<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-3b006e91-7fff-85d2-2014-d610286c581d"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Happy spring birding Washington Birders!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">We are excited to announce that the field trip schedule for the 2024 Dean Hale Woodpecker Festival is now posted on our website. This year, the festival will run from May 30 to June 2 and will offer field trips all over Central Oregon. We hope you will consider joining us. Our festival is a great chance for you to come down to Central Oregon and enjoy everything that makes it a special place, including the birds!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(46,38,31);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">We are lucky to have Paul Bannick as the Festival’s keynote presenter this year. Paul is an award-winning author and wildlife photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat. He will be sharing his talk entitled “The Owl and the Woodpecker Revisited” at the Festival’s keynote dinner on Saturday, June 1 at the Belfry in Sisters, Oregon. Paul will also be offering two photography workshops on Saturday. For more about Paul, please visit his </span><a href="https://paulbannick.com/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">website</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(46,38,31);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(46,38,31);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">In more big news, we will be offering all Woodpecker Festival field trips free of charge this year. There will be a fee for our festival dinner and Paul’s photography workshops.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(46,38,31);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The field trip </span><a href="https://www.ecaudubon.org/dean-hale-woodpecker-festival/field-trip-schedule-registration-2024/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">schedule</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(46,38,31);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> is posted on the ECAS website. Registration opens on April 2 at 8:00am PST, which is coming up soon. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">With field trips being free this year, we anticipate that many trips will fill quickly. Registration will be through EventBrite. We should have a live Eventbrite page soon along with a Registration FAQ.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">In addition to the Woodpecker Festival, ECAS continues to support the vibrant birding community in Central Oregon and is rolling out some wonderful new programs this year. First, ECAS will be donating birding backpacks to all Deschutes County libraries in the coming months to help make optics and birding available to more people. In the near future, ECAS plans to extend the birding backpack program to libraries in Crook and Jefferson Counties. This fall, ECAS also will be introducing a youth scholarship program in which a recipient will be able to attend an American Birding Association birding camp in 2025. We will provide more details about that program in the ECAS newsletters over the course of the year. You can sign up for our free newsletter </span><a href="https://www.ecaudubon.org/newsletter-sign-up/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">here</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">ECAS also continues to support a wide range of conservation projects, including the Greater Sage-Grouse project and a variety of bird survey, nest monitoring, and habitat enhancement projects. And, when you are planning to bird anywhere in Oregon, please don’t forget to use our </span><a href="https://www.ecaudubon.org/oregon-birding-guide/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">Oregon Birding Site Guide</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> that includes details on over 1,200 birding locations within Oregon.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">If all of this sounds good to you, we would greatly appreciate your support. Please consider </span><a href="https://www.ecaudubon.org/become-a-member/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">joining</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> ECAS or making a </span><a href="https://www.ecaudubon.org/donate/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">donation</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. We look forward to seeing you out birding soon and hope you are ready for a fantastic spring full of birding and adventures!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:8pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Duke Tufty, President and on behalf of the ECAS Board</span></p></span></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div> </div><div><span style="color:black;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";font-size:13.5pt"><span style="color:blue;text-decoration:none">
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