Blitz live from the field!
Recent rains have put a glow on Mt Shasta. We aren’t out of this drought yet, but it sure helps.
Snow On Mt Shasta
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Romantic Osprey Triangle
He was waiting for a girl. It didn’t take long for her to show up either. He arrived on February 28th, which appeared in the post, Spring Wings. She returned March 3rd, but there was a surprise.
As I drove around the log deck, the nest tower came into view. I saw two birds on the nest tower. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a third bird in the nest. When I got to the office parking lot, I could see only see two birds.
The two birds kept looking at each other, calling all the while. I thought, I may be here in time to catch the magic moment. The bird closest to the nest took off and did a flyby to the other bird. I knew we were getting close now. Then I saw wings flap in the nest. There WERE three birds! I wasn’t witnessing the dance of love, but instead, two boys fighting over a girl.
Click on the pictures to enlarge the images. Watch the drama unfold!
The two combatants are sizing each other up.
The osprey near the nest took off.
Trying to drive his opponent away, he begins his assault.
He continued pressing his rival.
He begins to wear his opponent down.
Finally, both birds take to the air.
Most of the aerial contest was a game of chase.
Throw in some dramatic maneuvers.
Finally, one bird prevailed.
Taking his place at his castle.
He diligently stands guard.
Forestry Friday … Masticator
What’s a masticator? Think of it as a big mobile wood chipper, or a mower on steroids. You may have seen these machines grinding up brush on the side of the road. They’re also used in forestry applications.
I came across a brush clearing operation on the neighbor’s property. Our neighbors happen to be a large government agency. They were shut down because a much needed rain storm made the woods too wet for operating. They were thinning a thirty plus year old Ponderosa pine plantation and removing competing brush with masticators. The thinned trees weren’t big enough to harvest for sawlogs. Masticating an area is expensive, but it makes the plantation more fire resistant and spaces out the residual trees for better growth.
Farther down the road, they used masticators to create a fuelbreak. This provides a break in heavy fuels giving firefighters a defensible line to make a stand against an oncoming wildfire. Shredded and crushed wood from the masticated brush is left on the ground. This woody debris still burns, but the flame lengths and rate of spread of a fire are reduced, thus making it manageable for a fire crew. It’s also a location that a fire crew can use for backfire operations. Over time, this material will decompose, further lessening the fire risk.
The current fuelbreak was originally cleared as a firebreak during the Finley Fire in 1990. A fuelbreak is a change from a heavy fuel type, such as brush, to a lighter fuel type like grass. A firebreak is the removal of all fuel down to bare dirt. After the fire, we replanted our section of the same fireline in 1992. Our trees are now twenty-two years old. As these trees grow larger, they’ll be developed into a shaded fuelbreak. A shaded fuelbreak utilizes the shade of trees to suppress the growth of underbrush. This keeps fuels on the forest floor light. Pruning trees creates a break in the vertical fuel ladder reducing the chance that a ground fire becomes a crown fire.
The neighbors didn’t replant trees in the firebreak immediately after the fire. While our section of the fireline grew trees, their section grew brush. Our stand of trees is twenty years along the process of becoming a shaded fuelbreak. The neighbors must continue to retreat the brush to maintain their section of the fuelbreak.
Forestry is a process with a long planning horizon. I commend the neighbors for creating the fuelbreak. This treatment also benefits our property. However, by making the investment in planting trees early, we saved money on brush removal, while accelerating forest restoration at this site.
Click on the image for a larger view.
The masticator is the piece of equipment mounted on the end of the excavator boom.
The masticator head.
This older plantation had the brush removed and was thinned with a masticator. These trees are over thirty years old.
This former manzanita brush field was masticated into a fuelbreak.
The brush on the right side of the road is what the left side looked like before treatment.
Looking down the fireline across the ownerships. The manzanita brush is the neighbor’s property and the trees were planted by my crew in 1992.
The pink flag is the property line.
Those are my trees!
Looking across the canyon and watching that sweet rain fall.
Blossoming Dwarf Oregon Grape growing in the fuelbreak.
