Whidbey Audubon invites accessible birding outing at Keystone on Juneteenth

Keystone Dive Park and Boat Launch will become a classroom without walls when Whidbey Audubon Society leads an accessibility-friendly “small sit” there from 8 to 10 a.m. Friday, June 19. The outing is timed to Juneteenth and the approaching summer solstice, and it is built for people who want to bird from a chair, a shoreline edge or a standing spot without taking a long walk.

Whidbey Audubon says the format is intentionally simple: there is no walking, just sit or stand and watch the nearshore birds that gather during the outgoing tide. Participants are told to bring a chair if they want one, a small detail that shows how low-barrier the event is for beginners, older residents and anyone who wants a quieter way to learn the birds of Whidbey Island.

The timing should help. Late spring and early summer often bring active bird movement along Admiralty Inlet, and Keystone’s tidal edge can produce a close look at species that many residents may have seen but never named. Likely birds include pelagic cormorants, belted kingfishers, great blue herons, pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets and harlequin ducks. For a first outing, that mix offers a practical introduction to shape, size, flight pattern and feeding behavior, all visible without binocular-heavy fieldwork.

The setting adds another layer. Keystone Dive Park sits near the Keystone Ferry Terminal inside Fort Casey Historical State Park, part of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. The reserve was established in 1978 and is described as the nation’s first national historical reserve, preserving historical, agricultural and cultural traditions while leaving room for recreation on the shoreline. Washington State Parks describes Fort Casey as a place to take in the views, fly a kite, fish or explore the beach.

Whidbey Audubon says its small sits are meant to give people who cannot attend traditional walking field trips a chance to bird and enjoy the outdoors. The group has advocated for birds and their environments on Whidbey since 1982, and its community science work extends well beyond a single morning at Keystone. The Salish Sea Guillemot Network, run by Whidbey Audubon, monitors Pigeon Guillemot breeding colonies across the Salish Sea. The group says at least 1,000 Pigeon Guillemots return to Whidbey Island each year to breed, and it calls the species an indicator of Puget Sound health.

Whidbey Island’s Earth and Ocean Month brought more than 40 events and activities this year, underscoring how strong the local appetite is for nature programming. The Keystone sit fits that pattern neatly: a short outing, an accessible format and a shoreline rich enough to show why birding has become one of the easiest ways to read the health of Island County’s waters.