High winds, strong currents, dense fog and fierce competition: listen here as Bainbridge Islanders Jeanne Goussev, Haley Lhamon and Kelly Adamson share the amazing story of Team Sail Like a Girl's successful bid to win the 2018 Race to Alaska, North America's longest human and wind powered race. 

After sailing round the clock for 6 days, 13 hours, and 17 minutes with no outside support along a route that traces 750 miles of the famed Inside Passage, these intrepid women biked and sailed their single hull day-sailer to the Ketchikan finish line just after midnight on Sunday, June 24th, almost two hours ahead of the second place winners and beating out 35 other teams.

Though not the first all female team to enter the race, they are the first all-female team to win, thanks to extensive planning, devoted teamwork, and exceptional physical and mental endurance.. not to mention the encouragement of a magical pod of Orcas who showed up just when the women needed it most!

Thank you, Aimee Fulwell, Jeanne Assael Goussev, Allison Dvaladze, Anna Stevens, Haley King Lhamon, Kate Hearsey McKay, Kelly Adamson Danielson, and Morgana  Buell for encouraging women around the world to share the world of adventure and celebrate possibility. Listen here and be inspired!

Credits: BCB Host: Jo Jenkins; BCB audio editor and publisher: Diane Walker.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/out-005-christmas-bird-count-restoration-point/

In this episode of “Bainbridge Outdoors,” BCB host Annie Osburn joins Bainbridge Island’s premier birders George Gerdts, Brad Waggoner and Jamie Acker at Restoration Point for the 2014 Christmas Bird Count.

Now in its 115^th year, the first Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was taken on Christmas Day, 1900, by ornithologist Frank Chapman.  It was Chapman, an officer in the nascent Audubon Society, who proposed conducting a census of birds seen rather than a count of birds hunted and killed during the Christmas season. 

Today, the CBC is the longest-running citizen science survey in the world. Administered by the National Audubon Society, the count provides critical data on population trends around the world. While the first CBC included 25 counts and tallied approximately 90 species, current CBCs amass data from more than 2,300 counts.

On this cold, blustery morning of December 27, 2014, Osburn and BCB audio tech, Tim Bird, meet up with Gerdts, Waggoner and Acker at Restoration Point on the southeastern end of Bainbridge Island to conduct a portion of the annual Seattle Audubon Society CBC. Each CBC encompasses a count of species and total number of birds in a circle with a diameter of 15 miles, this one ranging from Seattle’s Pioneer Square, across Puget Sound and including the southeastern tip of Bainbridge Island. Because the Bainbridge count occurs in an area not generally open to the public, the invitation to join this merry group of birders for the count was an opportunity not to be missed.

Gerdts, Waggoner and Acker have been passionate birders since their youth and lead private and organized group birding tours (some through Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District) to help educate others about birds on Bainbridge. In addition, Acker has studied owls on the island for nearly 20 years, banding owls and researching their habitats and behaviors, including the Great Horned, Barred and his beloved Northern Saw-whet owl.

For this CBC, the team at Restoration Point counted 65 species and tallied 1,373 birds. Highlights of the count included Canada Geese (and one immature Canada Snow Goose in the flock), Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Black Turnstones, California Gulls, a Red-naped/Red-breasted Sapsucker (hybrid), a Peregrine Falcon, and a Spotted Sandpiper. 

According to Gerdts, in his 30+ years of conducting the CBC at this location, this is only the second time that an orca pod has joined the event. An hour into this portion of the 85^th annual Seattle Audubon Society CBC, Gerdts notes: “We’re still in the early stages of this CBC. It’s too early to tell, but we can probably say it’s been a good start. The best thing so far is it’s not raining!”

This is the second in a four-part series about birding on Bainbridge. Next up: Winter Owls on a very cold and dark February morning. Stay tuned.

Credits: BCB host and writer: Annie Osburn; audio tech/audio editor: Tim Bird; social media publishers Diane and Chris Walker. 

If you have ever wondered what happens at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, BCB host Annie Osburn takes you inside in this episode of “Bainbridge Outdoors” for a look at Western Puget Sound’s only wildlife hospital and education center.

Joining Osburn are executive director Lisa Horn, operations manager and wildlife rehabilitation specialist Lynne Weber, and hospital manager Brandy Stier, on location inside the hospital and on the grounds.

