BREAKING RECORDS CAN BE A BAD THING

Not only did the French women’s soccer (they call it football) lose to the USA, but the nation saw its highest ever recorded temperature today.  In southern France one town recorded 45.9 degree Celsius (centigrade). Quick conversion for us Yanks, 9/5 x C, plus 32…and you get a Fahrenheit temp over 114 degrees.  Even down in the oven  Sahara they would find that to be warm…and that;s where this weather has come from.

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SMOKE, WINE GRAPES AND A DROUGHTY FUTURE IN THE WEST

What sort of population upheaval awaits the American West?  Effects of forest fires lead to job loss at theatre festival. 

GREAT GRAY OWL RANGE MAPS FOR PACIFIC SLOPE

Here are the range maps from our Great Gray Owl book, feel free to use and copy. Please give us credit as these are original maps based on our research.  I hope in twenty years new maps will show that there are owls in some of the interstices and that the species is thriving. Much of this information came from direct witnesses including many helpful biologists with federal and state agencies.

We have provided much needed information for the wikipedia entry on this species, Check it out here.

GREAT GRAY OWL VIDEOS

There is a series of four Great Gray Owl videos taken in March, 2016, near Howard Prairie in the Cascades east of Ashland, OR.  A blog on my birding site has links to each of the videos, including one showing the mated pair preening one another.

Click for link to that blog.

BIRDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

A BIBLIOGRPHY:

CLIMATE CHANGE: A SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PACIFIC COAST BIRDERS

Alaska’s spruce bark beetle crisis:

http://forestry.alaska.gov/insects/sprucebarkbeetle.htm

Amphibian decline:

http://amphibiaweb.org/declines/declines.html

Aridity:

A Great Aridness. William de Buys.

All the Wild That Remains. David Gessner. Book describes the environmental thoughts of Stegner and Abbey and author visits sites they knew and loved.

When the Rivers Run Dry. Fred Pearce.

Atlantic Ocean Plankton Bloom: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/climate-change-atlantic-plankton-bloom-reflects-soaring-carbon-dioxide-levels-scientists-say-a6750241.html

Audubon Society study on birds affected by climate change: http://climate.audubon.org/

Avian keratin disorder:

http://atowhee.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/freak-beak/

I am investigating an epizootic of similar bill deformities in Alaska. This epizootic has recently spread to the Pacific Northwest, with a large cluster of bill deformities appearing in the Puget Sound region. Birds affected by this ‘avian keratin disorder’ have bills that are abnormally long and often crossed, such as in this nuthatch. We’ve determined that the keratin layer of the beak (like the material in a person’s fingernails) is growing too rapidly. Despite extensive testing, we still don’t know what’s causing the problem. We’ve documented beak deformities among a large number of species, including chickadees, crows, nuthatches, jays, woodpeckers, ravens, and several raptors. We are very interested in receiving reports of any birds with abnormal bills such as this one. Please visit our website at the USGS Alaska Science Center or contact me directly:

http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/index.html

–Colleen Handel
Research Wildlife Biologist
USGS Alaska Science Center
cmhandel@usgs.gov

Beetle infestation:

Empire of the Beetle. Andrew Nikiforuk.

Birds as sentinel species: “Canaries in a Global Cole Mine?” pp. 1337-1338. “Ecology” 88(5), 2007. Review of the book Birds and Climate Change by Moller et al. Elsevier. Burlington, Mass. 2006.

Birds Reacting to Climate Change: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160117/news/160119263/

Bobcat-lynx hybrids:

http://www.nrri.umn.edu/lynx/information/hybrid.html

Bumble bee evolution right now: Functional mismatch in a bumble bee pollination mutualism under climate change. Authors: Nicole E. Miller-Struttmann, Jennifer C. Geib, James D. Franklin, et al.     Science 25 September 2015: 1541-1544. [DOI:10.1126/science.aab0868] Researchers write: “We found that in two alpine bumble bee species, decreases in tongue length have evolved over 40 years. Co-occurring flowers have not become shallower, nor are small-flowered plants more prolific. We argue that declining floral resources because of warmer summers have favored generalist foraging, leading to a mismatch between shorter-tongued bees and the longer-tubed plants they once pollinated.”

