Conservation Column: Pesticide Ballot Initiatives Need Your Support
Posted on Thursday, March 31st, 2016
During our walks this March, we have been delighted by the activity of birds preparing for spring. It’s particularly amusing to observe the crows flying overhead and calling boisterously as they choose their evening roosting site. Most people who study birds believe that one function of this gathering process is information exchange, and I wonder what they are saying to one another each evening. Despite the voices, both raucous and melodious, that we hear this spring from our bird neighbors, we are well aware that when it comes to human policy decisions, the birds have no voice and it is up to us to speak on their behalf. Fortunately, what’s good for the health of wildlife is good for the health of people.
Lane County Audubon Society will hold its annual spring Swift Event outside Agate Hall, although this year we will wait to set a date until we see swifts begin to arrive at the chimney. Their migration patterns are less predictable than ever before. In the past we have seen the earliest Vaux’s Swifts arrive by mid-April with increasing numbers over the next three to four weeks.
Lane County Audubon Society owes a very big thank you to the local company called CBT Nuggets! They selected LCAS as the nonprofit to receive “NuggetLOVE” during the month of February. This gave us an opportunity to have donations matched up to $5,000 by the company! Through electronic outreach, we were able to raise $4,253.15 from our members during February. CBT Nuggets matched this amount, plus they donated another $5414.12! Our grand total was $13,920.42!!
I often ask friends what books they have enjoyed recently and would recommend to others. I’d like to share a few titles that I’ve heard about so you can put them on your winter reading list too!
We have been hearing owls in the evening at our property in the forested area southwest of Eugene. In all of the 22 years we have lived here, Great Horned Owls have nested nearby. Before sundown and into the evening, deep hoots echo through Fox Hollow; the deeper voice is the male and the higher pitched hoots are the larger female. Breeding season has already begun for this species, even though the landscape is wet and the temperatures wintery. Those deep hoots are communicating territory claims as well as courtship and pair bonding—annual rituals for the pair that mates for life. 
If you haven’t returned the donation envelope included in the November issue of The Quail or gone online to show your support for Lane County Audubon Society during our annual fund drive, you can still do so. Simply mail your tax-deductible gift to LCAS, PO Box 5086, Eugene, OR 97405. (Make checks payable to Lane County Audubon Society.) If you prefer to use your credit card through our online donation page, visit 
This year marks the 74th Eugene Christmas Bird Count (ECBC) and the 116th National Audubon Society (NAS) Christmas Bird Count. The ECBC this year will be on Sunday, January 3, 2016. Our 15-mile diameter count circle is centered in the Danebo area of Eugene and is divided into 27 areas, each with a Team Leader. The Team Leaders organize the teams, lead the groups through the area during the count day, and then submit the results to the ECBC Steering Committee.
Noah Stryker, Eugene/Creswell native and local bird nerd, is nearing the end of his year-long birding adventure. During his international big year, he has recorded sightings of well over 5,000 bird species, breaking the world record for species seen in one year, which was 4,341. Noah has documented his trip in his blog, Birding Without Borders, hosted by National Audubon. Check it out at 
One of the highlights of my summer was participating in a bird walk in New York City’s Central Park. After temporarily losing my way in the maze of lanes and paths that make up the park, I finally found the Boathouse, where Robert DeCandido, or “Birder Bob” as he is known locally, always begins his Sunday morning walks. Predictably, it was an international group, including birders from South Africa, Greenland, Turkey, China, and Oregon (me), all eager to see East Coast birds in the sanctuary that Central Park provides in the midst of the great metropolis.