Snowing White Geese on Samish Flats

Heading back home recently I watched the main flock of snow geese descending over the Samish Flats. 

The flats in the foreground were potato fields this year. This particular filed was harvested in November. I have been surprised at how late the potato harvest extends and note that some fields might not get harvested when the heavier fall rains arrive early. The geese descending towards the muddy fields are partly obscuring the southern end of what are locally called the Chuckanut Range.   
 

Facing off with Aegolius acadicus

While making my way through the forest I came face to face with Aegolius acadicus.  

The northern saw-whet is a small owl and this one made no effort to make an escape. I had been making a fair bit of noise smashing through a thicket of dense brush before weaving through some branches to meet this owl. Hawks and larger owls prey on them so being down at a low level in the thicker brush is a safer place. Unlike the barred owl that visited the house, this owl seemed fit and alert.

Barred Owl Last Visit

This is not a normal thing:

Barred owl on the ground 

The owl did not take flight when approached. I went about various projects after having been away for an extended time and hoped that the owl might recover from whatever was the cause of its ailment. But I was aware that this owl was under some significant distress. Alas, whatever ailed our visitor resulted in the owl dying the next night. 

I find it difficult to spot owls perched in the forest so am uncertain of our very local barred owl population. More often I hear great horned owls and only very occasional will hear a barred. This is the first barred owl I have seen at our house. I have seen great horned owls perched on the same wheel barrow in the picture above. 

Barred owls are relatively new arrivals to Washington State. They have expanded their range from eastern North America to across Canada to the Pacific Northwest. The arrival of barred owls has been one of the causes of the decline of spotted owls. Weins and others (2021) evaluated lethal removal of bared owls on spotted owl survival.

Guarding the Cattle Guard

Upon approaching a cattle guard a local residence popped up to see what was coming. It stood there facing me. My anthropizing suggesting I was being challenged to proceed as this guard seemed to be standing its ground. I assumed it would be safe to cross and no harm would be befall either if us.  

A bit of wildlife viewing luck

I noted a couple of rabbits munching clover and dandelions in an open meadow. This observation was made by a bald eagle as well. The eagle swooped past me and landed on the rabbit. 

After a minute pause and looking for potential thieves of its meal (including eyeing me), the eagle lifted off. 

This time of year the likely destination is a nest. 

 

Colaptes auratus (Northern Flicker) Duel

 I was alerted to the nearby presence of a northern flicker by the drumming on a metal gutter. The bird then swooped past my head and landed on the edge of a plowed area where he confronted another flicker.

The two birds pushed out there chests and faced off for several minutes. Occasionally one would jump upward and the other would respond in kind. 

I do not have a camera that allows for spectacular bird shots, but these were so focused on each other that I was able to witness their activity from about 30 feet and managed a few ok shots while enjoying the drama. What I failed to get was a picture of the nearby female. She was busy poking around for insects behind the dirt clods.  

Chrysemys picta takes a walk

Approaching a pond in eastern Washington there was a sudden loud splashing. It has been a cold spring, but on this day the sun was warm. The splashing was from turtles jumping into the water upon my approach. 

Turtle heads in the water and one bolder turtle on the shore

While pausing nearby one the the turtles began walking across the grass away from the pond

A bit later I heard rustling and saw the turtle in a patch of bark chips

This turtle kept going across a street and off to parts unknown to me at least

I suspect this turtle is a female and was off to lay eggs some distance from the pond. Painted turtles are common. This particular turtle habitat is clearly not natural with lawn and pavement. But the pond itself is not natural; the pond us part of a broad irrigation system. Prior to the irrigation system there would hev been no turtles within several miles of this location. 

 

Asio flammeus on Samish Flats

The Skagit Flats and Samish Flats is birding destination. There are plenty of wintering birds that attract the birders, but the short eared owls are particularly cooperative for observation along Bayview-Edison Road near the mouth of the Samish River into Samish Bay. Besides getting to see them in close flight, the owls have taken to perching on the top of the Fish and Wildlife signs within 60 feet or so from the road regardless of the crowd. On a recent mild sunny day the line of people and cars along the road stretched several hundred meters. The short ear owl is not rare, but their habit of hunting during light allows for much easier viewing than the more nocturnal owls.  

My First Pronghorn Spotting in Washington State

Antilocapra americana (pronghorn antelope) have been reintroduced to Washington State first by the Yakama Nation in south central Washington and a few years ago by the Colville Confederated Tribes in north central Washington. I finally saw my first Washington State pronghorn last week.   

These two are from the Colville introduction. I had been told that that some of the pronghorns from Colville had crossed the Columbia River and these two were south of the river in northern Douglas County. This area of Douglas has a fair bit of scrub steppe land. The area was glaciated and has large areas of very thin soils over bedrock or thin glacial soils. As such cultivation has been very limited with grazing operations being the main historic land use and very few humans. All and all good wildlife habitat with pronghorns being new entrant after a period of absence.

