Something Clever

"Rite of Passage" assignment

2012-02-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

I love this assignment, even though I'm not sure if it is what the professor was looking for.

Bird Extravaganza: the Gathering of Feathered Nations

When we first started talking about a Rite of Passage I felt a little overwhelmed. I don’t have much classroom experience and wasn’t really sure how a Rite of Passage could be incorporated into the things I do know (teaching in the fields, Educational Kits, etc). I came up with an idea to create not only personal “steps” in this Rite of Passage, but a classroom goal as well. My hope is that this could be incorporated into outdoor education programs and into the Educational Kits that we send to classrooms. At this point, I must also mention that I think birds are an excellent way to connect kids with nature in general and this Rite of Passage (and the activity that precedes it) can be incorporated into any classroom as an extra activity.

My idea behind this Rite of Passage is not only teaching students how to identify birds but also about their life history (what they eat, where they live, etc). Each student will have a card similar to a BINGO card with blank squares. Students will be shown bird cards, played bird songs and will do various bird-related activities daily, for a month. There will also be a “bird of the day,” including a picture of and life history for the bird, featured every day in class. Before each bird lesson, the teacher will show students birds and play bird songs and have the students write down which birds they think they are seeing/hearing. Time at the beginning of the lesson will also be dedicated to having students talk about the birds they saw at home and on the ride to and from School.

At the beginning of the month, all students will start out as birdwatcher. Each time a student identifies five birds they will become a different type of bird. The levels are: birder, naturalist, scientist and expert. Each week will end with a ceremony where students receive a flag depicting the level they have attained.

Finally, at the end of the month, the Bird Extravaganza: the Gathering of Feathered Nations will happen. Students will make a mask depicting their favorite bird. Students will wear their masks to a gathering of feathered nations, a celebration of birds and the students’ accomplishments. At the gathering, students will be given ribbon to put their flags together with so the flags can be displayed at home. Throughout the month, students will compile information about what birds eat and will compare what birds eat to human foods. Students will wear their masks to the gathering and eat foods inspired by birds. For example, berries, corn, bird nest cookies with chocolate eggs (see recipe), trail mix, cherries, oranges and granola. To mimic nectar teachers can serve simple syrup and ginger ale (sparkling water or lemonade can be substituted) drink (see recipe for Thimbleberry and rosemary simple syrup as an example). Red Kool-aid looks like commercial hummingbird nectar and can be used instead of simple syrup.

My hope is that this activity not only teaches students about birds, but inspires them to learn more about them. I also think this could be a fun activity to bring students together, and encourage a stronger connection to the world around them.

Thesis, projects and birding oh my!

2012-02-08T14:33:00.001-08:00

Oh I've had a jolly time birding and a pleasant (though not nearly as jolly) time working on my thesis proposal and big project. I've had a few gnarly conversations with members of the biology faculty at my school regarding indigenous peoples and traditional ecological knowledge and current conservation efforts. Thus I've got myself going in several directions research-wise but...i feel very okay with that. Further birding adventures have offered up great birds and wonderful times. I meet with my committee next week to discuss my proposal. I've got my fingers crossed that I get the "thumbs up." I am actively working on homework right now (despite my desire to not be) but felt compelled to post this song...its is adorable!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVQdC8YrrZI

I can't figure out how to post the video and quite frankly I don't have the time/desire to figure it out! Soon(ish) I shall post some of the great stuff I have for my collectory!

Birding Break

2012-01-25T16:59:00.000-08:00

Delightfully, I decided to take a break from the hussle, bussle and stress of the week to go birding. I've never wandered North Mtn. Park before and there have been white-throated sparrows reported there. Unfortunately I did not see any white-throated sparrows, I DID see many birds that I haven't seen in quite awhile (Fox Sparrow, Pine Siskin and a large flock of female/juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds to name a few). It was nice to be out and about. I then went to see my horse and on the way spotted an adult Golden Eagle on a telephone pole. Lovely!

I've decided on a thesis topic. I had narrowed the project down to three possible focal points (residential vs migratory bird response to playback, response to neighbor vs stranger songs, and response to overlap vs alternating song). Feeling completely unable to make a decision I made several slips of paper for each topic and drew one from a hat. Residential vs Migratory it is! Now to get this thesis proposal finalized!

Finally, my "big project" for one of my classes is about Birds (shocking, I know). This project will include notes about the birds I see in my daily life, thesis related papers and whatnot, anything I find in the media about birds, quotes from other people about birds in their lives and things of this nature. Kind of following a "Birds in our Daily Live" kind of theme. I'm calling it "Growing Up Bird." Which reminds me that I will probably write about the similarities between juvenile birds and humans (I see many of them!). Anyone out there interested in contributing your thoughts and experiences, whether daily or growing up, please leave a comment with your quote, story, etc. Thanks!

I've come to realize that my life is quite literally all about birds right now. The majority of my projects are about them, I'm birding regularly and my spare time is filled with thesis research/proposal writing. I'm certain I've never been happier!

Thesis Project woes

2012-01-17T18:58:00.001-08:00

I feel as though every time I talk about my thesis I feel more confused. Or like the project just keeps ballooning. Then shrinking. Then becoming something new. Something partially new, really. I've discovered that there isn't nearly as much research about Bewick's wren song/singing behavior as I'd like. That I will likely have to gather some baseline-type data myself (do they sing at dawn or dusk? do they have both type one and type two songs? what is their "normal" singing behavior?). There is talk about banding wrens to no for sure which birds I am monitoring. AND the coupe de grace is studying the effects of playback on the documented singing behavior. I can't tell if I've bitten off more than I can chew or not. What I do know is, I adore wrens, Bewick's wrens are not commonly nationwide and Bewick's wrens seem to be studied very little (outside of Donald Kroodsma who's PhD dissertation, from Oregon State, in the mid-70s involved Bewick's wrens at Finley NWR). Whew!

Klamath Basin/Shasta weekend

2012-01-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

Man, oh man! I took a break from the homework deluge (already) this weekend and headed to the Klamath Basin. The lakes were all predominantly ice and therefore the waterfowl birding was not quite what I'd hoped for. Still saw large flocks of snow and canada geese, some ross's geese, tundra swans and various ducks just not the size or variety I'm used to in the Klamath Basin. There were also many bald eagles, a juvenile golden eagle (hurray), rough-legged hawks, several loggerhead and northern shrikes (the first time I've seen a northern shrike!), a townsend's solitaire (also a first), cassin's finches, a great-horned owl and red crossbills (a first that I have been waiting most of my life for!). This is not a complete list, but an exciting list nevertheless. We hiked Captain Jack's Stronghold at sunset. We drove from Klamath Falls to Weed, a side of Shasta I've never seen. I find the Klamath Basin/Mt Shasta/Lava Beds part of this region to be so amazing. Breathtaking. A wonderful way to start the year/term. Here's to a year of great birding!

"Collectory"

2012-01-12T01:39:00.000-08:00

The "big project" for one of my classes is to be a collection of something we are interested in, related to our "subject" and related to adolescent development. Logically I have decided to work on collecting bits and pieces about birds (I basically have a collectory at home of bird-related "stuff"). I'm not sure how to relate this to adolescent development, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Additionally, I discovered that I have to pay $2 EACH for Interlibrary Loan journal articles. This could be expensive as SOU doesn't subscribe to a great deal of the journals I need access to for my thesis. I still haven't heard from one of the professors that agreed to be a member of my thesis committee. I've got to track him down this week. I also still need to find a third (or forth) member. It has been recommended that I contact the ornithologist at the USFWS Forensics Lab in Ashland. I'd be pretty excited if he agreed to be on my committee. I've also greatly refined my project (I think) and am feeling more excited about things overall. Also, more concerned about time, timing and things of that nature. Ah well, the life of a graduate student!

Winter Term 2012

2012-01-08T22:57:00.000-08:00

Today, the last day of winter break, finds me thinking about the coming months. About the mountains of homework. Of art I'm sure I'll want to create. Of the birding I will do for fun and for my thesis. Here I am, one being, alone in this world. Content to just be me. Hoping for so much.

While recently in Eugene, I saw the largest female red-tailed hawk I've ever seen. This seems like a good sign to me. Of what, I am not sure. Sanity. Success in school. Continued happiness in being alone. Whatever it is, I delighted by the discovery!

Slumber Party

2011-12-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

At 31 years old I had a slumber party with my 3 year old niece and my 2 year old nephew at my sister's house. We ate homemade pad thai (my favorite!) for dinner, followed by popcorn and ice cream while watching "Elf." Possibly one of the most fun nights I've had in a while. We woke up to fresh coffee cake (for the vegans) and crepes (for the non-vegans). My niece told her mom "Hey, you're supposed to be gone" when she saw my sister in the kitchen. When it came time for me to leave my niece and nephew were so disappointed that I wasn't staying with them another night. I'm sure my brother-in-law thought it was silly, but I'm quite thankful for the adventures.

Mountains

2011-12-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

I went into the mountains today, to find trees for decorating the houses of my parents and each of my sisters. Five dogs and four kids later I feel full of joy. The dogs were good (mine even listened the whole time!) and the kids full of laughter. We talked about trees and rocks and lichen and moss. We often talk about birds too, but I'm certain the altitude and the ruckus kept any birds in the area at bay. The lack of snow did not dampen spirits, though sledding is certainly more fun than playing in the dirt. Perhaps the snows will come soon enough for a family outing before Winter Term starts again. Being an auntie is one of the greatest joys in my life. Sharing my love for birds and nature the icing on the cake.

Snowy Owl Adventure

2011-12-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful birding adventure I embarked upon yesterday. People have been seeing a snowy owl in Albany and a mountain plover near Corvallis, for several days now. I am generally not a "seeker" of birds. I see what I see wherever I am and am happy with that. But...I have always wanted to see a snowy. Over the summer I decided that I would go to their "normal" Oregon winter hangouts. Then, it turns out it is an irruption year for snowies, with larger numbers of them coming further south than in a typical year. Albany is about four hours from Ashland, but I didn't care. My post Fall Term of Graduate School celebration would be going to find the Albany Snowy Owl. A friend from the cohort came along and we met my birding compatriot in Eugene. After some delicious baked goods at Sweet Life we headed west/northwest on hwy 99W, toward Corvallis. The mountain plover was off of a road near one of my favorite wildlife refuges, Finley Wildlife Refuge, in a large field. Once we selected the right field it took mere minutes to spot the plover, but it was not alone. A winter plumed black-bellied plover was hanging out with it. Not my first black-bellied, but a wonderful surprise either way! We then headed to find the snowy in Albany. It was amazing how easy the snowy was to spot, in the large green field it was hanging out in. Particularly compared to finding the mountain plover (brown in a brown field). I know that snowies are big, but nothing I've read, no photos that I've seen, prepared me for how big and how wonderful snowies are in person. The bird was clearly a female, based on the amount of black barring on its chest. We watched him for quite a while, moving slowly away from us in short bouts of gliding. After a bit we drove to a road that took us closer to the snowy. The highlight of watching the snowy was having it fly toward us, land, look to the north, glide up, gracefully drop to the ground and bounce back up into the air with a large rodent in its talons. Of course, watching the owl swallow the rodent whole was even more delightful! Pizza Research Institute pizza after birding rounded out the delightful adventure. Happy birding.

Extended weekend

2011-11-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend is a four day weekend. While not having a schedule to constrain my life is wonderful, I have many projects due in the coming week. Thus, my weekend is not nearly as full of relaxation as I'd like. My winter break will be similarly structured with gift making, thesis proposal writing and PhD professor seeking on the agenda. Hopefully, there will be enough snow for a little snowshoeing too.

Its winter and I have, once again, become very self-reflective. I think this graduate program is helping with this process. I've always loved teaching, but I'm learning more and more about the places I do not want to teach in. I'm also realizing that I truly love natural resources and conservation. Understanding how we interact with the world around us and what we can do to preserve nature. Research is a must in my future. I've also come to realize that meetings really are just not my "thing," particularly inefficient and unproductive meetings. I don't need to have meetings about meetings, I need to have meetings about progressing forward with decisions and what-not.

Anyway, I'm off to an Environmental Education Holiday Potluck. Enjoy your weekend!

Snow Day

2011-11-21T11:16:00.001-08:00

My dog loves the snow so yesterday I hiked up the mountain behind my house, hoping to find snow for her. We found a couple of inches at the higher elevations, making for a wonderful way to start the day. On the hike back down the mountain an adult red-tailed hawk and a raven circled over head for a short portion of the hike. In that moment I felt so happy, and so lucky to be alive. To live where I live. To be so completely happy to "just" watch birds. A lovely morning indeed!

Thesis Project

2011-11-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, all you birders out there, I have a favor to ask of you. My thesis project has changed quite a bit from my original idea. In its current form the project is "The Effects of Birder Use of Playback on Bewick's Wrens and Song Sparrow." In putting together the methods for this section I have come across some question that I cannot answer myself. How do birders use playback? What time of day are most birders out birding? Where do most birders acquire the songs they use for playback? What kind of equipment do most birders use when they use playback? If you, or anyone you know, uses playback, or if you have suggestions or thoughts on these questions, please let me know. Any assistance you can provide will be much appreciated! Cheers!

Fall Term

2011-11-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

Man, oh man, this term has been hectic! Between class, work, my thesis proposal and planning meetings for the fall outdoor education program that my cohort will be putting on next fall I seem to have little time to stop and think. Or blog for that matter. I've never been in Ashland for more than a day trip, so this fall has been interesting. The irrigation ditch is now dry. The neighborhood bears and foxes hang out closer to my house (both leaving scat behind and the foxes talk a lot!). During the peak of fall migration there were hundreds of swallows performing their aerial acrobatics over Ashland. Turkey vultures also gathered over Ashland before heading south. In one day I counted over 40, and that was after I finally gave up and just stared up at their thermally soaring silhouettes. Now the white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows hang out in the bushes around town and the winter flocks of black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets and golden-crowned kinglets have come down from the higher elevations. There are occasional flocks of bushtits and every now and then I hear a brown creeper. Moments of reflection on the cycles of life, circadian rhythms and changes both in my life, self and the nature around me are wonderful distractions from the bustle that my life has become.

Reflections on summer as autumn begins

2011-09-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

This has been one of those summers that didn't turn out at all as I had planned. I didn't hike as much, or bird as much, as I wanted to. Or camp as much for that matter. I did make it to Yellowstone, a center of geothermal activity that I have wanted to see for the better part of 30 years. What an amazing place. I didn't have nearly long enough there and at some point I'd like to go back and backpack/hike the back country. While in Yellowstone I saw the largest elk I have ever seen, it literally seemed the size of a small buffalo, being stalked by a lone black wolf. I've longed to see a wolf in the wild since they first started the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone so I was delighted beyond belief at the sighting. There were also sandhill cranes in some of the grasslands of Yellowstone. Sandhill cranes are one of those birds that I never see enough of, likely in part because I don't live where the cranes live. On the way home from Yellowstone there was a stop at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, yet another place I've always wanted to visit. This one is much closer to home than Yellowstone and after having been there I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to go. There were white-faced ibis there, a bird I've always wanted to see but never make it to the Klamath NWR at the right time of year to find. There were hundreds of ibis foraging in the shallow waters of the refuge! While at MNWR I also saw a loggerhead shrike (I've missed them since my time in Boardman), common nighthawk, bank swallows, black-necked stilts and a myriad of other birds that I don't commonly see. I've always adored yellow-headed blackbirds. Before MNWR I'd only ever seen a handful, if that. At the refuge they were everywhere, it was amazing! I've also never been somewhere when swallows are staging for the flight south. They certainly seem to use MNWR as a staging sight. Along one stretch of road, perched on the powerlines, there were close to 1,000 swallows (mostly bank but also violet-greens, cliff and barn swallows). Just amazing. When I got back from the trip I was finally unemployed, in between terms and had nowhere specific to be, nothing specific to do. Needless to say I have actually been relaxing for the last few weeks. I hike or walk often but as I have my dog with me normally I don't see nearly as many birds as I'd like to see. I've been camping a few times. Finished unpacking my boxes. I also put together a rough draft for my thesis proposal (okay, a VERY rough draft), which is due at the end of fall term. If I'm approved I'll be studying the effects of recreation on grassland birds. I'm not sure where or if I'll be looking at specific birds or not, these things will unravel themselves in time. Ultimately, the downtime has been very good for me. The last year has been busy and often emotional so...it is nice to just sit and process. Here's to the changing of the seasons and to many more blogs about birds (well, I hope anyway!).

photos!

2011-07-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

barred owl

northern spotted owl

Photos from www.owlpictures.com.

Northern spotted owls, barred owls and forest management

2011-07-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

In the local paper they recently mentioned that a plan has been created that involves removing barred owls from all northern spotted owl habitat via lethal measures. The reasoning behind this planned seemed to be mostly presumption and conjecture. Wanting to know more about the impact barred owls are having on northern spotted owls and the reasoning behind the plan I wrote about this issue for my Environmental Issues class presentation. What I discovered is that there isn't much scientific evidence that barred owls are to blame for the northern spotted owl population declines. Loss of habitat leading up to the northern spotted owl's listing under the Endangered Species Act is the main culprit but there are all manner of other confounding factors. The paper follows.

Northern Spotted Owls vs. Barred Owls: Interspecific Complications, the Endangered Species Act and Management Implications

The Situation

One of the greatest conservation and land use debates, in the Pacific Northwest, in the last two decades has been the listing of the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentals caurina) as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. The 1990 listing of the northern spotted owl lead to a 90% decrease in logging on 24 million acres of federal lands, managed by both the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), over the last twenty years. This decrease in timber harvest lead to an economic collapse in many parts of the Pacific Northwest, particularly Oregon, as private mills and timber companies had to close their doors.

The northern spotted owl is a small brown owl with white mottling or spots that hide it well in the dense canopies of late-successional forests, also favored by timber companies, that are found in their geographic range. Various studies conducted in the 1980s indicate that habitat is a limiting factor in the survivability of northern spotted owls and as such must be conserved in order to ensure the survival of the species. The 1990s-era closure of much of the late-successional forests of the Pacific Northwest ensured the habitat would be available for the expansion of northern spotted owl populations. Despite the availability of habitat northern spotted owl numbers continue to decrease by three times the rate of decrease noted at the time of listing.

Concurrent with the decrease in northern spotted owl numbers scientists have noted an increase in the numbers of barred owls found in the Pacific Northwest. The barred owl (Strix varia varia) is a cousin of the northern spotted owl and originally found east of the Great Plains, from Maine to Florida. There are many theories as to how and why the barred owl arrived in the west. These theories include an increase in the number of small stands of trees in the Great Plains, increasing summer temperatures creating a more ideal temperature range in the boreal forests of Canada, increased fire suppression efforts and changing forest dynamics due to timber harvests. Regardless of the reason that barred owl range expanded west their ability to live in diverse habitats, eat a diversity of prey species, their more aggressive nature and 20% larger size allows them to outcompete northern spotted owls for habitat and food.

In 2007 resource managers began proposing barred owl elimination programs in an effort to combat the interspecific competition happening between barred and northern spotted owls. These programs call for the shooting of hundreds of barred owls in the Pacific Northwest and have been met with significant opposition from the scientific community and the general public. Many scientists agree that controlled barred owl elimination studies could provide helpful in determining the overall impact that barred owls are having on northern spotted owl populations but a large scale culling would be time consuming, could be expensive and would have to be regularly maintained in order to have lasting impacts.

Background Information

· In 1973 the ESA was passed. This allowed for the designation of species as either endangered or threatened, defining endangered as a species “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range” and threatened species as “a species likely to become endangered.” Under Section 4 of the ESA allows for subspecies, such as the northern spotted owl, to be listed as a threatened or endangered “species,” allow the same level of protection as is given a species and requires both a Recovery Plan and Critical Habitat Designation to be created for all listed species (Stanford Environmental Law Society, 2001).

· The Interagency Scientific Committee to Address the Conservation of the Northern Spotted Owl (ISC) found that northern spotted owls select habitat with a relatively closed canopy, a variety of vegetation layers with a diversity of canopy species dominated by large overstory trees, large trees with broken tops or cavities, the presence of large snags, large logs and woody debris on the forest floor and openings within and beneath the canopy. These habitat attributes are typically found in mature late-successional forest but can be found in younger mid-successional forests that retain either several individual large trees or small stands of large trees from the original late-successional stand (Thomas, Forsman, Lint, et al, 1990).

· At the time of listing, all the studies of Spotted Owl habitat use concluded that owls select old forests or younger forests that have retained characteristics of old forests. Studies published since the ESA listing decision provide additional support that habitat selection is significantly nonrandom (Noon and Blakesley, 2006).

· Barred owls were first sighted west of the Rocky Mountains in 1912, in southern Alberta, Canada (Levy, 2004).

· Northern spotted owl populations have continued to decline since the 1990s, despite being listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act and habitat conservation efforts. Scientists are uncertain as to why this decline isn’t reversing.

· Weather and climate can impact northern spotted owl reproduction, recruitment, annual survival and population growth rates. Increasing drought conditions and increased precipitation during nesting season will likely negatively affect northern spotted owl populations (Glenn, Anthony and Forsman, 2010).

· Interspecific hybridization between barred owls and northern owls, creating offspring called “sparred owls” occurs in some instances. These instances often occur in areas that barred owls have recently invaded and are therefore less common than northern spotted owls or in areas where northern spotted owls have become rare and barred owls are common.

· There are many examples of multiple owl species coexisting in the same habitat. These species are typically from different genera and are successful in coexisting due to interspecific differences in behavior (Gutierrez, et al.; 2006).

· Owls exhibit reverse sexual dimorphism; females are larger than males.

· Barred owls from the Strix varia sartorii subspecies and spotted owls from the Strix occidentalis lucida subspecies have a sympatric relationship in Mexico. S. v. sartorii is the largest subspecies of barred owl and S. o. lucida is the smallest subspecies of spotted owl. The difference in mass of these species is a factor of two, a ratio that facilitates coexistence. The northern spotted owl S. o. caurina and the northern-most subspecies of barred owl S. v. varia differ in mass by a factor of 1.8, a number that statistically seems to support competition between species (Gutierrez, et al.; 2006).

· Genetic bottlenecks have been detected in many populations of northern spotted owls. These bottlenecks create situations of inbreeding depression that could decrease the rate of reproduction and an increase in population decline. A decline in genetic variability combined with competition with and exclusion by barred owls, climate change and habitat loss may be confounding factors in the efforts to save the northern spotted owl from extinction (Funk, et al.; 2009).

· From 1994-2003, northern spotted owl populations declined by 7.5% per year throughout northern ranges and 2% per year throughout their southern ranges (Rapp; 2008).

· Timber harvest on federal lands has occurred at only about 54% of the amount allowed under the Northwest Forest Plan (Rapp; 2008).

· Fire suppression in areas where fires are a normal part of the ecosystem, for example in the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion, can put northern spotted owls at greater risk of habitat loss because of the build up of fuels.

· About 59% of spotted owl habitat occurs on federal lands (Rapp; 2008).

