Home Program
Field Trips
THE FISH HAWK HERALD
Coeur d’Alene Chapter of the National Audubon Society
September
2004 Volume 14 Issue 1
ARTICLES: Ducks
Top Salmon Predator, Study Says, Bird Notes: Adopt a Highway Round Two - Idaho Birding Trail
Committee - Ball Creek Ranch Bat Counts - Conservation Committee Report - Mica
Bay Observation Platform - Board Meeting - Welcome New Officers and Board Members, Whooping
Crane Success Story, Come To Where the Birds Are, California Condor Releases
in Arizona, Observation Post
Top of Page
Ducks top salmon predator, study says
From The
Associated Press, Seattle Times, July 1, 2004
WENATCHEE, WA
Dam operators researching birds that prey on endangered fish in the
mid-Columbia River should have been looking to demure ducks in the water
instead of blaming
high-flying gulls, according to
preliminary findings of a study.
"The merganser consumes more young
salmon and steelhead than any other bird along the reservoirs of Rock Island
and Rocky Reach dams," University of Washington researcher Julia Parrish
said. The duck accounts for nearly two-thirds of the salmon taken by
birds. "They are the unknown
predator that you've had in your system the whole time," Parrish told
commissioners with the Chelan County Public Utility District on Monday. "Yet
there is no management of the merganser in the Columbia." The utility
hired Parrish in 2002 to study bird predation on salmon. The $3 million study
is the first comprehensive look at salmon-eating birds on the Columbia, and the
results likely will be used by dam operators throughout the river system to
manage the predators.
The work was expected to focus primarily
on California Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Caspian Terns and Double-crested
Cormorants. Parrish said that when she started the study, she expected to
verify a commonly held belief that gulls were the greediest salmon-eaters among
all the birds. Also surprising was that the feed was occurring in the calm
reservoirs behind the dams, rather than the tailraces, where fish often lie
dazed after their journey through the turbines or bypass system. Eighty percent
of all the fish eaten by birds are caught in the reservoirs behind the dams,
not below them, the study found.
The utility's wildlife experts were
surprised by the findings. "For years, we've thought that all the
mortality occurred right below the dams, and that it was gulls and terns doing
all the eating," Todd West, the utility's fish and wildlife supervisor,
told "The Wenatchee World" for a story in yesterday's edition.
For the study, Parrish observed birds
along 62 miles of river between Rock Island and Wells dams, killing about 1,500
birds to examine their stomach contents and fat tissue. Mergansers accounted
for more than 60 percent of the salmon consumption, according to the
preliminary results. The gull came in a distant second, with 25 percent of the
salmon consumption
Among all
birds, gulls also eat 75 percent of northern pikeminnow, a fish that preys on
salmon, so Parrish also cautioned officials that salmon could suffer in other
ways if they try to reduce gull populations. Parrish also exposed the
misconception that the larger cormorants and terns were eating volumes of
endangered young salmon and steelhead.
She said that
while the migratory birds have voracious appetites, they don't show up in the
mid-Columbia until later in the summer, after the small salmon and steelhead
have passed through the reservoirs. Parrish advised the utility to use a
habitat approach to control mergansers and gulls to push them away from the
areas where they traditionally feast on fish.
Top of Page
Bird Tracks
Audubon
Members make a difference
ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY,
ROUND TWO
Judy Waring
Saturday, May
15, dawned bright and sunny, a great day to tackle some highway clean up.
Our Audubon chapter has agreed to pick up litter along a two-mile stretch of
Highway 95 on the backside of Mica Hill and this was the second go at it.
Sixteen
Auduboners met at 8:00 a.m. for the traditional muffins and juice, a necessity
for the work ahead of us. As predicted by the Mundt's, who kept this same part
of the highway clean in previous years, we filled only half as many bags this
time as we did the first time, having cleaned several years worth of trash on
round one. Phil Waring drove the route,
handing out extra bags when needed, and Ronn Rich collected the flattened
aluminum cans at the roadside. We have this job down to an art now. Nothing of
great value was found, to the disappointment of Susan
Cross, who suggested that we might find Jimmy Hoffa. Maybe next fall, Susan.
IDAHO
BIRDING TRAIL COMMITTEE
Kris
Buchler
The committee for IBT site nominations
has been working this summer. Nominations completed or in the works are:
Mary McCrosky State Park, Westmond Lake, Heyburn State Park, Myrtle
Creek/Snow Creek Loop and Priest Lake/Priest River. Each site requires a
workup with information that includes driving mileage, facilities, types of
habitats and their resiliency, fees required, seasonal access and bird species
found seasonally or year-round. There are several other sites
that already have been nominated. If you want information or to
participate in this process, call Kris Buchler (664-4739 or Janet Callen (664-1085).
We want as much public input as possible!
BALL CREEK RANCH
BAT COUNTS
Kris
Buchler
Ed Buchler has been organizing the
Ball Creek bat counts since helping to restore habitat for the resident nursery
bat colony. This Memorial Day weekend had 10+ observers who tallied over
750 bats who were residing in 3 of the 4 bat houses erected three years ago on
the south side of the ranch house. The fourth house faces east and has
shown some, but less use by the bats. Approximately 16 bats were roosting
under the ridge vent of the metal roof. These are presumed to be males
who do not reside in the nursery boxes.
