West Eugene Wetlands Watch

2008-08-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Summer
It's summer, and the vernal pools are drying,
hidden by tall grasses going to seed.
Spring's night and day chorus of frogs has faded;
tadpoles grown and hopped away.
I stood at Meadowlark Prairie on the last day of May.
Canada geese came and went
with loud announcements of arrivals and departures.
A red-winged blackbird sang,
liquid notes slipping through the willows.
Families on bikes stopped to look out
over the wetlands.
A young girl left her pink coat on the bench,
coming back for it in response to my call.
A great blue heron stalked below the bridge
carefully moving one stilt-like leg at a time--slowly, slowly.
Swiftly the plumed head darted out
and came back with a crawfish crosswise in its bill.
I thought I could hear the crunching of sturdy exoskeleton
when the bird moved the struggling creature sideways,
as if flattening an ear of corn.
With a toss, the crawfish was turned, then gulped and
moved down that long, slender neck,
the way a snake swallows a toad.
The heron went on to repeat
this precise performance three more times.
Although I have only once seen the elusive bittern,
stretching its neck upward,
pretending to be stalks of grass,
there is something deeply mysterious beneath the feathered facade
of its more common cousin.
Great blues carry secrets of past and future,
from Mt. Mazama's eruption and the settling of volcanic ash
into the clay that lies beneath its feet
to whatever may lie ahead,
and I have no doubt
that this bird, this essence of wetlands,
becomes a spirit after dark,
moving across the wet prairie--
an unseen shadow
whose silent passage is marked only by the bending grasses.
The vernal pools are drying.

August Wander

2008-08-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

This week's wetland wander was a stroll into the area at the end of Royal Avenue. This site was new to me, a walk along the Army Corps of Engineers access road. Our leaders were Jules Abbott, a WREN staff member with botany expertise, and by the new wetlands' summer site host, Tim Downey. We brushed against the sticky (and smelly!) tarweed, admired the last blossoms for the season of Douglas Spirea, and found Water Plantain growing in a dry vernal pool. Tall grasses, some the non-native reed grass (looks a little bit like bamboo), grew along the edge of the roadway. Restoration work has turned much of the vegetation back to native species.

To my surprise the seemingly dry landscape held large ponds, regulated to maintain water levels. The previous day a family of otters had been spotted in one of the ponds but we found only dry otter scats with bits of orange crawfish shells being their one bright color.
Several great blue herons waited patiently along the edge of one large pond and some distance away we spotted a row of white egrets (10). Kingfishers flew across above the water, sometimes hovering like a kestrel, and then diving. The ponds hold bullfrogs and we saw tadpoles and some minnows along the edges. A viewing platform provides a great place to sit and look about. At this time of the year the platform sits high and dry above a dry vernal pool although another nearby large pond provides an opportunity for watching shore birds and ducks. Birds spotted during the trip included a dowager, pelicans, and those mentioned above.

We also came across the skeleton of an animal but couldn't figure out what it was since the skull was gone. It had long toes though!

The West Eugene Wetlands Site Host Gig

2008-08-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

“So what are West Eugene Wetlands Site Hosts, and what do they do????”

Well now, I'm glad you asked!

Sometimes we pick up trash along the wetland trails…

…but it sure is easy to get distracted when we hear birdsong…. Hey Tim, the trash is on the ground, not up in the trees!

Our least favorite activity might be removing graffiti….

Our most favorite activity is definitely looking at wildlife, especially when people join us to peer through Tim’s scope at marvels like this Red-tailed Hawk…

…and we have fun learning the names and uses of the wetland plants, like this Gumweed along the Tsanchiifin Trail, favorite dining spot for the recently rediscovered Great Copper Butterfly (how cool is that!).

We love to attend Dragonfly and Butterfly and Wetland Walks….

Sometimes the mechanically-minded half of the team (that's not me – I’m in the trailer, working crossword puzzles!) -- anyway, sometimes he assembles things for WEW, like this watering cart….

….which enables us to pull 150 feet of hose from the Red House to the bike trail….

…so that we can fill two 50-gallon water tanks and seven 5-gallon buckets….

...and lug them (all 1200 pounds of them!) along the bike path to water native plantings….

The plants on top of the bank are watered by the brawny half of the team (not me!) from 40-pound 5-gallon buckets….

