Big Creek Reserve

News from Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve

Big Sur Roundup articles

July Roundup 2009 – Turkey Vulture Roundup

Wow, it’s been a year already!  I know we’ve been busy, but where did the time go?  We are on our way to summer and Mother Nature seems to have the best Neosporin ointment around.  So many of the scars have healed and those that are left are reminders of how close we came and how far we have come. 

Our Barn Swallows have recovered nicely as well.  They are already on their second clutch. They don’t waste time; and they don’t coddle their first clutch.  They will work very hard all day to find bugs for the babies.  But when it is time to fledge, those babies better learn to fly….and fast!  We have seen Swallow parents standing on top of the weakest baby, plucking feathers and poking their heads.  The parents make it very clear they are done with the coddling; and that they need the nest for more babies.  Those fledglings are on their own!

One afternoon, we had so many different birds with their babies in the yard.  There were California Brown and Spotted Towhees, California Thrashers, Flickers and Hooded Grosbeaks.  It was interesting to see so many diets and methods for obtaining food.  The Thrashers and Flickers use their long beaks to dig bugs out of the ground.  The Towhees like seed and cracked corn; and the Hooded Grosbeaks like the dried seed pods on the native grasses.  And, flying overhead, the Turkey Vultures follow their noses to carrion on the ground.

Turkey Vultures, Cathartes aura, are not as huge and exotic as our California Condors, but they have been the subject of research for two years now at Big Creek Reserve.  For two springs, scientists from the Wildlife Health Center (WHC) at the University of California, Davis have come to the Reserve to conduct their Turkey Vulture (TV) roundup.  Now, you might ask how one conducts a TV roundup.  Well, the first thing you need is a good decoy.  And these scientists have a great decoy named Lenny.

Lenny is a friendly, male TV who was injured and nursed back to health at the WHC.  He is unable to fly, and doesn’t object to being placed in a large cage/trap because he gets all the dead food he can eat.  The scientists:  Terra Kelly, Yvette Hernandez and Christine Johnson find a nice open site for the cage; and place Lenny with his lunch in the cage.  When other TVs see that Lenny has such great food, they are enticed into the cage.  The opening is funnel shaped.  The birds go in the large opening, but can’t see the small opening to escape once they are in the cage.  Lenny knows that the scientists will be gentle and will release the birds once they have gathered their data, so he doesn’t feel too guilty.  Besides, Turkey Vultures lack a syrinx, or vocal organ, so they can’t talk anyway…only hiss and grunt.

The scientists collect lots of statistics on the birds, including blood lead levels.  TVs, like Condors, are susceptible to lead poisoning when they ingest spent pellets or bullet fragments in the tissues of animals killed by lead-based ammunition.  The data from the two years of sampling will give the scientists a look at lead levels before and after the July 2008 lead ammunition restriction.  They hope to see a decrease in the levels and frequency of lead exposure in this year’s samples compared to samples from last spring.

Terra and Yvette captured and sampled 37 TVs last year, and were well on their way to obtaining their goal of almost 40 birds this year when the fog set it.  This spring’s fog was thick and high, making it difficult to find a clear site for the cage.  The TVs were flying up above the fog and several days went by without any coming down to see Lenny.  However, Terra and Yvette were persistent and patient, and ultimately captured and sampled 32 birds; including over 50% of last year’s birds.  TVs are ugly and can’t talk, but they have great memories and usually don’t get fooled twice by sweet Lenny. 

The data gathered by Terra and Yvette, along with other local scientists, will inform wildlife agencies on the burden and scope of lead exposure in wild birds in California and the effectiveness of lead ammunition regulation in reducing this problem.  The information generated from this study will be used for science-based management and will likely play a role in wildlife conservation on both a state and regional level.

And much of this success is thanks to Lenny!

Terry Hallock and Feynner Arias

May Roundup 2009 – Fire recovery observations and Open House reminder

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Saturday, May 9th for our Open House.  We’ll open the gates at 9:00 AM and there will be plenty of parking at the turnout just south of Big Creek Bridge.  We are rushing to finish grooming the trails, and will even have an historic trail to Dairy Canyon open by that time.  Wear sturdy shoes and bring water and a snack.  We’ll also have some scientists on hand if you want to talk about trout or sea otters or condors.  Plus, we’ll be showing videos of our underwater habitats in the library. Our Reserve Manager, Mark Readdie, has been putting on his wetsuit and capturing footage of the trout in Big Creek, as well as life under the kelp forest in the Big Creek Marine Reserve.  This is a viewpoint some of us may never see first hand, and the admission is free!  You can also walk down to the beach for that picnic lunch you’ve been planning.  We hope to see you then!

