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Author: Elva Manquera

Avian Internship Memorial Fund — In Memory of Patricia Buettner

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in Klamath Call Note, KBO Family, Press Room.

Patty Buettner Upper Klamath Lake

The Avian Internship Memorial Fund (AIM Fund) was started by the friends and family, of longtime KBO partner Patricia Buettner (Patty). The AIM Fund helps support KBO’s long-running internship programs by providing matching annual donations. 

Patty Buettner’s Family and friends have established this annual fund in her honor. During her life, Patty was personally and professionally committed to wildlife conservation and made significant contributions to the field. Among them was her formative influence on the creation of the Klamath Bird Observatory. Patty was responsible for the 1st federal grant, offered by the Bureau of Land Management, that KBO received to enable the creation of our Upper Klamath Field Station, and in doing so, encouraging the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation to become regular supporters of KBO’s research, monitoring, conservation, and education programs in the Klamath Basin. Through her vision, Patty seeded what has now grown into decades of partnerships with federal agencies, NGOs, businesses, community members, and political representatives in the Klamath Basin. To read more about Patty click here. 

By donating to the AIM Fund, you are helping KBO to continue educating young scientists interested in avian conservation. These funds help cover housing, supplies, travel costs, stipends, and other internship needs. Click here to donate.

 

Don’t Miss the Last KBO FUNdraiser of the Year!

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in Klamath Call Note, Press Room, Trips & Events.

For our last event, a special online holiday workshop, we have unlimited capacity! On Thursday, December 16th learn how to animate Snoopy and Woodstock. Larry Leichliter, former PEANUTS director and accomplished animator, will host a live-action tutorial. Join us for th isfamily friendly event. Registration is open to an unlimited number of participants. Since this is a FUNdraising event, we ask registrants to make a donation of their choice, use code PIF2021 to register for free. CLICK HERE to learn more and to register now.

Conservation Stamp Set

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in Klamath Call Note, Conservation, KBO Partners.

Each year, KBO offers a Conservation Stamp Set for purchase with proceeds supporting both national and regional conservation efforts. The two-stamp set includes:

1) The Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (the Duck Stamp), and

2) KBO’s Conservation Science Stamp.

The stamps feature art from Richard Clifton and Gary Bloomfield.

CLICK HERE to order your stamps now!

Perks: With the stamps you receive free access to National Wildlife Refuges that charge fees and discounts on some KBO events.

The Federal Duck Stamp is among the most successful conservation tools ever created. Duck Stamp sales contribute directly to habitat conservation on our National Wildlife Refuges. KBO’s Conservation Science Stamp builds on this success by bringing additional support and attention to our regional science-driven conservation efforts.

By purchasing this set of conservation stamps, birders and hunters alike contribute directly to conservation efforts that benefit all birds. Together we are a powerful voice for conservation and together, by purchasing the Conservation Stamp Set, we are saying:

We believe conservation of non-game birds, gamebirds, and endangered species is a priority for our society.

Klamath Bird Observatory’s 2021-2022 conservation science stamp features our partner Avian Knowledge Network (AKN). The AKN’s mission is to support a network of people, data, and technology to improve bird conservation, management, and research across organizational boundaries and spatial scales. We envision a world where bird populations thrive through conservation and management informed by a network of avian knowledge. AKN does this by providing science-based information about bird populations and habitats to inform natural resource management planning and to advance ecosystem conservation. To learn more about the AKN visit Avian Knowledge Northwest, a regional node of the AKN.

 

Using Motus Technology to Inform Conservation of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in Klamath Call Note.

 

Handheld radio telemetry antenna detects tagged birds away from the main Motus station.

Fall 2020 saw the installation of the very first Motus station in Oregon at the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve in partnership with the Vesper Meadow Education Program. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a collaborative research network using automated radio telemetry stations to study the movements of small organisms. Tags are small enough to be carried by birds, bats, and even bees. Motus tags emit a radio frequency that can be detected by a nearby Motus station anywhere in the world, and the number of stations is quickly growing.

Motus LifeTag

We are using Motus technology to enhance our ability to track movements of the at-risk Oregon Vesper Sparrow. In 2021, we searched for nests of this ground-dwelling bird at Vesper Meadow, and placed Motus- compatible LifeTags on 12 Oregon Vesper Sparrow nestlings that were nearly ready to fledge. LifeTags are solar-powered and emit a signal every few minutes during daylight hours for the lifetime of the bird. The automated “resighting” and location estimation from this new technology will help us study habitat use, movements, and survival of young birds during the post‐fledging period when they are particularly vulnerable, and explore dispersal of birds returning to nearby meadows next spring. We also set up an array of 18 Motus nodes around the edge of Vesper Meadow to supplement our main Motus station there. Four of the nodes formed a mini-grid around two of the nests with tagged nestlings, and this will serve to pilot the use of this technology to track precise fledgling locations and habitat use. We collected tens of thousands of detections of our tagged fledglings from the node network over the months of June-October – and likely a lot of radio frequency “noise” from other stray signals – and we look forward to sorting through and analyzing those data this winter.

