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Southwest Washington Wildlife Reports
February 5, 2007

Region 5 Wildlife Areas:

Shillapoo Wildlife Area Watchable Wildlife: Many individuals visit the wildlife area this time of year primarily to view waterfowl using the wetlands, pastures, and agricultural fields on the site and in the surrounding area. Many other species can be seen as well and often are overlooked. On a recent afternoon in the area, Wildlife Area Manager Calkins observed the following birds: White-tailed Kite, Short Eared Owl, Northern Harrier, Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Flicker, Mourning Dove, and Scrub Jay.

A comparison of grazed (left) vs. mowed (right) on the edge of the area where grazing was reestablished.

Shillapoo Grazing Evaluations: Wildlife Area Manager Calkins visited the grazing areas on the Wildlife Area to evaluate the effectiveness of managing these habitats by grazing for Canada Geese and other waterfowl. Grazing evaluations are conducted twice annually to document conditions and identify issues that need to be addressed. The recent observations were completed to evaluate conditions after the grazing season, which is really the most important time for this particular program. No major issues were encountered, however, some weed issues will need to be addressed this coming year. Currently conditions in the pastures are very good for our target wildlife species. This is defined by short 3" to 6" stubble that re-grows to provide good goose grazing habitat.

Conditions for these birds in the grazing management areas are generally much better than in pastures where we manage by mowing. Mowing is a much more expensive operation for wildlife area staff, but is used where it is not practical to graze due to resource concerns. In one of our existing leases, re-fencing is needed of some old pasture areas to address potential resource impacts in sensitive areas as well as to provide for the best pasture conditions by using grazing as a tool to produce better forage habitat. The fencing is progressing and last summer one area was grazed for the first time in several years. A much better condition exists now for geese and there are no annual costs as with mowing.

Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Elk Count: As part of the monthly monitoring of the elk herd on the Mt. St Helens Wildlife Area, District Wildlife Biologist Miller and volunteer Tony Kastella counted 369 elk on the wildlife area on February 1, 2007. Herd composition was as follows: 36 bulls: 100 cows: 40 calves. There was no snow on the valley floor. Elk were concentrated along the road that is used to distribute feed, except for some bull groups west of the creek ford that were scattered along the river bank.

Game and Diversity Divisions

Annual Workshops: WDFW's Wildlife Program held the annual workshops for the Game and Diversity Divisions. This provides biologists throughout the state the opportunity to discuss pertinent issues and techniques. Project and task assignments were also made; for example, ongoing surveys on species like elk, deer, waterfowl, and marbled murrelets will continue in District 10.