Male and female Purple Martin by Dee Renee Ericks

OPAS Meeting and Program

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Dungeness River Nature Center at 7:00 p.m.

Due to a late notification that our planned speaker for September would be unable to present a program, we had to scramble to put together an alternate. So, with the responsive support of our OPAS team and the River Center staff we’re going to offer a composite, 3 part program on projects that OPAS leaders and the River Center team have been working on these past several years, and will be achieving salient results this fall.

Part 1

Jenna Ziogas

Jenna Ziogas, River Center Education Manager, will present an illustrated preview of the environmental education exhibits that are to be installed this fall in the Center’s remodeled exhibit space.

For nearly 3 years, a team of volunteers and an exhibit contractor have been designing a comprehensive combination of exhibits that will convey the natural history and human heritage of the Dungeness River watershed. Many of the bird and animal specimens from the existing exhibits and cabinets, will be integrated into a portrayal of the watershed from its alpine headwaters to its delta.

Exhibit space concept

Part 2

Dee Renee Ericks

For over 2 years Dee Renee Ericks, has been the OPAS project leader of our program to reduce, and hopefully eliminate bird strikes on the large glass windows on the Peninsula College Campus in Port Angeles. She has established an understanding of the need and built a strong collaborative working relationship with the College faculty, staff, and students. She applied for and received a National Audubon Collaborative Grant, which OPAS matched, to provide seed funding for the project. Her program will provide the current status of the work, action to be accomplished this fall, and an outline the future plans and resources that will be necessary for the success of this project.

Peninsula College Library windows Photo credit: Dee Renee Ericks

Part 3

Ken Wiersema holding Purple Martin tubular nest boxes. Photo by Dow Lambert

Since 1998 an OPAS team has been committed to establishing a sustainable and expanding Purple Martin colony on the North Olympic Peninsula. We started with 3 scrap wood boxes hung on the abandoned wood pilings in front of the 3 Crabs Restaurant. Today our 65 Martin boxes extend from Protection Island NWR to Port Angeles. Ken Wiersema will present a short program that details the results of our 2022 breeding season and new information on the migration patterns of the western subspecies of Purple Martins.

Male Purple Martin with a dragonfly to feed nestlings. On Protection Island NWR July 2022. Photo by Dee Renee Ericks

We’ll leave ample time for questions and provide opportunities for you to join one [or more?] of these volunteer projects.