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Lassen Volcanic National Park Outing

By Larry Jordan on July 14, 2017 in Events

Mount Lassen and Manzanita Lake

One of the best things about our annual Lassen Park campout is that we get to see several species of birds that are rarely, if ever, seen in the valley. Many of those species also nest in the park. According to their website, Lassen Volcanic National Park provides habitat for approximately 216 species of birds in which 96 have been known to actually breed in the park.

For those of you that have never been to Lassen Volcanic National Park, I thought I would post some photos I have taken inside the park of some of the bird and animal species we may encounter during our annual campout.

One of my favorite species is the Water Ouzel, more commonly known now as the American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus). This is a photo I took at King’s Creek picnic area of an adult feeding its nestlings. Click on photos for full sized images.

and a short video of the nestlings begging for food and being fed.

Of course, LVNP has a great variety of woodpeckers on their bird list, eight of them known to nest in the area, including the White-headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus.) This is a male with some treats for the youngsters.

and a short video of the adults feeding the nestling and drumming.

We will hopefully see the rare Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) as well.

and maybe hear it drum!

There are Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) that hang out just adjacent to our campground in an old burn.

And Red-breasted Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus ruber) are common.

Near Summit Lake we have been able to witness Williamson’s Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus thyroideus) raising their young in a snag near the campground. The handsome male…

and the not as recognizable female.

Another of my favorite Lassen Park nesting birds is the Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)…

This is a video of the nesting activity of a pair of Brown Creepers at Summit Lake. Their nest is concealed in the narrow space behind loose bark on a tree.

Mountain Chickadees (Poecile sclateri) are one of the many secondary cavity nesters at the park. This is a nestling waiting to be fed at Hat Lake.

Also seen at Hat Creek, Red-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta canadensis) tending their nestlings.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

And the video accompaniment.

Other secondary cavity nesters at the park include the Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea)…

the Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides), the male seen here…

Mountain Bluebird Male

and the Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola).

Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the few places that this incredible cavity nesting duck breeds in Northern California.

This is a video of a female Bufflehead searching Manzanita Lake for a cavity to nest in for the following nesting season. She is in a snag, at least forty feet up!

American Coots (Fulica americana) raise their young at the park also. If you have never seen a American Coot chick, Manzanita Lake is a good spot to find them.

American Coot Chick

Since we’re checking out the youngsters of the park, I found this juvenile Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) at Bumpass Hell. Note the remaining flesh colored gape below the eye at the corner of the beak.

Other species that nest at the park include the Cassin’s Finch (Carpodacus cassinii). The male seen here…

and the female.

You would be hard pressed to miss the boisterous Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

But if you are really lucky, you might find a young Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) at Hat Lake!

You gotta see this…

Or a Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) that also nests here.

Of course there are more than just birds at Lassen Volcanic National Park. The park is home to approximately 57 species of mammals ranging is size from the tiny shrew to the North American black bear. We are most likely to see the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis)…

the American Pika (Ochotona princeps)…

and the Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris).

I hope this post intrigues you enough to consider joining us this year at Lassen Volcanic National Park for our 2017 annual campout. As always we will be camping with our friends and fellow Audubon members from other Northern California chapters. As with all of our activities, the Lassen Park Campout is posted on our calendar for more information. You are welcome to campout beginning Friday, July 28th, anytime past noon, or drive up Saturday morning to join us for the hike around Manzanita Lake.

Want more information on Lassen Volcanic National Park? Visit their website! And here is an interactive map of the park.

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A Message From David Yarnold, President and CEO of the National Audubon Society

By Larry Jordan on March 11, 2017 in Conservation, In the News

Photo Credit Stephen Melkisethian

If your in-box looks like mine, you’ve received a lot of email about the administration’s first draft of a budget outline. There’s a lot of bold-faced or bright red type on those emails and they make it sound like the proposed budget cuts are a done deal. Audubon thinks you deserve a more thoughtful response. Those emails would also lead you to believe that an executive order to begin the long process of undoing the Clean Power Plan is the end of the line. In fact, the administration’s budget proposal was designed to generate headlines about living up to campaign promises, but it also divided Americans on core values like clean air and clean water. The executive orders are just the beginning of a years-long process that will test the Audubon network’s commitment to science, community and fairness.

Keep in mind a president’s budget proposal is just that: an opening bid. More details will emerge in the coming weeks. Those details will be debated for months in Congress. As we’ve seen in recent weeks on issues ranging from privatizing public lands to health care, you have a chance as constituents to influence how that budget gets shaped. As the voice of birds, Audubon will be by your side. We’ve worked to protect funding for the places birds need for 111 years—with Democrat and Republican presidents and across party lines in Congress. And in the coming weeks and months, we will work harder than ever with our elected representatives on both sides of the political aisle to make sure we continue to protect the clean air, clean water, and stable climate birds and people need to thrive.

