Author: Elva Manquera
Upper Rogue Oak Initiative in the Rogue Valley Times
On February 23rd, Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network was featured in the Rogue Valley Times. You can view the original article written by Shaun Hall here.
$13-million initiative seeks to restore 3,650 acres of oak habitat to aid ecosystem health, reduce wildfire risk
A $13-million effort to restore health to oak tree habitat in the Lake Creek area east of White City and near the Table Rocks north of Medford is in its second year.
So far, the thinning of conifers that were competing with oaks has taken place on about 200 acres near Lake Creek and on 100 acres near the Table Rocks. The community of Lake Creek is located about 12 miles east of White City, near the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
The work, known as the Upper Rogue Oak Initiative, is due to take place on 3,650 acres — nearly 6 square miles — of private and public land, all but 250 acres of it near Lake Creek. Partners include state and federal agencies, along with conservation organizations, functioning under an umbrella group known as the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Initiative.
The project is slated to take six years to complete.
An estimated 25% of historic oak habitat remains in the Pacific Northwest, according to Jaime Stephens, conservation director for the Ashland-based Klamath Bird Observatory, one of the project partners. The work is intended to restore degraded oak habitat, lessen wildfire danger and support wildlife, including birds whose populations are declining.
The work tasks include brush reduction and low-intensity ground fires, along with the reintroduction of native grasses and plants, in an effort to leave behind a landscape more resilient to fire, insects, disease and climate change.
“We’re looking to create a forest that would burn at low severity,” Stephens said Wednesday, after one of the project partners, the Lomakatsi Restoration Project of Ashland, posted updates about the work. Stephens said the project will benefit “wildlife and people.”
About half of the forest-dependent birds in the West are in decline, according to a news release from the observatory.
“This sobering statistic has sounded the alarm that landscape-level conservation actions are needed now more than ever,” according to the news release. “Restoration will remove conifers that are crowding oaks, use prescribed fire where feasible, reduce noxious weeds and reestablish a native understory.”
Indigenous people once used fire that benefited oaks, but the removal of those peoples, followed by encroaching farms, ranches and development and the advent of wildland fire suppression has led to conifers and non-native plants taking over some oak areas.
“Historically, regular burning as part of indigenous stewardship maintained cultural landscapes of oak conifer forests, woodlands and savanna in a more open state, enriching natural resources and biodiversity, and enhancing the structure and quality of critical food and fiber resources,” according to the observatory. “Following European settlement, many oak habitats were converted for agriculture or urban development. Decades of fire suppression during the latter half of the 1900s have allowed less fire-resistant yet faster-growing tree species, such as Douglas-fir, to encroach upon and displace oak trees.”
According to the organization, oak ecosystems support more than 300 vertebrate species.
Lomakatsi, an Ashland-based forest and watershed restoration organization, recently highlighted some of that work in a social media post.
“Restoration treatments will decrease the density of conifers and shrubs that have advanced from years of fire exclusion,” according to the organization. “Partners will also seed native species into treated areas, focused in the blackened footprints of burn piles to support the fresh growth of native plants and reduce the likelihood that non-native plants might establish and spread.”
The restoration work is expected to protect the oaks from unnaturally severe wildfires. Planned treatments include ecological thinning to reduce conifer encroachment and the density of surface and ladder fuels around large, legacy oak trees. That work sets the stage for the reintroduction of carefully applied low-intensity fire and controlled pile burns. Oak restoration also includes the removal of noxious weeds and seeding the understory to establish healthy populations of native forbs and grasses that provide habitat.
Funding for the work includes $7 million awarded two years ago from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board using Oregon Lottery revenue. It also includes $2.78 million from a U.S. Department of Agriculture program known as the America the Beautiful Challenge, plus $3 million in matching funds and donations.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is one of the partners. Oak habitat benefits birds, deer and elk, according to an agency statement.
“Oak habitat loss is a major threat to wildlife species in Oregon including Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-throated Gray Warbler and game animals such as deer and elk,” the agency said in a November 2022 news release announcing the America the Beautiful funding.
KBO tracks the first Oregon Vesper Sparrows!
