An Excerpt from Winter Wings by Bert Raynes

An excerpt from Winter Wings by Bert Raynes:

"There's an old geologist's saying to the effect that if he hadn’t believed it, he would have never seen it. I actually knew that old geologist.

Finding birds in winter in the Northern Rockies is a little like searching for some previously unrecognized subtle or hidden geomorphic feature. They’re there, but if you don’t believe, you’ll never see them.

Different from summer or spring. What should your winter birding strategy, be, then??

Just go out and look.

Many bird watchers think summer is the optimum time to find birds. True enough, there are more birds around. More species, more numbers of most species. True, but many birds are on the nest, quiet, and don’t want to be seen, or are busy feeding and training their young and are no longer singing. Some are hiding out as only they can.

Summer birds are great. But winter birds, they’re hardy souls with fewer obligations. Every wild creature has to be concerned about its safety and food. Winter birds have pretty much only those concerns—not territorial defenses, not mate selection, not eggs to brood, nor young to care for. Why, winter birds are almost on vacation! What better time to look for them?”

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Thank you for making us believe Bert, and for teaching us to appreciate the natural world. Thank you for shaping the next generation of naturalists and conservationists. Bert Raynes, naturalist and Jackson Hole icon, passed away on New Year's Day at age 96.

There may be fewer birds around, but some birds only ever show up in winter! Winter is your best chance of seeing cool little guys like grosbeaks (pine and evening), crossbills (red and white-winged), rosy-finches (black and gray crowned), northern shrikes, and snow buntings…in the valley bottom. Raptors like rough-legged hawks and the occasional snowy owl only ever migrate south to Wyoming during the winter months. If you’re a beginner birder, winter is a great time to get familiar with a good foundation or hardy souls.

Pine grosbeak by Yankech Gary

Gray-crowned rosy-finch by Dominic Sherony

Snow bunting by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Snowy owl by Jongsun Leend

White-winged crossbill by Scott Hero

Northern shrike by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Rough-legged hawk by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Morgan's Nature Notebook - Episode 6 - Winter Tracking

Winter tracking is an art! For all you non-tracking-artists out there, enjoy these beginner tips for learning to recognize stories written in the snow by animal tracks and signs.

With sub-zero temps and a deepening snowpack, it’s becoming more important to give wildlife space. The energy an animal expends running from a person, dog, or car is energy they might have a hard time replenishing with limited browse and forage available over the winter. But, learning to identify tracks is a fun way to connect with the natural world and wildlife without needing to get close them, or even see them at all!

If you want to become an expert tracking artist, a good place to start is this U.S. Forest Service chapter by Halfpenny, Thompson, Morse, Holden, and Rezendes on snow tracking. Another great resource to look for at the library or book store is Mammal Tracks & Sign by Mark Elbroch.

Across the Aisle—Washington agrees on historic funding for conservation

By Morgan Graham 

Morgan Graham wrote this piece for the Wyoming Chapter of the Wildlife Society’s 2020 Fall Newsletter. We’ve reposted it here on Teton Conservation District’s blog to provide summary of the recently passed Great American Outdoors Act, a law that addresses mounting maintenance costs of federal land and permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It passed the House and Senate with unusual bipartisan support, with 310 of 435 Representatives and 73 of 100 Senators supporting the bill.

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As we approach election day, bipartisanship seems like an invertebrate on the endangered species list—obscure and rare.

To juxtapose, let’s take the opportunity to highlight the recently passed Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), a law that addresses mounting maintenance costs of federal land and permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Late civil rights luminary Representative John Lewis introduced the original bill as the Taxpayer First Act in 2019, but the bill underwent substantial revisions over the following year and a half. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on August 4th, 2020.

Existing funding is not sufficient to meet the mounting cost of conservation in the United States. The GAOA helps to cover conservation funding gaps via two mechanisms: the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (NPPLLRF) and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

Jenny Lake Trail in Grand Teton National Park.

Under the NPPLLRF, 50% of all federal tax revenue from oil, gas, coal, or alternative energy developments on federal land or water over the next 5 years will be deposited into a fund, up to a maximum of $1.9 billion annually. From this fund, 70% will be allocated to the National Park Service, 15% to the U.S. Forest Service, and the remaining 15% split equally amongst the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Education. Nearly $20 billion are necessary to address maintenance backlogs on federal lands, and NPPLLRF will help with this backlog. Projects will prioritize improved accessibility for persons with disabilities. At least 65% of funding within each agency will support maintenance on docks, restrooms, campground, and trails projects, and remaining funds may support paved/unpaved roads, bridges, tunnels, and paved parking. After 5 years, the General Accounting Office will conduct a study to examine the efficacy of the NPPLRF.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Photo by National Park Service.

The GAOA also permanently funds the LWCF, a law that has previously required funds to be allocated on an annual basis. The LWCF was established in 1964 and is primarily financed by royalties on offshore drilling, with a small percentage generated from the sale of federal lands and taxes on boat fuel. Since its inception, nearly $20 billion have been allocated to federal, state, and local governments to improve access to recreation and protect natural resources. The LWCF was reauthorized—but not funded—in 2019, reducing a substantial pool of funding opportunities for many governmental agencies. However, with the passage of the GAOA, the LWCF has secured $900 million per year. In Wyoming, the vast majority of LWCF grants have helped establish or redevelop community recreational amenities such as parks, golf courses, ball fields, shooting ranges, rodeo grounds, and ski lifts. Notable habitat conservation projects supported by LWCF include the Bear River Watershed Conservation Area, the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Fossil Butte National Monument, and the North Platte River Special Recreation Management Area.

Despite broad bipartisan support, the Wyoming Congressional delegation unanimously opposed the legislation. Senator Mike Enzi asserted the act contributed to the national debt and failed to account for the federal maintenance costs beyond five years. Senator John Barrasso expressed support for the LWCF and its positive impact on communities throughout Wyoming, but he did not support the bill over concerns about long-term maintenance funding and the federal government continuing to bite off more than it can chew. Representative Liz Cheney expressed dismay that taxpayer dollars would support the conversion of private land to public without a viable plan for funding the existing maintenance bill.

