Saturday, December 06, 2025
33.0°F

'Bird Friendly Day' Saturday at museum, library

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 7 months AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZERStaff Writer
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | May 4, 2016 1:53 PM

MOSES LAKE — Birds, bird habitat and birdwatching will be among the subjects of “Bird Friendly Day,” sponsored by the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center as their Free Family Saturday program for May.

The day’s activities are all built around birds and appreciation for birds. The day begins with a bird-themed story time at 10 a.m. at the Moses Lake Public Library, 418 East Fifth Ave. That’s followed by wildlife-related crafts and activities at the museum, 401 South Balsam, and in Civic Park between the library and the museum.

Blue Mountain Wildlife, Pendleton, Ore., will bring live raptors (birds of prey) to the Civic Center Auditorium. The raptor program begins at noon.

Bird-related crafts are part of the program, including a backyard bird feeder from a tuna can. Kids will learn what makes good bird food – and food that will attract birds to a feeder – and what kind of plants make a yard bird-friendly.

Blue Mountain Wildlife cares for birds of prey – owls, hawks, falcons and eagles (among others) – and will bring some of the birds that can’t be released into the wild for their presentation. Kids will have a chance to get a close-up look at the animals.

The idea is to encourage kids and families to get interested in watching birds and other wildlife, said Margaret Schiffner, a volunteer with the local Audubon Society chapter, in an earlier interview.

The Free Family Saturday program is sponsored by the museum and is paid for entirely by donations through the museum membership program, sponsorships and the annual Feed The Mammoth fundraiser.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].

ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER

Moses Lake School District, teachers union reach tentative agreement
December 6, 2025 2:02 a.m.

Moses Lake School District, teachers union reach tentative agreement

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Education Association announced late Friday night that the union has reached a tentative agreement with the Moses Lake School District. Classes will resume Monday, according to a press release from the MLEA.

Priest Rapids Dam oil spill still in cleanup stage
December 4, 2025 7:13 p.m.

Priest Rapids Dam oil spill still in cleanup stage

MATTAWA — People downstream of Priest Rapids Dam are being asked to look for evidence of oil on the waters of the Columbia River following a spill of mineral oil at the dam Wednesday. Department of Ecology officials are asking boaters to stay off the river between Priest Rapids and Pasco while crews work to clean up the oil, according to a PUD press release. Absorbent booms were put in the water to collect the oil downstream of the dam and are still there, said Christine Pratt, public information officer with the Grant County PUD, in the PUD press release. The booms will stay there until the Department of Ecology allows their removal.

Royal SD voters to decide on educational programs and operations levy in February
December 4, 2025 5:33 p.m.

Royal SD voters to decide on educational programs and operations levy in February

ROYAL CITY — Royal School District voters will be asked to accept or reject a two-year educational programs and operations levy request in a special election Feb. 10. If it’s approved, it would replace the district’s existing levy approved by voters in 2024. Royal Superintendent Roger Trail said the levy rate would remain unchanged.