The plants down by Amazon Creek are watered by the lazy half of the team (now THAT’s me!)…

Pretty sweet gig, I’d say! We even have time off in the evenings to paint the underside of our trailer, for which we dress up like surgeons in order to keep paint out of our hair. This glamour shot shows why we are happy to be site hosts and will never, ever become surgeons….

Where Else But Eugene?

2008-08-07T17:12:00.001-07:00

You have to laugh. One afternoon a couple of days ago Ann and I had an errand to run. We needed a particular nut to repair a wagon that we use to haul water to some native plants near the Red House. We’d been to Jerry’s and Home Depot without luck.

A bit of searching on the internet led us to Nielsen Fastener Company, across West 11th from Fred Meyer. They have just about every nut, bolt, screw, and what-have-you known to humanity. Nielsen’s just happens to be right on the Fern Ridge bike path, so we didn’t have to drive. Where else but Eugene?

We love the bike path. Ann and I have made friends with quite a few people there and have come to recognize many other friends we have yet to meet. People say hello, cyclists let us know when they are passing slowpokes like Ann and me, and drivers actually anticipate our arrival at street crossings and wait for us to cross first. Where else but Eugene?

As we sat in our little trailer house named Patience preparing to go on our errand, Ann wondered, “What would happen if we rode a distance away and locked our bikes together only to discover that we had forgotten the key?” You see, Ann’s bike lock does not require a key when you get there—only when you want to go home.

You can see this coming I’m sure. As we left Nielsen’s with the appropriate hardware, Ann slapped her pockets with a look of horror. Indeed, she had forgotten the key. She had forgotten all of her keys.

There sat our bikes, locked to each other like Ann and me. We just had to laugh.

Now we are not against walking. In fact, we like to walk. We just hadn’t planned on that chunk of time just then.

We then remembered where we were—in Eugene. We walked to the curb, stuck out our thumbs, and in about a minute and a half had a ride back to the Red House. Where else but Eugene?

A young man from New Mexico, just passing through on his way to the Faerieworlds Festival, was our benefactor. He said he usually did not pick up hitchhikers but that we looked cool. Imagine that, Ann and I looking cool. How cool is that? Where else but Eugene?

Once back at the Red House we found Ann’s bike key, along with the rest of her keys, in the door of the unlocked Patience. Back down to West 11th we walked with a purpose.

Once there, we stuck out our thumbs once more. Less than 30 seconds later a small pickup veered from the fast lane over to the curb and who should step out but Kathleen, one of our friends from the Fern Ridge Bike Path.

Ann and I met Kathleen soon after we became volunteers for the Bureau of Land Management particularly and the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership in general. While Ann and I roved the Fern Ridge bike path through the wetlands over a month ago, we ran into Kathleen and her walking partner Marsha powerwalking on their lunch break. This exercise routine has been a daily ritual for them for over two years. They just love the wetlands and the trails and shared with us some of their observations including the turtles in Amazon Creek. Ann and I were able to share with them a view of an American Kestrel through the spotting telescope.

That very same evening Ann and I ran into Kathleen at a nearby store. We seemed destined to cross paths and indeed we have several times since on the bike path. Our paths crossed once more this afternoon when Kathleen stopped to give us a ride. Where else but Eugene?

Encountering Kathleen in this way, where she went out of her way to give us a hand, got us to thinking. Our connection with Kathleen is through the West Eugene Wetlands. Our connection to the Wetlands is through the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership. The several agencies of the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership, with different missions, different cultures, and different budgets have gotten together to make something important happen for the people and nature of Eugene and the Willamette Valley.

This wetlands restoration project embodies a spirit that seems to us to pervade this town. This is a spirit of caring enough to help, a spirit of hope that this help will make a difference, and a spirit of cooperation and of tolerance. Where else but Eugene?

strange individual(s) seen wandering the wetlands

2008-08-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

This just in from local field scientist - Paul Severns:

So….if you see a guy, about 5 ft 7inches, 175 lbs, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, four-day old beard stubble, cargo shorts, a t-shirt that was once white, wearing a tan visor, strolling (seemingly aimless and slowly) either down the bike path or in the middle of a field, staring off in different directions, occasionally writing something down in a bright yellow notebook, don’t worry…(unless I’m muttering to myself)..I’m just doing my job studying West Eugene Wetland butterflies.this photo taken during yesterday's amble. this Great Copper is inside a 'bug toter'.

