Washington Department of Fish and WildlifeWDFW Region 5 - Southwest Washington

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Southwest Washington Wildlife Reports
Fred Dobler, Wildlife Program Manager

February 23, 2005

Klickitat Wildlife Area: Gilliam House– Area manager Ellenburg worked with a local contractor on the Sondino area of KWA to remove structures and debris from underneath white oak trees. This material along with the abandoned Gilliam house will be burned by the rural fire department in the area as a training course. This will also help in removing the unneeded material and structures from the area and prepare the area to be put back in native vegetation and a natural state.

Shillapoo and Vancouver Citizens Advisory Groups– The Shillapoo and Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Advisory Groups have each had their first meeting. Although organizing these meetings is time consuming, the Wildlife Area Manager has spent well over a week's worth of time (maybe two), it is a valuable process.

Meeting Notes Available in PDF Format: [ Shillapoo Wildlife Area Advisory Group ]   [ Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Advisory Group ]

Game Division

Sea duck mist-net with decoys. Net crew removes a bird.
Sea duck mist-net with decoys. Net crew removes a bird.

Wildlife Biologist Sewalt with White-winged scoter in post-surgery.
Wildlife Biologist Sewalt with White-winged scoter in post-surgery.

 Biologist Woodin with a Surf scoter

Biologist Woodin with Surf scoter

Scoter Research– District Biologist Miller and Wildlife Biologist Woodin assisted WDFW's Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program's avian research team with trapping scoters last week. Two species of scoters were encountered last week, the larger white-winged scoter and the surf scoter.

The process of trapping these sea ducks involves setting up mist nets on the water surface. The nets are attached to floating support posts that are stabilized by four outriggers with large scoter-type decoys on the end. Once the posts are tightly anchored and tensioned, additional decoys are placed on both sides of the nets.

The nets rise about four feet above the water surface, since scoters typically fly low near the water. In upper-right image, the net crew is removing a bird. When the bird is removed from the net, it is placed individually in an animal carrier, and carried to a larger boat that holds the processing crew. That crew takes measurements and applies a leg band to the bird.

Scoters that are post-year breeding females (i.e. three years old) are selected for satellite telemetry. They are surgically implanted with the telemetry transmitter by WDFW Veterinarian Dr Hall. The scoters are held during the day to recuperate and released that evening, which also avoids immediate predation pressure from bald eagles. Above image shows a White-winged scoter in post-surgery care, during which Wildlife Biologist Sewalt supports the birds' bill and head.


Wildlife Diversity Division

Western Pond Turtle Habitat Improvement– The USFS and WDFW recently submitted a challenge cost-share proposal to the USFS for western pond turtle habitat improvement in the Columbia River Gorge. We were notified this week that the project was approved for $15,000. The objective of this proposal is to enhance a small wetland on recently purchased USFS land. Included in the proposal is enlargement of an existing pond and clearing vegetation to proving nesting habitat for western pond turtles. The USFS has recently purchased over 100 acres in this area that will be managed primarily for recovery of the western pond turtles.

Black tailed deer with no sypmtoms Afflicted fawn early in the hair-loss process. Afflicted fawn later in the hair-loss process.
Black tailed deer with no sypmtoms
of Hair Slip Syndrome.
Afflicted fawn early
in the hair-loss process.
Afflicted fawn later
in the hair-loss process.

Fisher Island/Columbian White-tailed Deer and Hairloss Syndrome– District Wildlife Biologist Miller and Wildlife Biologist Woodin traveled to Fisher Island near Longview. WDFW has cooperated in the transplant of Columbian White Tailed deer to this island. Infrared cameras have been placed on the island to document animal condition as well as productivity. This week all the pictures were of Black Tailed deer (BTD). It is interesting to note that the Hair Slip Syndrome is present on this island in the BTD. The attached images show a non afflicted BTD fawn and a afflicted fawn early in the hair loss process and later in the process. Hairloss syndrome is thought to be caused by a combination of lung worms and hair lice. Recent research in Oregon suggests that the deer louse involved is not native to the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately research in Washington has been hampered by the lack of money.

Administrative

Work Plans– Regional Wildlife Program Staff spent time developing work plans for the upcoming year. Work plan matrices help focus efforts on appropriate activities throughout the year. For the period March 2005 through February 2006, District 9 Staff will again concentrate on a wide spectrum of activities and projects relating to both game and diversity species. Game management activities will include various activities related to black-tailed deer management, aerial elk surveys, CWD sampling, mountain goat surveys, band-tailed pigeon surveys, mourning dove banding, Canada goose nest surveys, Canada goose collaring, dusky Canada goose harvest monitoring and the establishment of a new three-year hunting season package (2006-08), etc. Wildlife Diversity related activities will include a variety of tasks related to western pond turtle recovery, golden eagle surveys, bald eagle surveys, development of bald eagle management plans, western gray squirrel management and involvement in various conservation planning efforts including wildlife area planning, ecoregional planning, and PHS mapping.

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