Our smallest cormorant is not as seagoing as its name implies and resides mostly along rocky shorelines. It is somewhat less common in southern Puget Sound and in rivers and lakes near the coast.
Greener Living Classes From City of Bellevue!
Greener Living Classes From City of Bellevue!
Learn how to live more sustainably!
City of Bellevue Utilities are pleased to offer free, interactive Greener Living in-person and live-virtual Zoom classes. Participants are welcome to attend a single class, any combination, or all of the classes. Attendees will receive a digital kit of resources, tips, and tools after each virtual class or tools to take home from in person classes. All ages are welcome; however, these classes are geared towards adults and children over seven.
Registration is required to receive the link to the class.
To register contact the City at recycle@bellevuewa.gov or 206-949-1787. You may also find more information at www.bellevuewa.gov/greener-living-classes
Pelagic Birding
Photo of the Month: August
Bellevue City Council Candidates Climate and Environment Forum
Bellevue City Council Candidates Climate and Environment Forum
Hello fellow climate activists.
Thank you all very much for your support of the Bellevue City Council Candidates Climate and Environment Forum on Tuesday! If you were not able to make it to the event, you can watch the recording below.
Together we made this event a huge success!
Together, we got over 100 people to attend in person!
Together, we showed future council members (plus mayor Robinson, who was in the audience) how important climate change and the environment is to Bellevue residents!
Together, through our questions, we helped to educate five of the seven future city council members on some important details of our concern!
Together, through our questions, we also helped to educate the audience!
Please also consider the future power of the coalition that we formed. Together we can do a lot more!
For example, right now, Bellevue city officials are updating the comprehensive plan for future growth. Together, we can influence how this update is tailored to address climate change and the environment. We urge you to email city officials in support of the attached comp plan recommendations which People for Climate Action Bellevue sent to city officials in August.
Here are the email addresses that we suggest people send their supporting comp plan messages to:
Planning Commission: planningcommission@bellevuewa.gov
City Council: council@bellevuewa.gov
City Manager: bmiyake@bellevuewa.gov
Planning Dept. Director: mkatterman@bellevuewa.gov
Asst. Planning Director: eaking@bellevuewa.gov
Watch the recording of the Bellevue City Council Candidates Climate and Environment Forum
Remembering Brian Bell
Remembering Brian Bell
Written by Michael Hobbs
Brian Bell, popular field trip leader, teacher about birds, and dedicated member of Eastside Audubon, Birds Connect Seattle (formerly Seattle Audubon), and the Washington Ornithological Society.
Brian Bell was a popular field trip leader, teacher about birds, and dedicated member of Eastside Audubon, Birds Connect Seattle (formerly Seattle Audubon), and the Washington Ornithological Society. He passed away unexpectedly on August 6, 2023. The following memorial was written by Michael Hobbs and originally published on Tweeters, the University of Washington list-serve for the birding community where Brian posted reports from his many field trips. (Ed.)
To Tweeters,
It is with a very heavy heart that I relate that Brian Bell passed away last weekend.
Brian arrived in the PNW in 1995, already a very serious birder. He came to us from the Sacramento area, where he had been president of Sacramento Audubon, led and arranged field trips, helped manage the 400+ acre Bobelaine Audubon Sanctuary along the Feather River, and was a co-author of Areas of Critical Concern, a book which identifies valuable natural areas in the greater Sacramento area.
Once arriving here, he continued his strong interest in promoting birding and teaching others, becoming a board member for Eastside Audubon and the Washington Ornithological Society (WOS), serving as Field Trip Chair for Seattle Audubon, and leading field trips for Eastside Audubon, Seattle Audubon, WOS, the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, and the Gray's Harbor Shorebird Festival.
That's not just a few field trips. He led probably at least 100 trips to Whidbey Island alone. Brian led more field trips than any other birder I know, a huge commitment towards teaching people about birds and birding. Always, he not only led a field trip, but turned it into a learning experience for the participants.
In addition to leading field trips, Brian also taught many classes for Seattle Audubon Society, Eastside Audubon Society, Shoreline Community College, and North Seattle Community College. The courses included: Beginning Birding, Birds of Puget Sound, Water Birds, Woodpeckers, Birding by Habitat, and Summer Birds of the Mountains. He was one of the early Seattle Audubon Master Birders.