· According to the 10-year review of the Northwest Forest Plan the wood products industry employment has dropped by 70% since the implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan, due in part to the lower than expected number of boardfeet of timber harvested.

· In areas where barred owl numbers are the highest and time since invasion has been the longest spotted owl numbers have decreased by 20-25% (Wiens, Anthony and Forsman; 2011).

· The high cost of putting together a timber sale due to the required surveys (spotted owl and various other wildlife surveys) and potential lawsuits has contributed greatly to the greater reduction in logging that required by the Northwest Forest Plan and northern spotted owl Habitat Conservation Plan.

· A recovery plan for the northern spotted owl was drafted in 1992 but was never signed because of the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994. In 2008 the US Fish and Wildlife Service issued a recovery plan for the northern spotted owl. After pressure from scientists and a court challenge of the recovery plan the Service filed for a voluntary remand of the plan, filing a Revised Recovery Plan in 2010. The final Revised Recovery Plan was released June 30, 2011.

· The Revised Recovery Plan will likely increase timber harvest in spotted owl habitat as the USFWS recommends “ecological forestry” management that allows for thinning in late-successional ecosystems that northern spotted owls are found in (USFWS; 2011).

Literature Cited and Bibliography

Buchanan, J.B., R.J. Gutierrez, R.G. Anthony, T. Cullinan, L.V. Diller, E.D. Forsman, A.B. Franklin. 2007. A synopsis of suggested approaches to address potential competitive interactions between Barred Owls (Strix varia) and Spotted Owls (S. occidentalis). Biological Invasions 9:679-691.

Funk, W.C., E.D. Forsman, M. Johnson, T.D. Mullins and S.M. Haig. 2010. Evidence for recent population bottlenecks in northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina). Conservation Genetics 11:1013-1021.

Glenn, E.M., R.G. Anthony and E.D. Forsman. 2010. Population trends in northern spotted owls: Associations with climate in the Pacific Northwest. Biological Conservation 143:2543-2552.

Gutierrez, R.J, M. Cody, S. Courtney and A.B. Franklin. 2006. The invasion of barred owls and its potential effect on the spotted owl: a conservation conundrum.

Levy, S. 2004. Native Incursions: Avian Range Expansions imperil Threatened Species. Bioscience 54:94-98.

Rapp, V. 2008. Northwest Forest Plan— The First 10 Years (1994–2003):

First-Decade Results of the Northwest Forest Plan. USDA General Technical Report PNW-GTR-720. Pacific Northwest Experimental Station, US Forest Service. Portland, OR.

Stanford Environmental Law Society. 2001. The Endangered Species Act. Stanford University Press, Standford, California.

Thomas, J.W., E.D. Forsman, J.B. Lint, E.C. Meslow, B.B. Noon and J. Verner. 1990. A Conservation Strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl. USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Parks Service. Portland, Oregon.

US Fish and Wildlife Service. 2011. Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). Region 1 US Fish and Wildlife Service. Portland, OR.

Wiens, J.D., R.G. Anthony and E.D. Forsman. 2011. Barred Owl Occupancy Surveys within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl. Journal of Wildlife Management 75(3):531-538.

Related Environmental Issues

1. Climate Change

2. Fire management and fire regimes (fire suppression, altered regimes, etc)

3. Congressional efforts to eliminate or decrease the effectiveness or “power” of the Endangered Species Act and the implications of these efforts on northern spotted owls.

4. Unsustainable (non-ecologically sound) forestry management practices

5. Exponentially expanding human population/carrying capacity of humans

6. Clear-cutting on private land

7. Management of native species vs. endangered native species

Actions and Proposals for Action

There are a variety of actions being proposed by various groups, agencies or organizations. Many timber companies are claiming that barred owls have been to blame for the spotted owl decline all along and are advocating for increased timber harvests in mature or late-successional forests in the northern spotted owl’s geographic range. Some forest managers have suggested eliminating barred owls from spotted owl habitats, while scientists prefer the idea of experimental removal, as not enough is understood about interspecific interactions between barred owls and spotted owls. Still other scientists, conservationists and members of the general public advocate for no action under the premise that barred owls are a native species and that it is natural for shifts in species to occur.

Author’s Position

The majority of information present explores northern spotted owls and habitat use or influences of habitat. Barred owl interactions with northern spotted owl populations have become a popular topic of study in the last five years. Based on the available science more research needs to be done in terms of how barred owls are affecting northern spotted owl populations and what other factors are confounding recovery efforts. One research area should be climate/weather as climate change or shift occurs researchers, conservationists and land managers could see further decreases in northern spotted owl numbers. Another area of study that will be important is the specifics of interspecies interactions that barred owls and northern spotted owls experience. Small scale experimental control of barred owl populations in northern spotted owl habitat will provide researchers with the information they need to assess the threat from barred owls to spotted owl recovery. The actions that should not be taken are increasing timber harvesting (aside from some thinning of areas that are in need of thinning to promote forest health), large scale removal of barred owls from spotted owl habitat and the “no action” action. Drastic measures are almost always ill-advised, particularly in manners of wildlife or land management.

Graduate School

2011-07-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

Graduate School has "officially" started, though it started in June for me in actuality. The two classes I am currently taking are "Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment" through the College of Education and "Environmental Issues" through the Biology Department. The education class is going to be a bit rough but that is because state standards are appalling and a tad hard for me to wrap my brain around. I am willing to acknowledge that standards will not some how equalize the playing field intellectually but rather create problems for youth at both ends of the learning spectrum. I have to come up with an environmental issue to write about for the environmental issues class. The scads of possible topics make this a rough decision but I really do need to make it by 1400 hours tomorrow. I've started talking/thinking thesis too. My interests are so varied and my mind is not always a focused mind so this process is a little daunting right now. Anyway, I'll post on here as often as I can. Currently I'm trying to unpack, work in the community garden and attend graduate school so I will not likely be posting again for a few weeks. Cheers to you all. Enjoy the sunshine and birds (particularly as the little ones are fledging and oh so funny to watch!)!

Yurok and California condor paper.

2011-07-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the California condor: Bringing the Condor Home to Yurok Tribal Homelands

Teresa Wicks

SSPC 507

June 16, 2011

In the time since European contact, Indigenous peoples of North America have witnessed the decline or extinction of many species of plants and animals that they depend on for both physical and spiritual sustenance. In the early 1900s, as destruction of “untamed” nature continued to expand west, unregulated some Euro-Americans began advocating for the preservation, conservation or restoration of species, resources and ecosystems. Despite positive efforts on behalf of the ecosystem, these early naturalists continued the dehumanization of First Nations peoples by leaving them out of the conservation conversation and by perpetuating the idea that areas uninfluenced by Euro-Americans are uninfluenced by humans in general.

In an effort alleviate environmental problems, resource managers turned to western science, once again ignoring the very peoples that originated from this land. In “Indian Givers” Jack Weatherford makes the astute observation that First Nations peoples were scientists before there were scientists. They have an intricate understanding of the land around them and how all things are connected and through this connection affected each other. There have been many reintroduction and restoration projects that have used western science, excluding traditional ecological knowledge held by the people that lived here since time immemorial. The Ecological Society of America, in the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) section of their journal, defines TEK as “[a]daptive ecological knowledge developed through an intimate reciprocal relationship between a group of people and a particular place over time” (Ecological Society of America, 2010). The Alaska Native Science Commission lists these bullets in their definition of TEK:

• It is practical common sense based on teachings and experiences passed on from generation to generation.

• It is knowing the country. It covers knowledge of the environment - snow, ice, weather, resources - and the relationships between things.

• It is holistic. It cannot be compartmentalized and cannot be separated from the people who hold it. It is rooted in the spiritual health, culture and language of the people. It is a way of life.

• Traditional knowledge is an authority system. It sets out the rules governing the use of resources - respect, an obligation to share. It is dynamic, cumulative and stable. It is truth.

• Traditional knowledge is a way of life -wisdom is using traditional knowledge in good ways. It is using the heart and the head together. It comes from the spirit in order to survive.

• It gives credibility to the people.

There is a growing awareness of and interest in the value of TEK among western scientists. Unfortunately, this interest often only extends to cultural heritage, ignoring the inherent knowledge that TEK offers. Additionally, “the current regulations and practices in many regimes still do not provide effective formal mechanisms for the integration of TEK into active management” (Menzies and Butler, 2006). TEK is a highly detailed, specific set of knowledge about a specific place, meaning it is difficult to extrapolate the knowledge from on place to another. In the view of many western scientists this decreases the effectiveness or value of TEK. In reality, this specificity emphasizes the importance of gathering TEK from as many areas, about as many management practices and about as many species as possible.

In the case of the California condor TEK will play a vital role not only in understanding the traditional range of the condor but in creating a long lasting reintroduction plan that takes into account the condors historical range and habitat and the cultural importance of the condor.

California condors, Gymnogyps californianus, are the largest terrestrial birds in North America, with a wingspan of 9.5 feet, occasionally reaching 10-12 feet, and weigh between 18 and 23 pounds. Condors are scavengers using their keen eyesight to live off of carrion, which they will fly up to 140 miles to gorge themselves upon. Contrary to popular myth condors cannot pick up and carry off small children or livestock, in fact they “have never been known to kill a live animal” and are ill equipped to do so as they lack talons and the ripping/tearing predatorial beaks of other birds of prey (Foster, 2011).

California condors are found in open scrubland or wooded mountain ecosystems. They require cliff-side caves or crevices or hollow, broken top redwoods. Condors have low reproductive potential, laying only one egg every other year. Chicks generally remain with their parents into the second year after hatching. Similar to other large North American birds California condors do not reach sexual maturity until they reach six years of age, though they are often not successful until they reach eight years of age, and are monogamous, mating for life (Yurok Tribe 2010).

Geographically California condors once ranged across most of the North American continent. About 11,000 years ago, when the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions occurred the condor lost major sources of food and their range dwindled to the west coast, from British Columbia to Baja, California. By the mid-1900’s condors were found only in southern California (Yurok Tribe, 2010; Foster, 2011). In terms of numbers by 1977 there were only 45 wild birds, slipping to only nine wild birds by 1985. On April 19, 1987 the last wild California condors were captured and placed in captivity. At that point there were 27 living California condors left in the world, all of them in captivity (Foster, 2011). With such an extensive history on the North American continent, and with plenty of ideal condor habitat remaining the precipitous drop in condor numbers was puzzling, that is until human interactions were taken into account.

California condors are highly revered by many First Nations tribes in the Pacific Northwest and California. Condors are often considered world purifiers because of their natural role cleaning up death and decomposition. “Traditional ecological knowledge expressed through original languages, stories, place-names, material artifacts and dance all highlight the significance of condors in the ancient indigenous cultural context of the Northwest” (Oregon Zoo, 2005). An archeological dig at Five Mile Rapids, near The Dalles, OR unearthed 10,000 year-old remains of at least 22 adult condors. There is evidence that the feathers from these birds had been intentionally stripped, likely for ceremonial purposes (Wilbur, 2010). Condor feathers played an important part in the Jump Dance and White Deer Skin Dance world renewal ceremonies held at the end of summer by the Yuroks in northern California. The Wiyot, also of northern California, considered condor feathers an important part of their doctoring regalia. Tribes throughout the San Francisco Bay area of California made whistles out of condor wing bones, wore condor capes and ritually buried condors (Foster, 2011; Walter, 2009; Wilbur, 2010). While there is a plethora of evidence that many tribes killed condors for their plumage or raised young condors for eventual sacrifice condor populations appear to have been stable until the arrival of European settlers in the mid-1800’s (Wilbur, 2010).

There is evidence that as early as the mid-1700’s Euro-Americans killed condors for “science” or museum collections but it wasn’t until western tribes were virtually eradicated or removed from their traditional lands that condor numbers began to decline. Private collectors and museums from around the world wanted both adult and young California condor skins and eggs for their displays, encouraging unregulated hunting of condors. Ranchers and farmers mistakenly believed that condors would kill their livestock or carry off their children, leading to the further shooting of condors. Ranchers also laced livestock carcasses with strychnine in order to kill coyotes, wolves and condors. Possibly even more damaging than the direct human effects were the indirect Euro-American effects (Wilbur, 2010).

These effects include the thinning of condor eggshells, causing them to break under the weight of incubating parents, from DDT and DDE (a pervasive chemical derived from the breakdown of DDT) used in pesticides after World War II. Another indirect effect is lead poisoning caused by the consumption of lead shot left in carcasses or gut piles by hunters in condor territory (Walter, 2009; Grube, 2009). Thus, much like the First Nation tribes that revere them, the California condor is a victim of both intentional destruction and thoughtless actions on the part of Euro-Americans.

In 1987, several agencies, including U.S. Forest Service, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, Oregon Zoo, California Department of Fish and Game, the Peregrine Fund, Ventana Wildlife Society, the Center for Scientific Investigation and Graduate Studies in Ensenada, La Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAP), National Park Service at Pinnacles National Monument, Santa Barbara Zoo, the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, gathered together to attempt to right the wrongs inflicted on the California condor, in the form of a condor recovery program. In 1992 the first 11 captive bred condors were released from their “training facility.” Since 1992, the number of captive and wild condors has increased to 322 birds, about 172 are living in the wild.

The interesting thing about the current condor recovery program is that it is only attempting to reintroduce California condors to Arizona, near the Grand Canyon, in a few locations in southern California and in Baja California, Mexico. None of these programs seem to include TEK or the interest of tribes that live in former condor habitat. This changed in 2008 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted the Yurok $200,000 to determine the feasibility of reintroducing California condors in northern California.

The journey to bring the condor back to northern California began sometime around 2005 when the Yurok began discussing the creation of a wildlife preserve on tribal lands. In a 2009 interview, Tiana Williams, tribal member and staff member with the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife program, is quoted as saying “It’s written in the Yurok constitution, and it’s always been one of our goals, to have restoration of Yurok ancestral territory — the landscape, the animals — to what it was pre-contact with Europeans” (Walters, 2009). The California condor was chosen as one of the top three species tribal elders would like to see reintroduced, coming in third to salmon and sturgeon. Salmon and sturgeon already have programs in place, thus the California condor became the flagship species for the Yurok’s fledgling wildlife program. An interesting aspect of the condor being the first species reintroduce to Yurok homelands is that the Yurok view condors as purifiers, cleansing the world (Grube, 2009).

About 20 years before the tribe began this endeavor, as they began reviving traditional ceremonies, a Pecwan elder sang a condor song. This was the first time that tribal members had heard the song, leaving many members wondering what happened to the condor. Yurok tribal member Bob McConnell says “We as Yurok are looking to restore our culture, and to restore our culture we need to have a healthy ecosystem. And to have a healthy ecosystem you’ve got to have all the participants, and the condor certainly was one. He’s one of the big missing pieces” (Walters 2009).

Today, the Yurok use a combination of TEK and western science in planning for the return of the condor. TEK, and a deep cultural appreciation for condors, inspired the Yurok Tribe to dream of seeing condors flying over their homelands once more. Tribal wildlife managers use intimate, local knowledge of condor natural history to establish survey areas. In these areas they live trap turkey vultures, carrion eating cousins of the condor, using large mesh and PVC enclosures and carrion as bait. Once trapped the turkey vultures are given a thorough examination and their blood is drawn and tested for lead, DDE and DDT. Northern ravens are also being drawn into the research mix. They eat a diet more varied than the condors but similarly do not migrate, unlike turkey vultures, which winter south of the border (Grube, 2009).

As it stands today the Yurok have confirmed that DDT and DDE levels will not pose a barrier for California condors. Unfortunately lead, from lead shot, still poses a problem for condor reintroduction. Lead shot has been banned in many, if not all, areas where condors are found but hunters still use it and condors are still poisoned by it. Diligent condor recovery team members capture poisoned condors and take them into captivity for chelation (the removal of lead from their blood). The removal of lead shot from condor territory seems like a small hurdle but in reality it has been one of the greatest challenges for condor recovery (Peregrine Fund, 2008; Zoological Society of San Diego, 2011).

The ambitious efforts of the Yurok Tribe have inspired other tribes in California and the Pacific Northwest to dream of seeing California condors in their skies once again. The Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation have partnered with the Oregon Zoo to sponsor the zoo’s condor breeding program and The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have spoken publicly about bringing condors back to Oregon (Oregon Zoo, 2005). The Yurok Tribe’s condor reintroduction program showcases the value of TEK to natural resources conservation, preservation, restoration and management. This condor program also pairs western science and TEK in a blend that could, and should, inspire leaders from tribes, non-profits, government agencies and other non-governmental organizations. In keeping with TEK, honoring their traditional connection to condors and maintaining and managing the place of humans in the natural world the Yurok Tribe are regaining some of the balance that the tribe and the natural world they live in lost with the coming of Euro-Americans. By combining western scientific methods and tools with TEK, the Yurok have created a complete reintroduction system for the California condor, giving hope to tribes throughout traditional condor range, that one day they will get to once again watch California condors drifting on thermals, searching for carrion and cleansing, purifying and restoring balance to the world.

References

Foster, John W. 2011. Wings of the Spirit: The Place of the California Condor Among Native Peoples of the Californias. California State Parks. Available at: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23527. Accessed June 19, 2011.

Grube, Nicholas. 2009. Bringing Back Condors. The Daily Triplicate. May 9, 2009. Pp B1-B2. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/government/selfgovern/documents/triplicate_condor.pdf. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Oregon Zoo. 2005. History. Oregon Zoo’s California Condors. Available at: http://www.oregonzoo.org/Condors/historyOral.htm. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Peregrine Fund. California Condor Restoration—Conservation Projects. Updated 2008 Available at: http://www.peregrinefund.org/conserve_category.asp?category=California%20Condor%20Restoration. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Walters, Heidi. 2009. Fixing the World. The North Coast Journal. July 16, 2009. Available at: http://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/2009/07/16/fixing-world/6/. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Weatherford, Jack. 1988. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas transformed the World. New York: Crown Books. Paperback edition: New York: Ballantine, 1989.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Chapter 1: Condors and Indians. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Chapter 2: Early Birds. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Introduction: Condor 101. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Yurok Today. 2009. Flight of the Prey-go-Neesh. Yurok Today. Pp. 3-4. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/news&issues/news/documents/march_newsletter_Yuroktribe.pdf. Accessed 20, 2011.

Yurok Tribe. 2010. The Yurok Tribe Condor Program. Updated 2010. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/government/selfgovern/condorhistory.htm. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Zoological Society of San Diego. California Condor Recovery Program. Updated 2011. Available at: http://cacondorconservation.org/programs/. Accessed June 18, 2011.

Life has been busy!

2011-07-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

So it has been quite some time since I last blogged. I have been birding, hiking, running the community garden, camping, trying to get my move to Ashland, OR organized and educating myself. In June I took a week long class about Native American Cultures taught by David West, of Potawatomi descent, and David West, a Wasco man from the Warm Springs Reservation. This class was extraordinarily insightful and I feel my perspectives and perceptions expanding. For this class I wrote a paper about California Condors and the Yurok efforts to restore the condor to their lands, with a history of the condor and their importance to tribes from the Columbia River to southern California. It is interesting to me that the condor and the tribes' fates have been fairly linked considering condors were so sacred to so many tribes. It is also interesting to me that despite my appetite for bird information I had no idea that California condors once flew over the majority of the continent. Or that even after white Euro-Americans arrived in the Americas that condors flew over the western edge of the continent from British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico. Amazing things we can learn when we allow the people the originated on this continent to speak their knowledge. Their truth. When we allow them to be part of the conversation, history, plan, etc., rather than treating them as outsiders or eliminating them by dehumanizing them. My mind reels as I write this. Blogging will possibly continue being sparse for a bit as I will be living in two places, attending graduate classes and driving across the country and back in a salute to the end of summer and the beginning of a new chapter of my life. Enjoy your summer!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this picture is not mine. Click here for more information about this picture.

Man, life has become quite busy these past few weeks! Today I took my mother and grandmother birdwatching on Bolt Mountain (home to Fish Hatchery Park only on the BLM portion of the mountain). It was an excellent day for birding! It started out great with an ash-throated flycatcher sighting almost immediately into the trip. Then the wind started picking up making birding-by-ear virtually impossible. Finally, it started raining. Then, as spring rains will do in Southern Oregon, as suddenly as the rain started it stopped. We hiked for about 1.5 miles before grandma needed to turn around (the trail is at about a 12% grade). Before she turned around we heard many orange-crowned, black-throated grey and yellow warblers, black-capped chickadees and American robins. Needless to say we talked a bit too much to hear (or see) much else.

After she and my mother turned around I headed off trail toward a long abandoned osprey nest. Well, not so much abandoned as partially destroyed by a wind storm and finally so broken down the osprey moved on. To the north of the phenomenal snag that this nest sits in, directly uphill, is an old "fort" that my grandfather built to sit in while deer hunting. My senior year in high school I climbed up to the fort almost everyday to watch the osprey courting, nesting and then raising their young. I recorded my observations as part of a senior project. Alas, I digress...as I neared the nest I heard a bird to the northeast that I was not familiar with. I have been casually birding in Fish Hatchery Park for almost half my life now and so hearing a bird that I was unfamiliar with up there was rather shocking. After a good fifteen minutes of "stalking" the bird, following its call through the brush trying to pinpoint the source, I caught a flash of white in a Ceanothus cuneatus, or buckbrush. I quickly brought my binoculars to my eyes but was too late, the bird had disappeared to another bush. At least I knew I was in the right area! Then the bird darted out of its hiding place and was joined by a second of the same bird. When I got my binoculars on them I knew instantly that I was seeing a pair of blue-grey gnatcatchers! The last time I saw blue-grey gnatcatchers was in early summer of 2000, in Orange County, CA where I was working on a bird banding internship for the Institute for Bird Populations. I know that they are uncommonly seen on the Table Rocks in Jackson County but I've never heard of them being in Josephine County. After watching the birds for a good fifteen minutes I headed up to the fort where I sat, enjoying the sun and looking out over the Applegate River. Finally, realizing that I still needed to get some things for making Mother's Day dinner I headed home. On the way down I spotted two male western tanagers, one immature and one quite a bit older; two male lazuli buntings and ended the hike with the first male Wilson's warbler of the year!

When I got back to the house I tried convincing my birding compatriot from Eugene to enter the blue-grey gnatcatchers into eBird for me but she, wisely, refused as she had not been the one to ID them. I have been reluctant to create an account on eBird because, well I'm not sure why. I suppose because I am often so busy as it is that I worry I will some how create skewed data by only recording birding adventures when I return excited and motivated. In the end I was motivated to do my part as a citizen scientist (and hopefully one day I will be a paid scientist) by a bar chart for Josephine County showing a very thin line for blue-grey gnatcatchers and only in May. My compatriot was able to dig up some more specific information (I'm not familiar with eBird yet) and informed me that the last recorded sighting was in 2004 in Merlin, OR! This makes two rare birds in two weeks!

All of this has me thinking about citizen science (which will certainly lead to an ethno-ornithology blog) and really how important it is. Citizen scientists have been assisting with tracking bird populations via the Christmas Bird Count and Project Feederwatch for years and eBird is another, more consistent, way for those of us that are regularly in an area to help create a better picture of what birds are where and when they are there. So, if you are reading this blog, you birdwatching regularly and have not yet signed up for eBird, please do so today. Your observations are important!

