Salmon's Wild Ride

What happens when a salmon swims into an irrigation diversion?

Nothing good. By the time the fish figures out it made a wrong turn in the stream, there’s not enough water to turn back, and it’s trapped—meaning certain death.

At least that’s how it used to be.

The contraption pictured above is installed on small streams to protect chinook salmon (and other fish) that swim down small stream diversions. Conservationists in the Salmon River Valleys recognize that small streams are vitally important to the remaining salmon and steelhead, but these streams are often overlooked as salmon habitat.

These little streams may not look like much at first glance, but salmon are not only a fish of large waters. After their long migration from the sea, it seems a shame for fish to be lost on the final part of their journey. Fish spawn in remarkably small streams connected to rivers like the Lemhi and Pahsimeroi:

These streams are also used by spawning steelhead, and contain populations of bull trout, cutthroats and resident rainbows—provided there is enough water. As fish migrate, they sometimes go into diversion channels, which, after all, look just like a regular stream channel:

A fish excluding device saves these fish. The water wheel concept is designed to divert the fish back to their stream, while ensuring adequate water still flows for irrigation.

Here’s how it works. Larger fish find an impasable metal barrier, so they turn around and swim back to the stream. But smaller fish can still pass—a fine mesh would accumulate so much debris in a day that the device would become a dam, negating its value as a diversion.

Smaller fish thus enter the pictured device and face a fine mesh barrier tube—rotated by the water wheel so that debris does not accumulate on the mesh.

Fish that make it to the mesh could be trapped, so a PVC pipe goes the opposite direction, returning some water to the stream. (Most of the water is run through the water wheel to the irrigation canal). The fish shoot down the tube and are deposited back in their natural habitat—subject to what must be a particularly wild ride, but far better off than the alternative.

The Nature Conservancy and partners consider it one of the highest conservation priorities to protect the salmon that are left. This includes a wide range of activities, including restoring habitat along spawning streams, ensuring adequate flows in rivers and devices like this one that protect both fish and agricultural practices.—Matt Miller

Photos by Jim Foster.

Whitefish

Over the July 4th weekend, I spent one leisurely afternoon casting small spinners on the Boise River just across the road from my home. After a couple of hours of fruitless fishing, a fish aggressively hit my lure.

I could tell it was a decent-sized fish, but even on my light spinning rod, I quickly reeled it in: a 15-inch mountain whitefish.

According to too many fishing books, my reaction should have been disgust. Whitefish are often regarded as a nuisance, a pest when fishing for more desirable species, or even a “trash fish.”

Which is unfortunate. Much of this contempt can be summed up by the title of E. Donnall Thomas Jr.’s fly fishing book, Whitefish Can’t Jump. While Thomas’ well-written book is actually about appreciating the diversity of fish found in North America, many other anglers view the whitefish’s tendencies not to jump or fight hard as major character flaws.

They also forage for food they disturb from the bottom, and many people have an innate dislike of "bottom feeders."

But the whitefish requires clean, cold waters and it’s a true native to our rivers. Stories of anglers catching 25- whitefish a day remain common on some rivers, but they obscure another fact: Whitefish are declining and even disappearing on many waterways.

Whitefish are native to Silver Creek, but recent fish surveys have found them to be almost, if not entirely, absent from large portions of the stream. Certainly the waters are still cold and clear, so what could be the problem? Conventional wisdom suggests the non-native brown trout, which grow huge in the creek, and become fish eaters as they grow. But more research is needed to be sure. Why can whitefish survive and even thrive in some rivers with brown trout, like the Boise, while they have largely disappeared from others? This remains as an important question for fisheries biologists to answer.

Fortunately, many anglers and outdoor enthusiasts now recognize that a river is best appreciated with its full range of native species, and that fish should be viewed on their own merits, not just their sporting qualities.

The Boise River has a thriving whitefish population, so I took mine home and grilled it in a foil pack with butter and organic onions raised on a Boise farm--a true local dinner. The whitefish, as you might expect, has a white, mild-tasting meat, and goes well with local vegetables on a warm summer evening. I appreciate the fact that in my home river I can still catch and eat native fish—an activity becoming an unimaginable luxury in many parts of the world, as rivers are increasingly polluted, diverted or overtaken by non-native species.

