Hilary Turner | Nature Mapping Program Coordinator
Fall migration is a fun time for birders and it is the only time of year we Wyomingites get to examine many members of one of my favorite groups – the shorebirds.
These members of the order Charadriiformes can be intimidating to learn. Many shorebirds look very similar but understanding habitat, behavior, and subtle differences in shape, size, and plumage can help you identify the many different species.
All three of the species migrate seasonally through NW Wyoming. Can you identify one difference between the Least Sandpiper and the Western Sandpiper (hint: look at the legs)?
Larger shorebirds such as godwits, avocets and stilts are usually found wading in deeper water than smaller shorebirds such as sandpipers and plovers.
Phalaropes are often seen swimming, and their foraging behavior is quite unique. They spin in tight circles, grabbing invertebrates that get caught in their vortex.
Calidris sandpipers are a daunting group to learn, but paying close attention to subtle details is helpful in accurately identifying them.
Bill shape and size, leg color, body shape and size, primary projection (how long the primary feathers are), and plumage characteristics are key for separating species of this group.
Shorebird migration starts mid-summer, and is quite protracted, lasting through mid-to-late-October. During migration, shorebirds tend to congregate in shallow water and on mud flats.
Look for places where water had recently receded and mud has become exposed. Once you start paying close attention to the shorebirds, you will see how beautiful they really are!
Hilary Turner | Nature Mapping Program Coordinator
MAPS Bird-Banding
Our MAPS bird-banding program is experiencing an eerily slow start to the 2021 banding year.
So far, we have captured 193 birds of 32 species. Of those 130 were newly banded, 47 were recaptures, and 16 left our hands unbanded.
Although we are only 7 species short of our total from last year, the overall numbers are fewer than in previous years. For example, on one morning we captured zero Yellow Warblers, which are typically our most numerous species (see what we banded in 2020).
We can’t say for sure what the cause is and we won’t know exactly how different this season was until we analyze our data. However, it has been interesting to experience what has seemed like an unusually slow spring migration and start to the breeding season.
Mountain Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring
Nature Mapping citizen scientists began another season of Mountain Bluebird nestbox monitoring on May 1st 2021. Our bluebird trail is comprised of 112 boxes mounted on the National Elk Refuge fence along Hwy 89. These boxes are monitored by 14 volunteers.
These hardy volunteers brave mud, ants, and empty nestboxes to ensure accurate and quality data collection along the bluebird trail. We are ever grateful for their good work!
This year, seven nestboxes have been occupied by Mountain Bluebirds and many more boxes are occupied by Tree Swallows and House Wrens. The first wave of bluebird nesting is almost over, but a couple bluebird pairs have already initiated new nesting attempts for their second broods.
JHWF is color-banding Mountain Bluebirds as a part of our effort to understand survivorship, dispersal, and site fidelity of the bluebirds in Jackson Hole.
This year we have banded 35 Mountain Bluebird nestlings and two adults that we caught opportunistically. We also color banded two Mountain Bluebird adults that we caught at our Boyles Hill MAPS banding station.
If you see a color-banded bluebird in or near Jackson, write down the color combination, note the location, and report the sighting to reportband.gov or Hilary@jhwildlife.org!
How long have you been involved in Mountain Bluebird Nest Box Monitoring and do you have an estimate for how many active bluebird nests you’ve monitored?
Patti – We first volunteered in 2018 and 2019. We watched a set of 10 nest boxes, in 2018 we had 3 nest boxes that produced little baby bluebirds – it was like magic to me. We witnessed 2 sets of nestlings being banded, one nest with 5 and the other with 6.
What drew you to be a Mountain Bluebird nest box volunteer?
Patti – My first thought was “Have you see the color of those birds? Who wouldn’t want to watch them.” But really, any chance to watch birds that close up through an entire breeding and nesting season was really exciting.
Do you a specific fond or rewarding memories related to this project?
Patti – I would say the first blue egg in box 15 did it for me. Also seeing them being banded was an amazing feat by the professionals
Are there any challenges/negative aspects of being a Mountain Bluebird nest box monitoring volunteer?
Patti – Being dive-bombed by the tree swallows was not fun. They are feisty creatures and do not like visitors to their nests close to egg laying time. It’s because you have both of them protecting their box! The other challenge is being about 3″ too short to see into some of the boxes. The pocket digital camera became my assistant if Andrew was not there.
Do you have any advice you would give to new Mountain Bluebird nest box volunteers?
Patti – Use your camera to record what you see. Even if no one needs the data in picture form, you yourself will be amazed to remember the whole process in such a clear way – from the first scraps of grass to the eggs appearing one by one, to the hatchlings then to the nestlings, and then on to the abandoned box.
What is it specifically about birds that draws your interest?
Patti – Andrew is a mammalogist by training and has been interested in nature all of his life. I was a girl scout from 2nd grade through adulthood. We both love the outdoors. Andrew’s interest in birds came as he was watching mammals! My interest was a bit delayed because I thought I would never be able to spot them quickly enough and make any sort of identification. As usual, his patient teaching methods and field identification hints helped me gain skills and he is still here to help me spot field marks and bird behavior. My first life-list bird was a raven in Logan, Utah in 1980.
