I just returned from a week of amphibian, wetland, and bird surveys in the
Thunder fire. It turned out that I also got to do tracking surveys- the
first 3 days it was over 80F( at >6000ft) and mosquitoes constituted the
majority of the biomass. The last 3 days it snowed and froze hard every
nite. Birds first:
We started from just south of Thunder Mt (outside the burn) and
worked our way through a dense lodgepole/spruce stand to 20mile meadows.
Bird activity was not abundant, hermit thrush and dark eyed juncos were
the most vocal.Both spruce and blue grouse were seen. Lincoln's sparrows
were common in the meadow. The fire patterns are very patchy in this area
and occassional three-toed woodpeckers were seen.I found a pair of
Bewick's wrens in one drainage containing predominantly spruce. For the
most part, birding was uneventful the first few days.I did find spotted
frogs at 2 sites. When I moved north into higher intensity burn areas the
birding really improved. The highest level of activity seemed to be about
200M away from an unburned riparian zone. The first such area was at
6200ft and the activity was all within a high intensity burn site. Mt
bluebird were abundant and I saw a male and female with small sticks and
needles in their peaks. It seemed a little late for nest building.
Townsend solitaires (2) Towsends warbler (1), Cassins finch (4) hermit
thrush, robins,three-toed woodpeckers were all seen from one spot within 5
minutes. When I moved a little closer (within 15M) of the unburned area,
I also saw black-back woodpeckers. In the riparian area were both
ruby-crowned and golden crowned kinglets, cassins finches and Mt
chickadees. This pattern of birds held true every time I approached the
junctions of a high intensity/low-unburned area.
The weather changed dramatically for the last 3 days (rain to
freezing rain to snow). I camped in an aspen groove just on the edge of
the burn and was constantly seranaded by olive-sided flycatchers and
Audubons warblers, and at nite, barred owls. There was a wetland nearby
that must have provided great nesting habitat because there were babies
everywhere. Lincoln's sparrows were in the willows, Mt bluebirds all
around the periphery (all high intensity burn around this wetland) and
brown creepers as well.Three-toed WP,chipping sparrows, Cassins finches
and Townsend's solitaires were also common adjacent to the wetland and all
were attending fledglings. White breasted nuthatches were not as common
and were present upslope from the wetland about 400M. One immature redtail
was seen off the ridge above the wetland. Dark-eyed juncos were
ubiquitous.
I surveyed one of the logging units one evening and aside from
finding multiple violations of the environmental impact statement, I
also found a lot of chaos for adult birds and fledglings.The area adjacent
to the riparian zone had just been logged (illegally) and, as I had been
observing for the last several days, this seemed to be where the highest
density of birds resided. I watched a female casseins finch and mt
bluebird squabble as both tried to feed fledglings that were side by side
on the ground. I was "attacked" by a female mt bluebird when I almost
stepped on 4 fledglings. I've never seen so much activity in one spot
before. Birds present in this disaster zone were Audubons warblers,
cassins finch, townsend's solitaire, mt bluebirds, hermit thrush and
three-toed woodpeckers. All had fledglings.
Other observations of potential interest: I heard what sounded
like an orange crowned warbler (clear single note repeated rapidly on same
pitch 5-10 times and then descending) on multiple occasions. This turned
out to be a dark eyed junco. I've never heard them terminate their song
with sharply punctuated descending notes before. Comments? I also found
cassins finch feeding on Arnica seeds. I frequently saw the petals from an
arnica neatly arranged on a burned log with a decapitated plant nearby but
finally got to see the finch actively working on one.I was also surprised
at the number of rodent that I saw. I'm not sure what these were, but I
found them both in high intensity burn and lush meadow habitats. They were
approx. 8-10cm long (body length) with a hairless tail. body color was a
uniform light reddish brown on the back and top of the head and grey brown
on chest, flanks and abdomen. They tended to hop rather than run and were
very active during the day.Could these be wood rats? On the way back from
Thunder Mt I found a flock of boreal chickadees on the top of Three Buttes
and pygmy nuthatches down in Benson Cr.
An editorial comment on the logging: The final environmental
impact statement for this operation was very specific in delineating such
things as riparian setbacks, protection of seeps and bogs, retention of
the largest trees, and the angle of slopes that could be logged. Very few
of these specifications made it into the sale contract.In other words, the
Forest Service went through the required process of public input to
produce a document (they got a "Caring for the land award" for this
document, by the way) and then essentially ignored most of these
requirements and drew up a document to entice a purchaser. Aside from
seeming flagrently illegal, this is a pretty arrogant snubbing of the
whole public input process to actions on public lands.Your phone calls and
letters can still make a difference for this area. An important heritage
is being lost. Contact the Forest Supervisor (who is the responsible party
for signing the sales contract) Sam Gehr/Okanogan National Forest/1240
south second Ave/Okanogan, WA 98840, (509) 826-3565. CC a copy to the
Acting Regional Forester, Bob Williams, Region 6 USFS/PO Box
3263/Portland, OR 97208. (503) 326-3644.
Thanks for all letters and interest in the Thunder Mt fire. It is
truely a spectacular area. I'll be leading a fire ecology/birding hike at
the end of September. If anyone is interested please contact me.