The Northwest Stream Center has gone to the birds. And the beavers. And pond critters.
But in January, feathered things are the stars with four slide shows or field trips featuring birds.
"What we are trying to do is cover creatures of wetlands and streams in the Northwest. Once a month we’ll feature a group of animals," said Sue Minger, program assistant.
For Minger, working with Adopt-A-Stream Foundation’s stream center is another in a series of jobs that she’s loved.
| For the birds
The Northwest Stream Center offers the following during January: Buy tickets in advance for all programs by calling 425-316-8592. Tickets are less expensive for members of Adopt-A-Stream Foundation.
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Instead, she started doing graduate work with an avian science professor, studying human diseases such as muscular dystrophy using chickens and turkeys as models.
That experience led her down Avian Avenue, although she was already an avid birder.
"My father always had bird feeders, so ever since I can remember I always watched birds. I always had dreams of flying, too. But I never kept a list and I’m not an Audubon member. They have to get up too early," Minger said.
Minger became a supervisor at the California Raptor Center.
"It was an interesting job, another dream job," she said.
When her husband was transferred to this area, she worked at Pacific Science Center, doing bird programs at summer camps.
Minger will give the first of four January programs, "Unique Characteristics of Northwest Birds," a slide show focusing on identification markers of area birds.
Other programs are:
Even after a few decades of working with birds, Minger still loves them.
"It’s the fact that they can fly, that they’ve been around since dinosaurs," she said.
That’s longer than her binoculars, which were recently stolen.
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