Most media outlets have considered the GAOA the biggest win for conservation in a generation. It passed the House and Senate with unusual bipartisan support, with 310 of 435 Representatives and 73 of 100 Senators supporting the bill. With 92% of federal lands occurring in 12 western states, politicians effectively lobbied for its passage as an economic stimulus for economies of the Mountain West. With the exponential increase in outdoor recreation, reliable funding for public land infrastructure is a priority. Here’s hoping this uncommonly popular piece of legislation can help.

Mollusk Mystery

By Phoebe Coburn  

While out conducting annual Flat Creek sampling earlier this fall, we came across two very different mollusk shells camouflaged amid the pebbles in the streambed. One is a native species, and the other…well, it may have originated in the Atlantic Ocean.  

On the left is a western pearlshell mussel, identifiable by its oval shape and pearlescent purple internal coating. The western pearlshell is one of two native mollusks found in the Jackson area. The other native is the pill clam, however “you generally don't see them because they are tiny (smaller than your pinky nail) and very fragile,” according to Diana Miller, Fisheries Biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Jackson.

The clam on the right is a mystery. It’s not a native nor an invasive species—but rather likely ended up in Flat Creek after someone’s streamside picnic. Carlin Girard, Teton Conservation District’s Water Resources Specialist & Associate Director, will occasionally find the empty shells of store-bought clams in Flat Creek while out conducting water quality or macroinvertebrate sampling. “The first domestic clamshell I found fooled me,” Carlin says, “I actually sent a picture to a lab. It makes you question your professionalism, when a lab emails you back that the sample in question likely came from Albertsons.”

Western pearlshell mussel. Photo by Carlin Girard.

Western pearlshell mussel. Photo by Carlin Girard.

Though the clam mystery is intriguing, it pales in comparison to the story of native mussels. They are ecosystem engineers; they filter water and bioaccumulate chemicals. Living up to 100 years old, these miraculous little creatures are known as the “liver of the river” for their aptitude for cleaning water. They also fuel the food chain by absorbing and then depositing nutrients for other creatures in the bottom of the river to consume. The way they travel and reproduce is also fascinating—native mussels co-evolved with fish. The mussel reproduction cycle includes a larval stage in which the microscopic larvae attach themselves to a host fish’s gills and fins, hitching a ride upstream and enabling the otherwise sedentary species to travel between watersheds.

Once they do arrive at their permanent home, you might call them a stage 5 clinger! Mussels have been the focus of material scientists for years, as they attempt to replicate the aquatic adhesive abilities of these marvelous mollusks. Within three minutes, mussels can begin attaching themselves to virtually any type of underwater surface. Proteins secreted from their foot form threads and plaques that rival the strength and durability of the strongest human-made glues.

But, an estimated 70 percent of freshwater mussel species in North America are either extinct or imperiled. All sorts of human activities have harmed mussels over the past century, including pollution, river impoundment, habitat degradation, decline of host fish populations, and unregulated exploitation (before plastic, mussels were often harvested for shirt buttons!). And now, freshwater mussels are facing a pandemic of their own. Listen to this recent Science Friday segment on a virus that is decimating many freshwater mussels.

If you’re now a mussel fanatic like me and want to learn more, check out this Wyoming Game & Fish Department report on freshwater mussel surveys in the Bear and Snake Rivers.

Invasive Mussels

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Don’t Move a Mussel.” Not all mussels are native. Zebra and quagga mussels are invasive species of concern and we definitely do not want them in our waterways. Both of these mussels originated in eastern Europe, but are established throughout the U.S. and cause ecologic and economic destruction. In the Great Lakes, zebra and quagga mussels have also been associated with avian botulism, killing tens of thousands of birds.  Both of these invasive mussels typically grow to about the size of a fingernail and kill native mussels by attaching themselves to the shells of native species­—essentially suffocating them. They are also prolific breeders and eaters, outcompeting native species. Over short distances, zebra and quagga mussels are often spread between waterways by the movement of recreational boats that have not been adequately cleaned, drained, and dried. They can live for 3 to 5 days out of water. What can you do? It’s pretty simple really, 1) Clean, 2) Drain, and 3) Dry your boat before using it in another waterway.

Zebra and quagga mussels. Photo by Bureau of Reclamation.

Zebra and quagga mussels. Photo by Dave Brenner, Michigan Sea Grant

Morgan's Nature Notebook - Episode 5 - Our Native Plant Garden

When you think of nature, you might think of the forest or a national park…but did you know you can have a little bit of nature in your own backyard? We planted a native grass and shrub garden at the Teton Conservation District office last year – join us for this episode of Morgan’s Nature Notebook to see how our garden is coming along!

If you live in the Jackson Hole area and you’d like to plant your own native garden, get in touch with us to receive a free bag of native grass or shrub seed: (307) 733-2110 or morgan@tetonconservation.org.

It’s Bugle Season

By Phoebe Coburn, Communications Specialist

Growls, barks, glunks, chuckles, and whistles. Elk may be the most vocal big-game animal in North America. In the Rocky Mountains, there might be no sound that is quintessentially more ‘fall’ than the elk bugle. For me, the emotive sound evokes a unique feeling somewhere betwixt fear and awe, daze and wonder, and nostalgia and appreciation. Morgan Graham, Teton Conservation District’s GIS & Wildlife Specialist, says, “The sound of a bugle stirs up a feeling of being sent back to the age of the dinosaurs. Tingling in my ears and on the back of my neck. Ethereal. Primordial. Mystical beasts. It’s easy to see where inspiration for unicorns came from.” Such a feeling lends itself to questions.

Why do elk bugle?

Male elk bugle during the ‘rut,’ the mating season running from September through October. During the rut, male elk have one (and only one) goal: mate. Bugling is a key part of this autumn ritual. But what precipitates this distinctive sound? I decided to explore this question because I have a childhood memory of someone telling me that the short days trigger bugling. Was that the elk-equivalent of an adult telling me that babies come from storks? So, I did some fact-checking and it turns out that yes, the short days do trigger bugling. But, whoever told me this interesting fact left out a few key details that kept me wondering all these years.