Long may Idaho’s rivers run cold and clear—with mountain whitefish and other native fish feeding in their depths. –Matt Miller

Living Museum Pieces

No, you won't find the animal pictured above roaming around the wilds of Idaho.

In fact, you won't find it roaming in the wild anywhere.

The Pere David's deer has been extinct in the wild for more than 1oo years. Native to China, the deer is believed to have once roamed sub-tropical marshlands in large herds. When French missionary Father Armand David visited China in the 1860's, only one herd was known to be in existence--on a game reserve owned by the emperor.

As is often the case with small numbers of animals on a small preserve, this isolated population of deer was vulnerable. They were all killed off by troops during the Boxer Rebellion.

However, some Westerners had illegally smuggled out a few individuals of Pere David's deer to stock British deer parks. At the time of its extinction in the wild, about 18 of the species remained at the Woburn Abbey deer park.

The Pere David's deer probably won't go extinct now. It does best in fenced reserves that offer marshy habitat. I took this photo on a Texas game ranch, where herds of Pere David's deer thrive. They can roam over fairly large areas, a fate certainly better than extinction.

But it's unlikely we'll ever see this species as a free-roaming population. A few have been reintroduced to a Chinese reserve, but the deer remains an animal of fenced, highly managed preserves. In essence, it's a living museum piece.

We can only guess what it was like to see Pere David's deer grazing in its native marshland habitat. We don't know how it dealt with predators, or how many lived in a herd.

Large mammals often fare the worst from the many threats posed by humanity--habitat fragmentation, poaching, deforestation, climate change. In the next century, many of our most iconic animals could join the Pere David's deer as living museum pieces--the black rhino, the mountain gorilla, the tiger, the panda, the polar bear.

But there's still time. Reintroduction programs offer hope for some species, like black-footed ferrets, but it's more cost-effective to save habitat now.

In the Northern Rockies, all the wildlife species that were here when Lewis and Clark explored this area are still here. You can still see herds of elk and mule deer, racing pronghorns, grizzly bears--one of the great concentrations of large mammals left on the planet.

As the West grows, we can create a future that includes these animals as part of the land, and part of our lives. But that will require conserving large landscapes. That's why projects like the Montana Legacy Project, of which The Nature Conservancy is a partner, are so vitally important. This project just announced the protection of 320,000 acres of forestlands in Montana, protecting some of the most important habitat in the "Crown of the Continent" ecosytem.

With projects like these elk and grizzly bears will remain a real part of our heritage, not objects in a museum. --Matt Miller

Wonderful Wood Ducks

It's not difficult to find baby waterfowl at this time of year: Check out any pond, river, nature preserve or city pond, and you're likely to see large numbers of Canada geese and their young, or mallard ducklings eagerly following their mama.

Look a little more closely along wetland areas, and you are likely to find other species as well. If you're along a wooded stream, you may be rewarded with a sight of a hen wood duck and her young. If the ducklings seem a bit disoriented, consider that, just yesterday, they may have been eggs high up in a tree. Soon after they are born in tree cavities (or nest boxes), baby wood ducks climb out and "parachute" to the ground, then follow the hen to water.

Wood ducks can be found anywhere where trees grow near streams, rivers or wetlands. They are quite common even in downtown Boise during the summer. But when you see a wood duck, consider yourself lucky. After all, in the late 19th century, many prominent ornithologists believed the wood duck would soon go extinct.

Over-hunting and loss of habitat--particularly old, dead trees in which to nest--seemed insurmountable problems at the time. Visionary conservationists like Theodore Roosevelt helped pass tougher wildlife laws, which nearly eliminated the commercial trade in waterfowl and other game. Wildlife can nearly always recover from overharvesting, given adequate enforcement of existing laws.

Habitat is more difficult to restore. Fortunately, everyday citizens across the country came to the wood duck's aid by building nest boxes in likely areas. Duck hunters, birders, youth groups and others built thousands of nest boxes. My brother Mike and I built waterfowl boxes for our Eagle Scout projects, and many other kids will get their first taste of hands-on conservation by building these boxes.

