This morning I came across a few interesting and relevant items in a newsletter from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
For one, over the next week the Bureau of Reclamation will be running an experimental high-volume release from Glen Canyon Dam. The main purpose of this is to mimic natural flood events, and redeposit sediment from the river bottom to the banks, creating beaches and sandbars. This is possible this year because of heavy flood events during the monsoon season which deposited large amounts of sediments into the Colorado from its tributaries. The higher flow will mainly affect the Grand Canyon; after passing through that area, the water will be caught and stored in Lake Mead. Although it doesn't directly affect the lower Colorado River, it's worth reading up on this effort here.
Another exciting bit of news is that the AZGFD has created an interactive map of Arizona showing land ownership, game management units, access and easements. Check it out at azaccessmap.com.
Showing posts with label Bureau of Reclamation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bureau of Reclamation. Show all posts
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
How I Spent My Spring
To say I had a busy spring would be an impressive understatement! I continued my part-time job with the City of Lake Havasu, but caved to my desire to get out in the field by working for the Great Basin Bird Observatory. The GBBO is doing work for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which is doing a lot of work creating and monitoring habitat on the LCRV. The main part of this work that I've been involved in is the Multi-Species Conservation Plan (MSCP), through which the Bureau monitors certain focal species that are not federally listed. Those that are listed or candidates - Yuma Clapper Rail, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Southwestern Willow Flycatcher - are covered by species-specific projects. The Bureau has done a lot of great work with the MSCP and gathered an impressive amount of data. The technical reports are available online here, a very interesting resource.
The project I helped with this spring was aimed at quantifying the use of different riparian habitats by breeding birds, especially MSCP covered species - Gilded Flicker, Gila Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler, Bell's Vireo, Summer Tanager, and Vermilion Flycatcher. Essentially, we were surveying 400m x 400m (ish) plots, recording migrants and mapping every breeding bird we could locate in a morning. The plots were randomly selected, falling from Laughlin to Yuma, and up the Bill Williams River almost to Alamo Dam. I won't go over the protocols and study design in detail here - you can read about it in the 2009 report.
Since I was also working for the city, I was working a bit less than the others on the project, but I was still plenty busy. I surveyed one site twice a week, another site once a week, and several sites only twice over the season. The twice a week site was my "extreme intensive" at 'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve. I was pleased as punch to visit that site 16 times over the field season! Since it's a habitat creation site, it's easy to walk around and find nests, and it is also full of birds. The Vermilion Flycatchers and Lawrence's Goldfinches breeding there were especially fun to watch. The site I visited once a week was actually immediately adjacent to the hill we scan the north end of Lake Havasu from, which we call "Lehman Hill". The hill is the southern boundary of the plot, which extends north about a kilometer in a dense tamarisk/mesquite stringer with patches of arrowweed and some big willows. The breeders weren't as interesting, but the site was great for migrants. Since the site ran along the shore of the lake, I surveyed it by kayak several times.
My other surveys were mainly in La Paz County. Several were in Cibola NWR, one was in Mosquito Flats on the Bill Will, and one was up the Bill Will at Lincoln Ranch, about six miles downstream from the Alamo Dam. One fell in San Bernardino County near Needles, and I also surveyed the Island STP in Lake Havasu City.
Just for fun, I put together this summary of spring migration on the LCRV. This only includes regular migrants, not rarities. I also omitted any species for which I didn't get a good sense of their migratory patterns - for example, I missed the arrival of Lucy's Warblers and saw my FOS long after many had arrived. This only includes my sightings, so it is by no means a complete summary of migrants this spring. To read about rarities and overall sightings, we'll have to wait for AZFO's spring Seasonal Report.
This being a 12-page word document, I thought I'd stick it behind a cut...
The project I helped with this spring was aimed at quantifying the use of different riparian habitats by breeding birds, especially MSCP covered species - Gilded Flicker, Gila Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler, Bell's Vireo, Summer Tanager, and Vermilion Flycatcher. Essentially, we were surveying 400m x 400m (ish) plots, recording migrants and mapping every breeding bird we could locate in a morning. The plots were randomly selected, falling from Laughlin to Yuma, and up the Bill Williams River almost to Alamo Dam. I won't go over the protocols and study design in detail here - you can read about it in the 2009 report.
Since I was also working for the city, I was working a bit less than the others on the project, but I was still plenty busy. I surveyed one site twice a week, another site once a week, and several sites only twice over the season. The twice a week site was my "extreme intensive" at 'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve. I was pleased as punch to visit that site 16 times over the field season! Since it's a habitat creation site, it's easy to walk around and find nests, and it is also full of birds. The Vermilion Flycatchers and Lawrence's Goldfinches breeding there were especially fun to watch. The site I visited once a week was actually immediately adjacent to the hill we scan the north end of Lake Havasu from, which we call "Lehman Hill". The hill is the southern boundary of the plot, which extends north about a kilometer in a dense tamarisk/mesquite stringer with patches of arrowweed and some big willows. The breeders weren't as interesting, but the site was great for migrants. Since the site ran along the shore of the lake, I surveyed it by kayak several times.
