Day 3; Saturday, 14 February 1998 --
-- 10th Annual WOS Conference, Mt. Vernon, Skagit Co., Washington --

The threat of a rainy and windy morning failed to materialize and spoil the
mornings field trips. Instead, a high bright overcast, mild temperatures, and
calm winds resulted in a very enjoyable and pleasant outing for everyone.
Only two half-day trips were scheduled for the morning with paper
presentations during the afternoon and banquet dinner in the evening.

Field trip highlights:

Deception Pass boat trip (? species) -- much the same as yesterday with most
of the usual expected waterbirds and a spectacular ride through the Pass and
environs. I continue to look forward to this trip on Day 4 (Sunday).

Johnson/DeBay Swan Reserve -- This area located only about 3 miles NE of
Mount. Vernon on and around an oxbow slough and nearby Skagit River is a new
wildlife management area created specially for wintering Trumpeter Swans and
is not yet open to the public. So we all in a fully packed big bus and under
the leadership and guidance of Martha Jordan had the fortitude to visit and
preview this lovely area in advance. Personally, I'm quite impressed by what
this 290 acre area will have to offer, for the swans, birders, hunters, and
others with a wide range of interests.

Don't cringe at the thought of hunters. Development of this area is a labor
of love by Martha Jordan and a number of organizations including Washington
Duck Hunters, Inc., Trumpeter Swan Society, State resource management
agencies, private land owners, and several other conservation oriented groups.
This area is being carefully developed and parceled out into sections which
allow all to enjoy the reserve without conflicting with each other's interests
nor compromising the safety and security of the swans.

This place holds great promise which I see coming to very happy fruition.
There is a new twist here in developing this area to cover the interests of
everyone, especially we in the 'silent' segment, bird watchers and
photographers. This area is not just being slammed together by the Washington
Department of Wildlife in their wisdom of 'thinking' they know all that is
best. Martha Jordan and others involved are very seriously recruiting
suggestions and input from *us*. Everything we can think of from roads (open
or closed -- what's best for the swans and birders?), parking areas, trails,
photography and viewing blinds including handicap access, nest boxes (Wood
Ducks, Barn Owls, and others), and managing the area for other birds that can
be viewed throughout the year.

A feedback form was distributed to everyone, and it was repeatedly stressed
how important it is that we contribute our suggestions. In light of some of
the discussions over Conservation Licenses in past weeks and feelings by some
that 'our' dollars don't really address the interests of many of us, the non-
hunter segment, nor necessarily the welfare of non-waterfowl species, the
development of the Johnson/DeBay Swan Reserve is *your* chance for some
serious thought, ideas, and feedback that *will not be ignored*.

If you haven't been to this area yet, you should go take a look. The interior
is closed the public at the moment but you can still get a terrific overview
just by being on the fringe and along the DeBay Slough (DeLorme p.95, T34N,
R4E, Sect.2 -- Francis Road which runs along the east side of the slough where
you can see several hundred roosting Trumpeter Swans at dawn, or even more
impressively in the late evening at 'last' light when the swans return to
roost in the slough). Lots of Bald Eagles to be seen around here as well.
Then, do send your comments and suggestions to:
Martha Jordan (206) 787-0258
The Trumpeter Swan Society
14112 1st Ave. W.
Everett, WA 98208

Participants on the owl-prowl (Friday, night 2) were treated to a calm full
moon-lit night and several Saw-whet Owls calling in the woods and flying about
and silhouetted in the moonlight. Also Great Horned Owls were heard, while
reports of Barn, Barred, Short-eared were reported from around the area by
various independent observers. There was an unconfirmed report of a very
difficult to see and far away Snowy Owl on a distant dike between Edison and
the West 90 which perhaps can be updated today.

Banquet:

The evening banquet was attended by ~150 participants. Dennis Paulson and
Bill Tweit awarded Terry Wahl with the second ever 'Stella Schultz Award' for
his many years and contributions towards advancing our knowledge of Washington
seabirds and birdlife as an 'amateur ornithologist'. Terry was also the
keynote speaker reviewing seabirds and trends accumulated from over 200
Westport pelagic trips during the past 25+ years. In general, the diversity
is still present, but high numbers of some species seen during the early years
have shown a steady and 'alarming' decline in the 1990's. Most notably among
those in decline include Sooty Shearwater, Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet,
Cassin's Auklet, and Tufted Puffin, while Rhinoceros Auklet, Brown Pelican,
and California Gull has shown an upward trend.

