Coming to a Close

A two month old fledgling from a nest I found in Northern California

Today is the last day of the official spotted owl survey season. The last six months have been a mix of successes, failures, triumphs, and frustration. Overall though, I have made huge leaps in my photographic skills and knowledge. Shooting in the low-light conditions that spotted owls call home has been a challenge to say the least, but it forced me to think deeper than simply pointing and clicking. I can't wait photograph an animal who's active all day in open prairies!

With the close of the spotted owl season, I will be switching my focus to small mammal trapping for the next two months. The point is to use a research concept called "mark, recapture" to estimate abundance for small mammals, the spotted owl's main prey source. Researchers will use this abundance data to predict how spotted owl populations are likely to fluctuate in the future. There probably wont be as many photographic opportunities with this work, but I will get to see several different small mammal species up close and personal. Some of the wildlife species I am likely to capture are chipmunks, flying squirrels, wood rats, spotted skunks, ring-tailed cats, and weasels. It will be an interesting experience trying to release my first skunk!

A female spotted owl taking flight in Northern California

Northern Spotted Owl

           I’ve spent the last two months in northern California searching for one of the highest profile endangered species in the country, the northern spotted owl. It was given a status of threatened on the endangered species list in 1990 and is an icon of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. Its main prey are flying squirrels, however they tend to hunt wood rats in more managed landscapes. Dark eyes and a lack of ear tufts distinguish spotted owls from most other owls except the very similar barred owl. Both are mostly brown, medium sized owls, but the barred owl has a lighter chest with vertical brown streaks. The easiest way to tell the two apart is by sound. The barred owl has a very distinctive 8-note call, “who cooks for you, who cooks for y’all,” Versus the spotted owl’s simpler 4-note call, “who—who,who------whoooo.”
             For over three decades, the spotted owl has made headlines and sparked debate in the northwest. Researchers have deemed the owl an old-growth forest obligate, and timber companies have had to adapt their harvest techniques to accommodate the endangered species. The work I am currently doing is for a private timber company along the lost coast of beautiful northern California. I have been broadcasting digitally recorded spotted owl calls at night and conducting daytime follow ups to locate the owls and determine if they are nesting. This work will continue through the owl’s breeding season, which is the end of August. Locating the nests of these birds is essential to ensuring an adequate buffer is left when there is timber harvest in the area.

             Last Tuesday, I drove my ATV to an area just below the snowline near the upper reaches of the Mad River. The purpose was to investigate a response I heard from a male spotted owl the previous night. There were no known nest sites in the direction of the response so my best chance was to just follow the azimuth of the response and hope he was still in the area. Owls are primarily nocturnal, and it is relatively easy to get them to respond at night. Most, however, do not respond during the day unless you get close enough. I started my search late in the afternoon. I parked my ATV at the edge of a meadow and took off downhill towards Boulder Creek. Along the way, I stopped about every 50 yards and made a spotted owl call with my voice. I made it to the bottom of the drainage with no luck. I crossed the creek and started making my way up the other side when I finally heard a male give a series hoot, which is a more aggressive call they make to ward off intruders. Apparently I have a pretty convincing spotted owl call! I headed in his direction and found him a few minutes later. I offered him food, but he seemed very reluctant to take it. I needed to see what he did with the food in order to determine if he was paired with a mate or just a lonely male. Finally after about 15 minutes he swooped down and snatched it. He immediately perched and ate the snack, a good sign he was a lone bird. I offered him more to try and confirm it. Again, after about 15 minutes he finally took the food, but this time instead of eating it, he took off in a straight line out of sight. Great, I go through all this trouble of finding him and he just dines and ditches! I moved as fast as I could in the direction he flew. I was relieved to hear him make a typical 4 note call from not too far away. I realized though that males tend to make those calls to tell the females they have food for them. I made it to a small clearing just in time to see a female fly out of a cavity in a huge old-growth douglas fir. She flew to the male, took the food and flew straight back to the cavity. She was nesting!
             I found out later that particular male hadn't been seen for 3 years, and no one had ever found the nest of the female. It is an amazing feeling to find a nest, and I feel lucky to be able to spend my time searching for these birds who, with or without protection, could very well go extinct in my lifetime.

Bald Eagles and Freezing Cold Temps

I paid another early morning visit to the river, this time the weather was clear, but definitely below freezing. Overall, this was probably the most productive day I've spent there yet. I was able to photograph several eagles on the edge of the river and got some cool shots of them in flight. I also finally captured a photo I have been trying to get for about a year now of an American dipper. Not a very attractive subject, but one of the coolest birds I know of. They spend their lives on, near, and in rivers all year round. I've photographed them before, but they are dark, fast little birds and none of my photos turned out until now. Below are some of the highlights of the day . . .

Bald eagle about to snag a salmon carcass.

For being so large, bald eagles are still very aerodynamic in the air, as you can tell from this photo.

