Western harrier – PolliNative

It is probably overstated about “miracles happening every day” – a bird making a nest, the bloom of a flower, someone loving you unconditionally, bridges holding millions of tons and planes staying in the air – all seem like miracles. Something I’ve not seen is an oak seedling come back from the devastation of plague level grasshoppers stripping everything, even the bark, from the plant… but now I have. The very first oak seedling I planted last year, shockingly, has re-sprouted leaves.

When I went around to reuse the baskets I had painstakingly planted in winter 2023-24, I carefully examined each little seedling hoping against the odds that there were survivors. They never got to grow much. Their inner layers had been exposed, stripped bare of anything that looked like a plant. In addition, the summer was long and with brutal heat.

Like a careful pediatrician, I would gently bend their tiny branches to see if there was any moisture and life remaining. All of their little limbs broke off. I would gently tug their trunk to see if there was any give. Sadly, most of them pulled right out of the ground, gone from the strain. There were a few that refused to give, and I left them there. This year, in those baskets, instead of placing a new seedling, I lightly covered an acorn. I thought, maybe they needed a friend to share the energy for one life. When I got to the seedling I planted at the base of my beloved now dead oak, I saw what looked like a couple green and red buds on the trunk. I took my glasses off and wiped them thinking maybe I had some gunk on them. I put them back on, looked closer, almost putting my face up against the basket. Oh my goodness, YES!! Resiliency!! She was alive and producing some leaves. A miracle for sure!

I have also been monitoring the other oaks closely. So far, they all appear to be doing well. They all have leaves. The baskets where I only placed acorn have not sprouted anything. One site, it was clear that the acorn was taken. I replaced that one acorn with two, and will hope one of them makes it to germination.

David and I have finally got all of the oaks caged. When the cows return from the south end of the ranch, the oaks are now protected. I had planted them well before the caging was done, and some of them had been stepped on or bent from hungry cow heads exploring their ability to access the tasty acorn and tree. The trees are small enough that the tallness of the basket protected them. That said, I needed to do a bit of reshaping before caging the area around the plant. We followed a new protocol for caging that Alex Palmerlee, an oak expert in Butte County follows. We used much stiffer cow panel fencing at at length of 8′ and a height of 50″ secured to two t-posts. Previously, we used no-climb fencing at a thinner gauge with a much larger diameter. The thinness required three t-posts to secure. I think this new method will require less resources and be more resistant to pushing in from the cows, thus OK to have a shorter diameter. Thank you to my long-suffering husband for doing the major share of the caging work. After I maintained the oak planting site by weeding, re-situating coir pads and “fluffing” the baskets back to their original shape, David would follow with the caging. I had already set out the t-posts for him, and he brought the panels. We make a pretty good team.

Straightening oak basket from cow step-on

The weather is beginning to warm. There is still water running in all the creeks and drainage’s. The soil is still moist. However, soon I will need to follow a watering regime to ensure oak the survival of these babies. Fortunately, I have not see any grasshopper nymphs like last year. Crossing my fingers that hoppers will not be a problem and that these trees will have time to become established.

CA Milkweed Shockers

Monitoring the Ca Milkweed patches is a good workout. Walking up the super steep grade ensures my legs and heart are getting the blood and movement they need. So, I was not sure if it was the workout or that when I got near the top of the hill a milkweed was missing, that was the cause of my heart was racing over 100 beats per minute. I was panicked. After seeing the pile of loose dirt mounded up where my gorgeous mature milkweed always is, I began looking for all the other ones. Visions of gopher mounds clouded my mind as I frantically ran from one location to the next. Most of the others were intact. Another small one was missing, but another one popped up on the other side of the patch. For the mature, large milkweed, I think the gophers had been gnawing on it for a while. That is probably why it was so small this year. Then poof — gone.