Considering the nature of pelagic trips, and off Washington, it's a little
hard to draw any definite conclusions or to be convinced just how serious the
environment may be currently compromised. With the exception of Marbled
Murrelet which we do know that diminished breeding is likely the result of
denuding (or more bluntly put, ridding) Washington of it's 'old growth'
forests, I do note that when a species 'appears' to be declining, we tend draw
the worst case conclusions when in fact more favorable environmental
conditions and food sources may have just shifted somewhere else and 'out of
range' of occasional one-day pelagic trips which only sample one tiny tiny
micro-portion of the big picture. The departure of the large foreign fishing
operations has likewise lessened the draw of the large numbers of pelagic
birds, exactly the same as happened during my ten years of organizing and
leading pelagic trips like Terry's to Baltimore Canyon in the Atlantic off
Ocean City, MD all through the 1970's.

Looking at the Westport pelagic trip results and trends from another angle,
perhaps those highly rich trips of the 1970's were the 'anomaly' rather than
the declines of the 1990's?? Just because Sooty Shearwaters aren't being seen
by the hundreds of thousands to millions like a few years ago along some parts
of Washington (and California), there is no evidence that massive die-offs
have ever occurred. If they have, they haven't either been discovered or
reported. Breeding colonies in New Zealand and southern South America pretty
much maintain levels as usual and I continue to see huge localized
concentrations of Sooty Shearwaters off parts of southern Alaska and even
locally at times around Swiftsure Bank. It is very difficult to interpret a
much broader picture when access, both by the commendable and dedicated
efforts of Terry Wahl and his devoted cadre of intrepid Westport pelagic day-
tripping participants over the years, or even in just being out there cruising
around trying to systematically assess abundance and distribution from the
decks of the occasional multi-month research expedition which remains
irregular with only small areas sampled. Add in all the constantly changing
variables of environment and oceanography and our view of history and the
world still falls way short in the geologic scheme and time scale of things.

With constant media hype over "El Nino" and the steady stream of disaster pixs
of Oregon and California washing into the sea this winter (and past ones), I
think we tend to take this all way too personal and too easily interpret all
this as positive proof that the world is about to end soon and perhaps even
find 'comfort' by placing the blame upon ourselves. We are at least partly at
fault for some small changes (some quite significant) both to the environment
and diminishing fish and other resources but I seriously doubt that even a
strong 1997-98 ENSO event makes much difference in the big overall and long-
term (millennial) picture. Weather is that one element which we all seem to
get so excited about and share in common and too easily interpret in only it's
most obvious short term and immediately disastrous and visual form because it
effects our lives at various personal and sometimes destructive levels.
Perhaps we tend to be blinded by all the hype and our inability to accept the
reality that constant change and sculpting is what a spinning world over the
millennia does naturally and which doesn't much care how it effects the human
species nor the rest of the planets life forms. Just adapt or die. If nature
is responsible, there may be little or nothing that we can (or maybe even
should) do about it, but if we are responsible for modifying and compromising
the environment in some way beyond that intended in nature, we should at least
accept the responsibility and the consequences and strive to be a little more
thoughtful and better stewards towards managing the fragilities of our
environment better without giving nature an accelerating hand.

These comments are in no way intended as a slight towards Terry Wahl whom I
very much admire for all the wonderful work, achievements, and advancements he
has contributed towards understanding and interpreting the complexities of
Washington ornithology. The above remarks are just presented here as another
and alternative perspective from someone who equally shares Terry's love and
enthusiasm for seabirds but viewed from perhaps a broader, albeit scattered,
and irregular global perspective as one observer who spends a life as an
'itinerant' marine wildlife biologist roaming the high seas usually beyond
localized specific areas off Washington.

Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
(LIVE! -- from the 10th Annual WOS Conference, Mt. Vernon, WA)