News and Events

February 2023

A female Anna's Hummingbird sits on her nest. Photo by Dow Lambert

Bird Nesting and the

Great Backyard Bird Count

 Presented by Bob Boekelheide & Ken Wiersema

Sat., Feb. 4, 2023

10 a.m.-Noon

Rainshadow Hall at Dungeness River Nature Center

Suggested donation $5

With spring just over the horizon, the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society offers this always popular class on bird nesting.

Attendees will learn where, when, and how local bird species select and build nests and how nesting plays an integral part in pair bonding.

We will show sample nests, and we will provide a “how to” walkthrough for birdwatchers of every age and skill level who wish to participate in the upcoming Great Backyard Bird Count coming up Fri.-Mon., Feb. 17-20.

We will also include instruction on using the eBird app for tallying the birds you report during the bird count.

Admission to all Backyard seminars, held the first Saturday of every month, is free. However, we suggest a donation of $5 per person to support ongoing education and bird conservation programs.

Please note that current COVID-19 health precautions as recommended by Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and Clallam County Public Health will be followed for the protection of our attendees and volunteer staff.

For more information click here

The new span to the historic railroad bridge crosses an area bulldozed to contour a river channel for juvenile and adult salmon. The work was finished in October 20220. Bareroot plants purchased for restoration must be planted while they are dormant.

Volunteers Needed!

Revegetation of River’s edge begins Feb. 9

Volunteers are needed to help plant 450 bare-root plants that will provide habitat, structure, and color to the area leveled west of the River Center during

the recent floodplain restoration project.

The planting project begins Thurs., Feb. 9 at 10 a.m.

The River Center has purchased eight different wildlife-friendly native plant species to jumpstart revegetation of the area that was once a wooded levee and parking lot.

Please bring your snacks, water, lunch, gloves, and planting tools. Hurricane Coffee at the River is open with hot and cold drinks and pastries while you're planting, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

To sign up for a full day or a shift, please call volunteer Linda Gonzales, Volunteer Coordinator, at 303-929-7751 or email her at linda@DungenessRiverCenter.org

Blue Glacier in Olympic National Park. Photo by John Gussman

Snowpack, Glaciers and the

Future of Olympic Rivers   

 Presented by Bill Baccus, Olympic National Park

Physical Science Technician

Wed., Feb.15

7 p.m.

 Rainshadow Hall at the Dungeness River Nature Center

A presentation sponsored by the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society

Free!

The imperiled glaciers of the Olympic Mountains are still important reservoirs of cold, clean water for human use and critical habitat for salmon and trout. Healthy river corridors also provide indispensable habitat for birds, insects, and other animals, and are thus inextricably linked to the quality of life in this region.

Olympic National Park researcher, Bill Baccus, will present the current state of Olympic glaciers and the long-term decline of their winter snowpack, with an eye to future expectations for river systems on the North Olympic Peninsula.

For more information click here

Ken Wiersema teaches how to build a nesting box. Photo by Dow Lambert

Nest Box Building Class

Sat., Feb. 25

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Fee: $25 per nest box

(funds cover materials and support educational programs)

In this class you will learn why we build nest boxes, and how to build your own!

A short presentation will be followed by hands-on assembly of your box that you can take home and install in your yard. Materials, tools, and expert assistance provided!

Must preregister! Register online here

Montana Napier joins River Center as Education Manager

With a Master's degree in Environmental Education from Western Washington University,

Montana has seven years of experience working for National and State parks, in higher education, with

K-12 students, and partnering with non-profits and indigenous communities.

She has worked for the North Cascades National Park and Olympic National Park as a ranger, was an interpretive specialist for Cama Beach State Park and was the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion graduate assistant for the North Cascades Institute.

She also taught 5th graders interdisciplinary science lessons in a 3-day residential program at the North Cascades Institute. Curriculum included the water cycle, components needed for a habitat, life cycles, decomposition, interconnections in nature, salmon cycle on the Skagit River, and identification of native plants and animals.

Montana's Bachelor's degree, from Florida State University, is in Creative Writing.

To contact: Montana@Dungeness RiverCenter.org

Photo by Annette Nesse

Now open! Come on in!

You are invited to sit and observe the action at the birdfeeders, staked in the River Center's Raingarden, in the new Wildlife Viewing Room.

Six comfortable chairs sit in front of picture windows with benches to put your coffee cup on.

The room also contains a round table and extra chairs, and eventually, the River Center's library of reference books. This room is just across the plaza from Hurricane at the River Coffee's outdoor window.

On the left, a Douglas squirrel has his eyes on birdseed that has fallen from the feeder to the ground.

Register for these BirdFest workshops before they're sold out!

Bird Photography

Basics and Beyond

Sat., April 15

9 a.m.-4 p.m.

$95

Class limit 14

Drawing Feathers

with Robert Amaral

Fri., April 14

9 a.m.-12 p.m.

$40

Class limit 14

Drawing Birds

with Robert Amaral

Fri., April 14

1 p.m.-4 p.m.

$40

Class limit 14

Walkers on the Olympic Discovery Trail stop for a photograph with the outdoor mural installed Friday afternoon, Jan. 27. Photo by Annette Hanson

Mural installed on west facade of the River Center

Before the main room in the old River Center was remodeled, John Gussman carefully photographed the mural painted on the east wall so that it could be reproduced to hang outside.

The original was created by Sequim artist and muralist Tim Quinn over the fall and winter of 2001-2002. It depicts the Dungeness River and contains dozens of hidden birds and animals. Over the years this was a favorite activity for children—and adults—to try to find them all.

Artist Robert Amaral and his wife, film studio animator Carolyn Guske, added to, touched up, and reshaped the mural to fit the exterior wall all the way to the peak. The original had been painted around an interior door.

A sign will be placed with a list of wildlife to look for.

As the mural warms up, wrinkles and vertical lines will fall out and the mural will have a smooth surface.

The River Center is open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays noon-5 p.m.

Hurricane Coffee at the River is open Tues.-Sat., 9 a.m.-2 p.m

.

Questions? Call the River Center at 360-681-4076



www.DungenessRiverCenter.org