Posted By Scott on August 27, 2010

A quick flick of her wrist and her index finger was motioning me to check my lip.  There was a little blood, but I wasn’t surprised considering over the last two days we had logged 17 hours under the increasingly warming sun.  My lips were cracked but I hadn’t noticed until now.  Lines of dirt accumulated on the teeth of the other workers and as I rolled my tongue across the front of mine I knew I too was blessed with a temporary brownish smile.  As the shoveling came to a rest, I removed my gloves and slapped them against my ranger pants; creating a second dust cloud that drifted away on a slight breeze.  It was an miserable attempt at cleaning off before the sixteen of us made our way back to base.  At 5 o’clock we watched America’s stripes slide down the flagpole while “retreat” resonated from the speakers. We had reached the official end of the duty day, had shown our respect for the flag, and installed 36 artificial burrows in two days on the Umatilla Army Depot in Oregon.

Weapons Storage Bunkers (empty)

It was a whirlwind experience that began a few days before as Heather and I, under the banner of the Burrowing Owl Conservation Network, found ourselves exiting the tarmac in Portland and making the 180 mile drive to Hermiston.  As we followed the Columbia River the forests were eventually replaced by grasslands living atop sandy soils.  This is burrowing owl habitat and we were eager to get started restoring historic breeding grounds.

Artificial Burrows - 55 gallon juice drums

By Monday morning a small crowd gathered not too far after admittance through the guarded gates.  Heather and I were joined by representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of British Columbia, the Global Owl Project, and the Umatilla Chemical Depot.  We were all here to help in the re-establishment of breeding burrowing owls on part of the ~20,000 acre government facility.  We were an army of sixteen conservation-minded individuals equipped with shovels and rakes.  According to depot officials, coyotes were trapped in an effort to protect a transplanted herd of pronghorn antelope.  Unfortunately, the trapping process resulted in the loss of the badger population, which was responsible for digging the burrows for the owls. When the badgers disappeared, so too did the burrowing owls.  As is always the case when man interferes with the natural ecosystem, the loss of one species caused the loss of another.

Top of artificial burrow - Bucket removed provides access to chamber

Burrow prior to installation

But thanks to the efforts of David Johnson, Director of the Global Owl Project, and Don Gillis, Natural and Cultural Resources Manager for the Umatilla Chemical Depot, a restoration effort is in place to give migrating burrowing owls a place to rear young when they return to Oregon during breeding season in late April.  To counteract the lack of natural burrows, we installed artificial ones using donated 55 gallon plastic Tree Top juice drums that were cut in half.  Besides creating artificial burrows, a study has been implemented using geo-locators and bands to track both the adults and young.  The idea is to create an area from which young owls can disperse to neighboring areas in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia and combat falling populations.  It’s an effort that I would like to emulate here in California and one of the many reasons we attended this event.

Heather checking band on yearling owl

Banded owl with geo-locator

And over this two day outing I received an incredible amount of information, realized just how great it was to have an opportunity to network with federal officials and other burrowing owl conservationists, and see how lucky I was to have access to a resident population of owls. Together we can turn things around in North America for this species.  By the way, I also found that digging in sandy soil is so much easier than the rocks and clay we routinely contend with here in Northern California.  Oh well…it’s for a good cause after all!

Category: Endangered species, Human Threats, Migratory Birds, Owls, Raptors, Wildlife, Wildlife management, birds, conservation | 7 Comments »
Tags: burrowing owl conservation, burrowing owls, Umatilla Chemical Depot

Posted By Scott on August 26, 2010

Cover-up!  Yeah, it’s an understatement and it’s more than a strategy of concealment under the classic definition.  The sad thing about the situation is that I’ve witnessed an ACTUAL owl cover up.  Literally. Active burrows that we have been monitoring since February, one of which safeguarded the results of a successful breeding pair, were covered by erosion control fabric.  But after talking with the developer’s Director of Land Development, I think the destruction of burrows was perpetrated at the behest of ignorance, assumptions and a lack of following proper protocol. And that explains the obvious back peddling and misdirection that unfolded during the conversation.  They know they screwed up. I know they screwed.  But proving that owls, eggs, and young were killed is up to the federal wildlife officials who enforce the protection of migratory birds.  And don’t get me started on the immediate attitude I received from an individual in the City’s Planning Department.  Hmmm, I guess we’re not all on board with preserving nationally and internationally protected and declining species.  I’m only giving them one more chance to change my impression.

But what about the owls?  Well it’s a story that began in February 2010 with a sighting report that we received from a concerned neighbor.  I’ve said it before and will say it again, it’s a Bay Area and California issue that is perpetually rearing its ugly head as burrowing owls return to habitat that remains open while construction activities sit idle.  And over the course of 6 months we watched the owls thrive amongst weeds that eventually reached  a height of 7 feet.  It was an incredible sight to see a species that loves short grasses find their way in towering mustard plants; a testament to their high site fidelity and instinct.  But all that was about to change.

Owl living in burrow by sidewalk and tall grass (before mowing in June)

In the approach of the summer months, land owners and developers felt the squeeze of fire suppression codes and regulations in Contra Costa County.  By the end of June the weeds were mowed, the owls were happy and the first offspring were emerging from their burrows.  Their vision was now completely unimpaired as the invasive plants were reduced to stubble.  Owls utilized the streetlights for perches, fire hydrants for standing guard, and their burrows lined the sidewalk as I have seen hundreds of times before.  It is a partially developed neighborhood that was in need of 30 or so homes to complete the scene.  But a soured economy left the previous developer in bankruptcy and the land open for burrowing owl colonization.

Against all economic odds, construction was ready to roll even though nesting burrowing owls were occupying the site.  As a precursor to construction activities and in an effort to abide by city erosion control regulations, the builder jumped the gun and installed a layer of black landscape fabric before a biological consultant stepped foot on the land.  All burrows that were in an approximate 15-20 foot wide strip along the sidewalks were now effectively sealed.  Any owls and young that retreated to these burrows for safety were trapped inside, and any eggs that littered the nest chamber were forcibly abandoned.  A clear violation of federal and state laws.  To keep things family friendly, let’s just say I was irate, I blamed myself for allowing this possible travesty to occur, and it solidified my desire to continue educating the community and bolstering citizen science.

Burrow by streetlight along sidewalk

Fabric covering burrows

An email to the developer, the city, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish & Game was sent that night to ensure the protection of the remaining owls and young.  It was about 9am the following morning when I received a call from the builder’s Director of Land Development.  It was a lengthy conversation in which I tried to impart a little burrowing owl biology and survey procedures prior to beginning construction.  I got nowhere except being told many times that a biologist had visited the site, they had instituted a better form of erosion prevention, owls were seen at another nearby site they owned, there were no breeding pairs or young, no active burrows under the fabric, the tall grasses meant no owls were living here, and the owls onsite right now just flew in  a few weeks ago.  This was damage control at its best and instead of a white flag a consultant’s survey report was being waved in front of my eyes as if it provided exemption from the destruction of a protected raptor.

However, the surprises continued and the survey that was indeed conducted at the site could best be described as poor.  Perhaps the fabric was hiding all the evidence, but more likely it was the paycheck that concealed the proof that burrowing owls had consistently been residing and rearing young here. 

“No juveniles were observed.  None of the owls in the site exhibited territorial behavior typically exhibited with an active natal burrow.  None of the burrows were surrounded by an abundance of feathers, white-wash, or pellets which would indicate long-term occupancy.  Based on time of year (i.e. late July), behavior of the on-site owls, and lack of an abundance of sign around burrows, these owls may have just recently moved into the site.”

“Near-term commencement of model home construction on lots 22 and 23 would be unlikely to adversely affect the on-site owls, due to the spatial separation of the lots from the occupied burrows.”

Survey Report, July 26, 2010

And by the way, I found it funny (in a disturbing way) that during subsequent visits the whitewash had been removed from portions of the sidewalk next to these “non-existent” owl burrows.  Coincidence?  I could go on and on, but as of right now I am waiting for a response from the USFWS agent assigned to look into this matter.   I will also be sending an official letter, copied to the Planning Department, that advises them of the need to conduct proper surveys prior to the installation of such erosion control measures…amongst other things of course.

Category: Human Threats, Migratory Birds, Owls, Urban sprawl, Wildlife, birds, conservation | 7 Comments »
Tags: burrowing owl conservation, burrowing owls

Posted By Scott on August 18, 2010

Category: Owls, Photos, birds | 2 Comments »
Tags: barn owl, owl photo, wordless wednesday

Posted By Scott on August 13, 2010

I took a stroll through a museum last week. I sat. I stared. I assumed a Rodin-esque pose by which those who may have seen me knew I had something on my mind. I wasn’t in St. Petersburg, New York, Paris, London or Spain. And I didn’t need to be as nature was providing all the abstract expressionism I craved (or whatever the correct style may actually be). There is no doubt that nature is quite unrivaled and even in one’s own yard the scenery can be stunning.

Yeah, it’s a hornworm and all too often discarded as a pest. It’s a crop eating machine, but nonetheless it’s a work of art. It just requires adjusting your perspective and looking at the parts of an ecosystem instead of the whole. In a busy world it is easy to lose sight of the small pleasures in life and miss an opportunity to contemplate the subtleties of a portrait; to reflect on the happenings of life.

Nature is a painting.
Nature is a sculpture.
Nature is history.
Nature is science.
NATURE IS A MUSEUM. And I urge you to pay a visit.

Category: Photos, invertebrates | 2 Comments »
Tags: hornworm, macrophotography, tomato worm