And, thanks to all you mothers out there for the life you help create!

Meadowlark Prairie Take Two

2011-05-01T21:23:00.001-07:00

I went to Eugene again on April 29th. On May 1st I had a most amazing bird adv

enture! It has been a while since I've had a new bird sighting to add to my list, almost a year exactly. I also had a sighting of a bird that I surveyed in Boardman, that I have never seen anywhere other than Boardman and didn't think I'd ever see again outside of Boardman! Even better, just the other day I was thinking about this bird, sad that I couldn't just go see/hear them. What were these birds? Well, I'll start with the new sighting...

Sadly, not my picture my digital camera has been dead and gone for six plus months. Click here to find out more.

The new sighting was a flock of about 14 dunlins! They are superbly cute little sandpipers. I had no idea what they were at first, besides being a species of sandpiper, and had left my bird book in the car (overconfidence). Thankfully, their black bellies makes their markings pretty easy to remember! Other distinctive features of the dunlin include moderately long legs, a longish bill that curves down a bit (describe by All About Birds as being droopy), a rather short neck and a reddish back. According to All About Birds Life History page about dunlins, dunlins that nest along northern Alaska migrate west along Siberia and Asia to Japan and China. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists them as a species of Least Concern with their populations abundant but possibly declining. It occurs to me that maybe I have seen them before but because I only sta

rted watching for and identifying shorebirds within the last few years I didn't realize it. Their black bellies are pretty distinct though.

As with the dunlin this photo is not mine. Find it here if you are interested in seeing more.

Anyway, the second fantastic find of the day was a sage spa rrow! Yes, you heard correctly, a sage sparrow. This is very exciting for a number of reasons. First, I was just lamenting the fact that I may never see another sage sparrow again, unless I visit Boardman, about a week before this trip. The sage sparrow was basically the last bird of the day and when I first heard it I had a sense of familiarity but couldn't remember where I knew the song from. Then I realized it was one I had listened to frequently in Boardman. From there I made the connection and excitedly followed the song until I was able to spot him (the sage sparrow). After my birding compatriot recorded the sighting on eBird we received correspondence seeking a specific location at Meadowlark Prairie and confirmation that we did indeed see a sage sparrow. Once affirmation was given I was informed that this was only the sixth sage sparrow recorded in Lane County! The last one being a few years ago and in a different location. Needless to say this made the sighting even more exciting!

Warblers!

2011-04-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

Black-throated gray warbler borrowed from this website.

I woke up early last Thursday (April 21, 2011) and went bird watching in Fish Hatchery Park before work. I have been anxiously awaiting the return of the black-throated gray warbler for most of the winter. These little black and white birds are stunning and they have a pretty fun song. All told I saw four species of warbler; black-throated grey, yellow, orange-crowned and yellow-rumped. I also saw a Hutton's vireo. These little guys resemble ruby-crowned kinglets both in behavior and appearance and they can be found here year-round. Birds that can't be found here year-round that I am hoping will return soon are western wood pewees and Pacific-slope flycatchers (various other flycatchers too). Finally, I haven't encountered any yellow-breasted chat yet this year. I think they returned in May last year so I am hoping they will be gracing my life soon.

Ethno-ornithology: Double-crested cormorants

2011-04-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Adult double-crested cormorant in non-breeding plumage. Photo information available here.

My good friend Flicker Boi has written several blogs about using lethal measures to reduce or remove populations of non-native birds from areas where they are in direct breeding, foraging or nesting competition with closely related species of threatened or endangered birds. Lethal methods of population control seems to be the most common form of control, likely because we are more familiar with this form of control. Eminant Domain says we should conquer, control and subdue nature (and the people that live close to it). Hunters relish the chance to kill coyotes, cougars, wolves and other "pests." This leads me to my current train of thought. Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) are the most common species of North American cormorant (and darn cute). Their numbers are on the incline and thus they are the focus of blame for declines in sports fishing and for "devastating fish farms" (All About Birds, 2011). In 2003, true to our "lethal control" nature, a management plan was proposed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to use depredation to decrease the North American population of double-crested cormorants by <160,000 birds (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003). Before I go any further let me just say that I'm not sure why managers are not allowed to use lethal measure to control populations of FERAL horses, cats, etc (not that I am advocating for the slaughter of these animals...though I do advocate RESPONSIBLE management) but it is encouraged in regards to NATIVE species (cougars, coyotes, cormorants, wolves, etc). My assumption is that horses and cats are charismatic/domestic species so we feel a stronger connection to them. Or maybe it's just Eminant Domain in another form.

The reasons listed in the approximately 140 page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the creation of the management plan are: negative impacts on other bird species, declines in native fish populations (including threatened and endangered species of fish), destruction of vegetation at nesting sites, increasing economic losses to aquaculture producers and commercial fishers and fish-related businesses, a loss of private resources and loss of water quality. As internationally migrating, birds double-crested cormorants are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The MBTA does allow for migratory bird "take" permits so long as they follow regulations set forth by the MBTA. In fact, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "permits to take DCCOs have been issued by the Service since 1986 and may allow the take of eggs, adults and young, or active nests.". Though apparently commercial interests don't always have to have a permit for depredation, if so deemed by the United States Government. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

"In 1998, the Service issued a depredation order (USFWS 1998b; 50 CFR 21.47 ) authorizing commercial freshwater aquaculture producers in 13 States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) to take DCCOs, without a Federal permit, when found committing or about to commit depredations to aquaculture stocks. The depredation order states that DCCOs may be taken by shooting only during daylight hours, and only when necessary to protect freshwater commercial aquaculture and State-operated hatchery stocks and that such actions must be carried out in conjunction with a non-lethal harassment program certified by APHIS/WS officials."

This seems odd to me as permits keep track of the number of individuals being killed and would thus allow international governments to understand what we are doing here in the United States (and would help to ensure that there is international cooperation and agreement on managing population levels). As I read this EIS I am struck at how certain the individuals writing the EIS are that "taking" <160,000 cormorants won't hurt regional or continental populations. How do they know that wiping out entire winter roosts (as is permitted under this management plan) won't create genetic bottleneck? How can they be certain that the birds that are left won't be subjected to some disease that the birds that were killed wouldn't have been susceptible to? With what certainty can they say that Mexico, who according to the EIS has no management plan on record, and Canada, who has a status of no protection for the double-crested cormorant, aren't killing >160,000 and that at some point we will have to create a restoration plan (like they did in 1972 when DDT and lethal control lead to federal protection of double-crested cormorants)?

One of the more interesting parts of this EIS comes about in Chapter 3. Throughout the EIS Federally-recognized Tribes and Tribal hatcheries are listed as individuals that can practice lethal measure with double-crested cormorants (at hatcheries or aquaculture facilities). In chapter three tribes also fall under a section about Environmental Justice. That is all well and good but here we find a bit of a contradiction. Earlier in Chapter 3 the EIS mentions that in Oregon populations of double-creseted cormorants are on the decline (about 2.6% annually), other than at the Columbia River Estuary. Under the Environmental Justice section the writers mention the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Responsibility to tribes to provide them with fish stock. In the next paragraph they mention "in Oregon, approximately 80 percent of all trout harvested come from Oregon fish hatcheries," implying that by not increasing the numbers of double-crested cormorants killed would create a system of environmental injustice to Oregon tribes (though I feel certain most tribes raise salmon here). This is despite the fact that double-crested cormorant populations are declining in Oregon. In yet another ironic, and contradictory, twist in the "Issues Raised, but Eliminated from Detailed Study" section the writers mention the fact that double-crested cormorants are considered sacred by some tribes and therefore this plan could directly conflict with their spiritual beliefs. The mention of their sacredness follows a mention of yet another issue rejected for study, "Affected Human Communities." In this section the writers mention the three letters they received from tribes or members of tribes. These letters were:

"(1) a member of the Kiowa Tribe of the State of Oklahoma felt that since waterbirds are sacred, they should be given to Tribal people for use in their native ceremonies; (2) the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona recommended that we use a hunting season to manage DCCOs; and (3) a Conservation Officer from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (of southeastern Massachusetts) said that they have experienced some trouble with DCCOs roosting on the Tribal Shellfish Aquaculture Program’s spawning/rearing cages and recommended limited hunting."

There is also mention several times to double-crested cormorants adding to the "Spirit of Place" but this too falls under the issues not studies. If you'd like to read the quite lengthy EIS click here. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a double-crested cormorant faq sheet you can peruse and an informational page too. I found this USGS map from the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and this USGS map from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) to be quite interesting. The entire USGS double-crested cormorant information page is accessible from either of those links, but just in case you can click here for the double-crested cormorant ID page.

While researching double-crested cormorant management plans I came across a blog written on March 29, 2011 about Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW) application for a depredation permit. According to Jim Yuskavitch, ODFW intends to identify the areas where double-crested cormorants will be killed, likely areas where they are considered to be most likely to harm wild juvenile steelhead and salmon populations. Yuskavitch mentions the debate over lethal control of sea lions at Bonneville Dam and whether or not allowing the "take" of native predators of salmonids makes more sense than cultural controls that improve habitat quality and abundance and decreasing commercial fishing, among other things. I find it interesting that cormorants are protected by the MBTA and sea lions are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the wild (not hatchery) salmon (some of them) are listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. The common thread between all of these species? At some point in time we decimated, or nearly decimated, their populations, for one reason or another, and now they are all federally protected species. While reading the ODFW publication "Avian Predation Management on the Oregon Coast, " published March 25, 2010 I learned that Caspian tern's are also considered a threat to juvenile salmonids on out-migration (their journey to the sea). It is interesting to note that they don't seem to be considering lethal control at this time. Additionally both Caspian terns and double-crested cormorants seem to be considered a problem (with increasing population sizes) in one major area, the East Sand Island on the Lower Columbia River, an island created by the deposition of dredge spoils. So...WE are the cause of these population inclines of these species, just as we are the reason that sea lions find such fishing success at the Bonneville Dam fish ladder.

Our decisions or proposals or plans to kill native wildlife for taking advantage of the habitat that we have created and for acting as they should in the situation they are in is preposterous. Everything I have read tonight has pointed to humans as the main culprit (which I already knew/thought) and has me thinking (as many things do) about the fact that we live in a highly managed world. No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing we are in a managed area. What we see and what we experience, these things are all allowed to be, or altered, or removed from existence based upon their economic value, on our perception of aesthetic, or on our concept of worth. Tonight, for me, the battle that we face ahead as stewards of the land and of nature looms not in the distance, not on the horizon, but in my backyard. At my favorite birding places. At the places where I find the most solace. The fate of every species of this place (Earth) balances on the ability of someone, somewhere to give it value. We are seriously disrupting the balance of the systems that we live in, with. That we are part of. The continual separation of humans from nature. Intrinsic value versus extrinsic value. Economic value from natural/ecosystem value. These separations destroy the very things we claim to be trying to protect.

More Eugene birdwatching

2011-04-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

This picture of a ruby-crowned kinglet with his crown showing is available at: http://buildyourownbirdhouseplans.com/images/rubycrownedkinglet1.jpg

I have been searching for inspiration for my next "big" blog post but I seem to be out of ideas...or something. What I do have is a plethora of random thoughts about subjects varying from how to make jean potholders for my niece's play kitchen to salmon. Birds are always in there too and work has started in the garden at work so my brain is pretty full of garden "stuff." My garden, despite all of my efforts, is mostly in my head. I write down the lists of things to do and places to ask for donations from and still they float around in my head. Well, some version of them does.

So, I sit at my computer and think about what I want to write about. I went birdwatching in Eugene, Oregon again last weekend. The adventure leading up to the birdwatching "event" was almost as great as actually getting to birdwatch. While trying to find the first stop on our list my companion and I were quite lost in conversation and ended up passing the turn by several miles, at which point we were enticed forward by state park and Fall Creek Dam (reservoirs can be great birding sites) signs. Alas, the Fall Creek Reservoir is nothing like the reservoirs from Southern Oregon and anything other than boat-type recreation would have been futile. Thus, we turned around and eventually found the site that we had planned on visiting first. This site is part of the Willamette Valley Birding Trail Guide but I am not sure why. Jasper Meadow is, for all intents and purposes, a playground with a small wetlands (which I do appreciate them preserving), surrounded by a new cookie cutter subdivision and a lovely carved sign of a chickadee that says something to the effect of "birding spot." There were many children there and not many birds. The best thing about this location was the playground (I am a sucker for a good playground). It was the most bizarre and wonderful playground I've been to in quite some time. I played for a bit and then we moved on to the next location on our list, the Walterville Pond. This 70-acre pond is a reservoir maintained by Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB). The number of ruby-crowned kinglets making their territories and breeding intention known was phenomenal. I literally don't think I've ever seen so many ruby-crowns being territorial in one place! There were also many, many violet-green swallows and my first barn swallows of the season (hurray!). Probably the birds that I enjoyed the most on this day were the double-crested cormorants. The majority of the double-crested cormorants at this site were first-year juveniles and they were being incredibly amusing. Jostling for space on a stump, swimming around and "yelling" at each other.

And so...by way of randomly typing about whatever thread of thought I was able to capture I have an idea for my next "big" blog. Stay tuned.

ethno-ornithology Sunday: family tradition

2011-03-27T22:52:00.001-07:00

So, I did an incredible amount of birdwatching, well compared to normal, in the last week. I headed to the Willamette Valley, a la Eugene, Oregon, for a four day bird adventure. Saturday I bird watched for several hours at a place called Delta Ponds, a wetlands restoration area not far off of Delta Hwy. The birding was fabulous, including a great-blue heron rookery. This only surprised me because I've never seen such an urban rookery location. Quite exciting (if not a tad disturbing because on a scientific level this can have so many reasons). There were a good 30 species of songbirds and waterfowl at this location (maybe not the most impressive number but I was quite happy with it). One of my two serious interests in regards to birds and research are urbanization and birds and recreation and birds. I am always delighted to see birds in areas as urban as Delta Ponds, but in the back of my mind I have to remember that these birds often represent the bottlenecking of species diversity. These birds could some day be the reminder of what once was.

March 20th was a bit less urban birding at Meadowlark Prairie, one of my favorite places to run/bike/etc when I lived in Eugene as the bike path from the apartment I lived in lead(s) right to/through the prairie. True to its name there were many western meadowlarks singing. There were several more species of birds than at Delta Ponds and hundreds more individuals (of course the migrating flocks of cacklers helped boost that number!). The flock of long-billed dowitchers made that expedition for me, along with the diversity of waterfowl. Here in the Rogue Basin we have waterfowl, but NOTHING as spectacular as the Klamath Basin or the Willamette Valley.

March 21st was a split day of birding at Alton Baker Park and Lane Community College. Alton Baker was the site of a most unusual sighting. A greater-white fronted snow goose hanging out with a snow goose-ish bird of some kind. It was a snow goose but with grayish primaries and a dark beak. It looked like a juvenile snow goose (which apparently keep their darkish feathers until January) but it is the wrong time of year to see a snow goose. My birding compatriot and I decided to call it a snow goose, with the understanding that it could be a mutt of some sort, I mean it was hanging out with a greater-white front. Maybe its parents were a snow goose/greater-white front coupling. Lane Community College is listed by ebird as a birding hotspot so it was a natural choice for an outing. While it didn't host the greatest number of species it did host a great number of individuals. It was also raining and as we all know rain can greatly alter the diversity of species encountered.

Speaking of ebird...I learned that Winter Wrens in the west have been split into a separate species, now known as the Pacific Wren. I guess I'm a bit out of the loop as this happened in August and I had no idea. Now is a good time to be getting back into graduate school and, hopefully, the bird world.

I also hiked Lower Table Rock on March 25th. It rained off and on so birding was not great, but I did see a random mixed flock of yellow-rumped warblers and golden-crowned kinglets. I also saw a flock of pine siskins. While the birding wasn't that great I did get plenty of time to ponder humans and our habit of loving things to the point of destroying them. I can't count the number of times I've seen people with their dogs on the Table Rocks, despite the numerous signs telling them dogs are not allowed. I saw teenagers tossing a football in the meadow atop Lower Table Rock once. On this trip I saw mountain bike tracks. I try so very hard to not dislike groups of people based on the behavior of a few, but my experience with mountain bikers actually extends to a variety of places and experiences. I understand that people feel they should be allowed anywhere they want. I also understand that they feel their sport is low impact. But, I have never seen a place that mountain bikers frequent (other than on-trail biking) that isn't being impacted, and often seriously. In Orange County they trespassed on property managed by The Nature Conservancy, despite the dangers it posed to the birds caught in our nets (and our prolific protests) and despite TNC personnel trying to educate the bikers about a sensitive species of lichen that grew on the rocks that they often biked on. So, I was surprised (but not really) to find tracks on the trail leading up Lower Table Rock. When I got to the top and saw the tracks riding off-trail randomly across the plateau I was once again struck by how selfish people are. Upper and Lower Table Rock vernal pools are the northern most range for the vernal pool fairy shrimp (the only place in Oregon they are found), a rare species of fairy shrimp also found in California. They are also home to an endemic (meaning found only in this place) species of flower, the dwarf woolly meadowfoam. These flowers are endangered, in big part to individuals going off trail and trampling them. I'm not sure how we can educate people about the importance of respecting nature. How can we teach them that just because people hiked off trail around the plateaus fifty years ago doesn't mean we can do it today. There are many, many more people using a space that can't grow to accommodate them. In order to not completely destroy these amazing places we have to use them carefully.

All of this brings me to my final bit. On March 26th I took my almost-three-year-old niece birdwatching. She and I first discussed it around the time of my trip to the Klamath Basin. We didn't see much, the rain and her storytelling (which I was happy for) likely had something to do with that, but the trip is one I am not likely to forget. I adore my nieces and nephews. I try to not force my interests on them but birds are an integral part of me, so...it filters into our interactions too. Anyway, I took my niece birdwatching. She told me all about these amazing flowers that bloom in the park and about the many species of purple birds that she saw and all about the species that I tried to see but they flew away too fast. She chattered on and on about her favorite bird (currently the American robin) and I sat, or piggy-backed, adoringly. She even brought her own binoculars (which she talked about for quite some time too). We sat in the rain, looked for birds and talked for well over an hour. My eight-month-old nephew also loves birds and I am quite certain that he and I will make a birdwatching excursion when he is old enough. So...to fit with the title theme...THIS is a family tradition that I can handle handing down. Loving and appreciating nature, life and things greater than ourselves witnessed through these amazing feathered beings.

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: birdwatchers

2011-03-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

I started this last Friday to have it posted Sunday. Then we had a HUGE storm (wind gusts at one hilltop weather station recorded at 70mph) come through and I was without power for a good 50+ hours.

Frog-o-rama

Image from the Northern Pacific Treefrog USGS fact sheet

I have never been much of a frog person. I mean, I like them, like what they do in the ecosystems they are found in, but they've never topped my "favorite animals"

chart. Being that it is almost spring and their circadian clocks are telling them it's time to make themselves known I've been giving them more notice than usual. Tonight, as I have for the last several nights, I listened to the chorus of frogs "singing" all around my home. Tonight they seem to have reached a more frantic, urgent rhythm. Their little croaks giving the night a different kind of pulse than it usually has. I drink in the sound, allow it to seep into my skin, my bones, my veins, until I can feel the rhythm playing out in my own being. If I were a frog I'm sure I'd be aroused by all of these boisterous males proclaiming their sexual prowess and genetic superiority. Sometimes, like the undulation of the ocean, their volume decreases until it is almost silent. Then their voices raise, in volume and in number until they are virtually shouting for attention and by force of sheer numbers their cacophony crashes around me, wave after wave of glorious little frogs "songs."

This, of course, makes me think of birds. Even males that procure a territory before they procure a mate sing of their own sexiness in order to attract a mate. In all honesty there are many, many ways that birds actually attract their mates but right now, be

cause of the frog song I'm thinking of male birds and their boisterous, glorious singing. One lonely marsh wren has the same affect on me as the scads of Northern Pacific treefrogs that are out singing right now. The wrens get to really singing and I feel like their song is all that matters, because in that moment it is all that matters. These little birds that sing, and sing, and sing, at risk of being discovered and consumed desperate to attract a mate. Marsh wrens, among many other species, create new songs in a constant effort to "one up" their neighbors. I rather enjoy walking along areas that have several wren territories in a row and listening to the increasing complexity of their songs. And that is just at the frequencies and decibles that I can hear, I'm sure that if I could hear like their intended audience I'd be even more exhilarated. Or I'd think they were unexciting and move on to find a more suitable male.

Bird songs, of course, make me think of birdwatchers. What self-respecting birder doesn't know at least a handful of songs with which to identify the birds they can hear but not see. More specifically, I am thinking about the waste we create in our continuing efforts to learn to identify birds or to add one (or 100) new birds to our life lists (which I don't keep and don't quite understand keeping). Books, cds, computer programs, binoculars, scopes, bird feeders and an ever expanding array of technological gadgets. I recently learned about applications, BirdJam being one of them that seems fairly popular (at least when I did my online search), for ipods and iphones that help identify birds. Mark at "Birds in Your Backyard" talks about tech-savvy birders and the inroads that technology is making into the birding world. While I understand the appeal of technology in birding (how many times would I have really appreciated a recording of a bird call when out birding) I just can't support increasing the amount of disposable, breakable and toxic material goods being produced, used and disposed of in this country every day. Now, that isn't to say that there aren't advantages to having technology in the field, home or office. And it isn't to say that there aren't ways of making technology less harmful (borrowing cds from the library or buying bird guides as mp3's to forgo shipping and packaging for example). I just think that it is our responsibility, as consumers of nature, as "collectors" of birds, to protect them and the land that they (and we) depend on. If the ultimate goal is to know more birds, by sight and by ear, than anyone else. If the goal of finding birds is to outcompete, out ID, out do every other birder/birding competitor how much better are we than the people that raced against each other and time to kill ivory-billed woodpeckers for their collections/collectors. We may not be directly killing them, but maybe slowly killing them through habitat destruction, introduction of invasive species, nesting disturbance and by polluting their homes is worse. Maybe we too are loving birds to death. To extinction. To finality. Maybe it is time to get back to basics. To live, and bird, simply. To realize that if our presence in an area is threatening a species…maybe we don't need to add them to our life lists. I know for me, birding is best done with (at most) a pair of binoculars, a bird book and my own curiosity. Oh, and sometimes a little help from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology All About Birds guide when I have a bird song stuck in my head that I can't seem to identify.

*When you click on the All About Birds link you will be directed to their page about brown creepers. This is because these little guys have a delightfully melodious song that "plagued" me about two springs ago. I'd walk around singing the song in my head trying to pair it with the birds that I knew would be here. Then, one day when the song was filling the air around me, I saw a brown creeper in one of the ponderosa pines near my house. I immediately ran up to the house, logged onto All About Birds, looked up the brown creeper and discovered that this often shy and seemingly quiet nuthatch-like (the reason I had skimmed over them originally) birds, are really quite wonderful singers.

Acceptance!

