The birds are back!

April 14, 2008

I have been here in Oregon for about a month now! Can you believe it? The weather is not as I imagined it, rain 100% of the time, cold and windy, rather it rains intermittently throughout the day, the skies are cloudy with peaks of sun and it's been in the 50s. It's windy on East Sand Island, but it's an island...to be expected. Here are some pictures of Astoria - all are walking distance from my house. Enjoy!

A rainbow over the Pilot Station, Astoria, OR

A rainbow over a ship in the shipping channel of the Columbia River. The small boat is the Columbia River bar pilot - the bar is too dangerous to cross without a specialized pilot.

A mural on the back of the old Sears Building, Astoria, OR

Part of the same mural. I especially love the gulls.

The Astoria-Megler Bridge to Washington

The Astoria-Megler Bridge seen from the docks of the Columbia River Maritime Museum

Yesterday was my day off. It was sunny, clear and 73 degreesF. Beautiful! I drove 45 minutes to Saddle Mountain which is about 3,300 feet. The 2.75 mile trail up the mountain is constantly uphill with switchbacks and breathtaking views. Parts of the trail were destroyed in the 120mile/hour winds that occurred last winter. This part of the trail involved crawling under and/or climbing over massive downed trees, and climbing over root balls. The last 1.5 miles was covered in snow and about the last mile was above the tree line and the trail was not clear. Portions of which were very steep - with each step I hoped the snow wouldn't give way under my feet as there was nothing to stop my sliding down the side of the mountain.

This climb was a huge mental struggle for me. I missed Daniel a lot and was tired from doing physical field work all week. I reached a false summit only to find a mile of the snowy trail left to the real summit. I nearly turned back, but convinced myself to keep going. When I finally reached the top, I stopped and knelt, panting, trying to catch my breath. Then I looked around - a 360 degree view. I could see Cannon Beach to the west and the Pacific Ocean, then northward was Astoria and the hill I live on, the Columbia River estuary, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, then eastward Mount Hood. The forest below was heavily logged - vast expanses of clearcuts. I'm absolutely appalled at the forestry practices in this state.

The climb down was very fast! It took only about 30 minutes, whereas the climb up took nearly 3 hours. At one point, just down from the summit, there was a huge, steep valley and I could see the parking lot below. The cars looked like micromachine toy cars. My knees were dreading the climb down and I thought how exciting it would have been to take a zipline down to the parking lot from there! Wee! Picture time!

The view about a half mile up the trail, Saddle Mountain, OR

A flower, Saddle Mountain, OR

The summit seen from the false summit, Saddle Mountain, OR

The view from the summit, (from left) Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams

Yours truly, summit of Saddle Mountain, OR

An attempt at a panoramic shot from the top, Saddle Mountain, OR

The tern colony was plowed under and we hand raked much of it to get the grass root wads up. The work on the cormorant colony is finished as well. Now, we let the birds do their thing and we watch and wait. There are about 3,000 Caspian terns on the colony making scrapes (nests), copulating, feeding each other fish and fighting for territory. Meanwhile, western gulls hang out on the perimeter of the colony waiting for an opportunity to snatch a fish from the terns - this is called "kleptoparasitism."

Today I "resighted" terns from the blinds on the colony. Each year for the past six years, Caspian terns have been banded with various combinations of colored leg bands plus one numbered metal band. Resighting involves using a spotting scope and scanning the birds for bands. I LOVE doing this! It's like a treasure hunt every time! When a bird with bands is found, I zoom in and record the color combinations and the numbers on the bands if they can be read. This gives us information about their lives - how old they are when they start breeding, survival rates, parentage of chicks, etc. Neat, eh? Pictures...

Three stooges, Caspian terns, on the colony. Notice their white eyelids?

The bands are (Left) Orange, Dark blue (faded), Orange; (Right) White, Light Green slipped over the metal numbered band. It was banded as a chick on East Sand Island in 2001!

This bird wears a red band on the left leg and a metal band on the right.

Soon, there will be eggs! Then chicks! =)

My actual job as diet technician begins in a week from today. I will be analyzing the stomach contents of Double-crested cormorants and Caspian terns. Below are pictures of the area where I'll be working.

The stairs from the beach to the Diet Tent, where I'll be working.

This is the diet tent. Here I will discover what the birds are eating.