June 20, 2008

Birds, Bears & Butterflies
by Cori Stanek

Garden Update

Summer has finally made its way into the Swan! Well, we hope. After three weeks of cold, rain, and snow, we were living blissfully in sunny, warm days here at the homestead.

We finished our last veggie bed this week and have now put all of our starters and seeds into the ground!

Adam’s been hard at work, sawing laboriously and heroically through rebar, in order to build a few hoop houses for our growing garden. And they’re looking good! We also acquired a few water-jackets this week. We’ve set them up in a homegrown experiment to test the miracles claimed on their enticing packaging.
The jackets are essentially plastic tubes made of thin vertical pockets that you place over the plant then fill each pocket with water. The idea being, that the water in the jacket will warm up during the day and retain its heat overnight- preventing the tomatoes and peppers from freezing. We’ve heard good things, and are excited to see how they work out. If nothing else, they’re good for a giggle each time we look out into the garden. They’re fluorescent-blue, bulbous nature makes gardening look oh so high-tech… or, like our tomatoes are wearing water-wings…

Planted this week: Oregon Spring, Cherry, and Siberian Tomatoes (we’re hoping the name is an indicator of an affinity for cold), Zucchini starters, Echinacea, Basil, Eggplant, and a few herb starters.

Lots of sprouts this week! :  Lettuce, Spinach, Peas, Nasturtium, and additional Kale. Our carrots are thinking about making an appearance, but so far have been unconvinced by the sudden burst of sunshine.

Birds & Wildlife

Birds

The birding around the valley is still hot, however some of the more dominant singers in the forest have changed. Most notably, the Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Western Tanagers have quieted down somewhat, while the metallic song of the Swainson’s Thrush and the up and down conversational-like song of the Warbling Vireo have really picked up out in the woods.

New species around the barn include, Black-headed Grosbeaks (a Robin sounding song…on crack), Western Wood Peewees, Eastern Kingbirds, and Common Nighthawks.

Most notable species from the trails of the Mission Mountains are as follows; Mountain Bluebirds and a Black-backed Woodpecker in the Crazyhorse burn on the way to south Hemlock Lake, White-crowned Sparrows near Lagoon Lake on the way to a still frozen Turquoise Lake, Spruce Grouse near Meadow Lake on Lindy Ridge, American Avocets on Lindberg Lake, and Common Loons on Lingberg, Crystal, and Glacier Lakes.

This morning I completed a point count (bird monitoring work for the Forest Service) near the trailhead for Smith Creek Pass, where I was fortunate enough to get a good look at a small flock of MacGillivray’s Warblers, a couple of Pine Grosbeaks in the canopy, and heard more Swainson’s Thrushes than you can shake a stick at.

Here is a my complete species list of migrant birds from the Swan Valley so far this Spring/Summer: Brown-headed Cowbird; Canada Goose; Cassin’s Vireo; Common Yellowthroat; Dusky Flycatcher; Evening Grosbeak; Golden-crowned Kinglet; Hammond’s Flycatcher; MacGillivray’s Warbler; Northern Waterthrush; Olive-sided Flycatcher; Orange-crowned Warbler; Red-naped Sapsucker; Sandhill Crane; Townsend’s Warbler; Warbling Vireo; Western Tanager; Wilson’s Snipe; Yellow-rumped Warbler; American Avocet; American Bittern; American Kestrel; American Pipit; American Redstart; Barn Swallow; Black-headed Grosbeak; Bufflehead; Chipping Sparrow; Cliff Swallow; Common Loon; Common Nighthawk; Eared Grebe; Eastern Kingbird; Great Blue Heron; Killdeer Mountain Bluebird; Osprey; Rufous Hummingbird; Spotted Sandpiper; Swainson’s Thrush; Tree Swallow; Turkey Vulture; Black-backed Woodpecker; Varied Thrush; Western Wood-Pewee; White-crowned Sparrow; Cinnamon Teal; Wood Duck; Hooded Merganzer; Ring-necked Duck

Wildlife Tracks and Sign

You can always find fresh bear sign throughout the valley this time of year if you know what to look for. Lately, we have had a bear near the homestead that is keying into the inner cambium of young regenerating lodgepole pine trees.

Both black and grizzly bears will peel the bark off trees and then scrape the sweet inner cambium layer with their canine teeth. Check out the teeth marks on the close up photo below.

Fresh tracks in left over patches of snow or in the mud are always good signs that indicate recent and/or current bear activity. The following pictures are all photos from this past week. See if you can properly identify the species of bear from the tracks in the photos. Email your answers to me at adam@northwestconnections.org, otherwise I will post the correct answers on next week's blog.

Track #1

Track #2

Track #3

Other wildlife photos from around the Barn and Swan Valley.

Elk in lower hay meadow below Barn….and yes, we have seen calves as well.

Seems like a good wildflower year so far. Just about every individual
bunch of Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) was flowering this morning
at the base of Smith face.

Fairyslippers (Calypso bulbosa), one of Swan Valley’s most common
Orchids found in the forest.

“The Forgotten Pollinators”

You can’t have a good wildflower season without talking about the pollinators that make it possible.  Below is a photo of two Swallowtail butterflies.  The white and black butterfly is a Pale Swallowtail, while the more yellow and black butterfly is an Anise Swallowtail.  Notice how the black dots surrounded by orange near the “tails” on the hind wings of the Anise Swallowtail are fairly small and centered.  This is a good clue to keep in mind while trying to identify this butterfly.

Pale Swallowtail	Anise Swallowtail

The Passed Week at Connections

It was a busy week at Connections, full of meetings, deadlines, and slight panic on most parts at some point during the week.

However, Connections did acquire a new couch this week from a neighbor up the road. Its eclectic floral pattern, and posh brown-velvet upholstery coordinate well with the other refugees in the barn, but its still got some settling in to do.

Another plus? We have retired the old plastic lazy-boy that had leant itself to the wonders of duct tape a little too long.