 

We’ve been guaranteed by Mother Nature that the weather will be perfect for Open House.  We sure have been on a weather roller coaster for this past week.  It was blowing fifty knots and cold on Sunday; a record high of 80 degrees on Tuesday; and this afternoon is foggy and 57 degrees.  The barn swallows are a little confused, but they are nesting just the same.  It’s a little difficult to find the bugs in the fog, but all of the swallow pairs have settled on which nests they’ll call home for the next five months.  We hope they have better luck this season than last, when the fires interrupted their second set of babies.

 

We’ve been noticing other impacts from the fires, such as the disappearance of our little buck and our foxes (Mark says he still has foxes at his house…but he has chickens too!)  Our theory is that the mountain lion population increased when their habitat burned in the wilderness.  Since last fall, we haven’t seen the usual number of smaller animals, such as foxes, skunks and deer.  Then, Mark found several mountain lion scat piles near the confluence of Big Creek and Devil’s Creek (see his blog at http://bigcreekblog.ucnrs.org).  All together, they contained nine claws and a tooth of a 1-2 year old mountain lion, leading us to believe that a large mountain lion had digested a smaller one.  A large male will stalk a smaller male to preserve its territory, but the big cats will also start to eat each other if they run out of the smaller food.  We have seen several bobcats – alive, though, and hope that the cats work it out so that there is a rebalancing of the animal populations on the Reserve.

 

We also recently went up on the bulldozer line on Dolan Ridge to revisit that habitat.  It provides a wonderful comparison of burned vs. unburned vegetation.  The poppies and lupine in the burned areas are magnificent!  At the end of the day, almost 100 species were identified, including 15 new species for the Reserve, with five of those 15 identified as fire followers.  Now, the botanists are working on their theories of how these species got to that area; whether they were germinated through fire activity, bull dozer activity, or by some other means.  Nevertheless, it is very exciting to find them and to be able to add to the diversity of the Reserve. You can look forward to seeing pictures of the recovering vegetation during our Open House, or hike up there and see it with your own eyes.

 

We’re looking forward to sharing all of this with you….and more.  And yes, the tree frog is still in the toilet.  In fact, another male tried to challenge our little guy for this prized location.  Our guy won, and the other fellow had to move back out front to the pond.  They are still out there singing, so we’re sure to have lots of tadpoles soon!

 

See you at the Open House!

 

Terry Hallock and Feynner Arias

April Roundup 2009 – springtime, sea otters and Open House next month

We want to grab your attention right up front and remind you that the Reserve Open House is planned for Saturday, May 9th.  The gate will open at 9:00 AM; scientists will be on hand to answer your questions and show you their studies; and the trails will be groomed and ready for wandering feet.  Please make your plans now to come for a visit.  Call us at 667-2543 if you have questions or if you have time to come over and help with trail work. 

 

Now that we have your attention, have you noticed how Spring is busting out all over?

While the news is all about our failing economy, it looks like Mother Nature’s portfolio is recovering very nicely from last summer’s fires.    We saw that display of pink in front of Deetjen’s several weeks ago.  But Mother Nature is outdoing herself with the display of gold and blue up above the Coast Gallery and Timber Top.  The California Poppies and Lupine are simply gorgeous and uplifting, a product of our gentle winter rains.  Up here at Whale Point, the California Quail are starting to choose partners and some of the boys are getting very fresh with the girls.  This morning we spotted a male Hooded Oriole.  He was busy eating the red petals off the Columbine out by the pond.  The first Barn Swallow showed up yesterday and is already checking out the nests at both buildings. And finally, one sure sign that Spring is taking over from Winter:  the cars are starting to get dusty again.

 

For several weeks, we’ve been watching an amazing parade of whales also.  It seems that they all headed north at the same time.  We would like to think we can tell the babies by the smaller spouts, but a pair of binoculars helps as well.  And there is another group of folks looking out to sea with their binoculars.  They are the Sea Otter scientists, who have been living at Big Creek since last November while conducting their research.  They are a consortium of folks from the US Geological Survey, UC Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the California Department of Fish and Game.  The group is joined by a host of volunteer researchers and interns.

 

In November, the group captured and tagged more than 30 sea otters along the Big Sur coast.  Most of these otters were also instrumented with VHF radio transmitters and archival time-depth recorders.  The otters were released where they were captured, and are now being monitored by the research team for the next 3 year period.  The team is collecting data on age-specific survival, reproduction, individual health, contaminant exposure, disease incidence, diet and feeding behavior, activity budgets, individual movements and habitat use.  The Big Sur study area, due in no small part to its remote nature, is characterized by low human impact and minimal pollution.  Data obtained from this area can be contrasted with data from ongoing telemetry-based population studies on sea otters in Monterey, an area of high human impact and pollution levels.  Data from these 2 study areas will allow the team to make inferences about the relationships between near-shore water quality, chemical/pathogen pollution, and sea otter population health and demography.

