8
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
They’re
baaaaack!
One of the things I love
about writing this column is
all the help I get from friends
who enjoy the wild things
around us as much as I do.
Which is also exactly how I
feel when friends like Steve
and Susie Allely call, text
or email with news of what
the wild things are up to in
Sisters Country.
They sent me this email
recently: “I spoke with you
at Bi-Mart some time back
about the turkey vultures
(TV) and their return every
year. Believe it or not I spot-
ted a big mature TV in the
roost trees today. In all the
years we’ve lived here this
Photo by Jim anderson
Nestling tV on the Deschutes
National Forest.
is the earliest I’ve ever seen
one. I confirmed it by walk-
ing around the tree with bin-
oculars to make sure it wasn’t
a hawk. Its not, it’s a big
mature vulture.”
Steve and his wife, Susie,
have been quietly watching
the Sisters TV night roost
for almost 30 years. That’s
when all the Sisters Country
TVs were spending the night
in the trees out behind the
fire hall — sometimes to the
chagrin of house and motor
vehicle owners who didn’t
appreciate all the awful TV
offal on their roofs.
It’s been said some of
the home and motor vehicle
owners in the TV night roost
area set off bottle rockets and
other non-lethal scare devices
that sent some of the TVs
scurrying away, an action that
created another night roost
near the Peterson Ridge trail-
head in use today.
Steve spotted the single
adult late last month, and now
there are seven soaring about.
The usual dates for the TVs
to appear in Sisters is around
March 8-12. Early arrival
may be another indicator
that things are warming up in
western America.
Steve and Susie have seen
a definite TV pecking order
for who will get to use the
best limb on the ponderosa
pine on any given night,
and — much to the surprise
of many people who claim
TVs can only make a hiss-
ing sound — he has heard
them make very low croak-
ing sounds when push came
to shove establishing night
roost perch preferences.
He has also had the enjoy-
ment of watching what many
of us enjoy so much when the
TVs come in to roost: they
change from expert soar-
ing birds to bumbling feath-
ered nincompoops crashing
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Sisters
You didn’t count on this...
Sisters
track
teams have
high goals
By charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
Photo by Jim anderson
turkey vultures roosting on the Malheur National Wild refuge wildlife
observation tower (sans the Bundy takeover’s flag).
into one another, causing
complete confusion as they
(finally) settle in for night.
These antics are especially
noticeable when a storm is
approaching and, as Steve
puts it, “They’re trying to get
under the porch for the night
to try and stay dry.”
In fact, the observations
Steve and Susie have made
of TV behavior seems to
suggest that TVs have the
ability to sense atmospheric
pressure changes — to know
when a storm is approaching,
especially a summer thun-
der-bumper — and come in
early and take shelter to their
night roosts to get out of the
oncoming dangerous weather.
Then there’s swallows that
use feathers from other birds
to line their nests; the Allelys
have watched as swallow fly
back and forth under the TVs
night roosts snatching falling
feathers out of the air as the
vultures are doing their morn-
ing grooming.
From research done back
in the 1960s, TVs spend
the winter in the Salton Sea
area of Central California. I
banded TVs for several years
trying to find out more about
their seasonal movements,
longevity and range. But the
banding lab put a hold on
all leg-banding because TVs
poop and urinate down their
legs to aid in body tempera-
ture adjustments. However,
there is a marking method
used in Canada and the U.S.
that entails placing a small
colored tag on the leading
edge of the wing, called a
patagial marker. If you see
one, please let me know.
Th ere will be a
celebration of life for
Harold and Jean
O’Hara,
Saturday, April 9,
from 1 to 3 p.m.
at the Sisters
Community Church.
Everyone is welcome.
With the largest turnout in
recent years, the Sisters High
School track teams have Head
Coach Jeff Larson expect-
ing the Outlaws to have a big
impact in the Sky-Em League
and at the state level.
The girls team over-
whelmed the rest of the league
last year, amassing 161 points
to win the district title, and
had athletes in eight individ-
ual events and both relays at
the state meet where the team
finished tied for 12th place.
But with all but one of the
qualifiers returning, along
with a crew of newcomers,
Larson expects the girls team
to come out even stronger for
the 2016 campaign.
The Outlaws show depth
in the sprints, hurdles, and
pole vault, and potential in the
throwing, jumping, and dis-
tance events as well.
Michaela Miller, one of five
seniors on the team, returns
as the district champion in
the 100 and 300 hurdles. She
scored in both hurdles races
at state and ran a leg of the
400-meter relay that placed
fourth along with Erynn
Ricker, Mandi Calavan, and
Macadia Calavan. Miller also
See trAcK on page 14
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