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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2021)
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 9 Drought-stressed trees scorched By Bradley W. Parks Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) PHOTO BY DOUGLAS BEALL A Mt. Jefferson ponderosa takeoff of the Mountain Bluebird. Sisters Country birds By Douglas Beall Correspondent The Mountain Bluebird [Sialia currucoides] seeks out open areas with a mix of grasses, shrubs and trees, in mountainous areas up to 12,500 feet. Clearcuts, meadows, and sagebrush/ juniper habitat provide large insect populations for the feeding of fledglings. They require tree cavities or nest boxes for brooding. The female chooses her mate by the quality of the nest cavity that the male offers. She builds the nest as the male Mountain Bluebird brings insects to her while she brings the grasses and stems to line the nest. A 13-day incubation period of four to eight pale blue eggs period commences in May and June, and they often have a second brood. The young fledge in 17-22 days and will often remain as a family unit for the summer. Their bright azure blue feathers can be seen on fence posts and tele- phone lines as they catch insects in the air, often hov- ering before dropping down to the ground. Berries from wild currant, elderberry, sumac, and mistletoe are a portion of their diet in the fall. Average lifespan is four to six years. They migrate south in September and early October. They are in the thrush family and in groups are referred to as a <mutation= or a <hermitage= of thrushes. For more Mountain Bluebird photos visit http://abirds- ingsbecauseithasasong.com/ recent-journeys. BEND (AP) 4 This sum- mer9s heat scorched Oregon trees 4 maybe worse than ever before 4 and scien- tists are beginning to piece together what that means for the trees9 long-term health. Reports of fading foli- age and crispy conifers started coming within days of a June heat wave, during which many parts of the state endured consecutive days with temperatures higher than 110º Fahrenheit. Aerial surveys from the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and Washington Department of Natural Resources docu- mented tree scorching on about 229,000 acres (92,673 hectares) in Oregon, OPB reported. That9s likely an undercount, given the meth- od9s limitations. <By some estimates, it9s probably the largest scorch event in history,99 Oregon State University researcher Christopher Still told OPB9s <Think Out Loud99 this week. <I mean this is a new thing for us to be seeing on Earth, so it9s sort of a dubious milestone.99 Researchers like Still, with help from citizen scientists, have spent months document- ing the heat wave9s effects on Have a Merry Christmas! Gypsy Wind Clothing Sweaters & Sweatshirts Soft & Cozy! 20+ different styles and colors! LOTS OF Handbags & Scarves including luding new Laurel Lau ure u re el Burch! FIREWOOD SALES — Kindling — 541-410-4509 Give ! s k o o b ALL BOOKS FEATURED IN OUR HOLIDAY CATALOG F F O 15 % h Throug 1 12/31/2 STOP BY PAULINA SPRINGS BOOKS TODAY FOR... R... • Personalized recommendations r s and gift ideas from our booksellers • Plenty of fun board games & puzzles z l e s • Last-minute gifts and gift cards • To buy books for Pre-K & K Sisters students from our SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) Holiday Giving Tree at 20% off! Book & Coffee Subscription Box — — SistersForestProducts.com Oregon9s trees. People submitted pictures of ailing arbors to an online database, which research- ers used to help analyze the damage. The images showed deciduous trees with brown- ing, crunchy leaves, and some even looked like they were melting, Still said. Conifer needles turned bright orange and in some cases fell off entirely. Most of the scorching hap- pened on the south- and west- facing sides of trees, which endured the most intense sun- light. Satellite images were even able to pick up the burnt edges. Western hemlock and western red cedar suffered the worst damage. Younger trees fared worse than older ones. <There is going to be an impact, I think, going for- ward, if this young generation had lots and lots of mortality, which we think it did,99 Still said. <The older trees, they9re going to be more resilient, but it9s a little bit hard to know if you lose a bunch of your nee- dles what that does to you.99 Toasted trees were already stressed from the adverse effects of extreme drought, which in recent years has contributed to tree declines. Still said the combination of drought and heat is a <knock- out punch99 for trees. Those effects are likely to get worse as unchecked burning of fossil fuels drives climate change, which is expected to lead to more extreme heat events as well as longer, more intense periods of drought. <If this just keeps going, if these are happening every five or 10 years, it9s gonna be really grim I think for most of the forests of the Pacific Northwest,99 Still said. “Reads & Roasts” Year-round SISTERS FOREST PRODUCTS ...this is a new thing for us to be seeing on Earth, so it’s sort of a dubious milestone. — Christopher Still NEW NE N EW E W W WIN WI WINTER I NT IN NTER N ER E RH HO HOURS: O URS OU UR U RS R S : Wednesday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; W ed d ne sd y - Saturday, S t Sa Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.; Closed Monday & Tuesday 183 E. HOOD AVE., SISTERS • 541-868-4479 O Order for yourself or a friend at w www.paulinaspringsbooks.com 541-549-0866 • 252 W. Hood Ave., Sisters