SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021 | 5A
Community Voices
Natural Perspective — Flickers of spring (and a farewell)
Birds in particular are flit-
ting around yards and gar-
dens as their breeding sea-
sons begin, providing great
opportunities for home-
based wildlife viewing.
Among the small song-
birds, you may notice a larg-
er bird poking about the dirt
with its stout beak. This is
likely a woodpecker known
as the northern flicker.
Northern flickers, wide-
By Emily J. Uhrig, Ph.D
spread throughout Oregon,
Special to Siuslaw News
have tan plumage with dark
pring is finally material- speckles and a black bib
izing. Trees are budding, across their chest. Males
and daffodils are blooming. have a red “mustache”, and
Animals, too, are stirring af- both sexes have red wing
ter winter’s lull.
and tail feathers visible in
S
flight.
In contrast to other
woodpeckers, flickers usu-
ally forage on the ground.
They mainly eat insects,
which they often dig for
vigorously. Ants are a favor-
ite food, and flickers have
long, sticky tongues to catch
them.
From tip to base, the
tongue can be 5 inches long
— nearly half the length of
the flicker’s body!
Their substantial tongue
requires special anatomy.
Like all vertebrates, a flick-
er’s tongue attaches to a
bone called the hyoid. In
humans, the hyoid is a small
u-shaped bone in the neck.
In flickers, the hyoid
wraps around the skull,
coming over the top of the
head before passing through
a nostril. That is, the tongue
is stored under the scalp and
anchored in the bird’s nose.
The tongue is not the
flickers’ only remarkable
characteristic: they also
play instruments. In a be-
havior aptly called “drum-
ming”, flickers rapidly peck
on objects to make a sound
pattern for communication
during the breeding season.
To make sound carry far-
ther, flickers select objects
that resonate. In natural
habitats, they choose hol-
low trees or stumps, but in
urban areas, they often use
metal objects, like gutters
and chimneys.
If you hear a metallic pat-
ter overhead, your house
may be serving as a flicker’s
drum.
Unlike when foraging,
drumming flickers aren’t
trying to make holes, so in
many cases, the prac-tice
is more annoying to home-
owners (especially if you’re
trying to sleep in) than it is
damaging.
If, however, you find
flickers, or other woodpeck-
ers, creating holes on your
home, you should investi-
gate further, as that’s a sign
of insect infestation.
So, on these early spring
days when it’s a bit cold to
venture out, try birdwatch-
ing through your window.
You just may see a flicker.
They are not the most pleas-
ant musicians to listen to,
but they can help remove
insects from your yard.
Note: As my work is tak-
ing me out of the area, this
is my last article for the Siu-
slaw News. Many thanks to
my readers over these past
four years, and best wishes
for your continued nature
watching!
Us TOO Florence — Close encounter with COVID-19 (part 3)
By Christopher Schwartz
Special to Siuslaw News
Before I get to Jim’s con-
tinuing COVID-19 experi-
ence, I want to relate anoth-
er episode in my life simply
because I was in close con-
tact with him right before
he was diagnosed.
I went to get another rap-
id covid test on Feb. 5 at my
request. I had been feeling
punky and anxious recent-
ly. Doc fit me in for a 1 p.m.
appointment. I described
my symptoms.
“Non-specific,” he said.
“Probably just what pass-
es for normal everywhere
these days: anxiety.” Nega-
tive test result. His solution:
turn off the news (and FB),
keep busy around the house.
I can do that.
Now, here’s Jim’s final up-
date beginning with Super-
Covies Day 6:
Some really kind peo-
ple brought me some food.
They left and I was getting
ready to heat it up and just
for a second I thought, “I
hope they were careful pre-
paring this, I could catch
coronavirus!” Like Chap-
pelle says, “Anything’s fun-
ny, ‘til it happens to you.”
So thankful to say I’m
breathing smoothly. Other
Symptoms: Zinger head-
aches (like having a vice
on my head), some chills,
wake up in the middle of the
night, pile-o-sweat, general
low energy.
Symptoms I do not have:
Nausea, vomiting, loss of
smell or taste, heaviness
in my chest, purple toes
or popsicle toes (remem-
ber that song by Michael
Franks, “Popsicle Toes?”
Smooth singer.
One thing I fall prey to
is just plain old fear. All
the upbeat and kind wishes
from friends resonate deep-
ly. But then I’m watching the
game and in the commer-
cial, the newscaster comes
on: “News at 11: highest
death count ever, cases ris-
ing everywhere…” YAAAR!!
DAY 7: How grateful to
be breathing smoothly still.
Fever: The evening fever has
come regularly each night. I
soak the sheets and bedding
to the mattress each time.
Some chills: I’ve been tak-
ing Ibuprofen to feel com-
fortable enough to sleep for
awhile. Headaches: Take
hold of my skull for periods,
ouch, but not totally debil-
itating.
Some helpful chang-
es: After 3 hard days at
the beginning, I’d just lay
there stiff and sore. My
knees were like rusty gates
and hurt. I started rolling
my butt, my back and legs.
Fixed it — humidifier: Good
support for keeping your
airway moist, harder for vi-
rus to adhere.
DAY 10: Okay, no big fe-
ver last night, or 6-foot wet
spot or chills. I could have
celebrated more if not for
these vice grips-like head-
aches that followed me
around all day yesterday and
kept on me throughout the
night. I know that people
suffer a lot more than me
in some cases with Covid. I
am thankful, yet these head-
aches are a challenge. Still
able to breathe smoothly. I
don’t take it for granted.
BEST news: Holly came
home from Bandon Inn on
Dec. 15th!!! No more isola-
tion for me!
Contact Tracing: This
was way more relaxed than
I imagined it would be.