He ran his own guiding business under the business name of Peregrine Northwest, helping out-of-town birders find our local specialties. He authored Birds of Washington State (2006, Lone Pine Publishing).
At the WOS conference in Moses Lake in 2019, I was honored to present the Zella M. Schulz Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of Brian’s long-term commitment to sharing his knowledge of birds with others.
In addition to all of that, Brian was effectively the co-founder of the Marymoor Survey. When we first met, on the boardwalk at Marymoor Park in 1995, it wasn’t even a survey yet; just me, a beginning birder, walking around and keeping a list once each week.
Brian started coming out with me almost every week and taught me everything he could. Suddenly, “I” was finding more birds. He taught me the concept of birding by ear, and then tirelessly worked to actually teach me the bird songs and calls.
And this continued for over 1000 surveys from 1995 through our survey last week! He also covered for me on 125 surveys when I was sick, injured, or out-of-town.
The common theme throughout this list of contributions is that Brian made a tremendous commitment to teaching others, an amazing gift that a huge number of people have benefited from. I am sure that Brian will be greatly missed by the PNW birding community. And, I can’t even fathom the reality that he will no longer be birding at my elbow every Thursday morning.
Save Coal Creek Update
Save Coal Creek Update
Wilson’s Warbler in Coal Creek Natural Area by Andy McCormick
Eastside Audubon and Save Coal Creek supporters are thrilled to report that King County will award a $9.2 million 2024 Conservation Futures grant to the City of Bellevue for the purchase of several properties near Lakemont Boulevard in south Bellevue, including the Milt Swanson property. This purchase is the long-desired goal of Save Coal Creek. The generous grant requires a 25 percent funding match by the city of Bellevue.
Eastside Audubon was the first organization, after Issaquah Alps Trails Club started the Save Coal Creek initiative in 2019, to advocate for preserving the Milt Swanson property because of the value of its wildlife corridor. The property is wedged between King County’s largest park, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, and Bellevue’s largest park, the Coal Creek Natural Area. A developer, Isola, has proposed a 35-home development for the privately-owned parcel, making acquisition urgent.
In summer 2020, Eastside Audubon’s Andy McCormick, Peter Marshall and others wrote a detailed comment letter about expected environmental impacts of the proposal for 35 homes, and requested that the City of Bellevue require an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement). Andy McCormick of Eastside Audubon also used birding records to document the presence of 38 species of birds in the Swanson property area in 2022 and submitted this information to both the King County Council and the Bellevue City Council. Numerous other letters were sent to the city from the general public and other organizations, including the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust.
American Dipper in Coal Creek Natural Area by Hilary Barnes
Save Coal Creek steering committee chair Sally Lawrence reports, “As of this writing [August 17], we have not yet heard a legal decision on our SEPA [State Environmental Policy Act] appeal of the city’s January 2023 determination that a full EIS would not be required for the Isola proposal. However, even without a SEPA decision, this huge County grant provides a compelling path forward. Bellevue has enough parks levy money to make the match.
“Please thank our King County councilmembers Claudia Balducci and Reagan Dunn for their amazing support for the County grant,” Lawrence said. “And please, write to City Council counciloffice@bellevuewa.gov to stress the importance of providing matching funds for this important conservation effort. This purchase is a no-brainer - a win for Coal Creek, its salmon and other wildlife, the hiking public, for local coal mining history, AND for the developer.”
Bellevue City Council 2023 Candidates Climate Forum
Bellevue City Council 2023 Candidates Climate Forum
If you live in the Bellevue area, there is an important election coming up that needs your support!
60% of the Bellevue City Council will be elected in November, and there is a Forum being held on September 19th at East Shore Unitarian Church to get to know the candidates and their priorities for the future related to Climate Change and our Environment before voting begins. Unless we act quickly and decisively today to curb Greenhouse Gas emissions, climate impacts will get much worse. The well-being of the climate and future generations is in our hands.
