Poem by Jim Harrison

Age Sixty-nine

I keep waiting without knowing
what I'm waiting for.
I saw the setting moon at dawn
roll over the mountain
and perhaps into the dragon's mouth
until tomorrow evening.

There is this circle I walk
that I have learned to love.
I hope one day to be a spiral
but to the birds I'm a circle.

A thousand Spaniards died looking
for gold in a swamp when it was
in the mountains in clear sight beyond.

Here, though, on local earth my heart
is at rest as a groundling, letting
my mind take flight as it will,
no longer waiting for good or bad news.

Often, lately, the night is a cold maw
and stars the scattered white teeth of the gods,
which spare none of us. At dawn I have birds,
clearly divine messengers that I don't understand
yet day by day feel the grace of their intentions.

Jim Harrison <http://poems.com/feature.php?date=14363>

In Search of Small Gods
Copper Canyon Press <http://www.coppercanyonpress.org>

fowarded by Jane McGarry

Coen and Brenda's Ecuador presentation

Western Colorado bird gurus Coen Dexter and Brenda Wright spoke to a crowd of about 50 birding enthusiasts last night at Memorial Hall in Hotchkiss.  They had a wonderful slide show and narrative of birds, bird habitats, lodges, and various icky creatures from their recent trip to Ecuador.
 
Thanks to Coen and Brenda for taking two months to travel to go get the photos (sigh), Jason for technical support, Jane for bringing them to Hotchkiss, and everyone else who lent a hand last night.

 

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Talk at Paonia River Park today

Above:  Jane McGarry and Dennis Garrison describing how to find birds.
 
One of the groups watching tree swallows foraging over the North Fork of the Gunnison
 
 
Jane McGarry and Dennis Garrison gave presentations today at Paonia River Park on how to find birds.  The event was part of the Earth Day celebration sponsored by the North Fork River Improvement Association www.nfria.org .   About twenty children and a mixed bag of teenagers and adults listened to a variety of talks, including the birding talk, a presentation on how to identify tracks and scat, a Leave No Trace talk, and a riparian demonstration put on by NRCS.
 
Cedar Keshet of NFRIA, with help from some BCAS folks, put together a handout of birds likely to be found at the park, which Dennis (wearing his Forest Service hat) laminated so they can be reused.  The birds, however, did not read the handout, and the ones which showed up at the park today were not the ones that were picked for the handout, with the exception of a mallard and a magpie.
 
Other birds seen during the talks and brief walks included:
 
tree swallows (many)
red-winged blackbirds
ravens
crows
a falcon (prairie or peregrine, not close enough to identify)
a golden eagle
a turkey vulture
a red-naped sapsucker
 
Birding was tough, with a gravel pit next door, a highway across the river, and the North Fork in full runoff mode.  All the kids had fun, though, which is all that matters.
 


 

 

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BCAS business

I hate to interrupt enjoyable wildlife posts with organizational
news, but I can see that this can be a good place to keep everyone up on
BCAS happenings.

One thing Cheryl and I have been working on - with Missy and April
Montgomery of the Uncompahgre Project- is a grant to hire a Crawford
GUSG Working Group Coordinator. This has worked out so well with Leigh
Robertson as the San Miguel Basin Coordinator, we would love to have
another one. I don't know how likely it is, but April is working on the
grant application.

Another thing that has taken up a lot of Cheryl's time is the
Ridgway Bird Banding project. It finally looks like it is a go for the
forth year, and we were able to get the dates we wanted, in early
September. Thanks to RMBO, Ridgway State Park and Grand Valley Audubon
for helping with the scheduling.

I hope everyone can make it to Coen and Brenda's Ecuador
presentation Thursday. And on a fun/birding note, we did have our first
black chinned hummer yesterday.

Bill Day
Hotchkiss

Of Frogs and Foxes . . .

Every day brings new discoveries in the new neighborhood (from "As You
Like It": "What's the new news in the new court?"). This morning it was
foxes, at least three young foxes cavorting on the hillside while two
adults both played and seemed to stand vigil while the fun went on. The
little foxes were about half the size of the adults, with one juvenile
significantly smaller, perhaps the runt of the litter. They scampered
madly in the sage and were a delight to observe. I've been watching the
neighborhood fox all winter as it passes by our place and hunts the
fields for rodents. Today, finally, I saw the den site and watched the
young! Hope to have pictures soon.
Frogs: at five tonite while Chuck and Steve and I stood around
chatting out in the shop, the frog chorus began from a nearby pond. It
is spring! Do frogs hibernate in the mud below the ice all winter? Then
there are polliwogs, then there are frogs. Now to determine what
particular frogs they are . . . and this explains the frequent flight of
great blue herons over our place.
Jane McGarry, Paonia

Confluence birding and conservation outing this morning

At 7 a.m., Jason and Rick and I made up the sum total of the early morning BCAS birders at Confluence.  I leave the overall birding report to Jason, the record-keeper, since I am usually unable to recall everything I see.  I did attach a few photos above.
 
