Words From the Wetlands
NEWS FROM THE KLAMATH BASIN REFUGES
SPRING 1999
JUMP INTO SPRING | WETLANDS FIRST | FIRE ON THE WATER | MEN & WOMEN AT WORK | SPECIES SPOTLIGHT | PROJECT LEADER MIGRATES | WATCHABLE WILDLIFE | | VOLUNTEERS AT THE REFUGES | PHOTOBLINDS

 
JUMP INTO SPRING
by Tom VandenBerg, Interpretive Specialist

It appears that Winter’s grip on the Klamath Basin has finally weakened. As I piece together this latest newsletter, I am rewarded by the sights of snow geese outside my office window. Although a distance away, the wispy white cloud of their flock is easily seen rising and subsiding over the surface of Tule Lake. What a great way to begin the spring wildlife viewing season!

Highlights of spring on the refuges are many. Any trip around the auto tour routes of Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Refuges will yield some memorable sightings. With over 75% of Pacific Flyway migratory waterfowl passing through the Basin, you can hardly miss the flocks. The peak of waterfowl migration continues through early April with approximately 800,000 on the Refuges. Soon after, the arctic nesting geese and swans will have departed. Shorebird migration continues through mid-May.

Resident Canada goose pairs have already started nesting at Lower Klamath Refuge. By early April, the first goslings will be seen scurrying around the roadsides and marshes. The canoe trail at Upper Klamath Refuge can result in a myriad of sightings with migratory songbirds in the forested edge and waterbirds in the marsh easily heard and seen. Rent a canoe at Rocky Point if you don’t have your own. For those with a fancy for wildlife photograpy, spring can be the best time of the year. Refuge photoblinds situated for early morning waterbird photography are available. Contact Refuge headquarters for a map and blind reservation information.

Spend some time listening to the sounds of migratory birds, Jump into spring, and celebrate wildlife on your Klamath Basin Refuges!

WETLANDS FIRST
NEW LEASE LANGUAGE ON REFUGE CROPLANDS

The finite water supply of the Klamath Basin has recently appeared even smaller for the wildlife of Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

Background

When Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Refuges were designated in 1908 and 1928 respectively, they were still subject to the reclamation uses of the Klamath Project. This contradiction was finally settled with the passage of the Kuchel Act in 1964 which dedicated the lands to wildlife conservation for the primary purpose of waterfowl management, but with full consideration to agricultural use which is consistent with waterfowl management. Farming is considered secondary to waterfowl management purposes.

Changes in the basin

The recent listing of endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and salmon in the Klamath River, development of new scientific information, and heightened awareness of tribal trust responsibilities in the Klamath River and Upper Klamath Lake required the Dept. of Interior to review the Klamath Project operations. The resulting prioritization of water in the Basin has reduced the water available to the Refuges in average and low water years.

Severe Impacts

The potential impacts to Refuge wetlands are extremely serious. In 45% of future years (best case scenario), Refuge permanent and seasonal wetlands may be cut drastically, with 30-70% of wetlands dry during the Fall migration! This threatens the ecological integrity of the Refuge and necessitated a re-evaluation of water use on Lower Klamath and Tule Lake.

Agriculture leases changed

In February 1999, the US Fish & Wildlife Service released a revised compatibility determination (CD) on Refuge farming. This new CD finds that Refuge agriculture is compatible only if sufficient water is available to wetlands first. This new language has been placed in the new leases and may result in greatly reduced, or no irrigation in a low-water year.

The good news...
Conditions look great for the summer and fall of 1999 with snowpack currently at 169% of average.
Stay tuned for more news on this critical issue facing Basin wildlife.

FIRE ON THE WATER
BURNING THE TULE LAKE MARSH
by Dave Goheen, USFWS prescribed fire specialist

On January 7, 1999, the fire management crew for the Klamath Basin Complex, burned 3,000 acres of the Tulelake Marsh. The objective of the burn was to remove the old standing vegetation consisting of hardstem bulrush and other aquatic species. Refuge biologists hope that the burn will improve waterfowl habitat and reduce cover for predators.

The burn was completed utilizing a helicopter equipped with an Aerial Ignition Device. Ping-pong balls, which are treated with chemicals are dropped onto the ground from this device. The chemicals react thermally and ignite the surrounding vegetation. By utilizing this method, large areas can be quickly and safely ignited. As the unit was completely surrounded by water, the only alternative for ignition was to use ground crews in boats to light the unit. By utilizing the helicopter, no ground crews needed to be exposed to fire during the ignition period.

The cost of burning this unit was calculated to be only 86 cents per acre. By using the helicopter, the whole unit was burned in less than 2 hours, which is much less time than if the unit had been burned with ground crews. Fire personnel were also given the opportunity to get hands-on training and experience. Several fire employees were able to be certified in the dispensing of ping-pong balls with the aerial ignition device.

MEN & WOMEN AT WORK
ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECT BEGINS
by Larry Bigoni, Work Leader

Several construction projects will soon begin on Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Refuges. Spring and summer visitors to these tour routes may encounter maintenance crew employees and their equipment at work improving habitats and facilities.

