Tag: Rossmoor Woodpeckers

Escaping Audubondage

heidi08 July 7, 2009

The proud Rossmoor community (late of woodpecker-killing fame) has finally displayed their expensive contractor installed “granaries” which in no way resemble the smallest portion of the recommended measures carefully researched and proposed by the Audubon society. Clearly the idea is to pretend to follow the advice of the pesky do-gooders, and then with a shrug of wealthy senior shoulders say, “well I guess grandpa needs to get the shotgun again!” The mutuals involved resisted all advice as controlling meddlesome “audubondage” and rebuffed offers of help from people who know better to march straight for their favored contractor and throw eagerly wasted dollars on this ridiculous program which will assure happy bird killing for years to come.

Savvy Audubon member Brian Murphy offers this snark on their construction:

These are some nice looking Carpenter Bee blocks! Someone sold Rossmoor a batch of Snake Oil! Attached is what a bee block looks like and what a granaries looks like. I thought they were going to use some of the downed oak (natural material) to make artificial granaries. Part of Audubon’s recommendation was to install artificial granaries for Acorn Woodpeckers, not bee blocks for Carpenter bees.The woodpeckers like to make holes in ‘soft dead wood’ and make their own holes in ‘soft dead wood’ – that doesn’t look like ‘soft dead wood’ and the woodpeckers don’t need holes – they are ‘pretty good’ at drilling their own. So what has been installed in Rossmoor has nothing to do with what Audubon suggested as a partial solution to the mess in Rossmoor. Audubon ought to request Rossmoor not use our name in association with their Carpenter Bee Block project.

This what Brian notes it should have looked like:

This is what a bee box looks like and what Rossmoor paid top dollar for:

I was a little worried about Rossmoor encouraging a massive nesting of carpenter bees, but then I remembered that its okay since they probably don’t use actual lumber on their styrofoam facilities either.

Rossmoor Revisited

heidi08 Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers July 7, 2009

Having used up California’s noble Fish and Game in securing the right to “shoot” 50 woodpeckers, Rossmoor went after USDA/APHIS for more help in the “Styrofoam Saving Campaign”. Sensitive to the delicate fact that the permit to shoot woodpeckers runs out in two days, the USDA has issued a second “scientific collection” permit to remove 20 more birds next month as well. Perhaps this will allow them to use “enhanced interrogation techniques” on the offending birds, to find out why they chose this particular granary target. Or perhaps the mutual owners have suddenly become researchers and will be sponsoring a large scale avian factor analytic model. We’re told that they agreed to “build” three artificial granaries to the tune of 895/each, spending money on their favorite contractor while Audubon would have done it for free. The important thing is that USDA agreed with F&G and ruled that that endangered styrofoam needs protecting.

Look for the pied pipers of woodpecker removal to ride in sometime after this month. For more information keep an eye on Cheryl’s blog Bay Area Wildlife or the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=XcsK-Ck43LU]

Woodpecker Update

heidi08 New Species July 7, 2009

Our Friend Richard Paddock of the LA times continues his smart and savvy reporting on urban wilderness. 22 woodpeckers killed so far at Rossmoor. Fish and Game say they’ll inspect the site to see if the permit is appropriate. Rossmoor says it decided to kill the birds because it didn’t want “outsiders” to make decisions for them.

Does that mean if we all wanted the birds dead they’d be protesting to protect them?

Let’s try the madlibs reference, shall we? (no offense, Richard.)

Headline: (_Boring in on a Woodpecker Controversy)

City name + immature woodpecker pun

The town of (_Rossmoor_) is worried about woodpeckers that have already pecked more

insert name

than (3000 holes in their residences) . Birds haves caused (damage to a dozen homes) and

insert alarming behavior insert hyperbole

property owners are concerned it could get worse. Mr. (_Orum__) who lives in the

Name of rich, selfish man who’s never been outside.

oak woods says that the birds are (_a pain in the neck) and have been making noise and

Verb meaning destroying

ruining trim with no end in sight. No one wants to harm the birds but there is

(_170,000 worth of damage_). The city manager, (Mr. Orum who serves on the

Synonym for No Choice

committee seeking to stop the woodpeckers damage) says if the birds must be stopped.

Name of another man who went outide once to hunt.

(Some days, the woodpeckers hammer for hours) The association has contacted

Insert Pandora’s Box remark

(The Department of Fish & Game) for permission to bring in
Appropriate “wink & nod” Regulatory Body

a (sharpshooter)

Euphemism for exterminator

Just Sayin’….

Rossmorons

heidi08 Environmental January 28, 2009

Audubon California S ign the Petition to Revoke the Permit

Rossmoor group rejects Audubon assistance on woodpeckers, opts to go ahead with shooting

After talks on non-lethal methods prove unsuccessful, Audubon California calls for revocation of homeowners’ permit to shoot Acorn Woodpeckers.

Emeryville, CA – Representatives of Audubon California today expressed deep disappointment that their latest round of talks with Rossmoor homeowner groups had failed to dissuade the resident boards from their plans to shoot up to 50 Acorn Woodpeckers in an attempt to prevent the birds from drilling holes in the homes for their granaries.

Word was received late yesterday that one of the two homeowner group boards had voted to go ahead with the shooting, despite offers from Audubon California, Mt. Diablo Audubon Society and other experts to lend their expertise to the problem. The second homeowner board agreed to test non-lethal options but evidently will not agree to a permanent moratorium on shooting.

