Birding with Bob

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Red-Tailed Hawk
Photo Credit: Bob DeCandido

Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). Our first bird of the morning. I lifted my field glasses to get a better look, but never caught a glimpse of its golden underside. Bob pointed out rows of holes in the bark of a Siberian elm, one of the woodpecker’s favorite trees in Central Park. Most of these birds are passing through, making a stop to feed before continuing on their journey south. 

It was a Saturday morning in mid-October, overcast but mild.  About 30 people had gathered outside a restaurant in the middle of the park to meet up with Bob for a 3-hour walk. A native New Yorker, Bob earned a PhD studying the flora of NYC and has been conducting bird walks in Central Park for over 25 years. Dave and I arrived at 9:30, not a moment too soon, to go on the second walk of the morning. We both borrowed binoculars (often referred to as “bins” by birders) from Bob and were on our way, headed into the Ramble, one of the wilder areas of the Park.

After our first sighting, Dave and I fell into a rhythm. I made a list of all of the birds called out and he looked them up on the Cornell bird identification website.  We had mixed success in actually seeing the birds, often concealed in the leaves of trees or moving too quickly for our inexperienced binocular handling. We took few photos, leaving that to the pros with their high-powered cameras and long lenses.

The morning passed quickly with a succession of kinglets, warblers, and sparrows. Lots of the birders dropped off. Dave and I had skipped breakfast in our rush to catch an uptown train to the park so it was tempting, but we kept walking, stopping frequently to peer through our bins into the trees, hoping to spot a scarlet tanager or a brown creeper.

Near the end of our walk, back in the heavily-wooded Ramble, the sun came out and one of our fellow birders pointed out a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). The feathered predator was sitting serenely on the branch of a hackberry tree above a boulder, the size of an upended mini-van, balanced on a sheet of rock.

Red-tails, native to the area, have adapted well to the ceaseless growth and development of Manhattan. They nest and raise their young on the ledges of multi-storied buildings near Central Park, soar high over the city, and make a good living off an endless supply of rats and pigeons. The story of one red-tail called Pale Male was documented in books, movies, and articles. In the 1990s, he and his mate built a nest on a Fifth Avenue building where they raised their young in view of a crowd of birdwatchers and casual bystanders.

Red-tails in NYC have grown used to humans and this adult male paid no attention to the photographers under the hackberry angling for the best shot or to those of us who stayed on the path training our bins on him to get a better look at his pale breast and streaky belly band.

We have red-tails in New Mexico and I often see them on power poles as we drive down the highway, but it’s always a fleeting view from a distance. Although this red-tail sitting on a branch was not a rarity in the park, it was my favorite sighting of the day. Long ago I had read about the Central Park red-tails and I wondered if this hawk might be one of Pale Male’s progeny.

I stood and watched, hoping to see him take flight so I could get a look at his red fan-shaped tail and the elaborate pattern on the underside of his wings, but he didn’t budge. I took one last long look before I handed my bins back to Bob.

Dave and I walked out of the park, caught a southbound subway, and went in search of lunch.

Further Information:
Bob’s Bird Walks – schedules and bird lists and much more
Deborah Allen’s list of birds for October 12, 2019
Central Park Red-Tailed Hawks: two articles written by Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido (aka Bob): Nesting! and Fledging!





The Short Life of Wolf 1676

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It took longer than usual, at least in part because of the government shutdown in December and January, but the population number for 2018 was finally released in early April . The news was good–at least 131 Mexican wolves are living in the wild in the U.S. That’s 17 more wolves than a year ago.

Photo by Paula Nixon 1/23/18

But, wolf deaths were also up–21 in 2018 versus 12 in 2017. One wolf that did not survive the year was M1676, pictured above. My story about M1676’s journey was published here by Earth Island.

How to Get a Look at a Mexican Wolf

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We wanted to see them while there were still a few out there—Jean Ossorio

Less than 120 Mexican wolves live in the Gila and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests of New Mexico and Arizona, so it’s just not that easy to spot one of the creatures. Jean Ossorio has camped out almost 500 nights over the 20-plus years since endangered Mexican wolves were reintroduced to their native habitat. She has had 56 sightings.