Written by Dr. Sarah Rockwell
The unique Oregon subspecies of Vesper Sparrow, roughly estimated at just 2,000 birds, is of conservation concern. It is currently under review for listing under the Endangered Species Act because of its small population size and declining trend. One of the biggest challenges in identifying ways to help migratory species is the fact that we don’t know where they are for most of the year. Vesper Sparrows breeding in Oregon are only here for about half the year, from mid-April to early October. Because different subspecies of Vesper Sparrow mix on the wintering grounds in California and are not visually distinguishable, until now, we only had a rough idea of where Oregon Vesper Sparrows spend the non-breeding months. This study will help answer questions essential for future conservation efforts – where are these birds going during migration and winter, and what challenges might they face there?
To address this critical knowledge gap, we expanded KBO’s ongoing Oregon Vesper Sparrow research to include using miniaturized archival GPS tags to track the migration of sparrows breeding in the Rogue Basin. In 2020, we captured 10 males via target-netting at our Lily Glen study site, color-banded them, and deployed GPS tags using a leg-loop harness attachment (for more details and photos of this process, see here ). In 2021, we located and recaptured four of these birds to retrieve tags and stored data. Three of the tags successfully recorded these individuals’ fall migration and/or wintering locations; one also contained the spring migration track!
Non-breeding season movements have never been tracked in this subspecies before, and results from these first three birds are incredibly interesting in their variation. You may have already followed the adventures of Po, Gram, and Affy in our recent series of Facebook posts, where we learned where they traveled during migration, but we will recap the highlights here and below in a video. One male (Po; in green) departed Lily Glen on Sept 19 on what appears to be a “false start” migration attempt – he spent one night about 25 km southwest of Tule Lake and then headed right back to Lily Glen – a behavior that we hadn’t recorded before, and in fact, would have been nearly impossible to observe without the GPS tag data. He left Lily Glen again on Sept 24 and sped down to his wintering grounds in just two days. This was also the only individual for whom we also captured spring migration – Po left his overwintering area on the evening of Apr 9, made two short stopovers just east of Vina, CA, and Redding, CA, and was back setting up his territory at Lily Glen by Apr 15.
Another male (Gram, in blue) left Lily Glen on Sept 19 and spent two weeks on an extended fall stopover outside of Chico, CA, before arriving at his wintering grounds in October. A third male (Affy; in pink) chose a more westerly route and had multiple short fall stopovers, including at Sutter Butte, an interesting geological formation made of eroded volcanic lava domes outside of Yuba City that provides a habitat island in the highly developed Central Valley. Unfortunately, Affy’s GPS tag stopped functioning mid-October, so we do not know his final wintering location. The two birds we have wintering locations for (Po and Gram) spent the winter near Raymond, CA, and El Rancho, CA, in what appears to be oak savannah habitat in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
This study is the first to identify precise migratory stopover sites and overwintering areas used by this imperiled subspecies, and it addresses a critical information gap for future conservation efforts. So far, it seems like the Oregon Vesper Sparrows are using grassland and oak savannah habitat in the foothills east and west of the Central Valley as a stopover and overwintering habitat and avoiding the heavily agricultural Central Valley. We retrieved additional GPS tags in 2023, and after analyzing the data, we will use this information to assess whether conservation actions are warranted at non-breeding sites.
The Bureau of Land Management, Carpenter Foundation, Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund, and Oregon Wildlife Foundation supported this GPS-tracking work.
Video: https://youtu.be/wKNi96ffKAY
Cover photo: Oregon Vesper Sparrow (c) Frank Lospalluto
An Evening with KBO
Join us at the KBO office on March 15th from 5:30 pm – 7 pm, to hear three talks by the KBO staff. This will be a hybrid event, and the in-person portion will be at the KBO office at 2425 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland, OR. This is a free event with light refreshments provided.
GPS-tracking Western Purple Martins to Brazil and back
Dr. Sarah Rockwell will share photos and maps from KBO’s work to GPS-tag and track Western Purple Martins throughout their annual cycle. This research is uncovering migratory stopover and overwintering sites from Oregon to Brazil that will aid in international conservation efforts for this at-risk subspecies. Sarah’s work was recently shared in the Oregonian, you can read the article here.