2011-03-03T00:23:00.000-08:00

I have been accepted to the M.S. Environmental Education program at Southern Oregon University. I have accepted an offer for a graduate assistantship position as the Educational Outreach assistant at the Siskiyou Environmental Eduction Center. This comes with a monthly stipend (in exchange for 10 hours of work/week) and an 80% tuition waiver. I already have thesis ideas...we'll see what they get narrowed down to!

Superfund Sites

2011-03-03T00:11:00.000-08:00

For my geology class we are discussing the Love Canal. While doing research for my part of the group discussion (describing and defending the actions for the Niagara Falls Education Board once people started coming forward about the toxic puddles their kids were playing in) I came across a page that lists the top 100 companies and agencies, based on the number of sites they are attributed to, that are responsible for superfund sites. If you are interested in this stuff you should look at it. I was both disturbing and wicked interesting.

Klamath Basin

2011-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to the Klamath Basin. It was a birthday celebration that happened to coincide with the Winter Wings Festival. I attended the festival last year but came to the conclusion that I am not really a bird festival kind of person. Now, maybe it was the setting, the timing or the place I'm at in my life. Maybe it is because bird festivals seem so serious and the word festival makes me think of playing, celebrating and festivities. You know, carnivals, face painting and the like. Who knows. Anyway, this year I didn't have the money to take any classes or go on any field trips. My intention was just to bird.

The Klamath Basin is an area of Oregon with an interesting and often tumultuous history. So, I may have gone just to bird but I didn't just pay attention to the birds. I contemplated the people that lived there thousands of years ago, when Petroglyph Point was just an island in Tule Lake. I contemplated the people that came into the Basin and drained the lakes, the farmers that live there and lastly the large numbers of people that come to the basin for Winter Wings every year. Birding festivals are part of ethno-ornithology that I find particularly fascinating. Bird watching in general is a really interesting aspect of people and birds.

My first day in the basin I hung out at the Veteran's Memorial Park. While there I encountered throngs of Northern coots, domestic duck variations, gray-lag geese and a Chinese goose (both are domestic varieties of geese). As usual there were a plethora of gulls and so I was able to practice my gull identification. There were ring-billed gulls, California gulls and two glaucous-winged juveniles (I overheard some birders with scopes say there were adults out in the middle of the lake). Additionally there were several buffleheads, common goldeneyes, common mergansers and lesser scaup. I also saw my first winter flock of bushtits, which was happy and odd as I encountered them commonly in the Willamette Valley and always expect to here. There were the usual suspects too, European starlings, American robins, mountain chickadees and gold-crowned kinglets. There were only four or five other birders at the park that day, I'm sure the cold had driven most everyone inside.

The following morning (February 20, 2011), I headed toward the Tule Lake Auto Tour Route and Visitor Center and the northern/north-eastern area of the Lava Beds National Monument. It was snowing and overcast and I felt a terrible sadness as it seemed likely I would not have ideal birding conditions. At the visitor's center they have a feeding station. At the feeding station I saw house sparrows, European starlings, house finches, gold-crowned sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, California towhee, spotted towhee, dark-eyed junco of the Oregon and slate-colored (the slate-colored was a first for me!) varieties, California quail and a nesting great-horned owl! At the reclamation wetlands (a discovery marsh of sorts) there were most of the afore mentioned birds plus bufflehead, northern pintail, western meadowlark, red-breasted sapsuckers, American kestrel, red-tailed hawk, song sparrow, American robin, common goldeneye, coot ring-neck pheasant, greater white-front geese, cacklers and a juvenile bald eagle (three or four years old based on plumage). Along the auto tour route is where the REAL fun began. I saw my first ever rough-legged hawk (and then another six on top of that one)! Additionally, I saw tundra swan, northern shoveler, lesser scaup, ring-neck duck, greater white-fronts, cacklers, red-winged blackbird, common goldeneye, ruddy duck, heard black-billed magpie (delightful) and a canyon wren, saw house finch, brewer's blackbird, northern ravens, white-crowned sparrow, mourning and rock doves, pine siskin, lesser goldfinch, say's phoebe, a flock of at least 30 horned lark, ring-billed gull, Clark's grebe, common merganser, coot, canvasback, northern harrier, western meadowlark, prairie falcon, norther flicker, gadwall, snow geese by the hundreds, blue-winged teal, many bald eagles of varying ages, great-horned owls and a rock wren. Finally, I feel quite certain I saw some band-tailed pigeons. The sighting was brief and they have not been sighted often in the Klamath Basin (1-3 times in the last 25 years). Now, that doesn't mean they couldn't have been band-tails, but it does mean that it is unlikely. I'd like to believe they snuck in there topping off the awesomeness!

There were many more birders out on Sunday, all on the auto tour route and at the visitors center. The interesting thing about birders in situations like this is that they all flock to the areas where birds have been seen, particularly people that keep life lists. I understand life lists and wanting to see what there is to see, but I'd rather do it on my own (and my list is in my head, nothing formal, as the goal for me is just to see birds, any birds, and enjoy them). There is something amazing about watching scads of waterfowl with other people that are just as excited as I am. But...in the long run, I'd rather be there alone watching the birds. Silently paying homage to these feathered extra-ordinary beings. I find myself wondering if the other people birding there think about the folks that came before. If when they are at Captain Jack's Stronghold, looking for prairie falcons, they think about the Modoc and the events that unfolded there. How amazing that band of Modoc were, how well they knew their homeland, how tragic the outcome of that stand-off. When they are looking for nesting owls and golden eagles at Petroglyph Point do they stop to look at the petroglyphs? Do they wonder, like I do, what the symbols mean? Do they marvel at the tenacity of individuals to canoe all the way to the island and stand, in a canoe to carve these symbols into the rock? Can they appreciate the struggles of the salmon and sucker fish, sacred to the First Nations tribes of the area, to survive in an overly irrigated area (meaning in a river that is often too low, slow, polluted or warm)? We come together at these festivals to celebrate the wild awesomeness that birds are. These bits of nature that find us in even the most urban areas. That call to our souls, to our subconscious. That sing songs we recognize in the deep recesses of our brains. But do we think of how we are destroying their world? Do we think, as we celebrate, that this could be the last year we see them? That as we clear, fill, burn and develop we homogenize the beings that we pursue for their heterogeneity? I know I do, constantly. Even when I am shouting with glee about my first ever rough-legged hawk sighting.

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: Urban birds

2011-02-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

So, urban birds as a topic can be approached from many angles but as the number of quasi-urban dwelling ravens that I encounter increases I find myself thinking more and more about urban birds and evolution and things of this nature. I mean, if nature typically selects for species that can survive the best in current conditions...what is happening to urban birds? Well, it seems logical that birds that shy from humans or are non-charismatic species that act conspicuously or aggressively will be selected AGAINST. Birds that perform well within cities, in monocultured agriculture fields, in suburbs and in early seral areas will continue to see population inclines while birds that depend on wild/natural/non-human affected areas, don't deal well with the toxins we proliferate and that are within reach of the feral and/or invasive predators that come along with urban expansion (and often follow the gravel roads into non-urban areas) will continue to see population declines.

The U.S. Census Bureau classifies an area as urban if the population density is at least 1,000 people per square mile at the time of census. Thus, there can be a spectrum of areas that are classified as urban. One of my favorite things about Oregon is that some of our urban areas are still incredibly diverse and strive to balance population growth with the natural world around them. All too often though urban areas are a homogenized area void of many things natural, concrete and steel ecosystems as one group from Stanford wrote in 1988. In this short piece they mention some characteristics of city dwelling birds that I hadn't really thought about before. Namely that birds that live in cities have to be adapted to vocalizations that are either at a frequency or decibel that are high enough for potential mates and other members of their flock to hear. Urban areas create problems for migrating birds in a number of ways. For waterfowl cities are often a varitable waste land of concrete, glass and steel. Any water that may be available is often polluted (though mallards, great blue herons and some other wetland/water dwelling birds can be found in urban areas). For passerines cities create a maze of glass, light and noise pollution, toxins and a myriad of other problems that lead to confusion, disorientation and ultimately death. Birds that live in cities have adapted to foraging for the food that we throw out, on the bits of plant matter that make their way through cracks in sidewalks and in urban parks.

The second leading cause of population declines that lead to a species being listed as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department is urbanization. The primary cause of federal listing as threatened or endangered is interactions with non-native species (Czech, et al. 2000). European starlings, house sparrows and house finches are all non-native/invasive species that often out compete native species and are found in urban areas, thus it can be surmised that there is overlap between urbanization and interaction with non-native species. In addition to non-native birds competing with native birds we also have feral cats, "outside" house cats too, that prey on birds. In fact, according to Czech, et al. of the 18 reasons that species become threatened or endangered at least eight of them are associated with urbanization (and all but two have to do with humans).

An Audubon study found that 45 of the at least 700 species of birds found in North America inhabit urban areas. Of these 44 are species of least concern and one is a species considered threatened or endangered. According to the study 20 of the 45 species have seen declines in numbers, and 23 of the 45 have seen increases in numbers, from 1966 through 2003. Of these species 10 can be also be found in natural aquatic/wetland ecosystems, 14 can be found in multiple natural areas, 15 in woodland areas, five in scrublands and one in grasslands. Homogenization of the natural world is a well documented effect of urbanization. Urban areas are homogeneic ecosystems that support growing numbers of non-native species. Biodiversity of bird species decreases as urban areas increase. In a study of "wooded streets" (streets with trees planted along the sidewalk) in Valencia, Spain Murgui found that these areas were home to only eight species in winter and 11 species in the breeding season, a mere 25% of the number of species found in urban parks (Murgui 2007). Based on the information above it can be surmised that the largest variety of species in urban areas will be found in urban parks. On a side note increasing numbers of urban community gardens helps increase avian biodiversity as does increased wildlife friendly landscaping. Despite these oasis of diversity non-native and human "friendly" species are on the incline while natives and non-aggressive species are being out-competed (populations are on the decline).

So, what can we do? We can develop landscape practices and plans that encourage native species at businesses, homes and public spaces. We can encourage community gardens and the development of green space. Finally, we can work at creating wildlife corridors, particularly through developing and managing natural areas such as city parks, so that non-edge dwelling species (species that will not happily inhabit areas at the edge of their habitat) can move from habitat patch to habitat patch. Additionally, we can spay and neuter cats and keep them indoors so that the feral cat populations won't decimate bird populations. Dimming city lights can help reduce confusion during migration, taking public transportation can reduce air and noise pollution, eat local, reduce, reuse, recycle, leave no trace when recreating outdoors, plant fruiting trees away from roadsides and be conscious of the things we do. Birds are amazingly diverse and many/most of us appreciate them for their diversity (life lists wouldn't be very interesting if there were only 45 ish species to watch). Urban sprawl may not be something we can completely halt but we can work at reducing the impact of urbanization on global avian populations.

Success!

2011-02-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

I gave my presentation on "Feral Horses in the Arid West" tonight. It is amazing that even though I avoided emotional, political, etc arguements that the presentation + questions + debate took up 30 minutes of class, 15 minutes over our "alloted" time. I'd say that makes it at least somewhat successful. In true "Bird" style I was extraordinarily nervous and a bit scattered, at least at the beginning. Apparently I made at least a little sense because everyone commended me on my presentation. Funny that in my own wandering and sometimes rambling way...I seem to make sense. Anyway, I am relieved to have this overwith as there are many other pressing bird issues, ethno-ornithological topics of interest and what-not that I would like to focus on. Though I am certain I could have a series of blogs just about "free-roaming" horses and likely never tire of the topic. I like horses. I like birds. I like desert ecosystems. Birds and desert plants are natives. Horses are not. There has to be a happy way to preserve desert ecosystems and allow SMALL bands of horses to remain in already distrubed habitats.

Feral Horses in the Arid West

2011-02-08T14:35:00.001-08:00

So, this has started out as an ethno-ornithology paper. Ultimately it is just about horses and how they affect the arid lands of the western United States. The paper only needed to be two pages and so I had to leave some stuff out, sadly. Maybe I'll add on to this post in the future.

Feral Horses in the Arid West

Modern horses appeared in the America’s in the late 16th century when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived. The progenitor of these horses originated in Europe, from species that are now extinct. The last time that the ecosystems of the Americas had included equids was about 10,000 years earlier. In the 10,000 years since the American species of horses went extinct, the “Western United States has become more arid and many of the horses natural predators, like the American lion and saber-toothed cat have disappeared” (Leopold 2010). Thus, the ecosystem modern horses were introduced to was far different from the one they came from, and from the one their distant relatives had left. In the approximately 400 years since horses began forming feral herds the rangelands of the west have been transformed. These new conditions were so ideal for modern equids that by the late 19th century there were 2-7 million horses roaming on arid lands (Beever 2003). The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 facilitated the removal, domestication and extermination of feral horses, dramatically reducing their numbers (Beever 2003). Finally, legislation was drafted to protect feral horses and burros, via the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971, sparking a population boom from 17,300 head in 1971 to 57,200 head in 1978. Today there are an estimated 38,815 head on 17.5 million ha of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and 1600 head on 1.1 million ha of land managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS).

Horses differ from the native grazing mammals in a number of ways. First, horses are cecal digesters, rather than ruminants. Second, horses have upper front incisors and a flexible upper lip, allowing them to graze plants lower than other grazing mammals. Horses use their ecosystems heterogeneously compared to other large grazing mammals. Additionally horses have single hard hooves, rather than the split hooves of native ungulates.

Cecal digestion occurs in a section of the digestive system that lies behind the stomach, called a cecum. Here, much like in the rumen, good bacteria aids in breaking down plant matter and freeing nutrients for further absorption by the intestines. Because cecal digestion happens at the end of the digestive tract horses don’t digest their food as thoroughly as ruminants. Thus, horse feces will have a greater amount of undigested seeds and poorly digested plant matter than ruminant feces. Ostermann-Kelm, et al found that horse feces increased native plant diversity along horse trails in their study quadrants (Ostermann-Kelm, et al 2009). The increased moisture, organic matter and nutrients, along with a high level of undigested seeds creates a ideal medium for growing plants. In areas where invasive grasses, such as cheat grass, proliferate it is likely that plant diversity will decrease as invasive seeds are dispersed through feral horse feces.

Arid ecosystems evolved with bison, deer and similar grazing mammals. The grasses in these systems are therefore physiologically designed to withstand heavy grazing pressure with periods of rest when the large herds of bison move on. Additionally, feral horses will graze native grasses so low that the recovery of the grass is delayed. This can directly cause die-off or indirectly cause erosion of the soils around the plant when it rains resulting in death of the plant.

Trampling, cause by horses’ single solid hooves and heterogeneous use of the landscape, creates a number of changes in arid ecosystems. Trampling directly causes erosion through hoof chiseling of soils or chipping of rocks. Indirectly, horses cause erosion by compacting soils and removing vegetative cover. Horse-grazed areas show a variability of soil strengths, with the highest strength concentrated in areas where horse trails, and thus trampling, occur. This results in a decrease in water infilitration and soil pore volume, inhibits or restricts plant root growth, decreases vegetation cover and increases soil temperature and soil erosion (Ostermann-Kelm, et al 2009; Beever 2003). In arid ecosystems nutrients tend to be concentrated in the surface of the soil. Therefore, eroding only the first few millimeters of soil can seriously alter the availability of nutrients in desert soils. A decrease in vegetative cover directly correlates to a decline in the predation on, and diversity and abundance of, birds, lizards and small mammals.

According to Beever and Herrick feral horse populations may increase by greater than 20% each year (Beever and Herrick 2005). Increasing herd size requires increased management action by both the BLM and USFS. In order to manage horses in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses more horses need to be removed from federal land. The increase in numbers of horses in captivity requires additional public expense. In 1996, 7369 feral horses were rounded-up by the BLM and put up for adoption. All but about 8% of those horses were adopted. With the decline in the economy adoption rates have plummeted. In 2009 only 53.6% of the 5961 horses up for adoption found homes. The cost of holding the excess feral horses, either in short-term holding pens or in long-term holding pastures is $36.9 million of the $63.9 million budget (BLM 2011). As rangelands are degraded and federal budgets decline there is a push to find a solution to the feral horse population problem.

There are a variety of organizations that advocate for the horses to be left alone and for minimal management. The arguments made by these organizations and individuals are generally emotion-based rather than fact-based. It is true that feral horses are magnificent to behold. It is also true that horses played an important part in the history of the United States, in expansion and in the realization of manifest destiny. Horses became an important part of many First Nations tribes, both historically and spiritually.

Native species of desert dwelling plants and animals live in careful balance with the land around them. Horses are not a natural part of North American desert environments and should not be treated as such. Increasing the number of horse “preserves” will only expand the area of land impacted by feral horses. Euthanasia, while a legal option, is highly unpopular and should therefore only be used with sick or injured horses. The best option seems to be to sterilization. Creating non-reproductively viable herds will allow this piece of U.S. history to remain and over time will decrease their destructive capacity.

Literature Referenced

Beever, E.A. 2003. Management implications of the ecology of free-roaming horses in semi-arid ecosystems of the western United States. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 31(3):887-895. Available at: http://fresc.usgs.gov/products/papers/1224_Beever.pdf. Accessed February 2, 2011.

Beever, E.A. and Herrick, J.E. 2006. Effects of feral horses in Great Basin landscapes on
soils and ants: Direct and indirect mechanisms. Journal of Arid Environments. 66, 96-112. Available at: http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/16128/1/IND43801323.pdf. Accessed February 4, 2011.

BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Program page. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html. Updated Febrary 2, 2011. Accessed February 7, 2011.

Leopold, B. Letter to the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Available at: http://joomla.wildlife.org/documents/policy/horse_comments_082010.pdf. Updated August 2010. Accessed February 2, 2011.

Ostermann-Kelm,S., et al. 2009. Impacts of Feral Horses on a Desert Environment. BMC Ecology. Available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6785-9-22.pdf. Updated November 10, 2009. Accessed February 4, 2011.

Airplanes and birds

2011-01-31T21:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, this may not be the most thoroughly researched or well written blog post but I HAVE to respond to something I heard said today regarding birds and airplanes (ethno-ornithology is EVERYWHERE!!!).

"Bird strikes" are when birds, often flocks of birds, collide with aircrafts. Somehow the phrasing makes it sound (to me) like the strikes are blamed on the birds. My understanding of said strikes is that the birds don't hear the airplane coming, the plane is moving faster than the birds or the birds don't know what the airplane is and how it can affect them (they didn't invent airplanes after all) and are kind of sucked into the propellers and whatnot. January 15, 2009 US Airways flight #1549 crash landed on the Hudson River shortly after striking a flock of Canada Geese after taking off from LaGuardia airport in New York. I mention this incident because I have heard it discussed many times this month, two years after this particular bird strike incident. The discussion that I heard today mentioned that bird strikes are up because of population increases in birds weighing over eight pounds.

According to Richard Dolbeer, of the USDA National Wildlife Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio, 13 of the 14 species of birds that weigh over eight pounds and nest in North America, are on the rise. The reason for these increases is surmised to be due to stronger environmental regulations, conservation efforts, land-use changes and urban acclimation by some bird species. Increases in these populations is a good sign and in many instances a sign of environmental health.

Many (if not all) airports hire companies, like Birdstrike Control Program, to assist with keeping bird populations on airport grounds at bay. These non-lethal methods of protecting birds (okay, I acknowledge that the birds are not the airports' priority it is human lives and money they are trying to protect) are clever and preferable to lethal methods. I particularly enjoy the border collie and falconry options.

Finally, the Federal Aviation Administration has a Wildlife Strike Database that is interesting, while being concurrently horrifying (the have pictures of bird strikes on their page). There is a great deal of information available online about making airplanes that can withstand bird strikes and not have engines that fail. Currently, airplane engines can withstand varying levels of bird strikes, based on the number of birds, the size of birds or some combination of both. Interestingly enough a plane engine's ability to not be destroyed if it encounters a flock of birds is called its ability to digest birds. Thus, most plane engines today can handle "digesting" four pound birds. For some reason I find this terminology repugnant.

Now for the personal opinion stuff...I cannot BELIEVE (or maybe I can) that there is so much information about airplanes that have experienced bird strikes but very little about the birds themselves. I can't understand how there aren't more people interested in finding ways to alert birds to the oncoming aircrafts. The pictures I've seen are not only disgusting but heart wrenching, disturbing and sad. I want to scoop up the bird's parts and bury them. Or say some sort of prayer for the thousands of birds that are killed annually in a rather gruesome way. I understand that people like to fly because it saves time. I have never really enjoyed flying and I must say that after reading all of this information I don't see myself flying any time soon. I'd rather drive. Or take the train, which I acknowledge likely have their own wildlife strike problems...

Associated Press. NTSB confirms birds in engines of US Airways plane ditched in Hudson. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/ntsb_confirms_birds_in_engines.html. Updated February 4, 2009. Accessed January 31, 2011.

Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Goose/id. Updated 2009. Accessed January 31, 2011.

Dolbeer, Richard A. Population Increases of Large Bird Species in Relation to Impact Standards for Aircraft Engines and Airframes. 2002. USDA National Wildlife Research Center. Available at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1147&context=icwdm_usdanwrc. Accessed January 31, 2011.

Federal Aviation Commition. FAA Wildlife Strike Database. http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/wildlife/default.aspx. Updated February 18, 2010. Accessed January 31, 2011.

Blog drafts

2011-01-23T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have discovered a great number of partially written blog posts. I think my goal over the next few weeks, aside from studying for a geology exam and figuring out what on earth is going on with the garden project, will be to finish said drafts and post them. I rarely edit my blogs and assume that is why I have missed them. Time to clean house in the unfinished blog realm!

Thoughts on a blog post I read

2011-01-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

An old affiliate of mine has a blog that I recently rediscovered. As we no longer speak I don't comment on their blog posts. But one of their posts really got me thinking. You can read the original post here.

I don't know many enviro-folk that are "save the humans" type people. I think that those that talk about humanity along with environmentalism are individuals that realize that humans have to experience a reconnection with nature or they will never come around. Unfortunately, humans actively interact with virtually all ecosystems on this planet. Even in areas that receive very little human traffic we affect the ecosystem through acid rain, invasive species and a myriad of other effects. Some individuals claim that the earth is always changing and the changes that we see are little more than a normal part of nature's fluctuating state of being. Most people in the environmental movement (at least most that I have meet) feel that we are causing a greater rate of change, a greater rate of species extinction, than is normal. I agree with these individuals. Change may be normal but that does not mean that we have a right to hurry these changes a long. Particularly in favor of our ego- and anthro-centric selves. So, how do we create a societal shift from anthro-centric thinking to eco-centric thinking? Well, by considering humanity when we think about environmentalism. By thinking of ways to get people involved. To educate and inspire youth, the impoverished, people who experience environmental injustice on a regular basis and those on the fringes of society to get connected. To join our cause. To think outside of themselves. If we take care of the planet we will take care of each other and in many instances if we take care of each other we will take care of the planet. At least that is how I view things.

