I have been finding dead Cliff Swallows at the Jefferson County airport for several weeks. At first I thought it was just some kid on the property with a BB gun opportunistically shooting Cliff Swallows, but I now suspect it is someone systematically killing Cliff Swallows because they don't want them nesting on airport property. (The babies poop out the nest hole, which is messy, though not as bad as the mess Starlings leave, for example.) Cliff Swallows are protected species, with a state fine of $500 per bird for killing them. In addition, it is illegal to interfere with their nesting behavior, although unofficially the state won't prosecute people who discourage them from nesting--as long as no eggs or birds are killed in the process. But once eggs are in the nest, it's a $500 fine for knocking down nests or trying to scare away the adults.
My hangar is at the north end of the taxiway between the two rows of hangars just north of Tailspin Tommy's shop. It is part of a block of hangars running east-west, and my hangar is the SW corner hangar. I will mark on the pavement with water soluble paint to identify which one it is. Please do not hang out there, as there may still be one or two pairs of swallows nesting under the eaves of my hangar, but you can peek up and see the empty nests, as well as a couple that have been taken over by Starlings. There are also some empty nests on the NW corner of the same block of hangars. I have found dead swallows on the taxiway around there off and on for about a month.
If you give me information that's good enough to lead to prosecution, I'll be happy to pay the full $500 reward, and if the prosecution leads to conviction, the state will kick in $500 more. Even if it doesn't lead to a conviction, if it results in the person(s) being penalized--such as being kicked out of their hangar at the Port--I'll pay the extra $500. It's worth $1000 to me to have the people doing this thrown out of the airport permanently. I have been encouraging swallows to nest at the airport for years, and am taking this personally. Please call me any time if you have information. Video of someone shooting would be great, but any information is helpful, even hearsay.

For those of you coming to the office hoping to see our office mascot, "Baby," whose photo adorns the banner--he's moved to Sequim. A family medical problem resulted in Dr. Dave adding three more parrots to his menagerie, and seven birds in one kitchen was just a bit much. Regretfully, he found homes for the three most adoptable, and one of those was Baby. Currently, our Friday avian hygienist is Molly Gray, whose photo and bio we'll eventually put on the website. She can imitate the sound of a dental drill, a squeaking door, owls, cats, dogs, the fire alarm, microwave ovens, and a host of other things, many of which we can't recognize.

There is a new website which has a nice oral cancer self exam. While it's not a substitute for seeing your dentist--visibility in your own mouthjust isn't that great--it's a great thing for everyone to do occasionally, and the website is free. Here's the link,
www.oralcancerselfexam.com

I can't seem to make the blog manager accept a link, so you'll probably have to cut and paste the info into your browser.

There have been some minor changes to the website recently, including updated versions of the forms and some new pictures in the "Our Services" section, particularly about implants. If anyone notices problems with the site, please report them to me and I'll try to get them fixed as soon as possible (use the "Contact Us" page). Thanks! dtc