 

Members of the research team monitor the otters from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week.  The longer days of spring are allowing more time to collect data.  The team has been delighted to see a few tiny new faces through their spotting scopes in recent weeks.  In the past month, at least 6 of the tagged otters have had pups.  This brings an exciting new element into the research, as the team gets to watch the pups grow from a helpless ball of fur, to a rambunctious juvenile, and eventually into an adult otter.  The team has been able to note the remarkable individuality of each otter.  For example, certain otters appear to be excellent mothers, while others appear to be less cut-out for the task.  Some otters have favorite prey items for which they devote the majority of their foraging time.  Other otters even seem to have their favorite resting locations within a kelp bed.

 

For the past 10-15 years, elevated mortality, especially in reproductive females, has limited the rate of recovery of the California Sea Otter population and prevented its delisting from “threatened” status.  As apex marine predators in near shore habitat, they are considered a “Keystone Species”, meaning the presence or absence of sea otters can have a profound impact on the biodiversity and productivity of kelp forest communities.  Furthermore, the proximity of kelp forests (the sea otters principle habitat) to the densely-human populated coastline, combined with the abundance of filter feeding invertebrates in the otters diet, makes the southern sea otter especially susceptible to human-induced stressors in the environment.  As such, the sea otter has become an effective sentinel for the health of our coastal ocean.

 

The Big Sur Sea Otter Research Team is working hard to learn what the otters have to tell us about the health of California’s ocean.  Equally as important, these biologists are refining our knowledge of sea otter behavior and ecology by gathering data that will help to ensure the survival of a species that was once on the brink of extinction. The team will be on hand to answer your questions at the May 9th Open House.  Come on down and meet these great young scientists!  And you can always find more information about the goings on at the Reserve at http://bigcreekblog.ucnrs.org.

 

Terry Hallock and Feynner Arias

 

March Roundup 2009 – chipmunks and a steelhead walk

What a coincidence!  Right after we told you about our tree frogs in the February RoundUp, the story broke on February 2nd about the discovery of 10 new species of amphibians in the mountainous Tacarcuna area near the Columbia/Panama border.  The newly discovered species include a spiky-skinned, orange-legged rain frog, three poison dart frogs and three glass frogs, so called because their transparent skin can reveal internal organs.  The scientists, led by herpetologists from Conservation International in Columbia and ornithologists from the Ecotropico Foundation, identified approximately 60 species of amphibians, 20 reptiles and nearly 120 species of birds, many of them apparently found nowhere else.

 

Columbia has one of the most diverse collections of amphibians in the world, with 754 species currently recorded.  Worldwide, a third of amphibian species, which include frogs, toads, newts and salamanders, are threatened with extinction as a result of disease, habitat destruction and climate change.  Photos on the internet show how exotic and beautiful these new species of frogs are.  This news also gives us hope, even with so many species of animals facing extinction.  Now you have even more opportunities to see these noisy guys out there in the wild!

 

Not that they are facing extinction, but they do give us hope, we want to tell you about another amazing creature found, possibly, in your own backyard.  You know that we are avid watchers of our quail and sparrows.  For at least a year now, we have also been entertained by a family of chipmunks in our backyard.  There are now four of the critters, with their very expressive tails and curious faces.  We were interested in knowing more about them.  As you might guess, they are in the same family as squirrels, Sciuridae, but in the genus Tamias.  Generally, there is only one species in a given geographic area, and they are generally found in North America, with only one species in Asia (the Siberian Chipmunk).

 

The species found in our area is called Merriam’s Chipmunk (Tamias merriami), although there is a California Chipmunk (Tamias obscurus).  Merriam’s Chipmunks have a pattern of black and grey stripes that extend all the way along the back, down to the tail.  They also have black and white stripes around the eyes; cute, pudgy cheeks that they fill with seeds; and a dark tail without any white.  They gather nuts, berries, seeds, fruit and grain, stuffing as much as they can carry into their generous cheek pouches.  What they don’t eat, they carry to their burrow or nest to store for the winter.  They may hibernate in very cold climates, but instead of storing fat, they periodically dip into their cache of nuts and seeds throughout the winter.