What a great time to be out traveling between Victor Idaho and Farson Wyoming! On Friday, a beautiful sunny spring day, wildlife was on the move and easily seen from the road. My wildlife sightings list in one short day included large groups of elk, mule deer and pronghorn, bighorn sheep, sandhill cranes, vultures, prairie dogs, burrowing owls, bluebirds, and light-colored slatey male Northern Harriers. Enough to give me a grin for days! And lots to report to our Nature Mapping database. 😊
This drive also elevated my vivid awareness of how dangerous this time of year can be for animals moving toward summer range and it reminded me of the work and collaboration we are doing to protect this precious resource. Some updates that may interest you:
In December 2020, at the behest of the Wildlife Foundation and others, the Board of County Commissioners added a statement to the County Transportation Plan that requires a county planning process for WY 390 as a whole corridor. This highway is challenging to mitigate in part due to the dense development and number of access roads. By planning for mitigation at a ‘corridor’ level, the county can move past piece-meal mitigation efforts that have been employed in the past (which have been helpful, in bits and pieces) and create an inclusive plan that makes sense for motorists and wildlife for the length of the roadway. We celebrate this milestone and we look forward to working with the county to create the safest plan for all who live and drive along WY 390 that also preserves and improves habitat for native wildlife that need the “West Bank” to survive.
On the topic of WY 390, our 4 fixed radar signs will be replaced this summer, and an additional radar sign will be added for southbound traffic where the speed limit decreases from 55 to 45 mph. WYDOT has also been scheming additional signs for either end of the corridor that are larger with multiple species represented. These will be similar to other wildlife signs in the county on US 191 and 89.
Planning and design for wildlife crossings at the WY 22-390 intersection is moving along. Construction is slated to begin late 2022 – early 2023. In a similar time-window, the Stilson parking lot is undergoing planning for expansion by JHMR and Teton County. This important work aims to preserve the greater ecosystem by expanding public transit. We are engaging with the county and partners to ensure that wildlife movement in this critical location is not compromised along the way.
A recent federal project was approved to plan for improvements of WY 22 on Teton Pass. This, along with the Stilson plan and another federal project—the BUILD grant— aim to seamlessly tie traffic, transit, and pedestrian flow together from The Village to Driggs, Idaho. We remain vigilant to the process to safeguard wildlife needs for habitat and movement.
Good research continues to help us adaptively improve wildlife crossing structures. Colorado DOT just released results from a study of ~5 years of monitoring over 10 miles of highway mitigation. You may find some of the results interesting…
• Wildlife-vehicle collisions were reduced by 92% where mitigation was installed
• Round-bar wildlife guards (similar to cattle guards) were the best at deterring wildlife breaches
• Elk—a notoriously challenging animal to mitigate for—took 4 years to begin using the structures
Data from our very own South US 89 mitigation is now being processed by the University of Montana. Researchers there are processing wildlife-vehicle collision data, carcass information, and trail camera data collected by a broad partnership, including JHWF, WYDOT, Game and Fish, Teton Conservation District, Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) and others. We hope to see preliminary results that delve into crossing structure use with and without funnel fence as well as any long-term concerns about wildlife deviating from the mitigation and crossing the highway surface at fence ends. These results will help direct any adaptive management needed to make the crossings as effective as possible.
We were just awarded seed money from the Community Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Program (thank you Youth Philanthropists!) to launch a social media marketing campaign that will provide messaging around safe driving for wildlife in Teton County. The advertisements will include messages like local statistics and safe driving tips for locals, commuters, and visitors.
Finally, stay tuned for a JHWF-GYC-JHCA hosted speaker series that will dive into some of the wildlife-road mitigation that is in planning stages and/or has been proposed for various problem roads around the county. In our first meeting, we plan to talk more about ElectroCrete, which may be tested at fence openings along pathways adjacent to wildlife mitigation.
Thank you for your support and, as always, if you’d like to learn more please reach out to us!
Thank you for your extraordinary participation in Moose Day 2021. At this time, we have preliminary totals of 106 moose and 109 volunteers who spent 300 hours scouting! The majority of you drove (163 hrs), others skied (74 hrs), a few snowmobiled (33.5 hrs), many walked (25 hrs), and one group snowshoed (4 hrs).This is impressive! Unfortunately, as often happens on Moose Day, only half the teams saw moose (18 out of 34). This is not a reflection on your effort—you tried hard! Moose appeared most frequently along the Gros Ventre River as far east as the Darwin Ranch (14), to along the stretch around Kelly to the rotary (19). Others were seen in much less wild terrain, such as around golf courses at Teton Golf and Tennis and Teton Pines (around 20). Some were resting and feeding in neighborhoods around Wilson, Tribal Trails, and Crescent H subdivisions. Areas of deep snow in the park, downtown Jackson, the forested slopes along Fish and Fall Creek Roads had none this year. Even the Buffalo Valley, a former hotspot, had only 4 moose.
