Wolf and Grizz encounter
You might be tempted to think that predawn in a tranquil time. A time of peace and quiet in nature but in Yellowstone National Park nothing could be further from the truth. Joined by a good friend
Florida Palm Trees
This week’s column comes from the sunny and warm shores of Sanibel Island Florida. I unfortunately had to come to this location because I am working on a new field guide about the trees of Florida. Oh poor me. All things consider, the trees found in Florida are an intriguing mix of eastern deciduous forest trees which are found all across eastern US, such as maples, oaks and elms. But Florida also has tropical and sub-tropical trees along with palms found no where else in the US. An interesting mix of trees indeed. I, however, am here for the topical trees and in particular the palms. Palm trees have long been associated with Florida’s sunny beaches. It’s not hard to envision swaying palm trees on a sandy beach or palm lined boulevards. But has Florida always been one of the palm capitals of North America? The answer is yes and no. World wide there are as many as 3,000 species of palm tree with only a handful that are native to the United States, and most are restricted to the warmer regions of southern Florida and California. There are only eight species of palm native to Florida with another three species (total of 11) that have escaped cultivation and are now naturalized in the state. (Naturalized means the plant is now surviving and reproducing on its own in the wild without the aid of people.) All of these palms are found in the southern half of the state where freezing temperatures are not as much a threat. It should be noted that there are about 25 species of palm that are grown and sold in nurseries for commercial use in the state. Most of these cultivated species come from all across the tropical parts of the world such as Cuba. Back in 1953, the state legislature voted to designate the Sabal Palm (Sabal palmetto) as the official state tree. The Sabal Palm can be found just about everywhere in the southern half of the state. Palms are a very unique tree. They are considered phylogenetically more advanced than Pines, and other evergreen trees and they exhibit a very different appearance than other deciduous trees. Let’s talk a look at some of those differences. The trunk of a palm tree is not divided into bark and wood as in other trees. Instead, they have only an outer shell and an inner cylinder, both of which are composed to living tissue. In other trees only the thin lining just under the bark is living with the “wood” center being dead. Also the trunk grows from the center out increasing the girth of the tree without shedding their outer layer as in other trees. Another major difference between palms and other trees is their unbranching trunk. Palm trees grow upward from a single terminal bud with a collection of leaves found in the end or top of the tree. As the tree grows the lowest leaves are replaced by new leaves erupting from the top center of the tree. The older lower leaves will dry and turn brown before falling off. Some species of palm retain their old brown leaves giving the tree the appearance of wearing a brown grass skirt. All palm trees can be divided into two major groups based on the type of leaf. The first group has palmate or fan-shaped leaves. These leaves are characterized by a leaf structure in which all of the leaf segments arise from a single point in the center of the leaf. Similar to the fingers on your hand, all of which originate from a single point, your palm. The second group is pinnate leaves. These kinds of leaves are characterized by leaves with a row of narrow leaflets (smaller leaves) arising from each side of a central stalk, similar in design to a feather. So there you have it, the palms of Florida in a coconut shell, if you will. The next time you visit the wonderful state of Florida be sure to take a moment and admire the palms. Until next time…
Eastern Screech Owl
Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I love all birds but there is one special group of birds that I stand partial towards–the owls. For as long as I can remember owls and other raptors have held a special place in my naturalist heart. I have traveled thousands of miles and hiked many miles more to see and photograph owls all over this country. They are just one of those birds that really excite me. I am not the only one who finds owls captivating. I know many who are just as enthralled as I am with these birds. One of the things that I find so interesting about owls are that some species are so tiny such as the Elf Owl which is only 6 inches tall while others are so large such as the Great Gray Owl which stands over two feet tall. Even though there is a large size difference these owls share many common features. For the past two years I have been fortunate enough to be able to do an in-depth study and photograph, with the aid of some modern technology, of a nesting pair of Eastern Screech Owls. These small owls have been very accommodating and tolerant of my efforts to learn more about their behavior. It all started last year when a wonderful retired couple contacted me to stay they had an owl roosting in one of their Wood Duck boxes. It was late winter so I stopped by to take a look. Sure enough an Eastern Screech Owl (gray morph) had taken up winter residency in one of the wood duck boxes. On sunny days she would sit with her face out of the hole allowing me several nice opportunities to photograph it. Later, towards spring a second owl, this time a red morph, showed up and was also roosting in a near by nest box. The home owner and I went around and looked in all the nest boxes to determine which one they where using for nesting. We installed a tiny infra-red camera that is capable of seeing in the dark in the nest box. We ran a wire from the nest box into the home and hooked it up