 

Chipmunks are solitary creatures and normally ignore one another except during the spring, when mating takes place.  After a 30-day gestation, a litter of two to eight is born.  The young stay with their parents for two months before they begin to gather their own provisions for the winter ahead.  Our chipmunks seem to be part of the broader family of California Quail, cotton-tail bunnies, Spotted Towhees, Gold Crowned Sparrows and jays that come to Whale Point every morning.  They certainly have learned about the Coopers Hawk, and other predators.  They are also very entertaining and seem to reflect their mood with the motion of their tail….very expressive.     

 

Now, just so you don’t think all we do is sit around and watch the chipmunks, we want to invite you to the Reserve to see scientists in action.  Our almost-new Reserve Director, Mark Readdie, would like to invite the neighbors over for a walk along the river on March 29th.  Mark will be looking for spawning steelhead trout and would love to have some company.  If you are interested in joining him for this adventure, please call the Reserve office at 667-2543.  The trout aren’t as cute as the chipmunks, but it will be fun and informative, just the same.  And Mark is very anxious to meet more Big Sur neighbors.

 

ALSO, please mark your calendars for May 9th, for the Reserve Open House.  As in years past, the Reserve will open to the public at 9:00 AM for folks to come visit; meet the staff and scientists; go for a walk; go for a ride to the top; and generally enjoy the beauty of the place.  AND, if you are up for a little work and a lot of fun, we would love some help in getting the trails all groomed for the big event.  We will start working toward the end of March, mostly on weekends, but we’ll take help anytime.  If you have a little time and elbow grease to offer, again, please call the Reserve office at 667-2543.

 

One final note:  you can find more information about the goings on at the Reserve at http://bigcreekblog.ucnrs.org.

 

So get out there in the backyard and see what cute and new species you find!

 

Terry Hallock and Feynner Arias

February Roundup 2009 – Frog research

It’s the third week of January and the rains have finally come.  The very cold weather we had over the holidays turned into summer again.  Even the tree frogs in the pond out front were complaining about the heat, and were quickly running out of suntan lotion.  They couldn’t get any girls to come join them, even though they were singing their best songs.  Now, this is a wonderful, gentle, rain; one that will allow the little green things to grow and won’t bring on those dreaded debris flows.  Although I will say that those little rocks on the highway are probably worse than debris flows for your tires!

 

But, getting back to those tree frogs: we suspect there are a lot of folks in Big Sur that have a tree frog in THEIR toilet, but just didn’t have the courage to tell their neighbors.  With this wet weather, we not only have our regular frog in the toilet, but several more in the shower AND, there is a crowd out front in the pond.

 

We thought we knew a lot about tree frogs, but decided to do a little research.  It turns out that these are Pacific Tree Frogs (Pseudacris regilla), also called the Pacific Chorus Frog. They are out there in your yard year-round, but the males move to the water in the winter to mate.  They all call at the same time, very loudly.  This lures the females to the water and they mate.  The tadpoles hatch in one to three weeks.  They feed on algae and pollen on the surface of the water, using a beak-like structure that helps scrape vegetation off surfaces.  The tadpoles go through a metamorphosis about 3 months later.  During the final stages of this transformation, when they have four limbs and a tail, they actually stop feeding for a short time while their mouth is transformed from herbivorous to carnivorous.  When they transform into a frog, they feed on insects, spiders, flies and ants.  They can actually stretch their bodies to accommodate insects much larger than they are!

 

Very briefly, frogs are thought to have descended from lobe-finned bony fish that emerged from the water and developed lungs and a neck.  The Hylidae family appeared around 50 million years ago, followed closely by the Hyla genus, just after the dinosaurs became extinct.  The genus originated in South America and expanded north into Mexico and North America.  Then the sea level rose and the north and south populations became separated.  Scientists (who get to name these noisy guys) are still deciding whether to use the scientific name Hyla or Pseudacris.  We’ll wait to see which one wins.

 

More interesting:  it turns out that tree frogs really do change colors between green and brown.  It is thought that they change colors based on the brightness of their surroundings, perhaps influenced by the change in seasons.  The color change can take place in weeks or months, but the initial changes occur very quickly.  Scientists also think this color change is a useful survival feature, as the frogs melt into their surroundings.  But, green or brown, the one identifiable marking is the dark stripe that goes over their eye from their nose to their shoulder.

 

Some quick facts:  these are the most common frogs on the west coast of North America.  In 2007, the Pacific Chorus Frog was named the state frog of Washington.  We couldn’t find a state frog for California, but we’d like to think it is the rare Red-legged frog, which is thought to be the “celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County”, made famous by Mark Twain. 

 

So when it stops raining, or even before, go on outside and look for those little guys in your yard (or toilet).  And, when it gets dark at night, we’re sure you’ll hear them singing, out in the pond or in the puddles, trying to attract the girls.

 

Terry Hallock and Feynner Arias