New observers seemed thrilled for
the 30-35 minutes the bats literally poured out of the houses to begin their
night foraging. An interesting observation was that they all seemed to
head west or southwest towards Ball Creek and the forest edge.
The late summer count will be
conducted August 14th. Theoretically, the count could double as each
female Little Brown Bat has one pup. Realistically, the number will
be less but we are still expecting good numbers. Join us some time each
May or August for this event!
Conservation
Committee report
Roland Craft
The
Conservation Committee met on Wednesday, July 21st. Our main objective
for this meeting was to choose conservation projects that are appropriate for
our expertise and eliminate ones that aren't. Those that were chosen are:
1. Farragut State Park - possible logging and development
of a new campground
2. Fernan Lake - renovation of the road along the lake
3. Mica Bay - siltation into the bay, renovation of
portions of the road
4. Acceleration of logging in old-growth stands on state
lands
5. U.S.F.S. plan revision for Panhandle National Forest,
recent decision to enter roadless areas
6. Land use on the Rathdrum Prairie
7. Coeur d' Alene River basin cleanup by EPA, other
agencies and advice from concerned citizens
For further details, contact any member of the Conservation Committee: Roland Craft, Mike Mihelich, Dick Cripe and
Theresa Potts. We do need new members with fresh ideas (not that ours are not)
so please let us know. Call Roland 457-8894
MICA BAY OBSERVATION PLATFORM
Roland Craft, Conservation Committee
Co-chairman, spent several hours this summer cleaning and preserving the
observation platform in Mica Bay. On
behalf of our Chapter, THANK YOU, ROLAND! Be sure to let Roland know how much
his hard work is appreciated.
Board Meeting
Summary May 11
Lynn Sheridan
1) Financial:
Current balance: $4,500, less
than last year by $1,200.
2) Officers for Board will be elected on May 17.
3) $100 received from Avondale Golf Course for upkeep
of birdhouses.
4) Conservation Committee is preparing final draft of
protest letter to Gov. Kempthorne on logging old growth on state lands.
5) Our chapter sent our ballot in to elect Roger Wolf
of Arizona as Rocky Mountain Region representative to the National Audubon
Board of Directors.
WELCOME NEW OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS
President: Lisa
Hardy
Vice-President: Pete Chase
Secretary: Lynn Sheridan
Treasurer: Ronn Rich
Board of Directors: Officers and Corrine Cameron, Jennifer Soules, Dick Cripe, Jan Severtson
Mike Mihelich, Roland Craft Janet Callen, Laura Bayless
"If I were to make a
study of the tracks of animals and represent them by plates, I should conclude
with the tracks of man"
Henry David
Thoreau
WHOOPING CRANE SUCCESS STORY
Tom Stehn, Whooping Crane Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Aransas NWR
Whooping crane production surveys carried
out June 16-21 by Regional Pilot/Biologist Jim Bredy, Tom Stehn, USFWS and
Brian Johns, Canadian Wildlife Service, documented a record number of 66 chicks
hatched from 54 nests, surpassing the previous high of 58 chicks produced in
1997.
Productivity was excellent with 85% of
the nests producing one or two offspring. From the 54 nests, 20 pairs hatched
twins, 26 hatched singles, and 8 pairs did not hatch any offspring.
"I am brimming with optimism that
this number of chicks found in June should result in a population increase this
winter to hopefully reach 200. Last winter, a record 194 whooping cranes
wintered at Aransas. My thanks to
Refuges-Region II and the Canadian Wildlife Service for funding this worthwhile
survey effort." With intensive studies underway at Aransas relating to
fresh water inflows, blue crabs, and whooping cranes, it is essential that data
be obtained in June on flock productivity to relate it to the previous winter's
food base at Aransas.
Come to Where the Birds Are!
Morro Bay Winter Bird
Festival, January 14-17, 2005
MORRO BAY, CALIFORNIA --
Migrate to one of the country’s pre-eminent birding spots and join the
Morro Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) for the 8th Annual Morro Bay Winter
Bird Festival. Morro Bay -- located on California’s scenic Central Coast
-- is an important stop on the Pacific Flyway, and is recognized worldwide for
its diversity of both resident and wintering birds. At last year’s festival,
213 species of birds were identified!
The Morro Bay
Winter Bird Festival is sponsored by MCAS and gives you the chance to join
local and national birding experts on a variety of field trips and workshops.
Field trip group sizes are limited to maximize spotting and identification
opportunities. The Festival also offers workshops aimed at sharpening
your birding skills, as well as evening programs with outstanding speakers.
For more
information about the Festival, check out our website at
www.morro-bay.net/birds, where you can request that your name be added to the
mailing list for our 2005 brochure, due out in October. Registration deadline
is December 31, 2004 and early signups are encouraged as the most popular
events fill up quickly.
