Category Archives: Animal

Off on a Tangent: Whooping Crane Migration

Posted on by

Whooping cranes in New Mexico?  Alice Lindsay Price’s mention of  seeing a “solitary Whooper among the snow geese at Bosque ” in her book Cranes: The Noblest Flyers  piqued my interest.    A Google search answered the question:  There haven’t been any whoopers at Bosque del Apache in the last ten or so years, but that’s a story for another day.

While browsing the web trying to learn more about whooping cranes I happened onto a field journal detailing this year’s migration of the birds from Wisconsin to the Florida panhandle.  The chicks, born and raised in captivity, must be taught the migration route.

They’re led with an ultra-light aircraft on a trip that starts in early autumn in Wisconsin, crosses Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, before reaching their ultimate destination, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.   To see photos of this amazing journey check out Operation Migration.

Each morning I read the progress report (daily email updates are available).  This week they were grounded for several days in Tennessee because of bad weather.  Yesterday they got off of the ground, but It was a slow go with lots of stops.  The lead pilot posted this report.  It sounds something like that old saying about herding cats.

The trip is a long one, lots of starts and stops, over a thousand miles.  Last year the birds arrived at their winter home in early January.  But they only have to do it once.  The whoopers never forget and will return on their own each year.

Today’s field notes entry:  Day 42.  Carroll County, TN.  It’s just too darn windy to fly – we’re grounded.

 

 

 

 

Bluestem Pack – Fall 2014 Update

Posted on by

While no longer an icon for pristine wilderness, the wolf is a symbol for conscientious caring for the environment, for conservation that is enduring.
George Rabb

Photo Credit: Eric Kilby via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Eric Kilby via Compfight cc

By now the Bluestem’s newest members, pups born in the spring, have felt the chill of the coming winter and have chased their first snowflakes.  They are half-grown, six-months-old, big enough and strong enough to run with the pack.

Field team members, who monitor the location and status of the endangered Mexican gray wolves, observed the pack of eleven feeding on an elk carcass near Lake Sierra Blanca in mid-October.  The lake is in the heart of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in Arizona, the traditional territory of the pack.

The Bluestem Pack, really an extended family of related wolves, is made up of the alpha pair (parents), five juveniles born in 2013, and one collared* male pup born this year.  The others are probably pups from this year’s litter that have yet to be captured and collared.  According to Jane Packard in Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation (edited by D. Mech and L. Boitani) the function of the family group at this stage is to provide a hunting school which gives the juveniles, “opportunities to hone their hunting skills while traveling with the family”.  She goes on to say, “most wolves disperse from their natal pack between the ages of 9 and 36 months”.

Only one of the wolves, a female, from the 2013 litter has dispersed.  She has been traveling for several months further south in the Apache-Sitgreaves and, so far, there have been no reports that she has found a mate or joined another pack.

It’s a dangerous world out in the wild for wolves.  Of the four pups born to the Bluestem Pack in 2012 three died before reaching their second birthdays.  The one surviving wolf from the litter, a female, dispersed, found a mate, and is now the alpha female in the Hawks Nest Pack.  They have established a territory north of the Bluestems’s and are raising at least one pup.

Twelve years ago the original Bluestem alpha pair and several of their pups and juveniles were released in a  place called Fish  Bench. It’s not too far from where the pack runs, hunts, and raises their young today, proof that, in  spite of being hunted to near extinction, Mexican wolves never forgot how to be wild.

*Pups are captured by the field team to verify their genetics, check their physical condition and to outfit them with radio collars for tracking purposes.

 

Return of the Sandhill Cranes

Posted on by

Much head turning and bobbing as the Sandhills converse, exchange greetings, leaping upward, even doing a little of their pair-bonding dance.  Then one by one they follow the sentinel Crane, and they open their great wings to lift them aloft in the clear dawn air of a New Mexico winter sky.
Alice Lindsay Price

Photo Credit: sunrisesoup via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: sunrisesoup via Compfight cc

Each November Sandhill cranes descend on the Bosque del Apache, a wildlife refuge in south-central New Mexico.  Thousands of them–it’s a noisy gathering.

Many migrate from Grays Lake in southeastern Idaho.  The lake, really a large shallow marsh covered with bulrush and cattail, is where the huge birds (four-feet tall with six-foot wingspans) mate, nest, and raise their young.  It’s a 700-mile trip to the Bosque (forest), situated on the Rio Grande, where they spend most of the winter.

Not far behind the Sandhills are the birders, many of whom probably travel farther than the cranes.  They come armed with binoculars, telephoto lenses, and tripods hoping to get the perfect shot.  In her book, Cranes: The Noblest Flyers, Alice Lindsay Price describes the thrill of seeing the flock take flight at daybreak on a cold winter morning.