Of course, many wildlife species need more than nesting boxes to survive. That's why The Nature Conservancy's work to protect the most important habitat around the world plays such a vital role in preserving the nesting, feeding, breeding, young-rearing and migration areas that wildlife need to survive.--Matt Miller

Adaptive Sports at Silver Creek

This past Monday some three dozen children with Sun Valley Adaptive Sports were given the chance to enjoy a canoe trip and nature walk at the Silver Creek Nature Preserve in Picabo, Idaho. Sun Valley Adaptive Sports is a program that gives people with disabilities the opportunity to experience a wide variety of sports and activities that help them to develop self-confidence and social skills while having fun.

After enjoying the abundant wildflowers and colorful songbirds on the trails surrounding the Visitors’ Center, the children set afloat at Stocker Creek (see photo) for a leisurely ninety minute drift through the lush habitat of Silver Creek. Despite the interruption of a nine-canoe flotilla, the fly fishermen waved and smiled at the children, and everyone was able to simply enjoy the sunny weather and the striking beauty of the area.

While there were a few tipped canoes, some drenched volunteers, and one slightly wet cell phone, it was a fun and fulfilling day for all. Experiences such as these are vital for developing a connection to nature in the next generation, that they too might be committed to its preservation. Of course, they can be good for this generation too - there’s nothing like seeing a child light up at the sight of a yellow warbler flashing past to remind me why this is the work I choose to do.--- Ryan Urie, Silver Creek Preserve Intern

Field of Flax

Controlling weeds can feel like an uphill battle (quite literally, in steep places like Hells Canyon). After they've been eliminated, all too often they reappear in the same places the next year. That's why restoring native plants is such an important component of The Nature Conservancy's work.

The field above, situated behind the preserve office at Silver Creek, was covered in weeds several years ago--offering very little for wildlife and threatening to spread to other areas of the preserve.

Working with partners, the Conservancy tilled the area and replanted it with flax and native plants. The flax fixes the soil by adding nitrogen, important because non-native weeds often leave the soil depleted. The flax blooms early and takes over; it's the blue flowers in the picture you can see above. It is also used by a number of bird and beneficial insect species.

Although you can't see it in the field of blue, below the flax are many native grasses. As they grow, they eventually will become the dominant plant. The flax is just buying those plants time, and creating better soil conditions.

Restoration takes time, but it is easier to restore a small area like the field above than try to restore thousands or millions of acres. The field of blue flowers signals that this area will soon welcome the return of native grasses. --Matt Miller

Spring Creek Summit held at Silver Creek

Spring Creek Summit

On May 29th and 30th, the Nature Conservancy hosted a diverse and amazing group of scientists, academics, consultants, and agency folks at Silver Creek for a Spring Creek Summit.

Despite the unique nature of spring creek ecosystems surprisingly little published research is available to guide land managers, the scientific community and the private sector in their management and restoration. Using the Silver Creek watershed as a catalyst, The Nature Conservancy hoped to advance a common understanding of spring creek ecology, hydrogeomorphology, and fisheries to help guide long-term management decisions and elevate the "state-of-the-knowledge" in the Intermountain West. To initiate this process, TNC convened a group of regional scientists, TNC land managers, and private sector consultants in a managed forum, the Spring Creek Summit 2008.

Many pressing issues were discussed with the goal in mind of working towards developing a spring creek habitat assessment tool, restoration guidelines, and monitoring protocols that can provide guidance for landowners and partners engaging in habitat enhancement projects in spring creek aquatic systems. Specifically for Silver Creek, these tools will assist TNC and partners in creating a common vision and understanding for this important watershed.

A summary of the event will be available soon at savesilvercreek.org.

Thank you to all the participants:
Briana Corry-Schults (MSU student), Christopher Cuhaciyan (UI), Chris Hoag (USDA), Doug Megargle (IDFG), Johnnie Moore (UM), Mark Hill (Ecosystem Sciences), Scott Gillilan (Gillilan Associates), Shannon Campbell (Ecosystem Sciences), Dayna Gross (TNC), Scott Stanton (DEQ), Michael McINtyre (DEQ), Terry Blau (IDWR), Terry Maret (USGS), Trish Klahr (TNC), Trent Stumph (Sawtooth Environmental), Will Miller (Will Miller Consulting), Jock Conyngham (USACE).

Waiting for Brown Drake

Photo by Kirk Keogh, first2lastlight.

In Samuel Beckett's absurdist play, Waiting for Godot, two characters spend an awful lot of time, well, waiting for Godot. Exactly who or what Godot is never quite becomes clear, but the pair forsake all else to keep on waiting. In the end, of course, Godot never shows.

