This month’s meeting of the Victory Heights Community Council heard from guest speaker Ed Deal, founder of the Urban Raptor Conservancy.
Read the entire minutes of the September meeting.
Victory Heights (and all of Seattle) are filled with a growing population of raptors including Cooper’s Hawks, Merlins, Eagles, and Barred Owls. If you attended the ice cream social in July, you might have seen some of the birds through the telescope displays that were set up on nearby streets.
Ed and his group have found 56 nests in the city of Seattle this year, and counted 174 new fledglings, double the number just eight years ago. The birds generally don’t migrate (it’s a lot of work and the food supply here is good), and recycled 80% of the nests from last year again.
If you want to know more, visit their website or check out these books he recommended, “Subirdia” by John M. Marzluff, “The Cooper’s Hawk” by Robert N. Rosenfield, or “Urban Raptors.”
In construction news, the bike-pedestrian bridge over Interstate 5 to connect North Seattle College with the new Northgate Link light rail station starts construction in late 2019. The station opens in 2021 with service to downtown and the airport. The Lake City Way repaving project will start next spring, and includes crosswalk improvements at NE 82nd Street and NE 132nd Street.
The Victory Heights Community Council needs your help! We are a volunteer-driven organization and we are looking for help in the following places: a new Vice-President, committees for Community Building, Safety, and Disaster Preparedness. Please write victoryheights.seattle@gmail.com if you are interested.
Upcoming events:
- Earthquake Ready Classes, Oct 8 and 22nd at 7 PM at Ann Forrest’s house
- Gingerbread House Decorating, Dec 7 & 15
The next meeting is Tuesday, October 15th.