Since 2002, I’ve been working on describing the patterns of wetland butterflies and understanding why what species are where and what makes them rare. Hopefully, this information will aid in local butterfly conservation and be useful for successful wetland restoration. Right now, it’s late July/early August and it’s uncomfortably warm in the full, afternoon sun, but these are the conditions under which the great copper prefers to fly. No wonder this butterfly was thought to be extinct from the Willamette Valley…why would any Lepidopterist (one who studies butterflies) in their right mind be looking for butterflies in the dry, hot, wetland prairies when they could be up in alpine meadows, soaking up a nice view and 75 degree sun? A question, I often ask myself.

This year, 2008, appears to be a particularly good year for the butterfly. I have observed more great coppers this year than any of the last four years I have visited the remaining three butterfly populations. I have even observed at least six butterflies this year up to one mile away from the sites where they normally reproduce. Hopefully, these dispersing butterflies will found new populations so that I’ll get to spend even more quality time, sweating, ambling about, and confusing onlookers in the West Eugene Wetlands.Paul and his followers. is it a movement?

Dragonfly and River Otters at Finley National Wildlife Refuge

2008-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Photos of a dragonfly and curious river otters at McFadden Marsh in Finley National Wildlife Refuge. Thank you to photographer Steve Reed from Albany for sharing these photos! Find a fun river otter photo gallary at www.otternet.com/ROA/PhotoGallery.htm

Restoration in action this morning

2008-08-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

How do you change a pile of 800 tires into 800 flowers? Send out the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership, of course!

Last September this team of experts took out over 800 tires along with 1800 cubic yards of fill material ranging from red brick, river rock, 4 inch cobble, south hill clay, household garbage (cans, bottles, plastic bags, wire etc.) and construction debris (lumber, conduit, electric junction boxes, scrap metal etc. ), and hauled away 75 cubic yards of brush and wood. Here's what it looked like durning the excavation:

Future wet prarie?

Now look what's there!

F
a
n
t
a
s
t
i
c
!

Dragonfly Walks at Grimes Pond, July 20

2008-07-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hey you gu-uys!

If you missed the dragonfly walks at Teal Slough and Grimes Pond last Sunday (July 20th), you missed a whole lot of fun! The leaders were none other than Steve Gordon and Cary Kerst. I mean to tell you, you just can’t beat that! These fellows wrote the book on Dragonflies.

Yep, the book!

There was a 2-hour walk for kids in the morning, and another one for grown-ups in the afternoon. We were each given a net and told to go on down to the pond and catch some bugs. It doesn't get any better than that!

Tim and I played grown-up for the day and attended the afternoon walk:

But we hear that the kids netted way more dragonflies and than we did. AND that fewer kids fell down in the mud! It's slippery out there! Three of us big folks went...
d
o
w
n
...ker-splat, including one of our fearless leaders.

Some decided that muddy toes were better at keeping them
u
p
r
i
g
h
t
than shoes, and ditched their footwear for the day.

Over a dozen different species were netted in all!

One cool thing I learned is that, unlike butterflies, dragonflies are sturdy enough that you can pick them up without hurting them:

Here's a Black Saddlebags dragonfly. You can see how it got its name.

And this is orangy-red one is the
Cardinal Meadow-
hawk.

So, as you see, you can hold them. IF you can net them! Grown-ups, I recommend bringing a kid along!

Mostly, when we released them, they just flew right off to go about their dragonfly business. But one amazing woman had magic hands – they just didn't want to leave her.

Here's a

Twelve-Spotted Skimmer

that stayed....

...and stayed!

This pretty blue-and-green Western Pondhawk was my favorite:

Guess whose hand it's on!

Cary scooped up a bucket of pond water. You never know what you'll find when you do that...
The stick-like fellow at the far left of the bucket is a damselfly nymph. After they hatch, they live underwater for anywhere from 1 to 3 years before they emerge and become creatures of the air!

The whopper of a critter that you see in the bucket is a water scorpion. For amazing facts about water scorpions (did you know they can fly?), check out Cary’s blog entry for April 26, 2008.