Blitz loves a shaded fuelbreak. So many sticks, so little time.
Spring Wings!
I first saw him last week, out back behind the mill.
I was pretty sure it was our male osprey on the snag behind the mill last week. Then right on schedule our boy was back at the nest on Friday morning. Last year he arrived on February 26th. This year he showed February 28th. Now he begins his vigil, as he waits for his mate to arrive.
Back for a new year at the nest. He scans the horizon for his mate.
When the osprey arrive, I know that Spring is knocking on our door. A few early flowers are blooming and the frogs are singing at night. The little birds chase each other around the trees and buds are swelling. We are finally getting some significant rain. We may have a normal Spring after all.
That fish is looking nasty!
You can see all about the nesting season 2013.
Forestry Friday … The Critical Period
Critical Period means the time of year when the special timber operations practices set forth in these regulations are required to minimize nesting disturbance to a species of special concern.
-California Forest Practice Rules
This Northern Goshawk fledgling was ready to take me on.
Species of Special Concern include Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Northern Goshawk, Osprey, and Peregrine Falcon. Species of Special Concern are not the same as Threatened and Endangered Species. T and E species rise to a much higher standard of protection. They are protected under rules originating from the Endangered Species Act.
When a nest site of a Species of Special Concern is identified in a timber harvest plan area, a buffer zone is established around it. The buffer zone sizes differ according to the species. The critical period is based on the nesting season for that particular species of bird. No timber harvesting is allowed within the buffer zone during the critical period. After the critical period, harvesting can take place, but the nest trees are always retained. There are limitations as to the type of harvesting that can take place in the buffer zone, such as no clearcutting is allowed. The harvesting practices allowed in the buffer zones are tailored to each species. depending on their needs.
The Northern Goshawk fledgling in the picture was discovered after my crew and I stumbled onto a nest tree. We were marking trees when one of the guys came and informed me he saw a “great big bird in a nest.” When we went to investigate, I could see right away it was a Northern Goshawk fledgling, and there wasn’t one, there were two.
The young birds were branching. This is when they hop from branch to branch strengthening their wings before they have mastered flight. We stopped marking and began moving away from the nest. One of the Goshawk parents was nearby but moved away from us. This was a relief because Goshawk parents are well known for attacking people that are too close to their nest. This usually happens when the chicks are very young. Apparently, they are less protective when the chicks are older. We watched the young birds from what we thought was a safe distance, so as not to spook them. Then, one of the youngsters glided out of the nest to a branch in a nearby tree. Its sibling, not wanting to be left alone, followed. Only this bird wasn’t as advanced in its flight training as the first. It glided downhill and smacked straight into the trunk of a white fir tree and tumbled to the ground. I told the crew, “Oh my God, I think we just killed it.” Fortunately, it popped up on its feet, screeching all the while.
I sent the crew to mark timber in a different area. Then, with my camera in hand, I headed down the hill to check the condition of the young Goshawk. It was mad as hell and ready to give me what for. Otherwise it was okay. I took a few pictures and backed off to let it calm down. I knew, at this age, it would be able to hop its way back up the trees to safety. The parents weren’t far away and would tend to it.
For the Northern Goshawk the buffer zone is twenty acres and the critical period is from March 15 through August 15. The forester who prepared the timber harvest plan knew the Goshawks were living in the plan area. He protected their nest tree, by making it a no harvest area. However, the uncooperative goshawks had decided to move out of a perfectly good nest and build a new one in the logging unit. We were the first to discover the new nest. As a result, a new twenty acre buffer zone was established around this nest and none of the trees we marked in the area were harvested.
This Osprey was behind the sawmill last week. It might be our boy from the nest tower.
The buffer zone for the Osprey is 5 acres and the critical period is from March 15 through August 15.
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
If harvesting is done with a helicopter, they can operate no closer than one quarter mile of the nest tree. This is true for Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Northern Goshawk and Osprey. Peregrine Falcon get a one half mile buffer.
Great Blue Heron
The herons and egrets have a 300′ buffer around nest trees. Their critical period goes from February 15 through July 1.