In this recent article by Tracy Staedter about Ossorio’s wolf watching adventures, the writer shares her experience camping out with Ossorio in 2016. On that trip they lucked out. Not only did they hear howling overnight, but were able to watch a family of wolves, the Hoodoo Pack, with their pups the next morning.

One of my favorite parts of the article is Ossorio’s photo of the contents of her pack–a rain-proof notebook, a track ruler, a bag of Traxtone (for making casts of tracks) and her mascot, Camo Lobo, among other things.

Kawi
Photo Credit: Paula Nixon

Although it’s not the same as watching a family of lobos cavort in a mountain meadow, there are other ways of getting a look at a Mexican wolf. Many zoos and conservation centers are home to Mexican wolves, participating in the species survival program. I have listened to wolves howl and watched them run and play and nap in facilities spread across the country. From the Wolf Conservation Center in New York state to the Living Desert in Palm Desert, California. Here’s a list of places where lobos live in captivity.

The place I visit most often to wolf watch is the Albuquerque BioPark. My only equipment is notebook, my cellphone camera, and a pair of birding binoculars that I always carry in the trunk of my car. These days there are two wolves sharing the public enclosure. Kawi, pictured above, is a female who has been at the zoo for a few years. Her new mate is Ryder, recently moved from the Binder Park Zoo in Michigan. You can see pictures of him in this press release.

It’s wolf breeding season so I’ll be keeping watch, stopping by to check on Kawi and Ryder in mid- to late-spring to see if they have pups.

Coyote Yipps

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Coyote Yipps is Janet Kessler’s blog about urban coyotes.  Known as the Coyote Lady, she’s been photographing and writing about  coyotes in and around San Francisco for the last eleven years.  

Photo Credit: TonysTakes Flickr via Compfight cc

On a winter morning a few years back, I watched out my kitchen window as a coyote loped up the driveway, crossed the road, then stopped, turning to look behind him. A moment later his mate followed. After a brief greeting (if they made any sound, I couldn’t hear it from my vantage point), they took off together, leaving tracks in the snow as they disappeared from view up the hill and into the trees.

Maybe these are the same two that I have sometimes heard at night, yipping, howling, and barking.  Coyotes are the loudest of my wild neighbors.  The bobcats and bears are mostly silent as they pounce on mice or strip piñon nuts out of pine cones. I always assumed the noisy coyotes were in hot pursuit of a rabbit or roaming house cat, but it turns out I was probably wrong.

In this recent video posted on Coyote Yipps a female coyote is calling her mate.  It takes a few minutes, but eventually he shows up.  Her calls and his response sound much like what I have often heard coming from a stand of trees in my backyard or the nearby arroyo.  Next time I’ll listen more closely.

 

Learning to Fly

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I spent the final weekend of July in San Francisco, glued to my 11th floor window after spotting the adult western gull (Larus occidentalis)pictured here perched on a skylight.  It took a closer look to realize that, although distracted for a moment, its attention was primarily focused on the mustard-yellow structure (on the roof of a brick building) in the background of this photo.

Without binoculars it took some serious eye strain to make out the three fledglings that hopped in and out of view on the edge of the yellow building while another adult gull sat on a far corner keeping a close eye on their calisthenics.  Over the course of two days I saw the young gulls flap, flap, flap, but never lift  off.  The adult at my window seemed to be offering encouragement from afar along with occasional flying demonstrations.

Before I left Monday morning, I pulled the shade back one last time:  the adult was still observing patiently from the corner while one of the fledglings spread its wings, balanced on the edge of the building, getting stronger with each flex.  Soon, maybe on this day or the next, when the moment is right, the youngster will take the leap, feel the wind under its wings, and lift off on its first flight.

A few of my favorite recent reads about birds:

This story about a hitchhiking gull by Paul Rogers in the Mercury News shows just how smart these West Coast residents are.

In Melissa Hart’s essay she captures the beauty of hearing a bird’s song in its natural setting.