First and foremost, a massive road improvement project will begin mid spring. With close to $1 million in funding, this project will eventually resurface all public access routes (tour routes) on Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Refuges. Work will begin on the Tule Lake auto tour in May. Our crew will be adding base and gravel surface material up to 1 foot thick in places. No more mudbogging on the tour routes!

This project may result in some temporary road closures and delays in places. Heavy equipment will be operating so please help us by driving carefully in the work areas.

Other projects you may see us at work on are the dragline canal cleaning, mowers doing road-edge work, cleaning field drains, and berm planting.

All of us in the Refuge maintenance crew hope you enjoy spring on your Refuges and apologize in advance for any inconveniences during your visit.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN
by Jerry King

With its enormous pouched bill, crested head, short legs and large body, the pelican looks more like a caricature of a bird than a bird.

"A wonderful bird is a pelican. His bill will hold more than his belican".

The enormous naked skin pouch suspended from the lower half of the pelican’s bill does hold more than its stomach, at least two to three times as much. They can carry about 3 gallons of water, along with fish, in their pouch. The pelican squeezes the water out the corners of its mouth before swallowing the fish. Besides using their pouch as a gill net, they use it to keep cool in the summer, opening their bill and pulsating the pouch for cooling. They also hold their bill open to catch a drink during rainstorms.

To become airborne when there is no wind they run over the water, beating their big wings and pounding the surface with both feet in unison. Once in the air, they are magnificent fliers, rivaling eagles in their graceful soaring flight, sometimes rising to tremendous heights. They are strong swimmers, driving themselves with strokes of their fully webbed feet. Young pelicans, barely able to fly can swim at 3 m.p.h.

Pelicans are among the largest living birds. Ranging in size from 4-6 feet long, with wingspreads of 6-1/2 to 9 feet. They can weigh from 10-27 lbs. They are white with black primaries and a huge orange-yellow bill. Adults in breeding plumage have a "centerboard" on the ridge of the bill. Both sexes shed these plates after eggs are laid. Pelicans do not fly with their neck extended (which is a good way to tell a flock of pelicans from a flock of swans). They fly with their heads held back on their shoulders, the bill resting on the folded neck.

Unlike the brown pelican, the white pelican does not dive for food. It scoops the fish up while swimming. White pelicans are widely known for cooperative foraging. A group of pelicans swim abreast, gliding in a semicircle facing shore. With a great commotion of flapping wings and splashing, they herd fish ahead into shallow water, where they easily catch them. Coordinated swimming groups will also encircle fish. Pelicans are highly social; living in flocks with young and adults of both sexes together much of the year. There is documentation of a colony of pelicans that fed and kept alive a blind pelican (into old age) by feeding him fish from their catch!

There are only two nesting colonies of American white pelicans in California. They are at Lower Klamath and Clear Lake. Both are part of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge complex.

Pelicans require about 4 lbs. of food per day. In the 1930s, it was widely believed that pelicans competed with sports fishermen for fish and wantonly killed fish they did not eat "for the love of killing". Hunters were encouraged to shoot pelicans. Today, we know that the majority of fish eaten by pelicans are, chubs, catfish, carp, shiners, etc., not fish desired by the majority of fishermen.

In the 1940s, the American white pelican nested on large lakes scattered throughout the interior of California. Currently, it breeds only in the Klamath Basin region of California. The pelicans begin arriving at the refuge in February and remain until October. Refuge managers, in marked contrast to the attitudes held by many states in the 30s, actively manage the refuges to encourage and increase the production of pelican fledglings. In addition to restricting the public from nesting areas and maintaining favorable habitat (sparsely vegetated, treeless islands or tule mats, stable water level), the refuge built fences to keep coyotes out of nesting colonies and trucked in water for the young pelicans, when a portion of Clear Lake went dry.

During a 17 year period from 1982 to 1998, pelicans at Clear Lake and Lower Klamath produced fledglings that ranged from a high of 2,800 in 1987 to a low of 30 in 1993 (probably a wet, cold spring, causing the adults to desert the nest). Nesting success depends heavily on the weather during the nesting season. If it is a cold, wet spring, they may desert the nests. If the spring is too dry, it allows land-based predators to come into the nesting area. In 1997, there were 3,039 pairs of American white pelicans breeding at Lower Klamath/Clear Lake. They successfully produced 1,130 fledglings. Due to 1998 being a wet spring, there were only 682 fledglings from the two colonies. Over the last 17 years from 1982 to 1998, fledglings have averaged 1,363 per year.
 
What will the nesting season of 1999 bring? Will numbers increase from 1998? Could it rival the bumper crop of 2,800 fledglings in 1987? We can only wait and see. Come and see with us! Large numbers of pelicans can be easily observed foraging and loafing from the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath auto tour routes.

PROJECT LEADER MIGRATES
TOM STEWART TO HEAD REGION 5 REFUGES

This June, Refuge Project Leader Tom Stewart will join the flocks of migrating waterfowl, and head to his new position in Hadley, Massachusetts. Tom was recently selected as the new Refuge Supervisor for a five state area including PA, DL, MA, VA, and WV. In his new capacity, Tom will be responsible for supervision of 15 Project Leaders and all operations on 25 National Wildlife Refuges.