California climate change:

http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/climate_action_team/reports/

http://oehha.ca.gov/multimedia/epic/   [this contains list of all state’s climate change reports]

California’s official West Nile Virus website:

http://westnile.ca.gov/wnv_basics.htm

California West Nile infection map:

http://westnile.ca.gov/latest_activity.php

Carbon tetrachloride still being emitted:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/23/ozone-depleting-compound-found_n_5701157.html

Center for Biological Diversity:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/index.html

Christmas Bird Count Analysis:

WWW.audubon.org/bird/bacc/species.html

Climate change anxiety:

http://www.care2.com/causes/climate-change-anxiety-and-how-we-can-become-climate-resilient.html

Climate change disagreement, not debate:

“How to Talk About climate Change So People Will Listen. By Charles Mann. “The Atlantic,” Sept., 2014.

Climate-induced Faunal Change in North America. Joshua Lawler, et al. Ecological Society of America. “Ecology.” Vol. 90. March, 2009. 588-597.

Climate Peril: The Intelligent Reader’s Guide to Understanding the Climate Crisis. By John Berger. Northbrae Books. 2014.

Coal use worse than we’ve been told:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28942403

Coal burning waste:

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02d.html

Cod Population Collapses in Maine waters:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1029/Fishermen-obeyed-their-quotas-so-why-did-Maine-cod-stocks-collapse

Clean energy getting cheaper: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/climate-change-and-conservative-brain-death.html

“Climate for Coffee” in “National Geographic” magazine. Sept. 2015.

Cool it. The Climate Issue. National Geographic. November, 2015.

Corvids replanting forests: http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/02/corvids-could-save-forests-from-the-effects-of-climate-change/

Drought to Extend Beyond Western U.S.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0222/Not-just-a-western-problem-drought-threatens-forests-across-US

Eggs Hatch Early:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2016/02/18/the-heat-is-on-climate-change-causes-birds-to-hatch-early/#59ff96293f0c

 

Extinction

Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Elizabeth Colbert. Henry Holt. 2014.

Extinctions predicted:

“Extinction risk from climate change” letter in Nature 427, 145-148 (8 January 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature02121; Received 10 September 2003; Accepted 13 October 2003, By Chris Thomas, et al.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v427/n6970/full/nature02121.html

Feral.   George Monbiot. Penguin. 2013. Argues for helping all animals and plants find space for survival.

Website for book: http://www.monbiot.com/2013/05/24/feral-searching-for-enchantment-on-the-frontiers-of-rewilding/

Greenhouse gas list, according to IPCC:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCC_list_of_greenhouse_gases

Greenland ice sheet loss accelerates:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28852980

Grizzly-Polar Bear Hybridization

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/magazine/should-you-fear-the-pizzly-bear.html?

Health hazards with climate change:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/health.html

IPCC report, Fall, 2014:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/08/26/climate-change-report-united-nations/14638079/

Christina Larson “Hostile shores”

Science 9 October 2015: 150-152. [DOI:10.1126/science.350.6257.150]. Describes environmental degradation of marshlands used by Asian migrant birds.

 

Methane from rice:

http://www.ghgonline.org/methanerice.htm

Methane sources:

http://epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html

Miami: The Siege of Miami. Elizabeth Kolbert. New Yorker magazine. Dec. 21 & 28, 2015. Pp. 42-50.