When they called, I expect-
ed to hear the Law and Or-
der theme, “Bah-Bum…”
and names and places to be
taken. But no way! The gal
was very nice. They only
went back a couple of days
before symptoms, and the
tracing was more like: “So
whaddya think?” I told her
that I was especially worried
about my three older golf
buddies had been near me,
but outside and distanced.
But those guys and spous-
es got tested right away. All
negative (not conclusive)
and had no symptoms. So
HOORAY for that. I was SO
relieved. But she asked for
no names.
Final Covid Update and
lucky me: In my “mild and
typical Covid case,” I had
eight nights of fevers, less-
ening until they were gone
on Dec. 7. Gone, too (final-
ly), are the chills, icky head-
aches and general exhaus-
tion. No issue breathing,
coughing, “poiple” (purple)
toes, nausea. I felt so grate-
ful.
My strength is returning
more and more each day.
Thank You all! When I
was sick as a dog, not think-
ing straight and really quite
terrified, I could feel the
current of all your kind-
ness(es) gently carrying me
down the river to a better
day, a healthy day. Thank
you, Jim. Golfing with my
buddies again but using a
golf cart.
Military Chronicles — Veteran profile: Darryl Parsons
By Cal Applebee
Special to Siuslaw News
I first met Darryl in 2006
right after moving to Flor-
ence. Darryl has the distinct
privilege of having served in
three branches of our mili-
tary: Army, Navy and the
Air Force — plus a solid ca-
reer in the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers. In all, he has
28 years of service to our
nation.
He entered the U.S. Army
first, and served from 1956
until 1958, originally in the
186th Infantry Regiment,
41st Infantry Division,
known as the Sunset Divi-
sion, aka the Jungeleers.
He had a family connec-
tion to that unit in that his
uncle served in the same
unit in France during WWI,
his cousin in WWII and
Darryl during Vietnam. Son
Chad enlisted in the same
unit but unfortunately was
injured in boot camp and
medically discharged. Quite
a family heritage!
Eventually, Darryl served
as a lineman in an Intel-
ligence and Recon Squad
stateside, primarily at Ft.
Rilea and Ft. Lewis. Almost
directly from his Army dis-
charge, Darryl enlisted into
the Navy and served from
December of 1958 until Oc-
tober of 1964, attaining the
level of 3rd Class Boatswin’s
Mate.
During his stint in the
Navy, he served on two
aircraft carriers, the U.S.S.
Lexington and the U.S.S.
Ranger, both seeing ac-
tion in Vietnam. He was
onboard the U.S.S. Ranger
headed towards Cuba for
the missile crises in 1962
when world tensions were
resolved and they turned
around and headed back to
Pearl Harbor.
Darryl also spent 16
months at Subic Bay in the
Philippines aboard tugs. He
discharged from Treasure
Island in San Francisco.
From the Navy, Dar-
ryl went back towards OD
green and a stint in the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
where he served largely
on three different barges
during that time. He served
aboard The Dredge Mult-
nomah, Dredge Davidson
and Dredge Biddle, taking
him not only up and down
the west coast from San
Francisco to the Columbia
River, but yet another trip to
Vietnam to dredge the Sai-
gon River on the Davidson.
He served as Quartermas-
ter on both the Davidson
and the Biddle. His time in
the Corps of Engineers left
some significant impacts on
Darryl’s life: his first trip to
Florence was on the Dredge
Davidson. He would even-
tually retire here. It was
while in the Corps stationed
at Ft. Stevens he met his
wife Diane. He discharged
from the Corps in 1967.
Evidently serving all that
time on the water made
Darryl think in more lofty
terms, as his next stint was
in the U.S. Air Force, serv-
ing from 1977 until his dis-
charge in 1993 at the rank
of Technical Sergeant. As a
crash and rescue firefight-
Sponsored by
THE SPORTS CLUB
Elijah Blankenship
SENIOR
Fo otball
HIGHLIGHT:
The Sports Club, the Siuslaw News and Coast
Radio Sports congratulate Siuslaw Viking
quarterback senior Elijah Blankenship. Elijah
led the Viking offense in Friday night’s game
against Sisters with a pair of touchdown passes
and added a third rushing in the 36-19 win.
Honorable Mention:
Desiree Tupua - Siuslaw Volleyball
Highlight:
Honorable mention goes to Viking sophomore Desiree Tupua.
Desiree had 27 kills, 12 service aces and 8 blocks in two
matches last week along with an 11-0 serving run against
Elmira.
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er, his unit’s primary duty
was protection for the bases
alert aircraft.
He served primarily at
McCord, Portland Air Base
and Klamath Falls, but
eventually saw duty at 21
different bases through-
out his career. He was glad
he never had to respond to
any major crashes involving
a lot of bodies, but did see
significant action with ma-
jor crashes, one involving a
huge fuel spill from a C5A,
and a big C141 crash with
fire at Clark AFB in Wash-
ington.
While Darryl stated his
favorite time in the service
was with the USAF, he talks
fondly of the other branch-
es, including some pretty
exciting experiences in all.
While in the Navy, his ship
crossed the International
Dateline one time on his
birthday — while zigzag-
ging to avoid a trailing Rus-
sian Sub — he only had to
celebrate that day once.
While in serving on
Dredges in the Corps of En-
gineers, he was involved in
a water accident during the
1964 Oregon fall storms,
where he fell overboard
with full foul-weather gear
on. He was rescued by
someone on an adjoining
tug, and years later, while
volunteering as a docent at
the Oregon Coast Military
Museum, met that same
man who had pulled him
from the water!
Darryl has served our na-
tion well and with distinc-
tion, and I am glad to say
that introduction years ago
at coffee, has developed into
a life-long friendship.
Thank you, Darryl, for
your friendship, and your
service to our country.
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