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$1,352

Raised of $750

Salish Sea Songbirds (FBC South Sound + FBC Seattle)

Team participating in Murmurations for Mutual Aid: A Female Bird Day Birdathon

Takes place May 26-29, 2023

Captained by Feminist Bird Club Seattle

Two FBC Chapters, One Mission

Let's get ready to Birdathoooooon! The Seattle and South Sound Feminist Bird Club chapters are teaming up for Murmurations for Mutual Aid: A Female Bird Day Birdathon.

We will host multiple birding events on Sunday, May 28, at Billy Frank Jr.* Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge near Olympia, WA to raise as much money as possible for Western Mass Asylum Support Network, which meets critical expenses for asylum seekers—including housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and immigration-related costs.

Our collective team goal is to spend as much time as possible observing birds and/or being in nature between May 26-29.

Can't make it to Nisqually? Join our team to fundraise and spend time in nature wherever you are between May 26-29!

FUNDRAISE, DONATE, OR SHARE
There are three ways you can help us meet our fundraising goal:
- donate any amount that works for you directly to the Salish Sea Songbirds team page or to an individual on the team;
- join the team as an individual, set your own fundraising goal, and help raise funds from your network;
- commit to sharing our team fundraising page with five people you think will be interested in the mission, or share on social media.

Whether you fundraise or not, you are welcome to join one of the events on May 28.

HOW TO JOIN

1. To join as a member of the fundraising team, please sign up right here on the Salish Sea Songbirds team page.

2. Separately, please RSVP using this GOOGLE FORM to let us know which of the events you plan to join on Sunday, May 28.

MAY 28 DETAILS:

  • Meet at the Visitor Center under the pavilion at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (100 Brown Farm Road NE, Olympia, WA, 98516)

  • There will be three traveling events along the 1-mile raised boardwalk loop. Join at whichever time works best for you:

  • 8:00am-10:00am

  • 10:00am-12:00pm

  • 1:00pm - 3:00pm

  • A guided stationary birding event from the overlook at the visitor center is TBC, pending additional volunteer support. (Of course, anyone can choose to bird from there at any time throughout the day.)

PARKING & CARPOOLING
It is Memorial Day weekend so there will be no parking fee. However, parking fills up very quickly on weekends and will get increasingly difficult later in the day. We strongly advise carpooling to the event. Find or offer a ride through our Group Carpool Sign Up.

There is also an overflow lot at the Hawks Prairie Park & Ride (2548 Hogum Bay Rd. NE) you can meet at if you want to drive your own car but plan a carpool to the Refuge. The lot is approximately 4 miles or a 7 minute drive from the refuge.

ACCESSIBILITY
For the traveling events, we will be on a level, raised wooden boardwalk loop that is almost entirely covered by tree canopy and traveling up to a mile at a leisurely pace. There are benches at a few locations for resting. ADA accessible bathrooms are available at the Visitor Center. If you prefer to bird from a stationary spot, there is a pavilion on a deck overlooking the pond behind the Visitor Center. There will also be a scope affixed with a screen attachment for a larger image available for part of the day.

If you have any accessibility questions not addressed please reach out to us by social media or email. feministbirdclubseattle@gmail.com or feministbirdclubsouthsound@gmail.com

*Who was Billy Frank, Jr. and why is the refuge named in his honor? Learn more about him and the fight for treaty fishing rights here and the decision to rename the wildlife refuge to include his name here.

Team Members 7

Andrea Starbird

1 yr. ago

38

bird species found

$11.47

Per bird species found

$435.86

Earned

Hey all!

I am SO EXCITED to report that with your help, not only did I exceed my fundraising goal, I also *almost* doubled my bird species goal!

Some things I learned:

- I am definitely a newb, some of my teammates were seeing (and hearing!) birds I had never even heard of. Lots to learn and become familiar with :)

- It is super tough to remember to take photos of things when you're enamored with every bird you spot through binoculars - but it's also tough getting home and realizing you have no photos :(

- There are so many kinds of swallows!