to the VCR and TV. Just like that we had a window into the private life of this pair of owls. It wasn’t long before the female started laying eggs. We watched as each day she would lay another ping-pong sized and shaped egg until she had a total of four eggs. Over the next month we watch as she preformed what I think is an amazing feat—incubating the eggs. Incubating may seem like a simple and mundane process but in many respects it’s another example of how amazing mother nature can be. Think about it; if “you” sat down for a month, as this bird does, with only a few minutes break each day, your muscles would atrophy (weaken) to the point where you would need to learn how to walk all over again. During this month long incubation the eggs need to be kept near 99 degrees F which is a degree warmer than our own body core temperature. Owls average around 104 F body core temperature. The female does all of the incubating. The male will bring her food which she sometimes carries off to consume someplace else or will stay in the box to eat. Twenty six days after she started incubating the camera showed us the hatching of the four owl chicks. As each egg hatched the mother eat the egg shells presumably to regain the calcium that she lost while producing the eggs. Each tiny owl chick comes into this world with its eyes sealed shut and sparsely feathered. The mother continues to sit on the chicks to keep them warm. This is called brooding. For the first week or so of their lives the tiny owls have no ability to regulate their body temperature so brooding is extremely important. If the chicks become cold they will be too weak to lift their heads and feed. Without feeding they will become even weaker and cool off even more and will soon die. The male brings the female and the chicks their food. He flies up to the nest box and quickly deposits whatever morsel he has caught into the nest hole. Usually it is a large insect such as a moth, but he also brought in many mice and small birds. Each food drop is accompanied by a lot of calling by the female. Night after night he faithfully brings in enough food for the chicks and the mother. The mother tears up the food items and feeds the hungry owlets. After only a week the female leaves the box and the young start to feed themselves on whatever the parents drop into the box. By the third week the young have grown enough to leave the safety of their nest box and join the world. We were extremely fortunate enough to have the same pair of birds return to the same nest box this year but this time laid six eggs. Again with the aid of the infra-red camera we watched. Tragedy stuck when during one of the nights when we were not watching four of the six eggs went missing. We don’t know if it was a raccoon but that is my guess. Shortly after the two remaining eggs hatched. We were thrilled again. I still see each bird hatching as a miracle and this year was no different. As I write this the two young owls are growing and stretching their wings in preparation for their first flight out of the box. Once again I feel as proud as the owl parents. Until next time…
Purple Martin
Birds and the fashion world have had a long history together. Throughout the 1800’s all manor of bird was hunted and killed just for their feathers. The Great Egret, a large all white heron like bird with long white plums was nearly hunted into extinction just so their feathers could adorn woman’s hats. In fact the name “Egret” comes from the French word aigrette, which means “ornamental tufts of plumes”. The plumes grow near the tail of the bird during the breeding season and are very attractive. Many species of bird were heavily hunted for the fashion industry and some were nearly driven into extinction during the 1800’s. However during the early to mid 1900’s several laws were passed to protect non-game species and we have seen a return of many of these species. Bird watching has also been fashionable over the years. For example in the early 1900’s, putting up a Purple Martin house became very fashionable. People would build a martin house out of wood and put it up in their yards and farms. There were huge advertisement campaigns which extolled the virtues of having martins, the largest member of the swallow family, around your home. These ads said that martins would eat thousands of mosquitoes each day. Who wouldn’t like to have a mosquito eating machine flying around their home? (By the way, it turns out that only 10 percent of their diet consists of mosquitoes.) People responded by put up thousands of martin houses. These multi-compartment homes popped up all across the U.S. They became so fashionable that companies started to manufacture martin houses. Attracting and watching martins became a national obsession. It was so successful that all of these new homes actually changed the behavior of the entire species. By the mid 1900’s it was estimated that the entire population of Purple Martin in the eastern half of the country, which for thousands of years had nested in natural tree cavities, switched over to man-made nesting cavities. I am sure many of the readers of this column can remember their parents or grandparents who had martin houses and can attest to how common it was to put up martin houses. Then something happened. I am not sure if it was World War II, or the economy or just what changed, but the fashion winds started to blow a different direction and putting up martin houses suddenly stopped. Neglected martin houses were taken over by House Sparrows, which at the time were expanding their range all across the U.S.. Wooden martin houses started to rot and fall apart and people lost interest in the natural insect controller. Purple Martins where no longer fashionable. The over all population of martins dropped dramatically. Fast forward to present day and not much as changed. Martin numbers are still low and they are still nesting in man-made