Minnesota moose population:

http://www.startribune.com/local/270761141.html

Moose population decreases:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html

Monarch migration and species hybrids on NPR’s “On Point:”

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/08/20/monarch-butterflies-migration-climate-change

Monarch population decline:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140819-monarch-butterfly-milkweed-environment-ecology-science/

Monarch population decline covered by “Living on Earth,” of NPR:

http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=14-P13-00026

Monterey pine disease:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_pitch_canker

Mountaintop species and climate change:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/mountaintop_species/index.html

National Wildlife Federation, on adaptation to climate change:

www.nwf.org/climate-smart

Oak sudden death:

http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/

Ocean acidification effects on marine life:

http://oceana.org/en/our-work/climate-energy/ocean-acidification/learn-act/effects-of-ocean-acidification-on-marine-species-ecosystems

“PATHOLOGY ASSOCIATED WITH WEST NILE VIRUS INFECTIONS IN THE YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE (PICA NUTTALLI): A CALIFORNIA ENDEMIC BIRD” Holly B. Ernest, Leslie W. Woods and Bruce R. Hoar Journal of Wildlife Diseases Apr 2010, Vol. 46, No. 2 (April 2010) pp. 401-408

M

 

Moller, Anders, et al. (eds). Feeling the Heat. Elsevier, Burlington, MA. 2006.

Pepperwood Preserve climate change studies:

http://app.pepperwoodpreserve.org/pls/apex/f?p=514:10:7789024140228

Phytophthora: a plant killer loose in California
https://baynature.org/articles/phytophthora-new-strains-breaking-the-mold/

Pine beetles:

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/whats_killing_the_great_forests_of_the_american_west/2252/

Pollinator Threats: http://www.ipbes.net/article/pollinators-vital-our-food-supply-under-threat

Rising land:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-21/epic-drought-in-west-is-literally-moving-mountains.html

Satellite Launched to Monitor Sea Level: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/satellite-launched-to-monitor-sea-level-global-warming/

Solar power installation kills birds:

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/08/22/pecking-order-energys-toll-on-birds

Species Moving Toward the Poles Eli Fenichel from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies: https://environment.yale.edu/profile/eli-fenichel/research

Starfish die-off on Pacific Coast:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/scientists-zero-whats-causing-starfish-die-offs/

Tricolored Blackbird Population Crisis

http://ca.audubon.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/california-fish-and-game-commission-considers-emergency-listing-tricolo

Urban heat islands:

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/20/urban-heat-island-effect-us-cities_n_5696009.html?

Warming hiatus:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/atlantic-ocean-slows-global-warming-but-scientists-believe-hiatus-will-end-around-2030-1.2743216?cmp=fbtl

Weather caused by climate change?   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/opinion/what-weather-is-the-fault-of-climate-change.html?

White-tailed Ptarmigan’s future:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/white-tailed_ptarmigan/map.html

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/white-tailed_ptarmigan/

Why Are We Waiting? The Logic, Urgency, and Promise of Tackling Climate Change. Nicholas Stern. MIT Press. 2015.

World Health Organization on climate change, starvation and disease:

http://www.who.int/topics/climate/en/

 

 

CLIMATE CHANGE TALK–HERE’S MY BIBLIOGRAPHY

I speak about western birds and climate change at 530pm in Hannon Library at Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon on the night of October 15th. Talk is free.

CLIMATE CHANGE: A SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PACIFIC COAST BIRDERS This bibliography include articles and books that deal with species outside the Avian clan but changes in moose or monarch populations, or diseases in forest trees cannot be isolated from similar or related affects on birds.

Alaska’s spruce bark beetle crisis:
http://forestry.alaska.gov/insects/sprucebarkbeetle.htm

Amphibian decline:
http://amphibiaweb.org/declines/declines.html

Aridity:
A Great Aridness. William de Buys.

All the Wild That Remains. David Gessner. Book describes the environmental thoughts of Stegner and Abbey and author visits sites they knew and loved.

When the Rivers Run Dry. Fred Pearce.