As for the issue of individual species campaigns and restoring habitat. Individual species campaigns often work, our society is drawn to charismatic species such as Siberian tigers and bald eagles. But there are many uncharismatic species that also need help, for example the devil's hole pupfish and vernal pool fairy shrimp. The only way that individual species restoration projects work is if those species are umbrella species. Or maybe a keystone species. Just conserving land for an individual species could exclude other species that would normally occur in that region or that would be a natural part of a successional event. Restoring or conserving habitat for the red tree vole for instance, will ruin habitat for meadow dwelling or dependant species. It is finding a balance between the needs of the species being restored/conserved and the needs of other species in that area that will be most important. Saving habitat for one species at the expense of others is not a successful way to manage, protect or restore natural ecosystems. Whole systems approaches are the most appropriate way to preserve, conserve and restore species, habitats and ecosystems.

Rinse and repeat

2011-01-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

Alas I did not keep up with blogging in the last year (ish). I mostly keep my thoughts in my head, or randomly spout them at people who acquiesce my ramblings but never seem to know quite what to say in return. Sometimes they seem to share my horror, but maybe they are horrified by my outbursts (an amusing thought I dare say). When I started this blog ethno-ornithology brought up very few links when searched. Today, there were two pages brought up before I found my blog (which I had to Google because I couldn't remember the name or my log-in information for certain until today). Maybe this is a good sign for me. Maybe this means FINALLY some professor will decide to humor my interest in people and birds (how we affect them and how they affect us...mythology would be a good thing to include in there too).

I am taking a Geology class this term. Two parts "because I miss college/university" and one part "because I need to know more about Geology." Having not spent much time invested in the specifics/basics of geology I must say my brain is feeling challenged. A lovely feeling indeed. The instructor is funny and I remembered how interesting community colleges are. I am concurrently enrolled in the Master Gardener program (thanks to my AmeriCorps site sponsor). Yay OSU! I find the program a bit too social for me but the people seem genuinely interested in soil and green things and food (yum!) so it eases some of the pain.

So, here's to hoping I can carve a little time out of my life/time to do something I miss and truly enjoy doing...researching and relaying information!

Hiatus

2010-02-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

I have been on an extended hiatus. In the last year I woked in Boardman, OR surveying various bird species on the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility. That part of Oregon (about 80 miles east of The Dalles along the Columbia River) is quite lovely. I saw many species for the first time, including American badger, loggerhead shrike, sage sparrow and long-billed curlew. I had an immensely good time but was unemployed and homeless by June. I became a Northwest Service Academy AmeriCorps Member in September. I am stationed in Grants Pass, OR at The Job Council. There I serve as the Environmental Learning Coordinator, teaching environmental education, field lessons and amazing field trips to 16-24 years olds. While I am enjoying myself it is not something I will do after my term of service is up. Its all about the research! And birds of course! My life is incredibly busy but I am going to make a discerned effort to get back in the blogging habit. Thanks to all of you who have read my blog in the last year.

New birds

2009-01-05T23:54:00.001-08:00

So, I figured out what the new bird is. The first one I saw had something stuck to its head, but I saw it so briefly I thought it was crown color. They are yellow-rumped warblers. We didn't have any visit us in Albany, even in February of last year we didn't see any. Therefore this is a VERY exciting realization for me. There were two of them eating suet, arguing, looking cute. We also have had several fox sparrows and what appear to be hermit thrush. On my walk this morning I saw 12 western bluebirds, which brought great joy to my heart as well. Finally, I saw another of my favorite birds . . . a varied thrush. Sadly, it was dead, apparently it ran into a window at Moreland Hall on OSU's campus. Birds were out in abundance this morning, I feel happy and whole.

Ornithology blog in the works, it may pertain to people as well but I'm not sure yet. Eh, peace to you all.

First blog of the New Year

2009-01-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

The holiday season was a blur of activity and creation. I sewed several gifts, with several more to complete! I need to remember next year to start my sewing earlier, but I say that every year and it never really changes. School starts up again on Monday. I've had to rearrange my schedule due to a job offer that I couldn't refuse. March 7 I'll be starting burrowing owl and curlew surveys in Boardman, OR. I'll be far from home but right on the Columbia River and surveying birds in a position that could turn into a graduate school opportunity. This term I'll be taking an Avian Museum Curation class, which I am excited to the nth degree about. Anyway, back to the grindstone . . . which likely means back to blogging.

I saw a bird a few days ago that I have yet to identify. Having used all of my resources I'm contacting my research adviser. It was awesome. It had a white crown, a white breast, streaked sides, yellow armpit patches, white wingbars and dark upperparts. This bird was about the size of a sparrow, but doesn't look like any sparrows that I know! I'll keep you posted.

Southern Oregon bird fun

2008-12-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

I forgot how many cool birds live here in Southern Oregon. Today I saw about 20 common mergansers. There were four males and about 16 females. The dogs and I startled them and you can imagine how loud it is when 20 common mergansers take off, primarily because of how long they "run" on the water before leaving it (sometimes they never quite take off). There was a great blue heron on the remains of what I believe to be an old water gauge, though I've heard rumors that a different bridge spanned the river before I was born. Either way the sky was grey, the cement covered in dark moss and the great blue heron sitting there so regally in its greyish blue plumage. It was lovely. I also saw two black phoebes. We were celebrating the solstice by the river and they were putting up quite a racket. One landed close enough that I could see it had an insect (shocking at this time of year!) in its beak. It then flew off while the other one scolded from nearby. I love it here.

Bird feeder madness

2008-12-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

Our bird feeders are experiencing a high level of use right now. Birds that normally don't visit us are here in decent numbers. There are roughly 10 juncos; our typical winter flock of red-breasted nuthatches, black-capped chickadees and chestnut-backed chickadees; the white-breasted nuthatch and at least six golden-crowned sparrows! The golden-crowned sparrows made my day. I've been watching a flock of them for a couple of weeks now. They're usually hanging out in the blackberry bushes at the dog park, I hear them when the dogs and I walk by in the mornings.

On a completely different note . . . I took the dogs to the cemetery to run in the snow this morning. They had a blast! I almost ate it several times as I chased them around in the snow though. I forgot how fun the snow can be.

Finals week and such

2008-12-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to help a friend in need in Grants Pass. This week is finals week. I am thus quite swamped and will not be posting much, aside from this, until after Thursday (my last final). I hope to get better about scheduling time for the ethno-ornithology part of this blog next term but we'll see how that goes!

Three not-so-blind mice

2008-12-04T10:24:00.001-08:00

A mouse has been visiting our patio every morning for the last few days. The dogs watch it as if it might do something interesting, or they might be magically transported outside. It is a cute mouse. This morning I was watching it adoringly, telling it how cute it is. Then there were three mice. One in the bucket of gardening supplies, one rummaging in the leaves the third looking for seeds dropped by the birds. Now we have a problem. The management sent out a newsletter telling people to keep their garbage picked up to prevent a mouse/rat problem. We have no garbage on our patio, just gardening supplies, a fire pit and bird feeders. I don't want to chase the mice away but I don't want to get in to trouble either. Perhaps if we stop filling the feeders the mice will go away. Or maybe they'll stage a revolt and begin eating our garden. Meh, we'll figure something out.

After looking at various pictures of mice it seems like they are house mice. I don't know if that is good or bad. Maybe its neither.

Statistics

2008-12-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

Ugh, I have come to the conclusion that I am one of the biggest geeks I know! Why? I'll tell you. I LOVE statistics, no joke. The on-line class is long and has taken an incredible amount of work this term but actually doing statistical analysis is awesome. Over the holiday weekend I started a study comparing the species and number of birds that come to the feeders at my parents' house in Grants Pass, Oregon (rural) to the birds that come to my feeder here in Corvallis ("urban"). Normally our feeders here are swarming with birds between 9:00 am and noon but today I have sat at my sliding glass door, doing statistics homework in between 10 min feeder watches. There has been activity, not nearly as much as I had expected. Preliminary analysis indicates that mom has a larger number of birds, including an obvious pair of white-breasted nuthatches, but we have a larger variety of birds. We were also required to find an article to analyze for this week's discussion. I found one on Kirtland's warblers. Warblers are one of my favorite groups of birds and this article further peaked my interest.

Kirtland's are an endangered species, primarily because of the habitat loss that was occurring in the ONLY place this species breeds. The entire population of Kirtland's warblers breeds in the northern area of the lower Michigan peninsula. They winter in the Bahamas. Thus, I am constantly torn between grad school for my PhD so I can do more research and my Master's in Education so that I can dedicate all of my free time studying birds and trying to get youth involved. I keep coming back to that. I was given so many opportunities when I was young, it seems appropriate that I try to give others the same opportunities. If I get my PhD I worry that I'll become too constrained to one area, I wish that I lived in a time where I could be a naturalist and just travel studying birds, learning from them and educating about them. Why doesn't anybody have an actual ornithology degree? Why can't I just go somewhere to dedicate myself to learning systematics, behavior, "all" about birds?

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: Thanksgiving style

2008-11-30T22:10:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving come and gone and millions of pounds of turkey consumed, given to the dogs and thrown out I figured it would be appropriate to pay a little homage to turkeys today.

There are two species of wild turkey, the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata), from the Yucatan Peninsula, and the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) from North America. Domestic turkeys descend from the wild turkey and though there appear to be a large number of breeds of domestic turkey they are technically all the same breed, just different varieties.

Ocellated turkey, from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/2325795822_c290ddc1a3.jpg

Ocellated turkeys are quite lovely, I hadn't heard of them until tonight. In 1993 the National Wild Turkey Federation sponsored research on the ocellated turkey. They found that this species is found in only a 50,000 square mile area, encompassing the Yucatan Peninsula, northern Belize and the El Peten region of Guatemala. Male and Female ocellated turkeys are similar in appearance, both have blue heads with orangish nodules, though males have a fleshy blue crown behind the snood that is covered with more nodules; both birds have bronze and green iridescent feathers, females often appear more green; neither sex has a beard and their breast feathers do not indicate sex; and both sexes have blue-bronze eye-shaped spots on the end of their tails, followed by a gold tip. During the breeding season males have a red ring around their eyes and larger spurs than North American wild turkeys. Ocellated turkeys live in diverse habitat types, from arid brushlands to marshlands, to second growth forests, to rain forests. Their diet includes grasses, mint-like herbs, and small seeds, insects and fruit. Hens lay 12 eggs in the period starting mid-March and ending in late-May. Poults hatch in early-May to mid-June.

Wild turkey, from: http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/IMAGES/Massachusetts/wild_turkeyTOMpgc.jpg.

Wild turkeys are native to North America, except for Alaska, north to Ontario, Canada. By the early 20th century wild turkeys were extirpated from the northeastern United States. Reintroduction programs across the east have been successful. Domestication of the turkey began in Europe in 1500, when wild turkeys were brought back to Europe from Mexico. Domesticated birds were brought back to the United States by European colonists. Birds decending from the first domestic birds are similar to wild turkeys but have a white band at the tip of their tail that is not present in other wild subspecies. Benjamin Franklin is known for having desired the brave turkey to be nominated the nation's symbol rather than the "cowardly" bald eagle. More information is available here and here.

Domestic turkeys come in a dazzling array of colors and patterns. Broad-breasted whites are the most common domestic breed. This variety of turkey has been bred to have so much additional muscle mass that they can no longer breed without human intervention. Another common (though not as common as the whites) domestic breed is the broad-breasted bronze. Heritage breeds are not as common as the white and bronze but they are pretty awesome either way. Some of the more common heritge breeds are the spanish black, standard bronze, bourbon red, slate (the light version of which is called lavender) and the Narragansett. Currently, my mom has a pair of Lavenders that I adore, Freyja spent the weekend playing with them. Lavenders are registered as critical by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (listing breeds of livestock as critical or threatened is a little bizarre to me but that's another post entirely). All heritage species are listed as needing to be watched, threatened or critical, none are listed as recovering. In the past we've had a variety of breeds, including Narragansett's, I've seen Royal Palms (another heritage breed) and I'd like to see the bourbon reds in person. For more information about domestic turkeys go here.

Taylor, C.I.; Quigley, H.B.; Gonzalez, M.J. Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata). National Wild Turkey Federation, Wildlife Bulletin No. 6, 8pp. Available at: http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/history_ocellated_wild_turkey.html> Accessed November 30, 2008.

Wikipedia. Domestic Turkey. 2008. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_turkey> Accessed November 30, 2008.

National Wild Turkey Federation. All About Turkeys. 2008. Available at: http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/index.html> Accessed November 30, 2008.

busy, busy

2008-11-24T00:14:00.001-08:00

I'd really hoped to get back in the ethno-ornithology habit but at this point it won't be happening for yet another week. This week has been super busy, this weekend we picked up Julie's boots and visited the Eugene Holiday Market, hoping to find some good gifts. It is HUGE and we spent hours there, leaving with nothing. This weekend I caught up on all of the housework and homework I had fallen behind on. It all starts over again tomorrow with a vaccine appointment for the dogs, class at four (since we won't be meeting on Thursday), grain to remember to pick up for Huka, another Stats lesson, readings for FW 441, extra credit due Tues and yet another Stats lesson on Wednesday plus an assignment due. Next week (after Thanksgiving weekend) I have a presentation to do, so I have to work on that over the weekend, plus a research project for Stats that our professor didn't tell us about until this last week. *sigh* distance ed professors aren't always as "on-the-ball" as I'd like them to be. In addition to all of this I need to get the last of the vegetation data entered and the methods section of my research project done by the end of Thanksgiving weekend as well. Thank goodness the term is almost over!

GP

2008-11-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

Grants Pass was nice, I got to see all of my sisters and my cousin Katy plus some friends. I haven't seen Audrey in two months so she was pretty horrified that some stranger kept trying to play with her! We saw a ton of red-tailed hawks both on the way down and the way home, including one dark-phased. As predicted I got hardly any homework done, but I had a good time. Huka has lost a bunch of weight. We are now on a mission to find the Triple Crown Complete she was eating out east. It kept her weight up even in the cold. We also bought her a new blanket, one that will fit her a little better. It is a lovely shade of purple, the manufacturers call it pansy. I call it pinkish lavender. Now, it's back to the grindstone, a couple of lectures behind in Stats and wishing it were still the weekend. Onward to higher education!

This weekend

2008-11-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

Julie and I are headed to Grants Pass this weekend to see my family. I know I'm looking forward to seeing Audrey and Huka again! I may have to postpone ethno-ornithology Sunday, I always plan to stay caught up with things but it has been several months since we were in GP and I'm pretty sure I won't be getting much done because of it!

More on ornithophobia

2008-11-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

Most of the information that I've read on ornithophobia says that people afflicted with this phobia often had a traumatic experience as children. Maybe they were bit by a goose, had a bird fly in their face or were attacked by a rooster. I find this interesting, mostly because I've had plenty of crazy experiences with birds and they never affected me. I've been chased by geese, attacked by chickens and swallows, bit by any number of birds and my love for them continues to grow. So, for this very short entry I'd like to ask, what kind of experiences have you had with birds that have either made you fear them, left you unaffected, or made you love them more? Sadly I've found nothing else about Ornithophobia. I guess I expected to find professional sites about it. Oh well, maybe I'll search the library databases tomorrow.

On a side note, I'm doing a presentation on badgers for FW 255 (they're my secret adoration). I've discovered that they cache food sometimes. The study I'm presenting on discovered 27 Richard's ground squirrels that had been cached by badgers. Possibly the most intruiging part is that the squirrels appeared to have been removed from their burrows while hybernating. There was no evidence of how they died, they remained curled up in a ball (as in hybernation) and the badgers consumed them in the order they were cached. Badgers rock. I also discovered that there is a type of badger called a ferret badger, they're adorable. I think I'd like to meet one someday.

Winter 2009

2008-11-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

I met with Doug today about my schedule for next term. Despite my ranting about just taking classes I like and not bothering with the second B.S., I signed into two required classes. I'm leaving myself open to the possibility of dropping them for the other classes I'd had in mind. Doug and I had a great talk about the project thus far and graduate school. The whole time I wanted to ask him to take me on next year for my grad degree, but I didn't. I was too afraid of him saying no. After the meeting I met with Julie though and she convinced me that I shouldn't be worried about it, if he says no it doesn't mean anything, other than he's too busy or doesn't have the funding. This changed my mind a little and I sent him an e-mail requesting him to be my major professor/adviser next year. If he says yes I'll be attending OSU for my M.S. If he says no, well I still may be attending OSU just not in the Fisheries and Wildlife program! In case you're interested my classes for next term will be: Spanish (with Julie), Avian Museum Curation (I get to learn how to make birds "skins"), Population Dynamics, Womens's weight training (with Julie) and the second term of my problem solving class (minorities in natural resources).

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: Ornithophobia

2008-11-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

This week I've yet again been busy so I'm going to do things a little different in regards to Ethno-ornithology Sunday. I'm going to post what I've got on Ornithophobia-fear of birds-thus far and add more throughout the week, as I find more.

Mednet.com defines ornithophobia is the abnormal and persistent fear of birds. This phobia creates an excessive amount of anxiety when encountering birds and an irrational fear of being attacked by them. Ornithophobia was the basis for the movie The Birds (1963). The Birds was written by Daphne Du Maurier and Evan Hunter and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This movie is planning on being remade in 2009 by Martin Campbell and is rumored to be starring George Clooney and Naomi Watts. International Movie Database (IMDB) has a summary of the movie. In the summary they describe the movie as being about a town in Northern California where a flock of birds begin attacking people and over time the number of birds and viciousness of attacks increases. According to various sources George W. Bush has ornithophobia (though many are basing this in his "bird flu" rant, so this may be inaccurate). While I've been unable to find statistics specifically on ornithophobia rates I did find a page (found here) that claims 15-18% of the population suffers from some form of anxiety, phobia or compulsive disorder that goes unrecognized or untreated. Also, the best form of treatment is exposure therapy, at least that's what all of the information I've read thus far says.

People pretending to have ornithophobia, from: http://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Fear-of-Birds.

End Part 1

Unbelievable!

2008-11-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

For my Statistics class I had to read an article about adults and sex from an October 1994 issue of the New York Times. In my opinion nothing displays how we lie to others in order to appear to follow the status quo quite like this:

So, now we know what Americans do in bed. So?
The sex survey whose results were announced this week started
as a government supported survey with the title "Social and
Behavioral Aspects of Fertility-Related Behavior." It was
carefully chosen to avoid scrutiny by Senator Helms and
others. This failed and the government withdrew support for
the survey. However, it was carried out by the National
Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago
supported by private funds.
Unlike previous sex studies, whose subjects were self
selected, this study was carried out by in-person interviews
with a random sample of 3,432 men and women aged 18 to 59.
The results will be published in a book "Sex in American"
(Little, Brown and Co. with Gina Kolata as a co-author with
the investigators.)
The survey showed a marked contrast between the sex that most
people have compared to T.V. and movie images of sexual
behavior. American women typically have two sexual partners
during their life and men about six. 78% of the men and 86%
of women say they have been faithful to their spouses while
married.
The study provides more evidence that the 10% estimate for
homosexuality is not correct. Only 2.8% of men and 1.4% of
women identified themselves as "gay,". However, in the 12
largest cities this was 9% for men and 3% for women.
There was a large gap between the percentage (22.8) of the
women who said they had been forced to do something sexually
they did not want to and the percentage (2.8) of the men who
said they ever forced women into a sexual act.
One of the purposes of the study was to help in the
strategies for combatting AIDS. In this connection the study
suggested that people had sex pretty much with those they
resemble in race, religion, age, and socioeconomic level,
suggesting that AIDS would be slow in moving from groups
where it is prevalent to groups where it is not.

Just for my readers!

2008-11-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

This is my ode to John McCain, reasons why I will miss him:

He loves George Bush . . . a lot.
He does this in response to . . . something.

He makes a good pirate . . . aaargh!
And this . . .

Now don't get me wrong, I actually do like John McCain. He has dedicated most of his life to our country and I commend him for that. Quite frankly if the election had been about four to six months ago I wouldn't have minded McCain winning. Then his campaign became negative and bizarre and I couldn't bring myself to support him. I certainly respect him more than Bush (who I actually like as well, just not as president). The republican party produces some people that as people are pretty all right, I just don't want them representing the U.S. There are a lot of intellectuals out there and while having a president we can identify with is important, having a president that the rest of the WORLD can identify with is even more so!

The highs and lows of post-election contemplation

2008-11-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Grassroots campaigning works, at least that is what Barack Obama has taught me. Instead of going after people with deep pockets and asking for large donations, Obama sought small donations from millions of people. He included the American people in fundraising, campaigning and electing our first non-white president. The more I learn about Obama the more inspired I am. At the same time I am jubilant in his victory, our victory really, I am uncertain of how I feel about four other measures/propositions/etc. Arkansas passed an anti-gay adoption bill last night, both Florida and Arizona passed anti-gay marriage bills and California of all places passed yet another anti-gay marriage bill. Gay marriage has been legal in California since May 2008, thanks to the California Supreme Court's decision stating that it is unconstitutional to prevent same-sex marriages. I believe in democracy so I can't be upset about the people of California having a voice on this proposition. I can however be irate with people that claim that gays are not discriminated against when applying for housing and jobs, that we aren't beaten or sexually assualted because we're gay, that we have a choice to be out or not to be gay or straight, that gay rights are special rights and that feel they have a right to tell me I am second rate to heterosexuals. As an intellgent thoughtful person I assure anybody out there who ignores or devalues gay struggles as a choice and therefore unavoidable that they are WRONG. We should not have to live in a closet and we should not have to live without the equal rights we fight for today. Gay rights are not special rights, they're equal rights. My wife and I having legal rights will not cause the world to come crashing down around us. The only reason people will be negatively affected is because they want to be. So those of us who happen to be gay and love Obama it was a bit of a bittersweet election night and post-election day. From this we can only move forward, no looking back at the negative aspects of the day. As CNN says, tomorrow is a new day and maybe, just maybe, I'll see the first gay president in my lifetime.

Happy first black president day!

2008-11-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

I do a little happy dance as I think about it. Obama won. I believe he will bring about the change he's been talking about because he will inspire the masses. I love that he mentioned service, working together and our responsibility to help bring about change. Who says grassroots can't work?!