“We’re incredibly disappointed that the boards of the Rossmoor homeowner groups have elected to proceed with this utterly pointless exercise,” said Graham Chisholm, director of conservation for Audubon California. “We’ve offered them substantial assistance if they promise to call off the shooting, but apparently they’ve elected to choose this strategy that is certain to fail.”

Immediately after learning in November that the Rossmoor groups had obtained a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill up to 50 Acorn Woodpeckers, Audubon California and the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society immediately offered to help find ways to avoid the killings. In a series of discussions that included woodpecker experts and representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the conservation groups not only presented clear scientific reasons why the shooting would be ineffectual, but also offered substantial resources to help the homeowners solve the problem with non-lethal methods.

“At this point, we’re calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revoke the permit they’ve issued to the Rossmoor groups,” said Chisholm. “It’s obvious to everyone now that the permit was issued using faulty assumptions and that it is biologically flawed as it relates to the Rossmoor situation. Moreover, the homeowners clearly have not tried every non-lethal remedy, as their permit requires.”

Acorn Woodpeckers are a fairly common and beloved bird in California. The highly social bird is known to store food in large communal granaries drilled in oaks or other woodland trees. As housing developments, such as the ones in Rossmoor, have encroached into these woodlands, the creative birds have been known to drill their holes in buildings.

“Experts have told us clearly that in rich habitat such as where these developments are located, there is always an abundance of mating pairs looking for openings to establish themselves,” said Mt. Diablo Audubon Society President Jimm Edgar. “What this means is that if you shoot 50 Acorn Woodpeckers, you’ll probably see 50 new ones take their place within an hour.”

Edgar said that he still holds out hope that the Rossmoor groups will set aside their plans to bring in a hunter to kill the woodpeckers and accept the support that his organization and others have offered.

“Acorn Woodpeckers are very popular among bird enthusiasts,” he said. “They are very social birds that fill an important role in the landscape. Nobody wants to see them killed for just doing what they do.”

About Audubon California

Audubon California is building a better future for California by bringing people together to appreciate, enjoy and protect our spectacular outdoor treasures. With more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 49 local Audubon chapters, Audubon California is a field program of the National Audubon Society.

More information is available at www.ca.audubon.org.

I’ll see you in your dreams…

heidi08 Uncategorized January 22, 2009

Saying it has been a public relations nightmare, the Pinnacle Ridge (Mutual 59) board voted to stop the shooting of woodpeckers for two months.

What? Bad dreams at Rossmoor? Disrupting the rest of the most deserving? I realize this is the best news that we pesky “think of solutions other than killing” types can hope for. Give them enough spotlights that it gets very difficult to be stupid under the glare of them. Hmm.

Pinnacle Ridge puts off shooting woodpeckers for two months

By Cathy Tallyn Staff writer

The two months will give the Audubon Society time to implement its suggestions on how to keep the pesky birds from pecking at the Styrofoam on buildings in the Mutual. It will be a temporary fix until the Mutual replaces the Styrofoam, said Mutual President Walt Foskett at the board’s meeting last Tuesday.

It could take the Mutual as long as five years to remove the tempting Styrofoam (at last they admit it) because that’s when scaffolding will be erected to paint the three-story buildings, said Bill Friesen, building maintenance manager.

It’s very expensive to put up scaffolding, he said. It would also be expensive to put a man on a 40-foot ladder to do the job.

(You hear that? Its hard work to put up scaffolding, it’s much easier to pull a trigger. We are innocent victims of Audubondage!)

The woodpecker problem also affects buildings in Eagle Ridge (Mutual 68). The two Mutuals have spent seven years and $170,000 trying to solve the problem of the woodpeckers pecking into the synthetic stucco homes as well as on the wood trim.

Representatives of the Audubon Society met with Mutual 59 officials recently to discuss possible solutions that don’t involve shooting the woodpeckers.

Among other things, the nature group suggested putting in artificial granaries to attract the birds away from the buildings as well as putting nets on the buildings to stop the birds from nesting. It also said it would work to get grants of up to $500,000 to pay for the mitigation measures.

“They’re saying, ‘Stop (the shooting) and we’ll help,’” said Mutual Operations Director Paul Donner. He suggested the two-month break.

Foskett said, “We’re throwing the ball back to them.” If the Audubon Society doesn’t do anything, the board will re-evaluate its position on shooting the woodpeckers, he said.

The vote to temporarily put the permit in abeyance was 4 to 1 with Shirley Magarian casting the dissenting vote. (shirley my friend, we need to talk)

The Mutual has three months left on its depredation permit from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, which allows up to 25 woodpeckers to be shot by a marksman from the Department of Agriculture.

It’s doubtful that Fish and Wildlife will issue another permit when this one expires, said Donner. “I don’t think you’ll get a permit next year because of all the negative publicity.” (Ohhh those pesky wildlife publicity hounds. If only people didn’t watch what we did we could do it easier!)

Foskett said no matter what the board does, it will generate bad publicity. “The press is not going to be kind to us,” he said. (Really? You don’t think a clever ad exec could turn this press momentum into a massive Rossmoor media coup? Rossmoor: Because we listen. Rossmore: Its in your Nature. Rossmoor: Where creative mind solve life’s toughest problems.)

Rossmoor’s shooting of the woodpeckers has become a national story, said Mutual 59 board Director Sara Cornell.(hahahahaha)

Fellow board member Jo Fasciona noted there have been a number of negative letters to the editor about the bird problem. “We’re going to get a lot of flack,” she said. (You could also get alot of praise and goodwill, Jo. Remember.)

Well that has made my little animal rights day. We’ll visit this again I’m sure! For now pat your fellow birdbrains on the back. Well done!