THIS POST WRITTEN BY: BIANCA PERLA

It appears that everyone knows we are having the best weather of anywhere right now! Today was a good one for wildlife on Vashon and Maury Islands.

We had reportedly up to 30 transient Orca whales swim by the island starting with a great show on the passenger ferry boat around 8 this morning. They moved fast down the east side of the island passed Pt. Robinson and into Commencement Bay. This high number of transients is VERY unusual.

Here is some raw footage from SkyKING:

http://www.king5.com/video/raw/Raw-video-of-orcas-swimming-near-Maury-Island-128479518.html

Anyone have any good photos of the whales from today they want to share?

And in the birding world some firsts as well. Quoted from Ed Swan:

"About 7:30 this morning, a Red-necked Phalarope was foraging in the pond at KVI.  It’s the first time I’ve seen ...

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   As the island's human summer residents start closing up their cabins many of our forest songbirds are starting to prepare for the long migration south. Some that should be leaving soon are the western wood peewee, willow and Pacific-slope flycatchers, warblers, warbling vireos, tanagers, black-headed grosbeaks, martins, and swallows.  Watch for their preparations, or notice the silence slowing overtaking the woods.

The end of summer changes in birding activity go both ways. Like some of us, the water and shore birds are starting to return from their summer vacations in distant lands. August is a great time for sandpipers (peeps) of all kinds. For the next month or so watch for the return of loons, grebes, cormorants, widgeons, buffleheads, scoters and other water birds. 

Seasonal shifts in bird life like these are always good times to pay attention. Invariably there are species that decide to show up early or ...

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A great description of a family's Fisher Pond walk: http://backontheflooragain.blogspot.com/2011/08/fisher-pond.html

Keep sending in your stories! Bianca

One of the main hopes I had in writing Family Walks on Vashon and starting Vashon Nature Center was to give us all a forum for connecting with each other and learning from each other through our experiences in nature.  In the past several weeks since the book has come out I have received wonderful stories and feedback about the book. 

I wanted to share in particular some blog entries from Gabriele Burgess, a grandmother (of how many children? at least 6?) who has written about her experiences taking her grandchildren on some of the walks mentioned in the book. During these walks she notices much about the natural world around her as well as how the children are in these natural places. She also reminisces about going to some of these areas with her own children when they were young which gives us a sense of the cyclical way ...

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