The rut is associated with the autumn equinox because the short days trigger hormone changes in elk, according to this interview with Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s big game manager, Andy Holland. “Right now the days are getting shorter, which affects melatonin levels. That triggers hormone changes in both bulls and cows. Bull testosterone levels can increase 1,000 times,” Andy said in the interview.

In female elk, the hormone changes cause them to go into estrus and release an alluring pheromone that makes the male elk go wild. While the females are wisely putting on pounds before the winter months, male elk are losing weight because they’re too busy showing off for the ladies to bother eating. Morgan says, “If you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching or listening to a bull elk defend or attract a harem during rut, you know first hand how personal preservation is the last thing on their mind. People shouldn’t be surprised if an incredible roadside photo opportunity quickly escalates into 800 lbs. of wapiti whoop-*** attempting to destroy you, your pet, or your car. These are wild animals at their wildest. For everyone’s sake, make sure to give them space. Spotting scopes, telephoto lenses, and binoculars are great investments.”

The rut happens at the same time every year for an important reason—all the babies need to be born at the exact right time in the late spring. Born too early, and the forage doesn’t provide enough nourishment for a nursing mother. Born too late, and the calves aren’t big enough to survive the next winter.

Do female elk bugle?

Yes! They do! But rarely. Female elk will occasionally belt a bugle in the spring, most often in the late morning hours. (Interesting side note: the earliest description of female bugling I found online was Olaus Murie’s 1932 article “Elk Calls” in the Journal of Mammalogy. The article is still frequently cited today.) But why do they bugle in the spring? Biologists don’t know exactly, but this article (also in the Journal of Mammalogy) suggests that “Bugling by female elk may be associated with high-stress periods and hormonal changes accompanying gestation and lactation, as proposed by Espmark (1964) regarding behavioral changes in female reindeer.” A female elk’s bugle sounds similar to a male’s bugle, but generally a little shorter in duration.

What are they saying?

The same article provides a picture of the functions of different bugle vocalizations in elk social behavior. Bugles sound different—some aggressive, some non-aggressive, some with lots of grunts, and some with a long reverberating whistle. The article describes most bugles as having three parts: an on-glide, whistle, and off-glide. Depending on the pattern of frequencies, it’s thought that the elk are conveying different messages. A male elk might be trying to attract a mate with his bugle, corral the females, assert his dominance over other males, assess the fighting ability of other males, or persuade a female avoiding his advances.

Fun fact: A lesser known bull elk vocalization known as the “glunk,” which sounds like a low-frequency drum or popping. It is heard when a bull is typically trailing a herd of cows. Some say it is an expression of dominance and personal identifier to the cows, while others assert it is the sound of the bull gulping the scent trail of the cows to determine whether they are in estrus.

Where can I hear elk bugling?

Just about anywhere in Jackson at this time of year! I heard a few distant bugles in the wee hours this morning from my cabin in Wilson. Along the Moose-Wilson road at dawn or dusk is a good place to start, and then work your way north through the park. Some of the best bugles I’ve heard were on the shores of Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone. If you haven’t heard an elk bugle before, the video below just doesn’t do the mystical sound justice.

Send us a message at info@tetonconservation.org if you have any great bugle stories or know of any interesting information we left out. Thanks for reading!

'Tis the Season of Thistles

By Morgan Graham

Hey everyone, 'tis the season for knocking back patches of thistle!

Following tips from Teton County Weed and Pest District and Bridger-Teton National Forest, Teton Conservation District staff members Emily Smith and Morgan Graham recently removed over 125 lbs. of thistle seed heads in the vicinity of the Munger Mountain and Game Creek trailheads! We intend to revisit these sites in future years to track our mechanical control progress.

Thistles are tricky and can come back even after being sprayed or pulled. If a thistle looks dead or drooped, but you still see a purple seed head, the thistle has succeeded in expanding its footprint. 

If you want to get out there and be a native habitat hero, here are a few tips on treating thistles:

1. Pop and BAG the seed heads/flowers. Sometimes thistles will trick you and put out seeds after they’ve been sprayed or pulled (check out our IG stories). Make sure to bag the flowers/seed heads and put them in the trash, not on the ground.

2. Rip out the plant and let it compost in the field. You don’t have to bag the whole plant – just the seed head.

3. When treating thistles or other weeds with herbicide, check with Teton County Weed and Pest about the appropriate herbicide and correct concentration. Over-application of herbicide can negatively impact native vegetation. It is not uncommon to observe "scorched earth" where the incorrect amount or concentration of herbicide has been sprayed. These bare patches of ground can inadvertently provide a clean slate for rapidly establishing invasives like musk thistle and houndstongue to reseed and prosper without competition from slower growing native vegetation.
   

Also, shout out to Chris Owen with Friends of Pathways for helping us truck out all the seed heads we collected! Thank you!

Top photo by Penny Mayes / Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Teton Conservation District helps revive vandalized Fish Creek streamgage

View fullsize

The red sections in the graph above represent estimations of Fish Creek’s discharge during the stretches of time when the streamgage was disabled. Blue sections represent data collected when the gage was functioning.

Something fishy is going on at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage station on Fish Creek in Wilson. The gauging station has provided vital information on Fish Creek’s discharge and temperature for the past 27 years. But, this summer, repeated vandalism put the gaging station out of commission. “The Fish Creek gage supports irrigators, recreationalists, and water managers. Being that almost the entirety of Fish Creek flows on private lands, judicious water management there is essential, and this gage provides real-time data to anyone who needs to use it,” said Carlin Girard, Water Resources Specialist and Associate Director of Teton Conservation District. 

The station has been operated by USGS in partnership with the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office (WSEO) for years. But, because of State budget cuts, the WSEO was unable to continue funding the station, and USGS was poised to shut down the Fish Creek and 12 other gaging stations around Wyoming. The locally-elected Teton Conservation District board, which is funded by the mill levy, recognized the importance of the Fish Creek streamgage and committed $12,500 to cost-share with USGS and keep the station running.