Next week is the annual Festival of the Cranes, a six-day event filled with crane behavior seminars, wildlife photography workshops, and birding hikes.  The cranes will stay on after the festival, many until February when they begin their journey north with a stopover in Colorado’s San Luis Valley for a few weeks before returning to Idaho.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to Bosque del Apache while the Sandhill cranes are in residence, so will have to make do with this moment in nature from last week’s CBS Sunday Morning show.

 

 

A Visit to Wildlife West Nature Park

Posted on by

Most of our rescued wildlife were either orphaned, injured or illegally raised as pets.
–Wildlife West Nature Park

 

Photo Credit: P. Nixon

Photo Credit: P. Nixon

Barbie was perched high up in her tree. I stood admiring her quill coat, waiting for her to turn around, to show me her face.  Like many of the animals at Wildlife West she was rescued after an accident, her mother hit by a car in west Texas. Passers-by saved the baby porcupine and took her to a local rehabilitation center. At eight-weeks of age she was moved to this New Mexico zoo which is dedicated to giving permanent homes to rescued, native wildlife.

Thursday morning I was one of the first visitors to arrive at Wildlife West. I chatted with the zoo’s founder and director Roger Alink for a few minutes before I set off on the path to see the animals.

Once I figured out that Barbie wasn’t budging, I  continued on around to the Mexican gray wolf habitat overlook.  Within moments one of the two females (sisters) appeared from behind the stand of junipers. She trotted back and forth over the well-worn trails.

The day was warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.  Ravens soared overhead, their raspy squawks a counterpoint the ever-present rumble of semi-trucks moving east to west and back again on Interstate 40. The second wolf appeared, made a reconnaissance of her territory, gnawed on what looked like a fresh bone, and then curled up for a nap in the shade of an evergreen while her sister continued her watchful patrol.

This was my second visit to Wildlife West and both times I made the 65-mile trip from Santa Fe to see the wolves*.  It’s the best place I have found to get a look at the endangered animals in a natural setting which has the added benefit of being located in close proximity to their historical habitat.  Unlike the other animals at the park human interaction with the wolves is purposely minimized–they are part of the species survival plan, bred and raised for potential release into the wild.

On my way back to the entrance I stopped by to see Koshari, the black bear.  I had been fascinated by the opportunity to get an up close at him on my first visit, sacked out on his back under the viewing window, swatting flies with his huge paws.  This time he was nowhere to be seen.  The only sign that he had been around recently was little pile of half-eaten apples and baby carrots.  Roger told me the bear was slowing down for the winter season, eating less, napping more–he was probably dreaming in his den.

Wile E. Coyote By: P. Nixon

Wile E. Coyote
By: P. Nixon

My last stop was to see Wile E. the playful and sociable two-year-old coyote.  As a pup she was illegally captured and raised as a pet before she was rescued.  No sign of her, I made a soft clicking sound and waited, but nothing.   I turned for one last look as I was walking away and there she was–stretched out on the low height stucco wall, acting like she had always been there.  Not wanting to spook her, I  walked back slowly, keeping my distance, admiring her slim face and big ears.  She was napping in the sun when I finally left.

 

*In addition to the two female Mexican gray wolves, Wildlife West has three males.  The five are all siblings, but are kept separate from one another.  The males are on the other side of the overlook, but are harder, at least in my experience, to see.

The Halloween Owl

Posted on by

The Warm Little Owl
by John Vance Cheney
Darkness, grow and blacker fold,
Rattle, hail, and blast be bold.
Old trees, blow together
In the cold, roaring weather;
Louder you howl
The jollier he,
In his nest in the breast of the hollow tree,
The warm little owl, the little warm owl.

Pay up, wild pipes i’ the forest bare,
Gallop, goblins, down the air.
Ride, hug to the back
Of the scudding rack;
Fiercer it scowl
The jollier he,
In his nest in the breast of the hollow tree,
The warm little owl, the little warm owl.

Photo Credit: Joyce Nixon

Photo Credit: Joyce Nixon

Halloween and owls.  They just seem to go together.  And yet, the one pictured here appeared on a Sunday morning in June.  He perched on a second-story roof-overhang at my folks’ house.  The neighbors gathered below:  pointing, chattering, taking pictures while the great-horned owl took it all in with his big yellow eyes.

All About Birds calls the great-horned the story-book owl–the one we dream about.  Not uncommon, they show up in deserts and forests, backyards and city parks, but I have never seen one.

 Tonight it will be chilly in the foothills of New Mexico, clouds flitting in front of the waxing moon, a few days short of being full.  Beyond my backyard, a few yards to the west, standing tall among the pinyons and junipers is an old cottonwood, leaves still hanging on, rattling in the breeze.  That’s where I’m sure he’ll be. Perched on a limb, still as a gargoyle.  whoooo . . .whoooo .  . .whoooo. . .