The main focus of the West Sound Wildlife Shelter (WSWS) is to rescue and rehabilitate wild animals located throughout Washington State who have either been injured, orphaned or have fallen sick.

As Horn notes, “Our goal is to bring them into our veterinary hospital and give them the best possible medical care we can, so we can get them back out in the wild for a second chance on life. Our second goal is to educate the public and provide outreach programs. Our education programs reach about 15,000 adults and children each year.”

Six staff and approximately 80 hard-working volunteers, including support and care stewards who work directly with the animals, keep the shelter running smoothly. The costs of running the WSWS hospital and providing food for shelter patients is steep. Annually, the shelter feeds patients more than two tons of food, including salmon, quail, rats, mice, chicks, rabbit, elk and deer. “We do our best to feed a mimicking natural diet,” adds Stier. “We try to mimic what animals would find in the wild here in Washington, which is a really varied diet.”

In 2013, WSWS finished the year having treated 1,118 patients, which amounted to 15,000 patient days. By the end of August 2014, WSWS had treated more than 1,250 animals and is expecting that number to reach 1,350 by the end of 2014, with patient days close to 20,000.

Among the non-human guests joining this episode are Athena, the barred owl and WSWS educational ambassador, who came to the shelter after having been hit by a car. Remington, the turkey vulture with a six-foot wing span, was found near Shelton by a hunter after being shot. Weighing about four pounds, DNA tests proved Remington to be female – much to the delight of Weber, who knew “he” was a she, all along.

Finally, we’ll meet Luna, the Virginia opossum, the first mammal educational ambassador at the shelter. As an omnivore, Luna enjoys a varied diet, which works to her advantage as she reportedly gets bored easily. Luna came to the shelter after having been attacked twice by a dog. She is blind in one eye and a portion of her tail had to be amputated. Still, she looks pretty darn cute waddling through the pine needles in her pink harness on daily walks around the grounds.

For further information about the work of WSWS and volunteer opportunities, visit the Wildlife Shelter website. They are located adjacent to Bloedel Reserve (map).

Credits:  BCB host and text author Annie Osburn; BCB field tech and audio editor Tim Bird; BCB social media publisher: Barry Peters; photos by Dottie Tison, courtesy of West Sound Wildlife Shelter.

From BCB...

In this episode of “Bainbridge Outdoors,” BCB host Annie Osburn joins Bainbridge Island birder George Gerdts at Fort Ward Park to talk about fall bird migration on the island. A passionate birder since childhood, Gerdts is a virtual storehouse of knowledge when it comes to our local birds, their habitat, behaviors, songs, calls, and more.

On this misty fall morning, Gerdts and Osburn meet at the southern end of Fort Ward Park, near the fish pens, to take a closer look at the migrating waterfowl that come to winter on this stretch of saltwater shoreline. Many of the birds who've been absent all summer are now returning from their Arctic breeding grounds.  Look for Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters and the occasional Black Scoter; Double-crested Cormorants, California Gulls, ducks, geese, and more. 

Waterfowl migration is not just one single event, but rather a long and complex movement that starts around July 1st and continues as late as mid-November, and Bainbridge is the perfect place to observe. The National Audubon Society has named Fort Ward Park, which is actually part of the Puget Loop section of the over 3,000-mile Great Washington State Birding Trail, one of seven key sites on the Kitsap Peninsula for migrating birds. 

Gerdts, who leads private birding tours as well as for the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, points out the obvious reasons why this spot on Bainbridge is so attractive: “The waters around Bainbridge are incredibly rich in bait fish. We’re blessed with waters that have a lot of phytoplankton and some upwelling that happens, which feeds the bait fish and the birds that come to feed on those. We don’t ever get freezing conditions in the water and the food supply is abundant.”

So whether you're a novice birder or a passionate hobbyist, Bainbridge Island has plenty to offer. Get out now to see what’s happening with birds on the island. Gerdts’ parting advice: “There are so many ways to enjoy birding. Choose one.”

This is the first in a four-part series about birding on Bainbridge. Next up: the Christmas Bird Count. Stay tuned.

Credits: BCB host and text author: Annie Osburn; BCB field tech and audio editor: Tim Bird; BCB social media publisher: Diane Walker; BCB assistant publisher: Chris Walker; “Bainbridge Outdoors” intro and BCB ferry music: Dogfish Bay Studios; Podcast art: artopia creative. 