Several more people showed up for the beaver-proofing of the trees.  We managed to wrap a couple dozen trees before running out of both materials and time.  The beavers continue to chew their way through the forest there, although there are signs they are eating some of the exotic trees (Russian olives, Siberian elm, tamarisk) as well as the cottonwoods.
 
I only got one photo of the work, in which Jason, our fearless leader, appears to be distracted by something flying overhead...
 
More work to be done there in the future.

Dennis Garrison

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Confluence outing tomorrow morning

Saturday, April 18, Confluence Park Birding and Conservation Field Trip  
 
Birding: meet at 7 a.m. in the Confluence Park parking lot that is to your right as you enter the park.  We will walk the trails in search of spring migrants, and we will check the lake for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. Bring binoculars and spotting scopes if you have them.
 
Conservation: Meet at 9 a.m. in the same parking lot described above. We will be wrapping trees with chicken wire so that the beavers don't cut them all down. Bring gloves. Tools will be provided. We will work until about noon.

 

 

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Jane and I went birding!

Jane McGarry and I have been playing tag for a couple weeks, trying to get out birding.  Yesterday's sapsucker sighting made me feel a bit guilty, since it was there for twenty minutes and I neglected to call her and let her know.
 
So after work, I gave her a call, she cleared her schedule, and we went birding.
 
First, she showed me the breat-horned owl nest near her house.  One bird on the nest, too low to see clearly, but a second owl sleeping in a neaby tree, in plain sight!  Camera time (you know me).  Unfortunately, as dark as it was with the impending storm, 1/40 of a second and my camera's autofocus managed to blur most of the pics. The best one is below.
 
Cassin's finches objectied to me standing too near her feeder.
 
She also showed me the red-tailed nest two blocks from my house (I don't wander the neighborhood much), which might explain the hawk that took a pass at one of my landlady's small, brown, furry dogs a few weeks ago.  The dogs now wear orange bandanas that say Peace and Love.  Maybe that will help.
 
We drove through Hotchkiss and looked at a couple more red-tail nests, then decided to see if the barn owl was home.  No luck, although the signs certainly point to it being there.  Lots of fresh pellets, feathers, and whitewash, although it seems to be sharing the grove with EC doves and magpies.  The pheasant right down the road seemed to me to be handy food for an owl.
 
We wandered down to the hatchery, where we were mostly skunked, although we saw a few waterfowl.
 
Back towards Hotchkiss, we found another red-tailed nest in a fencerow cottonwood.
 
We headed south onto Scenic Mesa, where we encountered a loggerhead shrike in a roadside bush.  By the time I stopped, it had taken off, but Jane relocated it in another bush, where it appeared to have some small, meaty food item.  When it flew off again, we checked the bush and found the remains of a small mammal, possibly a meadow vole, impaled on a stick.
 
A few more pheasants two golden eagles, and one small band of vesper sparrows completed our Scenic Mesa side trip.
 
We stopped at the cemetery and looked around.  While the wind had stopped, the birds were not out and about in great numbers, and the highlight was a small band of a dozen or so yellow-rumped warblers headed NE.
 
We stopped to look at the golden eagle nests off of K50 road, and saw one on a nest and another in a nearby tree.
 
Home and darkness came next, but it was fun to finally get out with a neighbor (all of six blocks, maybe.  Sigh.) and see some sights.
 
Don't forget the BCAS Confluence birding and beaverproofing trip tomorrow!

Dennis Garrison

Paonia 

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In search of...the red-naped sapsucker

I have sapsuckers.  They wander the neighborhood, drilling into anything they can and announcing their presence at all hours of the day.  I have tried numerous times to get a good photo, always without success.
 
At 6:55, when I leave for work, they are usually on one of the utility poles across the street, where they hide just out of the light, and my desire for a photo clashes with my desire for a photo in a somewhat more natural setting.
 
Most mornings, between 7 and 8, one shows up on the roof of one of the buildings at work.  A metal roof.  I can hear it tapping from inside the office.  I have photographed it on the roof, sitting on steel and silhouetted against blue sky.  Not the best photo in the world.  Nor the best habitat for a management indicator species.  I thought this was an aspen species.  Hmmm.
 
Last summer, it showed up on the juniper outside the window above the sink at work.  I don't even recall taking a photo of it, but there it is, slightly blurry, bad light...
 
The other day it showed up on the juniper, where it stayed until I made it back to the office, got the camera, and came back to the window, at which point it flew across the creek into the park.  I managed a few less-than-wonderful shots across the creek, then realized that if I could just get a bit east of it, I would have a perfect side shot with the sun behind me.  So I raced around to the park, and began to sneak up on it past the people walking their dogs.  I never even got close.
 
This morning, heavy snow, horrible light, a few juncos shivering on the ground under the junipers.  About ten a.m. I walked past the sink and glanced out the window to see the sapsucker casually drilling on the juniper right outside the window.  Once again, I jogged to the office, grabbed the camera, and came back...
 
and it was still there.  It stayed there while I pried open the window, set up the tripod, and took a series of photos.
 
