Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2020)
8 Wednesday, April 15, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson Homes for birds, bats, and butterflies It9s spring and cavity- nesting birds are looking for homes to raise babies in. In last week9s Nugget, Jodi Schneider offered a wonder- ful birdwatching piece, and suggested you build them homes. OK, here9s how to do it. Head out to the nearest housing construction proj- ect, and if they9re using ply- wood (not particle board), ask the builders to put their rems (wood remnants) aside in a pile and when the job9s done, go by with a box of donuts, give it to the build- ers, bring the plywood home and start building birdhouse nesting boxes. (I have been building nesting boxes for well over 40 years, and in that period of time I have never had a builder say no, and some/ most of them have been kind enough to help me load the rems into my pickup). This is not only a good way to recycle the excess wood, but your opportunity to really put your personal effort into supplying a much Sisters salutes... " Sisters School District sent out a thank you out to Ray9s Food Place for donating grocery bags for material pickups for all three schools last week (see story, page 1). Gary Thorson of SSD said, <They were a huge help this past week.= " The community of Sisters owes a tip of the hat to all the workers in the grocery and sundries marketplace, the pharma- cists, the people pumping gas 4 all those who have worked so hard over the past several weeks to keep shelves stocked and essen- tial services and goods coming to the folks who live here. They have more exposure than most of the rest of us, and they keep showing up 4 and keep everyone9s spirits up, too. needed portion of wild- life habitat that has gone missing. Back in the 1950s and 960s, the logging/forestry industry took it upon them- selves to become forest fire rangers and denounced all the dead standing trees (snags) in the forest as lightning rods and removed them. That was the begin- ning of the end for cavity- nesters. What really fin- ished off snags back in those <good old days= was when Brooks-Scanlon in Bend started milling and selling <Brooks Wood,= beautiful multi-colored pine boards cut from snags. The U.S. Forest Service made a huge attempt to right the wrong with the <Wildlife Tree= project in which the folks in federal prisons made four- by 4-inch aluminum wildlife signs that wildlife biologists placed on stand- ing snags announcing them to be absolutely essential as nesting habitat for wildlife and warning: <Do Not Cut!= In fact, back in the 970s when I was working for the USFS, one of my jobs was walking portions of timber sales searching out appropri- ate snags and placing wild- life signs on them to ensure they9d be saved for cavity- nesters. And you know, not too many years back I was driving past one of the old sales and sure enough, those wildlife trees were still standing and doing what they were supposed to do. Anyway& the vanishing of cavity nesting substrate also increased when the steel fence posts appeared on the market. All those old wooden fence posts that woodpeckers pounded holes into were gone and one bird in particular, the east- ern bluebird, almost went extinct because of it. What saved them was the nesting box builders from the Atlantic to the Mississippi river who gave them homes. There9s nothing like hav- ing a bluebird nesting box in your backyard 4 unless you have an outdoor cat 4 then forget it, or put a bird-be- safe collar on it. A swallow nesting box will be a wel- come asset if you live near a mosquito-producing body of water. You can also put up a bat shelter and have bats fluttering about at night helping with the mosquito- reduction business. It would also be cool to see if butterfly shelters work; California tortoise shells (which I find in my wood pile) and mourning cloaks winter over as adults and are always looking for a safe place to spend those cold times. If you live in Camp Sherman, put up a nesting box for a northern pygmy PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON Look out world, here I come! Nestling American kestrel about to fledge. Nesting box by Don McCartney. owl 4 you9ll have a won- derful opportunity for one to move in and positively ruin your afternoon nap with all their tooting. Those ambi- tious little owls are capable of catching, killing and eat- ing pine squirrels and other critters that size. Building and erecting nesting boxes is a great way to help wildlife prosper, and for you to have the satisfac- tion of seeing your handi- work create immediate and long-lasting positive results. To get plans, email me (jimnaturalist@gmail.com) for the pdf digital version. Now get busy! Gypsy Wind Clothing Good News in Tough Times… WE ARE EXPANDING & MOVING! We are working hard at getting the new space ready for our unveiling and will reopen as soon as possible! NEW ADDRESS: 183 E. HOOD AVE., SISTERS • Re-Roof & New Construction • Composite, Metal, Flat & Cedar Shake Products • Free Estimates • Transferable Warranties • 10-Year Workmanship Guarantee Family Owned & Operated for 20 Years 541-526-5143 ccb#203769 Visit NuggetNews.com or Facebook.com/NuggetNews for breaking news, updates and the