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| Ahakhav, great spot to spend two days a week |
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| Vermilion Flycatcher babies! |
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| Kayaking the north end |
My other surveys were mainly in La Paz County. Several were in Cibola NWR, one was in Mosquito Flats on the Bill Will, and one was up the Bill Will at Lincoln Ranch, about six miles downstream from the Alamo Dam. One fell in San Bernardino County near Needles, and I also surveyed the Island STP in Lake Havasu City.
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| Lincoln Ranch Rd |
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| Lincoln Ranch |
Just for fun, I put together this summary of spring migration on the LCRV. This only includes regular migrants, not rarities. I also omitted any species for which I didn't get a good sense of their migratory patterns - for example, I missed the arrival of Lucy's Warblers and saw my FOS long after many had arrived. This only includes my sightings, so it is by no means a complete summary of migrants this spring. To read about rarities and overall sightings, we'll have to wait for AZFO's spring Seasonal Report.
This being a 12-page word document, I thought I'd stick it behind a cut...
Friday, January 28, 2011
Water Issues
Birding constantly segues into conservation, it's inevitable. Here on the LCRV, it's difficult to stand on the shores of Lake Havasu and imagine the river that used to run there, flanked by a forest of willow and cottonwood. Those forests are gone, the river has been altered forever, and both people and wildlife have had to adapt to these changes and more to come. Restoration projects such as the 'Ahakhav Preserve are a major step forward, providing benefits for people as well as habitat for wildlife. A steady water supply is important to the wildlife in so many ways, not only for irrigating these restoration areas, but providing habitat for threatened species with marshes and forest stands, flooding to propagate native vegetation, and hosting huge concentrations of migrant shorebirds, waterfowl, and others at the river's delta.
I followed a link this evening to this article on water shortages on the Colorado River. Nothing in the article is a big surprise; essentially, drought means less water in the river, while more people are drawing out more water. Reading the article got me to thinking about Phoenix, a (relatively) lush, verdant city in the desert, which draws most of its water from Lake Havasu. Fountains, lush plantings, abundant golf courses, and a lawn for nearly every home is the norm in Phoenix (more and more of these areas are using reclaimed water, which is wonderful). On the other hand, when I was scouting for a home in Lake Havasu City, I noticed quickly that there are very few lawns here. There are a few turfed city parks and rows of trees here and there, but for the most part, this city could be a brochure for xeriscaping.
I decided to finally find out why it is that LHC is so unusually not green for a desert city. I assumed it must be a city ordinance banning turf in residential areas. Reading the city's Water Conservation Plan, it turns out I was right, at least in part. City landscape requirements forbid turf in commercial, multi-family, and industrial uses. That means that Wal Mart and my apartment complex aren't allowed to have lawns. However, single-family homes are excluded. Homeowners are allowed to have lawns here, but the city provides rebates and education programs, and even landscape planting guides (here and here) to encourage xeriscaping. In the end, homeowners choose to skip the turf.
I believe that many of the desert cities drawing water from the Colorado could take a page out of LHC's book. With water restrictions a very real possibility in the near future, we should all stop and think about steps we could take to use less of the water we share.
I followed a link this evening to this article on water shortages on the Colorado River. Nothing in the article is a big surprise; essentially, drought means less water in the river, while more people are drawing out more water. Reading the article got me to thinking about Phoenix, a (relatively) lush, verdant city in the desert, which draws most of its water from Lake Havasu. Fountains, lush plantings, abundant golf courses, and a lawn for nearly every home is the norm in Phoenix (more and more of these areas are using reclaimed water, which is wonderful). On the other hand, when I was scouting for a home in Lake Havasu City, I noticed quickly that there are very few lawns here. There are a few turfed city parks and rows of trees here and there, but for the most part, this city could be a brochure for xeriscaping.
I decided to finally find out why it is that LHC is so unusually not green for a desert city. I assumed it must be a city ordinance banning turf in residential areas. Reading the city's Water Conservation Plan, it turns out I was right, at least in part. City landscape requirements forbid turf in commercial, multi-family, and industrial uses. That means that Wal Mart and my apartment complex aren't allowed to have lawns. However, single-family homes are excluded. Homeowners are allowed to have lawns here, but the city provides rebates and education programs, and even landscape planting guides (here and here) to encourage xeriscaping. In the end, homeowners choose to skip the turf.
