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<< Previous   of   Next >> Herald file  (click to enlarge) Snow geese have returned for the winter.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009 You may be safer birding in orange By Sharon Wootton Hunting is a topic I rarely address, yet it comes to mind each fall when bird hunters and birdwatchers have the same targets. While what is anathema to a birder is enjoyable to a hunter, it’s as legal to hunt in season as it is to go birding every day. That translates into a need for responsibility by those who handle weapons and a bit of caution by those who handle binoculars. The odds of a birder being shot by a bird hunter are slim, so there’s no need to pack away your binoculars. Birding in hunter territory, however, understandably makes some folks uncomfortable. One protective measure is to wear a hunter-orange bib in the field. “It’s not a legal requirement for birdwatchers,” said Bill Tweit, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife policy analyst and avid birder. “But it only makes sense to let hunters know where you are when you’re sharing the same area, since we are partners in outdoor recreation.” While the immediate goals of Audubon societies and hunting organizations are polar opposites, they are not so far apart when it comes to protecting habitat. Over the years, Ducks Unlimited has been a huge factor in preserving hundreds of thousands of acres of waterfowl breeding habitat. The goal of its Rescue the Duck Factory campaign, for instance, is to permanently protect an additional 300,000 acres of habitat on the prairies before they are plowed under. It’s hard to argue with that. Fall birding: Western Washington is prime territory for large numbers of snow geese, particularly in the Skagit Valley. It’s the best location for seeing large flocks. Tens of thousands of snow geese winter in Western Washington each year, most of them congregating in the valley from mid-October through early May. This year, birders have spotted blue geese as well as cackling geese and a white-fronted goose in the flocks. The blue geese are rare visitors to this area. Study your bird identification books so it will be easier to find those three species among thousands of chattering snow geese. They usually form a tight group within the snow geese flock. One birdie, two birdie, three birdie, four: It’s not too early to think about the National Audubon Society’s 110th annual Christmas Bird Count. It’s citizen-science in action from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5. Local Audubon societies usually pick different days to go out so it’s possible to join more than one excursion or to count on your own. For information on the Dec. 20 count in Edmonds, call Jan van Niel at 425-778-7568; for the Dec. 27 Everett-Marysville-area count, call Scott Atkinson at 425-210-2716. Ship ahoy! The last two bird migration cruises aboard the Glacier Spirit are Nov. 28 and Dec. 31 from Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend, sponsored by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. “Every cruise brings a surprise or two, such as the brown booby we saw one El Nino year, and never saw again,” naturalist Johanna King said. The boat will circle Protection and Rat islands. Protection Island is a national wildlife refuge. Tickets are $55. For reservations, call 800-566-3932 or e-mail cruises@ptmsc.org. Go figure: Canadian biologists have discovered a link between personality, survival and reproductive success in male bighorn sheep. Apparently there is the live-fast-and-die-young personality of the most combative and sexually precocious males and the slow-and-steady personality of the male that breeds later and lives longer. Decades of research involved observation and paternity tests. The results were published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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