Happy Halloween!

The End of Tomato Season

Posted on by

Three deer chomped on the tomato plants and petunias just outside our back door while Dave and I stood watching.

Photo Credit: ahisgett via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: ahisgett via Compfight cc

Truth is the tomatoes didn’t do well this year, probably because I didn’t plant my small garden until early July. Within a week we had a hard rain and hail that shredded the geraniums. It didn’t faze the tomato plants; they took off like Jack’s beanstalk. It reminded me of a piece of gardening lore I picked up as a kid–if the tomato plants stalled out in the heat of the summer, slap them with a flyswatter to get them going.

One of my plants sprawled; the other grew and grew until it was taller than I. A purple basil plant and my favorite lobelia withered in their shade. Both put out a profusion of flowers and then fruit, but most never ripened.

Last week we had a salad with six cherry tomatoes, my harvest for the year.

Torn between shooing the deer away or running to get my camera, I did neither. After eating their fill they sauntered off into the pines.

Feeding Bob – Feral Cats on the Big Island of Hawaii

Posted on by

Bob appeared on my lanai shortly after I arrived on the Big Island. I would have recognized him right away even if his picture didn’t show up every hour or so in my screen-saver photo rotation.

Photo Credit: P. Nixon

Photo Credit: P. Nixon

He looked just the same as he did four years ago–short-legged and stocky, white chest and paws with gray tabby markings,  dark-rimmed green eyes, and a tipped left ear indicating he had been neutered.

Back then he traveled with a buddy, a large gray-and-black striped male.   Very shy, the neutered tabby would hang back a few feet while Bob stood at the screen door cajoling, wheedling, demanding. Once I put out food they would both eat. Bob was generous about sharing.

This time Bob came and went alone, stopping at my back door every few hours. I figured he was making the rounds to other cat-friendly lanais, but hoped he also had access to a regularly maintained feeding station. I fed him small portions of canned Little Friskies and a few cat treats. One morning he napped on the doormat while I sat outside drinking coffee and writing. He was friendly, but cautious, moving away if I came too close. He looked healthy, but had a cut on a front leg that seemed to be healing.

Two days before I was scheduled to leave, Bob showed up with not one, not two, but three friends. At first I was dismayed, not sure I had enough time to get in touch with one of my contacts to borrow traps, bait and capture the felines, and then arrange transport to and from a clinic for spay/neuter. I looked more closely. Every one of the cats had a tipped ear. Someone had already done the work.

All four took up residence on and around the lanai, napping on the chairs, alert to my every move. A few hours before my flight back to the Mainland I opened the last can of chicken cat food and emptied the bag of dairy-flavored treats. I wondered how long it would take them to figure out I wasn’t coming back.

Before each trip to Hawaii, I reassess how I feel about feral cats in a place with so many endangered birds.  So far, I haven’t come up with any better ideas than those I wrote about in a 2011 essay. Between visits I stay in touch with AdvoCATS Hawaii.  Over the last 15 years they have spayed/neutered almost 16,000 cats on the island. They were probably  responsible for fixing those that showed up on my lanai based on the emails we traded after I returned home.

It crosses my mind, just before I hit the publish button that maybe I shouldn’t share this post.  It seems a contradiction to be writing about efforts to save endangered Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and, at the same time, about feral cats that threaten endangered birds in Hawaii.  But that’s the world I live in, really the world we all live in. Everything we do, whether consciously or not, impacts nature, the physical universe. That’s why I write this blog, not only as a way to recognize and appreciate that universe, but also as a way to puzzle out my place in it.

Road Trip: Truth or Consequences

Posted on by

August is the best month to visit Santa Fe. Petunias cascade out of hanging baskets on the Plaza, Carmen’s arias waft across the sagebrush and pinyons after sunset, and a patient waiter recommends the perfect glass of red to accompany the duck enchilada mole. For those of us who live in this charming city and run the risk of taking it for granted, August is a good month to escape, if only for a very short while.

Photo by: P. Nixon

Photo by: P. Nixon

Dave and I did just that on Wednesday last week. We shut off the computers, locked the office door behind us, leaving stacks of files on our desks, and pointed the car south on I25. I had packed the map of New Mexico and a cooler filled with sandwiches, chips, and iced tea in the front; the bottle of whiskey was locked in the trunk with the suitcases.

Our destination was the small town of Truth or Consequences in the southwestern part of the state where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was conducting a public hearing to discuss the fate of the Mexican gray wolf. We stopped once on the 200 mile trip at the Walking Sands rest area south of Albuquerque to stretch our legs, photograph the beware of rattlesnakes sign, and trade places in the car. I drove the last 90 miles watching thunderstorms move from west to east, sweeping across the San Mateo Mountains and  Black Range. Sporadic downpours slowed us down, but ended as quickly as they began.

