Owl-Pal

heidi08 New Species March 17, 2011

Scott Artis, who heard the call of burrowing owls in Antioch, helped us with the website upgrade, and now is coordinating displays for the Earth Day event at the John Muir National Historic Site, posted this lovely adventure two days ago and I thought you’d want to see.

I received an email from Lindsay Wildlife Museum alerting me that a burrowing owl was reportedly trapped in a store of a nearby outdoor mall. Unfortunately, the commotion caused the owl to retreat to a secluded spot in the rafters, 18 feet off the ground.

15 minutes later I was walking through the open doors of Mainland Skate and Surf (Streets of Brentwood). And not only was the ceiling 18 feet high, but a burrowing owl was perched on the ventilation ductwork at the furthest possible point from the enticing open doors. After a period of 5 minutes discussing options with staff management, we were able to coax the little owl to fly…which for both our sakes resulted in a landing between some hanging backpacks. As I sprinted across the store I could see him jostling with the canvas until he came to rest on the ground. Without hesitation I grabbed a folded shirt from a perfectly aligned stack and covered the nervous owl.

Go read the entire story at Scott’s site and say hi from the Martinez Beavers. It is pretty wonderful when the major players start to know your name and send distress calls your way. He has done a mountain of work, and the owls are lucky to have him.

A whirlwind of beavers

heidi08 Uncategorized March 18, 2011

P1000097 — Rick Lanman (left) Michael Pollock (center) Cheryl Reynolds (Right)

Back down the mountainside after a dynamic presentation, good conversations with enthusiastic rangers followed by a cheerful lunch and drive swapping stories. This is an excellent picture of my traveling companions. I would be disappointed that the one of me didn’t take, but I have this slide as a token of my treasured adventure, which is much, much better. Look closely, this was presented by Dr. Pollock and summarizes research he did comparing the benefit to smolt production (baby salmonids) from large woody debris (LWD) placed in a stream bed versus the benefit of a beaver dam in a stream bed.

Take a moment to truly let these numbers sink in. We go from a benefit of tens of fish to more than a thousand fish. Not to mention that ‘replanting’ woody debris in ponds is expensive and time consuming. Beavers do it for free and do it vastly better. A powerful sermon in the growing beaver gospel!

When I got home there was an email from Glynnis Hood pointing me to this radio program. It’s a lovely interview and describes her excellent research and upcoming book. Go here to listen. I’m off to sleep for a couple hundred years. Wake me when we have new kits.

Yosemite

heidi08 Uncategorized March 15, 2011

20110315191124 — Yosemite at Dusk: Cheryl Reynolds

We got to the park just as the sun was setting and Cheryl snapped this picture just as it was starting to rain. Earlier I brought Pollock around the beaver dams and the Marina, and out to the Muir house for good measure then Lemon Grass for Pad Thai while we were waiting for Rick to fly in. Turns out Pollock was born in Walnut Creek which was very small world. On the way up we saw rushing falls, flowering trees, magpies, and a coyote. Then we checked into the fantastic hotel and had an excellent dinner and two bottles of wine. A quick sleep and then up tomorrow to present. I’m less nervous now that I feel like we’re old beaver friends.

More tomorrow.

Sunshine Beaver Week

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental March 15, 2011

This lovely article from the Sacramento Bee highlights the good work that citizen-watchdog groups do in government, education, and environmental awareness. Listen to how it starts, and then go read the whole thing. Just looking at it again now I get goosebumps.

They have been called gadflies and kooks and names not suitable for publication. They have also been called heroes. Say what you will about these plucky citizens who champion open government, but you’ll have to agree: They are persistent. And how.

As California and other states observe Sunshine Week – a national initiative to promote government transparency – we offer a closer look at citizen-watchdogs who have blazed the way

It made me think of course of beavers and of this article posted two years ago after Superior court ruled that the city of Martinez could install some sheetpile through a beaver lodge. Let’s enjoy a walk thru memory lane.

Let Slip the Watchdogs of War

So there were some sad and worried faces at the dam tonight, a few smug ones at the city council meeting, and one irrationally cheerful one on the bridge. Beaver supporters should know that Worth A Dam will continue to represent the best interest of the beavers, and to keep you informed about how the work is affecting them. Even though we were disheartened by the ruling, it would be a mistake not to notice the few shreds of good news that trickled through today.

Heard from Skip tonight. He is returning home tomorrow morning, staying in Vermont for a few days and then coming back next week to keep an eye on the work.
The sheet metal installer agreed to “vibrate” each piece at the top of the lodge before installation to give the beavers warning.
There will be a vibration sensor installed in the creek to measure impact.
The marked height of the topped trees is very encouraging, and shade will be left for the beavers lodge.

At tonights pre-secret meeting meeting, Worth A Dam spoke up about the need for public participation and oversight. I pointed out how, as unpopular as we were at the moment, we had actually served a very useful role for the city in getting them to think more protectively about the beavers. I also pointed out that the report from our Fluvial Geomorphologist had identified a serious risk area in the creek that the city had ignored. Yesterday Jon showed it to Igor Skaredoff and today the city assigned staff to take care of it. Our expert, whose report they didn’t want to admit into evidence, actually saved the city time and money.

I emphasized that this useful role of a watchdog agency would continue as the work was done. They were chatting on the bridge today about how to keep the crazy beaver people out of the way during the work. In the long run they will be much safer and more successful if they make space for us and tolerate our looking over their shoulders. Laying aside any delusions of compassion or civic responsibility, the media attention on this issue has proven that it would be hugely damaging for the city to let anything happen to our beavers. They need all the help they can get.

Who let the watchdogs out?

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=y7PtSsbkGdM]

In the meantime, this particular watchdog is off to the airport to pick up NOAA fisheries biologist and researcher Michael Pollock and show him around the dam-aged dams before driving with he, wikipedia Rick and Cheryl to Yosemite to talk to State Park Rangers about the benefits of beavers. Hopefully we’ll convince a few rangers to try using tools that let beavers stick around in State Park Lands. At the very least I’m expecting hours of beaverish conversation on the way up and back. Wish us luck!

Beavers & Ducks Play Again!

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers March 14, 2011

Looks like Worth A Dam is going to the Jr. Duck stamp festival in Sonoma this year. The event is usually in Sacramento but this year has moved down to Cornerstone in the wine country and we were lucky enough to get a last minute invitation. What do beavers and ducks have to do with each other? Plenty, and I’m sure we’ll be explaining it again and again on the big day. In the meantime our artist, FRo Butler is excited about having children watercolor on postage stamp shaped squares and be part of history.

This is the way it always starts. Worth A Dam was meeting last night to finalize plans for Earth Day at the John Muir Historic Site. Two new invitations showed up while we were discussing this one. Tomorrow we leave for Yosemite and talk beavers to State Park Rangers. Hopefully we won’t get snowed in or eaten by bears. I don’t know about you but that’s about as much beaver gospel as we can afford to spread at the moment.