With this local funding support, the Fish Creek gaging station should continue to operate as it has for nearly three decades—as long as the mysterious repeated vandalism ceases. The station has been disabled three times in recent months, but USGS acted as quickly as possible to get the site back online. Everyone is hopeful that the vandalism is in the past, but it is requested that anyone who witnesses tampering calls local law enforcement.

Morgan's Nature Notebook - Episode 4 - Campfire Soup!

Did you know that Teton Interagency Fire personnel have extinguished 179 abandoned campfires so far this summer?

In this episode of Morgan’s Nature Notebook, you’ll learn about campfire safety and how to properly extinguish a campfire.

Also, as of August 20, 2020, fire danger is VERY HIGH in Teton County. Know before you go, check out Fire Restrictions at: https://gacc.nifc.gov/gbcc/dispatch/wy-tdc/home/

Spotted in the Field: Bubbles!

Bubbles! Carlin Girard (our Water Resources Specialist & Associate Director) and Emily Smith (our Natural Resources Technician) spotted this curious cluster of bubbles at the inflow to Karns Meadow stormwater wetland. What are these rainbow bubbles doing floating down the street? Did someone take a curbside bubble bath?

Vehicles and machinery leak gasoline, oil, and other fluids onto roadways and hardened surfaces. We’ve all seen the swirling rainbows left behind in puddles or gutters after a storm. Much of this pollution ends up running off into waterways. Also known as ‘stormwater,’ the rain and snowmelt that runs off streets and other hardened surfaces in urban areas usually carries pollutants with it. Stormwater is a primary source of contamination to Flat Creek.

We don’t know where these bubbles came from – maybe someone hosed their dog or car down in their driveway. Even though a little soap doesn’t seem too harmful, it’s a good reminder that the products and chemicals we use on our roads, driveways, and lawns, often end up in our streams. There are big stormwater management solutions, such as the Karns Meadow stormwater wetland, which captures up to 27% of stormwater runoff from the Town of Jackson and removes ~90% of the pollutant load. There are also small things you can do at home to prevent pollutants from entering waterways. For example, if you have a stream or pond on your property, you might plant a buffer of grasses and shrubs that can act as a natural filter between your property and the water. Consider that the chemicals or products we send “away” down the gutter, don’t really go away – but might end up in Flat Creek, Fish Creek, the Snake, or other local waterbody.

(In case you were wondering, Carlin does drop his phone in the puddle at the end of the video).

Morgan's Nature Notebook - Episode 3 - JH Thistle vs. Musk Thistle

All thistles are weeds, right? Nope! We have a few native thistles here — one is even called the Jackson Hole thistle! Join Morgan for this episode to learn how to identify Jackson Hole thistle, and how tell it apart from the invasive musk thistle.

For more information on identifying musk thistle and other invasive species, visit Teton County Weed & Pest District's Weed ID page.

At the end of the episode, Morgan mentions this Teton Plants article about native thistles by Susan Marsh .

Morgan's Nature Notebook - Episode 2 - The Great Green Gentian

In the second episode of Morgan's Nature Notebook, you'll learn all about one of Morgan's favorite native plants—green gentian! Do you know how to tell the difference between green gentian and common mullein? Join Morgan to find out!

Curious about something you see while out exploring? Email us at info@tetonconservation.org and maybe we'll address it in a future episode!

How well do you know your hummingbirds?

By Phoebe Coburn, Communications Specialist

Many of us have spent a lot of time laying low over the past few months. But, one little creature has done anything but sit still. Weighing less than an ounce and just three to four inches in length, hummingbirds migrate sometimes thousands of miles across North America each spring, surfing a wave of blooming wildflowers on their journey north.

One unexpected perk of being quarantined this spring is that I’ve spent hours watching my hummingbird feeder. I became curious about the different species I was seeing. I’ve learned that four species of hummingbird migrate through Jackson annually. The females and juveniles of all four of these species can be difficult to distinguish—I still can’t confidently tell which is which. But I have gotten better at telling the males apart. Here are some tips:

Broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus): Males have magenta or scarlet necks (I always naively thought these were Ruby-throated hummingbirds, but they’re not). Broad-tailed males and females are identifiable by their tail—when perched, their tail feathers are longer than their wings. They hang out in Jackson from April to October.

Calliope (Selasphorus calliope): These are the tiny ones! Calliope hummingbirds are the smallest bird in North America. At first glance, Broad-tailed and Calliope males look quite alike. But, once you train your eye, you’ll notice that the Calliope males have a streaked red/purple neck, as opposed to the more solid fish-scale look of the Broad-tailed.

Calliope hummingbird by Zach Andres, taken in Wilson, WY.

Broad-tailed hummingbird by Jacob W. Frank

Black-chinned (Archilochus​ alexandri): I’ve been lucky to spot a Black-chinned hummingbird at my feeder just a handful of times. In addition to the males sporting a noticeably darker throat—ranging from deep purple to black—Black-chinned hummingbirds are distinguishable from the others because they are a bit larger. Their pattern of movement will also catch your eye—they pump their tail almost constantly while flying and feeding. You’re most likely to spot them in May and June and they like wetter areas around ponds and creeks.

Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorous rufus): True to their name, Rufous hummingbirds are a rusty orange color—though the male’s iridescent throat can range from red to orange to green. You’re most likely to spot a Rufous hummingbird from July to September, though they don’t hang around—Jackson is just a pit stop along their migration route. They have the longest migration of any hummingbird. Some travel as far 4,000 miles from Mexico to British Columbia or Alaska (and back again!). They also sound quite different from the other usual suspects, “their wing hum is lower than a Broad-tailed’s, kind of like a Harley,” said Morgan Graham, Teton Conservation District’s GIS & Wildlife Specialist. I guess you’d need a big engine to travel that far….

Black-chinned hummingbird by VJ Anderson

Rufous hummingbird by Roy W. Lowe/USFWS

As I’ve learned to recognize these different species, I’ve also learned how to be a good hummingbird host. If you decide to hang a hummingbird feeder at your house, consider these tips:  

Plant native flowers. The best nectar for hummingbirds is the real kind. Consider planting native plants like scarlet gilia, Indian paintbrush, fireweed, golden currant, huckleberry, kinnikinnick, larkspur, nettle-leaf giant-hyssop, penstemon, or really any red or orange tubular-shaped flower. You can also thoughtfully plant non-native plants that provide good hummingbird and pollinator habitat. Some good examples include honeysuckle, clover, bee balm, cat mint, and more. Be mindful that your non-native flowers don’t take over and risk infringing on native habitat.

