Managing Wildlife Populations
Lewis’s Woodpeckers: Biologists Eilers and Jeffreys, along with other Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Chelan PUD biologists, continue to conduct Lewis’s woodpecker surveys at five project areas in Rocky Reach Wildlife Area. There are two goals for this year’s cavity nest surveys. First is to learn more about Lewis’s woodpecker nesting phenology and ecology of the population within the Rocky Reach Wildlife Area. This will include clutch size, number of eggs hatched, number of hatchlings to reach fledging or late nestling phase, etc. Second, biologists will examine these data alongside habitat and microhabitat characteristics for the purpose of drawing inferences regarding nest success of Lewis’s woodpeckers at both the local scale and microsite scale (breeding territory). These inferences may in turn be useful for informing habitat management considerations at the regional scale (North Central Washington).
So far this year surveyors have completed occupancy surveys at all grids and have identified 19 occupied Lewis’s woodpecker cavity nests. All cavity nests will receive multiple monitoring visits throughout the nesting cycle, and all have been visited at least twice so far this season. Using a camera mounted to a telescoping pole (nest peeper), biologists have observed eggs or young nestlings in many of the nest cavities. Not all nest cavities can be reached with the nest peeper, because some are too high and/or have too many branches in the way. For those nests, biologists use behavioral observations to approximate nesting stage. In August, once all nests have been documented to have either fledged young or failed, biologists will perform habitat assessment surveys at each nest cavity.
Biologist Turnock and Technician Hara have been assisting District 7 biologists with Lewis’s woodpecker surveys to investigate nesting success for this Species of Greatest Conservation Need.
Bumble Bees: Biologists Jeffreys and Eilers conducted the first bumble bee survey of the year at a site south of Wenatchee. This year’s survey efforts will include four repeated visits to the same site every few weeks to monitor changes in bumble bees and flowering plants throughout the summer season. Habitat data were collected for the grid including identifying and photographing flowering plant (food source) species. A total of seven bumble bees of four different species were gently caught in a net, identified as to the species, and released on-site. The data collected from this survey were entered into the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas online database. The Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas is a collaborative effort between the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and citizen science volunteers to track and conserve the bumble bees of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.
Fishers: Biologists Eilers, Jeffreys, and Turnock and Technicians Hara and Force began picking up baited camera stations deployed in forested areas throughout Chelan County last fall as part of the North Cascades Fisher Monitoring project. Images collected at these baited camera traps will be used to help evaluate the effectiveness of fisher reintroduction back into the Cascades Fisher Recovery Area and inform future recovery actions by assessing the expansion and distribution of fishers.
The idea was to draw any fishers inhabiting the vicinity into view of the game camera by placing a dispenser loaded with an extremely potent skunk scent over a bone on a tree approximately 15 to 18 feet away and in full view of the camera. The scent lure dispenser dripped this pungent liquid onto a bone every 48 hours throughout the deployment window, attracting any nearby carnivores. In addition to fisher, the baited camera stations were expected to capture images of other carnivore species of concern as well, including gray wolf, wolverine, and lynx.
To further assess fisher occupancy and expansion, a hair snare belt was nailed to the tree right below the beef bone with the aim of snagging hairs from visiting animals climbing the tree. These hairs can then be used for DNA analysis. All data generated from these baited camera stations will be instrumental in learning more about the distribution of fishers and other carnivore species throughout the Cascades.
Biologist Turnock and Technicians Force and Hara have also been busy collecting remote camera stations as part of a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fisher study. These stations have been out since last October.
Bat Emergence Counts: Bat monitoring for the 2024 summer season has begun! Biologists conducted the first round of emergence counts at four maternity colonies (communal roosts where females birth and care for their pups) located in the south Lake Chelan, Entiat River Road, and Lake Wenatchee areas. The species of bats at these four colonies are little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus), Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis), and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). These first counts were conducted when only the females are out flying at night, so biologists will return for a second count at each site in mid-July when pups are able to join the females in exiting the roost.
