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Southwest Washington
Wildlife Reports
July
21, 2008
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| Accumulated household garband and remodeling debris were removed from old borrow pit on the Klickitat Wildlife Area. |
Region
5 Wildlife Areas
Mineral Springs Cleanup: Manager VanLeuven worked with the WCC crew to
clean up a dumping site on the Mineral Springs Unit. Accumulated household garbage
and remodeling debris were removed from an old borrow pit near Hwy 142 and loaded
into a WDFW flatbed truck for disposal at the Goldendale transfer station. Woody
limbs trimmed from ornamental trees and shrubs were left on site to decompose
naturally. After picking up the refuse, the WCC crew constructed a barrier of
rocks and a shallow ditch across the access road into the pit to eliminate driving
access. Work was interrupted for about 20 minutes by shooting overhead. Manager
VanLeuven located the shooter, advised him that a crew was working nearby, and
requested that all shooting stop for the rest of the day. Despite hot conditions,
difficult work, and poison oak presence, the crew successfully completed the
project. Manager VanLeuven will also post signs.
Game
Management Division
Band-Tailed Pigeon Surveys: Surveys of band-tailed pigeons arriving at
mineral sites continue in Region 5. Band-tails use mineral sites extensively
during the summer months. Mineral springs are important for mineral intake by
adult pigeons, especially during the nesting season. Large concentrations of
birds congregate at these sites especially during the summer months. In the
Pacific Northwest, mineral sites most likely provide high sodium and to a lesser
degree calcium in the diet as a supplement to the bird’s food requirements.
Long-term trends in the use of such sites serve as indicators of overall population.
These surveys are part of a coordinated effort to monitor band-tailed pigeon
populations in the Northwest. The survey protocol for band-tail mineral sites
prescribes a single visit to each location during the period encompassing July
10-20. Surveyors count all arriving and departing pigeons beginning 30 minutes
prior to sunrise and concluding at noon.
Wildlife Biologist Holman completed the band-tailed pigeon mineral site survey at the Kalama River site. A total of 350 pigeons arrived at the mineral spring during the course of the survey. The result at the Kalama River site is somewhat higher than those of recent years.
Wildlife Biologist Anderson completed the band-tailed pigeon mineral site survey along the Wind River in Skamania County. A total of 141 band -tailed pigeons were counted at the mineral spring during the course of the survey. This count is down from previous years’ survey results. During the survey, an adult bald eagle spent considerable time perching and foraging immediately adjacent to the mineral springs. The presence of the bald eagle no doubt influenced the low count at the mineral spring in comparison to past years.
Wildlife Biologists Miller and Prince met with Weyerhaeuser Vail tree farm staff to secure a key and discuss the mineral spring survey. Access to the site is via Weyerhaeuser roads but the birds are actually using a site on private property. We sent a letter to the landowner advising of the survey and requesting permission to complete the survey. The survey has been conducted for many years and yields valuable data on band-tailed pigeon population trends.
Wildlife
Diversity Division
Marbled Murrelet Survey: Wildlife Biologist Prince assisted Biologist
Ritchie with a marbled murrelet survey in Naselle this week. Marbled murrelets
are fairly small seabirds that travel up to 45 miles to nest in old growth coastal
forests. The site that was surveyed had very high activity; however, only one
pair of birds showed any nesting behavior. Biologist Prince was going to assist
Biologist Ritchie next week with a murrelet survey in Chehalis, but this has
been canceled because roads leading to the survey area are impassable. The Chehalis
site is a long term monitoring site for murrelets and can hopefully be reached
next year for surveys.
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