California Condor
Releases in Arizona
Notes from the Field, June
2004
Chris Parish
Reprinted from The Peregrine Fund: World
Center for Birds of Prey website
I will begin
this happy update by reviewing some history. Remember that sometime near the
middle of March, veteran crew member Eddie Feltes and his coworkers noticed a
change in the behavior of Condors 114 and 149 at a cave on the face of
Vermilion Cliffs. It had already been established that these condors were
showing great interest in one another as well as the cave. Had Condor 149 laid
an egg? The behavior of the male and female certainly suggested that they were taking
turns incubating, although the distance and angle to the cave entrance made
observations difficult. Based on the date we first observed this behavior, plus
countless hours of more observation, digging through literature, phone calls to
the captive breeding folks, and many crossed fingers, we figured we might soon
have a chick.
So finally, on
Friday, 9 July 2004, when Eddie was stationed atop the Paria Plateau at our
release site with only a few free-flying birds to monitor, he yielded to his
curiosity and took a long, patient look. With his spotting scope, he observed
female Condor 149 perched in the nest cave. Fighting an urge to look away and
attend to his field notes, he began to notice something else in the nest cave,
and with further scrutiny he was able to make out a gray-headed chick standing
tall next to its mother, flapping its downy wings. Eddie had joined the ranks
of the very few to discover a wild-hatched nestling California Condor. You may
recall last year when former Field Manager, Sophie Osborn and National Park
Service biologist Chad Olson witnessed wild hatched Condor 305 in the Grand
Canyon for the first time. Let us hope the latest confirmed chick, Condor 348, will
follow Condor 305’s lead and fledge successfully. Congratulations to all!
The other nesting
pair (Condors 119 and 122) continues to tend its nest cave at the South Rim.
Despite having a younger chick (estimated by adult behavior), Condors 119 and 122
have spent less time tending to their nest in the Grand Canyon nest than have
the Vermilion Cliffs’ pair. Continued visitation however still leaves us very
hopeful that all is well. Condor 349 should be about 56 days old, whereas
Condor 348 (at Vermilion Cliffs) should be around 67 days.
The cohort of 2003 continues to be the focus of our monitoring efforts.
Young Condor 300 made her way to the South Rim for the first time on 13 June
2004. Each time this sort of thing happens, crew members gear up to keep a
close watch on these young explorers. Condor 300’s journey included Kaibab
Plateau, Marble Canyon, Navajo Bridge, Colorado River, and the edge of Page,
Arizona. Traveling so many miles in such a short amount of time was a great
first for this young bird. However, the frequent stops in close proximity to
humans and human-related structures were steps in the wrong direction. This
came as a shock since Condor 300 had been one of the best behaved of her
cohort. Multiple hazings and hours of close observation nearly led to the
decision to recapture her, but just then she began behaving herself.
One should realize these young condors exploring on the wing have
every opportunity to get into trouble, as we call it, but despite such blips on
the radar, their inquisitive nature is precisely what leads to success in
finding carcasses in the wild. For example, Condor 296, another first year
female, made her way to the South Rim for the first time on 7 June 2004, and
was soon observed feeding on a nonproffered carcass.
The day for exploration must have been 7 June. Wild hatched Condor 305
made its first long trip away from the South Rim, ending up on the west flank
of the Kaibab Plateau nearly 40 miles from its nest site in Grand Canyon
National Park. Field Manager, Thom Lord was at the release site by that evening
and ready for a potential trapping, but Condor 305 returned to the South Rim
the next day.
On 17 June, we began trapping for West Nile Virus (WNV)
vaccinations, lead testing, DNA sample collection, and transmitter replacement.
By mid July, only one case of WNV had been documented in Coconino County, but
to play it safe we have vaccinated every condor that we have been able to trap
again this year. We thank Dr. Jeff Chang with the Center for Disease Control
for allowing us to take part in administering the experimental vaccine.
It is amazing to think that we are now in the thick of the summer field
season. Observations from the crew and satellite data continue to confirm the
condor flock’s extensive travels throughout the northern Arizona–southern Utah
region. To date we have observed and documented travels southwest into the Lake
Mead Recreation Area, north towards and beyond Cedar Breaks National Monument,
and to the northeast beyond Lake Powell.
HOO DOO VALLEY
APRIL 10TH FIELD TRIP
Dick Cripe
Dick Cripe, Janet Callen, Shirley
Sturts, Kris Buchler and Theresa Potts took off on a beautiful Saturday morning
to explore the Kelso Lake area and part of the Hoodoo Valley road. We planned
to look for birds along the way and to check out activity at the bluebird
boxes.
At Granite Lake
we found a couple of Mourning Dove, American Robin, Song Sparrow, several
Canada Goose, a Mallard pair and a chickadee.
Kris tried to entice a Virginia Rail out of hiding by playing a
recording of its call but had no luck.
We continued
toward Kelso Lake. Saw nothing on the Lake except a Canada Goose on a log. We
continued through the Kelso Lake community to our first nest box. When we
looked in the box, something moved around in the box and it didn't seem like it
was a bird! Kris took a good look and Found a flying squirrel.