Wash your feeder often. There is some concern that feeding hummingbirds might increase their dependency on a non-natural food source. When deciding to hang a hummingbird feeder, you might consider that thought. That said, hummingbird feeders are also a great way for people to engage with and appreciate nature. The National Audubon Society says that hummingbird feeders can be an important supplemental food source. So, if you choose to have a hummingbird feeder, it’s critical that you wash it often. Sugar water easily grows bacteria and mold. Once temps are reaching 80⁰F regularly, it’s important to wash your feeder and replace the nectar every two to three days. If we start hitting 90⁰F regularly, wash your feeder and replace the nectar every single day. When you wash your feeder, avoid using soaps that can leave a residue. Hot water is enough, but if you want to, you can also use a mild vinegar solution and rinse well.

Keep your sugar-water simple. A simple 1:4 solution of white cane sugar to tap water (¼ cup of sugar and 1 cup of water) is best. Heat your solution on the stove until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool to room temperature before filling the feeder. Do NOT add honey or dye or brown sugar or anything else. 

Keep your cat inside. Outdoor cats kill between 2.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds each year, including hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds hit windows too! Check out this blog post to learn how to prevent bird-window strikes. 

Want to learn more about hummingbirds in the Rocky Mountains? Click here.

Want to learn more about how to be good humming bird host? Click here.

Morgan's Nature Notebook - Episode 1 - Tour de Cache Creek

BIG NEWS! Our new video series, called Morgan's Nature Notebook, will explore wildlife, native plants, phenology, and natural history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In episode 1, Morgan Graham invites you to join him for a hike up Cache Creek.

Update: And the proof-reading award goes to our friend Patrick Wright for catching our typo...are your eyes as good as his? Can you find it too? Hey, we're scientists AND humans (and amateur videographers).

Tick-Talk

By Morgan Graham, GIS & Wildlife Specialist

If you’re anything like us, you’ve been savoring the opportunity to get out and scout for trout, meander for antlers, scour for flowers, prowl for owls, and eye fungi. As we wander far afield, we’ve been reacquainted with a far less desirable member of the natural world…ticks!! In a single day searching for sheds, our Associate Director, Carlin, recently found no less than a dozen ticks on his person. Well, what’s a body to do? Some of these tips are just plain common sense, however, we hope you uncover at least one new piece of information you can share with family and friends to help keep everyone healthy as we soak up the outdoors.

Classic tick habitat. Photo by Morgan Graham.

Wyoming has two species of ticks: Rocky Mountain wood tick (RMWT) and winter tick (WT). You are most likely to encounter RMWTs in Teton County between late April and early July. Activity decreases as vegetation dries out in the mid- to late- summer. Their populations are densest in shrublands, light woods, open grasslands, and trail edges. Adult ticks looking for a ride will “quest” -or-ascend to the tip of knee-high grasses or shrubs while extending and waving their front legs in an attempt to latch on to passersby. Although Lyme disease is not currently a concern in Wyoming, RMWTs are capable of transmitting several other significant maladies including tularemia, Colorado Tick Fever, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Now more than ever, we encourage everyone to take simple steps to mitigate the risk of tick-borne illness to yourself and your family, including domestic pets and livestock. 1) Treat clothing and gear with products containing at least 0.5% permethrin and/or repellents with at least 20% DEET or picaridin. If you aren’t comfortable with chemicals 2) Wear light-colored clothing that makes it easier to spot ticks 3) Wear gaiters -or- tuck pants into socks and shirts into pants 4) Make a habit of regular tick checks when out and returning from the field. Ask for help, or use a mirror, to check hard-to-reach places. 5) Do the same for children, pets, and stock. 6) Wash and tumble dry field clothes on high.

Rocky Mountain wood tick, photo by Morgan Graham

If you do find a tick that has embedded, bypass all the old tricks involving tape, Vaseline, or matches. Start by grasping the tick with fine-tipped tweezers as close to the skin surface as possible. Firmly and slowly pull straight up and away from the skin. Avoid squeezing the abdomen as it can cause the tick to inject pathogens into the bite site. Clean the site with rubbing alcohol and/or soap and water. Monitor the bite. See your doctor if you feel ill or develop a rash. Consider storing the tick in a sealed and dated container in the refrigerator if alive and freezer if dead, in case it is needed for future identification and testing.

While winter ticks are not known to transmit disease to humans, their environmental impact is not benign. In 1909, Ernest Thompson Seton, co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America, described the winter tick as a greater enemy of the moose than "wolves, bears, and cougars.” Winter tick larvae quest in large numbers in the fall, climbing to moose chest height, and attaching en masse to moose as well as elk, deer, mountain sheep, beavers, black bears, and coyotes. Moose are perhaps the least well equipped to remove ticks via self-grooming. Researchers have reported up to 100,000 ticks on a single moose in a season. Warmer and shorter winters are suspected for increasing numbers of winter ticks on the landscape. After developing from larvae to nymph to adult while attached to their host over the course of the winter, adult ticks detach in March or April. If adult females fall on snow, they die. If they fall on vegetation or soil, they lay thousands of eggs that hatch the following fall, and the cycle continues.

Victory Gardens

By Phoebe Coburn

World War II victory garden poster (image from Food and Drug Administration).

World War II victory garden poster (image from Boston Public Library).

Just over a hundred years ago, amidst the 1918 influenza pandemic and World War I, the “victory garden” was born. Twenty years later, during World War II, the U.S. government again rallied Americans to plant victory gardens to help alleviate food shortages and supplement rations. An estimated 20 million victory gardens were planted in backyards, on rooftops, and community green spaces across America. These plots produced about 9 to 10 million tons of food, or about 40 percent of the nation’s vegetables during that time. The effort was also considered a “morale booster” by empowering gardeners with a purpose during wartime, and rewarding families and communities and with fresh produce.  