Dr. Ryan Terrill will discuss this year’s bird banding efforts at six sites throughout southern Oregon. Bird banders from four countries worked with KBO to research populations of local birds at six long-term field sites, all while collecting top-tier data, training other researchers, getting their banders certifications, and conducting public outreach.
Monitoring Bird Communities Through Point Count Surveys
Tom McLaren will give an overview of how Klamath Bird Observatory uses point-count surveys to monitor bird communities’ response to forest health treatments, habitat restoration, and management action. We will highlight how long-term monitoring has provided valuable information about songbird populations. Point count methods provide a cost-effective way to gather conservation-relevant information, which can be used in many ways.
Winter Lunch and Learn with Shannon Rio
Join Shannon Rio at the Ashland Klamath Bird Observatory office for a series of 3 noon classes (Thursday, Feb 22 and 29th, March 7) and an outing on March 10th.
Topics will include raptors, places to bird, use of guide books and phone apps, and learning about behaviors of our local birds. Winter is a perfect opportunity to learn. A PowerPoint presentation of photos will accompany the talks. No knowledge of birding is necessary. Bring your lunch and your curiosity.
Shannon Rio is president of the board of the Klamath Bird Observatory. As a wildlife educator, she teaches in a style that is informal and welcoming to all knowledge levels. The focus is on having fun and connecting with the natural world.
This is a free event.
Bear Divide Trip Registration and Details
Klamath Bird Observatory is going on a 4-day trip to Burbank, California, where we will explore the wonders of Bear Divide led by Dr. Ryan Terrill, April 24th – 27th, 2024. There are only a handful of places in the United States where you get to experience bird migration in a new way. Calling Bear Divide a migratory hot spot would be an understatement. Every year — roughly between March 15 and June 15, with peak migration between April 10 and May 20 — thousands of birds funnel through the narrow pass.
“It really is overwhelming to stand on the road and have 5,000 birds of 80 species fly by your knees in a morning,” Dr. Ryan Terrill said.
It’s also one of the only morning “flight spots” on the West Coast (out of very few in the entire world), offering learning opportunities, such as how timing, weather, climate, sex, age, and other factors affect migratory patterns. The area attracts as many as 13,000 tanagers, orioles, buntings, grosbeaks, and warblers on a single day.
Trip Details:
Wednesday evening at Hotel Lexen, we will have a small group get-together to go over the week and have time to mingle. The group will leave for Bear Divide by van from Hotel Lexen Newhall in downtown Santa Clarita at 5:30 am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings. We plan to stay there for several hours or until migration slows. Optional additional birding excursions will be offered in the afternoons, or you can explore the area at your leisure. A special presentation by Dr. Ryan Terrill is planned for Thursday evening.
Included: breakfast and lunch, transportation to Bear Divide, and optional excursions
Not included: airfare, airport transfers, hotel, dinners.
Trip Cost: $1500 per person.
Travel arrangement notes:
Flights: We recommend flying into Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), which is significantly closer to Hotel Lexen than LAX. Please note that ultra-low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines offers direct flights from Medford to Burbank on Wednesday, April 24th, and back on Saturday, April 27th. (KBO does not endorse Avelo or any other airline.)
Hotel: KBO has reserved a block of rooms at Hotel Lexen (24219 Railroad Ave, Santa Clarita, CA) for participants. You will provide payment to the hotel on your arrival Wednesday. The cost of a reserved room is $550. You can call and reserve your own room at Hotel Lexen or another hotel nearby if you want.
Opportunities for the 2024 Field Season with Klamath Bird Observatory
Stationed in Ashland in southern Oregon’s beautiful Rogue Valley, Klamath Bird Observatory utilizes the role of birds as indicators to conduct high-caliber science to inform and improve natural resource management. Through our work conducting avian research, we have a wide variety of field technician positions available for the 2024 field season that span across the Pacific Northwest and range from long-term monitoring to species-specific studies. Our field technician positions offer an exciting opportunity to conduct on the ground research, develop a comprehensive understanding of avian research methods, and contribute to the collective knowledge of bird conservation. Listed below are some of the unique opportunities that we have lined up for our upcoming 2024 season.
