"Mighty and Tiny: The Territorial World of Hummingbirds"
2026-04-20 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Federal Way United Methodist Church, 29645 51st Ave SWA 98001, Auburn, Washington, 98001, United States
by Alyssa J. Sargent

What does a day in the life of a hummingbird entail? Where do they travel, and which rival is worth attacking? Does it pay off to stay near home, saving energy for inevitable battle, or to fly further afield—facing new perils—to find food? Cutting-edge technologies can help us to answer these questions. In my PhD, I study hummingbirds in Colombia using “on-board” devices, which we equip to the birds themselves; these tiny electronics allow us to map where individual hummingbirds disappear to, how active they really are, and how thick the competition can get at a given feeder. Come join me and take a peek, up close, at the swashbuckling lives of the world’s smallest birds!

Alyssa J. Sargent is a PhD candidate and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Washington, where she’s a part of the Behavioral Ecophysics Lab. In her current work, she studies the swashbuckling, drama-packed lives of hummingbirds in Colombia. Alyssa loves to come up with creative ways to share her research with people—including a bilingual board game, “Hummingbird Sugar Rush” (“Fiebre de Azúcar en Colibríes”)—to teach people about the decisions hummingbirds must make every day. Throughout her career, she’s studied birds in Australia, Portugal, Ecuador, Canada, Puerto Rico, and numerous states.

King County Regional Meeting
2026-04-30 10:00 - 14:00 | Seward Park Audubon Center, 5900 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle, Washington, 98118, United States
This is a great opportunity to find out what our neighborhood chapters are doing, and to share our own projects.

If you would like to join us, please contact me at so we can register you for lunch.dan_streiffert@hotmail.com

This message is going out to chapter leaders at Birds Connect, Eastside, Rainier, and Vashon.

We have a lot to catch up on at this spring’s in-person Regional Meeting. By then:

The 2026 legislative session will be complete

We may have a new policy lead on staff

Progress will be underway on Lights Out Washington

Planning will be ramping up for Bird Week/ACOW 2026 this October in Bellingham

Spring birding festivals will be in full swing

It will also be a great opportunity for our new(ish) VP, Amanda Kaplan, to meet your chapters in person.

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Grays Harbor Shorebird and Nature Festival
2026-05-01 08:00 - 2026-05-03 17:00
Plan to attend the next festival: May 1 – 3, 2026.May 1: Shorebird viewing at Grays Harbor National Wildlife RefugeMay 2-3: Festival activities at Hoquiam Middle School, 200 Spencer St., Hoquiam, WA 98550

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop to rest and feed along the Washington Coast and in the Grays Harbor estuary during their migration northward. Coming from as far south as Argentina, these Arctic-bound shorebirds are among the world’s greatest migrants. Some birds travel over 15,000 miles round trip! The concentration of birds during spring migration offers people a great chance to view a number of shorebird species. With luck you will also see the birds fly together in beautiful formation “murmurations” while trying to escape a Peregrine Falcon.

Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival

Birdathon Field Trip to Eastern WA
2026-05-11 00:00 - 2026-05-12 23:59 | South Renton Park & Ride,, 205 S 7th ST, Renton, Washington, 98057, United States
Monday, May 11th, 2026, and optional May 12th, 2026.

Join Barbara Petersen for a fundraising field trip to Eastern Washington!Collect sponsors and raise Birdathon money to help our Rainier Audubon chapter cover the cost of bringing live bird presentations such as John the Falconer or Craig Moran to our annual Nature Festival and monthly Program Nights.

Two options this year for Barbara’s Birdathon field trip. Either ride with Barbara on Mon May 11 and be prepared to stay overnight in George, Moses Lake or Othello. We’ll drive home Tuesday, May 12, with a possible stop for lunch. (We’ll make hotel reservations in advance.) OR, ride with others and turn around at dusk, or whenever you like, on Monday to head back to our side of the Pass to the Renton Park & Ride.

Gather your own Birdathon sponsors before going on this field trip, OR sponsor Barbara by pledging 25 cents per species found on the trip or any donation amount. All funds will be used to help with costs of bringing live bird presentations to our chapter events. The very popular John the Falconer has been invited to the 2026 Rainier Audubon Nature Festival at Flaming Geyser State Park again this June.

We’ll bird locations on Snoqualmie Pass, in Cle Elum, Ellensburg, Vantage, Frenchman’s Coulee, and near Wanapum Dam. With a goal of 75 species, we’ll look for Mountain and Western Bluebird, Mountain Chickadee, Say’s Phoebe, White-throated Swift, Pygmy and White-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-headed Blackbird, raptors, songbirds, waterfowl, and lovely scenery.

Meet at 7:00AM on Monday, May 11th at South Renton Park & Ride, 205 S 7th St, just north of Grady Way and Renton Village Shopping Center, to form carpools if participating on Monday May 11th only. Special plans will be needed to ride with Barbara and avoid leaving cars at the Park & Ride overnight. Bring binoculars, scopes, cameras, layered clothing for varying weather conditions, lunch, snacks, beverages, sunscreen.

Email Barbara (bpbatfan@aol.com)for info about the overnight option.