It’s clear that this administration, left unchecked, will fundamentally step back from all of those protections in the name of reducing the role of government. While it’s the nature of bureaucracies to need an occasional pruning, other agendas are at work, serving special interests like big oil and coal as well as the super-wealthy.

Audubon’s leadership chooses to engage with this administration as we have with 28 that preceded it. We simply won’t stand aside while the future of the Arctic Wilderness or Endangered Species Act gets decided. But we’re under no illusions about how hard the fight will be in the face of many in the administration who equate caring conservation with economic hardship. That cynical and, some would say, blasphemous world view is a complete distortion of the values that drove Republicans from Teddy Roosevelt to Richard Nixon to create national parks and bedrock environmental protections.

At every step of the budget process, Audubon—with your continued help and support—will fight to protect funding that’s critical to advancing our conservation work.

How can we do it? We’re a credible voice for commonsense conservation, and that transcends party or politics. The Atlantic magazine recently described Audubon as “one of the oldest and most centrist of conservation-minded groups” in the country. In a polarized political climate, Audubon’s membership is unique, with members and donors from across the political spectrum,including Democrats, Republicans and independents. We are community builders, not community dividers because birds create common ground. When I meet with chapters, I see committed conservationists and I can’t readily tell R’s from I’s or D’s.

You, our diverse members, make us an effective organization—in the communities we call home and in Washington D.C. Your representatives need to hear why funding conservation work is so important to you and to Audubon’s efforts across the country. You can be confident that in the coming weeks and months we will offer you opportunities to raise your powerful voice at the crucial points when it matters most.

Remember, now more than ever, you’re what hope looks like to a bird. Get involved and take action today.

Conservation Group Seeks Protection Of Rare Western Sparrow

By Larry Jordan on December 22, 2016 in Conservation

Vesper Sparrow with Nestlings by Suzanne Beauchesne

Calls for Oregon Vesper Sparrow to be Listed under the Endangered Species Act

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2016) American Bird Conservancy has petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list the Oregon Vesper Sparrow as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In a letter sent to Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, ABC describes this subspecies of the Vesper Sparrow as highly imperiled and threatened with extinction throughout its range.

The petition makes the case that the species warrants listing because of significant population declines and ongoing habitat loss and degradation, among other threats, and because it lacks adequate protection under existing regulatory mechanisms.

Without ESA listing, the sparrows’ future looks grim. The current estimated population of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow is fewer than 3,000 birds, and Breeding Bird Survey data indicates a statistically significant population decline of more than five percent every year over the last 45 years.

This migratory species has a restricted breeding range that historically included southwestern British Columbia, western Washington and Oregon, and northwestern California. Now, breeding populations have disappeared from British Columbia and California, along with numerous local breeding populations throughout the range.

The species overwinters in California west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and south of San Francisco Bay, and historically it ranged into northwestern Baja California, Mexico. But wintering populations in Baja and southern parts of California have now disappeared.

“We are deeply concerned about the future of this bird,” said Bob Altman, ABC’s Pacific Northwest Conservation Officer. “With so few birds remaining, many in small and isolated populations, the Oregon Vesper Sparrow needs the immediate protection and conservation focus made possible through ESA listing.”

Several primary threats are driving the sparrow’s decline:

The continuing loss and degradation of its grassland and savannah habitats because of development, conversion of those habitats to intensive agriculture, and the encroachment of invasive shrubs, trees, and exotic grasses;
Harmful or poorly timed land-use activities such as mowing, overgrazing, military training, and recreational use; and
The vulnerability of small, isolated breeding groups of birds.

“Every year, more populations are being lost, and we are not seeing the establishment of new populations where habitat restoration has occurred,” Altman said.

Existing regulatory mechanisms do not provide the protection needed to prevent the Oregon Vesper Sparrow from continuing on its trajectory toward extinction. There are no Federal or State programs dedicated to its conservation, and only about 20 percent of the birds’ range-wide population occurs on public lands. Without ESA listing, this vulnerable species will continue to decline and is likely to disappear forever.

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American Bird Conservancy is the Western Hemisphere’s bird conservation specialist—the only organization with a single and steadfast commitment to achieving conservation results for native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With a focus on efficiency and working in partnership, we take on the toughest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on sound science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.