I had not heard of acorn woodpeckers until my friend, Robin sent me this video about the creative way they stash food in the bark of redwoods.

And finally, with all of the fires raging across the West, especially in California, I often wonder how birds and other wildlife are faring.  In this piece from Earth Island about the 2017 Christmas bird count in Ventura County that took place just after the Thomas Fire, writer Matt Blois has some surprising answers.

 

Earth Island Journal – Summer 2018 – Mexican Wolf Recovery

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Twenty years ago the first Mexican wolves were released back into their native habitat after a close call with extinction.  Today there are approximately 114 of the rare wolves living in the wild.  The latest edition of Earth Island Journal takes a look at where the recovery program stands today, the challenges it still faces,  and what it will take for the population to be fully recovered.

Links to the three pieces (including one I wrote) are listed below.

Mexican Wolf Survey–2018. Photo Credit: Paula Nixon

 

 

Leave the Door Open by Maureen Nandini Mitra

Recovery Roadblocks by John Soltes

Lobo 1676 by Paula Nixon

 

The Death of Willow Springs Pup 1385

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Update: 6/28/18 This story in the Santa Fe New Mexican last week about the death of mp1385 has quotes from the rancher who killed the wolf; the forest service supervisor; John Bradley, FWS spokesman; and several others on both sides of the Mexican wolf reintroduction debate.

Update:  6/18/18 I received a return call from Adam Mendonca, the Gila Forest Supervisor, who let me know that the USFS was working through its administrative process with regard to Mr.Thiessen’s conviction and the status of his grazing permits.  They have not yet made a decision about what action they will take.

News broke on May 25, 2018 that a New Mexico man had been sentenced for the 2015 death of a Mexican wolf. It’s rare news. Illegal mortalities continue to stack up—67 at end of 2015 for the 18-year period the wolves had been back in the wild at that point. Convictions for those killings can be counted on one hand.

The wolf, it turned out, was a pup, not yet a year old—a member of the Willow Springs Pack that roamed the north central portion of the Gila National Forest. He was born in the spring of 2014, the pack’s second litter. In September of that year he was captured by the field team that monitors the wild population, collared and assigned a studbook number, male pup (mp)1385.

Willow Springs male pup (mp) 1385 Photo Credit: US Fish and Wildlife

Five months later in February 2015 he was found dead. Craig Thiessen, a Catron County rancher, pled guilty admitting, “[that] he intentionally captured a Mexican wolf in a trap on his grazing allotment in the Gila National Forest and hit the wolf with a shovel.” Thiessen was charged with taking of threatened wildlife, a federal misdemeanor wildlife violation. His sentence: one year of probation and a $2300 fine to be paid to the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program

Going back through monthly status updates and annual progress reports, I pieced together some of the history of the pack.

The Willow Springs Pack formed in 2011 when two wolves–M1185 of the Middle Fork Pack and an unidentified female–began traveling together. In 2012 the female was captured, collared, and assigned studbook number F1279. Genetic testing later confirmed that she came from the Luna Pack.

The pair had their first litter of pups in 2013.

Up until 2014, the pack had never had any reported interactions with livestock. But in March of that year, before mp1385 was born, collared members of the pack killed two cows. The field team provided a diversionary food cache (road-killed prey and carnivore logs) and there were no further depredations.

On August 11, 2014 the Willow Springs Pack was located, via radio telemetry, east of John Kerr Peak in Catron County. The family of wolves included the two adults, one or two juveniles (born the prior year) and an unidentified number of pups, about 12 to 16 weeks old. With a territory of approximately 140 square miles it was just a snapshot in time of the Willow Springs Pack, a family of wolves on the move, the adults trying to protect and feed their offspring and in the process teaching them how to hunt.

Two days later U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) held a public meeting in Truth or Consequences (about 100 miles southeast of the Willow Springs Pack’s most recently identified location) to present proposed changes to the rule governing management of the small wild population of Mexican wolves. It was one of several meetings held in 2013 and 2014, an opportunity for the public to weigh in on proposals which included increasing the number of wolves living back in their native habitat and increasing the area where they would be allowed to establish territories.