Riparian Bird Monitoring
Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking a Field Technician position in our bird monitoring and research program at riparian restoration sites along the North and South Forks of the Salmon River in northern California. Primary duties are spot-mapping surveys to delineate territories of riparian songbird species, observing pairs to determine the reproductive stage (Vickery Index), conducting vegetation surveys, and data entry. Some training may occur in Ashland, OR, before fieldwork near Sawyers Bar and Forks of Salmon, CA. Field work will start ~April 29th and continue until ~July 12th (exact dates to be determined). More information can be found here.
Vesper Sparrow Field Technician
As part of our Oregon Vesper Sparrow research program, we are conducting an inventory of the size and distribution of Vesper Sparrow populations in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to assess population status and potential conservation actions for this imperiled subspecies. Klamath Bird Observatory is seeking to fill a Field Technician position to conduct transect surveys in meadow and oak-prairie habitat in the Monument and complete associated data entry. The Field Technician will survey for Vesper Sparrows by sight and sound in different locations in and around the Monument, sampling along off-road transects following standard protocols. Field work will start ~April 29th and continue until ~July 3rd (exact dates to be determined). More information can be found here.
Banding Internship
Klamath Bird Observatory seeks highly motivated individuals to participate in our long-term landbird monitoring program. This position requires independent drive and patience for the travails of fieldwork but also affords a fantastic opportunity to build practical experience in field biology and master a variety of bird monitoring and research skills in a beautiful part of the country. Training and duties will include mist netting and banding of passerines and near passerines; bird surveying; data quality assurance, entry, and management; and public outreach and education participation. Non-field duties include study and discussion of banding curriculum, equipment maintenance, field station upkeep, and data entry. Field work will begin May 1st and continue until October 31st with an option to start August 1st. More information can be found here.
Point Count Technician
We are hiring seasonal field technicians for the 2024 breeding season to complete avian point count surveys throughout the ecologically diverse and beautiful southern Oregon, eastern Oregon, and/or northern California regions. Technicians will conduct work related to multiple projects, including monitoring the effects of oak and conifer forest restoration on species distributions and long-term monitoring on both private and public lands. Primary responsibilities will include conducting multispecies avian point count surveys, vegetation sampling along off-road transects following standard protocols, and associated data entry. Field work will take place April 29th through July 19th. More information can be found here.
Loggerhead Shrike Field Technician
We are also seeking a Field Technician to monitor territories and nests of Loggerhead Shrikes at the Boardman Conservation Area near Boardman, OR. Primary duties include surveying grids in sagebrush habitat to locate shrike territories (up to 8 miles off-trail hiking per day), finding and monitoring shrike nests, completing vegetation surveys at nest sites, and data entry. The best-qualified applicants will also have basic ArcGIS skills (e.g., importing GPS points and creating territory maps). Shared field housing is available in Ione, OR. The field season will take place from April 1 – June 30. Click here to learn more.
Save the Date – Bear Divide Trip with Dr. Ryan Terrill
Join KBO’s Science Director for an avian awe-inspiring experience, a spectacle of spring bird migration that is on full display at Bear Divide in the western San Gabriel Mountains. Bear Divide’s topography is a funnel for long-distance migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway. Visitors and scientists can see and study migratory birds up close and personal.
Led by Dr. Ryan Terrill, a collaborative group of scientists is counting thousands of birds each spring morning as they pass over a low saddle in the mountains on their way north. The Pacific Coast has previously lacked a place to monitor diurnal bird migration similar to well-known East Coast migration hotspots like Cape May, and the data we collect will help us understand how well birds are doing as they respond to changing habitats and climates.
The trip will take place from April 24 to 28, 2024—price to be determined. Registration opens on February 5th.
Day in a Life of a Point Counter
Day in a Life of a Point Counter
By Sam Webb
There were still a few stars in the sky when I hit the trail, but the horizon was starting to lighten, and it promised another beautiful sunrise. I hiked for about 20 minutes, listening for any late owls calling or the Common Nighthawks announcing the dawn with their distinct Peent! sound. Checking my GPS, I walked another few meters before setting down my backpack and pulling gear out. Although no landmarks are around, I had just reached the first point that I will be surveying for the day.
