Applegater., May 01, 2014, Page 13, Image 13

Applegater Spring 2014
13
Peter Thiemann: Image hunter
by HALEy mAy
While some hunt with a gun,
Peter Thiemann hunts with a camera.
Photographing all images of nature, but
especially birds, is his passion. To Peter,
birding is exciting because of “the surprise
and the chase,” the appeal to hunter/
gatherer instincts. To birders, a “lifer” is
a bird first seen and positively identified.
Peter’s list of “lifer photos”—high-quality,
publishable shots—is 246.
Originally from northern Germany,
Peter is the man behind the camera of the
bird images in the Applegater’s “Birdman”
column. Seventy-four years old, he is a
retired electrical engineer who now lives on
six acres in Applegate after living in the Bay
Area and Alaska. Why relocate here? “It is
not too rainy and there are big trees—and
it’s not California,” he tells me. He has been
in the area for 11 years.
We met at Ashland Pond to
Photos of Great Gray Owls by Peter Thiemann
will be featured in an upcoming book
by birding guide Harry Fuller.
watch birds. After spotting some White-
throated Sparrows, he pointed out a small
duck, the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes
cucullatus). The male is particularly
recognizable, displaying a black and white
crest with white stripes along his tail and
chest. Females have a cinnamon-colored
crest, and both are excellent divers. We
watched as they periodically disappeared,
bottoms up, searching for fish.
Peter is working with well-known
author and birding guide Harry Fuller
of Ashland on a book about Great Gray
Owls featuring Peter’s photos. The Great
Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa), with up to a
five-foot wingspan, is one of the “most
wanted” on any serious birder’s list. It is
rare in southern Oregon, but Peter has
been photographing a small population
near his place as well as one in the Cascades
that he has been photo-documenting for
almost a year. Folks come from hundreds
of miles, he tells me, just to catch a glimpse
of this elusive creature. The owl hunts in
the daytime, making it a wonderful subject
for study. The proposed title for the book
is Living Ghost: The Great Gray Owl. Peter
and Harry are currently searching for
sponsors.
Peter’s photo of White Pelicans flying
over Mt. Shasta is on the cover of Harry’s
recently published book: Freeway Birding,
San Francisco to Seattle. The guide follows
I-5 indicating various ideal sites for bird-
watching. Taking a moment to participate
in “the surprise and the chase” is one way
to enjoy nature while stretching your legs.
Peter and his wife Eva, a biologist
and nurse, participated in the Ashland
Christmas Bird Count (CBC) organized by
Harry. Around 50 participants found 116
species from sunrise to sunset. The data will
be submitted to Cornell University Lab
of Ornithology, which
has over 200,000 citizens
participating in bird
observation. The data
help researchers study
climate change and/or
behavior trends, such as
the recent observation
of south-ranging birds
gradually moving 50-100
miles north.
I asked Peter why
he thinks birds are so
a m a z i n g . “ T h e y a re
beautiful and unique in
that they can fly,” he says.
Peter Thiemann has 246 “lifer photos” to his credit.
“Think of the amount of
energy it takes to migrate.
Also the way they evolved, linked directly carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Due
to his background in engineering, he feels
to dinosaurs. And they sing.”
He described the phenomenon of it is essential to find “newer, better, safer”
starling murmuration: the swooping flight means of producing energy. It is feasible,
of starlings, sometimes synchronized, for example, to reprocess waste material
in groups of a few hundred to a few from nuclear power plants, which do not
thousand. “If this was music, it would be emit carbon dioxide. If radioactive waste
a symphony,” he says. While the process is handled properly, nuclear plants are a
is not fully understood, individual birds much safer way to generate electricity.
There is an upcoming opportunity
follow the same rule of a school of fish
escaping a predator: “when your neighbor to kick-start your own bird exploration.
moves, you move.” The mysteriousness of At the end of May, thanks to a $16,000
murmuration, like several other aspects grant from Ashland, the Klamath Bird
of birds, is one of the reasons our flying Observatory will host the Mountain Bird
Festival in Ashland with field trips, poster
friends deserve attention and respect.
There has been a noticeable exhibits, music and local food. Harry is
decline in species directly related to human helping organize the festival and will lead
population growth and resource demand. some classes. There may even be a chance to
Bird habitats are being compromised see Eva’s oil painting of Great Gray Owls.
or are disappearing altogether. To help Online registration is available starting
birds thrive, Peter suggests we stop using in early February. For more information
chemical and pesticide sprays that kill on this event, visit klamathbird.org/
the insects that birds depend on. He feels education/mountainbird.
Haley May
that one of the main threats to birds is
hmaylmt@gmail.com
coal power plants, which emit harmful
Logtown Cemetery benches made by Boy Scouts
A nearly eight-month project has
netted Logtown Cemetery five new
benches.
Life Scout Ryan Trask, 14, of
Medford, completed his Eagle Project on
January 18 when he and four other scouts
from Boy Scout Troop 7 placed the five
benches in the cemetery with the guidance
of Scott Traina.
Ryan first noted the lack of good
benches in the cemetery in early 2013
when he was visiting the cemetery. He met
with the Logtown Cemetery Association
on May 18, 2013, to propose that he make
five new benches for the cemetery. The
board graciously accepted his offer.
Over the next few months, Ryan
presented his plans, working closely with
board member Janeen Sathre. Under
the guidance of general contractor Scott
Jensen of Jacksonville and using material
donated by Foster IWP and Parr Lumber
Company of Medford, bench pieces were
measured and sawed to the size specified
by the cemetery board.
Ryan organized and supervised
From left: Ryan Trask, Patrick Maloney,
Jarod Biele, Connor McKeehan,
Nathaniel Peterson and Scott Traina.
scouts from his troop to carefully assemble
benches in November 2013. On January
18, 2014, he and four other scouts, Patrick
Maloney, Jarod Biele, Nathaniel Peterson,
and Connor McKeehan, delivered the final
products and placed them throughout the
cemetery.
These benches are a great asset to the
cemetery and represent over 70 total hours
of research and volunteer labor by these
young men. Ryan will receive his Eagle
Award, scouting’s highest, later this year.
Janeen Sathre • djsathre@gmail.com
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