THE WORTH A DAM STORY

Morning reView

heidi08 Beavers, Environmental, New Species March 20, 2010

This morning a trip to the beaver dam produced some unexpected treats. I was there at 6:30 and while I waited for a beaver to appear I listened to the showoff songs of the resident mocking bird. I haven’t heard one for a while, and it was delightful to remember what an extraordinary performance they can muster. Most birds learn all the songs they are ever going to sing in their first year of life. The mockingbird keeps adding and imitating sounds he hears every day. Mockingbird song surpasses even the nightingale for quality. They imitate every other bird, humans, car alarms, and traffic noises. At Rankin swimming pool there even used to be one that imitated the life guards whistle.

I also remember the misery of having one decide to sing outside your window all night.It is a something a person who has lived through will not likely forget. It’s not the volume, its the unpredictabilty. If it were the same thing over and over again, it might be possible to adapt. But mockingbird song is impossible to “get used to”. The tune repeats a just few times and then abruptly changes, with an endless repertoire of variety. Try as you might not to listen, your attention is always jarred back by a sudden shift in cadence or tune. Sadly, mockingbird song is never boring or just repetitive.

As you might suspect, sex is at stake.

Mockingbirds sing to attract a mate, and apparently females don’t want to hear just the same old tune over and over again. (Who does?) The male woos her with his variety, volume, accuracy and prowess. Look at me! I can imitate a robin! Look at me! I can imitate a lawnmower! Look at me, I have highly developed syingeal biphonation! Well, we humans understand something about showing off. I guess we can make allowances. Apparently all males sing during the day, but those that sing at night are the ones that haven’t got yet won the girl. Once love comes their way and nest building and chick rearing require their attention, they’ll stop. I promise.

At 7:15 a telltale V in the water marked the return of mom from far downstream. She crossed the secondary dam and swam steadily carrying a large leafy branch over the primary and back to the lodge. It was great to see her swim back home and know she was there and doing okay. I don’t know if the mockingbird saw her. I forgot to listen.

Bird Visitors

heidi08 New Species, pictures February 16, 2010

Two double-crested cormorants met up for a rendevous at the Marina Vista Bridge yesterday morning. We had never seen more than one at a time, and wondered if they might be a breeding pair. The one in the front has a speckled chest and is an immature, (but maybe not that immature…) Cormorants are very social birds, and nest in colonies. The unpaired males attract a female by showing her all the cool stuff he found for a nest, although the lucky woman gets to do most of the building. Their nests are scrubby and uninviting to us, and they are known for using seaweed, netting, pebbles and even the skeletons of dead birds. Any place to call home, I guess.

The young are famous for hanging out together in the colony in losely formed groups called “creches”. (No word on whether they also tag buildings…) Our own Cheryl Reynolds says that these little charmers are some of the least loved birds in a rehab center, because they have sharp vicious beaks and no qualms about using them. She also says that they can be platform nesters, like atop power poles. I can’t imagine where these two might call home if they decided to set up camp. It will be fun to watch though.

No sign of the otter yesterday, and Lory saw him Sunday going around the dam rather than through the pipe. I’m wondering just how much fish he’s eaten and if maybe he doesn’t fit through that little pipe as well anymore!

Martinez SOS

heidi08 City Reports, New Species, pictures February 15, 2010

Let’s talk about Martinez. There has been a flurry of recent rule-breaking development in our downtown plan and design. The most recent is the proposal to put 42 units near shell avenue, even though the Mayor admits the road can’t take half that. Beaver friend Phil Ciaramitero is looking for support in helping impacted neighbors oppose this plan. He writes:

Dear Friends & Citizens of Martinez,

It is of grave & vital importance that we all attend next Wednesday’s (Feb. 17th at 5:30pm) joint session of the council & planning commission. Focus will be on the proposed Cascara Canyon project at the foot of Shell Avenue hill.

Do you remember what happened when the pro-beaver people came en masse? The beavers are still here. This Cascara Canyon project and the direction the council is taking needs to be curbed. Your attendance, if anything, will insure our faithful watchdogs that secure neighborhoods are important to us. We must have an impressive show of strength, if for anything – that we’re not going to go down without a fight. We live & work here and volunteer our time to make Martinez better. Their leadership has not really done a whole lot to enliven this city, nor taken any measures to step away from the polarization they’ve created and continue to perpetuate upon this community.

