WELCOME TO THE WINTER 2019

ISSUE OF SALISH MAGAZINE!

Photo by John F. Williams

After spending two decades exploring underwater in Puget Sound, I broadened my perspectives and began to explore our local forests. I was immediately shocked to discover just how few animals were to be seen on a typical walk in the woods.

My expectations were perhaps skewed by the abundance of visible animal life in Puget Sound, particularly around structures such as rocks, walls, piers, and reefs. But even in flat, sedimented areas, animals could be seen, from tubeworms to crabs, shellfish to sea stars.

But I slowly realized that forests are much more plant and fungi based, though there are animals associated with the forests. Some of these animals have been pointed out in previous issues of Salish Magazine, and this issue focuses on one kind of animal that is perhaps the most often seen or heard in the Salish Sea region: birds. While many other animals hide underground, inside trees, or in other shelters, birds seem to understand that their ability to travel in three dimensions means that they don’t have to be hiding so much of the time. Distance from people seems to be enough.

There are many different bird species in this region, and this issue just scratches the surface with articles about some of the largest and smallest:

• snow geese
• great blue herons
• purple martins
• barn swallows

and briefer mentions of some of our wetland dwellers.

In the last issue (#5, Autumn 2019), we experimented by adding an additional article between the quarterly release dates. This seems to have been welcomed by our readers, so we’ll do something similar this time. Between the initial release of this issue (#6, Winter 2019) and the release of #7 (Spring 2020), we will offer more articles on the topic of birds. These will include seabirds, citizen science, and hummingbirds.

We will send out newsletters announcing these additional articles, so if you haven’t subscribed to our newsletter list, use the Connect menu to visit our signup page.