From the Contact Station November 2022

Anticipating Seasonal Arrivals

We spent much of August watching the water disappear from the Refuge along with many of the visitors.  Just a few muddy puddles remained.  When they could be viewed, they had some nice surprises with not often seen shorebirds and bitterns in full view. Frogs were hopping everywhere as herons were smiling at the easy meal offerings.  In mid-September visitors began to reappear, asking “Are the ducks here yet? Where are the geese? Have you seen any cranes?”  Sometime in September, after all the delayed treating and discing of the wetlands for invasives was complete, FWS started pumping water into the River S from the Columbia River/Bachelor Slough area.  It was estimated to take five or six weeks to fill across the River S area during this extraordinarily dry year.  But a pump broke and needed new parts, slowing the process.  They can only pump what is available from the river and that was low too.  But as September passed, the water started to seep into the Kiwa area and along the auto tour sloughs.  One of the first wildlife viewing treats was return of the otters who seemed as happy as the visitors watching them.  Slowly, as we moved through October, the anticipation of fall visitors was being fulfilled.  We had very good viewing of Sandhill Cranes in the fields around the contact station.  In some ways, it seemed like the migration was slow in unfolding much as it has seemed that summer was slow to leave.

Finally, October 21 brought us a full day and night of rain.  I was at the contact station on that day, and I could almost see everything swell up and green up.  Steady, ground-absorbing, pond-filling rain.  While looking out the contact station window, I spotted movement of something small and dark.  It was darting around and ended its run under the sandwich sign in front of me.  I crept out to get a better look and found a soggy Townsend’s Vole. What a cutie.  Short tail, brown/black fur, and tiny eyes.  I wish I could say the story ended there, but as I returned to the contact station, a murder of crows descended to the kiosk.  I watched them as they were looking around, moving to follow the vole.  The vole made a run for it, fatal mistake. The five crows were down on the ground surrounding it.  The last I saw of the vole was as it was being carried away by one of the crows while the others flew with it.  RIP little vole. Murder of crows is aptly named.

Harvesting Hay:  Our huge atmospheric rivers of rain followed by an extremely dry summer didn’t pass without some benefit.  There were many visitor comments about the grasses being so tall and dense this year. Talking to the cattlemen, I learned that they moved 26 truckloads of hay bales with 54 bales on each truck.  That totaled over 16 tons of hay they were able to harvest on our fields on the River S and Bachelor Island.  According to cattlemen Doug, it was the biggest harvest they have ever had.  Cattle feed harvests on the east side of the Cascades have been severely curtailed by the lack of water.  You have probably heard about the water problems in the news.  Doug was afraid he was going to have to sell some of his cattle, but the Refuge harvest was so good, he won’t have to do that.  In October, the cattle made their way back to Madras, Oregon in three large carriers and one sizable open truck. It was a “moo-ving” experience, as they were quite vocal. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)

Crane Count:  On Sunday, October 9^th, we did the annual Sandhill Crane count.  I had the privilege of counting on Bachelor Island.  We get to our count spot about an hour before sunset and count the cranes entering a known night roost until we can no longer see or hear them coming in, that is about 40 minutes after sunset.  The roost is usually a body of water with a nice muddy area in the center where the cranes gather and can feel safer from any night predators. On Bachelor Island there are some small lakes and Wigeon Lake is the usual roosting place for the cranes.  But this year, instead of flying over my head into Wigeon Lake, the cranes landed in a small wet area right in front of me in the middle of large well mowed fields.  What a show.  The photo was taken about 25 minutes after sunset when there was still some light. Some of the cranes landed in the field adjacent to the water but eventually all moved to the muddy dirt area surrounded by water.  I had 107 cranes come into my new roost area, although ten left after a while, probably headed to Sauvie Island.

The overall count was good this year at 5183 cranes, being the second highest since counting started in 1991.  The highest year was 2018 at 5352.  The count area is from Vancouver Lake bottoms to the Lewis River and across the Columbia at Sauvie Island.   There seems to be a trending upward over the 30 years of counting; however, there has been some shift in the roost areas counted, possibly a result of some movement to new roost areas.  In any case, the numbers are looking good.

Turtling:  While

waiting for more of our migrant birds and wintering waterfowl to arrive, I decided it would be fun to go “turtling”.  Something akin to birding.  I wanted to watch turtle behavior the way I enjoy bird behavior.  If you need a moment to slow down and relax, turtle watching can surely help you do that. Sitting by the slough around #3, I spent a relaxing 40 minutes watching two painted turtles.  I took a series of photos; most of them look like duplicates.  While reading about painted turtles, I found that their biggest activity is basking.  I found that it basically means head movement – in and out, side to side – an occasional stretch, and maybe a turn around.  The biggest event was one turtle trying to occupy the space of the other turtle.  I studied their face and neck markings trying to figure out if I could tell them apart.  I have to say, it is subtle.  I am thinking it would be good to mimic turtle behavior in winter sun. Find a warm spot, turn a cheek to the sun, stretch out a foot, soak it all up.  Yes, turtling can be quite relaxing. See the species spotlight this month for more information on the lives of our painted turtles.

What’s to come:   The Trumpeter and Tundra Swans are a bit late to the auto tour this year.  Probably because of lack of water, or it is not deep enough for them.  On October 23, I found the first sighting listed in e-bird for this year.  There was one

Tundra Swan on Carty Lake.  This is late for their arrival.  By the time you read this, there should be some more.  Eagles, which have been hard to find, are beginning to scare up flocks of Cackling Geese.  We should see the return of many raptors including the Rough-legged Hawk, a northern arctic breeder.   Also, we are hoping that the mangy coyote begins to look a bit better as its’ winter coat comes in.

Finally, with the hunt season starting, the kestrels are reminding us that the first segment of the auto tour road to the hunt gate is two-way traffic. Thanks to Pat Snyder for supplying this helpful photo.

-Susan Setterberg, Contact Station Volunteer
-All images by her unless otherwise labeled