I've just returned from a 10 day trip in the Meadows area
(Okanogan National Forest) conducting
wildlife surveys in and around the area of the Thunder Mt. Fire.
The purpose of the trip was to study wildlife use of burned and unburned
habitats.The fire burned in July-Aug 1994 and we were able to conduct 2
surveys last winter and one this winter. Below is a summary of
findings. I've included some comparisons from last years observations.
Dog Cr-This area is predominantly high intensity burn, sub-alpine fir and
lodgepole, elevation ~6000ft. Riparian areas and some knolls were spared and
there are
strips of low to medium intensity burns throughout. PINE MARTEN was the
most common predator seen. Hunting behavior was not influenced by fire
pattern and tracks were common in high intensity areas. BLUE GROUSE was
very abundant in the burn areas.SNOWSHOE HARE activity was also abundant
but more restricted to medium/low intensity burn areas than we saw last
year. PINE SISKINS were the most common bird and numerous RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES and one pair of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were seen.(Siskins and
crossbills were not seen last year). THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS, BLACK BACKED
WOODPECKERS and HAIRY WOODPECKERS were all common but had an interesting
distribution among tree species. BBWP were almost exclusively seen on
burned Douglas fir and HWP on Lodgepole Pine. TTWP were on Engleman
Spruce or Lodgepole. Last winter we saw only TTWP in this area. There was
also an increase in owl activity. A GREAT HORNED OWL was very vocal each
evening an we found several owl wing prints in the snow (27" wing span).
One evening the owl was conversing with something that sounded like a pea
fowl being strangled. I'm not sure what this was, but every time it
vocalized it elicited an immediate response from the GHO.There were no
owls heard last winter. We found no LYNX tracks in the Dog Cr area in 4
days of survey. Last winter we found a cat and kitten on the first trip
and a single animal on the second in this area.One set of COYOTE tracks
were found north of Dog Cr.
Dill Cr and N of N20mile Peak: This is a patchy burn area, elevation up
to 7000ft. LYNX tracks found following the drainage and in the back
meadows (close to where we found them last year).BOREAL CHICKADEES were
the most abundant bird and found in a variety of habitats including pure
lodgepole stands and mixed spruce/ lodgepole, but not in burn
areas.RB NUTHATCHES and MT. CHICKADEES also present. MARTEN and HARE were
abundant in both burn and unburned as in
Dog Cr, with the highest density of HARE and SQUIRREL near open spruce,
lodgpole meadows. No raptors or owls heard.COYOTE tracks found in
drainage (following snow mobile tracks).
Three Butes to south 20mile Peak:This area was not affected by the
fire.BOREAL CHICKADEES continued to be very
abundant with more MT. CHICKADEES and RBNUTHATCHES. BARRED OWL heard in Fly
Cr.ERMINE, MARTEN AND LYNX tracks all found in Timber Cr.One pair PINE
GROSBEAKS seen(and heard) just below s20mile Peak. SPRUCE GROUSE are very
abundant on this ridge.
Winter is a great time to be out to see and hear wildlife. We
were fortunate with the weather in that we got fresh snow every 2-3 days
for good tracking.It's particularly interesting to watch the change in
wildlife use of the burn areas.As great as it was to spend 10 days back
there, however, I must confess that the most exciting sighting that we
had was a pair of WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKERS exhibiting explicit breeding
behavior in the Benson Cr area.Also saw some EVENING GROSBEAKS down by the
Twisp River.
That's a "quick"summary.
Mary Poss
Department of Microbiology
UW
mposs at u.washington.edu