nesting cavities. In fact it is estimated that the entire population of Purple Martins in the eastern half of the country only nests in man-made cavities. They no longer nest in tree cavities as they did in the past. Apparently there are some martins in the western half of the country that still nest in natural cavities but that is about it. During the winter two years ago I fixed up an old damaged metal martin house that someone was throwing out and I installed it at our lake cabin. I mounted it at the end of our dock on a tall telescoping pole. That spring, to my astonishment, several pair of martins showed up and started to construct their nests and lay eggs. I was thrilled. Three families called the end of my dock home. They raised their babies and all was right with the world. This past winter I fixed up my beat up old metal martin house again and also added a couple of plastic gourds in hopes of gaining extra space for more martin families. Again this spring three families showed up and took up residency. As I sit here on my deck in the early morning light I can see and hear my martins calling back and forth as they come in for a landing on my old martin house. They are carrying insects to feed the young which have yet to see the world outside of their small cavity. I hope, that maybe, just maybe the Purple Martin will again be the darling of the bird world and it will be once again fashionable to put up a martin house and people will become the caretaker of this wonderful bird. Until next time…
Update on Purple Martins
A follow up note since the eColumn runs about 4-6 weeks behind, I had 45 purple martin babies fledged this summer
Purple Martins Part 2
Apparently I struck a nerve with my last column about Purple Martins. I have heard from many readers who now want to try and put up a martin house after reading about my limited success with attracting martins.. So I thought I better follow up with some do’s and don’t when it comes to attracting Purple Martins. I don’t want to go negative on you right away but if you don’t plan on actively managing your martin house, which means weekly checks of the inhabitants, and especially aggressively managing sparrows and starlings please don’t put up a martin house. The reason behind this is, if you just put up a martin house in your suburban backyard (which is usually not suitable habitat for martins) it will only serve to attract sparrows and starlings and do nothing to help out the failing martin population. Speaking of martin populations, the National Audubon Society put out a report last week that stated Purple Martin are one of the top three birds declining in population in North America. Their over all population is down nearly 80 percent over the past 40 years. So putting up and correctly managing a martin house can go a long way to help out the falling martin population. For the first timer, choosing a martin house can be a real challenge. I have a multi-compartment metal house along with two plastic gourds. No matter what kind of house you get, you need a pole system that either telescopes or one that cranks the box up and down. Either way you will need to lower the box to your level without tilting the box onto its side. Poles should be between 10-15 feet tall. Placement of your martin house is the number one mistake made when trying to attract martins. Matins have very specific space requirements. The house should be in the center of the largest open space available. There should be no trees in a 50-60 foot radius. In my case I have put my martin house on my boat dock which juts into the lake. The extra space allows the birds a long gliding flight pattern to approach the house. If you have a heavily wooded lot your chances of getting martins are slim. In my area being on a lake seems to increase your odds dramatically. Martins like to be near human houses. Be sure to place the martin house close to your own house and be sure to place it within eyesight of your favorite window where you can sit and watch the martins come and go. This will also allow you hours of enjoyment and give you an early warning of predators along with watching for sparrows and starlings. Speaking of sparrows and starlings. For some readers this is going to be a major problem if you put up a martin house. Sparrows and starlings will take over all the compartments, destroy the eggs of any nesting martins or even kill the adult martins. In order to be a successful martin landlord you will need to control any sparrows and starlings. Since both of these birds are not native and not protected by laws they can be legally trapped and destroyed. Remember if Tree Swallows or House Wrens move in they are protected by federal laws and can not be killed. Once your box is up you will need to conduct weekly checks of your martins to make sure no sparrows have moved in. It is also a good idea to keep track of how your martins are doing and count the number of eggs or chicks. Be sure to keep your martin house in good repair and while we are on the subject, painting your martin house white is always a good idea. White will reflect the sun and keep the interior cooler. Some say that martins prefer white houses but I have also seen studies that showed it really didn’t matter what color the house was. Opening and closing the martin house is also very important. Manufactured martin houses come with plugs or doors for each compartment. Opening or removing the doors too soon in the spring only invites nest site competitors to set up shop and keep out the martins. Closing the compartments after the season is just as important. So there you have some basic information on being a martin landlord. For more detailed information check the Purple Martin Conservation Association web site at www.purplemartin.org. Until next time
Blackhills
Knowing and understanding basic bird and animal behavior is critical to being a successful wildlife photographer.