Avian keratin disorder:
http://atowhee.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/freak-beak/
I am investigating an epizootic of similar bill deformities in Alaska. This epizootic has recently spread to the Pacific Northwest, with a large cluster of bill deformities appearing in the Puget Sound region. Birds affected by this ‘avian keratin disorder’ have bills that are abnormally long and often crossed, such as in this nuthatch. We’ve determined that the keratin layer of the beak (like the material in a person’s fingernails) is growing too rapidly. Despite extensive testing, we still don’t know what’s causing the problem. We’ve documented beak deformities among a large number of species, including chickadees, crows, nuthatches, jays, woodpeckers, ravens, and several raptors. We are very interested in receiving reports of any birds with abnormal bills such as this one. Please visit our website at the USGS Alaska Science Center or contact me directly:
http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/index.html
–Colleen Handel
Research Wildlife Biologist
USGS Alaska Science Center
cmhandel@usgs.gov

Beetle infestation:
Empire of the Beetle. Andrew Nikiforuk.
Birds as sentinel species: “Canaries in a Global Cole Mine?” pp. 1337-1338. “Ecology” 88(5), 2007. Review of the book Birds and Climate Change by Moller et al. Elsevier. Burlington, Mass. 2006.

Bobcat-lynx hybrids:
http://www.nrri.umn.edu/lynx/information/hybrid.html

Bumble bee evolution right now: Functional mismatch in a bumble bee pollination mutualism under climate change. Authors: Nicole E. Miller-Struttmann, Jennifer C. Geib, James D. Franklin, et al. Science 25 September 2015: 1541-1544. [DOI:10.1126/science.aab0868] Researchers write: “We found that in two alpine bumble bee species, decreases in tongue length have evolved over 40 years. Co-occurring flowers have not become shallower, nor are small-flowered plants more prolific. We argue that declining floral resources because of warmer summers have favored generalist foraging, leading to a mismatch between shorter-tongued bees and the longer-tubed plants they once pollinated.”

California climate change:
http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/climate_action_team/reports/
http://oehha.ca.gov/multimedia/epic/ [this contains list of all state’s climate change reports]

California’s official West Nile Virus website:
http://westnile.ca.gov/wnv_basics.htm

California West Nile infection map:
http://westnile.ca.gov/latest_activity.php

Carbon tetrachloride still being emitted:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/23/ozone-depleting-compound-found_n_5701157.html

Center for Biological Diversity:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/index.html

Christmas Bird Count Analysis:
WWW.audubon.org/bird/bacc/species.html

Climate change anxiety:
http://www.care2.com/causes/climate-change-anxiety-and-how-we-can-become-climate-resilient.html

Climate change disagreement, not debate:
“How to Talk About climate Change So People Will Listen. By Charles Mann. “The Atlantic,” Sept., 2014.

Climate Peril: The Intelligent Reader’s Guide to Understanding the Climate Crisis. By John Berger. Northbrae Books. 2014.

Coal use worse than we’ve been told:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28942403

Coal burning waste:
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02d.html

Coffee:
“Climate for Coffee” in “National Geographic” magazine. Sept. 2015.

Extinction
Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Elizabeth Colbert. Henry Holt. 2014.

Extinctions predicted:
“Extinction risk from climate change” letter in Nature 427, 145-148 (8 January 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature02121; Received 10 September 2003; Accepted 13 October 2003, By Chris Thomas, et al.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v427/n6970/full/nature02121.html

Feral. George Monbiot. Penguin. 2013. Argues for helping all animals and plants find space for survival.
Website for book: http://www.monbiot.com/2013/05/24/feral-searching-for-enchantment-on-the-frontiers-of-rewilding/

Greenhouse gas list, according to IPCC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCC_list_of_greenhouse_gases

Greenland ice sheet loss accelerates:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28852980

Grizzly-Polar Bear Hybridization
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/magazine/should-you-fear-the-pizzly-bear.html?

Health hazards with climate change:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/health.html

IPCC report, Fall, 2014:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/08/26/climate-change-report-united-nations/14638079/

Christina Larson “Hostile shores”
Science 9 October 2015: 150-152. [DOI:10.1126/science.350.6257.150]. Describes environmental degradation of marshlands used by Asian migrant birds.