After the 2008 recession, victory gardens made a comeback. And they will again this growing season. Whether you’re new to gardening or you’re a green thumb hungry to learn more, the University of Idaho Teton County, Idaho extension is offering a free online Victory Garden course. The program was created to train individuals and families on how to “successfully plan, plant, harvest, prepare and preserve affordable and healthy food.” The self-guided class includes ten online sessions with videos, lectures, activities, and reading. The course is available to take at your own pace up until December 2020. There’s even a Facebook group where you can connect with fellow victory gardeners.

Ian McGregor, co-owner of Farmstead Cider and Farms, and Jennifer Werlin, Community Food Systems Extension Educator for the University of Idaho Teton County Extension, offered some tips on gardening in Jackson Hole. Our short growing season and wildlife (read: deer) can present unique challenges. Here are Ian and Jennifer’s tips for local gardeners:

• Embrace the short season with hardy plants. The short growing season can be hard to get around without investing in an expensive greenhouse. Plant frost-tolerant greens, such as kale, chard, spinach, and arugula. Some veggies, like carrots, beets, and kale, thrive in cold weather and only get sweeter as the nights get colder in the fall.

• A row cover can help extend your season without much cost. Using a row cover can help protect your germinating seedlings. Sow your seeds and then lay the row cover directly on the ground to help maintain even soil temperature and moisture.

• Build a raised bed. Raised beds allow the soil to warm more quickly and can extend your growing season by weeks to months, especially if you use other season extension techniques like row covers, cloches, and cold frames. Plus, raised beds can help with weed and critter management.

• Plant a little more densely than the packaging recommends. Ian likes to plant his veggies a little closer together than packaging recommends. This helps build a dense canopy quickly and will help soils stay moist that otherwise tend to dry out quickly in the intense Rocky Mountain sunshine. But, one thing to keep in mind with dense planting is that the plants will take up more nutrients, so adding ample organic matter is important. Jennifer adds compost to the top three to four inches of soil once or twice a year (spring and fall).

• Start some seedlings inside and sow some directly into the ground. Ian likes to start some greens inside and sow some directly into the ground. “It’s like an insurance policy, if something doesn’t come up, I’ll have another crop,” he says. You can start head lettuces, kale, chard, and herbs in trays inside right now. In late April or early May, sow another batch of seeds straight into the ground. Parsley and dill take well to direct seeding outside, as well as cucumbers and peas. Root crops, like carrots, beets, and radishes, are best seeded directly into the garden. With real heat-loving plants, like tomatoes and eggplant, you can get a head start on the growing season by buying those as starts from a nursery. Jennifer has also had success planting her tomatoes from seed. She saves her favorite non-hybrid/open-pollinated tomato seeds that do well in our climate. She’ll then use “wall o’ waters” (another season-extender technique) and movable containers/planters, so the plants can be brought inside if there’s a mid-season frost.

• Companion planting. Ian likes to mix certain veggies in the same row together. For example, mixing carrot and radishes is a good trick. The radishes germinate quickly, within just a few days, which helps mark your row so you can begin weeding without mistaking your baby veggies for weeds. The carrots can take around two weeks to germinate, at which point the radishes have grown quite a bit and provide the carrots with shelter. Then, as you begin to harvest your radishes, you’ll loosen the soil around the carrots, which the carrots like. Arugula and kale are also good companions.

• Plant a crop later in the season too. Consider doing a second or third round of planting later in the season. Frost-tolerant leafy greens planted in July can make some good eating as late as October. This also gives you an opportunity to freeze or can some of your produce to enjoy over the winter.  

• Plant some low-maintenance perennials. Perennials, such as rhubarb, sage, thyme, oregano, lovage, and tarragon, grow well in Jackson and will come back with little maintenance year after year. You can also dry these herbs and enjoy them through the winter. Ian recommends considering where you plant your perennials wisely though, as they can be troublesome to work around when you’re tilling your soil.

• Try smelly soap or an electric fence to deter deer. In the past, Ian has had some success deterring deer and elk for short periods of time by stringing chunks of a strong-smelling soap up around the perimeter of the garden. He says this can be a good tactic if you find that you only have problems with deer or elk a few days or weeks of the year as they’re migrating through your area. Another approach is planting deer-resistant veggies, like garlic and onions, around the perimeter of your garden. If you’re really struggling with uninvited guests in your garden, you might consider an electric fence.

We’d love to hear about your victory garden and share your photos on our social media pages throughout the season! Send your stories, gardening tips, and photos to phoebe@tetonconservation.org.

Professor Harry Nelson of San Francisco transplants some vegetables with his daughter and her Girl Scout friends, circa 1943 (photo from National Archives and Records Administration).

What is Winter Range?

By Phoebe Coburn, Communications Specialist

Morgan Graham, Teton Conservation District’s GIS & Wildlife Specialist, started counting mule deer when he moved to Jackson in 2006. Since then, he has observed more than 3,650 deer over a series of 450 observations.*

Morgan Graham enjoying an afternoon counting mule deer.

Morgan now counts mule deer on the southern slopes of East Gros Ventre Butte about once a week. He records the number of deer observed, their activity (ex. eating or bedding), their approximate location, general weather, and other information. He compiles that data into a geodatabase, which can help us visualize where and how many deer are spending their time on the butte from year to year.

I tagged along with Morgan last week and we spotted 130 deer! Well, I spotted about 10 and Morgan spotted 120. I’ve lived in Jackson nearly my entire life, and the astounding part of this experience was that we didn’t have to hike anywhere or hide out in secret blinds—we spotted all 130 deer in under two hours from Morgan’s “very secret” observation stations: parking lots around town!

