March brings another full slate of OPAS activities following our President’s Notes—Time to Walk (or Roll) the Walk. This issue highlights our March 7 Backyard Birding program, Birds in Migration, leading to the March 14 field trip Through the Seasons: Elwha River—End of Winter and the March 18 program The Story of Protection Island—Where Birds Find Their Sanctuary. You’ll also find our March HabiTIPS, a field trip program update, and our featured article, Go Seahawks, followed by Conservation Matters—Shelly Ament: A Legacy of Swan Stewardship in Clallam County. We’ve also included a link to the OPAS Members’ Photo Night video recording.

March President’s Notes

President’s Notes—Time to Walk (or Roll) the Walk
by Matt McCoy 

We moved to Port Angeles in June 2022. There were many interior projects to keep us occupied during the last three years, and they are now mostly complete. (But really, can home improvements ever truly be considered finished, or just in an advanced state of usability? Ask the spousal unit.) Audubon has filled some of the time I previously devoted to boosting our economy. Still, there’s available time that could be spent on something other than doomscrolling. Enter: landscaping.

Of late, I’ve been asked to encourage general meeting attendees to enroll their yards in our North Olympic Wildlife Habitat Project and provide certified wildlife habitat for our feathered (and other) friends. Sadly, I am a hypocrite—our yard is not yet enrolled. Hope springs eternal; this should be the year we make the leap to a more wildlife‑friendly yard. It’s not a complete disaster in its current form. Kathy has compiled a respectable backyard list of over 60 bird species.

Continue reading about Matt’s goal of creating wildlife habitat

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March Field Trip Program Update

by Marie Grad  

The first of our four field trips focusing on the birds of the Elwha River througout the year has been scheduled for March 14th. Ben Hannah and Kathy McCoy are the co-leaders for this trip.

Sign up and details for the Through the Seasons: Elwha River End of Winter field trip has been posted to the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society website.

New! The OPAS field trip liability form will now be included in the Eventbrite registration. It will require a check mark that you have read and agree to the liability form language before registration continues. This will free up your time and the field trip leader’s time to collect signatures.

If you are interested in joining any of our field trips, please check the OPAS website events calendar for dates, details, and registration information.

Learn more

Bird migration—Photo: Dave Shreffler

“Birds in Migration”—movement, and motivations
Presenter: Nikki Pyle, Environmental Educator, Dungeness River Nature Center 
Saturday, March 7, 2026—10:00 a.m. to noon
Dungeness River Nature Center
Suggested donation: $5

Nikki Pyle, Environmental Educator at the Dungeness River Nature Center, will present a program on the migration patterns and timing of birds local to Clallam County. She’ll explore the instinctive forces that guide birds back to their breeding or winter-feeding grounds each year and introduce tools and skills that citizen scientists can use to monitor migrations and document the importance of our regional habitats. The program also highlights the environmental, geographic, and human-related challenges birds face along the Pacific Flyway, with practical ideas for how each of us can support migrating species right from our own backyards.

Originally from Minneapolis, Nikki brings a lifelong passion for animal behavior and ornithology. She holds a BS in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior from the University of Minnesota and joined the Nature Center staff in 2025 through AmeriCorps. Now exploring the Pacific Northwest’s diverse flora and fauna, she’s grateful to be doing work she loves and plans to pursue a master’s degree in Conservation Biology.

Learn more

American Dipper—Photo: Dow Lambert

“Through the Seasons: Elwha River—End of Winter” field trip
Co-leaders: Ben Hannah & Kathy McCoy
Date and time: Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 11 a.m.—2 p.m.
Limit: 15 participants—Registration required
Free to attend

Join OPAS for the first in our new four-season series exploring the Elwha Valley. We’ll begin at the Madison Falls area, where we’ll check the river for American Dippers, Common Mergansers, Canada Geese, and other species using the riparian corridor. We’ll also spend time in the nearby bigleaf maple grove, a reliable spot for woodpeckers and songbirds. From there, we’ll enjoy a peaceful one-mile walk along the closed section of Olympic Hot Springs Road—a rare chance to bird a normally busy park road in near-silence, with the river beside us and a mix of riparian, deciduous, and conifer habitats along the way.

