Tags: Wildlife

Meet at Cook's Corner in costume - parade on Front Street in historic downtown Coupeville. Free flashlights to first 100 kids 12 and under; parents come join the fun.

Sign up for Ways of Whales 2009

ORCA WORKSHOP DISCUSSES THREATS TO ORCAS, WHALE CULTURE, AND MORE Ways of Whales workshop Saturday, January 24, 2009, 9am - 4:30 pm Coupeville Recreation Hall, 901 NW Alexander St, Coupeville, Whidbey Island, WA
Cost: $20/person

Join Orca Network for a day of learning about the wonders of Pacific Northwest whales - who they are, what they eat, threats to their habitat and health, and more. This annual workshop has become a favorite regional gathering of whale experts and those who want to learn more about the whales.

Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network tracks the travels of Gray whales, orcas and other cetaceans in Washington and British Columbia waters. If you see a whale, please report it to Orca Network at 1-866-ORCANET or info@orcanetwork.org. If you would like to be on Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network to receive emails about the whereabouts of the whales of our regions, contact Susan Berta or sign up on our website below.

Susan Berta & Howard Garrett
Orca Network
Email
orcanetwork website
1-866-ORCANET

Orca Network - Connecting whales and people in the Pacific Northwest
Orca Network is dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats.

Projects include the Whale Sighting Network and Education Programs, the Free Lolita Campaign, and the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

Celebrate your Irish side with Oak Harbor Wildlife Society's St. Patricks Day parade! The emerald celebration will wind its way along Pioneer and end in Windjammer Park, where local officials will seal their luck with a Blarney Stone kiss!

Gray Whale Watching In Saratoga Passage
To reserve space, call or e-mail today
$70 per person includes a four-hour cruise, lunch, beverages and on-board
naturalists
Sponsored by WSU Island County Beach Watchers

A fun filled week exploring the Old Growth forests of Deception Pass. Explore the plants and animals that depend on this special place. Slimy slugs, hammering woodpeckers, millipeds and skunk cabbage. Find a nesting bird or busy squirrel. Each day will be a new discovery. $150

Takes place in all waters around Whidbey Island.

Separate prizes for biggest pink salmon, by weight, for adults and youngster categories. Proceeds go to the Fishin' Club's college scholarship fund.

Pre-register $5 for adults, $2.50 youngsters, August 1 through 28 at Freeland Ace Hardware.

Includes Crockett Lake, Fort Casey and the Navy Outlying Field, Coupeville. Crockett Lake is nationally known as a magnet for wintering shorebirds and waterfowl, Fort Casey is good habitat for forest birds, and the areas around the Navy Outlying Field attracts numerous raptors.

Call for details

Watch the bald eagles feeding on returning salmon on the Skagit River at Rockport. Meet at 8am at Freeland Park and Ride or 9am at City Beach Park to carpool. Bring a lunch. Snow and ice cancel.

An extended clan of oversized dolphins we call orcas resides just off our shores. Howard Garret of Orca Network will look into their lives, diets and languages and we'll celebrate the birth of five new baby orcas in 2009. Why were they declared endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and how can we help them by revitalizing their habitat? We'll also hear about the other whales of Whidbey Island- the grey whales that visit Saratoga Passage every year from at least March to June.

Unitarian Universalist Church, 20103 SR 525, Freeland -- 100 yards north of Island Recycling. Doors open at 7 pm, meeting at 7:20, program at 7:30. Please bring a mug for coffee. Doors open at 7pm, meeting at 7:20pm, program at 7:30pm. Please bring a mug for coffee.

Sound Waters, held each year on the 1st Sat. in February, provides a one day university for all to help the public learn about a wide variety of topics related to the appreciation and stewardship of our environment and marine resources. Year after year, it is the largest public gathering held in Island County for marine, nearshore and environmental education. This year, our keynote speaker with be Dr. Nathaniel Scholz of NOAA, who will speak on the impact of storm water on Puget Sound.

Participants must register in advance.

John Marzluff of the University of Washington. Doors open at 7pm, meeting at 7:20pm, program at 7:30pm. Please bring a mug for coffee.

Tours of Port Susan Preserve, snow geese and trumpeter swan tours, other area birding tours, speakers, art show, kid's activities, raptor and other displays, live music

Udie Ulsh presents "The Art of Building a Bird Nest". Doors open at 7pm, meeting at 7:20pm, program at 7:30pm. Please bring a mug for coffee.

Larry Ryman presents "The Lives of Osprey". Doors open at 7pm, meeting at 7:20pm, program at 7:30pm. Please bring a mug for coffee.

Each spring, our resident gray whales and orcas return to Puget Sound waters. Along their way from Mexico to Canada and Alaska, they stop to feed and frolic in Saratoga Passage, just off of Langley. These large yearly visitors arrive in March and stay through May, feeding on delicacies to be found in our waters, then continue their annual migration north as far as the Bering Sea. The festival includes hands-on educational displays and costume making, a parade and music.

Discovering the secret places of Whidbey Island with Elizabeth Guss of the Whidbey Camano Land Trust and Joe Sheldon of the Pacific Rim Institute. Doors open at 7pm, meeting at 7:20pm, program at 7:30pm. Please bring a mug for coffee.

Learning bird identification from Expired Birds with Matt Klope, a biologist with the US Navy, and Robin Llewellyn of Whidbey Audobon Society. Doors open at 7:00pm, meeting at 7:20pm, program at 7:30pm. Please bring a mug for coffee.

Camano Island is a certified wildlife habitat community by the National Wildlife Federation with than 700 backyards. Each yard on the tour gives a different example of a backyard habitat. Get a tour map to guide you to the backyards.