Methane from rice:
http://www.ghgonline.org/methanerice.htm

Methane sources:
http://epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html

Minnesota moose population:
http://www.startribune.com/local/270761141.html

Moose population decreases:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html

Monarch migration and species hybrids on NPR’s “On Point:”
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/08/20/monarch-butterflies-migration-climate-change

Monarch population decline:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140819-monarch-butterfly-milkweed-environment-ecology-science/

Monarch population decline covered by “Living on Earth,” of NPR:
http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=14-P13-00026

Monterey pine disease:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_pitch_canker

Mountaintop species and climate change:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/mountaintop_species/index.html

National Wildlife Federation, on adaptation to climate change:
http://www.nwf.org/climate-smart

Oak sudden death:
http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/

Ocean acidification effects on marine life:
http://oceana.org/en/our-work/climate-energy/ocean-acidification/learn-act/effects-of-ocean-acidification-on-marine-species-ecosystems
“PATHOLOGY ASSOCIATED WITH WEST NILE VIRUS INFECTIONS IN THE YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE (PICA NUTTALLI): A CALIFORNIA ENDEMIC BIRD”
Holly B. Ernest, Leslie W. Woods and Bruce R. Hoar
Journal of Wildlife Diseases Apr 2010, Vol. 46, No. 2 (April 2010) pp. 401-408
M

Moller, Anders, et al. (eds). Feeling the Heat. Elsevier, Burlington, MA. 2006.

Pepperwood Preserve climate change studies:
http://app.pepperwoodpreserve.org/pls/apex/f?p=514:10:7789024140228

Pine beetles:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/whats_killing_the_great_forests_of_the_american_west/2252/

Rising land:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-21/epic-drought-in-west-is-literally-moving-mountains.html

Solar power installation kills birds:
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/08/22/pecking-order-energys-toll-on-birds

Starfish die-off on Pacific Coast:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/scientists-zero-whats-causing-starfish-die-offs/

Tricolored Blackbird Population Crisis
http://ca.audubon.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/california-fish-and-game-commission-considers-emergency-listing-tricolo
Urban heat islands:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/20/urban-heat-island-effect-us-cities_n_5696009.html?

Warming hiatus:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/atlantic-ocean-slows-global-warming-but-scientists-believe-hiatus-will-end-around-2030-1.2743216?cmp=fbtl

White-tailed Ptarmigan’s future:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/white-tailed_ptarmigan/map.html
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/white-tailed_ptarmigan/
World Health Organization on climate change, starvation and disease:
http://www.who.int/topics/climate/en/

GREAT GRAY OWL NEST RESEARCH IN CALIFORNIA

Here’s link to site about my book on the Pacific Slope Great Gray Owls.

The Institute for Bird Populations has just published a study of all known Great Gray Owl nest sites in Yosemite area of the Sierra Nevada. Here is the official citing for the article: Wu, J.X., R.B. Siegel, H.L. Loffland, M.W. Tingley, S.L. Stock, K.N. Roberts, J.J. Keane, J.R. Medley, R. Bridgman, and C. Stermer. 2015. Diversity of nest sites and nesting habitats used by Great Gray Owls in California. Journal of Wildlife Management 79:937-947.

It cost me $38 to see the whole thing so I will give you a summary.

As I found when writing my Great Gray Owl book this species is NOT a strictly montane bird, nor is it confined to conifer forests. It may now be most likely there because we humans have driven them out of valleys and more oak-dominated terrain like the Sacramento and Willamette River Valleys where they may have nested three centuries ago.

One-fifth of the nests in this study were found below 1000′ in elevation.

30% of nest trees were oaks, large oaks, within conifer stands.

The GGO prefers well-rotted trees beneath a fairly dense canopy. Message to land managers: don’t rip down all your old, rotting oaks or Doug-fir.

Many of the preferred nest snags lasted about five years after the first nesting use. Good naturally occuring nest trees are ephemeral

Slowly deteriorating trees like incense-cedar and sugar pines are not used for nesting.

This study included no man-made platforms which are frequently used by Oregon populations of GGOs, both in the Wallowa Mountains and southern Cascades.

This study covered 56 nest sites in the California Sierra confirmed between 1973 and 2014. The southernmost one is on the Tulare-Fresno County border. That’s the southernmost GGO nest in the known world.This picture shows female with owlet in nest that was probably originally built by Ravens, not in a rotted out, broken tree trunk as most often found in Yosemite area. The pictured nest was used only once in the southern Cascades of Oregon. One of the two owlets survived fledging from this nest in a ponderosa.