Bald eagles usually stand on their food with one foot while they pull bites off.

American dippers spend most of their lives foraging in the freezing cold rivers of western North America.

90% Chance of Showers

A bald eagle watches from its perch as salmon splash in the river below.

          Yesterday I drove back out to the Nooksack River prepared with the essentials (camera, tripod, camo tarp, chair, hot chocolate, etc.) for a whole day of bald eagle photography. The forecast was a 90% chance of showers so I was planning on spending the day under cover. I made it to the blind well before first light so I could set up before any birds showed up for breakfast. The plan for this day was to gather a few salmon carcasses and put them in strategic places after filleting them open. I have noticed that even though the area is riddled with salmon, the eagles seemed to all be fighting over the few that had already been opened up. I thought this might be a viable tactic to lure them in close to the blind and my lens.
          Still well before there was enough shooting light, I heard the flap of wings and caught movement across the river in front of the small opening of my blind. It was a red-tailed hawk. The small raptor had come to check out the salmon carcasses I had placed there. I was disappointed there wasn't enough light for me to get any glass on him, but it was still a good sign that the salmon might pay off. About an hour later a splash of water stole my attention from my hot chocolate in time to get in position before a great blue heron came walking up the river. This was definately going to be a good day!

A great blue heron stands motionless. These great hunters can stand in one spot
 for hours at a time, waiting to strike with their amazing, lightning-quick speed.

       
          I sat in the blind for a total of about six hours, until I decided to try my luck elsewhere. The forecasted rain hadn't come yet. In fact, besides the misty drizzle that lasted about half an hour while it was still dark, it didn't rain a drop the entire day. I took a walk down a path nearby that runs parallel to the river. I had seen eagle perched in the trees along this path on several occasions and thought I might be able to keep my luck going if I took my time and walked silently. I thought I was doing a good job, but a few eagles would likely disagree, as they noticed me and flew away without me making a single click. One decided to tolerate my presence however, and I was able to capture several frames, including the first photo on the top of this post. Another success!
          I passed the last couple hours of the day photographing several different eagles in flight. Not as close as I would have liked, but they still turned out nice. All of this came from a day with a 90% chance of showers, which almost made me stay home!

A bald eagle soars over the Nooksack River.

The Eagles Have Landed!

          Thousands of bald eagles call western Washington home in the winter months, and it is now the prime time to see them on some of the major rivers. They have come to feast on the abundant carcasses of spawned out salmon. Hundreds of eagles can be seen at once from certain vantage points. Some are permanent residents, others come from as far north as Alaska. It is an amazing sight to see. If you haven't witnessed it yet, you should do a little research to find a place nearby and see it for yourself.
         
          The blind I made earlier in the spring is working out well. I have spent a few days in it so far and the eagles haven't seemed to alter their behavior at all. Several have passed by within feet of the top of it! There have been a fair amount of eagles the days I spent in the blind. However, my wife Kate and I stopped by on our way back from a snowshoeing trip near Mt Baker and discovered there has been a huge increase in the number of bald eagles in the area around the blind. Within a couple minutes we counted over 100 and there were definitely more on other parts of the river. I'm hoping to be able to spend more time out there in the next couple weeks. Last year, I photographed eagles up to January 20th, so the next couple weeks will hopefully produce some amazing photo opportunities!

Below are a few photos I've taken in the last few weeks from the area of the blind.

As rain falls, a bald eagle takes off from the edge of the Nooksack River

A plant holds on in the freezing waters of the Nooksack River

A salmon surges upstream, soon to spawn and feed hundreds of wintering bald eagles.

A juvenile bald eagle poses victoriously after forcing an adult off of a salmon carcass.

Blind Construction for Bald Eagles

I've spent a couple days over the last few weeks working on a new blind in anticipation of the bald eagles coming in winter. So far It's looking pretty good, but I still need to find a roof. The way it's set up, I have great views of trees and areas where the eagles preferred to roost and eat salmon last winter. I am very excited to see how they react to this pile of sticks! I was able to make mostly solid walls with a few "windows." I am debating on whether I should just throw some sticks across the top to act as a roof, or if I should put a camo top so I have a little more head room and perhaps some shelter from rain. Any suggestions?

View of the blind from across the river. The goal was to make it mostly look

like a log jam from the river. Since it will be set up the entire time they are

here, hopefully they will be fairly accustomed to it, especially on the days I

am in it!

View from the other side of the blind. All of the leaves around it will be off,

so hopefully it will blend in more with an all gray background.

Pika Photo: Featured on the Front Page

It's official, my first published photo is of a pika, featured on the front page of the Livingston Enterprise in Montana. The story was about a pika study that I took part in on the Gallatin National Forest just north of Yellowstone. Unfortunately I left before the story was published so I only got a scanned copy. It's not National Geographic, but it's a start!!!