4-20 What’s Happening

Audubon to feature talk by grizzly expert

An expert in one of the Pacific Northwest’s most intriguingly political wildlife issues — grizzly bears’ place in our ecosystem — will be the featured speaker at Thursday’s Yakima Valley Audubon Society meeting at the arboretum.

The 7 p.m. program will feature a presentation by David Knibb, a former forester and lawyer, and also the author of “Grizzly Wars: The Public Fight Over the Great Bear.” The book delves into grizzly bear recovery under the Endangered Species Act, a process that has been extremely controversial — welcomed in many circles and decried in others.

Those public attitudes and the sometimes conflicting policies of different state and federal agencies will continue to play a role as the grizzly issue plays out. Noted grizzly bear advocate Doug Peacock said, “The next few years are critical. This important book tells us why.”

Knibb’s presentation is free and the public is welcome.

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Tribal fish biologist speaks to YFF tonight

Todd Newsome, a biologist working in the Yakama Nation’s wide-ranging fish program, will be the speaker at tonight’s Yakima Fly Fishers monthly meeting.

Newsome will discuss and answer questions about tribal fisheries projects at the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at the club’s regular location, the conference room at Bert’s Pub downstairs at Glenwood Square (5110 Tieton Drive, Yakima).

The group also plans to raffle flies donated to Yakima Fly Fishers by noted fly angler and fly tier Jim Teeny when he was featured at the Central Washington Sportsmen Show in February.

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Shooting range trash: two dumpster loads

Three dozen volunteers in Saturday’s annual cleanup of the Sheep Company Road shooting range in the Wenas Wildlife Area collected and hauled off enough garbage to fill not just one, but two 30-cubic-yard dumpsters.

Much of the trash was what you’d expect at a shooting range — destroyed target material, discarded casings and other shooting-related leftovers. A lot more was left behind by people who had intentionally hauled their own trash out to the range.

The people from the Wenas Muzzleloaders Club, who organize this cleanup project every year, would prefer not to have to do this sort of thing, of course.

“We just hope we can educate the public to pick up their own target material, their brass and their shotgun hulls,” said Don Witke, one of the cleanup organizers. “If they hauled it out there, well, they can haul it back out. If people could do that, it would be a big plus.”

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State’s lowland lake opener set Saturday

All it takes is a drive down Interstate 90 between Zillah and Ellensburg, with glances over at the anglers lining the various lakes and ponds along the way, to know that trout fishing has been alive and well at many of this region’s year-round-open waters.

But if you’re big on “official” opening days, you can join the 300,000 anglers from around the state who will be heading out to take part in the traditional statewide opening day for lowland lakes.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has already planted (or will soon do so) nearly 60,000 triploids, more than 200,000 2-year-old “jumbo” and surplus hatchery broodstock trout, plus the 7.4 million trout planted as fry last year that by now have grown into catchable-size 8- to 12-inch trout.

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BIRD ALERT

Almost as punctual as the famous cliff swallows of Capistrano, the Vaux’s swift, a bird that summers in  the Pacific Northwest, have returned to roost in a chimney in Sawyer. These truly amazing aerialists have been coming to this chimney for a few weeks as they migrate in the spring and fall, for the last 10 or more years. The smallest North American swift the Vaux’s swift has no apparent tail and is often described as looking “like a cigar with wings.”

A pair of Swainson’s hawks have arrived near their last year’s nest sight in a yard along Konnowac Pass, where they have been adding sticks to the old nest. They were observed flying way up in the air then swooping down in obvious mating ritual. The same area is host to a nesting pair of red-tailed hawks, who already have young in the nest.

Also in the yard were golden and ruby crowned kinglets, Brewer’s sparrows, singing American goldfinches, and a nesting pair of Eurasian collared-doves. An adult bald eagle and a Cooper’s hawk also were observed soaring around the yard.

Other reports this week included two Eurasian collared-doves that have been hanging out in a yard near the Yakima airport, where both white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows are increasing in numbers. There was a lot of red-naped sapsucker and winter wren activity right next to the road near the Wenas campground. Cinnamon teal and black-necked stilt were noted in the wetland along Old Goldendale Road.

Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 509-248-1963

— Kerry L. Turley

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AROUND AND ABOUT

GREAT TURNOUT AT CANYON: The Cowiche Canyon’s annual Earth Day hikes on Sunday had a great turnout of more than 100 people and perhaps even more than 150, possibly because of this year’s switch from two to four experts (one each for birding, wildflowers, butterflies and geology) leading the groups and sharing their insights.

David Hagen, one member of that quartet — he was the one pointing out the different varieties of wildflowers — said the throng was “wonderful to see and even a little difficult to manage.” As problems go, that’s definitely a good one for the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy. Officially, Earth Day is Thursday. Get out and take in the great outdoors.

HORSEMANSHIP CLASS:

A horsemanship class of five three-hour sessions will begin next Monday at the Raptor Rehab Center in East Selah. Tuition is $45 per student ($80 for two family members), and class dates are April 26 and 29 and May 3, 6 and 10. For more information, call instructor Don Witke at 509-654-9705 or 509-607-0915.

KIDS’ FISH-IN: Parents still have until April 30 — a week from Friday — to sign up their kids for the May 8 Kids’ Fish-In event at Sarg Hubbard Park. Signup is at the Yakima Greenway headquarters, and the $5 entry fee, each kid gets a rod-and-reel to keep, some fishing tips, and then the cleaning and bagging of the first two trout he or she catches.

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ON THE CALENDAR

TODAY: The Cascadians’ “Tuesdays” will hike to Blythe Lake. The group meets at 8 a.m. at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart parking lot and heads out from there, typically breaking into faster and not-so-fast groups.

WEDNESDAY: The Mount Adams Cycling Club’s weekly 24-mile Naches Loop ride gets rolling at 5:30 p.m. at the Fred Meyer/Key Bank parking area, with riders typically breaking into smaller groups based on their chosen pace.

THURSDAY: The Cascadians’ Pokies will go to the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge. For meeting time and place, call Virginia Foley at 509-388-5575.

SATURDAY: The Yakima Valley Audubon Society will lead a birding trip to the Zimmerman Ponds and Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge to check out the annual spring bonanza of water and marsh birds, with expectations of such finds as black-necked stilts, American avocets, cinnamon teal and yellow-headed blackbirds.

The group will meet at 8 a.m. at the Sears parking lot to the west of IHOP on Valley Mall Boulevard and head out from there. Contact trip leader Kerry at 509-837-6930 to reserve your spot.

SATURDAY: The Cascadians are hosting an easy hike of the Boulder Cave trail parallel to Devil’s Creek, passing the cave to a beautiful waterfall and then finishing on the barrier-free 962A nature trail adjacent to the Naches River. The hike, which will be less than five miles with less than 500 feet of elevation gain, should be a good one for newcomers wanting to know what the Cascadians are all about. Bring water and lunch (plus hiking poles and camera if desired). For meeting time and place, call Claudia at 509-388-9307.

SATURDAY: Another Cascadians hike, this one led by David Hagen, will be a 5- to 6-mile hike (with perhaps 400 feet of elevation gain) of the Beezley Hills Preserve and the hot pink blossoms of the Simpson’s hedgehog cactus that flourishes there.

If the cacti aren’t blossoming yet, the group will instead hike the south portion of Douglas Creek, a Moses Coulee side canyon at the base of Badger Mountain. For meeting time and place, call Hagen at 509-965-3697.