A trip to fish the brown drake hatch on Silver Creek sometimes feels that way. You get on the water early, sure that tonight will be the night. You watch, and you wait. And wait.

The water is a smooth, glassy surface--not a good thing for a Silver Creek trout angler. You have come for feeding fish constantly smacking the surface. Serenity means the brown drakes are not ready to hatch yet.

At some point, you suspect it's not going to happen this evening. Night falls, and you're still waiting for brown drake.

If you're lucky, the brown drake hatch is one of fly fishing's most dramatic experiences. Thousands and thousands of these large mayflies hover over the water. Wherever there's such an abundance of life, there's sure to be predators feeding. In this case, it's brown and rainbow trout. The fish gorge during the hatch, and they actually lose some of their usual wariness.

The hatch only occurs on the lower portions of the watershed, downstream of The Nature Conservancy's preserve. The brown drake hatch only occurs for a short window of time in late May or early June, and it's somewhat unpredictable.

If you miss the hatch, though, it's still not quite like waiting for Godot. Silver Creek at this time of year is still beautiful, and it's perhaps the best time to see lots of wildlife. This past weekend, friends and I spent a lot of time waiting for brown drakes to hatch, but the rewards were many: A bull moose, a mule deer and a herd of elk, all in the same meadow. Displaying yellow-headed blackbirds and their raucous calls. Hillsides aglow with lupines and arrowleaf balsamroot. Cinammon teal and sandhill cranes and long-billed curlews. Beavers and muskrats. Blankets of stars in the clear night sky. --Matt Miller

Curlew Grassland Tour

Idahoans love their national forest, but most don't know we also have a national grassland: the Curlew National Grassland located in southeast Idaho. The 47,000 acres of public land are open to hiking, birding, hunting and photography.

To visit and learn more about this area, join the Curlew Grassland tour on June 13 at 9 a.m. Visit interesting sites and discuss grazing, burns and wildlife on the grassland.

Lunch speakers include Ken Sanders from the University of Idaho, Ken Timothy from the US Forest Service and Howard Horton from Agricultural Research Service.

Attendees will meat at 9 a.m. at the Pavilion on Stone Reservoir, or can take a bus leaving at 8 a.m. from Malad (30 North 100 West).

To attend, please RSVP by calling 208-766-2243 or email oneida@uidaho.edu.

The Curlew Grasslands Tour is sponsored by the University of Idaho, Oneida County Extension, Idaho Rangelands Resource Commission, Curlew Horse and Cattle Association, ARS, Buist Fields, Allied Industries and Idaho Cattle Association.

Bat Cave

For centuries, people responded to bats with superstition, fear and hatred. Upon finding bat caves in North America, many Europeans lined up along the entrance with shotguns--or dynamited them.

Fortunately, today people have grown to appreciate bats and the tons of insects they consume each night--a valuable ecological service. Instead of dynamiting bat caves, people now visit them to enjoy one of the great natural spectacles on earth.

I've seen some interesting bat emergences in Idaho, at the bat boxes of Ball Creek Ranch and in small caves in Hells Canyon. But the world's greatest bat flights are found in the Texas Hill Country.
The caves in the Hill Country contain the highest density of mammals on earth--with some caves containing millions of Brazilian free-tailed bats. The Nature Conservancy has protected important bat habitat here, including at the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve. At dusk, the cave is quiet save for cave swallows darting around. But before sunset bats start streaming out.

Frio Cave, where my dad and I recently visited, is home to 10-12 million free-tailed bats, plus a few hundred thousand myotis. Seeing them emerge is an astounding sight; within minutes bats stretch literally to the horizon. (As always, you can click on the photos in this blog to see a larger version). They eventually disperse, devouring insects on farm fields and ranches within 100 miles.

The bats now draw many tourists each summer, each paying fees to private ranches to enjoy the evening bat flight. In fact, many ranches now rely on abundant wildlife to help sustain their operations--through ecotourism, bat tours, birding and hunting. Because farmers recognize the value of bats, their populations are doing well in Texas. But in the eastern United States, thousands of bats are dying--and conservation biologists are trying to discover the cause.