Although this area is lightly birded in winter, it regularly hosts a good variety of north Olympic Peninsula species, and recent years have even produced Northern Pygmy-Owls. We’ll watch for overwintering warblers and keep an eye out for early migrants like Turkey Vultures or Violet-green Swallows. Mammals are also possible, including black-tailed deer and the resident Roosevelt elk herd. Participants should bring binoculars and dress for cold, potentially wet conditions.

Click here to learn where to meet and registration information

Gulls in flight on Protection Island—Photo: Peter Davis/USFWS

“The Story of Protection Island—Where Birds Find Their Sanctuary”
Presenter: Amos Almy, Visitor Services Manager, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s Refuge Management Program
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Dungeness River Nature Center
Free to attend

Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge is a place in our region that has a mysterious appeal. The island is closed to visitors, yet its close proximity to the mainland means it doesn’t go unforgotten. The 400-acre island has a fascinating history that starts and ends with the S’Klallam people. Join Amos as he brings you on a virtual tour of the island where you can experience the sights and sounds of this incredible place. You will learn about the island’s cultural importance, agricultural destruction, and its significance to birds in the region.

Amos serves as Visitor Services Manager for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s Refuge Management Program, which oversees both Dungeness and Protection Island National Wildlife Refuges. Originally from rural Maine, he has built a career in environmental interpretation and education, with experience spanning the National Park Service, Washington State Parks, and Maine State Parks. His path through Alaska and Washington reflects a lifelong commitment to connecting people with the natural world.

Learn more

Go Seahawks!

Osprey—Photo: Mick Thompson

Go Seahawks!
By Ida Domazlicky and Jane Nicholas

Despite my usual lack of interest in football, I happily cheered on the Seahawks at the Super Bowl. This was partly out of local pride, but also because of the team’s name—the Seahawks. The original “seahawk” is now best known as the Osprey, an amazing bird found in the Pacific Northwest as well as on every continent except Antarctica.

The Osprey also has special meaning to me personally. Years—and now decades—ago, an Osprey was my “spark bird,” the bird that sparked my obsession with birds. After neighbors convinced me to join them on a fall migration count, I spent a couple of frustrating hours trying to find small birds in trees using borrowed binoculars. Then an Osprey—whose wingspan is nearly six feet—circled above a nearby wooded lake. Without binoculars, I watched the graceful bird hover over the water and plunge in feet-first to pluck out a fish big enough to feed my family.

Click here to continue reading about Ospreys

Conservation Matters

Trumpeter Swans on Kirner Pond—Photo: Bob Phreaner

Shelly Ament: A Legacy of Swan Stewardship in Clallam County
by Bob Phreaner

Shelly Ament will retire in March from her position as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist for Clallam County. For more than 25 years, she has been the person the OPAS Conservation Committee turns to whenever questions arise about wildlife management—especially incidents involving our wintering swan population.

Our OPAS swan project began out of concern for lead poisoning. In 2014, Shelly asked me to help capture swans that had ingested lead shot in the Meadowbrook Creek tidelands and nearby ponds. Those early experiences led to a deeper understanding of the threats facing our local Trumpeter Swans.

It was Shelly who first told me about swans colliding with the power lines at Kirner Pond, and that Martha Jordan and the Northwest Swan Conservation Association were looking for ways to prevent these collisions.

Click here to continue to read about Shelly

OPAS Members’ Photo Night Video

Trumpeter Swan—Photo: John Gussman

Christina Heliker organized and presented one of our most popular OPAS traditions—Members’ Photo Night on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Our talented photographers shared a wonderful collection of images with Christina, and she curated them into a program that celebrated the birds, landscapes, and moments that inspired us throughout the year. This uplifting evening brought smiles, stories, and a renewed appreciation for the natural world we share. Watch the video now.

Click here to watch the video

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