The Yakama pronghorns have expanded their range as well and the herd numbers have held up post reintroduction (https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02288).  

Foster Creek Beaver Analogs

Foster Creek drains the north side of the Waterville Plateau. The creek has three forks that join together a few miles south of Bridgeport before discharging to the Columbia River just below Chief Joseph Dam and just east of Bridgeport. State Highway 17 follows the East Fork up to the glacier scoured upper northern part of the plateau. As the creek descends down for the glacial scoured upper plateau it descends through an area of glacial lake sediments deposited in the valley from the ice dammed Columbia River Martin (2001). The fine silts are subject to rapid erosion and over a stretch of the valley has formed a badland area (mini-badland-southeast-of-bridgeport).

When the creek reaches the glacial lake sediments, the creek is subject to forming deeply incised arroyos. Blanton (2004) discusses the complexity of arroyo development and riparian management along the West Fork of Foster Creek. 

One of the issues of arroyo development is the deeply incised stream lowers the water table along the creek except in the bottom of the arroyo. That reduces the width of the riparian zone and the beneficial habitat (note that the arroyo banks have beneficial habitats as well such as burrows for cliff swallows). The lower water table and narrowed stream channel also impacts down stream sections of the creek. More intense peak flows during storm events or snow melts can be one result or the reverse: a loss of storage in the areas of the lowered water table may mean lower flows in the dry periods. 

An approach to back up the water is to copy something that has been missing in the watershed. Jay guided me to a project on Foster Creek that is being used throughout the west -- a beaver dam analog.

Beaver dam analog

Stakes driven into the ground with woody debris weaved through them

Late Low Snow and Rosie Has a New Baby

On Monday I headed to central Washington via the Highway 20 across the North Cascades over Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. A cold rain was falling in the late afternoon as I crossed the passes. The sky cleared by the time I reached the Columbia River at Pateros so I opted for camping at a favorite site that will remain secret. When I got into my sleeping bag it was 63 F -- a bit warm for sleeping, but by morning it was 36 as the cold air caught up to me. 

It was hard to tell as the mountains still have lingering late snow, but it looked like there was fresh snow on the North Cascades in the morning. 

I had to head back Tuesday and noted the fresh snow on the trees and peaks on my return. 

Liberty Bell approaching Washington Pass

View of Fisco Mountain while descending from Washington Pass 

View of high ridge between Colonial Peak and Pyramid Peak on the descent to the Skagit River

 Late Wednesday even Lyman Hill at 4,000 feet in the Northwest Cascades had a dusting of snow on its upper slopes added to the older snow on the clear cuts.

Our neighbor Rosie delivered as least one fawn on Wednesday. Three years ago Rosie somehow got her nose torn up; hence my name for her. She typically has previously had twins so another may be on the way. Our other neighbor, Blackie, has not made an appearance yet, but I expect she will be around with her fawn or fawns soon.

 

Geoducks

I have spent a fair bit of time on the high bluffs along the east side of Port Discovery. During some of those ventures a small boat has been off shore in a stationary position with the sound of engines running. At other times the boat is simply anchored near the end of an unpaved road adjacent to a cuspate shore form.  

Landslide complex with cuspate shore form in distance and anchored boat

Port Discovery with Olympic Range in the distance

The boat is used by divers for harvesting a lease tract subtidal geoducks. Dave Williams has an excellent write up of the history and management of the resource (pugetsound.org/geoduck-clams). The shellfish can be harvested during very low tides without diving.  (b-roll:-geoduck-beach-harvesting-aquaculture). However, a fair bit of the harvest is via dive boats at lease sites (youtube.com Geoduck Diving Harvest). The geoduck fishery is managed by Washington State Fish and Wildlife as well as the owner of the subtidal lands, Washington State (dnr.wa.gov/wild-geoduck-fishery)

The first time I tried geoduck was via a gift from shellfish business I did some geology work for. I have since dug for them a few times during very low tides. They are a fun prize to pull up out of the sand. One big goeduck is more than enough for a meal. But those big geoducks take many years to grow. As their value has increased management of the resource has become more important.    

Roosevelt Elk Shaped Land Use Policy on Olympic Peninsula

On a trip up the Hoh River valley to examine a potential large deep-seated landslide I got to take in the elk herd that occupies the valley.

This herd was one of two I observed just west of and outside of Olympic National Park. The herd is one of the few "unmanaged" elk herds. The elk on the Olympic Peninsula are on the large side compared to other elk. These elk played a significant role in the land management history of the Olympic Peninsula. 

C. Hart Merriam, head of the USDA Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy named the Olympic elk (Cervus canadensis Roosevelti). The name was in part to honor then Assistant Naval Secretary Theodore Roosevelt (theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library). Merriam recalled the detail which Roosevelt pointed out regarding an specimen.

Theodore Roosevelt was an avid hunter and conservationist. As a hunter he became interested in protecting his name sake elk and attempted to create a reserve for the elk in the Olympics, but was blocked by Congress. He later used the Antiquities Act in 1909 to create Mount Olympus National Monument.