Contact: Bob Altman, ABC’s Pacific Northwest Conservation Officer, 541-760-9520

Invasive Mammals Are Pushing Native Birds To The Brink

By Larry Jordan on December 13, 2016 in Conservation, In the News

Cats Among Biggest Threats to Global Biodiversity

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 13, 2016) Invasive mammalian predators are killing endangered species around the world at much higher rates than previously known and are “arguably the most damaging group of alien animal species for global biodiversity,” according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The findings are the latest evidence that cats and other invasive species pose a major threat to birds and other wildlife worldwide.

Non-native mammalian predators have contributed to the extinction of 87 bird, 45 mammal, and 10 reptile species, and have helped put another 596 species at risk of extinction, according to the study by Dr. Tim S. Doherty and colleagues, most of whom are researchers affiliated with Australian universities. Chief among these predators are cats, which have negatively affected 430 species of threatened or now-extinct birds, mammals, or reptiles.

The researchers estimate that cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species, including 40 bird species—approximately double the number of extinctions previously attributed to these non-native predators. Combined with introduced rodents, such as Norway rats, “cats are major agents of extinction, collectively being listed as causal factors in 44 percent of modern bird, mammal, and reptile species extinctions,” Doherty et al. write. Both cats and rodents negatively affect the most bird species.

“This comprehensive study confirms yet again just how dramatic an impact cats and other invasive predators are having on bird and other wildlife populations,” said Grant Sizemore, Director of Invasive Species Programs at American Bird Conservancy. “Its findings are striking evidence that the problem is even bigger than previously recognized.”

ABC remains dedicated to confronting the challenge of outdoor cats. “Cats are popular pets, and many of us at ABC have pet cats. Once introduced into the environment by people, however, these cats cause extensive negative impacts,” Sizemore said. “Native species are ill-equipped to defend against such effective predators.” Not only do these cats kill birds and other native species, they also spread diseases such as rabies and toxoplasmosis that put human and wildlife health directly at risk. “The only realistic long-term solution is to contain cats, which simultaneously protects cats, wildlife, and people,” said Sizemore.

Learn more about ABC’s commitment to combating the threat of invasive species and our campaign to keep cats indoors. A recent Q&A on ABC’s Bird Calls blog has more on why cats represent such a serious threat to our irreplaceable wildlife.

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Contact: Grant Sizemore, 202-888-7480

Science Celebrities Visit Redding

By Larry Jordan on December 3, 2016 in BirdWords

Dark-eyed Junco “Oregon” Subspecies

The flit of little gray birds with a conspicuous flash of white outer tail feathers signals the arrival of our charming winter visitors, the Dark-eyed Juncos. Look more closely, and you will see a sparrow-shaped bird with a whitish bill and belly, gray central tail feathers, a rusty back and a black head. The female has a similar plumage pattern only more muted. In this part of the country, juncos migrate vertically. They nest in the high mountains – I’ve seen pairs on Mt. Lassen during the summer – then move downward to spend the winter in the valley.

Dark-eyed Juncos build a nest of grass, moss, rootlets, bark and twigs in a shallow depression with overhead protection. The three to five white eggs with reddish-brown markings are laid by the female and incubated by both parents for about 12 days; then the initially naked and helpless young are cared for for another 9-13 days before leaving the nest. Nestling juncos’ feet develop rapidly, so even before they are able to fly, they can run away if threatened by a predator.

Juncos are lively birds to watch at bird feeders this time of year. Most of the adult diet consists of seeds of various kinds. Juncos can also be seen in open woods, undergrowth and roadsides, and can frequently be found in parks such as Lema Ranch. In winter, flocks of 10-30 occupy a foraging territory, so your yard may have its own flock. Within a flock, each bird will have a definite social ranking with the “top bird” getting first crack at the edibles. See if you can tell who is who in your yard!

This common little bird is a “rock star” in scientific circles. Juncos easily accommodate to laboratory aviaries and so have been the subject of avian behavioral studies in courtship and nesting, care of young, and status of individuals in flocks.

Juncos have even been caught in the midst of evolving. At the University of California San Diego, a study is being performed to compare the “city” juncos on campus with “country” juncos in the nearby mountains. Differences have been found in the tolerance for proximity to humans, and those differences have proven to be inheritable. Also associated have been subtle physical differences, which, as time goes on could lead to separate subspecies. Evolution is often thought to take many, many years, but in fact changing conditions frequently cause rapid changes in species. In this case, it’s happening right before the researchers’ eyes!

Different populations in various geographical areas are highly variable, so much so that the western juncos were once split into four distinct species. Deeper studies revealed that the different groups can interbreed freely and are now considered to be one complex species. Thus, juncos are very interesting for genetic investigation.

So, this ordinary familiar little harbinger of winter is actually famous in scientific circles, and a very important bird in the furthering of human knowledge. Enjoy these avian celebrities in your yard and neighborhood until spring when they return to the mountains to produce the next generation.

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