For the past several weeks, I have been living in the gorgeous Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California to conduct avian monitoring surveys for Klamath Bird Observatory. The point that I have just stopped at is part of a point count route that has been visited every three years since 2007 as part of a collaboration between the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network and Klamath Bird Observatory. Point counts are a widely used method for surveying birds where observers visit specific locations or points and count every bird they detect within a standardized period of time. These surveys usually take only a few minutes to complete, meaning that observers can collect data at many locations in a single morning. Data from point count surveys are frequently used to determine changes in bird populations over time, which are often linked to environmental changes and may be used to inform land management practices.
I finished filling out the top of the data form on my clipboard, set up my timer to beep once every minute for five minutes, and positioned my binoculars to be easily accessible. Just a few moments before I began the survey, I used my laser-rangefinder to determine the distance to some of the juniper trees. Then, 15 minutes before sunrise, I hit start on the timer and began to listen intently.
All around me, the birds are waking up and starting their morning chorus songs. I furiously write down a Morning Dove that is singing near one of the trees I had measured the distance to, about 32 meters away. I watched a couple of Lark Sparrows chase each other between the rocks, and just as I finished writing them down, a Western meadowlark began its echoing song. I write almost nonstop for 5 minutes, pausing only to tune into a new song or briefly glance through my binoculars at a bright male California Quail perching on a nearby sagebrush. The timer beeps one last time at me, and the survey is done. I reviewed the datasheet before selecting the next point in the GPS and setting it off. I had 11 more points to visit and wanted to get to them before the bird activity slowed down for the day.
After reaching the 12th and final point, I perched on a rock, overviewing the valley, eating my lunch, and admiring the park. Slowly, I make my way back through each point I just visited, recording data on the habitat, identifying what shrubs and trees are present, and taking notes on the composition of forbs and grasses. When I was finally done, I reviewed the data from the day. Some highlights were a pair of Bullock’s Orioles that were busily weaving together their nest, a stunningly brilliant Mountain Bluebird that started his song almost before any other birds were up, and a Pinyon Jay that swooped by, curious about what I was doing out there. I finished packing up and began to head back to my vehicle. Done for the day, I took my time hiking back, pausing to enjoy the park and wildlife all around me. The data I collected will be provided to the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network to help inform decisions on management practices so that this gorgeous park can continue flourishing and support a vast host of plant and animal life.
The Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network is a group of six national parks in the southern Oregon and northern California region that works to provide reliable scientific information about the parks and their key resources to park managers, researchers, and visitors. More information on this program can be found here.
If you are interested in becoming a field technician for Klamath Bird Observatory, you can look at current job openings here.
To support this program and other aspects of Klamath Bird Observatory’s work, you can click here to donate.
Cover photo: Common Nighthawk by Frank Lospalluto at Lava Beds National Monument
Feel the Warmth
These gloomy days have us at Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) looking forward to a sunny summer. Especially during the ten days, we will spend in Brazil exploring the culture, eating local food, hiking through beautiful scenery, and learning about the native fauna. This trip not only will feel good on your skin, but it will make your heart feel good. By traveling to Brazil, you will be supporting Mantiquera Bird Observatory’s (OAMa) banding program for an entire year and KBO’s intern exchange program.
A fun, adventurous, and engaging way to support bird and habitat conservation beyond borders
The trip will be held August 20-29, 2024. The cost is $5750 per person, including in-country transportation, single-occupancy lodging, and meals with limited alcoholic beverages – the flight to Brazil is not included. The cost with a double occupancy discount is $5250 per person. Trip activities include moderate walking, sometimes on uneven trails, and away from facilities for half to full days.
A $ 3,500 deposit is required to reserve your seat. Final payment is due 6 months before departure. Both the deposit and final payment are non-refundable. A portion of the cost directly supports the intern exchange program between the two bird observatories and is tax-deductible. The maximum trip size is 11 participants; some activities will be split into smaller groups. We reserve the right to cancel before February 20th if the trip does not have a minimum number of attendees.
Click here to see a full itinerary and more information. If you have questions, you can email Elva at ejm@klamathbird.org.