Yelm - Its for the birds

View Yelm Backyard Birds in a larger map
Here are a few bird sightings noted in and around Yelm, Washington.

Pesticide Free Zone

To help protect the environment, my heath, and the health of others, I pledge to avoid using pesticides in my home, yard and garden.

The Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides recommends taking this Pesticide Free Pledge.


Read more about creating and maintaining a Pesticide Free Zone in your backyard and community from the Washington Toxics Coalition.

The sign comes with three fact sheets: "What's Wrong with Pesticides?" (64kb PDF file), "Talking to your Neighbors about Pesticides," (80kb PDF file) and the "Pesticide Free Zone Sign Owners Manual" (112kb PDF file).

Yelm Shoreline Work Parties 2012

Yelm Backyard Wildlife Project

View Yelm Community Backyard Wildlife Habitat Project in a larger map

Acorn hunting

Acorn hunting this year has been difficult for a second year in a row here in Yelm. This is not good news. A few mature oak stands had acorns ready at the end of August. Others - are just not producing acorns this year as they had in 2008 and 2009. According to USFW and others some of the best times for acorn picking are August through October. Thurston county has produced a map where a few oaks may be located in the county. (Not all oaks are identified by this map.)

Brush footed butterflies Nymphalidae & Arctiidae

Two Lorquin's Admiral butterflies were seen around Thurston county this week, flying towards the East in the direction of the Nisqually River. You may see more butterflies of Thurston county here.

Also spotted flitting through was a beautiful Cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae. Arctiidae Family of moths. Thurston county moths.

"Unfortunately, many of the uncommon and rare species in the Pacific Northwest have not been photographed. In fact, the caterpillar and its foodplant are not known for some of the species." BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST FORESTS AND WOODLANDS: RARE, ENDANGERED, AND MANAGEMENT-SENSITIVE SPECIES, by Jeffrey C. Miller
Department of Rangeland Ecology and Mangement, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; Paul C. Hammond, Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, September 2007 USDA USFS

No birds just bugs

Swarming Crows vs Hawk

Just saw 15 to 20 Crows dive bombing, more like swarming actually, a hawk near a Crows nest. Crows are a family :) and often have older siblings helping at the nest. This Hawk was outnumbered totally!

Acorn woodpeckers

I have a response to my dirty blue egg question! (Stellar Jay)

Acorn Woodpeckers came back two days ago and this time there were two! No. I don't believe the pair to be Hairy or Red Breasted Sapsuckers. The Acorn Woodpecker's markings *have perplexed me b/c they are unusually marked to the rear of their heads. I have decided upon Acorn due to its primary back color of black and top red head spot that does not cover its entire head. They have black backs with red on the very top of their heads. The perplexing marking was a small white vertical line dash on the rear of their head combined with the white ring around its beak that does not extend to the rear of his black neck. No other white markings on the back leads me to exclude Downy, Red Breasted Sapsucker and a Hairy.



If my Petersons Guide would identify juveniles....and inter breeds that would be great! Acorn was the best visual match. I have seen Red Breasted Sapsuckers here. I have also seen a juvenile Downy Woodpecker here. Hairy Woodpeckers? No. b/c, they did not have white stripe on the back. IDK strangest pair of Acorn woodpeckers I've tried to id b/c of white dash in the lower part of back of their heads! B/c of that marking I am wondering if they were juvs or if this pair have been cross bred with another type of woodpecker to produce the different white dash mark. Variations in plumage - I'd love a guide with juv photos.

There is an oak stand less than a mile from where I live and a larger more established well known oak stand within 2 miles. I have found old stashed acorns in the soil at the tree line and fenceline and under evergreens. Squirrels? Do you think Acorn Woodpeckers steal from squirrels and vice versa?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

"Field studies have shown that breeding groups range from monogamous pairs to breeding collectives of seven males and three females, plus up to 10 nonbreeding helpers. Young have been found with multiple paternity.[1]"

There are Red-naped or Red-breasted Sapsuckers heard in the area, but I have not seen them. These two Acorn woodpeckers were seen at 15 to 25 feet distance, pecking in evergreen about 15 to 18 feet up the tree. Evidently, there are only a dozen sightings in Western Washington of Acorn Woodpeckers.

I'll have to listen for them in the future.

Oh pitiful me! (Pityopus californica)

Even rarer plants:

Because I did not know what a Pine Foot or Pityopus californica was... it has surely died.

Now, I fear that the rare plant police will come and take me away!

This strange looking plant was growing near a Glad that I was babying in my plant nursery near an old stump. In fact, I thought that it was some strange fungus. When I first noticed it, I said, "Slimey thing. Ew!" It was so much uglier than this picture. Its roots were rather shallow, pointy and short. It's base flat and white. It was so near the Glad that it was dug up along with the bulb. I am certain that it is now dead. Well, live and learn. I should take better care to identify these types of things in the future.

