Going Batty

International Bat Week, a global celebration of the world's most misunderstood mammal, fittingly comes to a close tomorrow on Halloween. To celebrate, let's take a trip down memory lane to that time five years ago when I helped with a bat colony count. It was late summer in 2017. I was just a few weeks away from leaving the Northwest and returning to my native Pennsylvania. I was invited to a pot luck for volunteers at Northwest Trek, a wildlife park in Eatonville, WA. I'd worked with them doing amphibian egg mass surveys for the state and nature mapping for Nisqually Land Trust. There was also a bat colony count happening that night, and I was asked if I would like to join. Of course I said yes. After white nose syndrome was detected in Washington, the state fish and wildlife service wanted to colony counts to establish a baseline population for monitoring purposes. Having worked on other conservation projects with Northwest Trek it was only natural that they would ask them to partner up again. And it was a no-brainer for me to get in on the action. After eating, we took an extended afterhours tram ride through the free roaming area to see the deer, elk, bison, moose, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep who don't know they're lving in captivity. There's nothing wrong with a little extra time hanging out with our animal friends. Afterwards, we returned to the park entrance. I was supposed to monitor the comings and goings at a bat box inside the park just inside the entrance. All I had to do was count how bats flew out and how many flew in, until I couldn't see anymore. Ins and outs, then subtract and the difference is my count. Very simple. But the bats had other plans for the night. Before we even got inside we could hear bats moving around inside the roof of the entrance. I never made it in. Instead, I stood outside the entrance counting bats. I watched as a little bat would drop down from the roof and gain altitude as it moved towards me. I only ducked once or twice. It was just instinct. I knew they wouldn't hit me. I figured with their echolocation they could tell where I was long before I saw them. I could hear theirs wings flapping and feel the breeze as they zipped past my head. At the end of the night, all the participants gathered to turn in their tally sheets. The counting station at the entrance, which wasn't on the list at the beginning, and was almost an afterthought, turned out to have the highest count of the night. I don't remember how many bats we counted collectively, or what my total was. It was a great night and I hope we collected important data. I'm forever thankful I was able to be a part of it.

Christmas is for the Birds

This year is the 120th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It began December 14th and runs through January 5th. The tradition started in 1900 in at the beginning of the conservation movement. Since the beginning, citizen scientists have used the information gathered to track trends in bird populations.
I took part on December 15th and had an eventful and cold day. Once again, I put my discomfort aside for the sake of nature. The day began at 4 AM with three hours of owling. My partner Chris drove us around to a few sites where we'd listen in the dark for owl calls. In an attempt to draw them out, he played owl calls on his phone. We heard a screech owl at one location and a pair of great horned owls in a duet at another place.

Great horned owl

After a pit stop around 7 AM we picked up the third member of our trio at sunrise and began our visual observations with nearly three dozen turkey vultures overhead near a roosting site. I happen to know about this roost because I drive past it on the way to and from work, and depending on my schedule I see the vultures either leaving for the day or returning for the night. Right away my presence paid off. In past years, Chris and John start their count headed the other direction.
Over half our time was spent in the car. Much of what we saw was from the road. We did some walking though, and it was tough in some places. Recent rain meant soggy ground. It's December and Pennsylvania, which is rarely a good combination. In addition to the cold, it was windy. The wind made for great raptor conditions, but bad for everything else. It was difficult to hear bird calls over the sound of the wind. Watching for motion in the trees and bushes was confusing because everything was moving.

Turkey vulture

This year we counted 47 different species, and a total of 735 birds. In 2018 we counted 38 species and 754 birds. Canada geese were the big winners this year, coming in at 266. However, they were mainly in two flocks. The birds we spotted the most times were turkey vultures and house finches. I look forward to counting more birds in 2020!

Canada goose

Habitat Rehab

Habitat restoration is one of the most important challenges facing conservationists today. Without adequate habitat, endangered species can’t be recovered. Many human activities require restoration as well. Fully functioning wetland systems can provide flood control and clean drinking water. How does the process of habitat restoration work?

Restored coastal marsh, where dikes were removed to
allow the sea to once again access the land

The first step, as in medicine, is “First, do no harm.” A site evaluation will determine exactly what needs to be done to restore what once was. Noting current conditions establishes a baseline for measuring success of the project. It might involve stabilizing a feature immediately, such as an eroding stream bank. After figuring out what needs to be done, the next step is figuring out how to do it.

In many cases, conservationists will use a reference site similar to what is being restored to determine plants and other features. Plants will influence what kind of animals will begin using the site, but the land and water on the site will determine what plants can live there.

Live willow stake planted to reforest
a former pastureland

A lot of times, restoration work is more than simply replacing plants and animals that lived on a site before people came in and messed it up. A site I monitored in Washington had once been a thriving salmon stream with a wide flood plain. 19^th century farmers drained the area by straitening the stream to allow water to flow in and out faster. They also cleared the trees. Fast forward to the 21^st century, and we’ve figured out that the stream needs to be slowed and shaded. Over a period of several years, the curves were put back in the stream and thousands of new trees and shrubs were planted. Fixing the stream required building temporary dams, removing fish by hand, and using heavy equipment to excavate a new stream bed at just the right depth and slope.