Adult Oregon Vesper Sparrow at the Lily Glen field site. (c) Frank Lospalluto

The Oregon Vesper Sparrow is a subspecies of conservation concern, and it has been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act due to its low population size and declining trend. We have noted low rates of fledged young returning to our field sites at Lily Glen and Vesper Meadow for their first spring as breeding adults. Motus technology will help us determine the cause – are young birds having trouble surviving the vulnerable post-fledging stage, or their risky first round-trip migration and winter? Or are they simply moving away from the meadows where they were born and choosing other nearby meadows to try raising their own young? A handheld radio telemetry antenna will allow us to more easily locate any tagged birds that disperse away from our main field sites to other nearby meadows next spring.

In addition to enhancing our Vesper Sparrow research, the Motus station at Vesper Meadow has detected two Lewis’s Woodpeckers migrating from MPG Ranch lands in Montana, one Swainson’s Thrush that was banded in interior British Columbia, and a Western Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover from coastal British Columbia – so the station is assisting other researchers with their migration tracking projects as well! Our Motus station, node network, and tagging effort were made possible by the USFWS, MPG Ranch, Oregon Wildlife Foundation, and private donations.

Click here to learn more about our work with the Oregon Vesper Sparrow.

Seasonal Point Count Technician Positions- Now Open!

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in Klamath Call Note, KBO Science.

Salmon River

The Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking seasonal field technicians from May 2nd through July 15th (some positions available through July 29th), to complete point count surveys throughout the diverse and beautiful regions of southern Oregon, eastern Oregon, and/or northern California. Technicians will work for multiple projects consisting of monitoring effects of oak and stream restoration and long-term monitoring in both private and public lands. Surveyors will work in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon Caves National Monument, eastern Oregon sagebrush habitat, and more. Applicants should be able to identify a large variety of Western birds as they may be working in a range of habitats including oak woodlands, riparian areas, coniferous forests, montane meadows, and shrub-steppe.

To learn more about the position and apply click here!

 

Stacy Taeuber

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in KBO Board.

Stacy is a relatively recent transplant to the Rogue Valley, lured here by the natural beauty, unique ecosystems, and endless opportunities for exploration. Stacy has worked as an immigration and criminal defense lawyer for twenty-five years. She has lived and worked in Washington, D.C., Miami, Arizona, Wisconsin, NYC, and Minnesota. She now works remotely and spends her spare time in the great outdoors, learning all she can about the birds, plants, and animals that also call this area home.

Stacy has an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which is where she caught the bird bug while doing a ten-month internship with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Stacy is passionate about helping in any way she can to restore and preserve our natural areas and bring people together with each other and the land.

 

Elva Manquera-DeShields, MS

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in KBO Staff.

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION, OUTREACH, AND DEI MANAGER Elva joined KBO in December 2021. She works closely with the KBO team to communicate their work across social media platforms, websites, and news outlets. She leads outreach projects involving the local and international community with bird conservation. Elva helps lead KBO’s DEI mission internally and with our partners. 

Elva received her Bachelors of Science in Zoology from Oregon State University in 2012. where she became passionate about conservation during her work with amphibian diseases. She got her Master’s of Science from Southern Oregon University in Environmental Education. During her masters, Elva interned at KBO helping to organize the 2018 and 2019 Wings and Wine Gala. Before returning to KBO she was the program manager of another local nonprofit. 

Tom McLaren, MS

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in KBO Staff.

Field Technician – Tom McLaren joined KBO in October 2022 to support the Point-Count Program focused on the long-term monitoring of bird populations.

Tom received his MS in Biology from the University of Colorado Denver in May 2022. His research focused on understanding Clark’s nutcracker habitat use in Yellowstone National Park, particularly concerning the species’ coevolved mutualism with whitebark pine. Additionally, Tom performed analyses to determine the effectiveness of a long-term monitoring protocol for Clark’s nutcracker in the park. Since graduating from Montana State University with his BS in Fish and Wildlife Management, Tom has worked for various agencies including the National Park Service, California State Parks, and Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Tom’s work has taken him to many exciting areas across the Rocky Mountain Region and the Northwest.

Click here to contact Tom McLaren

Samantha Webb

Written by Elva Manquera on . Posted in KBO Staff.

FIELD TECHNICIAN Sam joined KBO in January 2023 as part of the Point-Count program to assist in project support and conducting field surveys for KBO’s long-term avian monitoring project. In 2020 she graduated from Portland State University with a BS in Biology, where she focused on avian ecology and wildlife conservation. Sam first joined KBO in 2021 as part of a project working with Oregon Vesper sparrows and earned her NABC Bander certification through KBO’s banding program. Since then, Sam’s work has led her across the US as she spent 2022 working on conservation efforts for endangered Golden-cheeked warblers in central Texas, determining the nesting success of Nelson’s sparrows in coastal Maine, and conducting avian and marine life research on the Farallon Islands of California. Sam is excited to be part of the KBO team and to aid in their ongoing conservation efforts and avian monitoring projects.