Early settlers reported fires throughout their journey across Texas, but historians now believe the "smoke" they saw were bats emerging from caves. So dense are some swarms of bats that they show up as thunderstorm clouds on radar. At Frio Cave, it takes four hours for all the bats to emerge. It's one of those phenomena that reminds one of the grandeur that still exists in the natural world. --Matt Miller

Deer Candy

It is not uncommon for people to describe sagebrush country as barren, monotonous or empty. And, indeed, sagebrush can look that way when seen from the interstate at 75 miles per hour.

But healthy sagebrush country actually includes a great mix of plants--not just sagebrush. These including lush grasses, stunning wildflowers and other shrubs, including bitterbrush (pictured above). You may notice the subtle gold of a blooming bitterbrush on a springtime hike in the high desert.

If people don't notice bitterbrush much, deer are quite the opposite. They love it: BLM botanist Roger Rosentretter has called it "deer candy."

In the winter, sagebrush makes up the bulk of a deer's diet, which Rosentretter likens to the "meat and potatoes" of a deer's diet. It's highly nutritious and is in many ways a perfect winter forage.

Bitterbrush complements the sagebrush diet, and provides additional nutrients. As with human diets, a diversity of food helps deer stay healthier. Deer also digest food better when eating both sagebrush and bitterbrush.

Sometimes deer love bitterbrush a bit too much. When my wife purchased a bitterbrush plant for our yard, she left the potted plant sitting outside overnight. The next morning, a deer had clipped off the young plant right down to the soil, killing the plant.

Deer will seek out bitterbrush, wherever it is. This can make getting new plants established in xeriscaped yards. In natural areas, the shrubs play an important role in maintaining high desert wildlife populations--Matt Miller

Solid Gold

There's a particularly good bloom of arrowleaf balsamroot this spring, at least in areas of southern Idaho where the snow has melted. These beautiful yellow wildflowers--members of the sunflower family, are common on dry hillsides throughout the Rocky Mountain West. There are so many flowers this year that many hillsides shimmer with a golden hue from a distance: It only took me a few minutes this weekend to walk into patches of thousands of flowers blowing in the breeze. All the photos here are from that short trip (you can click on them to see larger versions).

Lewis and Clark described the arrowleaf balsamroot on their expedition, calling them "sunflowers." Native Americans ate every part of the plant, which is quite nutritious. However, much of the plant apparently tastes bitter. The plant was also used as an anesthetic on wounds as well as other medical uses. Xeriscaping and native plant enthusiasts love it, but it is a challenge to raise: it takes seven years to flower.

Of course, arrowleaf balsamroot is just one of the many wildflowers that can be found throughout the foothills, sagebrush country and Rocky Mountains. On my walk, many lupines (below) were mixed in with the balsamroot, as well as many other beautiful flowers.

But the balsamroot steals the show. If you'd like to learn more about wildflowers, Silver Creek Preserve offers free wildflower walks at 9:30 a.m. May 14, 15, 17 and 24. Call 208-788-7910 to reserve a spot. The Idaho Native Plant Society offers plant walks in the Boise Foothills throughout May; the next one meets at the Boise Foothills Learning Center on the 15th at 6:30 pm. --Matt Miller

Tilapia in the Snake

From an aquaculture standpoint, tilapia has much to recommend it: As adults, they're vegetarians, so they require low energy inputs to raise. They are easily raised even in urban tanks, so food production can occur in areas that are already developed rather than degrading natural areas. And they can even be fed vegetable compost, turning household scraps into more food, or even a livelihood. In some African nations, development projects have installed tilapia ponds which are fed by the village's leftover vegetable waste. (A good account of such a project can be found in Mike Tidwell's book, The Ponds of Kalambayi).

But tilapia in Idaho's Snake River? Not so good.

Tilapia are native to Africa, but due to all the good reasons listed above, have been transported for aquaculture around the world. And like many creatures transported to new lands, they inevitably escape.

Recently, the Idaho Statesman reported the catch of a state record tilapia in the Snake River. Perhaps your reaction is like mine: There are tilapia in the Snake?

Actually, they've been there for a while, living in areas near thermal springs. Tilapia need warmer water temperatures to survive, so it's unlikely that they'll spread--unless, of course, water temperatures rise due to a changing climate.

In other rivers around the world, tilapia can become a menace. As vegetarians, they devour all aquatic vegetation, eliminating the base of the aquatic food chain. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, rivers that have abundant tilapia have lost nearly all their native fish.

