Marbled Murrelet

       Picture this, a monogamous pair of Marbled Murrelet’s just spent several years out at sea and on this special day they traveled over 70 kilometers of ocean and land to the temperate forests of Washington State. Flying into an old-growth forest that has been there for centuries, is now completely gone. They glance over at the secondary forest nearby but this habitat doesn’t work. The young branches of the Douglas fir tree are not broad or tall enough to hold a variety of epiphytes that could protect their single egg from predators. The couple flies onward, in search of a suitable home to raise their chick. This scenario has potentially happened to several Marbled Murrelet’s. Logging and development are the major causes of this unique species numbers to drop, placing it in the endangered category.

Marbled Murrelet's, Brachyramphus marmoratus, spend most of their lives out at sea but when it's time to nest, the pair heads into the woods in search of that perfect place to lay a single egg.They are small birds, roughly the size of a robin and a challenge to research in the large trees of old-growth forests therefore most research takes place at the ocean. For a sound recording and/or video of this bird visit Cornell's wonderful Lab of Ornithology website at http://macaulaylibrary.org/index.do.


Photo courtesy of: San Fransisco State University



Lettuce Lichen



Photo by Daniel Mathews


If you live in the Pacific Northwest you've probably seen me before. I kind of look like a piece of lettuce or maybe a lung so people call me Lettuce Lichen or Lung Lichen. My scientific name is Lobaria oregana and I am the largest in my family. I like to be in areas where there is a lot of water and I can hang out on the branches of trees. When the wind gets really gusty you can find me on the ground waiting to decompose and provide nitrogen to the soil. I pride myself in playing a key role in this ecosystem because I am a nitrogen fixer. I take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into ammonia which then other plants can use to grow and thrive. Pretty cool huh!?

Las Mariposas

There were several of them chasing each other, fluttering around as if playing tag. One or two would disappear then all of them would gather, twirling with the light breeze, dancing up the current towards the pale blue sky. I watched them dance as I safely sat in my saddle, sixty feet in the sky. I was grounded to a huge Red Oaks armpit. Just half an hour ago those same butterflies were dancing in my stomach as I perched up on one of the largest arms of "Rosie." I took a deep breath and logically thought about my situation. I was safe, the knots were good and I wasn't going anywhere.

After watching those butterflies I got to do a bit of my own dancing in the sky. With one big push off the main trunk my body was propelled backwards, I spun slightly to do a 360 turn to land back at the trunk with my feet.

I adore this painting above by Jaime Jose, it is called El vuelo de las mariposas, The flight of the butterflies. In a way we are all made up of a bunch of small butterflies. Maybe their trying to go up towards the sky, and into our minds they go. Sometimes they get a little anxious and flurry around, running into each other causing chaos. And like this woman in this painting shows, she breaths, calming the flurry, and in turn helping those butterflies to perch and rest.  

Hmmmm

"Are you ADHD?" Peter Treeman Jenkin's asks me. He asks because he thought most tree climber's were. My reply was, no, I really don't think so. But how would I know? What is ADHD? I picture kids with tons of energy running around crazily, unable to focus on one task. So I took a test and would you believe it, I scored a moderate level of adhd. Granted some of the questions were vague but they were questions based on behavioural characteristics and a few of them hit home. A few observations such as, "Concentrates better when moving or fidgeting, has increased anxiety or nervousness, is restless or in constant motion, is always on the "go." On the go.......HMMMM that sounds familiar!

I'm on the go, go, go, all the time, time, time! I just got back from Argentina, now I'm in Atlanta, Georgia and people ask me, what's next? I usually think I'm going to do some sort of silly non-realistic "relaxing" but the last time I said that, look where it brought me.

Tree Man

Either way, there's nowhere else I'd rather be than here in Georgia dangling from a, I believe Peter said, a Southern Sugar Maple Tree. In the first part of the morning we practiced the Double Rope Technique (DRT) which is a series of several knots. Then I practiced some line throwing and in the afternoon I was shimmying my way up into the tree. The tree is on their property in front of the house where guests can stay for the low  price of $45 a night.

I'm pretty tired now and need to get to bed. I can only imagine tomorrow my muscles will be sore and my head already hurts a little from all the information I'm soaking in. When I got into the tree I set up two more pitches, a way to progress further up into the tree. I then set up a downward pitch to get out of the tree. Peter had me learn these methods because I will be climbing taller trees than the maple and have to learn how to work with the different pitches. Peter designs his program based around an individuals needs. Very patient, helpful, and funny, Peter is a better instructor (and person at that) than I ever imagined. His wife Patty does a lot of the behind the scenes work and is also a genuinely good person with a passion for the outdoors.

I have another full day tomorrow and will be joining Peter afterwards to a residential home to inspect hazardous trees. This will be after climbing all day for eight hours. Lovin' it! Stay posted mis amigos!

Wandering Salamander

Look at me, I'm a slimy, lungless, tree climbing salamander! My latin name is Aneides vagrans, fancy wording which means, Aneides in Greek, I lack form or shape and just like my common name says, I'm a wanderer. I've wandered my way into British Columbia hiding under Tan Oak bark shipped there in the late 19th century then sneaking out and seeking refuge in the forests. I like it there quite well but nothing compared to my original home in the damp forests of the redwoods, California. You can find me hiding under rotting logs, dark crevices in rocks, and even waaaaay up in the trees. I'm talkin' over 100 feet up in the sky! There's no need for me to go anywhere else. The complex system in these trees are refuge to all kinds of plants called, epiphytes, meaning these plants grow on other plants for support without hurting them. I'll eat anything I can find like bugs and worms that live here year-around in the forest like me.

If you want to learn more about me and some of my relatives check out the following links:<http://www.californiaherps.com/>

This stuffs intense right here: <http://www.humboldt.edu/redwoods/sillett/publications/spicklerEtAl2006.pdf>