GREAT GRAY OWL PRESENTATION

I will be giving a talk on Oregon’s Great Gray Owls in Ashland next month. Here’s the press release from the Ashland Library:

Harry Fuller “… will be discussing his book and tales of birding on Thursday, August 13 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ashland Branch Library, 410 Siskiyou Boulevard.

“Great Gray Owls are one of the most mysterious and sought-after bird residents of California, Oregon, and Washington. Even though it is the tallest owl in North America, and notoriously approachable by humans, the Great Gray is hard to find. Biologists surveying for other species may happen accidentally on the owl, but finding it intentionally isn’t easy due to its nocturnal habits, excellent camouflage, and silent flight. Despite high breeding concentrations in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon, Great Grays are of conservation concern to wildlife managers in Oregon due to declines in the overall population and loss of habitat.

“Fuller is author of Freeway Birding, San Francisco to Seattle, about birds found within 20 miles of interchanges. He has taught numerous classes at the Klamath Bird Observatory, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and North Mountain Nature Park in Ashland.

“This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library. For more information, please call contact the Ashland Branch Library at 541-774-6996 or visit jcls.org.”

The photo is this blog was taken by Andy Huber on his ranch near La Grande, Oregon. Huber has been helping a widowed female owl feed her four fledglings. He has been live-trapping small mammals and releasing them near the adult and young owls so they can re-catch their prey. They will not eat animals previously killed.

SURROGATE FATHER TO A FAMILY OF GREAT GRAY OWLETS

Rancher, conservationists and owl-lovers, Andy Huber and his wife are co-parenting a family of Great Gray Owls. The Hubers own a ranch near Le Grande in northeastern Oregon’s Blue Mountains. This spring a couple of GGOs began raising a family. One tragic morning the Hubers awoke to see Great Gray Owl feathers scattered on the ground…overnight a Great Horned Owl had killed and eaten the male GGO. That left a widowed GGO with a nestful to raise. The Hubers pitched in. Friends loaned them live traps with which to catch small mammals. The adult female quickly learned to grab the offered prey. Many weeks of maturing are ahead of the fledglings but the Hubers persist. Here is a selection of photos of the Huber owls:

There is a quartet of owlets in this family and each can eat four small mammals per day, that’s a lot of huntin’ and trappin’ … for weeks. These youngster will not be effective hunters until very late summer at the earliest. Most abundant prey at that spot right now is kangaroo mice.

My new book on Great Gray Owls of California, Oregon and Washington is now available. Order yours direct from me, $28 plus shipping, over 100 photos and original range maps. More on earlier blog on this website.

SUCCESS STORY OUT OF LA GRANDE, OREGON

I hear from Laura Navarette of the Whiteman-Wallowa National Forest that their field biologists have confirmed six nesting pairs of Great Gray Owls in their thirty-plus nest platforms in the forest. I will be out in La Grande later this week to give a talk on Great Gray Owls in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The talk will be at the dinner for the Ladd Marsh Bird Festival there on Friday.

The Spring Area north of La Grande has the largest and longest-running GGO nest platform program anywhere in the U.S. It’s success is heartening. In our new book on Great Gray Owls, Peter Thiemann and I have included a chart through last spring of the nest platform use rate in Spring Creek. Eight active platforms is the most in one year so far. Occasionally none of the platforms get used. That probably has to do to springs with little or low prey availability. This past winter was wet and mild in the Blue Mountains. That may have spurred the local rodents to greater and earlier reproduction as they would have found plenty of plant food.

Here in Jackson County Rogue Valley Audubon is accepting donations to put up more platforms…so far local birders are monitoring 11 platforms most just erected last fall and winter. We know of at least one successful platform-nesting pair so this far. We’d like to get up more platforms in the coming fall.

For further information on the Spring Creek Great Gray Owl Management Area near Legrande, click here. Harry Fuller will be leading a trip into the area at the Ladd Marsh Festival Saturday morning.