Bat Probiotic Project: Biologists Eilers, Jeffreys, and Turnock and Technicians Hara and Force joined Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Bat Biologist Tobin and other volunteers at a maternity roost near Lake Chelan. They worked on a project designed to evaluate the efficacy of a cutting-edge White-nose Syndrome (WNS) prohphylaxis technique on Washington’s bats. This maternity colony is a mixed roost of little brown myotis and Yuma myotis, and WNS was first detected among its members in 2021. The Lake Chelan colony is one of the trial sites for a recently developed probiotic cocktail that researchers hope will provide bats protection from the deadly disease. This is the third year of a multi-year study that includes Chelan County and ten other counties in Washington in which bat colonies with WNS have been detected.
In summer 2022, biologists swabbed some of the Lake Chelan bats’ wings to determine baseline microbiota prior to the application of the probiotic cocktail to the roost. Then the probiotic cocktail was applied to surfaces throughout the bat’s roost in April 2023. The bats captured this year are being swabbed to compare wing microbiomes of the before and after probiotic treatment.
Bats were weighed and assessed to determine age, sex, reproductive status, and wing condition. Additionally, bats were outfitted with an arm band and PIT tag to allow individual identification over the several years that monitoring will be conducted at this colony.
Pseudogymnaoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes WNS in bats, typically attacks bats when they are most vulnerable- during hibernation, when bats remain largely inactive to conserve energy and survive the cold months of winter when no insect prey is available.
There is increasing evidence that wing microbiomes can play a substantial role in WNS susceptibility, so Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, McMaster University, and Thompson Rivers University developed a probiotic cocktail of naturally occurring bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens complex, a group of bacteria that has been shown effective at treating WNS in hibernating bats. The goal of this effort is to enhance the wing microflora of bats during the summer by applying this anti-Pd bacteria to surfaces within maternity roosts (e.g., walls, wooden beams). As prolific groomers, bats will brush up against these surfaces and then naturally work the probiotics throughout their wings and fur and that of their pups during grooming sessions.
Bullfrog Removal: Biologist Turnock and Technicians Force and Hara have been assisting with nocturnal bullfrog removal efforts on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Bullfrogs are a highly problematic invasive species in Washington because they are voracious predators. These removal efforts will hopefully improve survival of reintroduced northern leopard frogs, a native species.
Northern Leopard Frog Translocation: Technicians Force and Hara worked with staff members to set up soft release enclosures for northern leopard frogs at the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Eggs were collected from Potholes earlier this year and have been captively reared on the refuge and at the Oregon Zoo and Northwest Trek. Once the frogs are adequately sized, they will be moved to these soft release enclosures to acclimate to their new surroundings before ultimately being released. These protections as they grow are hoped to increase their survival and establish a new population of these state endangered frogs.
Bridgeport Bar Agricultural Fields: Technicians Haney-Williamson and Ruiz have been seeding spring wheat, corn, and buckwheat in agricultural fields on the Bridgeport Bar. Irrigating these fields and mowing cereal rye has also been keeping them busy. Technician Haney-Williamson has seen geese, doves, sandhill cranes and mule deer enjoying the wheat and corn.
Spraying Efforts: Spraying broadleaves along roadsides has continued this month, and wildlife area staff members are already seeing the impacts of their spraying on the weeds. Technicians treated white top in the Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area. They have also focused spray efforts on a ventenata patch and a few phragmites occurrences in Big Bend.
Water Birch Enclosures Irrigation Set-up: Wildlife area staff members have begun the yearly task of setting up irrigation to water birch enclosures within the Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area. This has involved maintaining drip irrigation, repairing pumps, clearing vegetation, and other maintenance. Some of the enclosures are seeing significant and healthy new growth coming up around old trees that were impacted by fire. These water birch enclosures are significant as they provide critical winter shelter and food for Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.
Biocontrol Wasps: Blake and Haupt released biocontrol wasps for Russian knapweed across wildlife area units. The wasps, Aulacidea acroptilonica, were provided by Washington State University extension.
Providing Education and Outreach
Beebe Springs Education Days: Third grade students from Eastmont School District had the opportunity to learn from several organizations and agencies during the Wild Washington Outdoor Classroom event at the Beebe Springs Wildlife Area. Balderston and Chelan Wildlife Area Manager Pavelchek co-led a station focused on local biodiversity. At this station, students learned about wildlife that spend time at Beebe Springs, learned about animal skulls, saw game camera photos, observed fish, birds, and frogs, and drew what they saw.