Will this happen to the Snake? Probably not for now. But with any non-native species, the real impacts are often not apparent until it's too late. Some never become a problem, and may even be beneficial. Others spread rapidly and become impossible to control. New Zealand mudsnails were found in Silver Creek several years ago, but the cold water there is limiting their spread. In other streams, they have crowded out much of the native invertebrates, and thus, the fish.

The easiest way to stop the spread of such species is to prevent their introduction. But that is difficult in a global society. And anywhere where non-native creatures are raised, there's always the risk that they'll escape. The tilapia is already likely a permanent part of Idaho's aquatic fauna. The question is: Just how much a part will it be? --Matt Miller

Hells Canyon by Tractor

The Nature Conservancy's Hells Canyon staff is used to unusual working conditions. This is, after all, a canyon that caused Lewis and Clark to make a detour. To find non-native weeds, they're often sitting in a helicopter as it goes 40 miles per hour just above the ground, while zipping in and out of side canyons--a difficult test for even the toughest of stomachs. The seasonal staff are often on foot in the steepest canyon on the continent. It's hard work. And hot. As Mike Atchison, who leads the field crew, says: "You follow the canyon's cues or you end up feeling like your brains have been fried."

So it's probably not that unusual that this spring, the Hells Canyon staff loaded a jet boat with a Kubota 4-wheel-drive tractor and headed to the Conservancy's Garden Creek Preserve, deep in the canyon. Why?

Last year, Hells Canyon burned, including Garden Creek Preserve (above). The Chimney Complex Fire burned 80 square miles, including much of the remaining native bunchgrass habitat as well as trees along the creeks and waterways. Lush fields used by grazing elk and deer overnight resembled Craters of the Moon.

Fire is a natural part of the landscape, and many natural habitats are very resilient to it. However, there is one complicating factor in the canyon: non-native weeds. These weeds can quickly overtake a burned area. Once these weeds are established, native plants take a long time to recover.

And so, with the generosity of a private donor, the Conservancy brought in the tractor, as well as a rugged rangeland seeder and some hard-working staff and volunteers.

Some of the native grasslands will bounce back on their own, especially on north slopes and higher elevations. But on lower elevations (above), the Conservancy must restore these areas using native grasses, or risk invasion by non-native plants.

This April native bunch grass and forb seed was purchased and planted on the lower elevation benches, utilizing the tractor brought in by jet boat. The Conservancy's always intrepid Western Idaho conservation manager, Art Talsma, put in 13-hour days to ensure that every place that needed seed was covered.

Staff and volunteers also planted 600 native trees, including cottonwood, serviceberry and ponderosa pine. These trees will help control erosion, and provide great cover for birds and other wildlife. More trees will be planted this fall. (The white flags in the photo above mark where trees were planted along one of the creeks).

These conservation practices are labor intensive for field staff, and the Conservancy thanks all those who helped out. The work will help protect what makes Hells Canyon so special: the beautiful grassland and spring wildflowers, abundant wildlife and world-class outdoor recreation opportunities in this remote landscape.

Duck Spotting

All photos courtesy of Tom Grey.

Perhaps no birds are more rewarding for the beginning birder to identify and watch than ducks. They're fairly large and the drakes are colorful, making them easier to locate in a field guide than, say, warblers or sparrows. They're perfect for learning birding skills such as identifying species by call (not all ducks quack), or in flight (a good birder or duck hunter can identify species by profile or even wing sound).

With more than 40 species of ducks, geese and swans in North America, finding all the different species can keep any birder occupied.

Large migrating flocks of waterfowl are one of the most impressive natural spectacles in North America. I once watched a flock of flying snow geese that took 45 minutes to pass overhead--literally tens of thousands of birds.

April is the perfect time to check out migrating ducks, geese and swans in Idaho. You might be rewarded with the sight of thousands of diving ducks on the Snake River, an unusual species on Lake Lowell, or a flock of swans landing on the Henry's Fork.

Here are a few places where you can see interesting species around the state:

Thousand Springs - The Thousand Springs area near Hagerman is one of the birding hotspots of Idaho, and you can nearly always count on interesting waterfowl sightings. Large flocks of scaup (above) and other diving ducks can be spotted on the Snake River, while the wetlands and springs host wigeons, gadwalls and green-wing teal. Other water birds, including Western grebes and pelicans--are also quite common. Check out Idaho' newest state parks--Ritter Island and Box Canyon--for some of the best viewing.