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: Bird Tattoos

2008-11-02T21:58:00.001-08:00

Two ethno-ornithology blogs ago I discussed people using birds as fashion without knowing anything about birds, bird-trendiness if you will. This week I’ll be discussing bird tattoos in general. I’ve discovered some really interesting aspects of this trend. Mythologically speaking birds provide messages from the divine, they guided sailors to land and still guide Africans to honey (honeyguides), are indicators of environmental health and have inspired humans to invent the airplane and helicopter. So, what to bird tattoos “mean.” Obviously they mean different things for different people, though there are some classic meanings assigned to some common tattoos. Birds are often portrayed either with each other (one dark and one light) or with another animal (such as snakes) in order to represent the duality of nature (such as good vs. evil) (www.tattoo-meanings.com 2008). My grandfather has an image of a rooster hanging below his knee, which he told me means “his cock hangs below his knees” when I was ten (to which I giggled endlessly).
Historically speaking Phoenixes (mythological birds that burst into flames, die and then rise again from their own ashes) are common in Japanese tattoos, Eagles in American tattoos and the Iban and Dayak of Borneo began tattooing themselves in order to become as beautiful as the Argus Pheasant (a bird renowned for having the first tattoos). Doves are the symbol of hope, primarily because of the story of Noah, they also often represent peace. In many cultures swallows are a sign of happiness, love, fertility, renewal, transformation and faith. Sailors get a tattoo of a swallow after logging 5, 000 miles and a second swallow after logging 10,000, a swallow with a knife through its heart is a memorial for a friend lost at sea. Interestingly enough, a bluebird tattoo is a sign of 10,000 miles logged, a pair symbolizes 20,000 miles. Bluebirds also represent happiness, prosperity and good health (www.vanishingtattoo.com 2008).
There isn’t a lot of information out there about the history of bird tattoos, either. What I’ve come to learn with this blog is that there isn’t a lot of history about birds and anything on the web. I do know that the trend of getting retro-style bird tattoos is bizarre, but apparently founded (at least on some level). On some level I blame Captain Jack Sparrow (who ironically enough inspired retro-swallow tattoos, not sparrow tattoos).

Argus pheasant from: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/1682483688_13c8e124d9.jpg?v=0

Phoenix tattoo from: http://www.tattoosymbol.com/gallery/phoenix-big.jpg

Dove tattoo from: http://tattoo.about.com/library/graphics/mariedove.jpg

Bluebird (though bluebirds don't actually have forked tails) tattoo from: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2031/2213014225_a9385356fc.jpg?v=0

swallow (again, very un-swallow like) tattoo from: http://z.about.com/d/tattoo/1/0/9/2/debbiechest.jpg

A fantastic chickadee tattoo (what bird tattoos should look like) from: http://www.zhippo.com/johnnyberriosHOSTED/images/gallery/bird.jpg

Tattoo Meanings. 2008. Bird Tattoos. Available at: http://www.tattoo-meanings.com/bird-tattoos.html>. Accessed November 2, 2008.
Vanishing Tattoo. 2008. Bird Tattoos. Available at: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_bird.htm>. Accessed November 2, 2008.

ethno-ornithology ideas

2008-10-29T14:24:00.001-07:00

I'm looking for some ideas for ethno-ornithology blogs. If you have an idea send it to me, I'll work it into my posts somehow!

Minorities and youth in Fisheries and Wildlife

2008-10-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

I met with Rebecca Goggins, the intern and incoming student coordinator (and professor extraordinaire) yesterday. We discussed the FW 441 project when she asked what we were looking for I told her that I couldn't speak for the group but that I am interested in knowing the ethnographic statistics for the Fisheries and Wildlife Program and what influenced peoples' decisions to join us. Being the wonderful person she is, Rebecca found several articles for me to read and e-mailed me copies of the surveys she gives to first year Fisheries and Wildlife students and of the final data for 2008 students. The results are not too surprising, few minorities (though hispanics and American Indians dominate the minority responses), more males than females, big game more popular than waterfowl or upland game birds (big game is the most popular), conservation is the dominant "interest" and getting into academia is one of the least desired fields to go into after graduation. Perhaps more interesting than the information from OSU is the results of a study involving teenagers and forestry (natural resources as a whole, done by Clemson University). This study found that seniors in high school are quite concerned about the environment, are most concerned about issues regularly in the media and don't want to go to college to study natural resources fields. Most students didn't realize that money could be made in natural resources and had only a vague idea of what natural resource careers entail. Even more interesting is that most students interested in careers involving natural resources have no plans to attend college. Interesting and completely pertanent to what we're trying to do with this class. We meet tonight to discuss survey questions. I hope it isn't as frustrating as I feel it's going to be. Dana (the professor) has suggested making an agenda and working to get everyone to stick to it. Wish me luck! If you're interested, I'm attaching the reference for the article, I'll see if I can find an e-version later.

Hager, S., Straka, T., Irwin, H. 2007. What Do Teenagers Think of Environmental Issues and Natural Resources Management Careers? Journal of Forestry, pps 95-98.

Mental health awareness

2008-10-24T17:36:00.001-07:00

A volunteer for the Republican National Committee has been violated. She has been violated by her own mental illness and by the very party she volunteers for. Oct 23, Ashley Todd, a 20 year-old Texas A&M student accused an Obama supporter of attacking her and scratching a "backwards B" into her face. Today, she admitted to making the story up and scratching the B into her cheek herself. See the article here. Perhaps the most distressing aspect of this whole scenario is that Todd does not remember scratching herself. The police are holding her for psychiatric evaluation. On Oct 23 some supporters of the Republican Party ran with it. Sean Hannity apparently claimed that "this is what Obama supporters are like" when he presented the story. Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose. Ultimately it makes me more disgusted with the depths that people go to to try and get votes. I know I've said it before but my sincere hope is that Americans will fight the "fear doctrine" so that people can start being calmer, more sensible and actually stop to think on their own (you know independently and with freedom). I also hope that Ms. Todd gets the help she needs, and a sincere apology from the people who tried to exploit her situation. While we're at it apologies should go out to Obama and African-Americans across the country.

This is a perfect segue into my next thought. The McCain/Palin campaign has been trying to sell a bunch of "us against them" retoric. How so? By claiming that urban residents and liberal east coasters are anti-American. By claiming that rural dairymen (and people like them) are the only patriotic pro-Americans. Frankly I refused to believe that people out there could actually agree with that. Then I saw the Daily Show clip of people being interviewed in Wasilla, Alaska. They kept espousing the same ideals that McCain and Palin have been on their campaign trail. The best part? Whan 9/11 came up they used it as an example of how rural America came together . . . even when they were reminded that the events occurred in NYC they tried to play that off as coincidental. My gods . . . they really are crazy! All of this anti-American rhetoric has me offended. According to conservatives (at least the ones currently getting the most publicity) the only way to be pro-American is to be anti-abortion, anti-religious freedom, anti-equal rights, anti-environmental, pro-oil drilling in highly sensitive places and by voting for McCain. Well, I'd like to remind these people that this country was founded by people seeking religious freedom, hence the separation of church-and-state and our founders recognized the importance of equality (read the Declaration of Independence). Obviously not everything our country was founded on has proved to be a good idea. Eminant Domain had some pretty negative results (ask the Indians and natural places and critters) and slavery went on for far too long. Finally, capitalism was a bad idea, at least unchecked capitalism was a bad idea. We've made mistakes, recognizable, diagnosable mistakes. Let's learn from them and move forward with the memory and realization that being pro-American means allowing others to be as they are, not persecuting them, not forcing them to conform and punishing them if they don't. As long as our country promotes Christianity as the only true and pure religion, minorities as being less equal (based on sexuality, ethnicity, race, or whatever) and war as the only solution the country as a whole will remain profoundly un-American.

FW 441

2008-10-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

In order to graduate all Fisheries and Wildlife students have to finish the Group Problem Solving series. This is a year long class teaching us how to work in groups (obviously). The group I've signed in to is a group trying in increase diversity in the Fisheries and Wildlife field. Our first few meetings were really rough, nobody seemed interested, people kept talking in circles and nobody seemed to want to speak up and move forward. I discussed my problems with the instructor, which opened up a whole new can of worms. It turns out nobody but me had thanked her for the pizza or snacks that she had provided and she was hurt, which I understand. Last week we had a guest speaker, Dr. John Bliss. He is a professor in the College of Forestry at OSU. His bachelor's degree was in Anthropology. So, Dr. Bliss came to talk to us about social sciences in natural resources. His only request was that people read a chapter that he wrote before the talk. Several people didn't read it, those who did thought the paper was a review about statistics. I, on the other hand, found the paper really helpful and was incredibly frustrated by the lack on interest by my group mates. Tonight people talked more, which made me happy. They still seem less interested in this project than I am and are uninterested in doing any extrawork but at least we're moving forward. Our next step is to create a set of specific questions and a questionnaire about ethnicity, age, socio-economic status and gender. Then we'll get out and do some prliminary research figure out what we need to do to get minorities interested and start creating information to send out with professionals. I'm excited, this has actually led to my decision to apply to Portland State University. I'd like to study more about citizen science and outreach education for minorities and urban residents. After four weeks the only thing I know for certain is that we have a lot of work ahead of us!

California Quail-CAQU

2008-10-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

From: Wise, Cathy. 2004. Available at: http://www.wisenaturephotos.com/images/Misc.%20Birds/California%20Quail%20on%20Sage%202.jpg> Accessed October 20, 2008.

Here's a little something I wrote about CAQU about four days ago.

Chi-ca-go, pik, pik
Curly notch, brush runner, blue and brown
California Quail

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: birds as merchandise

2008-10-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a disturbing trend the last few years, which has led me to my next ethno-ornithology blog. Birds as merchandising. The plethora of t-shirts, bags, labels and other material goods being produced with bird designs is phenomenal. In addition, graphic "swallow" tattoos are becoming increasingly popular as well. Possibly the most disturbing aspect of this trend is that awareness of birds, how we affect them, that they need our help and things of this nature is not increasing. Most of the bird designs out there are graphic representations of birds, or crows and hummingbirds. If you ask people to name their favorite bird they don't know the names of any (really), most don't even realize that the bird on their shirt isn't real. Of course I have no real studies to back me up. This is simply an observational study I've had in the works (more on the back-burner but I've been busy so it's coming out a little early). I'd actually like to explore this further. Even better would be for Old Navy, American Eagle and all the other "bird crazy" trendy stores to put real birds on their goods. Anyone for a peregrine falcon? How about an osprey? Or maybe a yellow warbler? Eh, I don't know, as a bird lover I find it incredibly frustrating and fascinating. These birds are literally graphic designs removed from all reality. An animate object made into an inanimate one, and none of the supporters of this trend realize the irony. Everyone I've talked to that has bird related graphic designs on their person doesn't see what the big deal is. Something else that has always bothered me is the use of bird species as street names. The birds that are used won't be found there any longer, shoot most people that live there don't even know what bird they've actually replaced (or had their street named after). Ugh . . . This is not my best ethno-ornithology blog, but there isn't much to go off of other than my own opinion, which I assume is readily apparent.

I'm taking suggestions for next weeks ethno-ornithology blog. Got one for me? Leave it as a comment. Cheers.

An applique bird bag. It's lovely sure, do you know what bird this most closely resembles?

An example of the "swallow" tattoo that is so popular.

Hummingbird shirt, nothing much to say about it.
I searched for bird fabrics, rather than post a picture though I'll provide the link here.

Meriwether Lewis . . . depressed to the end

2008-10-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

According to Scott Bonar, Meriwether Lewis was terribly depressed. He attempted suicide twice, once by trying to jump overboard from a steamboat. He then tried to shoot himself. Both of these attempts were made while on a trip east (from Louisiana, where he was governor) to explain why he wasn't a very good governor. In Tennessee Lewis rented a room in a cabin and then shot himself twice and then cut himself from head to toe with a razor (Bonar 2007). There aren't any pages that confirm what Bonar says here's a good background on Lewis. I like Bonar's book so far (The Conservation Professional's Guide to Working with People), though the uncertainty I have about Lewis actually cutting himself from head to toe is high.

politics

2008-10-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

As I walked the dogs this morning I got to thinking about politics and how they sometimes break families up. My mother and I haven't spoken since our most recent political argument (and I try so hard to stay out of them with her), my friend J's family isn't really talking to her either. I'm worried for out country. I'm worried because the Republican candidates keep talking as if Americans are stupid, they're condescending. I'm worried because Republicans want people to be OFFENDED by Obama's level of intelligence and diction. They want to cut funding for education yet again. Then, they complain because Americans aren't as smart as other countries. Even worse is that they've turned to FEAR tactics in order to try and win votes from Obama. He's a terrorist because he served on a board of education with William Ayers? Really? If you serve on the board of an organization and someone else is radical you're suddenly one too? If McCain and Palin win I'm afraid the rich will get richer, the middle class will get poorer, the economy will continue to flounder and the war in Iraq will go on until there are no more soldiers or someone finally forces us out. Why? Because McCain won't leave Iraq until things have calmed down (although our very presence there keeps things "stirred up"). We have some major problems, to which McCain says he has solutions, though he hasn't shared one yet (other than cutting corporate taxes . . . because corporations don't make enough money as it is). Don't get me wrong, I'm an independent. I've been to both candidates websites, visited league of conservation voters, visit factcheck when I doubt something that has been said and have watched the debates with an open-mind. I like McCain too. I believe that he's a "country first" kind of guy. Sadly I think his idea of "country first" and mine are pretty different! I believe that McCain is (or at least was) a strong man, he was a POW for five years and survived, that seems impressive. But, he's up there in years, has battled health problems and has Palin as his running mate. I'm not even going into how much Palin scares me . . . we'll just leave it at that. So, Obama gets my support. He and his wife are intelligent, I believe he undertands the middle class (maybe foolishly so), he has thought about so many things AHEAD of time and I think he's what our country needs right now. Wanna know more?

Visit John McCain here.
Visit Obama here

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: artists and collectors

2008-10-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Carolina Parakeet, the now extinct native North American Psittacidae family member. From: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2041/2334948993_3ee4befb53.jpg.

When people hear the name Audubon the first thing that pops into their minds is birds. This makes sense as John James Audubon himself was a prominent bird artist. I am a big fan of his art, and the society named after him (of course)! One thing that many may not know is that Audubon once wrote that “he felt incomplete if he didn’t kill a hundred birds a day” (Gibson 2005). Many of Audubon’s paintings were created using freshly killed models that were meticulously posed using wires to hold them in place. Sometimes it would take more than a hundred birds to find one perfect for his paintings (Gibson 2005). Audubon’s paintings were part of his “Birds of America,” which included 435 life-size paintings. For an interesting description of Audubon as an artist go here. Eventually Audubon began to worry about birds like the Carolina parakeet and the ivory-billed woodpecker, as he traveled the country painting, he encountered fewer of them. In “The Race to Save the Lord God Bird” an excerpt of Audubon’s diary mentions his concern remarking that it was popular to wear ivory-billed woodpecker bills and crests and that their habitat was being eliminated in many parts of the south. Finally, their loud calls and bright colors made them easy to find by hunters (Hoose 2004). Audubon himself actually had little to do with the creation or naming of the Audubon society. One of the Audubon Society’s founders, George Bird Grinnell, was tutored by Audubon’s wife. Knowing Audubon’s affinity for birds and his reputation as an ornithologist, Grinnell chose to name the society after Audubon (Audubon Society 2008).

Swainson's warbler from: http://www.surfbirds.com/media/gallery_photos/20040419054308.jpg
Another aspect of this time that negatively affected bird populations (aside from over-hunting, birds hats and a general lack of concern for nature) was museum collectors. Hoose recounts the actions of one man that while acceptable at the time, today are quite deplorable (and bewildering to me). George Beyer was a German born American museum-creator at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. In 1899 ivory-billed woodpeckers were rarely, though not extinct. Beyer was informed that ivory-bills still existed and went on an expedition to bring skins back. While in LA he killed seven birds in a week (mind you they’re known to be rare at this time). Three of these birds were a family. The parents were still feeding their recently fledged baby when he killed them, cutting the next from its tree top home, so it could be part of the museum display (Hoose 2004). Arthur Wayne is another museum collector whose love of birds led him to become a hunter for museum collections. Wayne’s loved of birds was equaled by William Brewster, another museum collector. In 1884 Wayne and Brewster collected 47 swainson’s warblers, a species considered extinct until Wayne and Brewster “re-discovered” it (Hoose 2004).

Unfortunately I can’t find more information on this. I suppose I should check OSU’s library, though I’m not sure what else to search under. If I find more I’ll bring it too your attention at some point. Ultimately, my goal was to bring to light some bizarre, possibly previously un-thought of effects we have/had on birds. Birds have been popular ornamentation since man came into existence. Cave drawings depict birds, artists have painted them and people have committed their lives to studying birds. What gets me most about the “collecting” portion of our history is the “collecting” part of it. People who felt a true affinity for birds, a love for their plumage, their lives, killed them. In some cases these people helped wipe them out. I don’t get it. In 2000 I worked with a volunteer in Orange County, CA that originally brought this practice to my attention. We had caught a female calliope hummingbird in one of our nets. They’re a rare find in that area, so he brought her back to the banding station (mistake number one on his part). Once there he asked me if he could kill her, so she could be stuffed and placed in a natural history museum he worked for. I was horrified, why should she have to die? There are pictures of calliope hummingbirds. There are specimens in cases elsewhere for certain. It is all very odd. I got to work with some 50+ year old specimens last spring in Systematics of birds class. These specimens are spectacularly beautiful, and when will I ever see a typical roller in person again? They are also spectacularly sad. I held them in my hands knowing they had once breathed, cared for a family or been cared for and I cried.
Lilac-breasted roller from: http://www.davidmixner.com/images/2007/09/15/image002_2.jpg

Audubon Society. John James Audubon 1785-1851. 2008. Available at http://www.audubon.org/nas/jja.html. Accessed October 12, 2008.
Hoose, P. 2004. The Race to Save the Lord God Bird. Melanie Kroupa Books, New York. 196 pp.
Gibson, G. 2005. The Bedside Book of Birds. Nan A. Talese, New York. 369 pp.

Forever

2008-10-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

It feels like forever since I last posted. Of course if forever was really only 10 days or so I think we'd all be pretty sad. Well we'd be sad other than the "forever" promises we make that we want out of, then we'd be awfully glad.

I missed last week's ethno-ornithology blog, with good reason. Homework. Well, that and we played around on Saturday. Anyway, I was going to post Monday, then I had my brakes fixed, which took SIX hours! Albany, OR is the closest GM Certified shop in the Valley, so I went to Albany, with the only homework not on my computer. I finished reading and doing my Math homework withing about three. Needless to say Monday was really busy by the time I got home! I switched around a class so I had a ton of reading to do during the week, two assignments due at the end of the week . . . *sigh.* I'm finally caught up (for the most part) and still have a ton of stuff to do. Maybe things will slow down more by next weekend. Ha!

On Wednesday I met with Doug. We talked about the research project. I was feeling pretty down on it until I talked to him. He seemed happy with the data, impressed with my ability to keep up with the large number of birds I encountered (there were at least 300 birds each day, often more than 500). We discussed next summer and whether or not I want to band as well. As much as I love banding I don't want birds to die because I'm taking so long at each net. There would definitely be some kinks to work out there. We also discussed graduate school. He's encouraging me to go and that makes me feel good, it's a little overwhelming right now though. This research project plus homework, plus trying to find schools to apply to and then actually applying. It's looking like I may take a year off in order to finish this project and get my graduate school prospects lined up. Also, Julie really wants to apply for the bridge position. It makes me feel like hurrying to get everything done may be a little pointless. I'll look into some of the programs here at OSU, maybe some of the one year certificates or something.

Bleah, back to homework. I'll have an ethno-ornithology blog posted by tomorrow night (think James Audubon).

Schools in . . .

2008-10-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Three days into the term and I'm already wishing it could be winter break! I suppose that isn't entirely true, I like the classes I'm in and the work isn't overwhelming me yet. There's just a lot of work to do, class presentations included. I hate talking in front of classes. Most of these cats aren't even here to listen to the professor, they just want to graduate and get out. Why would they "want" to listen to me? Also, I don't feel as though speaking up makes me smarter . . . or maybe I just have such low self-esteem (large insecurities) that I'm not confident enough. I can get up in front of people to talk about wildlife and birds though. I'm so weird.

I've come to realize that I can't make a good scientist, these three days of classes saw to that! The reason is that scientists have to remain objective. They can advocate for things with lectures or donations, but the science is just that, science. If a study has results you don't like then you have to deal with the outcome, like it or not. Not that I think data should be manipulated. I just think that I want to be an advocate, I want to be involved in helping repair some of the damage and open minds to what the EARTH has to offer. You know, get people out of the house, away from the computer screen (haha) and into nature. I still want to know what's going on, study things of interest and what-not, I just don't think I want to do so via academia.

Ethno-ornithology Sunday (on a Monday): bird hats

2008-09-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

An add for bird hats from the Pariasian Hat Co. From: http://www.gjenvick.com/images/Fashions/1907/CunardDailyBulletin/Adv-TheParisianHatCo-500.jpg.
A hat adorned with what appear to be egret feathers. From: http://www.villagehatshop.com/artman2/uploads/1/the-paris-hat.jpg

This is the first of two posts that will be on the large number of birds killed for either “science” or for fashion. This one will focus on birds killed for the “sake” of “fashion.”
According to Jennifer Price, writer for Audubon magazine, “[i]n 1886 Frank Chapman hiked from his uptown Manhattan office to the heart of the women's fashion district on 14th Street, to tally the stuffed birds on the hats of passing women. Chapman, who would later found the first version of this magazine, was a talented birder. He identified the wings, heads, tails, or entire bodies of 3 bluebirds, 2 red-headed woodpeckers, 9 Baltimore orioles, 5 blue jays, 21 common terns, a saw-whet owl, and a prairie hen. In two afternoon trips he counted 174 birds and 40 species in all” (Price 2004). At this point in time hats were even adorned with small mammals and reptiles, proving just how bizarre women and “fashion” can become!
Hats were a popular accessory well before bird parts adorned them. Once “bird hats” became popular, milliners would set up “plumassiers,” where feathers were dyed and arranged before being placed on the hat (Thomas 2008). By the late 1890s hats were adorned with entire terns and pheasants, up from the entire songbirds worn in previous years. This inspired one Chicago reporter to state “[i]t will be no surprise to me to see life-sized turkeys, or even . . . farmyard hens on fashionable bonnets before I die” (Price 1999). In an effort to appease women’s “feather lust” men nearly decimated populations of snowy and great white egrets, terns, reddish egrets and roseated spoonbills. An 1875 edition of Harper’s Bazaar contained an ad discussing a new fad. "The entire bird is used, and is mounted on wires and springs that permit the head and wings to be moved about in the most natural manner." An 1892 order of feather by a London dealer (either a plumassier or a milliner) included 6,000 bird of paradise, 40,000 hummingbird and 360,000 various East Indian bird feathers (McDowell 1992, quoted in “Hats off to birds”). In 1902 an auction in London sold 1,608 30 ounce packages of heron plumes. Each ounce of plume required the use of four herons, therefore each package used the plumes of 120 herons, for a grand total of 192, 960 herons killed (Haug 2006).
This came on the heels of the first wave of bird hat boycotts. These boycotts were lead by Harriet Hemenway, a prominent Boston society woman, and her cousin Minna Hall. An 1896 description of the bloody mess hunters made of egret rookeries (nesting colonies) spurred her disgust. At a series of afternoon teas Hemenway convinced other society women to boycott the atrocious hats. Hemenway and Hall also convened a group of prominent men and women to create the Massachusetts Audubon Society. According to Price “On average, women accounted for about 80 percent of the membership and half the leadership, and almost all the "local secretaries," who organized members in each town” (Price 2004). Thus women became conservation activists, often alongside the men in the groups. Women hit the pavement, garnered support and members, organized fundraisers, etc while their male counterparts toured and gave lectures on the importance of conservation. Wearing hats with dead bird parts became morally wrong, at least in the upper class. Lower and middle class women, delighted at the new found affordability of these icons of fashion, were quickly and harshly chastised for wearing the hats. They often couldn’t afford memberships to the upper class societies, and needed to work to feed their families anyway. Still . . . this seems to have been the beginning of a good thing, twisted as it may be.
This reminds me of Hazel Wolf. Wolf was not a society woman, in fact she came from a very poor family. Born in the late 1890s she was an activist for all manner of humanitarian efforts, until she had “run out” of things to do there and moved on to environmental efforts. I love being a woman, particularly when I read about the amazing things we’ve done. I also dislike being a woman, particularly where materialism (which I know is created and encouraged by men) and “fashion” are concerned. Tune in next week for the scientific end of this deadly time for birds.

