Eastside Audubon Turns Out for Wetlands Fair
By Lori Danielson
The City of Bellevue held a family-friendly World Wetlands Day open house on the first Saturday in February at the beautiful Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center and Eastside Audubon joined in the fun by setting up an information table at the fair. World Wetlands Day is a global event held each February to recognize the importance of protecting our wetland ecosystems. EAS was among several other environmentally-oriented local nonprofits represented, including 300 Trees, Bellevue Master Naturalists, Bats Northwest, Washington Native Plant Society and Beavers NW.
The Eastside Audubon table was staffed by volunteers eager to introduce community members to birds and our organization. EAS Community Outreach Chair Jeannine Sielinski was joined by volunteer Lori Danielson for the 3-hour event in which we displayed our mounted Red-tailed Hawk and Bufflehead to draw interested children and adults to the table and answered participants’ questions about birds. We offered Eastside Audubon brochures and maps of The Great Washington State Birding Trail. The event was not too heavily attended but it was a nice way to start 2024’s community outreach effort.
If you’re interested in volunteering for Eastside Audubon at future outreach events, email Executive Director Amanda León at office@eastsideaudubon.org.