Blitz says, her critical period is pheasant season.
Yard Work Forester Style
We had a beautiful day to work in the yard. There was lots of clean up to be done and it was a burn day. We usually burn off the grass and cattail around our ponds every winter to enhance our view, improve dog training access, enhance wildlife habitat and reduce fire risk for the rest of the year. Left unchecked the cattail choke off the open water. Now, while fire is a useful tool, I don’t recommend this for everyone. It can be very tricky and you have to follow all the local rules before using it. That being said, I really like my flame thrower! Thank you Mary, of Sneaking Bliss for all the great pictures! Just click on the pictures to enlarge.
Time to break out the flame thrower!
Sailor isn’t sure about this operation.
Time for the boys to watch from afar.
Doing yard work forester style!
Feeling like a grilled cheese sandwich!
I need a boat!
Flame on!
Channeling my inner Viking!
Feeling the heat!
Blitz spots for me. She has seen this all before.
Hey, look a fire bomber! Move along, nothing to see here.
Oops, missed a spot.
That’s better.
The pond enhancement is complete.
Sailor Overboard!
Gallery
This gallery contains 13 photos.
Originally posted on Sneaking Bliss:
An afternoon of bliss with my new boy, Sailor. Tap on the first image and enjoy the slide show. Thanks to Tim – The Forester Artist – for the great shots.
Forestry Friday … Of Trees and Dogs
When I was a reforestation forester, the district I worked on had about 2,600 acres burn in the Gun II Fire. The fire burned over 60,000 acres in total. It was my responsibility to implement the reforestation on our 2,600 acres.
Planting trees in the Gun II Burn.
As an artist, I paint on a small canvas. As a forester, I paint on a big one. After a large wildfire, the landscape canvas can be huge. Reforestation on this scale is a lot of work. It’s very gratifying knowing I had a hand in starting this new forest. Each year when I return, the trees are a little bigger. I picked up and carried every box of trees, hundreds of thousands of trees.
Below are four photo point pictures showing how this canvas has changed over time. I had a few of my friends help demonstrate how big the trees have grown over the last 12 years. It’s a running joke around here, that you must have a dog if you’re a forester.
May 5, 2001 Immediately after planting. Hunter and Blaze pose for me.
February 19, 2006 That’s Hunter and Blaze peeking through the trees.
July 7, 2010 The trees have been thinned. Blitz and Hawk pose.
October 23, 2013 The trees are over twenty feet tall. Now it’s just Blitz.
A farmer grows his crop over the course of a year, but our crop takes decades. Counting each year that passes is an occupational reality of being a forester. Seeing my dogs in these pictures also reminds me of time marching on. Now, there are new generations of both dogs and trees. To me, their lives are intertwined with the forest. This forest is full of our stories.
Forestry Friday … Forestry Quiz Answer
Now this doesn’t replace your regularly scheduled Forestry Friday. However, it’s time to answer last weeks Forestry Quiz Question.
Ponderosa pine seedlings in a growth study.
The question was….
You nail a red tag on a Lodgepole pine tree at DBH. DBH stands for Diameter at Breast Height, which is 4 1/2 feet about the ground as measured on the high side of the base or the tree. The tree is growing in height at 2 1/2 feet per year. In 10 years how high will the tag be above the ground?
Answer, 4 1/2 feet. Trees grow from the top up. New shoots emerge at the ends of the twigs. On the other hand, grass does grow from the bottom up. Most of you got it right and a few brave souls who weren’t sure, guessed! No guts, no glory. Way to go everyone, I’m impressed. I’ll have to give you a harder question next time. Let’s see what Blitz thinks.
It seems Blitz is not impressed. 😦
Whimsday Bliss – Sailor
We have a new puppy! A really big puppy!
Meet Sailor, he’s my new boy. At 17 months old he’s still a puppy discovering his world. This morning, it was ducks on the pond. He kept running to the pond then returning to me…Look! Ducks! Come on, DUCKS! Yep, Whimsday Bliss!
THE FORESTER ARTIST 