The Sound to Sage website was originally launched in 2006 by Birds Connect Seattle (BCS), back when it was known as the Seattle Audubon Society. It has been resurrected in a new form and is now available on the WOS website. The project, which provides accurate data about which bird species are breeding in specific locations within four contiguous counties, was hosted on a website for many years by BCS. But the proprietary software used to display the data became outdated and was no longer functional. Hal Opperman, one of the leaders of the intensive data-gathering effort, worked with WOS volunteer Randy Robinson to produce a new web version with current, non-proprietary software. BCS made the data available and cooperated in the effort. The new site, which displays the breeding bird data on maps for Island, Kitsap, King and Kittitas counties, is best viewed on a tablet, laptop or desktop computer. It also provides the data in downloadable spreadsheets and .pdfs. The website is available at https://wos.org/documents/soundtosage.

The annual Washington Ornithological Society elections have concluded. All three officer nominees and two returning director nominees were unanimously re-elected. Participation was robust with 107 WOS members voting. President David Kreft, Vice President Rob Faucett, Secretary Sophia Krupsha, and Directors Maureen Traxler and Laurie Ness begin their new terms October 1, 2024. For biographical information and pictures of these candidates, please go to the 2024 elections page.

WOS’s latest newsletter has been published. Lead story is by Mason Maron, the 2021 recipient of the Patrick Sullivan Young Birder’s Fund award. Mason describes how the money accompanying the award helped him complete his research on the feather lice on Rough-legged Hawks. Publication is pending. Tom Bancroft takes us along on the puffin cruise he took from Edmonds to Smith Island, one of the few places left in Washington where Tufted Puffins breed. Along the way to the island, Tom got spectacular views and photographs of a Horned Puffin, which are rarely seen in Puget Sound. Cara Borre reports on coming across a Chestnut-sided Warbler on a morning walk in the Gig Harbor area. She had two dogs, no camera and no binoculars, but with the bird cooperating, she managed to get a picture with her iPhone good enough to identify the bird. She quickly submitted picture and sighting to eBird. Cara later discovered there were both a male and female present with both giving evidence of breeding through their behavior. Go to the current newsletter to read these and other articles. Submit your newsletter ideas and articles to newsletter editor Sophia Krupsha (editorATwos.org).

Long-billed Curlew by Paul Anderson

The June 3rd WOS monthly meeting featuring a Members Photo Night program is now online at WOS’s YouTube site. The presenters included Megan Lyden, Ray White, Jim Betz, Qinglin Ma, Brett Haining, Paul Anderson and Carla Conway. You can see the program at: https://youtu.be/8spFhKvXh2c   Also, this link will always take you to the full set of WOS recorded presentations at WOS monthly meetings. Previous presenters have included Dennis Paulson on cormorants, Julia K. Parrish on seabirds and citizen science, Andy Stepniewski on Eastern Washington birding, Tom Good on Caspian Terns in Puget Sound, Nick Bayard on BirdNote, and Martha Jordan on swans and Snow Geese. Many thanks to Elaine Chuang for managing the wonderful monthly meetings this year. The summer hiatus is here; monthly meetings will return first Monday in October.

WOS’s Washington Bird Records Committee brought the state’s checklist of birds to 525 species at its spring meeting on May 13, 2024. The two new species were a Song Thrush seen by Scott Gremel January 12, 2024 in West Port Angeles and a Cassin’s Sparrow reported by Liam Hutcheson and Jason Zolle October 7, 2023 in Neah Bay. Other reportable species accepted by the committee included a Painted Bunting female (pictured here) in Seattle, a Pinyon Jay seen in Olympia, a Little Bunting in Neah Bay, and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Tokeland. All four of these were seen in October 2023. Painted Bunting sightings were also reported at Cape Disappointment in late September and in Neah Bay a few days later. All told, the committee accepted 38 reports as valid new records and did not accept 9 reports. The committee meets each spring and fall. The spring meeting handles the more quickly decided cases, while the fall meeting is more comprehensive and deals with reports that require more in-depth consideration. The WBRC voting summary for this spring can be found here.

The WOS Newsletter has a new editor: Sophia Krupsha. Sophia, who also ran for the WOS secretary position, moved to Washington only a year and a half ago but says she has “taken every opportunity to expand my knowledge of our beautiful state’s biological diversity through extensive trips to all corners of Washington.” Her first newsletter reports on a 35th reunion of some of WOS’s founders, news of two new WOS social media accounts, an update from WOS President Dave Kreft, an enviable Yakima County field trip led by Scott Downes last May, and a check-in from Pullman from Jacob Miller, the 2020 Patrick Sullivan Young Birder awardee from Mason County. He’s now a a freshman at WSU. Read the Current Newsletter here.

Patrick Sullivan

Undergraduate students with ties to Washington State are encouraged to apply for grants from the Patrick Sullivan Young Birder’s Fund (PSYBF) to support research related to wild birds or related topics in Washington state. Applicants should propose research to take place during the 2022 calendar year that is done under the coordination or supervision of their undergraduate faculty. Grants will range from $1,000 to $1,500. The new approach is part of the board’s effort to strengthen the Young Birder’s Fund and also WOS’s diversity and inclusion efforts. For more information, go to the PSYBF page.

Thanks to a partnership with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we now have a terrific new benefit for WOS members: FREE online access to “Birds of the World,” the world’s largest online encyclopedia of birds. Inside its 10,700+ scholarly, in-depth species accounts you’ll find expertly curated media galleries with photos, videos, and sound recordings, dynamic range maps, breeding calendars, and other life history details. Soak up detailed accounts of every species and every family and use the Taxonomy Explorer to explore the birds in your own county. Learn more about this benefit and how to get access to it on our Birds of the World page.

Go to WOS’s Monthly Meetings page for information on our fabulous monthly meeting programs. WOS members who live outside the Seattle area (or are on the road) can still attend using a computer, tablet or phone. It’s easy!