Hats off to Lydia for doing the entire Nisqually loop on a day when I found it
unpleasant to simply walk the 20 feet to refill may feeder. May I take
friendly exception to the ad, though. Perhaps the single most important thing
anybody can do to make sure that birds don't become the snake river salmon of
the next decade is to buy only 100% pure shade coffee, which is not sold by
Starbucks or any other large coffee company. (Starbucks is a decent, in some
ways a great, company, but it's done nothing but jerk the shade coffee
movenment around, at least so far). (Shade coffee is coffee grown in the
traditional way, under the canopy of oldgrowth trees. Studies have shown that
vast numbers and percentages of North American migratory songbirds winter in
shade coffee plantations. The new, technified coffee, called sun coffee,
harbors few if any songbirds and promotes erosion and uses more chemicals).
Because the industry hasn't developed separate warehouseing or certification
for shade coffee yet (this issue is new, brought to the attention of the world
only in the last five years ago by Russell Greenburg et al of Smithsonian
Institute) only small companies can be trusted to have lines of coffee that
are 100% pure shade coffee. These companies include Kalani, Frontier, Cafe
Appassionato, Bainbride Ometepe sister islands alliance, Thanksgiving Coffee
and Equal Exchange. PCCs, Greenwood Market, among others actually label which
coffees they sell are shade coffee.
Save Songbirds, Buy only Shade Coffee!!!
At the risk of getting long winded, I agree with Jacki Bricker that the loss
of the green lake cottonwoods is upsetting. These trees could have been
heavily pruned. Seattle Parks does a wonderful job in some places but
generally is berserk and out of control and disrespectful of wildlife habitat.
Notice the extensive Starling habitat (lawns) in all the Seattle Parks and
notice the land at the south end of Green Lake that wants to be a wetland so
badly that the ballfield planted there by the Parks Dept. is cordoned off most
winters because of mud and standing water.
One last thing--Kudos for the excellent review by Deb Beutler of the issues
involved in the upper four dams. It should be published somewhere (esle)!
Thanks, and good birding--Ed Newbold, Seattle, WA.


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