I believe that many of the desert cities drawing water from the Colorado could take a page out of LHC's book. With water restrictions a very real possibility in the near future, we should all stop and think about steps we could take to use less of the water we share.
'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve
The 'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve lies just outside of Parker, AZ. The preserve was established in 1995 by the Colorado River Indian Tribes as a place to restore the natural and cultural heritage of the Colorado River. Now it stands as a bright green patch among the agricultural fields of the Parker Valley and the River's invasive tamarisk sprawl.
David and I visited the preserve two days ago, on January 26, to see what birds were about. We didn't even have to leave the picnic area! There were plenty of the expected species, like this Phainopepla.
We went to the preserve hoping to see a certain sapsucker, first reported by Paul Lehman on November 26 last year, and recently seen by Henry Detwiler et al. This guy turned out to be very confiding, and had no problem with me snapping photos.
This is a hybrid between the expected Red-naped Sapsucker and the rare Red-breasted Sapsucker. The black mottling in the breast and the relatively limited red in the face pattern give this away as a hybrid, as a pure Red-breasted would have a solid red breast and much more red on the head. Red-naped Sapsuckers shouldn't have any red in the breast, and have more limited red in the face pattern. Even though this bird isn't "countable" as either species, it was an interesting individual to study. These hybrids are probably more regular in Arizona than pure Red-breasted Sapsuckers, so it is important to be able to recognize hybrid characteristics when a possible Red-breasted is seen.
This point was illustrated the same day, when David spotted a different sapsucker, this one with an apparently solid red breast! Unfortunately the bird was extremely skittish and did not allow us to get good looks or decent photos. While the bird looked good in the field, my one photograph shows a bit too much white in the face pattern for Red-breasted Sapsucker, so this was probably another hybrid. We're hoping to see the bird again and study it more.
Of course, these birds were considered conspecific until the 1980s, and this may not have been a good split. Extensive hybridization in a broad area of range overlap is an indication of subspecies within a single species, which seems to be the case with these sapsuckers. Many ornithologists believe that these taxa should be "re-lumped" as one species. Read more about sapsuckers and hybridization here and here. No matter what happens with these taxa, I will continue to look for unusual individuals and try to understand variation within this complex!
Departing from 'Ahakhav, we checked some agricultural fields around the Parker Valley and drove back to Lake Havasu City along the California side of the river, searching for the Yellow-billed Loon. After a group of us found it just north of Parker on January 15, it has been giving birders a hard time, moving miles up and down the river within a single day. David and I finally spotted it from Empire Landing, on the California side of the Parker Strip, on a section of river with little more than coots. Just goes to show that rare birds can be found anywhere, not just our hotspots!
David and I visited the preserve two days ago, on January 26, to see what birds were about. We didn't even have to leave the picnic area! There were plenty of the expected species, like this Phainopepla.
Bell's Vireos are a declining riparian breeding species, and they respond very well to restoration projects like this. Still, it was quite a surprise to see this Bell's Vireo at 'Ahakhav, since there are only a few winter records for the entire state!
This is a hybrid between the expected Red-naped Sapsucker and the rare Red-breasted Sapsucker. The black mottling in the breast and the relatively limited red in the face pattern give this away as a hybrid, as a pure Red-breasted would have a solid red breast and much more red on the head. Red-naped Sapsuckers shouldn't have any red in the breast, and have more limited red in the face pattern. Even though this bird isn't "countable" as either species, it was an interesting individual to study. These hybrids are probably more regular in Arizona than pure Red-breasted Sapsuckers, so it is important to be able to recognize hybrid characteristics when a possible Red-breasted is seen.
This point was illustrated the same day, when David spotted a different sapsucker, this one with an apparently solid red breast! Unfortunately the bird was extremely skittish and did not allow us to get good looks or decent photos. While the bird looked good in the field, my one photograph shows a bit too much white in the face pattern for Red-breasted Sapsucker, so this was probably another hybrid. We're hoping to see the bird again and study it more.
Of course, these birds were considered conspecific until the 1980s, and this may not have been a good split. Extensive hybridization in a broad area of range overlap is an indication of subspecies within a single species, which seems to be the case with these sapsuckers. Many ornithologists believe that these taxa should be "re-lumped" as one species. Read more about sapsuckers and hybridization here and here. No matter what happens with these taxa, I will continue to look for unusual individuals and try to understand variation within this complex!
Departing from 'Ahakhav, we checked some agricultural fields around the Parker Valley and drove back to Lake Havasu City along the California side of the river, searching for the Yellow-billed Loon. After a group of us found it just north of Parker on January 15, it has been giving birders a hard time, moving miles up and down the river within a single day. David and I finally spotted it from Empire Landing, on the California side of the Parker Strip, on a section of river with little more than coots. Just goes to show that rare birds can be found anywhere, not just our hotspots!
(click the link above for much better photos)
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