Yardbirds in the Rain

Spotted in between the rain and then sun.... and then rain.... in my backyard.

Acorn woodpecker stopping briefly among the evergreens
Bullocks Oreole stopping in at the rose bramble
Oregon Junco ground feeding
and a regular Rufous hummingbird at the feeder.

I found a partial blue eggshell. It may have been at least 1" in length when in tact with black spots.
The spots looked like much dirt or the spots that a fly leaves when it poops.
(sorry for a lack of sophisticated fly poop terminology here.)

Rare Plants in Thurston County

Washington Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program Thurston County Rare Plants

Everyone enjoyed last weeks sunny weather outdoors. Mowing, raking, planting and weeding our backyards and gardens we should keep in mind the differences between weeds and rare plants. Sometimes it pays to look twice before you pull up what you think is a weed. I have found that there are a few plants in my yard that were listed as rare plants according to the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program. One plant was so small, you would barely notice it, except most of us consider moss as a problem in our yards.


Moss is something we must put up with here in the Pacific Northwest, but bogg club moss is listed as a rare plant. It is really small and if you are not looking for it --- you will miss it! Its formal name, Lycopodiella inundata.

Here is my list of noxious weeds in Thurston County. It is from 2009-2010 and may need to be updated. It's my cheat sheet to weed identification.

Noxious Weeds in Thurston County (Link )

Hawks Oaks Pigeons and Doves

The Washington P. ramorum-positive soil confirmation in December 2010 (reported on in Dec. COMTF newsletter) in a Gig Harbor, Pierce County landscape (adjacent to a previously positive repeat nursery) has been identified as the NA2 lineage. This is the first time this strain has been found outside of a nursery in soil. The confirmed site is along a drainage that had been found positive with infected salal plants in the summer of 2009.-- COMTF May 2011 The May 2011 newsletter from the California Oak Mortality Task Force http://www.suddenoakdeath.org

Near the large oak grove on Canal Rd. SE in Yelm - blue back, white
breast, brown neck collar or ring, long tail.
Appeared to be the size of a Scrub jay, or Stellar jay but its neck
ring was brown. Can Western Scrub Jays have brown neck rings?

Also spotted a hawk circling on the opposite side of the oak grove
further down the road chasing the
smaller birds out of the treeline to land in the evergreens.

The pigeons are back at the silo on Ordway/Wilkenson. There was a
pure white dove or pigeon flying over the canal last week.

Birding

Two ducks at Yelm Creek were sitting at the edge of the field where an Eagle and a two pheasant were potted recently. I enjoyed watching a hawk hunt and fly through Mountain Shadow subdivision near an area where the swallows have returned on the canal at Wilkenson Rd. outside of Yelm. I have not seen the pidgeons since last summer near the silo. At the pond I counted 5 ducks and 5 red winged black birds. A couple of rufous hummingbirds are enjoying the freshly filled feeders at my home. I noticed that after eating, one hummer will bulge its neck and turn its head side to side just before another hummer frequents the feeder. They never feed at the same time, but will take turns.

Merlin

Sitting in the local park I heard a hawk or what I thought to be a hawk.  Hawks do not sound like Crows, but Crows can mimic hawks.  After listening to the BirdWeb.org bird sounds.  It was a Merlin! 


I've said that there was a Merlin flying around here and actually saw one in my yard a few years ago - swooping down from a treetop and picking up a Junco for lunch.  He flew right in front of me and then turned and flew up between the trees. Watching him was an awesome sight because it appeared that the bird was going to plummet straight into the ground before he picked up the unsuspecting Junco.

The Merlin was sitting in the tree top above the nearby ravine.  I could not see his coloring as the sun did not light him from my position on the ground.  He was sitting on the top of the tree calling and calling for several minutes before he flew back into trees around the ravine.

Recent visitors

Varied Thrush are visiting along with Chickadees and Oregon Junco's. Nearly one week before the snow came there were flocks and flocks of Gulls moving West of North Yelm. The Gull flock held about 50+ in each days passing West where one flock a day were spotted for 4 days.

Pending Questions Ignored

I just found out today that Mr. Klein blogged me back in December 2010. Thank you, Mr. Klein.

The front page of the newspaper this morning highlights the 2010 Washington Census, which declares Yelm's growth since the 2000 Census.

"Thurston County’s fastest-growing city was Yelm, which saw its population jump 108 percent, to 6,848 from 3,289 in 2000."