With his wife Maria, Tom is sad to be leaving the West, but eagerly anticipating future challenges at the Northeastern Refuges. According to Stewart, many of the management issues relating to Eastern Refuges are "people" issues rather than the many "resource" issues found in Western Refuges. One area that Tom will be heavily involved with is the restoration of the largest estuary in the world, the Cheaspeake Bay.

Tom and Maria trace their roots back to the east coast and are excited to be back among family, especially their grandchildren. They also have a 48 acre farm in upstate New York which will now be only a few hours drive away. Tom arrived as the Project Leader for the Klamath Basin Refuges in 1994, and has been a tireless advocate for Refuge issues in the Basin, including water deliveries to Refuge wetlands. His hard work and devotion to wildlife will be greatly missed.

All of us at the Refuges wish Tom and Maria good luck in their new assignment.

WATCHABLE WILDLIFE
RECENT SIGHTINGS
by Tom VandenBerg, Interpretive Specialist
 
Late winter was fabulous for wildlife viewing on the Klamath Basin Refuges. Our winter "ice-pack" melted and the waterfowl returned in earnest. Massive swarms of tundra swans returned and brightened up the gray skies with their flocks. No sign yet of the Whooper and Bewick’s swans which appeared here for the last few years. Many hundreds of late winter visitors have thrilled to sights of Bald Eagles, Rough-legged, and Ferruginous hawks at Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Refuges. Northern harrier populations have been extremely large.

As spring progresses the migrants have been arriving daily. Many quick-eyed birders have observed peregrine falcons near the large flocks of waterfowl and pairs of prairie falcons along Hill Rd. Sharp eyed visitors picked out a Long-eared owl near headquarters in March. Sandhill Cranes have once again returned to stage at Lower Klamath. Some will stay to nest.

Waterbird diversity has been increasing also with the auto tour routes the best places to look for white pelicans, white faced ibis, snowy and great egret, avocets, stilts, willets, long-billed curlew, Caspian and Forster’s terns, dunlin, and yellowlegs.

The White Lake section of Lower Klamath has been dynamite for waterfowl and as the water shallows, large mixed flocks of shorebirds are a common sight. Watch for Canada goose broods among the nesting islands.

Spring is also a time to look for mammals such as Pronghorn along stateline hwy., mule deer fawns near the visitor center, and coyotes and bobcat along Hill Road. Several visitors have even recently observed mountain lions in this area!

VOLUNTEERS AT THE REFUGES
by Tom VandenBerg, Interpretive Specialist

Volunteers play an integral role in the operations of the Klamath Basin Refuges. Throughout the year, these dedicated folks assist regular employees in everything from waterfowl surveys and disease monitoring, to helping out with environmental education programs and staffing the visitor center. Last year, volunteers donated over 1,800 hours at Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Refuges!

Individuals who have helped out recently include Rory O’Connor who built some beautiful wooden benches for outdoor education programs. Any recent visitors to the refuge Visitor Center were greeted and assisted by our cadre of visitor use specialists. Special thanks go to Mike Miller, Joan VanMatre, Leo Smothers, Virginia Massey, Susan Christy, Jack & Marlene Bowden, Edna Guiducci, and Jessica King for their generous donations of time and enthusiasm in keeping our visitor center open on weekends. Our volunteers also recently enjoyed several action-packed field trips including the "Eagle Fest" where we spotted over 250 bald eagles. This spring, we look forward to several new trips to various locations, including Clear Lake Refuge and the Upper Klamath Canoe Trail.

PHOTOBLINDS
ACTION HEATS UP
by Dave Menke, Outdoor Rec. Planner

Late winter and early spring are great times to be thinking about visiting one of the photo blinds at Tule Lake or Lower Klamath Refuges.

Well into March the blinds offering potential for eagle photography can still be productive but eagle use declines rapidly by early to mid April. Blind 7 on Lower Klamath has been the most successful eagle blind during the past winter. Actually, this blind was moved to a new location about 75 yards from its previous site this year due to a snag blowdown. With the help of the refuge maintenance crew a new snag was propped up nearby to provide an attractive perch for eagles. Within an hour of putting the new snag in place it was selected as the chosen perch by an adult bald eagle. Many photographers have enjoyed this blind over the past two months.

Spring migrants are starting to use the areas in front of waterbird blinds such as #1 on Tule Lake and #5 and #6 on Lower Klamath. Species observed already at or very near blind #1 include great blue heron, mallard, Canada goose, white-fronted goose, American avocet, northern shoveler, California gull, great egret, ruddy duck, white pelican, bufflehead and (my personal favorite) the American coot. A morning in this blind should provide the properly equipped photographer the opportunity to photograph most of these species and perhaps one or two not listed above. Note: getting to this blind currently requires the use of hip waders or rubber boots. We hope to change this situation this summer by running a boardwalk suitable for wheelchair access to a newly renovated multi-person blind at this location.

A few hints about using photo blinds:

                    --- Plan to spend a minimum of three hours in the blind for best results.

For information and reservations call Dave Menke, Tom VandenBerg or Jerry King at 530-667-2231.

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