Thomas,P. 2008. Available at: http://www.fashion-era.com/hats-hair/hats_hair_1_wearing_hats_fashion_history.htm#Plumassiers.> Accessed September 29, 2008.
Haug, J. 2006. “Wings, Breasts and Birds.” Available at: http://www.victoriana.com/Victorian-Hats/birdhats.htm.> Accessed September 29, 2008.
Novia Scotia Museum of Natural History. 1998. Available at: http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nsbirds/feat05.htm.> Accessed September 29, 2008.
Price, J. 2004. “Heritage.” Available at: http://audubonmagazine.org/features0412/hats.html.> Accessed September 29, 2008.

Animal of the week

2008-09-27T23:26:00.001-07:00

Well, I've slacked this week! I have been busy trying to get data entry done, thus my animal of the week post (started last week with rats) has been placed aside. Therefore, this is what I've got . . . it's not as in depth as I'd like to have explored, but it's what I had time for!

A picture of the baby western gray squirrel and pine squirrel eating together on our patio.

The baby gray squirrel. Can you see it's big feet? So cute!

Douglas squirrel, my favorite!

This week I’ll be discussing squirrels. Originally I was going to discuss turtles, but the baby western gray squirrel that has been visiting us lately has changed my mind! The gray squirrel has arrived on the tail of one or more pine squirrels. Thankfully, it has avoided the feeders and stuck to the ground, cleaning up the seeds that our overzealous and picky red-breasted nuthatch visitor throws out. Typically the gray squirrels also chase out the smaller pine squirrels, this one eats with the pine squirrels, as long as they don’t get too close, probably because it is young. When I say young, I mean young. This little one still has over-large paws, baby fuzz and the more rounded heads common to young squirrels.
Classification of the squirrel: Kingdom-Animalia; Phylum-Chordata; Class-Mammalia; Order-Rodentia; Family-Sciuridae; Genus-Sciurus; western gray squirrel Species-griseus .
Geographic range of the western gray squirrel: Washington, Oregon, California and a small portion of Nevada.
Habitat: woodlands and coniferous forests; elevations of up to 2500 meters (from University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web).
Squirrels in Oregon: The major species of squirrels common to Oregon are the Douglas squirrel (we used to call them pine squirrels when I was a kid), western gray squirrel, California ground squirrel and northern flying squirrel. While the dominant species used to the be the Douglas squirrel and western gray squirrel the invasion of eastern gray squirrels and fox squirrels, combined with the loss of habitat to development, has lead to a steep decline in western gray squirrel populations. In Oregon the western gray squirrel is now listed as a species of concern, in Washington it is listed as threatened. This may seem unimportant, squirrels generally all perform the same ecological function. In fact the eastern gray squirrel has virtually replaced the western gray squirrel throughout the Pacific Northwest. Currently urban gray squirrels are typically eastern, while "woodland squirrels" are typically western.
Characteristics: “The western gray squirrel is the largest tree squirrel in Oregon. They are silvery gray, with a white belly. White tips on their gray hairs give them a silvery appearance. They have a bushy, silvery gray tail with black hairs. Adults weigh between 18 to 33 ounces. They can be as long as two feet, including their tail. They have tough, curved claws and strong legs for tree climbing and leaping” (Carol Savonen). Eastern gray squirrels have a reddish tint in the summer, are smaller and more aggressive than their western counterparts. Either way gray squirrels play an important ecological function in that 100s of the 1000 or so nuts and seeds they cache are forgotten and grow into trees and plants the following year.
Mythology/Spirituality: According to Ted Andrews squirrels serve as a “strong reminder we are on the right track, laying the foundation, and making the right preparations to enable us to succeed and prosper in the future” (from the Animal Wise Tarot by Ted Andrews). So, if a squirrel appears in your life you’re on the right track, or at least it seems like that is what he’s saying. Maybe it’s a good thing we have squirrels visiting us on a regular basis. In Norse mythology Ratatoskr is a red squirrel that delivers messages up and down the world tree, Yggdrasill. This squirrel was also a messenger for Odin, bringing him news from the human world.
When we'd get in litters of squirrels at wildlife images there were usually at least three babies. According to Sara Crane (University of Michigan) there are usually 3-5 babies, with older females giving birth to larger litters than young females. Females are able to reproduce by the time they're 11 mo old with a gestation of only 44 days and a weaning time of about 10 weeks (they're slow developers!). This probably explains why there are so many baby squirrels out and about in the summer, all females born in one year are capable of bearing young the following year! Squirrel nests are generally large and occur either in trees or external to them, made of sticks and moss. Gray squirrels are also diurnal, presumably because they are quick on their feet, thus being able to easier avoid predators.
For more information on western gray squirrels in Oregon I'd suggest going here. For more information on the squirrels of Washington go here. The information I've used was obtained from the following links, the photos are from our patio.

http://www.backyardnature.net/squrrls.htm
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=834&storyType=garden
http://www.squirrelsanctuary.org/curios.htm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sciurus_griseus.html
http://www.audubonportland.org/images/wcc_images/living%20with%20urban%20squirrels.pdf

ponderings

2008-09-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

The indecisiveness that wracks my brain makes me impatient with myself. I LOVE research, field work and analysis (I'm often told that I am too analytical) but do I love them enough? I know that I love working with animals, getting dirty and community outreach education. I know that I love them enough to do them full-time. *sigh* This whole having to make plans for my future can sometimes be a drag!

Great-horned owl

2008-09-23T15:38:00.001-07:00

Hoo-h-HOO-hoo-hoo
Great horned you appear, brown and gray
Like bark, to me. Owl.

This is for the great-horned owl that talks to me almost every night when I take the dogs for their last "potty." I hear them when I'm bird watching (at sunrise) at both EE Wilson and Finley. On the nights that I'm up, driven by an seen force to keep sowing until far into the night, the great-horned owls talk to me as well. Occasionally I want to snuggle them! While I'm on the subject of great-horned owls I found a pumpkin ale, called night owl and featuring a painting of a great-horned owl on the bottle, while we were in Eugene. It's from the Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle, WA. It's supposed to be for Samhein, but I don't know that I want to wait that long to drink it.

Photo from: www.gatorfarm.com/birds.html

Ruby Tuesday: first time around

2008-09-22T21:40:00.001-07:00

I've decided to attempt a leap into the photography fun I've seen on so many blogs. Ruby Tuesday is the first attempt. I like the theme of red and the excuse to take pictures. You can view the host site and other photos here. The first pictures is from the Eugene, OR Saturday Market. It's a display of tomatoes that I am absolutely enamored with.

This second is a knife holder from a store in Newport, OR. The holder is called "the ex," I believe it speaks for itself.

Mabon

2008-09-21T23:59:00.001-07:00

Greetings on this lovely Mabon holiday. I'd like to send blessings to all of you. May the coming months bring to fruition "items" you've been working on, be it physical, mental or emotional. This past year I've been given the blessed ability to get in touch with the Earth again. We've gardened, harvested and prepared fruits, vegetables and herbs and I've reveled in the reminder of how much I love these activities. These simple (time intensive yet simple) acts are a great reminder to slow down and enjoy what out Mother has to offer. I also was able to spend the summer hiking and watching birds. While this isn't an actual harvest it is similar to harvesting my goals, thoughts or desires. It has been a good year indeed. Walk forth this day into the fields and harvest the Earth's bounty (obviously in a sustainable, thankful and loving manner). One more month before the crops belong to the fey (Samhein), so get on it :)

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: falconry

2008-09-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

Image from: http://stronghold2.heavengames.com/cpix/f-lady.jpg

I’ve been interested in falconry since about 1994, correlating with when I began volunteering at Wildlife Images. I’d had no real interest in working with raptors until I watched them up close. Even in enclosed areas they are magnificent. Undoubtedly my real interest in falconry came from assisting with the training of program birds and working with wild birds to prepare them for release (make sure they were in shape). Anyway, I was interested in falconry until I found out where most birds used come from. They’re often wild birds that are captured and “trained.” In honor of ethno-ornithology Sunday I’m delving deeper into falconry.
The North American Falconers Association (NAFA) defines falconry as “taking wild quarry in its natural state with a trained raptor." According to a PBS special on falconry, there is evidence that raptors were used for hunting in China as long ago as 2,205 BC, during the Heian Dynasty. There is evidence of falconry in Arabia and Persia dating back to 1700 BC. In Europe, falconry dates back to 300 BC. During the middle ages falconry was particularly popular, some ren-fests even have falconry displays. When the Spanish made it to Mexico they discovered that Aztecs were using falcons for hunting as well (which I find AMAZING). Finally PBS also mentions that William Shakespeare was an avid falconer, which makes me like him even more.

Photo from: http://www.claytor.com/photographs/images/picFalconryDubai.jpg

Falconry is legal, with proper training and permits, in every state but Delaware, Maryland (though I seem to find contention between a few sites) and Connecticut. Various laws regarding falconry can be found here: http://www.n-a-f-a.org/htm/about_fal/fedlaws.htm. The international association of falconry and conservation of birds of prey have great information on the history of falconry, falconry today and various other falconry links: http://www.i-a-f.org/ftoday.html.

Photo from: http://buildyourownbirdhouseplans.com/images/Gloygum31235American_Kestrel_II_800x600.jpg

Aside from the length of time and breadth of space falconry has encompassed the strata created regarding the types of birds in use are pretty amazing. Several pages describe this stratification as an Eagle for an Emperor, a Gyrfalcon for a King, the Peregrine for a Duke, the Goshawk for Yeoman, the Merlin for a Lady, the Spar (eurasian Sparrowhawk) for a Priest, the Kestrel for an Altar boy. Birds would often be trapped in the Fall or late Summer and then released again in the Spring. Apparently, this continued until about 30 years ago, when many falconers began using captive bred birds. Some, such as renaissance man: http://www.therenaissanceman.org/falconry.html still follow tradition, releasing birds once Spring arrives. Part of the reason for this is that while molting birds cannot be flown and are therefore not catching their own food. So, what would be the purpose of “hawking” (as falconry is also known) with wild birds? Historically people would eat what the birds caught, sharing what they didn’t consume with their birds. Today I believe that tradition is the main factor, though I’m sure that some people still eat what their birds catch.

Photo from: http://www.gyrfalcons.co.uk/IX6B1820.JPG

An interesting aspect of falconry, which I’d never considered before, is the propagation of hawks and falcons specifically for falconry. Falconers commonly use kestrels, gyrfalcons, peregrines, red-tailed hawks and other accipters and buteos. Eagles are occasionally used (though it doesn’t seem often). Owls even become falconers’ birds, though training them focuses on an audio attack, not a visual one. Eurasian owls and great horned owls seem to be the most popular, as far as breeding goes at the very least.
Finally, falconers can do a lot of good. When peregrines were first listed as endangered it was falconers that donated birds for the breeding programs. By proxy without falconers peregrines would have likely gone extinct. The peregrine fund’s site is informative, check it out: http://www.peregrinefund.org/default.asp. Here I should mention that naïve and untrained falconers can cause great damage to their birds and bird populations. Care must be taken when trapping a bird, to ensure that they survive the initial trapping. Caring for a bird-of-prey can be expensive; care must be taken to ensure the bird’s health. Additionally if a species is sensitive, capturing one, even for a few months could be detrimental to the population as a whole.

Where do I stand, now that I’ve perused 7-10 websites about falconry? Well, I used to be opposed to falconry. Some animal rights activists apparently disapprove of falconry, though I seem unable to find any websites supporting this. Therefore I’m actually feeling in favor of falconry. Maybe my feelings of approval are misguided and misinformed; hopefully I’d figure that out rather quickly. Either way, at this moment in time I see no reason why people shouldn’t be falconers, particularly with domestic birds (I’m still put off by the idea of capturing wild birds and trying to make them bond with a person). That’s falconry in a nutshell, my nutshell at least!

Some other great websites: Falconry Academy, Western Sporting, and Oregon Falconers Association.

soy

2008-09-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article in Yoga Journal about soy. There are conflicting opinions about soy consumption. On one side of the issue are doctors and researchers claiming that eating soy causes breast cancer and therefore should not be eaten in any quantity. The other side of the issue claims (likely obviously) that soy actually decreases the likelihood of breast cancer. My thoughts on it are that anything in excess can kill you (nutmeg included, though I suppose this has more to do with the fact that the outer part of a nutmeg nut is used to create mace). Anyway, they go on to say that it is virtually impossible to eat enough tofu to create problems, but soy ice cream and soy-based products make it easier to eat "too much" soy because they contain condensed soy. Since the jury is still out on this one I'm going to continue eating soy ice cream. I prefer tofu to condensed soy products and therefore am not too worried about that either.

While we're discussing soy ice cream I have to divulge my horrible secret. I LOVE So Delicious (Turtle Mountain frozen treats) soy ice cream. We visited the home of So Delicious (Eugene, OR) and were greeted with an array of frozen treats, the likes of which I've never seen! Next time we go to Eugene we're taking the cooler so I can buy the Lemon Cream. MMmmmmmm. After visiting their webpage I discovered that they give a percentage of their proceeds to Sea Turtle Restoration Project. Their desserts are organic and completely non-dairy. I haven't yet met one I don't like! For their other environmental ideals go here. Ideally, we'd like to make our own soy ice cream, for the time being I'll enjoy this!

Additionally, I've been trying to get back in the daily yoga and meditation routine. It's been difficult, mostly because I'm out of the habit. I forgot how much I love yoga. While perusing the Yoga Journal I began wondering if I'm missing out on something by not going to classes. Then I realized that I live in a college town and I've seen the people that take yoga. While I believe that everyone should do yoga, I don't want to be around everyone when I'm doing it. I really am an anti-group person. Weird.

Gone coastal

2008-09-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we headed to Newport, OR yet again. It was nice to be there on a day when tourist numbers were low. Agate Beach was relatively empty, allowing for maximum dog play. Moose has been doing really well with other dogs, but we had a near run in (I don't think he knew it though). These two older women and their chihuahuas were visiting the beach, the chihuahuas off leash. We realized it and noted that they weren't really being watched. In order to head off any trouble I lead Moose and Freyja in a large arc around the women. Even still the chihuahuas came tearing toward us, barking their little heads off. At first the women seemed unconcerned, even after I started walking quickly away from them. Finally they called the dogs off. I'm glad as I would have hated for Moose to have consumed one of their dogs (not that I think he actually would have, but he could have seriously injured one of them). I had some moonstones and herbs to leave for the ocean so we headed to cobble beach next. Most of the moonstones were left on a rock with a prayer said over them. The ocean claimed her gift and we headed on. Next we stopped at Quarry Cove (my favorite). I left the remaining moonstones and herbs, mostly for the harbor seals!

Friday Julie and I walked to Fred Meyer. At one point the dogs took off behind me, I've gotta' get better about keeping my footing while being spun around. They were trying to get to a lovely white husky, who seemed confused by Moose's growls. When they first spun me I had the option to either allow myself to fall and maintain some control over the dogs or fight for my footing but possibly loose control over the dogs. I chose falling, but the dog kept advancing. Thankfully Julie grabbed our dogs and an argument was avoided. The most frustrating part of all was the husky's neighbor coming out and telling us that "pizza is friendly." To which I replied "he's not," pointing at Moose while smiling at the gentlemen. I just don't understand people. The husky was off leash, in town with no tags and only a harness for gripping (harnesses also get stuck to the bottom of vehicles very easily). Don't people think?

"Fly Away Home"

2008-09-17T12:16:00.001-07:00

I broke down and watched "fly away home" this morning. I try not to have the tv on when I'm the only one home, but nobody else ever wants to watch it and it's one of my favorite movies, ergo I watched it today by myself. Anyway I've never cried while watching this movie. Today I did. Why? Well because I watched the geese bathing in the water at the end of the movie and they were so happy. The developers in the movie, true to developer nature, were hoping for the opportunity to take land designated for wildlife and turn it into homes. I suppose the thought of so many people hoping to oust nature in order to make a quick buck, with ramshackle housing, got to me today. I don't want to live in a world where the only wildlife anyone sees are european starlings, opossums, raccoons, corvids and whatever other animals can find a way to survive with us. I like listening to birds singing and knowing that somewhere outside the limits of development biodiversity still survives.

We turn clean water toxic, for example the Berkeley Pit in Butte, MT. Thinking about the Berkeley Pit lead to research, and I'm more horrified than I thought possible! From the Butte, MT Convention and Visitors Bureau "the Berkeley Pit is a 1700 foot deep hole in the ground" that is three miles around and a mile across. It started filling in 1982, when ARCO closed down the copper mine and removed the pumps (which were keeping groundwater out of the pit). The pit contains 38.3 billion gallons of water with a pH of 2.5 (according to PitWatch Cola, read Pepsi and Coke, has a pH of 2.5 as well), acidic enough that life cannot grow in it (other than the bacteria that has evolved enough to now sustain life in this highly acidic and heavy metal laden aquatic environment). In 1995 a flock of 342 Snow Geese landed on the water (happy to find a place to land while migrating I'm sure) and died shortly thereafter. September 28, 2006 the EPA made a decision regarding the Priority Soils Operable Unit. The EPA has created a two step process. Phase I included the removal of waste dumps, railroad beds and other wastes that may be associated with mine wastes. Apparently children from the neighborhoods bordering the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit have elevated levels of lead in their blood (this is from various sources including the dust from tailings) so the EPA is overseeing programs abating the lead problem. Apparently Phase II does not include removing tainted dust or soil but does include the use of vegetation, caps and warning signs to lessen human contact. Not sure what this really means for Butte residents either, its interesting either way. The dust is created when the tailings that are located in the Yankee Doodle Tailings Pond are exposed to the air, dry up and create dust, carried by the wind to the poor part of town (because as we all know people with money don't live near toxic waste fields). Additional dust may be coming from the Parrot Tailings, but they aren't mentioned a lot so I'm not sure about this theory. The pit itself is about 200 ft from the "critical level" and about 300ft from the level at which it will enter into outside water sources. Until then pumps have been installed at Horseshoe Bend, pumping water into the Yankee Doodle Tailings Pond, in order to slow the ever increased water levels of Berkeley Pit. Once the critical level is reached, water will be pumped out of the pit, cleaned and released into Silver Bow Creek. Possibly even more disturbing than the EPA and state reactions to the pit and its surrounding area is the fact that it has become a tourist attraction. No joke, there is a gift shop, picnic tables, bathrooms and a viewing area. What they fail to mention is that if you breath in the dust of the fog that rises from the lake you may be inhaling heavy metals and acidic vapors. But hey, they only charge $2, so maybe it's worth it (haha). "Pit Watch," is an organization partially funded by one of the main perpetrators, BP-ARCO (yep, you read that right) has an article about efforts being made to discourage waterfowl from landing. Read the brief article, though I warn you it isn't as uplifting as one might hope for. Ultimately I hope that you'll peruse the "pit watch" page, it's all pretty disturbing. I also encourage you to visit the Convention and Visitor's Bureau page because it is entirely amusing. There are some interesting people in Butte, MT.

"No Impact Man"

2008-09-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Colin Beavan of NYC started a project in August or September 2006, to try and create no net impact on the environment. He had apparently decided to "walk the talk." So, I've been reading his blog for easily an hour now. At first I was put off. He's making a book and a movie about this journey, both require a lot of energy and resources to create. So, I looked into the book and movie more. Okay, he says the publishers will be using sustainable materials. Good. The movie is a documentary, cameras follow him and his wife around. Seems better than a post journey movie deal. BUT . . . what kind of sustainable materials? Are we talking recycled paper? Good, what percent post-consumer? 20% . . . 50% . . . 80% . . . 100%? In order to appear as unhypocritical as possible it'll have to be 80-100%. I mean if Seventh Generation can make almost entirely post-consumer toilet paper, you can make a book the same way. Will the paper be bleached? Again unbleached paper will create a less negative impact, it'd look cooler too. Ultimately, creating more "stuff" for consumers seems the opposite of what you'd want to do to encourage "no net impact."

After reading his blog for a while though I realized something. First, even though this guy is a megalomaniac he cops to it. Excellent. Second, he seems to be genuinely inspiring people, both to hate him and to try and follow his lead. Anyone who inspires right-wingers to hate them is probably alright with me. Third, whatever . . . at least he's making an effort. We can't all be as saintly as we'd like to be all the time.

This leads me to divulge some of my own flubs. My family lives three hours away. For a while there we were visiting them once a month. Even though I get 25 mpg most of the time it is still a LOT of gas. I rescued a horse. Plus one karma point (maybe more since I am nigh onto broke and she's EXPENSIVE) for me, minus one crunchy point because of the resources she requires (hay, grain, etc). I have two dogs. They were rescues too, so again plus karma points, but they burn up resources, minus crunchy points. What are we attempting in order to decrease our impact? Less trips home. I love little Audrey and enjoy my time with my family but it's a long drive and I feel guilty every time I make it. Huka lives in a pasture and her manure becomes fertilizer and we buy local hay and grain. For the dogs we buy "bio bags," biodegradable poop bags. We also recently bought a second hand (smells like bulk salsa once lived in it) 5 gallon bucket from the co-op. Bulk dog food now inhabits the bucket. It costs less and we don't have a giant bag to throw away at the end of the month anymore. I wish the meat center at OSU had non-basted bones so we could buy "chewies" without packaging.

Furthermore that new computer I want, so that we don't have to juggle computers at home, probably shouldn't happen. Ouch. Three people in college, two with on-line classes, one with two college classes to teach. Hmmm . . . for someone living increasingly sustainably sustainability can still be hard!

I've switched to cloth pads for my feminine woes. I know that this is something we're encouraged not to talk about publicly but I can't help it. Us ladies create a lot of waste with our disposable products, even the environmentally friendly ones still end up in sewers or landfills. So, here it is . . . This was the first month and there are a few kinks that need to be worked out. Namely ensuring that I don't use/waste more water by using them. Speaking of garbage . . . we've started using garbage bags only in the bathroom (as long as there are disposable lady products there will be a liner). The garbage bags we do use are also "bio bags." For all other garbage we have a five gallon bucket that we just dump garbage into. We're down to only about a gallon of garbage per week for three people and two dogs. Not bad. Once a month I rinse the bucket with a vinegar solution so it stays "clean."

Now if we can just figure out how to get the three of us places without driving at all. The bus system here is great, but from our apartment only goes one place we need it to, OSU. *Sigh* this is a process!

Oh rats!