Something else remarkable has happened this year. The CA Milkweed on the north facing slope has emerged only 10 days after the south facing slope. For the past several years, there has been between 3 weeks to 1.5 months between emergence’s. I counted five on the north facing slope and only seven on the south facing slope. As I look for them, I weed around them. The grass is a lot of rye this year, and it is really tight against the milkweed. Hopefully, giving them some space will help and enable to monarchs to feel their eggs will be more protected. Perhaps it will not be a big year for milkweed, and we will need both sides available for the monarchs.

I installed a game camera up on the south facing slope looking at (now) one milkweed. I am hopeful to catch a monarch landing on the milkweed. I installed it over the last weekend, and went up the next day to check the card to make sure it was capturing images and pointed in the right direction. It somehow got shifted and was only catching a piece of the milkweed on the very left side of the frame. I fixed that. Hope it stays.

While up there on Sunday 4/6, I was treated to some amazing things. First, the scent of the cow clover and all the vetch. Second, two or three large crotch bumble bees buzzed me and then went about their business nectaring. They let me know who is in charge. Finally, a gorgeous, large harrier was floating across the surface of the ranch looking for dinner. Just incredible. Currently, only a few of the Calif Milkweed blooms have emerged from they duff protection. As more get released, they will add to the extraordinary perfume, a siren song, to all pollinators.

Wildflowers at Massive Scale

Wildflowers never disappoint. They are up and at a massive scale. The air is thick with nectar, especially when you walk through a cow clover patch. So sweet! With the flowers come the insect relatives. I love them so much.

Time

Each day, I try to make it to the top of the hill to check the Ca milkweeds. The girls are aging and sometimes stay at the bottom of the hill. They are my joy. Along the way, I straighten baskets, fix twisted screens, weed around milkweeds, and pick up trash, like Mylar balloons. There is always something to do here that can help. When I eventually sit down to write this blog and share the things I have seen, done or learned, it takes time. I started this post over a week ago, and the land has changed significantly since then. Water has soaked into the ground leaving puddles behind. Some flowers have finished their bloom and others emerged to replace them. Small pollinators are out in droves, and were not out just a week ago. Even in the photos, you can see my clothing move from jackets, to sweaters to tank tops. I will try to move these out more quickly, and perhaps it will help me make these posts shorter and more current. Do I say that each time? We began this blog discussing miracles.

It is a goal anyway.

Sun sets over the ranch and the dearly departed cow

I don’t envy the cattleman who leases the ranch fields. Cattle ranching is a great deal of work. You are making a living using sentient animals, so there is much responsibility for their respectful care. Last week, I stumbled upon one of the cows laying in the creek. It is not unusual, but something about her did not look right. She was thin and a bit rangey. She did not rise when my dogs barked. I called my cattleman, who relayed that this cow, along with three others, had been ill with milk fever. They had all been doctored, but this one had required additional care. They left her with some herd mates to recover quietly. He asked a few questions, and then told me she should be alright.

She wasn’t, and she died. These things happen in any livestock operation, and certainly in life generally. She had calved a stillborn calf and become infected. After three treatments, she seemed to be doing well he told me. When I came upon her, nothing was disturbed, no logs out of place, no enclosures flattened. We both think she was weak and slipped down into the creek – right into the middle of my butterfly habitat. There, she died of her illness. When I saw her again, there was no sign of predation. I was grateful for that. She transitioned without that violence. While this situation has left me saddened, like other downed animals of any type, her transition has allowed other wild animals to survive. I have not gone back to that place so that the scavengers can do their crucial work without my scent. It is nature taking its course.

Pivot Needed

With the cow death adjacent to the only fenced portion of habitat, and upstream of some of the other sites, I was not inclined to plan near the existing habitat. Not only did I not want to work near a rotting carcass, I did not want to work near water that could be tainted if the scavengers did not act fast. I needed to search for other good sites that could be protected with either downed branches or a temporary fence. I looked further down the spring creek, finally deciding that I would simply stay away from the water – just in case. Knowing that the spring creek probably could not support the willow tree saplings I have to plant, I also looked for sites along the larger Odom Creek.

