Lecture draws crowd to hear about birds
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March 3, 2016
Diana Zimmerman
There weren't enough chairs to go around at Andrew Emlen's talk about local birdlife at Redmen Hall on Saturday. Redmen Hall Board Member and event planner Pam Emery estimated that more than 70 people were in attendance.
There wasn't a single empty chair in Redmen Hall for guest lecturer and Skamokawa resident Andrew Emlen's talk about birds of the Lower Columbia. Some listeners found space on the stairs or a spot on the floor but a few more hardy characters stood in the back.
According to Redmen Hall Board Member and event planner Pam Emery, there were more than 70 in attendance.
Emlen shared pictures and regaled the crowd with amusing or interesting and even disheartening anecdotes about terns and other birds that spend time on the lower Columbia.
He told stories of the government's efforts to move terns from one island to another, using "tern songs of love" and decoys crafted by Astoria students.
There was the man who made more than one trip in his boat to drop off trapped raccoons and opossums, not knowing that he had researchers for witnesses.
"As it turns out, terns can defend themselves," Emlen said in regard to the raccoons. "They dive bombed those raccoons."
He passed around the skull of a tern. The tip of its beak was sharp enough to break skin.
Diana Zimmerman
Local author and artist Keith Hoofnagle talks about his experiences working as a fire lookout before signing copies of his 50th Anniversary edition of The Story of Linda Lookout at Redmen Hall on Saturday.
The raccoons got the message and moved to the other side of the island and feasted on Canada goose eggs. Finally, they had to be trapped again, and this time moved off the island. Opossums remain, less a threat.
Emlen told of eagles that would draw the terns into the air and gulls that took advantage of the situation.
"The gulls would pick off unprotected chicks," Emlen said, "to the tune of 700 in two minutes."
Talk of terns eventually shifted to similar struggles to control or protect other lower Columbia birds, the horned lark and the double crested cormorant.
"I could have listened a lot longer," one woman said to a friend on their way out. Her friend agreed.
Later, Keith Hoofnagle, a Skamokawa author and artist shared stories about his experiences as a fire lookout and his time as a Ranger for the National Parks Service before signing copies of the 50th Anniversary edition of his book, The Story of Linda Lookout.
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