Tweeters,
Those of you who are WOS members have probably been receiving the WOS News that contains information on the Spokane Conference-coming up in June of this year. There are a few important points that I would like to make people aware of.

The first being a goof on my part. When I sent the conference materials to the WOS News editor, the description for the Whitman County/Sprague Lake field trip and the line for selecting it on the Sunday option did not make it to her. It is a wonderful field trip led by two excellent leaders and I've pasted the information below to help people in deciding which field trips to take in:

Whitman County/Sprague Lake (WS)

Explore the open waters and riparian edges of several lakes on this trip. Starting with the lesser known Rock Lake and then heading northwest to a series of small lakes / ponds on our way to famous Sprague Lake. Sprague Lake straddles both Lincoln and Adams counties and is a great way to bolster your county lists with waterfowl, grebes, and gulls in both counties. Small side trips around Sprague will include the Sprague Cemetery and the Sprague STP. Target birds include waterfowl, Wilson's Phalarope and lingering shorebirds, Osprey, Franklin's Gull, Black Tern, Eurasian Collared Dove, Western and Eastern Kingbirds, Bank Swallow, Rock Wren, Marsh Wren, Gray Catbird, and Bullock's Oriole.



What to expect: Driving from site to site with very little walking involved. Spotting scopes are necessary to search the open waters. Come prepared for a full day with food and drink. A Discover Pass is required.



Friday (WS-1) Leader: Randy Hill

Sunday (WS-2) Leader: Mike Denny



Distance: 143 Miles



A second point is that as of the time of the newsletter deadline there were a couple of trips listed as leader TBA. Before registering, check wos.org to see any updates to these field trips or any other potential changes. Online registration will start on March 15, so I hope to have the details posted 5-7 days prior to this on wos.org.



This brings up the third point. As I noted in the conference materials and "From the Board", WOS has now moved towards an online registration process to help the flow of registration and money go quicker. We have also opened up online registration two weeks prior to the paper registration, starting on March 15 to encourage people to use online. As the online registration is real-time (number of slots on a fieldtrip will be deducted upon a person registering) and reflecting that choice for people registering afterwards; there is no need for online registration to mark 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice. Just select and pay for your field trip. People doing paper registration (have them post-marked by April 1st-or sooner if wanting to do paper) will still need to select choices on their paper form.



Sorry for the confusion on the Whitman County trip and sorry for any confusion that the transition to an online system will cause people. I hope both are minimal. If you have any registration questions, please feel free to contact myself (email below) and I'll be happy to direct your email to the appropriate person if for some reason I can't answer it myself.



Hope to see many of you in Spokane this June. For those of you not WOS members, I encourage you to sign up and attend the Spokane conference. The field trips are typically led by some of the best field trip leaders in the state and allow many birders to bird exciting areas in the company of fellow Washington birders.



Scott Downes

downess at charter.net

Yakima WA

WOS Board Member; Spokane Conference Chair