Returning from looking for alternate planting sites

I found two sites. The one further down stream of the existing habitat will be the home of most of the riparian plants. There is still water in that section, and there is a nice “beach” that gets some high water moisture, but is typically not submerged. This area has a significant number of downed branches nearby – sufficient to block off the location. Because the spring creek is not a main surface water source however, I felt uncomfortable planting any of the willows there. Instead, I identified another site along Odom Creek. which already has a number of willows in the creek bed. There are already a few saplings in the nearby area. This section is also very steep with the main cow trail coming in along the creek bed at south end of the creek (vs along the banks). We should be able to plant the saplings there, and block off the south entry to the area. If we get a large storm, we will need to go back to re-block the entry.

Area of Odom Creek just south of where new willow saplings will be planted

The photo above was taken earlier this year. Since then, the cattle have chewed up the willow sapling in the photo. Today, I saw it still had leaves, but had been roughed up a bit. The entry way narrows just south of this spot. By blocking the entry, we will help preserve this area too.

Good Friends Arrive…to Eat Gophers

Great blue heron perches on the solar panels looking for its next meal

After the first real rain, we wait with anticipation for the return of the mating pair of great blue heron who have chosen this area to raise a family for the past 15 years. So far, we have one back. Sometimes it takes a while for the other to join, or we just don’t see it until later. During the drought, we were distraught when this pair did not return for a couple years. There was just not enough water.

For the last several mornings, this heron has been hanging out in the oak, in the field, or on the solar panels. These birds are magnificent. Pardon the poor quality photo (above), but these guys spook easily. We had to take the photo from inside the house. When we know s/he is near, we give it ample room and delay any outdoor activities until it decides to leave. Why? Besides the fact that it is magic to look at this bird, it is eating gophers. Yes!

Also, for the past three days, we’ve had the largest harrier I’ve seen here. She has been flying in her characteristic grid pattern close over the range looking for gophers (or any other mammal she thinks might do). She flew remarkably close to Andy the other day – my aged beagle. Alas, he was much too big for her. Again, pardon my poor quality photo (below).

Harrier flying unbelievably close to me bringing me untold joy. I named her “Speckles”.

Another good friend finally came to the rescue. On Friday night, I awoke to the hoot of a great horned owl. In some cultures, the owl is a sign of impending death. In others, it is good fortune. In the US dominant culture, the owl is used as a symbol of intelligence. For me, I am hoping it is a harbinger of death to gophers – especially the one that occupies (shockingly) my raised bed.

Taking Care of the Oaks

Over the weekend as well, I had some nice young men come over to cut the mistletoe from two majestic oak trees here. Nick Brocchini is one of the Tribal youth I worked with while tutoring on the high school campus in the Indian Education Program many years ago. He is now a grown young man, with a family and a very needed tree service vocation. He brought his lovely cousin with him, Gary. It was difficult to watch, both due to my worry for Nick who was climbing the tree, but also for seeing branches, despite being filled with mistletoe, dropping from the tree. I sure hope this “haircut” will help these old trees thrive. I gave them a nice hug letting them know I was trying to help them. I love them so much. It was also really nice to see Nick. What a pleasure it is to see the young people in my community grow and do well.

Nick, Gary and Roscoe helping me care for the oaks

Last week, I presented at the CA Resource Conservation District Conference. See the post from last week for more information. The presentation went well. I told my story, and happily there were people who were interested. Some had questions. I met several new people who are interested in the same things as me. I also learned much from the other presenters in my session as well as the other sessions I attended. I am always learning and grateful to all of my teachers.

I will have much work to do over the long holiday weekend. There are still butterflies here. I scared one from the grass while on my way to look for alternate sites. It was one of the larger brown ones that I’ve not IDed yet. The hedgerow plants are doing well. I sure hope the carcass is fully gone this week, so that I can plant without additional concern and get back up stream to work in that area.

Tag: Western harrier

Miracle