Western Snowy Plover adult male and chick. Photo from ODFW.

Some encouraging news to pass along this afternoon. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says the Western Snowy Plover had a very good summer along the Oregon Coast. In some ways, it was the best summer since monitoring began in 1990.

Back then, wildlife officials found only 50 adult plovers along the shore. This past summer, they counted at least 201.

The bird is listed as a threatened species under federal and Oregon law. A long time ago, Western Snowy Plovers were numerous and widespread. But much of their habitat has been ruined by development and an invasive European beach grass.

Since the birds like to nest in sandy beach areas, it’s easy for people to disturb them. If you’ve ever seen sections of the beach cordoned off with signs and flags, that’s done to protect snowy plover nests.

ODFW says beach visitors do a good job of respecting the signs, and it’s one of the reasons why the numbers of snowy plovers are rebounding.

A banded chick. Photo from Bureau of Land Management

“This year’s data is really encouraging. It appears that the work we’ve been doing with habitat and predator management is helping,” says Dave Lauten, wildlife biologist with Oregon State University. “A lot of the thanks has to go to beach visitors who help out by observing signs and leashing their dogs to give plovers space to successfully nest and rear their young.”

While this year’s adult numbers are very strong, ODFW also says this past summer was hard on the chicks. 106 of them made to adulthood, a survival rate of about 33%. In 2008, only about 70 chicks survived, but that was one of the worst years on record.

Today’s decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could have a major impact on the continuing fight over old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.  That’s because even though the bird spends much of its life in the ocean, it nests in old growth forests along the coast.  The decision says logging of the bird’s nesting habitat is the major reason its numbers have declined 34% from 2001 to 2008 in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

Courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Environmental groups praised the decision as a victory for science over politics, and called on the Obama Administration to do more to protect old growth areas.  Kristen Boyles, an attorney for Earthjustice, says the ruling will benefit other species.  She says, ““Protecting murrelet forests also helps recover salmon and spotted owl populations, clean our air from excess carbon, and prevent pollution from entering drinking water sources for communities all up and down the coast.”

Timber groups haven’t given up on trying to delist the Marbled Murrelet.  They’ve got a petition to delist before Fish and Wildlife.  Despite today’s announcement, the feds haven’t decided how they’ll rule on the petition.

California Brown Pelican. Courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife

The sudden die-off of West Coast Brown Pelicans last winter was big enough to make national news.  At first, wildlife officials thought a combination of climate change and bad luck was to blame.  The theory, back then, is that the Pelicans delayed migrating south from the Oregon Coast because of the gradually warming winters.  So when the nasty storm hit in December, it caught the Pelicans off guard and hundreds were killed.

But an article in the Metro Santa Cruz newspaper raises questions about what really caused the die-off.  Could it be that a naturally occurring toxin called saxitoxin also played a role in the deaths?  The die-off happened when the entire Oregon Coast was closed to mussel harvesting because of elevated levels of saxitoxin.  Some of the highest levels were recorded near the mouth of the Columbia River, which is also a major roost for the Pelicans.

Because the dead Pelicans weren’t tested at the time for saxitoxin, the connection is impossible to prove.  But the story is a fascinating read of detective work and science.

Yellow-headed Blackbird at Ridgefield NWR

Good news for bird watchers! The River S Unit of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge reopened this morning. While we’re not experts on the subject, we think this is the best birding site near Portland and have been suffering terrible withdrawals since the area was closed at the beginning of the month.

The River S Unit is one of the few bird watching spots with a driving tour. Being in the car often makes it easier to see birds because the vehicle can act as a blind.

Ridgefield NWR officials closed off the area at the beginning of the month for repairs on the bridge that allows access to the unit. The repair work was completed about a week ahead of schedule.

Bad Geese

From the Register Guard, we learn that Eugene school officials are encouraging people to let loose their dogs on the play fields near Willagillespie Elementary School.  They’re hoping the dogs will chase and scare away a flock of Canada Geese that have been making a mess of things.  The volume of droppings is so bad that the fields have been closed during school hours all winter, although some soccer teams continue to use them.  But if the dogs don’t work, officials are looking at “other” methods.

Good Goose

Then there’s this story from the Bend Bulletin which takes a more scholarly approach to the issue.  Wildlife officials have discovered that not all Canada Geese are bad, some are more trouble than others.  On one end of the spectrum you have geese who are just passing through, following the ancient migration route from California to Canada.  Then there’s the rude goose who won’t leave.  He’s just fine hanging out by the pond all year long, thank you very much.  He’s also the one doing most of the damage.  Officials think that by targeting the “bad” geese, the others won’t be such a problem.

Let’s hope they’re right and we can all take a stroll through the park without having to worry so much about where we step.

Courtesy ODFW

Some examples, the resident annual angling license fee would go from $24.75 to $32.50 and a resident annual hunter fee rises from $22.50 to $29.00.

Do you like to cycle or bird watch on Sauvie Island?  The parking fees could almost double.  Daily passes would increase from $3.50 to $6.50 and annual passes would rise from $11.00 to $21.50.

ODFW’s Rick Hargrave says when the fee increases were first proposed, the idea was to maintain current programs and create some new hunting and fishing opportunities.  Future fee hikes would be put off by 6-8 years.

But that was before the economy tanked.

Now, says Hargrave, ODFW needs to the money to protect its programs from major spending cuts and to keep them from sliding backwards.  All state agencies face possible budget cuts of 30%.

The House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Communities Committee is taking public testimony on the proposed increases this morning.  Standard fees for hunting and fishing haven’t been increased since 2004.

ODFW is also asking for increases in several commercial fishing fees.

For more information see ODFW’s website:

ODFW 2009-2011 Budget Includes Proposed Fee Increase

Along the auto tour in the River S unit at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.

According to the Columbian, refuge managers have come up with four alternatives for their new 15-year management plan. The preferred alternative calls for closing some of the hunting areas near the refuge’s popular auto tour in the River S unit. In exchange, hunters would be allowed on nearby Bachelor Island which is currently off limits to the public. Wildlife watchers would benefit from a new hiking trail. Comments are being taken until April 10th.

Meanwhile, the refuge is looking at plans to find a new location for a bridge into the auto tour. The current one has safety issues. Sadly, the auto tour has been closed for the month of April, right in the middle of the prime bird watching season, so the old wooden bridge can be upgraded.

The Department says the reason for the extended closure is that wintering Cackling Geese are staying longer than expected.  If the areas were opened too soon to people, the disruption might cause the geese to move into neighboring farm lands where they could seriously damage crops.

Cackling Geese look like smaller versions of the Canada Goose and were once considered a sub-species.

A flock of Cackling Geese on Sauvie Island. Courtesy ODFW.