Farms’ support of birds studied

Farmers, federal agencies begin Spring Goose Browse Study

By DD BIXBY
H&N Staff Writer

April 24, 2008

   To measure how much agriculture supports birds, farmer Steve Kandra and several other growers in the Spring Lake and Tingley Lake areas and a region just north of Lower Klamath Refuge, are participating in a study. 

   In partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges and local growers, the U.S. Geological Survey is conducting the Spring Goose Browse Study. The goal is to quantify how much forage is available to migratory birds and how much they’re actually grazing. 

   Colin Tierney, a U.S. Geological Survey biological research technician, is the lone researcher gathering data from 20 fields, ranging in acreage from 10 to 100.

Forage types studied 

   The study will look at five different forage types: Winter wheat, pasture, alfalfa, quack grass and wheat stubble. 

   To do so, Tierney set up four 2-foot by 2-foot enclosures in each field. Two of the four enclosures are stationary and will measure how much is available per field. 

   Tierney moves the other two enclosures every two weeks to measure how much is available in a two-week period. After two weeks, Tierney clips a quadrant — in alfalfa fields the entire 2- by 2-foot square — then brings it back to a lab where the samples are dried and weighed. 

   Fields covered 

   Tierney said he has visited testing sites in the mornings and seen almost entire fields covered with white fronts. 

   The pastureland near the Spring Lake and Tingley Lake areas gets hit especially hard, because birds roost in the neighborhood, a typical occurrence for fields near waterways. 

   The first enclosures were put up Feb. 21, which meant Tierney dug through two feet of snow in some fields. Tierney expected to be in the field gathering the final samples for about two weeks.

Study to last two years 

   He said the study would last two years and span both spring and fall seasons. 

   Local biologists and growers will have to wait a while for the study’s results. 

   Until then, the spring staging site is nearing a close. 

   Last week, wildlife biologists said they expect the birds to stay in the Klamath Basin for only another 10 days to two weeks longer before moving on. 

   Mitigation tried 

   This year, farmers resorted to typical mitigation management practices, which included an extra 15-day hunting period on Oregon land. 

   White flags and “scareeagles” are still hanging around fields in hopes of deterring some of the winged feeders, but these kinds of tactics only work so long, said Tom Collum of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

   Collum said the ODFW has propane cannons that periodically make loud noises. But like most of these practices, he said they only work until the birds become accustomed to it. Kandra was equally ambivalent about scare-eagles. 

   “My experience is they’re good for a few days, but birds have a steep learning curve and they’re back in a few days.”

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