California Condor Arizona
This week’s column comes from the south rim of the Grand Canyon in hot and sunny northern Arizona. I am here working on photographing a long list of wildflowers, trees and some small mammals. (Oh, by the way, yes, there are trees in Arizona.) I am currently working on several new field guides for the state of Arizona and this is part of my research. Today I have taken a break from photographing what I need to photograph and decided to photograph something I want to—the California Condor. This is what has brought me to the edge of the Grand Canyon where the vastness and beauty of this natural marvel is over-whelming. I was here about 5 or 6 years ago shortly after the initial re-introduction of the condor to northern Arizona so I was interested in seeing how the largest bird in North America was doing. The condor re-introduction goal was to release enough of these prehistoric birds in northern Arizona and southern Utah to establish a breeding population. This way if a disease or natural disaster occurred within the main population of condors in California there were be a healthy gene pool to draw from to repopulate. But first a little history on the condor. During the height of the last ice age about 50,000 to 10,000 years ago the condors flew over the land in search of dead carcasses of huge pre-historic animals such as the Ground Sloth and Woolly Mammoth. Bones of the condor have been recovered in several caves in the Grand Canyon that date back to the ice age. For unknown reasons sometime after the ice age the condors disappeared from the Grand Canyon and by the time of European settlement occurred the condors were only found along the pacific coast from Canada to Baja California. By the 1800’s the remaining population of the condor began to drop due to a variety of reasons. Not surprising most where human related. By the early 1920 condors it was estimated that less than a hundred condors were in existence. By 1980’s there were only 22 California Condors left in the world. Something needed to be done or the extinction of the largest bird species in North America was at hand. The decision was made to capture the remaining wild birds and bring them into captivity. A very successful captive breeding program was launched and there were soon enough condors to start to release back into the wild. The first releases of the condor occurred in central California where the original birds were captured. The second population was started in late 1996 when six condors were released in Arizona. Since then, several captive bred birds have been released each year. Since all of the released birds were youngsters and condors don’t start to breed until they are 5 or 6 years of age, the first wild breeding attempt didn’t occurred until the early 2000’s. Predictably, the first wild breeding attempts were not success but in 2003 the first wild condor chick hatched. This was a huge mile stone in the recovery of this most amazing bird.
Two eColumns at once
Due to my extended trip to Alaska to photograph brown bears, I have fallen behind on sending out my eColumn
Change of Seasons
The end of summer is a quite time for a wildlife photographer. The rush of the nesting season is over and the craziness of the fall migration hasn’t started. So for me, I spend a lot of my time chained to my computer writing, as I am doing right now. Nothing less than a super-heavy duty, titanium coated chain can keep me at my computer. Even if there isn’t much to photograph at this time of year I would rather be out in the woods, mountains, prairies or desert than be working inside. I am constantly feeling the pull of the great outdoors. Thinking about this column got me excited for the up and coming fall migration. Just as a sports fanatic gets excited for the beginning of the football season I am really looking forward to the brief three or four weeks of migration. I know I am not alone in this feeling. I recall a time several years ago in southern Arizona. I was on a very narrow and twisting dirt road in the middle of nowhere photographing a Mexican Gray Hawk. It is a very uncommon species of migratory hawk that spends winter in Mexico but breeds in southern Arizona. Down the road came an old pick up truck with a very ornery looking old man driving. He had a rifle in the gun rack behind his head on the rear window of the truck. I stepped to the side of the road hoping he would just pass me by and not stop and give me a hard time. Sure enough the old-timer screeches to a haul in a cloud of dust and asks me the same question I always get. “What are you doing?” Not wanting to upset the local ranch owners I pointed to the sky over-head and said I was photographing the Gray Hawk which happened to be flying over at that exact moment. The old guy looked up to see the bird and I could see his face change from concern to contentment. He looked back at me and asked, “The Gray Hawks are back?” I shrugged my shoulders and just looked up to the sky again not knowing how to answer. I thought fore sure he was going to read me the riot act about being on a private road, disturbing the cattle or some other non-sense thing to get me to move along but he didn’t. He said, “I look forward to the return of the Gray Hawks every year. There is something reassuring about the rhythm of migration.” He went on to say it makes him feel good inside and that he fells like everything will be alright when he sees the birds migrate. For just a brief moment a smile came to his face while he talked about the change of the seasons. He went on about the fact that we as people grow old and sometimes never slow down enough to watch and appreciate natural events such as the change of the season, bird migration or even to stop and watch the sunset or rise. I didn’t say much but I felt completely at ease and connected with this old guy who just moments before seemed to threatening. He wrapped up his comments with a “Thanks for letting me know my birds are back”. We said our good-byes and I pondered his choice of words–“my birds”. I know how this guy feels. Sometimes I feel so connected to the world around me. I swear I can feel the rhythm of life, the cycles of Mother Nature, the changing of the seasons. I am fortunate to have a job that keeps me outdoors, close to the land and the many animals and birds that call it home. I have seen so many sunsets and sunrises that I can’t count but I still stop, watch and appreciate each one. As I write this I look out and marvel at “my hummingbirds” which are feeding right outside my window. In just a few short weeks will fly thousands of miles to their winter home in Central and South America. Like the birds, I can feel the decreasing amount of daylight and sometimes I swear I can feel the tilt of the earth on its axis and the ebb and flow of nature that follows that tilt. I feel connected to something that is so large and so complex it often defies description—but it’s there. I feel it and so did the old man in the pickup truck. Until next time