This Winter Mule Deer Observation Study builds upon efforts conducted by Biota Research and Consulting (from 1981 to 1992) and subsequently the Conservation Research Center of Teton Science Schools (from 2004 to 2009). With a recent perceived decline in mule deer populations, Morgan decided to pick the observation study back up again. “We have a general idea of the size of the Jackson deer herd based on Wyoming Game and Fish Department harvest counts, but those counts lump in animals from the Wyoming Range. This long-term dataset isn’t perfect. However, it gives us the best idea of the number of deer utilizing winter range adjacent to the town of Jackson,” said Morgan. So far this year, he’s counted 420 mule deer from the three in-town observation stations. The data hasn’t been analyzed yet, so we can’t draw any conclusions about the historical mule deer population trends, but Morgan says he hopes data products will help people understand the importance of honoring winter range closures (Don’t Poach the Powder bro!).

Winter deer observations on East Gros Ventre Butte. Circles buffered by total number of deer observed at each location. Largest red circle is an observation of 155 deer in December 1989…..most likely due to illegal backyard feeding.

Mule deer spotted through a scope.

I asked Morgan if he has any tips on spotting deer. He said he likes to slowly “paint” the butte with his scope or binoculars, methodically moving up and down and up again across the hillside. If you’d like to spot a mule deer in Jackson, you don’t have to go far! Take a moment to pause anywhere in town where you can see East Gros Ventre Butte. Using binoculars or a scope is definitely helpful, as is the fresh snow—it’s much easier to spot a deer on snow than bedded down in grass. Taking a moment to connect with nature close to home (while social distancing!) can help ease stress and cabin fever. Plus, it’s always nice to know that when you’re viewing wildlife from far away, you don’t risk disturbing them.

*Keep in mind that Morgan has likely counted the same individual deer more than once—the number of observed deer is different than the number of individual deer.

Animal Friends: A Valentine’s Day Story of Interspecies Friendships

By Phoebe Coburn and Morgan Graham

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re highlighting a special kind of friendship: interspecies friendships.

Coyotes and Badgers

This remote camera trap footage of a badger and coyote traveling through a culvert together was recently captured by the Peninsula Open Space Trust. The badger and coyote’s playful behavior is endearing—but their reason for being together has a purpose other than playtime. Badgers and coyotes have been known to hunt as a team—the Navajo passed along stories of the bond between badgers and coyotes for generations. In the early 1990’s, a badger biologist named Steven Minta observed that on our very own National Elk Refuge, more coyotes hunt with badgers than hunt alone, and coyotes with badger buds catch a third more ground squirrels than solo coyotes. Minta theorized that the relationship benefits both animals—a badger will flush rodents from their burrows to the coyote waiting above ground, or a coyote standing guard will send the rodents burrowing, right into a badger’s mouth. But, if the badger and the coyote were to have Facebook pages, their relationship status might be “It’s Complicated.” Coyotes also eat badger babies. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we can reflect on how two species who undoubtedly have their differences, are able to find common ground(squirrels) and work together.

Photo by Tom Koerner-USFWS

Moose, Magpies, and Ticks Oh My!

You may have seen pictures of oxpeckers riding on the backs of water buffalo, zebras, elephants, and giraffes. It’s nature’s quintessential display of a symbiotic relationship—the oxpecker gets a delectable tick meal, and the mammal is liberated of the parasite. But have you seen that magpies do the same for moose and elk here in Jackson Hole? This New York Times article illustrates just how troublesome ticks can be for moose and elk:

“They [ticks] clump together and infest by the thousands, remaining on a host all winter, expanding to grape size when fully engorged. They can drain all the blood from a moose calf, and are credited with giving the moniker ‘ghost moose’ to those that groom themselves hairless.”

Moose and elk who are willing to host their prattling magpie friends are rid of the festering ticks, and the magpies are rewarded with the perfect (para)site to hold a party. Yummy!

Clark’s Nutcracker and Whitebark Pine

The tightest of all friendships might be the Clark’s nutcracker and whitebark pine—so tight they’ve been called “evolutionary soul mates.” One cannot flourish without the other.

Photo by Marshal Hedin

The whitebark pine, the majestic icon of the subalpine, rely on Clark’s nutcrackers to disperse their seeds. A single Clark’s nutcracker can pack up to 150 whitebark pine seeds under its tongue, and then fly throughout the Tetons and beyond, stashing the seeds for future meals. The forgotten caches grow up into whitebark pines.

Taza Schaming, who studied Clark’s nutcrackers as part of her Ph.D. at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, found that when the whitebark pine cone crop failed in 2011, 79 percent of the birds abandoned the study area in Bridger-Teton National Forest. Schaming also found that in years when the whitebark pines failed to produce cones, she couldn’t find any breeding nutcrackers the following spring. She theorized that the birds were in such poor condition after a season forgoing the nutritious whitebark seeds that they couldn’t breed, or they chose to skip breeding because they sensed tough times ahead.

Blister rust and mountain pine beetle outbreaks throughout the West are decimating whitebark stands, but it’s not just the Clark’s nutcracker that are hurting. Over 100 other species feast on the forgotten caches.

AND YOU!

Lastly, of all these interspecies bonds, there’s one that’s very close to home. You! The most common interspecies friendships include humans and dogs, humans and cats, and humans and livestock. People have loving relationships with everything from chinchillas to yaks—but it’s not just domestic animals that we can develop bonds with. Here in Jackson, we relate to our wildlife neighbors in both positive and negative ways. This Valentine’s Day, don’t forget to appreciate how lucky we are to see wildlife in our backyard, and count yourself extra lucky if you spot some unlikely critters canoodling.

Got Water? Discover the Surface Water Inventory (SWI)

By Morgan William Graham, GIS & Wildlife Specialist

Do you love pouring over maps? Do you like reading the names of tiny lakes and creeks and imagining what seldom seen plants, rocks, and animals might be out there? Do you use a map and your imagination as motivation for launching a new adventure into the unknown? Have you ever wondered where all the water around us is coming from? Do you have an interest in collaborating with your community to improve water quality and management?

For the first time ever, you can look at a map of all the water in Teton County, Wyoming. Known as the Surface Water Inventory (SWI), the new map leverages all existing hydrographic data to accurately describe the name, location, and water rights associated with surface water in Teton County.

An overview of the SWI polygon (lakes, ponds, and reservoirs) network.

An overview of the SWI polyline (creeks, rivers, and ditches) network.

U.S. Geological Survey 1963 topographic map depicting water in Jackson, WY... we can do better!