There were masses of dragonflies and damselflies at the ponds, but they weren't the only creatures about. We also saw several chorus frogs on willow leaves at Grimes Pond...

...and,
on the banks
of the pond
at Teal Slough,
we saw
what we think
might be a
nutria house.

Keep your eyes on the West Eugene Wetlands events calendar for walks like these. Or sign up for the e-newsletter to get your own personal invitation. You won't be disappointed!

Saturday at Willow Creek, July 26, 2008

2008-07-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

The creek is dry above 18th street, but the dragonflies and damselflies are still around.

Lyre-tipped Spreadwing

Red-veined Meadowhawk

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Lets not ignore the Common Wood Nymph

One Thing Leads to Another

2008-07-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Though neither of us is an Oregonian, at least not yet, Ann and I [I’m Tim—the bearded one] are West Eugene Wetlands Partnership volunteers this summer. How did we, me originally from California and Ann from Maryland, get here? Well, you know how life goes—one thing leads to another.

We just happened to be taking this summer off, me from Park Rangering and Ann from retirement, and we were traveling in the Pacific Northwest. Ann’s van, our home on the road, though big for a van was small for a home. You see we are kind of old and like a modicum of comfort. The cramped conditions led us to shop online for a used small travel trailer.

In June while in Washington we found a little trailer we liked online and it just happened to be in Oregon—Eugene of course. Who else happened to be in Eugene? Our friends Holly and Matt and Avery.

Holly, a green-minded person, works for WREN teaching people about wetlands while Matt, equally green, coordinates Eugene's Stream Team of wetlands volunteers. Avery is a little person, closely related to Holly and Matt, who moved in with them a couple of years ago. Holly and Matt and Avery put us up while Ann and I bought the trailer. [We have named our trailer Patience, which let’s you know what the buying process was like, but I stray.]

Even before we officially bought the trailer, Holly showed Ann and me the Red House, the headquarters for the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership where Holly works. Ann and I noticed the Red House’s pleasant surroundings, what with regular breezes, mature big-leaf maples for shade, and the bike path and restored wetlands nearby.

“What a great spot this would be to park Patience for a while as Ann and I make her more livable,” I mused aloud. “Well,” Holly replied, “our site host left three days ago, so we just happen to have an opening!”

As you can see, one thing has led to another and another and now Ann and I feel a part of the Partnership family, for a couple of months anyway.
Look for us out on the bike path watching birds, picking up litter, and yakking with folks about the wetlands.
Or, drop by the Red House to see us in Patience, our little trailer house. We’d love to have you say hello.

Sandpiper/Grimes ponds on June 19

2008-06-19T16:47:00.001-07:00

I was out at Sandpiper and Grimes Ponds today and finally the dragonflies were flying. I saw the following Odonates flying.

Common Green Darner
California Darner
Common Whitetail
Eight-spotted Skimmer
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Tule Bluet
Pacific Forktail

A few photos from today.

Common Whitetail

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

While watching for Dragonflies, a pair of Beaver came over to have a look at me.

Then, they decided to scare me away with some tail-slapping.

2nd Annual Walkin' and Rollin' Through the Wetlands

2008-06-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

Despite the rather cool, cloudy weather, turnout for the event was great again this year. Nearly 200 folks rode their bikes or walked the bike path between Beltline and Greenhill Rd. on Saturday, May 31. It was a great finale to another successful year of American Wetlands Month events in the West Eugene Wetlands! Thanks to our community partners and all who participated throughout the month!

Students from the U of O's Environmental Leadership Program taught visitors about wetland wildlife.

Paul Gordon, with the Lane County Beekeepers Association, brought his pug Shinju with him, who dressed for the occasion.

People of all ages enjoyed the ride.

Lane County Audubon Society's booth was in the perfect location for some great birding.

Meadowlark Prairie Overlook was the site for several organizations, including Weed Watchers, the Long Tom Watershed Council and the Cascades Raptor Center.

Tsanchiifin Botany Walk

2008-05-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

A botany walk starting at 7 pm? Who knew that could be a rich learning experience? Under overcast skies the 15 of us, guided by botanist Chesire Mayersohn, set out to explore the Tsanchiifin Walk area. Recent rains had left sparkling beads on grass blades and cups of shimmering light in the hollows of leaves as we began our trip.

