Members can take pride in the steady growth of the OPAS Scholarships Program over the past three award seasons. Since inception in 2024, OPAS has been gifting the Natural Sciences Scholarship Award to a select number of graduating high school seniors…
On Friday May 15th, several OPAS Board Members met with four Port Angeles High School students who have been selected as OPAS’ 2026 Natural Sciences Scholarship winners.
At our May 2 Backyard Birding program, Bob Boekelheide treated us to a fascinating look at “Bird Migration Stories,” highlighting the remarkable journeys of Neotropical migrants that return to Clallam County each spring.
Let's restore pollinator habitat one yard at a time! With more than 85% of households having outdoor living space, together we can make a significant impact for the pollinators and other wildlife that need our support.
Birds have long been able to shift their ranges in response to weather, heat, food availability, or habitat loss. But with climate change accelerating, National Audubon set out to measure how well birds are adapting…
Imagine crawling through tall grass, reaching into dark burrows in search of a puffin—hoping for soft feathers rather than the snap of a powerful bill. These bright‑beaked “clowns of the sea” may look charming, but…
On one of my first trips to the American West, I was walking along the banks of the Thompson River near Estes Park, Colorado, when I noticed a large mossy nest tucked under a bridge. Birds were busy bringing food…
Last fall, the OPAS Purple Martin nest boxes were removed from their summer perches for cleaning, sterilization, and then carefully prepared for winter storage.
Our April 4, 2026 Backyard Birding program, Sounds of Spring, featured a fresh collection of local audio and video recordings prepared by Dow Lambert, with support from Ken Wiersema.
If I told you I saw a bird about 10 inches long, dark grayish‑brown on top with a red‑orange breast and a white eye ring, you would likely suspect I’d seen an American Robin.
On Saturday, March 7, 2026 this program explored the migration patterns and timing of birds local to Clallam County, with environmental educator Nikki Pyle guiding viewers through the instinctive motivations that bring birds …
Despite my usual lack of interest in football, I happily cheered on the Seahawks at the Super Bowl. This was partly out of local pride, but also because of the team’s name—the Seahawks. The original “seahawk” is now best known as the Osprey …
Christina Heliker organized and presented one of our most popular OPAS traditions—Members’ Photo Night on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Our talented photographers shared a wonderful collection of images …
Look closely at those flashy Northern Flickers here in winter. You probably know the "Red-shafted"-type Flickers, the usual flicker morph found in the Pacifc Northwest. A typical male …
The February 7 Backyard Birding program—Bird Nesting and the Great Backyard Bird Count—is now available to watch online. Presenters Ken Wiersema and Ben Hannah explore bird nesting …
With so many congenial Anna’s Hummingbirds visiting our feeders now, it can be easy to forget about our other hummingbird, the Rufous. While the Anna’s certainly aren’t missing …
Borneo—shared by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei—is one of Southeast Asia’s great biodiversity hotspots, home to more than 420 bird species. Its once‑dense forests …
Through the years, we’ve learned a great deal about the birds in our back yards—what they eat, the habitats they rely on, how they behave, how to identify them, and where they travel during migration. But the question …