Teton Conservation District prioritized the need for a detailed digital representation of water within Teton County to better inform surface water permitting, agricultural production, irrigation maintenance, water quality monitoring, flood prevention, land valuation, natural resource planning, stormwater mitigation, fisheries management, wetland and habitat assessments, recreation planning, and more. Prior to the release of the SWI, the names of some streams, ditches, and reservoirs and their associated water rights were a mystery. There was no singular avenue for efficiently identifying water right conveyances across Teton County. Knowledge of these features existed largely within the minds of private landowners, agency staff, and consultant project files. Up until now, there had been no justification or mandate to consolidate all naturally occurring and human maintained surface water into a single geospatial dataset. Users now have a shared tool to accurately describe all the natural and human-maintained surface water around them.

Deland Ditch scanned water right map c. 1900 acquired from SEO e-Permit Database.

It took Teton Conservation District’s Wildlife & GIS Specialist, Morgan Graham and GIS Technician, Chauncey Smith four years of work to create the SWI. Their process was extensive: They reviewed and digitized 3,319 maps. They conducted an exhaustive inventory of all existing hydrographic spatial data. They maximized aerial lidar to literally peer into the unmapped understory. They identified and evaluated 30 existing water datasets originating from a federal, state, and local sources. They obtained all available water right information from the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office e-Permit database. They generated hundreds of thousands of lines and polygons from scratch to achieve their desired accuracy.

Although the SWI is the most comprehensive representation of Teton County’s water resources, it is referred to as SWI version 1, allowing for future iterations and updates. Version 1 focused on naming waterbodies and irrigation conveyances on approximately 70,000 acres of private land in the heart of Jackson Hole. Teton Conservation District staff will continue to work with landowners, agency personnel, and consultants to refine the existing information and add new features as new data become available. Additional areas that will be added or improved in SWI version 2 include private lands in the Gros Ventre River drainage, the National Elk Refuge, and Grand Teton National Park. 

The SWI is available to the public in Geodatabase, Google Earth, hard-copy, and web-based formats. Click here to explore the SWI.

SWI watercourses displayed atop bare-earth Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and hillshade.

2017 E. coli sampling triggers regulatory actions on Fish Creek and Flat Creek

By Carlin Girard, Water Resources Specialist and Associate Director

As a local governmental entity that in part focuses on water quality, Teton Conservation District is providing the following blog post to give context and further detail on the recent addition of Fish Creek and Flat Creek to the Draft Wyoming Impaired Stream List due to E. coli exceedances.

Primary contact recreation standards for E. coli, which have been exceeded in Fish Creek and Flat Creek, are intended to provide water quality that is safe for human contact by reducing the risk of human ingestion of fecal pathogens.

In 2017, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WYDEQ) completed summer E. coli sampling on Fish Creek, Flat Creek, and the Snake River. E. coli sampling is a routine sampling parameter that is used as a proxy for the risk of fecal contamination. The E. coli that was measured in this study is referred to as a ‘fecal indicator bacteria,’ which is very different from the pathogenic E. coli strain O157:H7 that often makes national news due to outbreaks. This is an important distinction because E. coli bacteria are present in the gastrointestinal systems of all warm-blooded animals, whereas pathogenic strains are far less common. Nevertheless, fecal contamination in water has been studied at length, and E. coli can be related to the likelihood of other fecal pathogens. As such, we use E. coli to measure the amount of fecal material entering waterbodies as a cheap and straightforward method of inferring the risk of ingesting pathogens.

Fecal contamination in water is a common water quality issue worldwide and can affect human health. The 2017 study was not the first of its kind here in Teton County. In 2003,  an E. coli quantification study completed by Teton Conservation District was also accompanied by a study to help define where E. coli was originating from. The 2003 E. coli quantification shows that E. coli concentrations in Flat Creek have not changed much, but concentrations in Fish Creek have increased. So, what caused this increase?

Summarized results from the Teton Conservation District 2003 E. coli source tracking study, showing proportional loading of E. coli sources from samples collected.

Proportional loading of the human-oriented E. coli from 2003 sampling. Human-oriented sources consisted of less than 20% of the total E. coli contribution to the streams sampled in 2003.

In Teton County, addressing fecal contamination in streams is a somewhat complex issue. Teton Conservation District’s 2003 study showed that E. coli originated from a wide variety of sources and identified the proportional contribution of E. coli from different sources in both Fish Creek and Flat Creek. The study identified that over 50% of the total E. coli load originated from avian, rodent (think beaver and muskrat), and deer/elk. Furthermore, the 2003 study showed that of the E. coli found in the Fish Creek and Flat Creek basins, less than 20% of it originated from sources related to human activities; more specifically, 7% originated from dogs, 6% from wastewater, 4% from bovines, and 2% from horses. While these results reflect the significant proportion of E. coli contributed by wildlife, they have also prompted implementation of Teton Conservation District projects that directly mitigate fecal inputs to streams. Finally, the 2003 results demonstrate the importance of E. coli source data collection in order to identify the best route to reduce E. coli concentrations.

Our interest in source tracking of E. coli is also found at the state level—a recent Wyoming Water Research Program grant has initiated a University of Wyoming graduate student (Kelsey Ruehling) research project, which is already underway. With guidance from University of Wyoming professors Sarah Collins and Bledar Bisha, this study will use current genetic techniques to assess the sources contributing to E. coli concentrations in Fish Creek and Flat Creek from water samples collected in 2020 and 2021. Teton Conservation District considers this study an essential step in addressing the impairment that has been identified by WYDEQ. The ‘impaired’ status of Fish and Flat Creek’s due to E. coli concentrations is intended to recognize a potential human health concern, but it also establishes a route and access to resources to address the issue. Identifying the source of E. coli concentrations will allow the community to funnel State and Federal resources that are now available to where it matters most. In the meantime, pick up your dog poop.

Learn more:

TCD’s 2003 microbial source tracking study presentation (readers should note that WYDEQ E. coli standards have changed since this presentation was created)

WYDEQ’s Integrated Report

WYDEQ’s Memo pertaining to E. coli data collection in Fish and Flat Creek