With BCB host Kayla Black, we meet Jeffrey Bales -- a landscape artist who designed a stone-surface labyrinth for a small contemplative Bainbridge park that is unique for having a Tibetan prayer wheel.

In this episode of Bainbridge Outdoors, we hear about a Bainbridge Island outdoor destination that is cherished by many -- especially walkers and cyclists who are careful not to spoil the solitude.  The quiet spot is on the wooded north slope above and overlooking Blakely Harbor, in southern Bainbridge Island.

Labyrinths have a very ancient history with some of the earliest examples being labyrinth paintings dating back 3000 years. The ancient Greeks created many labyrinths, and Jeffrey visited the labyrinth on the island of Crete at Knossos. One of the best known labyrinths in the world is the 800-year-old eleven circuit labyrinth at Chartre Cathedral in France. Jeffrey made a point of studying the extensive history, the mythos and the structure, and then applied that knowledge to this project.

In modern times, people have begun to re-embrace labyrinths for their use in mindfulness and meditation. Labyrinths offer a walking meditation to those who walk them. Offering solace and calm to our distracted and overactive minds. Labyrinths are also used as a pathway and as a metaphorical journey to ponder life’s great mysteries -- connecting us to the universe.

In this interview Jeffrey talks about his intention and the process of building the labyrinth. He carried stone from several beaches around Bainbridge. Many of those stones came from around the world to our shores as ballast for ships coming to load wood.

Each of the circuits of this labyrinth have meaning and each circuit has ties to the larger universe. If you would like more information about the labyrinth, please visit the Jeffrey Bales Website.

Credits: BCB host: Kayla Black; BCB production manager, studio tech and editor: Lyssa Danehy deHart; BCB nature music: Jeffrey Powel; BCB podcast art: artopia creative.

In this debut episode of “Bainbridge Outdoors,” BCB host Annie Osburn walks with Dan Hamlin, park services superintendent of the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, through the heart of the Grand Forest.

They begin their adventure at the Miller Road trailhead in the Grand Forest West. Together, they wind their way along the main loop trail to waypoint 17, where they turn left and head toward east side creek and the Grand Forest bridge, which was refurbished in 2012.

Listen to the sounds of deep forest and the soft crunch under foot. They then cross the bridge, merge onto the Ron Williamson Trillium Trail and head up to the open meadow at Hilltop, which connects to the Hilltop Trail and the Grand Forest East.

Covering more than 200 acres, the Grand Forest is comprised of the Grand Forest North, East and West, with the east and west sides now joined at the Hilltop meadow—creating the first east-to-west trail connection across the island. And all of it is on public land or public easements.

The Grand Forest offers six miles of trails (three miles on the east side, and three on the west), which are open to walking, hiking, bicycling and horseback riding.

Six trailheads and three parking areas make the Grand Forest East and West easily accessible from several directions. Rich in Pacific Northwest native plants, the Grand Forest offers plenty of Douglas fir and cedar trees, bracken fern, salal plants and evergreen huckleberry. Visitors to the forest also may see deer, raccoon and coyotes, as well as mallards and the occasional barred owl or great blue heron.

Hamlin notes that the creation of the Grand Forest trails strongly relies on the ongoing support of volunteers.

“These trails are here because of the many hours and dedicated passion that volunteers have offered on the island. When we build a trail, we don’t want anyone to know that it wasn’t there already. Later, when we walk away from the trail and somebody comes across it and says, ‘When did that happen?’, that’s exactly the way we want it.”

Whether you are a novice hiker to the Grand Forest or a regular visitor, there is always something new to experience. Recent enhancements to the Grand Forest mapping system include waypoint signs with QR codes that can be scanned with a smartphone to access a trail map along the way.

Correction:  During the recording of this episode, Dan Hamlin incorrectly stated that it’s possible to walk from the Veterane trail all the way to Manitou Beach. He meant to say the Fairy Dell trail. The Veterane trail is currently under construction.

Credits:  BCB host: Annie Osburn; BCB production manager, field recording tech and audio editor: Tim Bird; BCB Outdoors music and nature splash: Jeffrey Powel; Podcast art: artopia creative.