Three decades later Franklin Roosevelt pushed for the creation of Olympic National Park further protecting the elk range.      

Betula papyrifera, Argilus anius and Temperature

A field venture a few days before the current cold spell took me through a wetlands restoration project, past thickets of Nootka rose, and an effort to push back on invasive canary reed grass.  

One challenge of environment restoration plantings is keeping the rodent and deep nibblers at bay; hence, the blue plastic tubes and fencing around plantings. 

The forest stand I passed through was a very mixed stand. This tree is a tree that has a limited range in Washington State, but is a common tree in the northwest Puget lowlands.

The bark pattern of this species in northwest Washington is often dark and can be mixed up with wild cherry, another local native tree. However, some do develop the more classic white bark. There is some variability in the species that early fur trappers noted - west of the Rocky Mountains the birch do not have the same quality of bark for the building of canoes, a bit of a disappointment for the river and lake traveling that fur traders relied on.

In Washington State, Betula papyrifera is limited to the northern reaches of the Puget lowlands in western Washington and far northern and eastern edges of the state.

Distribution of Paper Birch from USGS ( “Atlas of United States Trees” by Elbert L. Little, Jr. )

The distribution of the species limiting factor is likely strongly associated with Argilus anius (bronze birch borer). Muilenburg and Herms (2012) provide an overview of the relationship of the borer and birch trees. Temperature plays a partial role. Deep freezes may slow the maturation of the borer. 

In northwest Washington, the paper birch is limited mostly to norther Puget lowlands. In the Birch Bay and Drayton Harbor area, the tree is one of the predominant species in the forest. These areas are cooler in the summer and perhaps the occasional bast of arctic air out the Fraser River canyon like today puts a bit of a check on the borer. Today, was a good example. While snow arrived in the Seattle area, the temperature in Seattle as I write this is 30 F, while the temperature at Birch Bay is 15 F. In addition, the northwest portion of the state is substantially cooler in the summer and thus a bit less stress for these cool weather wet ground trees. 

Brinnon Elk

In hunting down some pictures from a past venture,I came across some elk pictures from a few summers ago. 

The elk were loitering around the town of Brinnon. Brinnon is located along the west side of Hood Canal on the east side of the Olympic Range. The town is at the delta of the Dosewallips River. The river is only about 22 miles long, but its source area is over 6,000 feet in elevation. The river forms a deep steep-sided mountain valley just above the town providing excellent Elk habitat. The town itself also provides habitat. The bulk of the herd was favoring the fire station on the day of my visit.

Bighorns on the Plains

I have been traveling a fair bit and/or just busy. A little time on the high plains allowed for some bighorn sheep viewing. This particular herd is from reintroduced sheep as the original population was extinguished (https://www.newswise.com/articles/national-park-service-monitors-health-of-badlands-bighorn-sheep).

There is a very, very limited hunting season on bighorns in South Dakota, but these animals were in a protected area. Not far from here, a record ram was taken in 2018. The limited hunting supports habitat and herd management. Due to disease, management is tricky and requires translocating bighorn sheep on a regular basis.    

Samish River Gauntlet

The run of hatchery salmon on the Samish River must pass a gauntlet of fishers on the lower Samish. It is a very social activity.

The curve of the river does not allow a full capture of the gathering. The preferred time is at low tide so that one can wade along the side of the deeper channel where the fish are.

The Samish is a river that is fed by creeks that flow into an ice age valley between the Nookksack and Skagit drainages. The river then makes its way to across the northern part of the large Skagit River delta to Samish Bay. The hatchery has a goal of producing 4,000,000 fish per year (Samish Hatchery). Hence, this a pretty big run of fish every late summer for a small river.  

Big Lake Black Bear

Considering my field time and the areas of much of my field work I do not see bears very often despite often seeing signs of the presence. This one was not interested in being seen but I spotted the bear traversing open ground before plowing through the brush back into the forest.

Black bear in Skagit County near Big Lake

Recessional Glacial Lake Sediments and Riparia riparia

A road cut through a recessional glacial lake deposit above the Columbia River provided good nesting for a group of Riparia riparia (bank swallow). 

The swallows were very intent on feeding and getting food to their young inside the excavated nests. Another road cut further up the road had failed this winter and also had a steep bank with glacial lake silts exposed on the upper slope and again supporting a number of swallow burrow nests.

Snow Geese on Samish and Skagit Flats Have Not Left Yet

After being on eastern and central Washington ventures, I wondered in the snow Geese had left the Skagit and Samish flats for their breeding grounds on Wrangel Island in the Russian Arctic. The question was readily answered as the main flock flew over me while I traversed the flats.    

Apparently the leave date varies for these birds (Stevick, 2017). A later leave date may present problems as the flock may do a heavy graze on fields that have been planted. In this case the field has not yet been planted and the field that the flock was leaving is a Fish and Wildlife holding.