National Audubon Society and local Audubon chapters across the U.S. are reaching out to populations traditionally under-represented in environmental groups. To celebrate LBGT Pride month, in June the local chapter of Stonewall Youth sponsored a bird field trip at Billy F. Frank Jr. National Wildlife Refuge (Nisqually). BHAS members helped guide the group.
To observe the second annual Black Birder’s week, on June 8 two Black Hills Audubon Society members, Sam Merrill and Whittier Johnson, joined a bird walk in Tacoma at Dune Peninsula in Port Defiance Park with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland. Also attending were: Washington Audubon’s Executive Director Deborah Jensen; the director of Seward Park Audubon Center, Joey Manson; former Washington State Representative Art Wang; and other Tahoma Audubon members. Seventeen bird species were identified. Highlights were a distant flock of about thirty Rhinoceros Auklets and a small group of American Crows mobbing a mature Bald Eagle. A King 5 reporter joined, and the story played on the news. For a 1 min. 40 sec. segment, Check it out on YouTube! Or try this link