The meeting was attended by almost 200 people, a mix of local citizens, ranchers, hunters, and wildlife advocates.  After a presentation by FWS, the public was invited to comment.  Most speakers were in favor of giving the wolves more room to roam and increasing their numbers.  They saw the return of the native predator as a positive.

Opposition was voiced in large part by ranchers, who are the ones most likely to have an interaction with a wolf and who sometimes suffer the loss of a cow or a dog.  I checked the transcript of the meeting to see if Craig Thiessen might have attended and made a comment, but he did not.

One speaker who addressed issues that the ranching community faces was Joe Bill Nunn, president of the Southwestern New Mexico Grazing Association. In part, he said:

“We are the ones bearing the brunt of the wolf population and the depredation by the wolves.”  He went on to ask that the program be ended and if not ended, ” . . . do not expand the initial recovery areas.  The problem with depredation of privately owned livestock . . . is only going to get worse.”

In January 2015 FWS issued their final rule.  The  Mexican wolf population living in the wild would be allowed to grow to approximately 300 (up from the original top set of 100) and their territory was greatly expanded.

A month later mp1385 was found in a trap, beaten to death. Thiessen has been punished, but is that the end of the story?

Maybe not.

Last Friday (June 8, 2018) a group of 30 organizations and numerous individuals signed a letter addressed to the supervisor of Gila National Forest asking that Thiessen’s grazing permits be revoked immediately.  The letter stated in part, “The public should not subsidize Mr. Thiessen’s private business after his brutal, violent and unconscionable crime.”

I left a message for Adam Mendonca, the forest supervisor,  to find out the status of Theissen’s grazing permits, but so far have not heard back.

I’ll close with the words of another speaker at the August 13, 2014 public hearing, Danielle LaRock:

“I will never understand [why] it is so hard to give a small group of wolves back a mere fraction of what we have taken away from them, their land and their freedom.”

 

Saying Goodbye to Red

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Tuesday morning at Anaeho’omalu Bay—it was quiet—a few walkers and the canoe club preparing to launch.

A-Bay Beach

Behind the beach several cats, the A-Bay kitties, were sunning themselves on the lava.

Dave and one of the A-Bay cats

Although I hadn’t visited in more than two years, a few looked familiar.  But there was one in particular I was looking for—Red, the one-eyed cat I wrote about in 2013.  Now known as Popeye, he’s a favorite of volunteers and visitors, one of the oldest cats in the colony.  Dawn of A-Bay Kitties (the nonprofit that takes care of the cats) says he’s about thirteen or fourteen and has mellowed in the last year or so.

I found him snoozing on a lava rock.  And sure enough, he let me take his picture and scratch his ears.

Red aka Popeye 3/6/18

Two days later, back on the Mainland I received a text from Dawn.  Red had been found dead by a visitor.   It was unexpected, but it appeared he died peacefully in his sleep, no sign of any injuries.  He was laid to rest nearby.

I’ll miss Red.  He represents all that is good in us.  From Charlotte and Dawn who captured the feisty tabby and took him to the vet when he was sick or injured to the many volunteers who made sure he always had food and water to the visitors from around the world who stopped by to check on Popeye and leave donations for the kibble fund.  Red had a good, long life and was well-loved.

 

 

Counting Wolves

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The annual Mexican wolf survey is underway after a brief delay during the government shutdown. I was in Alpine, Arizona on Wednesday and spent the day with the team conducting the count, capture and collar operation.

The first wolf brought in was a yearling, pictured below. In a brief thirty minute exam the male wolf was vaccinated, outfitted with a radio collar, and assigned a studbook number.

Photo by Paula Nixon 1/23/18

Within a couple of hours M1676 was back with the Bear Wallow Pack out in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. To see his release click on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/USFWSSouthwest/videos/1568484883189311/

Still Waiting

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Photo Credit: Mark Dumont Flickr via Compfight cc

Any day now the new recovery plan for Mexican gray wolves will be released.  Here’s my story, published in the Albuquerque Journal, about New Mexico’s Leopold Pack and the importance of a new plan.