2008-09-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

We've had a rat visiting us at night off and on for about a month now. Yesterday I saw it in plain view, we had a moment before it scampered off. It is small compared to many of the rats in Corvallis, making me believe it is young, or a different species. Either way it comes and eats the seeds dropped by our bird friends.

Watching the our rat visitor I began wondering about rats. We had a pet rat as a child, there was a rat problem at the wildlife rehabilitation center I volunteered at (due to some escapees from a failed propagation program intending to create less expensive food for the animals) and I know that OSU had a rat problem last year. I also saw wood rats at both marshes all summer. Are there other rats native to the United States? No. Wood rats seem to be the only native rats, and they aren't true rats. They are from the same family as true rats, Muridae, but from a different genus, wood rats are from the genus Neotoma and true rats are from the genus Rattus.

There is also a difference between the rat implicated in the spread of the Black Plague, not-so-ironically enough the black rat. After the black rat came the brown rat, which is now the dominant species in most of Eurasia. Rats originated in Asia but spread to other parts of the world via humans (imagine that!). The Chinese believe that rats bring prosperity and material goods. Also, rat is the head of the Chinese zodiac cycle In Hinduism, rats are considered a vehicle for Lord Ganasha. At a temple in Rajastan, India, the Karni Mata Temple, rats are considered sacred. This has to do with the Hindu believe in reincarnation and a deal made between Karni Mata, an incarnation of the goddess Durga, and Yama, the god of death, turned all of Karni Mata's clan members into rats before they are reincarnated as holy men (from National Geographic, follow the link for Karni Mata above). In Europe they have a negative association, though that seems likely to have resulted from the black plague. That's a hard association to shake! Many people consider rats dirty and disease carrying but I think this is a misconception. Our pet rat was very clean and Karni Mata has never had a disease outbreak! In fact, I'd like to rescue a rat or two, though as with any other small animal I think about rescuing I realize our dogs may want to eat them.

Ethno-ornithology Sunday: Urban chickens

2008-09-14T19:37:00.001-07:00

The reasons behind the recent urban chicken "boom" vary. Some of the main reasons given by urban chicken fanatics are getting back in touch with nature, raising their own food and the joy that watching chickens in their yard brings them. And why not? "Farm fresh" eggs have become a popular food item at natural food stores, roadside stands and growers/farmers markets over the last decade. A similar trend is urban/backyard gardening. It seems natural then that chickens would come next. Chickens are good cultivators, their scratching aerates the soil. They eat "pest" insects, for example beetles and grubs, they're great composters and their feces is good for fertilizing backyard gardens. In fact many people are now employing "chicken tractors," portable pens that allow chickens to scratch, consume and poop to their hearts content, in their gardens. Most chickens produce between 200 and 320 eggs per year, though some lay an average of slightly more than one egg per day. Finally, chickens are fun to watch. Their personalities vary as much as any species and they come in a wide array of colors, sizes and productivity. Additionally many breeds make great pets, they enjoy being held, scratched, kissed and otherwise loved on.

To my utter delight many urban cities across the country allow the keeping of backyard chickens. Some of these cities include Ann Arbor, MI, Seattle, WA, Portland, OR (Corvallis and Eugene too!), New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Missoula, MT and Albuquerque, NM. Ordinances vary, for example Missoula allows up to six (Missoula, MT draft ordinance 12/07) while Seattle only allows up to three (Seattle Tilth 2007). If you're interested in raising chickens in your backyard contact your local animal control officer or city hall to look up city ordinances.

In researching all of this Seattle has become an even more amazing place to live. Seattle Tilth offers City Chicken 101 and 201 classes plus an annual Chicken Coop Tour. A story co-created by Seattle Times writer Paula Block and Pacific Northwest magazine photographer Harley Soltes highlights some of the greatest coops I've ever seen in "Custom Coops." Another Seattle Times article, "Chickens in the city: a tightknit brood" by Nicole Tsong, discusses the increasing popularity of chickens, featuring a coop built with sustainability in mind. As with most cities roosters are not allowed, predominantly due to the level of noise they create.

Missoula, MT is a perfect example of how contentious farming in the city can be. Apparently there is no law regarding urban chickens (so they aren't either legal or illegal, just something in between). The video "Missoula Squabbles Over Urban Chickens" gives an excellent synopsis of the situation and its funny to boot. If you choose to watch it be warned that it does take a little while to load, even with high speed internet, its worth the wait though!

Some of the arguements against urban chickens are that they carry disease (predominantly false, they aren't more likely to carry disease than any avian pet), they smell (also predominantly false, if their coops are cleaned regularly they don't smell bad), chickens belong in the country (no! they make excellent house pets!), people are uncomfortable knowing where their food comes from (some neighbors don't want to think about it) and chickens are noisey (I won't argue that one, they can be quite talkative).

I discovered the "Urban Chickens" blog that is pretty delightful. For more information you can also go to http://urbanchickens.org/. To look at species of chickens you can go to the American Poultry Association. I love these people because they are crazy chicken enthusiasts! They also have an article for raising chickens in the city limits. You can also find a table of breeds, egg colors and other information here.

As with every other aspect of ethno-ornithology and natural resources we don't realize what we have, miss, need, etc until it's gone. We move away from the country to avoid farms, work, etc only to decide that urban farms are the next trend in sustainability and yuppiedom. Personally, I'm glad to see chickens raising to this level of fanatacism because I think they make great pets. Urban chickens back-up my point that birds are the best way to get people connected to nature. Birds are everywhere, creating a connection with nature through bird feeders, backyard chickens, birdwatching in Central Park and watching red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons nest in New York, NY. City chickens are a prime example of human's innate need to be close to nature, close to where our food comes from. Ultimately these chickens also provide their humans with the opportunity to create ever grander, ever more imaginative and increasingly sustainable coops to share and show off to their friends neighbors and other enthusiasts. So maybe I'm giving urban chicken "farmers" too much credit. Maybe urban chickens are just a way for some to feel more concerned, more holy, than thou. Eh, either way I'm loving the recent love for urban chickens, sustainability and creativity that results when the two are combined!

Greetings Lords and Ladies

2008-09-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

Today we ventured to the 13th annual Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire in Kings Valley, OR. We had a grand time yelling "Huzzah" as we watched knights jousting. There were many vendors, sadly most were selling non-handmade goods. A gypsy man was selling his 72 diesel "gypsy mobile." He completely decorated and designed the interior on his own, if we had $10,000 I believe we would have bought it! There were several "stages" and areas roped off for various guild performers. One group consisted of a group of Scots, another was the Shire Reaves (we bought a lovely triple horse tapestry from them). Interestingly enough there were educational fliers at many of the booths (the Greyhounds of America for example), at the entrance and at the guild areas. Many of the vendors were in character, bringing great joy to my heart. The best booth? The McGilly Sassparilly, a booth selling home brewed sarsparilla, cream soda and birch beer (among other things). The beverages are fantastic, the pourers amusing and you get to keep the groovy bottles. So, my first ren-fest was nice, I probably would have had more fun if I'd been part of it, though maybe not. Julie has suggested I take up sewing with wool felt and then trying to sell stuff next year. Hmmm, probably a lot of work for a two day event. It would be funny though.

This all makes me ponder why we humans feel the need to dress up. I suppose the actors make some sense, they perform something they enjoy and educate faire goers, at least on some level. The plethora of individuals that attend in garb is what really makes me think. Some of them were really into it, others were just dressed up, wandering around and looking "cool." Why do we glorify that time period? There was a lot of misery, a lot of disease and death and a lot of really messed up goings on. Eh, I don't know. Ultimately it is good for people to have something to be interested in, something to be amused by. Being amused by a period of time when peasants hardly had the time to raise a family if strange to think of (though not non-understandable).

Praying mantis vs. Garden Spider

2008-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

My favorite variety of spider is the garden spider. This is due, in part, to the large number of them we've found in our garden, because they have cool webs and we used to feed one that lived near our front door as a kid (we even incubated her egg sac). Nature tales has a great blog about spiders, including garden spiders. I also am fond of praying mantises as well. There were mantises everywhere at both Finley and EE Wilson. They're lovely in flight and when I stopped to talk to a green praying mantis at EE Wilson it stared at me and kept tilting its head, similar to Freyja's "what?" look.

Yesterday there was a show-down between these two insects. A large brown mantis had flown into a large garden spider's web. The garden spider had partially wrapped the praying mantis's head and front legs. Amazingly the mantis was putting up a fight, causing the spider to bite it and then walk away. As we watched I was filled with a mix of awe, at the spider's ability to catch and hold something as large as a praying mantis, and horror, at the mantis's obvious distress. Though I suppose another way to look at it is that the mantis put up a valiant fight, the spider was just too large.

Final day of surveying

2008-09-11T22:29:00.001-07:00

Finally, the vegetation surveys are done. I'm a little sad, but the excuse to stick to trails for awhile is appreciated! We found remains of one of "my" northern harriers, I believe the female. I know that death and consumption are a "fact of life" but it still makes me very sad. The harriers have worked their way into my heart this summer. They've mowed out there too, cut down a ton of the black hawthorn, I guess they're going to burn it again this year. It's probably a good thing I'm not looking at getting into management of this sort, the policies I've seen this summer make me crazy!

I called University of Washington today, to request an admissions packet. The woman I talked to was very friendly. Another phone call was placed to John Marzluff, the professor I want to work with for my graduate degree. Hopefully I'll hear back from him soon.

Vegetation Surveys day 2

2008-09-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

We are done at EE Wilson. The vegetation surveys went smoothly today, probably because we didn't have to hike very far to, from or between sites. We watched a juvenile red-tailed hawk for quite some time. It's interesting because we saw it in the same site that I always see a juvenile red-tail in. I wonder if the hunting is ideal, due to the abundance of grass, berries, on not-too-dense forest (meaning the hawk can get in between trees easier). One thing I've come to realize about marshes is that they are blooming and vegetated year-round. There are these tall purplish flowers blooming that weren't there two weeks ago. In most places the heat is killing plants while at EE Wilson things just keep "popping" out of the ground. Amazing.

After we finished the vegetation surveys we decided to pick blackberries. While looking for berries I led us past some prune trees, wanting to see if they were Italian prunes like I'd been suspecting all along. They were indeed Italian prunes, little tiny ones, edible in two or three bites. Being at the peak of ripeness they were quite tasty. Julie and I picked enough to fill my cargo pockets. Funny thing about fresh picked ripe prunes is that putting them in your pockets can make quite a mess! I think we're going to juice them to make either fruit leather or slice and dehydrate them (I LOVE dried prunes). We also picked a large container of blackberries, for either baking, smoothie making or fruit leather making. I love living in the Willamette Valley, there is so much "wild" fruit available for harvesting. In fact we found ripe and plentiful huckleberries downtown (along the water front) the other day.

One more day of vegetation surveys, then Shrewsbury, then my last class of the summer, one more week of "vacation" and then back to school.

vegetation surveys day one

2008-09-09T16:42:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my assistants, Julie and Jan, things went quickly and smoothly today. We performed 20 vegetation surveys, hiked at least four miles (possibly closer to five) and had fun doing it. Well, I had fun and they seemed to as well. Anyway, as suspected the dominant vegetation types are blackberries and grass. Throw in a splash of thistle, rose and black hawthorne and you've got an idea of what the sites I've been surveying are composed of. Tomorrow we'll finish up at EE Wilson, then harvest blackberries and maybe some apples (we harvested pears today).

This has got me to thinking about a story I was recently told. A former co-worker of mine has a habit of talking about birds. Having worked with her and knowing the misinformation she often spreads I feel justified in noting that she is a pretend, and not an actual, ornithologist. She once claimed that two turkey vultures (whom I saw with my own eyes) were in actuality red-tailed hawks. Being part Lakota she also felt the need to yell out a greeting to "brother hawk" in front of everyone, showing us all how wise and in touch with nature she is. Recently she claimed that a bird circling high overhead (at work) was a bald eagle. Even better it is part of a mated pair of bald eagles that nest in the trees just behind work. When someone mentioned the dark head she said "they're young." Here I feel the need to note that "young" birds are "immature" and do not breed. An eagle cannot be both mated and immature. Either it has a dark head and tail (is immature) and is unmated or it has a white head and tail and possibly mated. She then started mentioning the mated pair of bald eagles at EE Wilson. There is a pair of osprey at EE Wilson that I've watched each morning when I pass by the water. I have never seen a bald eagle though, maybe they winter there, maybe they just aren't very active. Why does it bother me to hear this woman talk? I suppose because the people she's telling are four and under. Shouldn't we want to lie as little as possible to these kids? Should we care if they think we're cool or impressive? I mean I can impress toddlers by potting on my own, I don't need to lie to them in order to do so. Ultimately I want people to be outside. I loved working with the kids and "birdwatching" with them, birds are a good way for people to connect with nature. I'm just irritated by people that feel the need to show how much they know by lying. It really "gets my goat."

"Disarming Cats"

2008-09-08T22:50:00.001-07:00

In the free Audubon magazine (Jan/Feb 2008) I picked up at Wild Birds Unlimited there is an article about research into methods of deterring domestic cats from killing wild birds. The method being discussed? Placing a baby bib around the cat's neck. Apparently the studies show that "fastening bibs to kitty collars can reduce the number of birds [cats] kill by up to 72 percent. Researchers suspect that like a warning flag, the brightly colored neoprene bibs alert potential prey to the presence of an otherwise stealthy cat." Obviously keeping cats inside is the only way to reduce bird kills by 100%. Still, I think it'd be pretty hilarious to see a cat randomly stalking through the woods with a hot pink neoprene bib around its neck!

In the same issue there is an article about Sam the Seagull from Aberdeen, Scotland. He sneaks into a newsstand, after the door is open and the coast is clear. Once in the store he grabs a bag of Chili Heatwave Doritos, walks out the door, rips open the bag and enjoys a snack. Apparently he only steals this flavor. One employee speculates that its because of the color. I think he knows what he's getting, birds are smart. As funny as this is, it is rather unhealthy. Here's a YouTube video of him:

NW Natural-Smart Energy

2008-09-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

NW Natural has finally created a "green" option for their customers. They call it "Smart Energy." At the Farmer's Market this weekend they were handing out brochures. The first thing readers see (on the inside cover) is the saying "Together we can shape the future of our environment." Well said, a little idealistic but well said. It turns out NW Natural is working with the Climate Trust (from Portland, OR). The Climate Trust is a non-profit group working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For at least $6/month customers can offset the carbon dioxide emissions created by using natural gas. NW Natural is focusing the money generated from the Smart Energy program on donations to biogas clean energy projects. According to NW Natural "A typical cow produces 120 pounds of waste each day. That's a lot of potential energy-and a lot of greenhouse gases when left untreated. Methane from manure is a 23 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide." Converting manure into energy as been going on for over a decade but interest has not been high until the last 2-4 years, so not much development has occurred. Large-scale conversion has not been perfected, these donations will help to "perfect" conversion. My assumption is that this will make large-scale conversion cleaner and more efficient.

Three cheers for NW Natural for deciding to help green consumers make their homes a little greener.

Avery Park

2008-09-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Avery Park is one of my favorite parks in Corvallis. I suppose that's because it is the first park I discovered and regularly visited in 1998. It was a hard time for me because I was alone, too shy to make friends and missing my family. We visited the park today, sometimes I take the short-cut through there on my way to Finley and figured it would be nice to go today. It was warm enough to swim in Mary's River. I'd never actually been to the river before, just looked at it from the bridge. It's quite amazing. The banks and "shelves" are made of red clay and gravel, they almost look like cement! They extend into the river from both sides and then it just drops off. This led to some amusing "Moose moments." Moose doesn't like to swim. He'll get in the water and play but if he can't reach it scares him. Several times he just walked off the edge, went fully underwater and then beat a hasty retreat back to shore. Freyja on the other hand thought she was in heaven! We have a 20 foot rope that we use at the beach, while hiking and in other natural areas, so she can be a dog while we have security that she won't escape. Anyway, she swam almost continually for a good half-hour, spending much of that time playing on a log. I've decided that next time we go I should wear swim trunks, so I can see what the river is like for swimming in (there were a lot of people downstream from us). Sometimes I think I don't ever want to leave the Willamette Valley, its so nice here!

Ethno-ornithology, an Introduction

2008-09-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

In order to give myself an excuse to explore a subject that I am interested in (and thought I'd made up) I'm going to attempt Ethno-ornithology Sundays. Today I'm going to give an introduction to ethno-ornithology, what it means and why I'm interested (why you should be too).

Ethno-ornithology is, as implied, the study of how people interact with and affect birds. Or, the relationship between people and birds. This is a relatively new branch of ethno-biology (visit the society of ethnobiology), which long ago created interest in ethno-botany and ethno-zoology (ethno-herpatology is another new branch of ethno-biology). These fields of study combine anthropological study methods with natural science procedures and apply them to the interpretation and description of people's knowledge and use of birds. This can include folk uses, historical interactions and present and future relationships. Of particular interest is the use of birds for food, medicine, decoration (hats, clothing, regalia) and in magick for divination and ritual.

This type of study can create an excellent platform for conservation efforts to build off of, though it hasn't been recognized as such for very long. Apparently ethno-ornithology is popular enough in the UK and Ireland that Ethnoornithology Research & Study Group (ERSG) has been created. In 2005 there was even a symposium in Australia.

I find all of this to be quite interesting, particularly since I thought I'd made this field of study up! Now, I'd like to find a university where I could possibly study ethno-ornithology. I want to study the folklore behind birds, past management efforts (and failures), how we're affecting birds today (particularly with urbanization and recreation) and where we're headed tomorrow (how we can make it a more positive path). That's asking a lot I'm sure. I'd be happy studying any of the above aspects and building off of that in my professional life. Currently I'm interested in the growth of urban backyard chickens. That'll be next weeks post probably. This introduction was short, but there isn't a lot of information out there, yet.

CAKE, not just a dessert

2008-09-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of cake, both the dessert and the band. The band has an excellent website, full of political musings and things of that nature. Their most recent newsletter included a bit about their 100% solar powered rehearsals and recordings. Awesome!

As for the dessert, mmmm. We recently brought a sheet cake that was probably 3-4 9x11 cake pans in size (so about 9"x4') home. Why would we have a cake that large? It had been purchased for the class reunion and then remained unopened and forgotten in the back of my sister's car during the formal dinner. After the fact the was stressed out about finding a home for it. Julie filled two 9x11 pans with cake, ate some, plus we gave about two 9x11 pans worth to some homeless people (still in the fancy box). Eventually I told Hobbit to take the cake to work. Her co-workers would demolish it. She was embarrassed and refused, until she actually asked and they all got excited. We managed to get rid of the rest of the cake by setting it on a table, first come first serve, at her work. I've never seen so much cake, I hope I never see that much again! It wasn't milk free, which means I couldn't have any. Thankfully it wasn't carrot cake, then I would have had to eat it (promptly becoming ill).

This week is the week-long celebration of Ganesha. The Oregon Zoo's timing in regards to the first viewing of their baby elephant couldn't have been better (his first public appearance was in the week celebrating an elephant-headed god). In celebration of Ganesha and a new baby, we drew chalk elephants on our patio. They're lovely. Speaking of the patio, the royal burgundy beans are amazing. You can check out the company we buy seeds from here or just a photo here. Even the smallest one (roughly 8" tall) is flowering. The tallest (maybe 2' tall) already has beans growing. I love purple or blue foods (potatoes, beans, carrots, etc) more than the other varieties (non-purple or blue) and am quite excited about these plants! The tomatoes are some of the best I've ever eaten, the carrots turned out yummy though not very productive, and the cucumber is starting to flower. Oh yes, the peas and lettuce are sprouting already. This container gardening is pretty neat.

Bird Show of North America

2008-09-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

I discovered, thanks to the Audubon magazine Jan/Feb 2008 issue, a new band today. They are the Bird Show of North America, from Seattle, WA. This is possibly the best thing I've found in a long time. CJ Miller is an avid birdwatcher, creating the theme for their music and performances. Their music is named after a bird species, the guitars and drums create the feeling of that bird. Ian Peters plays drums, CJ Miller plays guitar and Curtis Poortinga paints while they play (at the live performances). Yes, in the span of a song Poortinga creates a paining of the bird being "played." They have a myspace but I can't find a "real" website. Enjoy!

In the same issue there was a brief article about California Condors breeding in the redwoods and Mexico for the first time since 1930s. Amazing! Stories such as this bring great joy to my heart. Tonight changed my heart a little. I'm concerned that we've made this much progress and that McCain and Palin will be elected and destroy it all. I watched a clip of her Republican National Convention (RNC) speech. She has the audacity to say "What is [Obama] going to do once time has been turned back and the Earth healed?" Gee, Palin I don't know, maybe work on keeping it that way. What does she even mean? Everything about the RNC is disturbing. Guliani wags his finger at the Democrats (who I only support by necessity, I'm actually an Independent) for not mentioning 9/11. Um, Guliani, I'm pretty sure we've moved beyond that. Isn't that what we were told to do in the beginning, by the republicans none-the-less? He bad-mouths Obama for having "only" been a community organizer, yet use the word "service" as part of their theme for the convention. Apparently Obama should be more than a community organizer but it's okay for everyone else to be. In fact the phrase "community organizer" came up in various speeches. Lame. Also, the republicans keep mentioning that this country needs a "change." Today's politics are corrupt, don't take the "little people" into account and other similar issues. Did they forget that Bush is a republican? Oh wait, no they didn't forget. Even better they blame: European ideals, San Fransisco, Left-wing liberals, Democrats and a plethora of other people. The republican speakers even so far as to say that Washington D.C. has been controlled by the liberals for too long and it is time it became more conservative. More conservative? Is that possible? All of this makes me ponder my future.

I have a major in two things that the Republicans have every desire to destroy (natural resources and fisheries and wildlife). You can dispute it all you want, but that was my take-home message tonight. I'd like to work on a graduate degree in natural resources/environmental planning/restoration ecology, but where will that leave me? Will I be able to find work? Will I spend most of my time feeling like crying (I already do)? Even better, if the Democrats win will they be that different? Additionally, if McCain/Palin win there will be no gay rights, environmental concern, or social programs, I'm almost sure of it.

I'm sure there is more I'd like to say on all of this but it's late and I should head to bed.

Emu

2008-09-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

I visited the Birds Etcetera blog today and found a news story about an emu on the PA turnpike. The most bizarre part is that nobody can figure out where it came from! Sadly, it died after a lengthy chase and being tazered. Watch the video here. It's worth the three minutes.

Vegetation Maps

2008-09-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

The maps are taking more time than I expected. I think I've figured out the ideal way to do the actual vegetation surveys, at least I hope I have. My first map is almost done and it is lovely.

My bite scar is bothering me a lot today. Every time I think I've got its triggers figured out it pulls something like this. The scar tissue is hard and white, the skin around it is red. What is going on "in there?"

I bought bulk Chai tea today. It not only smells delightful it tastes wonderful too. We also bought shredded coconut. I've recently found a love for coconut, though I'm not sure where it comes from. I used to hate coconut! Julie made coconut chocolate chip cookies. They are the best cookies to date.