Upcoming Events, Programs, and Field Trips

Events, Programs, & Field Trips

Clark’s Nutcrackers and Whitebark Pine: Pivotal Players in our Western Mountains

Taza Schaming

Thursday, May 25th, Program begins at 7pm, Doors open at 6:30, in person at the Yakima Area Arboretum

YVAS Monthly Meeting and Program - Taza Schaming - Clark’s Nutcrackers and Whitebark Pine: Pivotal Players in our Western Mountains

Whitebark pine and Clark’s Nutcrackers have a fascinating relationship: the trees provide rich, fatty seeds, and the birds “plant” the trees’ seeds —a single bird may hide up to 98,000 seeds in a year. The food caches help the birds get through the winter, and the leftovers grow into new trees. In fact, whitebark pine trees sprout almost exclusively from nutcracker seed caches. This dependency has led to considerable concern for both species because whitebark pine ecosystems are rapidly disappearing in the western United States. While whitebark pine restoration efforts are underway, these efforts will not be effective if Clark’s Nutcracker populations decline or their habitat selection changes to a degree that they are not available to disperse seeds. Taza Schaming has been trapping, surveying, radio-tracking, and satellite-tracking nutcrackers since 2009, to study movement, habitat selection, and social behavior. Now, in collaboration with Alison Scoville, Central Washington University, she has also been using acoustic monitors to continuously survey nutcracker occurrence in whitebark pine stands throughout the Cascades, as the first step in a proposed long-term citizen science project. Her ultimate goal is to determine which management actions will increase the persistence of nutcrackers throughout their range. The Yakima Valley Audubon Society contributed funds to this ongoing study.

Posted by Yakima Valley Audubon Society on Thursday, May 25, 2023

Image - Nutcracker
Nutcracker

Whitebark pine and Clark’s Nutcrackers have a fascinating relationship: the trees provide rich, fatty seeds, and the birds “plant” the trees’ seeds —a single bird may hide up to 98,000 seeds in a year. The food caches help the birds get through the winter, and the leftovers grow into new trees. In fact, whitebark pine trees sprout almost exclusively from nutcracker seed caches. This dependency has led to considerable concern for both species because whitebark pine ecosystems are rapidly disappearing in the western United States. While whitebark pine restoration efforts are underway, these efforts will not be effective if Clark’s Nutcracker populations decline or their habitat selection changes to a degree that they are not available to disperse seeds. Taza Schaming has been trapping, surveying, radio-tracking, and satellite-tracking nutcrackers since 2009, to study movement, habitat selection, and social behavior. Now, in collaboration with Alison Scoville, Central Washington University, she has also been using acoustic monitors to continuously survey nutcracker occurrence in whitebark pine stands throughout the Cascades, as the first step in a proposed long-term citizen science project. Her ultimate goal is to determine which management actions will increase the persistence of nutcrackers throughout their range. The Yakima Valley Audubon Society contributed funds to this ongoing study.

Since 2009, Taza Schaming has been investigating the impact of the decline of whitebark pine on Clark’s nutcrackers, studying the stability and resilience of the Clark’s nutcracker-whitebark pine mutualism, to help ensure persistence of these species and the nutcracker’s seed dispersal function. She began her research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, then branched out into the North Cascades Ecosystem in 2018. Taza finished her PhD at Cornell in 2016, and is continuing her research as a long-term study as a Wildlife Ecologist through Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative. She spends her free time exploring the woods and world with her eight-year-old daughter, Suneva - birdwatching, hiking, camping, canoeing and skiing.

Image - Radio Tracking
Radio Tracking

Webinar Viewing tips for YVAS Webinars

Would you like to enjoy Yakima Valley Audubon presentations with the whole family? You can now watch our programs whenever it is convenient for you! Our monthly programs are now available as webinars for viewing both in real time (so you can ask questions) and as recordings from a link on our website.

To view the live presentation on your laptop, tablet, or smart phone, click on the link in that month’s Calliope Crier or go to https://yakimaaudubon.org about five minutes before the program is scheduled to start and click on the Zoom webinar link. If you have never attended a Zoom meeting, you will be asked to download the app this first time. (You do not have to have your own Zoom account to join the webinar.) Be sure to answer ‘yes’ to the questions about joining with video and audio. You can always mute yourself for privacy, but you will need to answer yes to view and hear the presentation.

To better enjoy the beautiful photos in the presentation, you have the option of viewing it on a larger screen, such as your smart TV. To do this, you will need to connect your device to the TV with an HDMI cable. If your device does not have an HDMI port, there are inexpensive multiport adaptors available to enable this. (Try Office Depot or buy one online.)

It is even easier to view a recorded seminar once it has been posted on our website! You can watch the recording through your Internet browser, or, if your smartTV allows you to connect to an internet browser, you can simply go directly to our website and click on the seminar link. Video and sound will automatically be displayed and controlled on your Smart TV. Alternatively, you can pull up the webinar on your computer as above and connect your computer with an HDMI cable to your Smart TV.

Even in these challenging times, Yakima Audubon is committed to bringing you information about our natural world. Please let us know at info@yakimaaudubon.org what you think and what we can do to improve this experience for you.

Previous Programs

Additional programs and videos can be found on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/watch/yakimaaudubon/

Hummingbirds and Attracting Them to Your Garden

Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 10 am to noon

Image - Hummingbird Female at Salvia Plant
Hummingbird Female at Salvia Plant

Hummingbirds are truly incredible birds! They amaze us with their boldly colored iridescent plumage, their wild aerial acrobatics, their overly aggressive personalities, and their miraculous migrations. Please join wildlife biologist and expert birder Jeff Kozma for a class focusing on how to identify and attract the four species of hummingbirds regularly found in Washington to your garden. Jeff has been growing nectar producing plants and providing feeders in his yard to attract hummingbirds for the last 17 years and he looks forward to sharing his techniques with you. During the class, Jeff will cover 1) a brief overview of hummingbird biology (e.g., habitat, migration, territoriality, etc.), 2) where and when to expect each hummingbird species, 3) how to landscape your yard with the types of plants that are most attractive to hummingbirds, while focusing on native plants that grow best in our warm dry climate, 4) the proper use of feeders (e.g., making sugar water, maintenance/cleaning/location of feeders, etc.), and 5) how to feed hummingbirds through the challenging winter months.

The two hour class will be at the Yakima Area Arboretum on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 10 am. The cost will be $20 (Arboretum and Audubon members) or $25 for non- members. To register or for more information, contact the Arboretum: (509-248-7337 or https://www.ahtrees.org). Registration will be limited due to space in the meeting room.

Field Trips and Events Calendar

2023 YVAS Field Trips PDF

May:

June:

August:

September:

October:

December: