Amphibian monitoring catch up!

Two rough-skinned newt egg masses above; 1 below. Look for the pearls.

I have been neglectful in my amphibian monitoring reporting. I will catch up on the findings and the wonder of the days here. We conducted monitoring on April 4th and again on April 24th. The 1st pond- 7 tree frog egg masses; 82 long-toed salamander egg masses; 2 northwestern salamander egg masses. 2nd site- 2 rough-skinned newt egg masses. The latest visit- 1st pond- 16 tree frog egg masses; few tadpoles; and at least 20 larval salamanders of unknown species. 2nd site- 71 rough-skinned newt egg masses! (This compared to our first visit in February- 1st site 104 tree frog egg masses/14 long-toed egg masses. 2nd site- nothing.) Photos of rough-skinned newt egg masses above are from our latest visit. They lay the eggs in a few inches of water attached to the leaves or twigs/branches under water. These masses can have 2 eggs or 20 and often are well-hidden. I chose to let my partner walk in the ponds alone.

This Monday was a warm gentle Pacific Northwest spring day. As I stand recording my field partners' findings, I also keep track of the birds and other goings-on around me. I watch black-capped chickadees excavate a cavity in a small snag and dark-eyed juncoes and a golden-crowned kinglet bathe in a tiny groundwater-fed stream across the pond. The soft thudding of a downy or hairy woodpecker in the background is heard between the din of traffic- lots and lots of traffic. This whole little natural world is adjacent to a busy arterial and surrounded by homes on large lots. All this life- amphibians, birds, flowering shrubs, snags, and small ephemeral streams going about their business while dump trucks and family cars speed on by, never realizing this little island oasis exists. I hear a flock of evening grosbeaks as we finish up our survey. In the time we were at this site I also saw crows nesting, and heard the songs of bewick's wren, song sparrow, and spotted towhees.

The small seasonal ponds at the second site are fed by a seasonal stream. This is a newly created wetland area so the shrubs are sticks with leaves. The ponds are found at the end of a dead end street just off another incredibly busy street. It's much quieter here and the area is surrounded by a mostly deciduous forest with scattered western hemlocks, Douglas-fir, and western redcedar. I catch the pungent aroma of skunk cabbage from nearby unseen wetlands. The scent mixes with that of the freshly-emerged leaves of black cottonwoods, red alder and a myriad of shrub species. One of these little ponds is full of rough-skinned newt egg masses. As I'm standing at the edge looking in I also spot what appear to be caddisflies carrying their spun home of needles and leaves all around them to protect their soft bodies. I wonder if they will survive the drying up of the pond as it becomes disconnected from the stream. The newts must know, otherwise would they lay their eggs here? We know tree frogs are around but their egg masses are not in our ponds. Maybe they know more than the newts. Keep checking back as this adventure continues once a month through August.

Chickadee nest

First pond site

Second pond site

Spring sparrow

Amongst the noise of the city- buses, sirens, semi-trucks, studded tires, and so on comes the long sweet song of springs' return- the white-crowned sparrows. I don't know where they disappear to during winter in Everett; I think they just blend in because they are quiet. I see them around our place here on Camano Island but not in the city. Now they're singing back and forth across the blocks setting up their territories and looking for a mate. They sing from the wires, from the tops of lampposts, branches of rhododendrons, and other shrubs and trees throughout downtown. Here they nest on the ground (sometimes above ground in a shrub) somehow dodging opossums and stray cats.

I actually heard the first one of the spring on April 3rd in the Tulalip Casino parking lot (no I don't gamble, I was attending a conference). The next day was the first one I heard in Everett. Now I hear them every morning. A day later I saw the first violet-green swallows of Everett. Since then I see them all over the place. So many birds so little time.

Okay- not swallows or sparrow but I wanted to include a nice photo. Black oystercatchers, Washington Park May 2011.

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder

for a moment. I felt that I was more

distinguished by that circumstance

than I should have been by any

epaulet I could have worn.

Henry David Thoreau



The front yard greeting

The backyard greeting













Not sure how to line up these photos but here are my spring greeters. I generally have to dodge the rufous hummingbirds coming in for nectar at these two red flowering currant bushes. I'm sure they are visiting the others on our property, too.

So much is happening that it's near impossible to keep up with it all. I have seen my first violet-green swallows, turkey vulture, and mourning cloak butterfly of the spring. With the return of the swallows, I finally put up the birdhouse my son made for me a few years ago. It's a special design to keep starlings and house sparrows out. It has a diamond-shaped entrance hole. Check out the backyard wildlife habitat section on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website.

The natives are greening up left and right. Serviceberry and big leaf maple are flowering. leaves of red alder, ocean spray, red elderberry, willows, cottonwoods and more are decorating the landscape with too many shades of green to describe.

chocolate lilies blooming in the oak barrel

The sweet heady scent of the newly emerging and emerged leaves of the black cottonwoods cause me to roll down my windows while driving, no matter the temperature or weather conditions, so I can absorb the scent into my soul. In this area we have plenty of rivers and streams and wetlands; and where there's water, there's often black cottonwoods. I love this tree for it's scent, it's vibrant green leaves, its seed fluffs, and it's affinity for water. I have seen some old growth cottonwoods up the Stehekin River valley easily 10 feet in diameter. Pretty big so I hugged it anyway! If you want to see some exceptionally large Fremont cottonwoods, check out the San Pedro River Riparian Reserve in SE Arizona. Short-lived trees but give them a constant supply of water and they will thrive.

So if you see some woman sniffing a cottonwood branch in the next few weeks, come join me!

"There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me, nor any thing that moves."

Thomas Jefferson

Backyard Bald Eagles

My treat this morning was to hear and spot the bald eagles as they came in to perch in the neighbors western hemlock tree that towers over our backyard.

A juvenile and adult bald eagle decided to hang out, rest, and take in the view. It must be a great view from atop the tree looking out over the fields and past them to Port Susan. I never get tired of seeing them. When the sky turned blue and the sun warmed the air I could hear bald eagles calling. I looked up to see 5 kettling on a thermal with 1 red-tailed hawk. I always wonder where they are going, are these parent birds taking a break, or are they the single adult birds of the season.

This is an energizing time of year with so much life emerging. The open spaces of the forests are filling in with light greens, dark greens, bright greens, and medium greens. The edges are aglow with whites, pinks, and yellows. I got my first whiff of the sweet scent of spring on Friday. I guess it's obvious that spring is my time of the year.

Spring's Break
Some wind
Some clouds
Some rain
Some snow

Rising upward
All the little
Flowers
Will grow

Into the hearts
Into the minds
Of those who
Cherish
The Divine

Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin

sunny days

Every day brings new wonders of spring. These crocuses were really soaking up the sun today. I could get used to these mid-50 degree sunny days! I managed to get a few outdoor-related chores completed. I'd rather be playing, though!

close up of tall Oregon grape flowers

Okay, I just spent way too much time trying to figure out how to arrange these two photos. I figure just enjoy the newly opened bright-as-the-sun tall Oregon grape flowers. The bees usually do but I only saw 1 bumblebee and 1 honeybee today. Maybe they'll discover these incredible flowers later. They better hurry, I was tempted to taste one or two. I wonder if they are tart like the Oregon grape berries. I had some kids try the berries once and their faces puckered right up! The scent of the flowers is a strange sweet odor. Hard to describe.

Heard the first rufous hummingbird yesterday. He was really gorging on the red flowering curranr flowers. They may have been here for awhile. Some of us just aren't inspired to be outside in the cold and the rain. Not much fun setting my seed starts in that kind of weather.That's why this weekend was such a treasure. And I treasured every minute of it. The rains are returning albeit with warmer weather (not like other parts of the country, though!). Enjoy your spring days wherever you are and don't miss out on the inspiration in each new day.                      



The entire tall Oregon grape starting to flower

"All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them."

Arapaho porverb

Birding Around Stanwood

My irises 2 days after the last blog entry!

But I digress. Spring is moving in around here. Lots of happenings. Yesterday a friend and I went birdwatching for a few hours around Stanwood. The best sighting? The violet green and tree swallows have returned! As the snow geese and swan numbers dwindle the swallows and hummingbirds return as our early spring arrivals. There's nothing quite like watching the swallows dive around while hearing a common snipe winnowing in the background and a couple of western meadowlarks attempting to sing. Yes, meadowlarks winter in small flocks on the westside of the Cascades.  They disappear in the tall grass of the fallow pastures so they can be hard to spot. We also found 2 of the black-crowned night-herons in their roosting tree. Not an easy task. They are well hidden amongst the evergreen branches. Easy to know where to look since it is the only evergreen tree around.

The genral list of birds seen in about 4 hours were:

several golden-crowned sparrows                      

killdeer; also probable flocks of dunlin with a black-bellied plover hanging out

northern shovelers

mallards and lots of northern pintails and American wigeon

numerous red-tail hawks and some excellent looks at a few rough-legged hawks

Robins and spotted towhees

a decent view of a merlin (although my passenger couldn't see it)

lots of northern harriers hunting and an American kestrel at its designated post

ring-necked ducks and a lone male common goldeneye in a stormwater pond

the ever present bald eagles

lots 0f great blue herons

5 yellowlegs

and a half-dozen Eurasian collared doves (the latest non-native species to arrive)

All in all a good bird day. Heck, we didn't get of the truck for more than a few minutes at a time. That was one brisk wind yesterday!

Osoberry (aka Indian plum) with red osier dogwood behind

As for plants- oh my gosh! The osoberry are really lighting up the forest. If you have allergies you may be feeling the effects of the red alder pollinating. The red catkins also add color to the gray and browns of the winter forest.

red alder catkins

I also saw flowering skunk cabbage and snowberry, ocean spray and red elderberry leaves emerging. The red elderberry will be the next to fully leaf out. Unlike red flowering currant which flowers before its leaves show up.

The end of the day, on the way home topped it all off. As I was driving on the island along the road I saw two huge bald eagles chasing each other back and forth over the road extremely low. As I got closer they swooped in and one was so close I could have seen the whites of its eyes if it had hem. That was a spectacular end to a wonderful spring day. (yes i know spring doesn't officially start until tomorrow at 10pmish). Happy spring!

Just to be is a blessing.

Just to live is holy.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel

irises and salmonberry

Those little irises that speak of spring in my oak barrel.

What a lovely day today was. The promised sun never showed yet, even with a strong breeze the air was warm. I spent a few hours cleaning up, potting up, and pulling up! The birds are definitely agitated. Black-capped and chestnut-backed chickadees, spotted towhees, red-breasted nuthatches, song sparrows, and a distant pacific wren were all calling or singing. I put some suet out and everybody comes in quickly for a free and easy meal. Little did I know the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow is snow and then the lows may dip into the 20s. The birds will appreciate the extra energy. I know they can survive without my extra help, though. I enjoy watching their antics on the suet feeders.

I can only cross my fingers that the motherwort and chickweed (yes chickweed) seeds I planted make it through the cold. Good medicinal herbs to have around the yard. Not to mention the native shrubs I potted up from the Soil Conservation Services's annual plant sale. It has become so popular that by the time I got there Friday the flowers and some shrubs were gone! I was able to find some nice native groundcovers that birds and bugs love- sword fern, deer fern, kinnickkinnick, oregon boxwood, and salal plus a shrub-pacific rhododendron, and a tree- Pacific madrone. I like to pot them up in 1-gallon containers and either plant them in the fall or winter them over until they're bigger and hardier.

I expect to hear the buzzing of the rufous hummingbird soon, now that the salmonberry flowers are blooming (see above). The Indian plum (aka osoberry) is also blooming and its leaves are out. The understory of the forests I drive past every morning and night now have the lightest of greens mixing it up with the browns and grays. The hummers will soon have plenty of nectar. I can't believe how fat the red-flowering currant buds are! You'd swear they were going to pop instead of just create one of the loveliest flowers of spring. Both the salmonberry and currant are great for birds both flowering and once their seeds ripen. I highly recommend planting them in your yard although salmonberry is notorious for spreading and the currant can get big. I just can't pass up those vibrant pink flowers, though!

"The birds I heard today, which, fortunately, did not come within the scope of my science, sang as freshly as if it had been the first morning of creation."
Henry David throeau

another amphibian day

 Glassy pond water- no amphibs!

Another amphibian day! Yesterday we went out to monitor amphibians in a couple of ponds. We found around 90 Pacific chorus (tree) frog egg masses and I don't know how many long-toed salamander egg masses (maybe 15), including 3 adult salamanders darting around in the pond. Mind you, this is a small ephemeral pond and wetland with a road on two sides and houses all around. Being ephemeral keeps the bullfrogs from invading and eating them. This pond was amazingly prolific for its size and location. Of course, yesterday morning was amazingly sunny and unbelievably cold! When you're staniding around recording the findings or in the water (not me) for 1 1/2 hours your toes and fingers do go numb!

 The tangle

The next pond we visited, we found nothing. This tangle of shrubs with large cottonwoods all around it felt so wild but not a sign of any amphibian use. While I waited for my coworkers findings I took a few photos. At least it was a tad bit warmer in the afternoon. All in all a sunny, cold, satisfying day outside enjoying the early bird song, beauty of the clear water, cottonwood buds, and fresh air.

Common witches hair lichen over the pond

“Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps.” 

Henry Davis Thoreau

Amphibian monitoring

Male Long-toed salamander

Yesterday was amphibian day. I went to my favorite city park, Carkeek Park in Seattle to participate in an amphibian monitoring training. At one time, I worked as a naturalist there developing and teaching lots of natural history programs to all ages. I digress. Yesterday was the second part of the training on how to properly monitor for amphibians in wetlands. A coworker and I attended since we are going to incorporate this into our monitoring program at work.


When I worked at Carkeek, the manmade wetland was too "new" to support amphibians; the Ph of the water was off. It's great to return and see Pacific chorus frogs and long-toed salamanders have reclaimed the area. The group found a chorus frog egg mass and a long-toed egg mass. For many reasons, I decided not to muck around in the wetland. I was standing on the boardwalk when I saw a tiny object writhing around in a muddy boot print. The WDFW biologist went over and picked up a male long-toed salamander. I don't know if you can tell in the photo, but there's a fin of sorts on the top of his tail. It's called a "tail blade". This signals he's looking for a female to mate with and continue their progeny. He does not have the tail blade outside of breeding season. We found two so there were likely more around. Being our earliest breeding salamander it's no wonder we found them in the cold and rain of February.


This salamander is one of our most widespread but you wouldn't know it. The adults spend most of their lives hidden away under the ground so are rarely seen. Bad news for the chorus frogs- long-toed larvae eat them as tadpoles. Doesn't seem like good survival strategy to lay your eggs right next to theirs. 


here's a link to the Seattle Times article-
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/picturethis/2017598685_pondwatch.html
Oh, and the part about the biologist finding the salamander; well you already know who really found it. 

Hummingbirds and Robins

No photos for this entry. The male Anna's hummingbird that was chattering away at me this weekend on top of the giant butterfly bush was a bit shy whenever I grabbed the camera. What's amazing is that we have an Anna's here and how in the world do these little guys make it through the winter here? The torpor they go into must be deep. There must also be enough folks feeding them and enough insects to keep them going. The theory is they moved up here from California and were able to stay through the winter because of all the feeders left out. It took them awhile to get to Camano. It seems they have made it to British Columbia, though! Amazing birds. Here's a bit of information on them. Seems I was right about the insects!


http://www.wildbirdshop.com/Birding/Annas_hummers.html

Sunday I actually saw robins feeding on the snowberry bush. I have watched birds for decades now and have rarely, if ever, seen birds eat snowberry. The books say they feed on them but I think it's a last resort food. There are plenty of worms and other food items in the Pacific Northwest at this time of the year for the returning and migrating-through robins so I can't imagine why they felt compelled to feed on the big white berries. I'm glad we planted it; it's a fast-growing and lovely shrub. Planting natives is the best way to feed the birds anyway. The robins were also camera shy. They'd be in a frenzy yelling at each other and feeding on berries and then I'd sneak up with the camera and they'd disappear. Here's some information on snowberries.

https://green.kingcounty.gov/gonative/Plant.aspx?Act=view&PlantID=36

"...Many a larger animal might be concealed, but a cunning ear detects the arrival of each new species of bird."                   Thoreau

Keep listening! Things are happening.

Edison Bird Festival

I decided to go up and check out the 1st annual Edison Bird Festival today. I saw that there would be a presentation by Denver Holt, an owl researcher and Bud Anderson, director of the Falcon Research Group and an old friend. I hadn't seen Bud in years and I was curious about Denver Holt.

On the way there, via the back roads (Fir Island, etc.) I saw several Red-tail hawks, bald eagles, and northern harriers (including a wonderfully close-up view of a silvery male), and one American kestrel. All that without even trying! And that was just the raptors. I also saw tons of snow geese, trumpeter swans, great blue herons, mallards, pintails, and wigeons.

Denver gave a great presentation on his research on snowy owls in Barrow, Alaska from 1999-2011. I learned a bunch of fascinating tidbits about them. Did you know that 3 days of heavy rains in the tundra kills the young? Or that they don't just eat lemmings- they can take an arctic fox, ducks, young geese, shorebirds, and jaegers! That's one tough owl. I also learned that no one really knows for sure why they have come down in such large numbers this year. Bud answered questions and showed a few identification slides of Skagit Flats raptors. Real slides- not those fancy-schmancy powerpoint fake slides. :) 

After the talks I decided to drive through the Samish Flats. I was quickly losing the light. I didn't get far before seeing northern harriers and red-tails again. Then I saw a smaller silhouette sitting in a short tree or tall shrub. It sat a bit forward and was lighter than the others. I pulled off the road, opened my window, and heard the strangest bark-screech. Looking through the binoculars I identified it as a short-eared owl. I couldn't figure out who it was talking to until I saw another one fly by in the distance. I've been amazed at how easy it is to see short-eared owls in the right habitat this year. I usually have to work to find them.

I took a short drive toward Samish Island and as I came back a very large raptor flew down in front of the truck. Light in the upper parts of the body, I recognized it as a rough-legged hawk. It landed in the field next to me but there was no safe place to stop and see if it caught it's dinner. I did slow down enough to get a good look at the hawk. What a treat before the lightness dimmed. A couple more red-tails on power poles and I was on my way to get some grocery shopping done.
Quite a day without even trying!

Candlemas

February 2nd- in the Pacific Northwest on the west side of the mountains reminds me that spring is around the corner. Yes, we will still get cold temperatures and maybe even snow. The point is that yesterday and today we had that high 50s to 60 degree sunny weather we often get for about a week in February. I was too busy yesterday to get out much. Today I wandered around our little piece of property and found what I expected. Red-flowering currant's dark magenta blossoms swelling and beaked hazelnut catkins emerging. I have noticed on my daily commute that the hazelnut catkins are completely out so I'm wondering why mine are so slow. No matter it brings joy to my heart to see life emerging.

The great surprise was digging around in the bigleaf maple leaves (I was looking for the little irises and little daffodils I planted) and finding a three-inch tall nettle! Okay, I know, they are out in February, I just forgot, momentarily of course. It was a wonderful discovery under all those leaves. Life returns, light returns, green returns. don't forget that if you have pollen allergies, now's the time to start taking nettle- tea, tincture/extract or not as effective capsule form.

I read there were some intense snowstorms in some parts of the country this weekend. Makes me realize that we have it pretty good here. Although, I have it recorded that last year on February 24 we received 24 inches of snow, so we still could be in the weather news. It doesn't matter to most of us here because we know it ends and the birds sing and the green returns so robust it can take your breath away. Welcome to it all!

All nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair-

The bees are stirring- birds are on the wing-

And winter slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of spring!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Bald eagles in My Life

Saturday was the day for the return of the local bald eagles. Driving into town one of the pair of adult eagles that sits high above the highway, over Davis Slough, on a power pole has returned. I greeted him and welcomed him back. I hadn't seen the regulars since last September. I'm excited to have the privilege to greet them daily again this year. We'll see if they're regulars again.

Then driving through Stanwood, an adult bald eagle was flying low with its legs and feet dangling. I thought it was going to attempt to land on a scrawny red alder tree but instead it attempted to snap off a branch. It was working on adding to its nest. There is a nest maybe half-mile from where it was grabbing branches. I've seen this before, including the time an eagle grabbed a branch as big as itself right over our heads At Hoypus Point, Deception pass state Park.

  Port Susan Bay last spring.

A couple miles down the road I noticed another adult sitting in a small evergreen tree along the highway looking to the south. I looked in the direction it was and saw a roadkill opossum on the shoulder. It's fascinating to see the eagles now adding roadkill to their diets. Another reason to move roadkill off the road- if it's safe to do so.

It's been a wonderful gift to be a part of the return of the bald eagle. When I started birdwatching in 1980 it was rare to see an eagle. You'd often catch us birders pulling off the road, and stopping quickly to get a glimpse when we saw one. Nowadays, they're nearly as plentiful as red-tail hawks and I love it. I never tire of that 7-foot wingspan soaring above me; connecting me to the sky. I have had incredible encounters with eagles in my lifetime, including several times experiencing them flying so low over my head I could hear their great deep wing beats. It still takes my breath away.

May you never lose the wonder or the love of all things living.

Moon and Venus

Tonight the magic of a crisp clear twilight appeared to the west. A silver crescent moon with Venus as her escort. (Not the best photo of the experience). I realized that winter is the best time for taking in the magic of the phases of the moon. The skies are clearer and the days shorter, allowing me to see it earlier in the evening than summer nights.  I am always deeply drawn to the moon. It pulls at my soul at an ancestral level; maybe something within my biological makeup.

I remember flying back from Chicago many years ago at night and watching the full moon reflected in the potholes of the Dakotas. It was an ethereal experience; and beauty at its best. A photo could never reflect that experience. That is a "mind photo" that I will carry always.

Maybe the Moon fascinates me because we don't get enough clear nights.Same as the sunrise and sunsets.It doesn't really matter. I always take the time to absorb the power Grandmother Moon shares with those that feel.

During the big snowstorm here last week (some refer to it as "snowmageddon"), I heard a song sparrow singing away. What an interesting contrast with the thick white landscape and then the sound of spring!  It was a reminder that February 2 is just around the corner- my favorite day. To many folks February 2 is Groundhog day- the superstition of how many more weeks of winter we will have based on some poor captive groundhog yanked out of his cave.

I recognize February 2 as Candlemas, also called Imbolc or St. Brigid, in the Pagan calendar- the 6 week mark between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Candlemas was considered the beginning of spring in some customs. In the Pacific Northwest it's when the days become noticeably longer, the birds attempt to sing, and many native shrubs and trees show emerging  life-leaf buds ready to burst and catkins hanging down dispersing pollen. Once this date comes, I know it's an easy slide into spring when the glorious return of the birds and greens and light return in earnest. Yes, I think maybe February 2 is the first day of Spring in the Pacific Northwest.

I found this interesting website with further details about February 2- http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/candlemas.html

Well, I must apologize for wishing it would snow here on the island. I was watching the news yesterday and it snowed in many areas but missed our place. Today I get up and there's maybe a 1/2 inch. Then it started and didn't stop for 4 hours! 7 1/2 inches worth! About the time the snow stopped, the power went out for 7 hours. And this isn't even the big storm arriving early tomorrow morning.

This is the first big snow this winter here on the island and it is grand.

I love the snow (as long as I don't have to drive). It softens the landscape and muffles the sounds. It brightens the grays and browns that surround us during winter. The birds become active gleaning the branches of shrubs and trees for insects and pecking away at the ground in search of seeds to sustain them through the day and night. We supplement their diet with some black sunflower seeds on days like today. The daytime evidence of nighttime movements of critters is made visible by snow. Raccoons are the primary night stalker around our place. I can't wait to get up and make discoveries tomorrow.

Sunset Friday evening from a parking lot in Everett. We've had a week of spectacular sunrises and sunsets. As I reveled in the beauty and differences of each and every one, I realized how few we get to see in the Pacific Northwest. Known for our rain it's actually the cloudy conditions that are in abundance. Although, as you can see in the photo, if the clouds aren't solid they create some great special effects. This time of year sunrise is at a "reasonable" time of day. Unlike summer where one must get up at 4am to see it. That's too early for me these days. Right now I get to experience the colors of dawn and dusk during my commute making the drudgery of driving nearly an hour all the more interesting.

A world without pikas, puffins, polar bears, and penguins

On a summer hike up to Perry Creek Falls I passed a huge talus area. It seemed that every rock on that slope had a small brown fur ball attached to it. They were pikas, relatives of rabbits. Their warning “peek” call sounded from all around me. What a fascinating critter that can live year-round at high elevations. When the snows come they cozy up in their pockets under the rocks and feed on the grass they dried in “hay piles” on the rocks during summer.

Unfortunately, pika populations are one of the first showing signs of trouble related to global warming. According to an October 2005 article in High Country News, pikas in Yosemite National Park are moving to higher elevations in an attempt to adapt to dramatically changing temperatures. In the Great Basin, biologists found six of 25 pika populations had died out between 1946 and the early 90s. Two more populations died off between 2003 and 2005. High-elevation species have nowhere to go but up and they are quickly running out of habitat. Species that depend on mountainous climates and the cold Arctic and Antarctic climates are disappearing and crying out for our attention.

Other examples of drastic changes- Polar bears are drowning and cannibalizing their own. Due to changing ocean temperatures and currents, tufted puffins and penguin breeding colonies are failing because their prey has disappeared. Emperor penguins in western Antarctica dropped from 300 to 9 breeding pairs. Migratory animals are missing their food supplies- insects hatch and plants bloom too early because spring is coming earlier across the northern hemisphere. Avian-malaria carrying mosquitoes are moving to higher elevations and killing bird species not adapted to malaria. The krill population has declined by as much as 80 percent since the 1970s over large areas of the Southern Ocean. Many marine mammals and birds feed solely on krill. All of these changes are happening at an accelerated rate. Species cannot adapt at the rate we are changing the climate.

I have previously talked about natural climate change and global warming. What I don’t see are people taking it seriously. This is not something that’s going to happen someday. The extinction of species, changing ocean temperatures and currents, melting permafrost and other dramatic changes are happening as you read this. Those most vulnerable are species that are migratory and seabirds and those that live in the Arctic, Antarctic, on islands, in wetlands, and mountains. Climate change also elevates the risks to species adapted to arid areas, species with poor dispersal ability, low population numbers or already threatened and endangered, restricted or patchy habitat, and limited climatic range.

There are many things we can do in our lives to help slow the process down. Recycle, reduce consumption, carpool, use CFC bulbs, buy energy efficient appliances, avoid excess packaging, plant lots of trees, turn electronic devices off when not in use, etc. Five bigger solutions according to the Union of Concerned Scientists are: 1) better cars and SUVs; ; 2) modernize America's electricity system; 3) increase energy efficiency; 4) protect threatened forests; 5) support American ingenuity. I would add reduce or eliminate eating cows and dairy products (see U.N. article Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars) and don’t take krill supplements.

We have a chance to change things even though time has run out for many species presently. We have a new political climate beginning in January 2007. Most of global warming is caused by industry and transportation. Corporations are responsible for what’s happening however, we as consumers and voters have the power to let them know that changes need to be made now- not 10 years from now. Our grandchildren, fellow humans, and critters deserve nothing less. I want future generations to enjoy the beauty of a pika in the talus along a mountain trail, polar bears frolicking in the Arctic, tufted puffins fishing in Puget Sound, and the antics of glorious penguins.

For more information watch the DVDs Who killed the electric car? and The Inconvenient Truth, also see the following websites, www.pluginamerica.org, www.climatecrisis.net, http://cns.utexas.edu/communications/file/annrev_ccimpacts.pdf, www.panda.org/climate/birds, and http://www.hcn.org/, http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/common-sense-on-climate-change-solution-1-make-better-cars-and-suvs.html http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment.

It’s been an amazing yellow Pacific Northwest autumn! Before the late October and early November winds came and relieved the trees of their leaves, every forested area big and small lit up the day. It was one of the best shows of yellow I’ve seen in a while.

October was very warm and dry for around here. However, the last few days dropped quickly to the high 20’s- also unusual for here. Of course, early November brought horrendous rains and the associated flooding. Usually when this happens it’s due to rain-on-snow events (torrential downpours on top of deep snow), but there was little snow in the mountains. Instead 10-12 inches of rain in the mountains showed us who’s in control of our lives! Even here on Camano Island things got dicey due to a levee holding the South Fork of the Skagit River back from flooding Stanwood and the highway that leads to home. The power of water is incredibly humbling. Here’s something that makes up somewhere around 70% of our body and we absolutely need to survive that can take 500 year old trees down a river like they’re toothpicks, erode away a river bank in minutes, and take a house down floating to the ocean.

Building all the houses with all their pollutants in the floodplains is disturbing. The effect this has upon our streams and the Puget Sound is not helping salmon or any other living being. If people want to live in these areas then their homes should be built on stilts and no pollutants are allowed. It wouldn’t work. I get angry at the government regulations still allowing this to happen and have little sympathy for folks living in these areas. I don’t wish physical harm to them and do feel bad when people and animals die in flooding. However, what were they thinking building here and now they’ve lost everything?

Back to the beauty of autumn. Today I went up to the Skagit Flats, outside of Conway looking for the snow geese and found them. Last year 80,000 wintered in the area. You never see that many all together but 10,000 isn’t uncommon- especially after the bird murderers are gone. I found a pretty good-sized flock in the distance. I pulled off the road so I could listen to them call as they flew overhead. It is the sound of winter around here. Spring has its particular bird songs and winter has its particular bird calls heralding the season! I also saw a few swans and several bald eagles.

The Skagit Flats has a high density of wintering raptors. It’s one of my favorite areas in winter. You don’t have to walk to see them since it gets mighty cold and damp (okay, it’s not West Yellowstone cold J). You just need to know where to go, and watch closely. A good day is what we call a ”5 falcon day”- prairie (rare but not uncommon), peregrine (fairly common), gyrfalcon (rare), Merlin (somewhat common), and kestrel (common). I have only had a few days like that. They were quite gratifying and miraculous.

Plus there are winters when the snowy owls come down. That’s when you look at every white plastic bucket in the field because eventually one of them is an owl. I know- it’s happened to me. Then there’s the common buteos- red-tailed and rough-legged (down from the arctic). Both bald (very common) and golden eagles (rare) can be found. Sharp-shinned and Copper’s hawks are common and goshawks are seen infrequently. And we can’t forget the ever-present northern harriers and short-eared owls. What a treat to watch them both in the dimming light floating over fields looking for their vole meal. Like any wildlife watching it’s about being gifted with sightings and being in the right place at the right time. I bless every time I see these wonderful creatures.

The Journey
Friday was a red tail hawk day of cool air and sunny skies. Good for soaring high above the earth. Shards of sunlight electrified the autumn yellow of big leaf maples. The varying shades of red of vine maple leaves punctuated the yellows along the highway. Large puffy white and gray clouds play hide and seek with the afternoon sun as I drive the hour to my destination- Deception Falls trail.

The Destination
Once I arrive I find the parking lot closed. Not to be defeated, I find a wide spot along the highway and pull off.

The trail is damp- fading greens and deep browns dominate the dark and cool forest. Why did I come here? I came deliberately. Thoreau's quote comes to mind- I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

I have come to find the part of my spirit that dwells in the wild and to leave behind the distress I have become.

This remnant ancient forest is quiet save for the water falls. Thundering through the granite troughs of rocks, the Tye River rushes on its never-ending journey to blend with the Skykomish River. Eons of rushing has carved its path. The water is wild, clear, and cold.

I have found a giant elder western red cedar to sit under. The bark of the cedar is thick with moist green mosses. Tiny droplets hang at the end of the moss threads in anticipation of dropping to the ground and nourishing the forest floor. How long has it stood sentinel in these woods? How did it escape the cut of the saw? Has it heard the call of the wolf or felt the claws of a grizzly? Did a spotted owl hunt from its branches or a fisher climb its trunk.

Calmness comes with every breath. I am close enough to hear the highway however the embrace of the forest takes over. Giant yellowing prickly leaves of devil's club tower over me and the remnant spotty green leaves of red huckleberry camouflage me from the trail. The air is of autumn freshness- cool, damp, and clean. The air is getting cold informing me that it is time to go.

As I reached my truck to leave a raven circled low over my head three times and landed in a tree across the highway. A couple of gronks and a soft call (that I answered) and it was on its way up the highway. Goodbye maybe?