Silver Creek - The Nature Conservancy's Silver Creek Preserve is one of the best places to photograph and observe cinammon teal (above). Many other species are also present, including difficult-to-spot species like canvasback and ring-necked duck. The wetland areas, ponds and moist fields of the nearby Camas Prairie also offer rewarding duck spotting.

Kootenai River Valley - Wetlands once covered this North Idaho valley; today only 5% remain. Fortunately, a number of conservation projects have restored beautiful wetland areas--drawing large flocks of ducks, geese and swans in the spring and fall. Visit The Nature Conservancy's Ball Creek Ranch Preserve, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Boundary Creek Wildlife Management Area. A great variety of birds can be found. Just across the border in British Columbia is another wonderful waterfowl watching spot--the Creston Wetlands.

Boise River Greenbelt - A surprising number of ducks and geese can be found right in downtown Boise. Of course, mallards and Canada geese are everywhere, but mixed in with those flocks are a variety of other species. Look for wood ducks and wigeons in the city parks, and hooded mergansers and goldeneyes in the Barber Pool area. You can even sometimes see much rarer birds: my sightings include a pintail, a tundra swan and even an Eurasian wigeon (above).

The Nature Conservancy has an ambitious goal to restore or enhance more than 8000 acres of wetland habitat around Idaho in the next five years, meaning more places for ducks to feed, rest and breed each year. --Matt Miller

Willows in a (still) Winter Wonderland

Last year, The Nature Conservancy completed a restoration project on its Flat Ranch Preserve (located 15 miles west of West Yellowstone), to reduce river sediments in the Henry’s Lake Outlet. These sediments clog up rivers and reservoirs, and were recognized as one of the greatest threats to spawning trout in the famous Henry’s Fork. The Conservancy and the Henry’s Fork Foundation took an artificially straightened portion of the Henry’s Lake Outlet and diverted back into its historic, meandering channel. Although “spring has sprung” in parts of Idaho, it’s still a “winter wonderland” at Henry’s Lake—meaning that now is the time to collect willows to stabilize the banks on the protection project. East Idaho conservation manager Chet Work files this report:

The outlet restoration project we completed last year is in need of bank stabilization. Not having water in the creek for the last 60 years has made some of the banks vulnerable to the pressures of moving water. As we bring river flows back to the channel this spring, we will need to begin working on stabilizing the banks with vegetation. Grasses and forbs do pretty well, but their roots are relatively shallow and can be undercut. We need to get woody (deep rooted) vegetation back on the banks and willows are the best!

Willows, like many deciduous plants have the ability to resprout from clippings, segments of branches and stems. Similarly, willows are difficult to regrow from seed so it makes sense to use clippings. Willows are also highly prone to hybridization when grown from seed. Though it is possible to identify individual species of willow, many times we have hybrids that are tough to classify. Because we do not want to introduce new hybrids to our ranch, we go get clippings from the restoration area.

Like all deciduous plants, willows lose their leaves and go "dormant" during the winter. The best success for clipping is to cut a dormant plant and as it wakes up it will re-sprout roots and leaves all at once. Cutting a clipping in the summer will only kill the clipping. So we have to do this before they wake up for the season, hence the need for snowmobiles.

Our goal is 500 new willows. Half of our clippings will go to a a group called Upper Valley Natives to be grown into 5-foot willows in 5-gallon pots. In late summer they will deliver 200 willows (of our exact species) to us and we will dig holes and drop them in. The other 300 are currently in a walk-in freezer, hopefully staying dormant. When the weather heats up and we can get out on the ground we will drill small holes for these clippings in the stream bank using a pressure washer, and will insert them into the holes. The success for these "water jet" plants is much lower than the greenhouse variety, but so is the cost. I hope you can visit Flat Ranch Preserve this season, and see the results of our willow planting and stream restoration efforts. –Chet Work, East Idaho conservation manager

Cedar Waxwings

Spring migration: thousands of snow geese landing in wetlands, sandhill cranes calling overhead, raptors appearing at their spring nesting spots in Idaho canyons. Keep your eyes open, and you never know where you might see migrating birds.