Photo: Josh Metten, Ecotour Adventures
Searching for moose had its challenges. Several reported steep and high snowbanks along roads. “Berms were high so though we tried to cover the area, one never knows as it only takes a small something to hide the animals when they are lying down.” Grace Barca and her granddaughter Elly spent the morning combing the area along Fall Creek Road and up into Indian Paintbrush. “The residents said the snow was too deep on the hill.” So they looked on the flats … “We crossed three streams: Fish and Fall Creeks and the Snake and expected something in the lowlands.” Still no moose. Moose were few around Trail Creek likely because of the cross-country ski races. Notably, for only the second year, we had a team in Alta who spotted 2 moose after much driving and walking.
Photo: Jenny McCarthy
Jason Wilmot, biologist with the US Forest Service, led the most adventurous team on two snowmobiles east out the Gros Ventre to the Darwin Ranch. He texted: “We saw 14 moose up the Gros …. Only one dead snowmobile! Bummer. All safe though!…Beautiful up there!”…“On the hunt for a new snowmobile.” His teammate Lesley Williams, who waited two hours while the one snowmobile finished the search, was delighted to have the time alone in the solitude of wilderness. We appreciate the USFS folks for taking their days off to go search for moose.
While many people did not see moose, they did see other wildlife. The team in the north end of the park around the Jackson Lake Dam had a special treat: Kent Clements and his wife saw otter tracks around Willow Flats, and Eric Carr actually saw an otter “catch the biggest sucker fish I’ve ever seen. Huge!” Matt Fagan reported, “No moose, no traces, but we did get to watch a family of four otters moving through Willow Flats up and over dam wall…body sledding, each taking their own line down the back side. Very fun to watch. Their movements were like inchworms: doubling up in the middle then slide stretching out. Inchworm or slinky like.”
Photo: Beverly Boyton
In their territory around Ditch Creek, Beverly Boynton and Ray White reported Horned Larks, mule deer, Greater Sage-Grouse, and a Great Grey Owl. Kathy McCurdy and Nancy Shea skied the stretch from Kelly to the Gros Ventre Campground and were surprised by an elk in the willows. Marjie Pettus and Brian Bilyeu scouted East Jackson and “did not see a single moose. That said, our trip was not uneventful: we saw elk (of course), bighorn sheep, 2 bald eagles, 3 deer, and no surprise, but fun 2 trumpeter swans” on the National Elk Refuge. Sue and John Ewan were down by the Snake River Sporting Club and spied a large flock of American Robins, along with Townsend’s Solitaires, and a Mourning Dove. Kathy and Jay Buchner also spotted robins north of the junction of Boyles Hill and Ely Springs Roads.
While there were no moose in their territory of the Snake River Ranch, team members observed many tracks and critters. Ben Wise saw “lots of fox tracks, maybe some ermine tracks, and a magnificent pair of bald eagles”. Jennifer Dorsey and KO Strohbehn noted tracks of martin, coyote, fox and deer, and heard Red-winged Blackbirds. Josh Metten, was able to discern “many fox tracks and holes they dug for the ‘catch.’ Vole?” Gretchen Plender reported. “Two Canada Geese flew into land in the ponds on the Shooting Star grounds! Julie (her ski partner) exclaimed, ‘Oh spring is coming!!’”
In addition, Renée Seidler, executive director of JHWF, in the area south of South Park found “two coyotes and a boat-load of swans south of the Snake River.” Mary Ellen and Bill Fausone surveyed Saddle Butte area and reported a fox, 9 deer, and “when we got home a gorgeous Great Horned Owl nesting in a tree. So is was a great day to see wildlife.”
We want to add thanks to the contributions of agencies, wildlife tour companies, and landowners. Sarah Dewey and Carson Butler of Grand Teton National Park found the 4 moose up at Buffalo Valley (fewer than in past years). Sarah also facilitated the park permit. Ben Wise of WGFD organized the team on the Snake River Ranch. Morgan Graham of Teton Conservation District surveyed Game Creek. Note, Morgan used his GIS skills to produce the Moose Day maps when Moose Day first started. Aly Courtemanch is the lead for Moose Day at WGFD. Without her, we would not have Moose Day!
Photo: Josh Metten, Ecotour Adventures
We thank the owners and property managers for permission to scout Snake River Ranch, Spring Creek Ranch, Jackson Hole Winery, Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis, Teton Pines, Astoria Park Conservancy, Snake River Sporting Club, Teton Mountain Schools, and the many other private landowners. We appreciate the volunteer time of tour companies: AJ DeRosa of JH Vintage Adventures, Josh Metten of EcoTour Adventures, and Matt Fagan of Buffalo Roam Tours.
And a final note: We had participation from hearty volunteers of the Barker, Dornan, Craighead, Ewing, and Linn families—who have contributed to the understanding and appreciation of our wildlife heritage over decades. Without their commitment to the valley, we would not have so many moose and other wildlife to enjoy on Moose Day.
This is preliminary data. We will have a final report in our next Nature Mapping enews with a map of where all the moose were and comparisons to years before. However, we wanted you to be the first to know the success of Moose Day 2021.
