1/22 Red-tailed hawk, 'Desired Outcomes,' sewer loan, Biden's environment, herons with eagles, Navy park training

Red-tailed hawk [Kathryn Kent/Aububon]

Red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Red-tailed Hawks are the most common and widespread hawk in North America. Red-tail numbers have increased significantly as a result of forest fragmentation that creates the mosaic of interspersed wooded and open areas they prefer. Red-tailed Hawks can be found year round throughout most of Washington, including in developed areas such as the city of Seattle. One species, the Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk, winters regularly in small numbers near Bellingham and is found regularly in Skagit and Snohomish Counties, but rarely in other areas either side of the Cascades. (BirdWeb)

Puget Sound Partnership proposing ‘Desired Outcomes’ for ongoing ecosystem recovery
Puget Sound Action Agenda, often referred to as Puget Sound Partnership’s blueprint for ecological recovery, continues to evolve. The next Action Agenda — scheduled to go into effect a year from now — will incorporate an expanded long-range vision for Puget Sound, complete with broad-based strategies, not just near-term actions. “Desired Outcomes,” the first major component of the next Action Agenda, will be unveiled...(Thursday) before the Ecosystem Coordination Board, the wide-ranging, 27-member committee that advises the Leadership Council in its recovery oversight and strategic planning. A live video of the discussion can been viewed online, as described in the meeting agenda. “Desired Outcomes are statements that describe what we intend to accomplish — the positive change we want to see in Puget Sound,” states a fact sheet describing the next Action Agenda update. The idea is that near-term actions proposed over four years should fit into a larger vision leading to “transformational change and bold progress toward Puget Sound recovery.” Chris Dunagan reports. (Puget Sound Institute)

EPA loans King County $96.8 million to prevent untreated water from spilling into Puget Sound
The Environmental Protection Agency has given King County a $96.8 million loan to improve water treatment infrastructure and reduce harmful spillovers into the Puget Sound its tributaries. The announcement of this loan comes only about a week after power outages and heavy rainfalls caused a handful of water treatment and pumping stations in the county to collectively spill over 10 million gallons of untreated water into the Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Cameron Sheppard reports. (Bellevue Reporter)

Piggyback Plant
Betsy Gross reports that her neighbor Jenny Hahn says the piggyback plant featured yesterday is also known as the 'youth on age' plant. According to Plants For A Future, the plant is also known as Mother-of-Thousands plant and Pickaback plant.

Tracking Biden’s environmental actions 
President Biden placed climate change squarely at the center of his White House agenda on Wednesday, using his first hours in office to rejoin the Paris climate accord and begin overturning more than 100 environmental actions taken by the Trump administration. Administration officials are suggesting that they will go well beyond reversing Trump’s policies. On Thursday U.S. presidential climate envoy John F. Kerry said the U.S. and other nations must commit to much deeper carbon cuts to avert dire climate impacts, and the Interior Department issued an order requiring signoff from a top political appointee for any new oil and gas lease or drilling activity. The directive, which could slow approval for more than 400 drilling permit applications, prompted an immediate outcry from the oil and gas industry.  Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and John Muyskens report. (Washington Post)

How Biden Plans to Reverse Trump’s Environmental Strategy
President Biden, vowing to restore environmental protections frayed over the past four years, has ordered the review of more than 100 rules and regulations on air, water, public lands, endangered species and climate change that were weakened or rolled back by his predecessor. But legal experts warn that it could take two to three years — and in some cases, most of Mr. Biden’s term — to put many of the old rules back in place. Coral Davenport reports. (NY Times)

Sleeping with the Enemy
Great blue herons are seeking safety by nesting beside predatory eagles. Researchers call it the “mafia protection racket.” Larry Pynn reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Comments due today on Navy training plans
The public comment period regarding the U.S. Navy’s proposal for SEAL training at 28 state parks ends today at 5 p.m... [Comments} can be submitted through an online form at parks.state.wa.us/1168/Navy-training-proposal or emailed to Commission@parks.wa.gov. Zach Jablonsk reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your weekend tug weather--West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  242 AM PST Fri Jan 22 2021   TODAY  SE wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 6 ft  at 14 seconds. 
TONIGHT  E wind to 10 kt becoming SE after midnight. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 7 ft at 13 seconds. 
SAT  S wind to 10 kt becoming SW 10 to 20 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft in the afternoon. W  swell 7 ft at 14 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SE 10 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 7 ft at 14 seconds. 
SUN  SE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming NE 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 2 ft or less in the  afternoon. W swell 7 ft at 19 seconds.

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