Read more at the Tacoma News Tribune, February 24, 2011, 2010 Census: 252,264 in Thurston County, MATT BATCHELDOR; Staff writer. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/02/24/1557366/252264-in-thurston.html#ixzz1EtSmIFUM

For those of us who have been familiar with Yelm before the year 2000, we knew that the Census figures for 2010 would reflect growth. Back in December, I posted a pending question that was emailed twice to the City of Yelm. One email went out directly after the post. Another email went out about two weeks after that date. Still no answer. I think the City of Yelm is ignoring its Urban Growth Area and its residents.

Pending Question:
What mapping information is being used by your GIS Dept. to identify
Critical Areas of Oak Prairie's in the City of Yelm and its Urban
Growth areas?

I still don't know the answer.

Thurston County Rate of Urbanization and Forest Harvest c. 2002 vs. Rate of Urbanization and Prairie Oaks 2010 Yelm

I have viewed documents since that time, however, that pertain to Yelm and the surveys conducted which included oaks on the Yellem Prairie. No that isn't a typo I spelled Yellem correctly. You can view a few of those historical accounts here. These are handwritten documents from the 1800's that can be found at the BLM. Once you get to the site, be sure to right click the documents to view the larger image.

Update: See Recommendations of Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Exerpt below:
PDF

Specific recommendations include the following:

• Do not cut Oregon white oak woodlands except for habitat enhancement.
• Allow only early spring, low-impact cattle grazing.
• Allow low-impact recreation (hunting, fishing, hiking, mushroom and acorn collecting).
• Selectively harvest individual oaks to improve stand age-class and structural diversity.
• Thin encroaching conifers in oak woodlands west of the Cascades and along the Columbia Gorge; do not remove conifers from mixed stands east of the Cascades.
• Retain large, dominant oaks and standing dead and dying trees.
• Create snags when thinning oaks or conifers instead of removing trees.
• Leave fallen trees, limbs, and leaf litter for foraging, nesting, and denning sites.
• Retain contiguous aerial pathways.
• Conduct prescribed burns where appropriate.

Other oak enhancement activities include the following:

• Planting Oregon white oak acorns and seedlings.
• Using alternatives to oak fuelwood.
• Selling or donating oak woodlands to conservation and land trust organizations.
• Purchasing contiguous or notable stands of oaks by local, state, and federal agencies.
• Moving toward the elimination of grazing on state-owned oak woodlands.
• Designating large, contiguous oak and oak/conifer stands as critical areas.
• Encouraging aggressive oak enhancement/regeneration measures by local, state, and federal agencies.

Suggested Citation:
Larsen, E. M., and J. T. Morgan. 1998. Management recommendations for Washington’s priority habitats: Oregon white oak woodlands. Wash. Dept. Fish and Wildl., Olympia. 37pp.

Since when is a highway considered low impact recreation?
Why would local authorities choose to ignore state recommendations or better yet why would state authorities choose to ignore its OWN recommendations?

See also: Thurston County Rate of Urbanization

Critical Area Ordinace FAQ's March 2, 2011

2010 Report Prairie Oak Burns

Mason McKinley
South Puget Sound Prairie/Oak Program Manager
(360) 584-2538 (Phone)
(360) 965-9445 (Fax)


2010 Report on Prairie Oak Burns

• RENEWAL Thurston County

What is the Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership?

CPOP is a nascent umbrella group, which would provide a formalized framework for what is now a loose association of working groups (Oregon Oak Communities, South Sound Prairies (WA), North South Prairies (WA), Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT, Canada). The focus of these groups is to work together to share expertise, develop resources, coordinate planning, and implement effective conservation actions. All groups are interested in seeing CPOP provide initial coordination and information-sharing services at the ecoregional scale (e.g. listserv, website, conferences, workshops). Combining these groups while also maintaining the local focus of subgroups, allows us to improve efficiency (e.g., conservation planning and research) and coordinate prairie-oak conservation at larger landscape scale.

Hannah Anderson
Cooperative Conservation

Program Manager

handerson@tnc.org
360-701-8803 (phone)

360-956-9445 (fax)

Western Screech Owl

Flying from Yelm Creek deciduous treed area in Yelm over the roadway NW what I thought to be a Western Screech Owl.

BirdWeb

Nesting

Monogamous pairs form long-term bonds. Western Screech-Owls are secondary cavity nesters, making use of natural cavities, old Pileated Woodpecker or Northern Flicker holes, and nest boxes. They nest at heights from 5 to 30 feet from the ground. They do not add material to the nest. Pairs typically hatch one brood per year. The female incubates 3-5 eggs for 33-34 days while the male brings her food. Once the young hatch, the female broods for about three weeks while the male brings food to her and the owlets. The young leave the cavity and venture onto nearby branches 7-10 days later. They stay close to the nest for a few nights while they develop their ability to fly, and they continue to remain near the adults for about five weeks after their first flights.

Migration Status

Western Screech-Owls do not migrate, and pairs are resident on their territories year round.