- A robin is a kind of thrush!

- I am really good at spotting woodpeckers (makes sense, they're usually attached to a tree and I do a lot of staring at trees...)

- I am not quite so good at spotting birds in flight (was that a leaf? a dragonfly?)

Thanks again for your donations and/or following along. Getting to fundraise for a cause I believe in while leaning into my birdnerd status was really special and I so appreicate your support. <3

Emily Knudsen

1 yr. ago

1. House finch

2. Robin

3. Crows

4. Song sparrow

5. Osprey

6. Tree swallow

7. Anna’s hummingbird

8. Rock dove (that’s code for pigeon)

9. Black capped chickadee

10. White crowned sparrow

11. Northern Flicker

12. Bewick’s Wren

13. Chestnut backed chickadee

14. Spotted Towhee

15. Red Breasted Nuthatch

16. Brown creeper

17. Dark eyed Junco

18. Cowbird

19. Pacific slope flycatcher

20. Barn swallows (and multiple nests)

21. Redwinged black bird

22. Common yellow throat

23. Marsh wren

24. Starling

25. Rufous hummingbird

26. Swainson’s Thrush

27. American Goldfinch

28. Willow flycatcher

29. Cedar Waxwing

30. Mallard

31. Canada goose

32. Coot

33. Hooded merganser (with chicks!)

34. Gadwall

35. Savannah sparrow

36. Raven

37. Bullock’s oriole

38. Purple finch

39. Bald eagle

40. Vulture

41. Yellow headed blackbird

42. Sandhill crane

43. Northern Shoveler

44. Cinnamon real

45. Ring billed duck

46. Blue winged teal

47. Double crested Cormorant

48. Killdeer

49. Red tail hawk

50. California Scrub jay

51. Pied bill grebe

52. Black phoebe

53. White breasted nuthatch

54. Wood duck

55. Great Blue heron

56. Western Tanager

57. Mourning dove

58. Pacific wren

59. Stellar’s jay

60. House sparrow

Wendy Walker

1 yr. ago

12

hours spent in nature

$1.33

Per hours spent in nature

$15.96

Earned

The weekend flew by! :) And though I didn't spend as many hours in nature as I'd planned there were some amazing moments.

Saturday during the day my yard was full of chickadee chatter - specifically, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, a bird I only became aware of after living on the west coast for a number of years. Now that I know more about them and their relatively small range, seeing one is always a special treat.

Saturday evening brought more fun nature moments - an evening walk at a local park led me to an active beaver attempting to dam a creek! I wasn't aware of beaver activity there before, and I'm very curious how the park's human managers will react. As for the beaver, it let me watch quietly for a little bit, but let me know with a vehement tail slap when it was time for me to move on. Swainson's Thrushes were singing all around as the light faded after sunset, so I obliged and headed home.

Sunday. WOW. A very full day with fun and interesting people who joined FBC Seattle and FBC South Sound at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR. We had cool weather and grey morning skies which made for good practice birding by silhouette and behavior and by sound. Two trips around the Twin Barns loop, and a late afternoon trip out to the estuary helped us find 51 species over the course of almost 8 hours. I enjoyed moving at a very leisurely pace, stopping as long as we wanted to listen or look more closely at an individual. Highlights included a stunning female Wood Duck (photo below), a brilliantly yellow Bullock's Oriole, hearing Virginia Rail, Sora, and Wilson's Snipe in the wetland, and some very funny fish-carrying behavior from a Caspian Tern.
Best of all was being with a friendly group of curious and kind people, sharing in each discovery.

Donations 26

Check Donations Accepted

Are you looking to donate by check? We prefer that donors giving $500 or more write a check to help us avoid credit card processing fees. Please email fbc.wma@gmail.com if you are interested in giving at this higher amount. Thank you for your support!