Greetings from west Kitsap County! I've had zero Violet-green swallows this year, which is disturbing. Last year I had 3 pair successfully nest in my boxes attached to my home on 2 & ½ acres. Every year for decades I've always had at least one pair use one of my next boxes. I put up four nest boxes on each side of my house that are far apart from each other. Is anyone else missing "their" swallows this year? I keep hoping that at least one pair will show up, but I'm beginning to give up hope. I love ALL of the swallows, but especially the Violet-greens!!
Thanks!
John McDonald,
Bremerton, WA
Lake Symington area
________________________________
From: Tweeters <
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tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2025 12:00 PM
To:
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Subject: Tweeters Digest, Vol 249, Issue 10
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Proposed weakening of Endangered Species Act
(Ted Ryan via Tweeters)
2. Pretty big migration day (Thomas M Leschine via Tweeters)
3. Re: Very low migration continued (AMK17 via Tweeters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 09 May 2025 13:02:51 -0700
From: Ted Ryan via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu>
To:
tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Proposed weakening of Endangered Species Act
Message-ID: <
06869e7d-345e-4838-9f3d-8bafbd2d096d at app.fastmail.com>
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I think politics is precisely the problem. The ESA process is itself political. Biologists (federal and state) and fish and game departments are often well down the list of influencers in the process despite them knowing the most about particular species. You don't need to look further than grizzly bear recovery in the Mountain West states. Montana and Wyoming were denied their petition to reclassify grizzlies in their state. The bears had met recovery objectives under the ESA listing. Very vocal and influential groups have made it impossible for the ESA process to work as it should out of fear they will be hunted. There a many other species that have met recovering objectives but remain listed.
The amount of money and resources that is spent fighting to keep recovered species on the list is a shame. There are species in real trouble that could use those resources. The charismatic mega fauna that have met objectives get all the attention and meanwhile the Vaquita (porpoise) is about to disappear from the face of the earth. The process is broken.
Ted Ryan
Port Orchard
On Fri, May 9, 2025, at 12:00 PM, via Tweeters wrote:
>
>
> *From:* Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf
>
> of Mary Metz via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>
> *Sent:* Friday, May 9, 2025 10:44 AM
>
> *To:* tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>
> *Subject:* [Tweeters] Proposed weakening of Endangered Species Act
>
>
>
> I'm not sure if this is too political for Tweeters, but I'm hoping that
>
> we're all in agreement that the ESA is a good thing and that it's important
>
> to protect birds' habitats. The following is from the Discovery Bay Wild
>
> Bird Rescue people--and the deadline for commenting on the proposed change
>
> is May 19:
>
>
>
> Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
>
> Fisheries Service proposed a change to the Endangered Species Act. The
>
> proposal involves replacing the word ?harm? with ?take,? which could
>
> significantly weaken protections for the habitats of endangered species.
>
> This change is currently open for public comment, and we encourage everyone
>
> to consider speaking out and taking action to protect wildlife and their
>
> ecosystems. Some background:
>
> For more information
>
> https://www.barclaydamon.com/.../proposed-endangered...
>
> <https://www.barclaydamon.com/alerts/proposed-endangered-species-act-change-seeks-to-redefine-harm?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExS2NJUzM2NXlsNGY4eG12UgEeBzpPUP4LTzZxykF4r4QFQebCv80RSSKhdAcF6ab2TTPtw0DYXQCPNoHJjqs_aem_QNX3a8cLVx52eIrxhdnClw>
>
> To make your voice heard
>
> https://www.regulations.gov/docu.../FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0034-0001
>
> <https://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0034-0001?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExS2NJUzM2NXlsNGY4eG12UgEe7MIpWWprRBcJRDaVLHIwlpuuqUjJihW7eNwNO0SOyni9E-iyKYx4ZKr55Vs_aem_Mn79p1xFSMgl2GWM649Olw>
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mary
>
>
>
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