Seabirds Live! event in Tacoma: Multimedia storytelling with Eric Wagner and Peter Hodum
2026-05-13 19:00 - 20:00
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Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest
2026-05-14 00:00 - 2026-05-17 23:59
Come bird with us in Leavenworth and beyond!

The annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest promotes conservation through educational and recreational activities about birds, wildlife, and their environments.

The 2026 Bird Fest Schedule will be posted before registration opens. Make sure to subscribe to WRI’s E-Newsletter for the most up to date information, and keep checking back on this page.

Mark your calendars! Registration will open on Wednesday, March 25th.

https://wenatcheeriverinstitute.org/bird-fest/overview.html

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge & Annual Membership Meeting
2026-05-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Federal Way United Methodist Church, 29645 51st Ave SWA 98001, Auburn, Washington, 98001, United States
by Dan Streiffert

For the past several years the low accumulation of snowpack and rainfall has resulted in a continual reduction in the size of Malheur Lake, to the point where the lake has nearly disappeared. But this changed in 2025 with a 150% snowpack. As a result, there is now enough deep water at the Narrows for Harney and Malheur Lakes to merge. This is both good and bad news.

The good news is an abundance of waterfowl throughout the spring with an extension of the nesting season to the point where many of the birds have had 2 – 3 broods of chicks.

The bad news is that with water everywhere, the birds are spread out all over the area, much of which has flooded making it hard to reach. The flooding was so bad that the north end of Burns flooded the week before the Migratory Bird Festival that was ultimately cancelled.

This presentation includes visits from both 2025 and the first two weeks of April 2026 for the spring Migratory Bird Festival.

Migratory Bird Festival | April 16-19, 2026

Green Valley in Late Spring
2026-05-23 08:00 - 13:00
Leader: Steve JohnsonIn June, the migrant birds should be singing on their territory near Auburn and in the beautiful Green Valley east of Auburn. We’ll visit Academy Drive, Green Valley Road and Flaming Geyser State Park. We may see and hear warblers, thrushes, vireos, Red-breasted Sapsuckers, Virginia Rail, flycatchers, and more. We may walk up to 2 miles on trails and roads.People who bring their own cars and want to leave early may do so.Bring: Lunch, snacks, drinks, hiking shoes, Discover Pass, if you have it. Scopes welcome.Meet: Auburn Safeway at Auburn Ave & Main at 8:00 AM. Directions: Take Hwy 18 to Auburn, and exit at Auburn Ave (Hwy 164). Turn north at the exit at Auburn Ave (Hwy 164). Turn north (right) on Auburn Way and drive 3 blocks north. Safeway sign and gas station is on the left. Park in the lot straight out from the north entry door of Safeway at 8:00 am.

Yakima River Canyon
2026-06-03 00:00 - 23:59
We’ll join Roger Orness for an all day trip to the Yakima River Canyon.

We will focus on birds of prey, but we’ll also be looking for:

Golden Eagles

Lazuli Buntings

Bullock’s Orioles

Yellow-breasted Chats

Yellow Warblers

Eastern Kingbirds

Western Kingbirds

and more!

Meet at 6:00AM at Federal Way Hobby Lobby, next to Costco, to form carpools.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/kKmaqGmKnm2GWCrj9

Flaming Geyser Nature Festival
2026-06-06 09:00 - 16:00 | Flaming Geyser State Park, 23700 SE Flaming Geyser Rd, Auburn, Washington, 98092, United States
All are welcome to our 2026 Rainier Audubon Nature Festival at Flaming Geyser State Park on Saturday, June 6, 2026, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. This is a “Free-Entry” day at all state parks. This beautiful park is only 20 minutes east of Auburn, on Green Valley Road.Our feature presentation is a live bird show starring, hawks, falcons, owls, and an eagle. Throughout the day, we lead bird walks, so bring your binoculars for a day of “Birding and Learning”. Outside activities include native plant walks, geology walks, and solar telescope observing.Inside the park lodge, children will enjoy our “Nature Crafts Corner”. All guests can enjoy high-quality displays, and information stations, on bird feeding, nestbox construction, plants for birds, and more. Test your bird ID skills at the “Migration/ID” station. Media presentations on “Nature” topics will be scheduled all day.

Participating community partners for 2026 include:

WA Native Plant Society

Bats Northwest

WA Dept of Fish and Game

The Falconer

Seattle Astronomical Society

Puget Sound Mycological Society

WA Geological Survey

Tacoma Astronomical SocietyFree The Green Conservation

WA State Parks

Clark Lake Park - Birdwalk with Bob Swain
2026-07-25 07:00 - 11:00 | Clark Lake Park, 12520 SE 240th St, Kent, Washington, 98031
Bob Swain will lead a bird walk for a summer exploration of Clark Lake Park on July 25th.The park offers a variety of habitat types and bird species. Follow trails to the lake andthrough forest, wetland, meadow and even an old orchard. We’ll walk one or two milesat a leisurely pace searching for waterfowl, raptors and passerines. Dress in layers andbring binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras, water and snacks.Meet: Join us at Clark Lake Park at 12520 SE 240th St. in Kent at 7:00 AM
