Many of us consider ourselves passionate about birds. But when does a passion become an obsession—something that completely fills one’s thoughts in a way that isn’t exactly normal? For neophyte birding brothers Owen and Quinten Reiser, that moment arrived…

THUNK. That dreaded sound that means another bird has tried to fly through our house. The volume gives us a clue about species and survival probability, and our ears can usually identify which window was involved.

The Wizard of Oz has many iconic scenes and important lessons. (On a personal note, the traumatic flying‑monkeys scene delayed my foray into birding for years.) Among them is Toto’s reveal of the wizard—the man behind the magic.

In the West, irrigation water followed the plow, ensuring several decades of agricultural productivity that often ended with a final crop of subdivisions and strip malls. Although irrigation canals…

A Pacific Northwesterner might be forgiven for thinking southwest Idaho is a desert. Burnt brown stretching as far as the eye can see and nary a tree to be found.

Kathy and I are well aware of the 7Ps adage. Actual adherence to the adage is another story altogether. We have rare flashes of compliance, but by and large we are planning‑challenged.

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.)

You may have thought you’d seen the last of the year‑end best‑of, review, and highlights articles for 2025, but we have one more—your Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society’s accomplishments. The following are some, though not all, of our chapter’s highlights from 2025…

If you still send and receive Christmas cards as we do, you may have noticed that some folks take the extra challenge of making their yearly highlight letters rhyme. The following was written particularly for two of our friends bold enough to attempt this.

It’s the season for Audubon Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs)! The National Audubon Society is celebrating its 126th year of counting birds during the holidays—one of the longest-running community science projects.

There is a maxim that a dog owner resembles their dog. Winston Churchill and his English bulldog are the classic example supporting that maxim from a looks standpoint. As a long-time golden retriever owner, I can say with confidence that the maxim doesn’t always…

Fall is here and winter residents are arriving. Golden-crowned Sparrows are quite proud of their journey and let us know each morning. Per BirdCast…

The Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society (OPAS) offers an incredible variety of activities—from field trips and educational programs to community science and bird-friendly initiatives. While we may take these activities for granted, it's our …

Al Larson was three when his parents moved to Idaho in the 1920s. Although his youth was spent in the sprawling communities of Cascade and Boise, he found himself working on ranches near Jordan Valley by his mid-teens. There he developed an appreciation for nature and spotted his first Mountain Bluebird. Although he went on to serve…

The challenges facing our feathered friends and the natural world are myriad. If you are prone to doomscrolling as I am, it seems that headlines constantly remind us of new or worsening problems—or reversals—on issues we thought were being addressed. Environmental challenges…

My parents had a deep respect and appreciation of nature.  Summer-long camping trips in our home-made camper were one of the ways they tried to instill those values in their children.  As blissfully unaware kids in the 1960s, we just thought it was great fun to explore…