It stayed there while I downloaded the camera, looked at the shots, and decided I could do better.
 
It stayed there while I eased open the back door, carried the tripod and camera outside, and set up for some shots.
 
It stayed there when I eased a bit closer and around to one side to get the sun behind me.
 
And it stayed there after I had frozen and given up and gone inside.
 
The photos still are not perfect.  They never are.  Better light, better poses, no branches in the way, darker background...a better-trained wild bird that will let you get within ten feet some days?
 
Whine, whine.
 
Dennis Garrison

Paonia 

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COEN DEXTER TO PRESENT "BIRDS OF ECUADOR"

Coen Dexter and his wife Brenda Wright of Nucla will show slides and
talk about their winter 2009 birding trip to Ecuador next Thursday,
April 23 in Hotchkiss. Coen is a field ornithologist and wildlife
biologist and retired teacher who coauthored "Birds of Western
Colorado." He and Brenda have traveled to more than 25 countries in
pursuit of birds. Join us at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 23 at Hotchkiss
Memorial Hall for this fascinating show. (This program replaces the
previously announced David Keegan slide show, canceled due to a
scheduling conflict.)

Gunnison Sage Grouse Update

Below is some info from sagebrushsea.org regarding grouse, the lawsuit, and sage wildlife.

Bill Day Hotchkiss

March 24, 2009

Gunnison Sage-grouse May Get Federal Protection Interior Department Calls for New Decision following Latest Investigation of Bush Administration's Interference in Species Conservation

Telluride, Colo. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has filed a notice with the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, stating that, in light of the latest investigative report on the Bush administration's misapplication of the Endangered Species Act, the agency will reconsider its decision to deny protection to the Gunnison sage-grouse rendered in April 2006. The report, released in December, was the second by the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior that found that former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald and other Bush Administration officials interfered with federal biologists' decisionmaking for multiple endangered species, including the Gunnison sage-grouse. The Fish and Wildlife Service has indicated that it will confer with plaintiffs concerning next steps for the Gunnison sage-grouse.

"We are eager to secure protection for the Gunnison sage-grouse as soon as possible. Long term viability of the species is unquestionably at risk now, and every additional delay decreases the likelihood of full recovery," said Commissioner Joan May of San Miguel County, Colorado.

San Miguel County led a coalition of conservation and government accountability organizations to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service over its denial of Endangered Species Act protection for the Gunnison sage-grouse in November 2006. Significant evidence was already available that Julie MacDonald and other officials had interfered with the agency biologists' findings. The latest report by the Inspector General confirmed previous information that Bush Administration appointees pressured Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and other staff to avoid protecting endangered species.

"I am not surprised that the Service will reconsider the earlier decision by officials in the Bush Administration stripping 'candidate' status from Gunnison sage-grouse," said Dr. Clait Braun, former Avian Research Program Manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. "It is time to move forward to benefit Gunnison sage-grouse and the habitats they depend upon before it is too late for some populations to recover."

Audubon has identified Gunnison sage-grouse as among the ten most endangered birds in the United States. The Endangered Species Coalition also released a report in December identifying Gunnison sage-grouse as one of the most imperiled species in the country. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released another report last week, The State of the Birds 2009 that found that western deserts and grasslands -- home to Gunnison sage-grouse and other sensitive species -- are among the most degraded habitats in the country.

"Endangered wildlife like Gunnison sage-grouse deserve a fair chance at protection," said Erin Robertson, Senior Staff Biologist for Center for Native Ecosystems in Denver. "After years of political interference, it is time for a speedy, unbiased decision that will provide the Gunnison sage-grouse the help it needs."

In addition to San Miguel County, plaintiffs in the current litigation include (in alphabetical order) Audubon, Black Canyon Audubon Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Native Ecosystems, The Larch Company, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Sheep Mountain Alliance, and WildEarth Guardians. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys with the Center for Biological Diversity, San Miguel County, and Western Environmental Law Center.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized its error," said Mark Salvo, Director of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign for WildEarth Guardians. "The next step is to protect the Gunnison sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act."

The Gunnison sage-grouse is distinct from greater sage-grouse, identified by researchers as early as the 1970s and recognized as a new species by the American Ornithologists' Union in 2000. While its historic range may have included parts of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, the species now occurs only in eight small populations in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. Gunnison sage-grouse have experienced significant declines from historic numbers and only about 4,000 breeding individuals remain. Livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling, motorized recreation, and urbanization have contributed to the long-term decline of Gunnison sage-grouse.

"It is promising that the Department of Interior has apparently realized that defending Julie MacDonald's antics in this matter would be a waste of resources, and has voluntarily gone back to the drawing board," said Amy Atwood, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity and one of the attorneys in the litigation.

Gunnison sage-grouse inhabit sagebrush steppe, among the most threatened ecosystems and avian habitats in the United States.