Attendees of the event will have a chance to enter in a drawing at the Door for some fun prizes, including:
Two $500 coupons toward purchase of heat pump water heaters
One $100 and four $50 vegetarian restaurant coupons
A month subscription to Ridwell
We need a real live audience for this event. If you plan to attend, register HERE.
WHAT - Get to know the candidates for Bellevue City Council and their priorities for our future!
WHEN - September 19th, 2023 from 7-8:30pm
WHERE - East Shore Unitarian Church, 12700 SE 32nd St, Bellevue, WA (Sanctuary Bldg.)
WHY - This is a very important election as 60% of the Bellevue City Council will be elected in November and we need as much support to help address Climate & Environmental issues in Bellevue.
Photo of the Month: July
Become a Bellevue Climate Change Leader
Want to be a Climate Leader in Your Community?
If you’ve been concerned about the climate disasters happening around the globe this summer but not sure how to take action, the City of Bellevue is launching a new program for you. They are recruiting for their first ever cohort of Climate Challenge Team Leaders. Community members in the program will become climate leaders by guiding a team of their choice through the Bellevue Climate Challenge. Team Leaders will meet with city staff monthly throughout the program for training, resources, and support. The first cohort will begin in October 2023, and run through June of 2024.
To become a Team Leader, complete our enrollment form by September 30.
If you have questions about the Team Leader program, please reach out to Sofia Fall, Sustainability Coordinator at sfall@bellevuewa.gov.
American Goldfinch
Book Club Seeking New Members
Book Club Seeking New Members
The Eastside Audubon Book Club is a small group of folks who combine their love of the natural world with their enjoyment of reading. We are happy to announce we are looking for new members.
The group meets monthly on the third Tuesday from 7-9pm to discuss the book of the month. Our discussion is facilitated by the member who originally suggested that month's title. We currently use a combination of meeting venues: outdoors in the summer, library meeting rooms late spring and early fall, and via Zoom the rest of the year. The club is now in its seventh year. During all that time, we have never missed holding our monthly meeting!
Book selection occurs three times a year. During the selection process, members rotate proposing up to three titles each for the next round of reading. We then vote on the slate of books for the next four months. One title is chosen from each presenting member's list of proposals.
What do we read? As long as nature is a prominent theme, any book of any genre is eligible. The result is incredibly eclectic. Titles have included fiction, nonfiction, essay, mystery, autobiography/memoir, science, natural history, poetry. As one might expect from a group with "Audubon" in its name, about 25% of our books involve birds. However, the entire biotic community is open to our literary adventures.
Over the years, we have read books on animals and plants and those that are neither. Fin, fur and feathers, vertebrates and invertebrates, living things great, small and microscopic, mobile and immobile: all have been included. Being very much a part of nature, humans have not been left out of the mix. As well, our literary journeys have not been limited to the organic world. Our books have also explored the inorganic realm. The four classical elements - earth, air, fire, water - serve as a useful metaphor for those explorations. Through more than six years of titles, we have traversed the intersections of nature with racism, sexism, politics, social justice, psychology, spirituality, economics, medicine.
Take a look at our upcoming titles for the next four months. They are typical of the variety in the books our club reads.
If you enjoy nature and books, come join us! For more information, contact: office@eastsideaudubon.org.
Photo of the Month: May and June
Townsend’s Solitaire
"My forest is whispering, softly..."
Lead Youth Bird Walks with YEC
Lead Youth Bird Walks with YEC
Do you enjoy working with young people? Do you have information about birds that you would like to share? If you answered "yes", then you could lead bird walks for the Youth Education Committee either during the week or on weekends!
Teaching youth about birding is a great way to get them involved in wildlife and conservation efforts from an early age. Serve at your convenience. We will do the paperwork for you—all you have to do is show up and lead an enthusiastic group of children. If you are interested, please contact Mary Britton-Simmons at 425-894-0100. Thank you for considering this great opportunity to share birding with youth!
About the Youth Education Committee
The Youth Education Committee is a diverse group of volunteers. What unites us is a strong belief that children who connect to nature at an early age become lifelong stewards of the environment. Through our volunteer work, we hope to inspire youth to make this connection, to become lifelong learners of nature and to live lives dedicated to making the world a better place for all of us.
Read more about the work we do at this link.