We arrived in T or C, known best for its hot springs and 1951 name change, with just enough time to grab a taco at Maria’s before the start of the hearing. Two local police cars cruised the neighborhood next to the convention center while we looked for a place to park.

Photo by P. Nixon

Photo by P. Nixon

Fish and Wildlife was just beginning their Power Point presentation when we took our seats. About two hundred people turned out–ranchers, birders, hunters, campers, and concerned citizens. They represented farm bureaus, environmental groups, and, sometimes, just themselves. Seventy-six got the chance to speak, uninterrupted, for two minutes each, addressing their comments to a moderator and Benjamin Tuggle, Fish and Wildlife’s Southwest Regional Director.

Afterward Dave and I had a long soak in one of the mineral baths at the Sierra Grande Lodge, time to reflect on all we had heard.  Like most of the hearings conducted in New Mexico and Arizona over the past year the comments favored the wolves by about two to one with most of the speakers asking for continued  protection and expanded territory for the lobos.  Those against cited the loss of cattle to depredation, the pressure on deer and elk populations, and the cost of the reintroduction effort as reasons the program should not be expanded.

On Thursday we returned to Santa Fe–no time to make a side trip to the nearby Gila Wilderness where less than  month ago a family of wolves called the Coronado Pack was released.  Another trip, we promised ourselves.

It’s been a week and I am still listening to my recording of the hearing, transcribing comments, both pro and con, for a future post.  Luckily, there are still a few reporters who do that work quickly and accurately.  I found this account of the proceedings in the online edition of the Silver City Daily Press the day after the meeting.

 

 

 

Bluestem Pack – Summer 2014 Update

Posted on by

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
Rudyard Kipling

Photo Credit: James Zeschke via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: James Zeschke via Compfight cc

The Bluestem Pack still runs in the White Mountains of Arizona–twelve years after the original family of wolves was released into the wild.  Last week a telemetry flight located the alpha pair, AF1042 and AM1341, and five pups born in 2013 a few miles south of Noble Peak. It appears they probably also have new pups, born in the spring of this year.

When I last wrote an update back in April, little was known about AM1341.  A few months after the Bluestem’s prior alpha male, AM806, was illegally shot in the summer of 2012, an unidentified male began traveling with the pack.  In January, 2014 he was  captured, collared, and assigned a studbook number, but it took a  genetics test to  confirm that he was the father of last year’s pups.

The pack has gotten into some trouble over the last two months.  One of the 2013 pups, f1332, has been traveling alone for several weeks and in June killed a calf.  A second incident occurred in mid-July when a wolf injured two horses; telemetry reports confirmed that it was AF1042, the alpha female.

Most of the Bluestem Pack’s 2012 pups (the last litter fathered by AM806) have perished, but one, F1280, survives and has become the alpha female of the Hawks Nest Pack.  The two wolves (AF1280 and AM1038) have established their territory in the north-central portion of the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona and were recently located a few miles west of Gobbler Peak.  In late July the field team documented the alpha pair howling accompanied by one or two pups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted  public hearings last week  in Arizona and New Mexico  to take comments on  proposed  changes to the rule that governs the management of the small population of Mexican wolves  that live in the wild.  Fish and Wildlife’s final decision, expected in January,  will greatly impact the odds that today’s pups will be able to find mates and establish territories–to survive and thrive.

I attended the meeting in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico on Wednesday night and the comments mostly favored the lobos, but they still have a long way to go.  I’ll write more about the proposed rule changes and the  hearing in upcoming posts.

Welcome to Wolf Week!

Posted on by

Yes, it’s true.  I borrowed the idea from the Discovery Channel, but I promise no snarling, growling, menacing wolves here.

Mexican Gray Wolf at Wildlife West Nature Park Photo Credit: Paula Nixon

Mexican Gray Wolf at Wildlife West Nature Park
Photo Credit: Paula Nixon

It’s a big week for the Mexican gray wolves native to the Southwest with two public hearings scheduled to discuss their future.  The first will be held in Pinetop, Arizona tonight, the second in Truth or Consequences (T or C), New Mexico on Wednesday night.  US Fish and Wildlife officials will conduct both hearings, giving the public an opportunity to voice their opinions about  proposed rule changes to the reintroduction program, which has allowed the wolves to be reintroduced into their historic range over the last sixteen years.  This recent article in the Arizona Republic provides more details.

Stay tuned for the story of Ernesta, a female wolf recently re-released to the wild with a new mate and pups; an update on the Bluestem Pack, successfully living in the wild for twelve years; and the tale of a road trip to T or C.