Tweets - the October meeting of the Washington Ornithological Society is this coming Monday in Seattle:

Monday, October 1st-Swans with Martha Jordan - Martha Jordan, well-known swan biologist, will present a program on Washington's native Trumpeter and Tundra swans. You will earn more about their life history, biology, ecology, as well as swan identification. She will also shed some light on the problems and controversies these birds face on their winter grounds, including the lead poisoning die-off.

With a degree in wildlife science from Oregon State University, Martha has been interested in swans since the 1970s and she has been a major contributor of information to state and federal agencies on the status of Trumpeter Swans in the state of Washington, including the first swan management plan. She has been a board member of The Trumpeter Swan Society since 1985 and chairs the Washington Swan Working Group. She is self-employed, and works as a human and animal massage therapist as well as a dog trainer and wildlife biologist.

Martha is impassioned about the role of swans. She will share with us, via a slide show, the facts, myths and legends of the swans of Washington's winter. She will also shed some light on the problems and controversies these birds face on their wintering grounds and how we can insure their future. She will talk about recent lead poisoning die-offs and other survival issues swans face in Washington state as well as other parts of the country.

Monthly Membership Meetings are held the first Monday of the month (except July, August, & September). They are held at the Center for Urban Horticulture on the University of Washington campus, 3501 NE 41st St., Seattle, and are open to all. The social begins at 7:00 p.m. and the program starts at 7:30 p.m.

Directions: From I-5 take SR520 East. Take the Montlake Blvd NE exit and turn North towards the University of Washington campus. Stay in right lane and drive North on Montlake Blvd (over the bridge and past the stadium). The road will curve to the right around the Montlake Fill and merges with NE 45th St. You will quickly approach a 5 way intersection. At the intersection turn right onto Mary Gates Memorial Drive. The Center for Urban Horticulture is 2 long blocks down on the right. There is plenty of free parking at the facility. We use the main meeting room, the backside of which faces the road. The following bus routes stop at NE 45th and Mary Gates Memorial Drive: #25, 65, & 75. A map can be found on http://depts.washington.edu/urbhort/html/info/contact.html.

== Michael Hobbs
== Washington Ornithological Society webmaster
== http://www.wos.org
== WOSWeb at wos.org