Recently, I heard the loud, excited twittering of birds just across the street from The Nature Conservancy's office in downtown Boise. A look into the trees revealed hundreds of birds feeding on berries: cedar waxwings.

Waxwings are one of my favorite birds. From a distance, they look like garden-variety little brown birds. But a closer look reveals the striking crown and beautiful red and yellow hues. The tip of their tail is especially brilliant:

According to National Geographic's Reference Atlas to North American Birds, cedar waxwings migrate from one patch of sugary fruit to another. When a particular patch of trees contains large amounts of berries, several flocks of birds will join together, creating a super-flock of hundreds--as I was seeing in downtown Boise. Nearly every branch of the parking lot's trees contained a hungry waxwing, picking off nutritious berries.

Waxwings are one of the few species outside the tropics that subsists mainly on berries. While their diet also includes insects, some 75% of their caloric intake comes from fruits. They gobble up berries with great gusto:

They migrate in an irregular pattern, moving from one patch of fruit to another. Their visit to a new area involves a feeding frenzy--stripping as much fruit as they can off the trees, before quickly moving on. I enjoyed their presence in Boise for two days, and then they were gone. Maybe somebody farther north is now enjoying them as they devour a new patch of fruits. --Matt Miller

Spring again (finally!) at Silver Creek Preserve

How do you know its spring at Silver Creek? Even though it snowed on Saturday and the road was impassible, I knew it was spring.

The first real sign--- the sandhill cranes are back! Their haunting song is heard throughout the day and if you look hard enough, you can see them riding the wind currents high in the sky.

The next sign---the moose have re-emerged and have been nibbling the buds on the trees and shrubs. I don’t know where they have been all winter, but this mama moose (above) made her presence known again yesterday morning as I walked out the front door and nearly ran into her.

There are many other things that happen at the Preserve that signal spring- the fish start moving up to spawn, the insect hatches get more frequent, our ropes are put back to use as we pull sightseers out the the muddy rutt of a road, and the air is alive with the music of birds and insects. You can’t help but appreciate the beauty, energy, and excitement of spring when you’re at Silver Creek. I hope you all join us in one of our ‘Welcoming of Spring’ or other events this year.--- Dayna Gross, Silver Creek Preserve Manager


Welcome Spring!!!
Every Saturday in April, join the Silver Creek Preserve Manager for spring nature walks. Come see the Herriers perform their amazing mating dance and watch the Preserve come back to life after winter. Please call ahead to register. 788-7910

Opening Day!! Saturday, May 24th
3:00 -:6:00 p.m.
It’s opening day of fishing season on the creek!!! Join the Silver Creek staff for drinks, snacks, and a b-b-q at the visitor center to celebrate!!

Weed Night, Wednesday June 11th
5:30-7:00 p.m.
Weeds are one of the biggest threats to native habitats! Come learn what you can do to help.
In collaboration with Blaine Co., the preserve staff will be hosting an invasive species evening. Learn about noxious weeds, invasive species, and different methods of control. Talk with preserve staff and neighbors to try and develop a way to work better as a team in the effort to control noxious weeds and invasive species.

Throughout the summer:
Natural history walks:
Join the Silver Creek staff on a tour of the preserve. We will talk about the unique ecology, hydrology, and history of Silver Creek.
June 7th, 14th,21st,28th July 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th August 2nd,9th,16th,23rd, 30th
Every Saturday throughout the summer starting on June 7, 2008.
9:30am -11:30pm at the visitor center

Wildlflower and Plant Walks:
Join our visitor center host, Ruth, a naturalist and plant expert for a tour of the preserve and the unique plant communities found here. She will point out interesting plants, point out birds and wildflowers, while explain the different processes of a spring fed creek. This is a great way to be introduced to the area!!

Wildflower/ plant walks
May 14th, 17th, 24th
9:30 am- 12:00 pm
Mothers Day at Silver Creek- Birding and a walk
Join us for birding, a wildflower walk and brunch coffee and cookies to honor mom’s!!
May 11th 8 am- 11:00 am


‘Day at Silver Creek’ Saturday July 26th
8 am- 3:30 pm.
Join the Silver Creek staff for a Natural history walk, bird watching tours, fly-tying class, scavenger hunt, and canoe floats. Canoe floats require registration, please call ahead. Come see all of what Silver Creek has to offer!