORIA — Sea Star Wasting Syndrome (SSWS) has been recognized as one of the most widespread disease outbreaks documented in the ocean to date, with over 20 species of sea stars affected along…
SANDRIDGE ROAD — A rare butterfly species disappeared from the Long Beach Peninsula in 1990. Now, restoration of its vanished coastal prairie habitat at the South Bay Unit of Willapa National …
COLUMBIA RIVER — Recreational anglers this year over-harvested upriver bright fall Chinook, the stock of fish that can constrain recreational and commercial fishing times and locations through…
There was excitement on the beach this past week. Thousands of sanderlings, a few Caspian terns, flocks of Heermann’s gulls, several black-bellied plovers, glaucous-winged gulls, and the sight…
OLYMPIA — Most of the Columbia River will close to all recreational salmon and steelhead fishing beginning Thursday, Sept. 26, state fishery managers have announced.
LONG BEACH and OCEAN PARK — Razor clam diggers can return to Long Beach-Ocean Park for a three-day opening beginning Sept. 27.
I was walking in a mixed forest of conifers and budding deciduous trees. There was the occasional open area in the woodland and a grassy road ran through it. On either side of the grassy roadw…
WILLAPA BAY — The Washington Department of Ecology last week announced a public comment period, an online workshop and a hearing in South Bend concerning ongoing efforts to limit the amount of…
ASTORIA — Wildlife Center of the North Coast is looking for volunteers to help rehabilitate orphaned and injured wildlife.
One of the major keys to bird identification is behavior. Behavior includes such things as feeding, singing, moving, sitting and/or whether a bird is in a flock. Lately as full migration ramps…
Brian Winterlich and his son had a close encounter with a Columbia River humpback whale while fishing from a Hobie kayak at the Washington end of the Astoria-Megler Bridge on Sept. 7.
WILLAPA BAY — There are two kinds of bird enthusiasts. People who occasionally venture outdoors and those who lug their binoculars with them everywhere they go.
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