Here are a few things I learned about plants of the wetlands. I encourage all who were on the trip to add more information through "comments".

If poison oak is a problem for you, cook up some Willamette Valley Gumweed (Grindelia intergrifolia) into a pasty mixture and apply.

Chesire said she has eaten cooked camas and to her it tasted like sweet library paste.

She pointed out some species that are native and their non-native counterparts nearby. If you see a thistle with red or purple flowers it is not a native.

Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophylum) has the largest leaves of any maple, worldwide.

Hawthorne is used to help treat heart disease and helps with blood pressure (don't try this at home).

One yellow daisy-type flower has the common name of Oregon Sunshine, a welcome sight on a cloudy Oregon day.

Dock (Rumex) has long been a medicinal plant believed to balance intestinal flora.

Some other plants seen were owl clover, at least two varieties of lupine, poison oak with delicate white blossoms, pointed rush (Juncus oxymeris) and spreading rush (Juncus patens) the soft velvet grass (Holcus lanatus), California Oatgrass (Danthonia californica) and many others. And did you know that Queen Anne's Lace is in the carrot family?

Also seen on our loop walk were meadowlarks (could hear them as well), a red-winged blackbird, great blue heron and a small rabbit.

See-sil

2008-05-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Fifteen explorers met at the end of Royal Avenue May 14th to explore the BLM's See-sil area. Before we even left the parking lot we were treated to the appearance of an American Bittern, a shy bird more often heard than seen. The tall, yellow-legged bird went into its "oh, I'm just some grass" appearance, stretching its head high and pointing its beak upward, but soon walked cautiously along the edge of the road next to a swampy area, then disappeared over the bank. The arrival of a car startled it and the bird flew. Also at the parking lot was a flock of bright yellow goldfinches, one minute posing on the fence, the next busily gathering seeds in the tall grasses.

We walked down the road a short distance and then out into the fields where the City of Eugene's Restoration Ecologist, Emily Steel, pointed out a variety of plants native to the area including popcorn flowers, buttercups, disappointing buttercups (very tiny flowers on a big plant), and camas, which was nearly past. This was a great opportunity to view and compare the Oregon White Oak and some nearby black oaks. We were awestruck by one particularly large white oak with massive lower branches.

We also viewed an area where the oaks were actually growing too densely so some have been removed in a habitat restoration effort in order to allow the others to grow.

Birds seen on the trip included the bittern, goldfinches, red-tailed hawk, Savannah sparrow, tree swallows (there are bird houses for them in one area), and a meadowlark. There were the classic signs of acorn woodpeckers (a large dead branch with holes in it and an occasional acorn still plugged into the holes) but we didn't see any of the birds. Near a row of blackberries and other shrubs at least three rabbits (who knows with rabbits!) ran quickly from grass to shrubs. When we arrived back at the parking area, we could see two white pelicans soaring in tight circles high above us.

Edison Elementary Field Trip May 2

2008-05-05T15:30:00.001-07:00

Last Friday, an Edison Elementary 3rd grade class enjoyed a surprisingly sunny field trip to the West Eugene Wetlands. It was a great second day of American Wetlands Month 2008 for netting and getting a close look at vernal pool inhabitants and a walk along Tsanchiifin Trail. A few WREN board members also participated in the field trip! Thank you to Susanne Twight-Alexander, board member, for a few fun photos...

Water Scorpion, A Cool Wetland Bug!!

2008-04-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Water Scorpions are insects in the Order Hemiptera (the true bugs), Family Nepidae, and the genus is Ranatra. Note the front legs which are modified for grasping prey. They inject their prey (including insects, small fish, and tadpoles) with saliva which digests tissue after which the mixture is sucked out. You can see the beak between the front legs. The long tube on the rear of the abdomen is used for breathing from the water surface so they tend to stay in shallow water or near the surface. Although they can't be seen, a pair of wings is hidden beneath the leathery outer wings, and they can fly. Water Scorpions overwinter as adults. This one was found at Sandpiper Pond on April 26.

Head and front legs

Birdwatching in the West Eugene Wetlands

2008-04-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

Marsh Wren: Photo by Steve Gordon

On Friday, April 18, Steve Gordon and I were out bird watching. After checking on the Warblers at Skinners Butte, we headed to Fern Ridge at the end of Royal Ave. The highlight there was seeing 13 Bald Eagles perched in trees in the area! Here is a list of 60 species of birds seen in the West Eugene Wetlands that morning.

Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon (cemetery)
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle (13 immatures)
Northern Harrier (flight display)
American Kestrel (@ Willow Creek)
Virginia Rail
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Acorn Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow (photo)
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Marsh Wren (photos)
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle and Audubon's)
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark (Meadowlark Prairie)
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Wetland Wander

2008-04-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

-by Susanne Twight-Alexander, WREN Board Member

This morning's (last Wednesday's) wetland wander started with overcast skies but we were fortunate the showers held off until we were nearly to our cars. The Nature Conservancy's Matt Benotsch led our group of eight from the 18th street across through TNC fields on a "burn" road. We were able to see the difference between areas where trees and undergrowth are rampant, inhibiting the growth of native plants and those where burning and/or plowing are encouraging their growth. Right away there were bird observations of acorn woodpeckers and singing meadowlarks. Other birds spotted during the trip included juncos, songsparrows, robins (of course), and Canada geese. Matt pointed out many of the early spring plants, a few of which were flowering. A new one to me was the bittercress, delicate white flowers on small plants that love to have their feet in the water. We also found a buttercup and some saxifrage in bloom. Matt showed the group the leaves of the Kincaid Lupine (the favorite food of the Fender's Blue Butterfly) just beginning to emerge and we were fortunate to find a Bradshaw's Lomatium at the edge of an area which is being protected to encourage their development. (that was the flower in last weeks post!)

Bloomin' Gorgeous

2008-04-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Its wildflower time out here in west Eugene. We have spring wildflower's blooming - willow, saxifrage, and our special plant, desert parsley more importantly known as Bradshaw's Lomatium. Okay folks, I'm going to get a bit technical on this post and a little plant geeky so bear with me. Bradshaw's Lomatium, Lomatium bradshawii, is a federally listed endangered species. It used to grow in wet prairies all over the Willamette valley and Umpqua valley (that's south of here). Now because of the conversion of land to industrial uses, agriculture and housing, this plant has limited options for where it grows. You know what that means, there aren't very many of these plants left. That's why they have them on the federal endangered species list. Does that mean we shouldn't have houses or businesses? Of course not! There are folks that work out here in west Eugene that keep an eye on these plants and try to create optimum areas for their growth. Whew! That's a lot of information! If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there.

They do kind of look like parsley. Bradshaw's Lomatium is part of the Carrot family, but please don't eat them. The leaves are all lacy looking and the yellow flowers grow in branches or compound umbels as the botanists like to say. It only gets around 7 - 14 inches tall and is done flowering by mid to late May. Since it's hard to spot it is a very subtle beauty. It is one of the unique things about our wetlands, and just knowing we have such special species here is something of which we can be proud.

Mail call

2008-03-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

So what was in that mystery package our friend Elvira sent? No guesses? It was scat from a wetlands mammal, the beaver! Normally we don't see beaver scat because beavers poo in the water. Elvira was helping with a scientific study in a pond in Portland, and came across some beaver scat caught in the grass underwater. Wow! It looks like a ball of sawdust, doesn't it? That's because it kind of is a ball of sawdust. Beavers eat bark so they excrete (a fancy way of saying poo) the bark after digesting the nutrients from it.

Foxes, coyotes and mice, oh my!

2008-03-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading our blog recently, you may notice that we have a tendency to get excited about SCAT! (By the way, anyone have any guesses as to the identity of the "mystery mail object" from a few weeks back?) So, for this week's post, we were excited to discover a large amount of carnivore (that means meat-eater) scat just outside our educational yurt. We've always known that nutria live under and around the yurt, but this was a new finding altogether!

Not only did we discover the scat and trails around the yurt, we were lucky enough to go out last night with Dave Walp, tracker extrodinaire (great at lookin' at tracks). He confirmed that we were looking at carnivore scat, from either a fox or a coyote. It is more likely fox, although the size of this pile tells us it could be a coyote.

William, our resident site-host, will be keeping a look-out at night when he's here to watch for critters, and will be sure to let us know if he sees anything.

As for other animal signs to piece together this puzzle, next to the side door we found a pile of tiny bones, probably from a mouse. Just under the doorstep were these larger bones, as yet unidentified.