Please spread the word. We’re not keeping any secrets here. Tell everyone you know.

Phillip Ciaramitaro
925-917-0441

A detailed is response and press release is available here. Any city that changes it’s zoning to make room for favors needs to at least think about what it means to the neighborhoods it alters. This was voted down by the planning commission who knew it was a bad idea. The city council wanted it anyway. Shouldn’t you go to the meeting and inquire how exactly this will help your city?

Now that’s a face!

heidi08 New Species, Recent Sightings February 12, 2010

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

This is a river otter. Don’t get it confused with a sea otter. (I was talking about beavers at an event and a woman said, “ohhh i love beavers! I love when they lay on their backs and crack shells on their tummy.” Sigh)…..This amazing photo was taken yesterday by our own esteemed Cheryl Reynolds at the primary dam. Shhh don’t tell the beavers but it is very nearly my favorite she has taken so far. Looking at that face it is impossible to confuse this animal with a beaver. The whiskers, the wide nose, the stubby head, and the entire lack of chin, mark it distinctly. Well that and the fact that this little powerhouse sat atop the flow device eating fish all morning.

He was using the flow device as a water slide yesterday, going up and down the tube, which is pretty darn sweet, and worthy of a documentary on animal adaptions. Think about it, if an otter can go through a pipe, so can a salmon. Jon says otters go through lots of pipes at the powerplant cooling station, and even play with the “echo” while they’re inside, chirping and barking to eachother to hear it sound differently.

Several beaver fans turned out to watch otter delights yesterday. For the record, they couldn’t be more different from beavers. Otters seem to me to be little furry hedonists. They live entirely for pleasure. Whatever they do they relish with abandon, and whatever they dislike they don’t do. Otters play and love and quarrel passionately, they chew loudly like a two year old eating a favorite meal, they show up at strange hours and keep their own council. Bob Arnebeck says it isn’t even reasonable to ask questions like “how many fish do otters eat a day”, because their “day” is shifting and different than ours – 26 hours one day and 22 the next.. They eat when they feel like it, and move on from an area suddenly without saying goodbye — which our little fellow will do any day now, so go see him before its too late.

Also, check out the amazing and evolving entry on Flow Devices by our wonderful wikipedia friend. This is gonna save a LOT of beavers!

Otterly Delightful!

heidi08 New Species, Recent Sightings February 10, 2010

Photos: Cheryl Reynolds

All week we’ve been getting reports of a young otter hanging out at the beaver dam. Cheryl watched him monday morning, Jon watched him yesterday around noon, and I had to see for myself this morning. Unlike beavers, otters are carnivores who greatly enjoy the handy fish tanks beaver ponds provide. They are much sleeker and faster than beavers, and they never appear even for a moment to be resting or contemplative.

In this horrible grainy footage you see first the small otter’s head and the curve of his tail. Then the wide triangle of mom’s head as she comes out of the lodge to defend her space and look imposing, followed by the dart under the water of our little interloper. We will keep trying to get some better footage, but in the mean time you had better just wander down and see for yourself. Otters keep their own schedules and he will likely be seen for a while at all hours.

Want some other good news? Read this article on the Pennsylvania beavers. Looks like the Lawrence County Conservation Commission is going to use nonlethal methods instead of killing those “soldier beavers”.

They agreed to consider a water- flow-control device or “beaver baffler” suggested in a letter to commissioners from Laura Simon, field director, Urban Wildlife Program of the U.S. Humane Society in Woodbridge, Conn. Simon said the device would solve the problem of beaver dams’ causing flooding at the affected culvert along the bike trail, which is owned and maintained by the county. Commissioners also promised that whatever solution they choose will be humane.

Go Laura! And all of you who wrote! Looks like Mr Osbourn will not get any contracts this round. This was my favorite part. It is an almost verbatim quote from our city council.

“I have learned more about beavers in the last week than I have in my entire life,” commented DeBlasio.

Ahhh take a moment to savor that quote over coffee. Considering that Mr. DeBlasio very recently believed a man who told him that he was going to trap the “soldier beavers” and leave the “grandfathers”, I really, really believe that. Live and Learn.