Ohop Creek after being restored to its twisted ways

After work has been completed, the site must be monitored for success. There should be some kind of measurable goal, and even if the restoration fails it can be a lesson for future attempts. The site I mentioned was restored for salmon habitat, and while it will take a few years for trees to begin cooling the water temperature, it has been under constant observation since work began. Several times a year, conservation groups involved in the restoration work check water levels, tree survival, how many salmon are spawning, and what kinds of animals are using the habitat. All of this is checked against initial observations from before the project began.

This prairie, currently a restoration work in progress,
was a field of weeds a few years ago

My work with habitat restoration has been monitoring (documenting wildlife and animal signs, as well as plant survival rates), site maintenance, and invasive species removal. The work is hard and sometimes conditions are brutal, but I find it to be very rewarding.

In many cases, restored habitat is second rate compared to what it once was and what nature has provided. It’s not for a lack of trying, but nature is a much better architect of natural features than what man could ever hope to be. But it’s better than nothing.

Species of the Month

This month’s species of the month celebrates independence with America’s newest national symbol, the bison, which became the national mammal in 2016. For the Plains Indians, the bison meant life. To me, it represents strength, power, and resilience as it was hunted nearly to extinction but has since recovered to an estimated population of 31,000 wild bison. While it’s a far cry from the tens of millions roaming the prairies and woods in the 19^th century, it is much better than the thousand or so that remained in 1889. 

Bull bison at Yellowstone

Scientific name: Bison bison

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class:   Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Cetartiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Grazing bison

Range: Historic range runs from Alaska and northern Canada west of Hudson Bay south to northern Mexico, Intermountain West east to the Appalachians. Current range is limited to national parks and preserves, private wildlife conservation areas, and private ranches scattered about the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Habitat: Forest and/or prairie habitat; can be found in tallgrass, shortgrass, or mixed grass prairies

Lifespan: 15-20 years

Diet: grasses, sagebrush

Bison herd at Custer State Park in South Dakota.
The orange colored calf is known as a "red dog".

Predators: wolves, mountain lions, humans

Conservation Status: Listed as near-threatened due to reliance on conservation for survival by IUCN. Listed as endangered under ESA.

Other Information: Bison were long a source of sustenance for the Plains Indians, who used every part of the body for food, clothing, shelter, and tools. They were hunted nearly to extinction in an effort to subdue the tribes that depended on them. Of the roughly 31,000 wild bison, only a small percentage are purebred. The rest are hybridized with domestic cattle. Wild bison herds are scattered throughout the West. Notable herds are found in Yellowstone, Wind Cave, and Wood Buffalo National Parks. There are two subspecies of bison: the familiar plains bison and wood bison, which lives in northern forests of Alaska and Canada. Bison grazing influenced plant communities, which in turn affected what other animals lived in the ecosystem. Bison form segregated herds based on age and sex. Male herds are smaller than female herds, although more males will join as the rut approaches. The rut happens in late summer/early fall. A dominant bull controls a female harem, and younger bulls will challenge him. A bison’s shoulder hump is a mass of muscle that helps support the large head. The giant head works as a snow plow in the winter, clearing snow off the grasses. Despite their docile appearance, bison are capable of inflicting serious damage. They are fast- they can run up to over 30 miles per hour and have no problem using their horns. Keep your distance.

Resting captive bison in Washington

Lamar Valley bison at Yellowstone

Lamar Valley bison at Yellowstone

This week's information comes from University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web, The Nature Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Environment News Service. 

Conservation or Preservation

Conservation and preservation are two tools for environmental protection. They are similar, and many people use the terms interchangeably. The term “conservation” is most frequently used, however. What are the differences, though?

First we’ll look to the federal government for the differences. The US Forest Service practices conservation, while the National Park Service practices preservation. Both agencies protect natural resources, but in different ways and for different reasons.

National Forests were set aside and are managed for conservation. For the most part, they are working forests. The resource (timber) is being conserved- managed logging that ensures there will always be a supply. Certain areas are off-limits to logging for various reasons such as habitat protection or recreation.

National Parks were created “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”, and in the early days pretty much any enjoyment was acceptable, right up to feeding the bears. As we’ve discovered what damage we’ve caused to the environment, NPS cares less about having all the fun and more about preserving ecosystems and ecological processes. In this sense, preservation- protecting and maintaining the environment- is what many people see as conservation.

The environmental toolbox also includes restoration and enhancement. Restoration is returning a damaged or degraded ecosystem to its former glory. This is a difficult task and rarely achieves perfection because nature is much better at building a system than we are at replicating one. An example of a successful restoration project is at Washington’s Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The original coastal wetlands were diked and drained for agriculture. In recent years, the dikes were removed and the tide was allowed to reclaim its former marsh. Salmon took advantage of the new channels that formed. Shorebirds enjoy having a shore again.

Incoming tide at Nisqually's restored tidal wetlands

Enhancement makes improvements to a functional ecosystem. For an example, we’ll return to Washington and visit a tributary of the Nisqually River, the Mashel River. Also a salmon-bearing river, a coalition of public and private agencies put artificial log jams in the river to improve habitat for juvenile salmon. Large woody debris adds nutrients to the river and also creates slower moving, deep pools that give fish a place to rest and hide during flood events. The log jams also reduce erosion by forcing the water to slow down.

Engineered log jam on the Mashel River

You can see an area of calmer water behind the log jam

Even without owning lots of land rich with natural resources, you can still practice conservation and preservation. Conserve water, soil, fuel, and energy. Preserve or enhance the ecology of your property. Resources are available if you need guidance. Ask me for details!