Managing Wildlife Populations
Western Pond Turtle: Western pond turtle nest monitoring occurs daily from mid-May to mid-July. Staff members and volunteers cover two-hour shifts starting at 12 p.m. and continue until 9 p.m. or until the last female is done nesting. Biologist Tirhi has covered nest monitoring each Thursday at the Pierce County recovery site since monitoring began mid-May. The first nests at the site began with two nests laid June 11 and one more laid June 12. Tirhi also found one female turtle attempting to nest June 13, but she abandoned the site after hitting significant rocks.
At the request of Biologist Butler, who oversees the Pierce County pond turtle recovery, Biologist Tirhi met with Woodland Park Zoo staff members to excavate all three nests for eggs. They collected the eggs and they will be provided to the zoo for the head-start program.
Bats and White Nose Syndrome: Biologists Butler and Tirhi participated in the first of two bat capture and processing nights at the Northwest Trek bat colony. This is part of a multiyear study in partnership with Conservation Society Canada, McMaster University, Thompson Rivers University, Woodland Park Zoo, and Northwest Trek to test a probiotic spray that will help bats survive white-nose syndrome. This year’s goal was to evaluate survival and disease status of recaptured bats that were exposed to the probiotic in 2023.
Oregon Vesper Sparrow (OVSP): Biologists Butler and Tirhi participated in the first year of standardized Oregon vesper sparrow (OVSP) surveys across District 11. Oregon vesper sparrow are a state listed and federal candidate species (currently under federal review for listing) that occupy grasslands with infrequent and scattered brush and trees to nest. This is the first year Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct standardized nest surveys across historic breeding sites in partnership with federal partners and non-government organizations.
The survey design requires a start time that begins a half hour before sunrise. Then surveyors walk established transects placed across Oregon vesper sparrow habitat. They stop every 100 meters to listen and look for Oregon vesper sparrows. They play one minute of taped Oregon vesper sparrow song via loudspeaker. Oregon vesper sparrow males are known through research to respond to such calls by entering the zone to investigate and defend their territory.
Tirhi and Butler have completed surveys at Olympia Airport, with assistance of Biologist Rolls, Scatter Creek South Unit, Violet Prairie Unit, and West Rocky Prairie Unit. Unfortunately, the suite of Puget Prairie grassland birds was documented including savannah sparrows, western meadowlarks, chipping sparrows, killdeer, and many other common birds. Unfortunately, no Oregon vesper sparrows were detected. These results point to the reality of the decline of this once common grassland bird. The decline is primarily due to the loss of the once extensive native prairies across the South Puget Sound.
Streaked Horned Lark: Biologists Tirhi and Butler completed two of three surveys of state and federally listed streaked horn lark at the Olympia and Tacoma Narrows airports. These surveys are conducted every three years unless a site is declining, then the survey is conducted annually. Both airfields have experienced ongoing declines and thus were surveyed in 2023 and 2024. An analysis of trends will be published in 2025. We are grateful to both airfields for supporting this important species work.
Conserving Natural Landscapes
Western Washington Habitat Connectivity: Biologist Tirhi represented Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at the full-day 2024 Southwest Washington Habitat Connectivity Summit. It was hosted by Washington Department of Transportation and Conservation Northwest. The summit was filled with presentations regarding the need, data collection, planning efforts, and ongoing collaboration to install several crossing structures across Washington’s Interstate 5 to provide a vital link to allow wildlife to cross this current major barrier. Biologist Tirhi serves on the technical team for the north linkage section of this project.
Wildlife Area Management: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman maintained and treated vegetation at the Bell Creek, Morse Creek, and South Puget Sound units, and cleaned up an illegal dump at Morse Creek.
Providing Education and Outreach
University of Washington Capstone Project: Biologist Tirhi attended the demonstration day event at the University of Washington Tacoma Campus Engineering School to meet with and watch the demonstration of a project she mentored.
Five students at the school contacted Tirhi in late winter asking for her mentorship of a capstone project that would benefit wildlife in a real-world scenario. Tirhi explained to the group the labor intensive 35-year western pond turtle recovery project that relies on daily VHF monitoring of transmittered female turtles. The student team decided to take on this project by creating a feasibility pilot that relies on satellite trackers, a satellite application to phone notification, and an electronic fence around the ponds inhabited by the turtles. The team did an amazing job gathering data on the need and difficulties and finding a potentially workable solution using satellite instead of VHF. The project culminated in the demo day and a detailed report for graduation.
Conducting Business Operations and Policy
Region 6 Interviews: Biologist Tirhi sat on the interview panel and assisted with drafting interview questions for the new Region 6 biodiversity biologist position being hired with funds from a newly passed legislative Diversity funding pack. This position and its supervised staff members will both provide needed assistance to existing district work in Region 6 as well as projects directed at SGCN needing attention.