Honoring a Legacy with Service: 5th Annual MLK Day Weed Pull

“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”  -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Brave volunteers tackling the Himalayan blackberry near the campgrounds. Photo by Wendy Feltham.

Every year in January, AmeriCorps members across the country honor Martin Luther King Jr. on his namesake national holiday with a day of service. MLK Day is usually a day off; a day off from school, work, meetings or errands—a long weekend in some regard. However, the legacy of MLK Jr. is one of taking action. That’s why Washington Service Corps and the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) strive to make it a day on, instead of a day off.

PTMSC AmeriCorps (from left to right) Juhi, Brooke, Sarah, Mattie. Photo by Wendy Feltham.

The AmeriCorps at PTMSC chose to serve the community of Port Townsend by committing to a term of service. The annual MLK Day of Service is meant to recruit others from the community to join us in that duty. This year marked the 5th annual day of service weed pull at Fort Worden State Park. On January 16th, 2017, we gathered with volunteers who rose to the call to join us in serving our community.

A clearing where invasive, pokey, Himalayan blackberry used to be. Not to be confused with trailing blackberry, a native species. 
Photo by Carolyn Woods.

This year we targeted the Himalayan blackberry and English ivy that were overrunning the area behind the Natural History Exhibit and campground. These are both quick-growing plants that out-compete the native species vital to the ecosystem at Fort Worden. We gathered at the Natural History Exhibit to identify target areas, gear up, and get to work.

Volunteers rolling up the English Ivy like a carpet; the best technique for those pesky vines! Photo by Wendy Feltham.

Although we had been prepared for rain to pour on us, somehow it managed to hold off for the weed pull. It was the only thing that held back. Over 50 volunteers showed up, donating a combined total of over 150 hours of service. The outpouring of support was tremendous, and the event an all-around success.

(Above, both) Team work makes the invasive-species-eradication
dream work! Photos by Carolyn Woods.

The weed pull couldn't have been so outstanding without the help of many. Thank you to PTMSC, Friends of Fort Worden, and Washington State Parks for partnering with us on the event. Thanks to the Noxious Weed Board, Native Plant Society, as well as individuals from the Coastal Artillery Museum and Department of Fish and Wildlife and other volunteers who generously donated tools. Thanks to the Fort Worden Rangers and Maintenance team for their continuous support. Thanks as well to our Washington Conservation Corps team at Fort Worden and to our fellow AmeriCorps from NOAA Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary for joining us in service. I also want to recognize and thank my teammates Sarah, Juhi, and Mattie for their individual and collective efforts in executing the weed pull. We have enormous gratitude for every single volunteer who joined us to honor MLK Jr. by coming together as a community and providing a service to our environment.

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BROOKE ASKEY is the Citizen Science Educator and an AmeriCorps Member at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center

Bird is the Word

“What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird.” –David Attenborough

Snowy Owl in Acadia National Park
Photograph by Sarah Croston

Birds have weaved an invisible thread throughout my life and into my heart. My love for birds started at a young age falling in love with the majestic and ever so beautiful Snowy Owl. My love of Snowy Owls may have been influenced by the wooden carving my uncle made which stood proudly in our living room. Owls have fascinated me for as long as I can remember with their mysterious aura and wide eyes. As a young child, I was familiar with the feathered friends who would visit our bird feeder. I also spent lots of time flipping through the pages of The Audubon Society’s Field guide to North American Birds long before I knew how to read.

Taking data on a Savannah sparrow in the fields of
Shelburne Farms, Vermont. 

My passion for birds didn’t show itself again until college and even then it wasn’t clear to me. One of my professor, Noah Perlut, asked if I wanted to go to Vermont for the summer to study songbirds. Spending every day outside conducting research sounded like a great experience and I did not hesitate to say yes. I spent the summer in Shelburne, Vermont studying Boblinks and Savannah Sparrows. The days were spent nest searching, banding birds, and taking measurements on chicks and adults.

  

Sarah and barred owl, Grinnell.
Glen Helen Raptor Center in Yellow Springs Ohio.

After my summer in Vermont, my love of birds flourished. I began to notice birds much more frequently than ever before. Their songs illuminate my days and seeing a flash of color now sends me looking for more. Since that eye opening summer, I’ve done more field work and have worked at a raptor center in Yellow Springs, Ohio. My passion for birds followed me here to the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC).
While you may not think that there is a whole lot about birds going on at a marine science center, here in Port Townsend, there is! We have a great class that we teach to students called Birds of the Shore and Sea. In this class the students take a closer look at bird specimens observing specific species feet and beaks. They make educated guesses about what these birds might eat and where they live. The students also get a chance to go outside and participate in bird watching by the sea. My favorite part of this class is playing a recording of what a Bald Eagle sounds like and seeing the students’ reactions. The Bald Eagle might not sound as regal as it looks.

The latest Puget Sound Seabird Survey in action
at Point Wilson.

PTMSC also partners with the Seattle Audubon Society. We conduct Puget Sound Seabird Surveys once a month. The survey takes place at Point Wilson and a dedicated group of volunteers survey the seabirds for a half hour no matter what the weather has in store. Many different bird species can be seen right around the Marine Science Center. As I am sitting here writing this I just saw a juvenile Bald Eagle soar by!
The most important thing I have learned is that bird watching is a great hobby, one that you can do basically anywhere. Whether you are observing songbirds that come to a bird feeder in your backyard or raptors you spot soaring high above the mountains out on a hike, birds hold a very special place in my heart. I hope to continue to learn about them throughout my life and share my passion with others.

Keep your eyes out for Sarah’s newest project called Birding from the Pier. Once a week she will be posting about a different bird she sees from the pier and a fun fact or two about it on our Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/ptmarinescictr/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PortTownsendMarineScienceCenter/.
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Sarah Croston, Americorps - Natural History and Volunteer Educator

40 YEARS OF CHANGE: COOPER ISLAND'S SEABIRDS RESPOND TO A MELTING ARCTIC

Sunday | January 8, 2017 | 3 pm

presented by George Divoky, PhDDirector/Researcher, Friends of Cooper IslandThe Fort Worden ChapelAdmission: $10 ($5 for PTMSC members)

George Divoky has studied seabirds in arctic Alaska since 1970 when, as a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution, he participated in the Coast Guard’s survey of the Arctic Ocean adjacent to Prudhoe Bay. Since then he has been involved in Alaskan seabird research relating to a diverse group of conservation issues including the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, oil and gas exploration of the outer continental shelf, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and regional climate change. Since 1975 he has maintained a continuing study of Black Guillemots on Cooper Island, Alaska, that is one of the longest longitudinal bird studies in the Arctic. The Cooper Island study’s findings on the consequences of recent snow and sea ice reductions provide some of the best examples of the biological consequences of climate change. 

Dr. Divoky’s research was featured in a cover story in the New York Times Magazine entitled “George Divoky’s Planet,” in the PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers program “Hot Times in Alaska,” and on ABC Nightly News and Nightline. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, been interviewed NPR’s Talk of the Nation and Science Friday, and his story and findings were featured in a play about climate change, Greenland, staged by the Royal National Theatre in London in 2011. He helped found and has twice been chair of the Pacific Seabird Group, an international organization working to advance conservation and research of Pacific Basin seabirds. Currently, as Director of the nonprofit Friends of Cooper Island, he is working to ensure the continuation of research on Cooper Island seabirds in coming decades when they will have to deal with the complete disappearance of summer ice, offshore drilling, increased shipping and commercial fishing. 

Divoky was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Michigan State University and a doctorate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. When not in the field he lives in Seattle, Washington.