The wetlands are always full of surprises, especially this time of year. If we find any further evidence in this scat/bone mystery, we'll be sure to keep you posted!

Tsanchiifin Trail

2008-03-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

(Photo above: Ariel photo of Tsanchiifin Walk, the open area in the lower left quadrant of the photo. The runway strips from the air park in the 1940s are still slightly visible. West 11th/Hwy 126 West runs through the right side of the photo). Take the Tsanchiifin Walk in the West Eugene Wetlands any time of year, and you will encounter remnants of the rare Willamette Valley wet prairie habitat succeeding through restoration and protection. This 3/4 mile trail, just north of the Amazon Creek Bike Path where it intersects Danebo Ave, offers an easy walk through the wetlands. Look for kestrels on the hunt for the next meal, signature marks left behind by a beaver, and dragonflies slicing through the late summer heat. Listen for Pacific Tree Frogs throughout winter, the croak of a Great Blue Heron gliding over head, and the Western Meadowlark as it welcomes spring with its distinct warble. Six new interpretive signs along the trail, designed by local artist Denise Dahn, colorfully illustrate this habitat: the life cycles of the Pacific Tree Frog and dragonflies, the key roles of Tufted Hairgrass for wetland habitat, a spotlight on the little brown bat, and an overview of the present site, as well as its history of human presence.

Formerly known as the Balboa Trail, the Tsanchiifin Walk was renamed in honor of a local band of the Kalapuyan people who occupied the southern end of the Willamette Valley until the 1900s. Past land uses, attempts to mitigate those uses, and natural conditions create a complex mosaic of upland and wetland. Previous drainage for agriculture and dairy farms, and later the use of the site as an airport (Thunderbird Air Park) in the late 1940s and as a drag strip (Balboa Drag Strip) from 1968 until 1979, have left man made ditches, portions of a paved runway and graveled taxiways on fill. These form linear uplands in what otherwise would have been an expanse of natural wet prairie. Borrow areas excavated for fill to build the runways and taxi-ways now form emergent wetlands. An assortment of fill has been dumped unevenly over much of the northwest and southeast corners of the site, and adjacent to Atlantic and Pacific Avenues to the north. Fill from past channel dredging lies in several spots along Amazon Creek. Today, restoration and interpretation takes top priority at this site. The wet prairie provides clean water and homes for wildlife, as well as opportunities to learn more about the ecosystem and human impact on our natural world.

The Tsanchiifin Walk is directly across from the future site of the West Eugene Wetlands Education Center, and the standing West Eugene Wetlands Office, a red farm house at 751 S Danebo Ave. If the front door is open, help yourself to maps and brochures. The gate is open 6 a.m.-11 p.m. every day of the year.

Wetland Moment

2008-03-06T18:10:00.000-08:00

Last evening
I walked past the lighted building
where we would meet for dinner,
and drawn by the chorus of frogs,
continued to the bridge.
In the growing dusk,
faint, scattered, white clouds floated
on the surface of the vernal pool.
For a moment the voices continued.
Then, as if responding to an unseen conductor,
the music began to stop,
each section ending
its part in the round.
From east to west
the pond became silent.

Susanne Twight-Alexander
2-29-08

Forked Tongues

2008-02-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

Well, the weather is really warming up. Consequently our snake friends have been seen sunning themselves at Tsal-Luk Wah. (say that 10 times fast!) Three snakes were seen snuggling together in an area that burned last year. Only see two heads? The third one darted off into a rodent hole just before the picture was taken. Our new West Eugene Wetlands site host, William, has been seeing snake babies out here as well.

Since reptiles smell with their tongues, a forked tongue is very helpful. The forks of the tongue literally bring in very, very small bits of scent into the snakes' mouth. This is then transferred to an organ in its mouth that it uses to smell. (What that means is that the smell bits go into the snakes' mouth on the tongues and then the snakes can tell if there is something good to eat close by!) That sure is different than the way we do it, huh?

These were taken by Paul Gordon, City of Eugene Restoration Technical Specialist. Thanks for the great photos, Paul!

You never know what you'll get in the mail.

2008-02-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

What in the world did our friend, Elvira, send us? Post a comment with your guesses. We have a prize for the correct answer. (don't give it away, Elvira!)