Skip navigation

Tag Archives: wildfire

Someplace New

I went birding with a friend last week, visiting an area not far from here but new to both of us. We had a pretty good birding day, seeing more than seventy species! One of the first birds we observed was a Lewis’s Woodpecker – first one of the season for us. They are really beautiful birds with striking reddish bellies and iridescent greenish black backs. Before the day was over we had seen three of them. I guess they all arrived at once.

At one stop, I was caught up with the patterns in the water while Juliet was searching down a bird with an unusual song she could not identify. We looked at a new burn area from last year and tried to find morels with no luck.

Willow and moving water
Garter snake
Ruins of a cabin

Here is a list of the birds we saw:

 

Canada Goose
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Williamson’s Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Say’s Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
House Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Townsend’s Solitaire
American Robin
European Starling
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Cassin’s Finch
Red Crossbill
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

 

Images from the Aftermath of the Twisp River Fire

Weather has assisted fire fighters in the containment of the Twisp River Fire during the last few days. After a week of smothering smoke cloaking our valley, a couple of cold fronts passed through over the weekend, clearing the air with breezes and some rainfall. It’s a great relief. Yesterday brought blue skies and cool temperatures and a smoke-free atmosphere to the Methow. I hope the same thing is happening with the rest of the fire-ravaged landscape around the west.

Many homes in the Twisp River valley were saved by dedicated fire fighters. Our friends’ house is one of those. They live near the river and they asked me to come by to photograph their home and surroundings to preserve the memories of this event. Yesterday we joined them for a tour of their burned property. While much of the garden was burned, there is still food to salvage. The tomatoes, despite their scorched skin are still good on the inside! Corn cooked on the stalk tastes like corn cooked on the grill. Rhubarb is already coming back and the zucchini plant has new blossoms! This garden is a fire survivor!

Last year we were some of the fire survivors. This year, with the devastating fires in North Central Washington, there are many more fire survivors.

Flowers and herbs near the house remain lovely and inviting.
Garlic chive flowers
Gate to the path to the garden
Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Peppers
Zucchini blossoms
Zucchini is a hardy plant
Burnt apples
The rhubarb is already unfurling new green leaves!
Partially cooked apples from a big old tree
View down to the river
Looking back at the house
Cottonwoods by the river, with the leaves prematurely yellow
Cottonwood trunks
It burned very hot in the shrub layer near the river killing most of the trees.
Cottonwood bark
Fire burned to the river’s edge
Burnt bitterbrush
A new hose to replace the burnt hoses going to the vegetable garden and fruit trees.
Perennial non-native grass returning quickly

Recording the Changes

After the Rising Eagle fire I established a couple of photo points. Originally I had three but I narrowed it down to just two. I made one post right after the fire and you can see it here. It’s been a year now and there have been changes. The pines and native shrubs have been replaced with many weeds and non-native grasses. Just about all of the pines died. Some of the shrubs have sprouted from their roots. These include serviceberry, currant, chokecherry and wild rose. There are bitterbrush seedlings. Snowberry is abundant. Apparently it reacts positively to fire. Last fall we had trees and shrubs planted with cages and irrigation. They have had nearly 100% survival! Native grass seed was also planted and its success has been somewhat spotty however where it’s coming in, it looks good. Some of the native bunch grasses survived the fire and re-sprouted. Also the tiny wildflowers that were dormant at the time of the fire survived and did well this spring. Larger wildflowers like lupine and balsamroot had a harder time but I think in the future they will come back strong.

Photo point 1. The boulders you see in many of these photos were completely covered with shrubs before the fire. We didn’t know they were there.

August 25 2014
August 25
August 27
September 7
September 7
October 23
October 23
December 1
December 1
February 24 2015
March 22
March 22
May 2
May 2
July7
July 7
August 3 2015

Photo point 2

August 25 2014
August 25
August 27
August 27
September 7
October 23
October 23
December 1
February 24 2015
March 22
May 2
July 7
August 3 2015

When the Blue Moon was Red

Once again we are faced with days and days of smoke-filled skies. There is a wildfire burning on the far side of Lake Chelan – one major mountain range away from here. When the fire blows up and consumes more timber, the smoke generally trends to the east filling our valley and lowering the air quality. Down valley, people say there is even ash falling. Of course, the folks in Chelan and around the lake are facing even worse air conditions.

Smoky air makes for dramatic sunsets and sunrises and also changes the moon. Last night I waited for the blue moon (second full moon in July) to come up and it didn’t. Finally it emerged from the smoky curtain far above the horizon glowing a fiery red.

Nine Months Later

The Carlton Complex Wildfires started nine months ago tomorrow. It was a devastating event – burning wildly and consuming trees, shrubs, hillsides, wildlife and homes for people and animals. Nine months later, I took a walk through Pipestone Canyon, a favorite area for walking and bicycling and birding. Like our hillside, it is beginning to recover but some areas burned so hot, there is no sign of life. I heard a Canyon Wren from the rocky cliffs above and heard raptors screeching at each other or maybe at me. I was surprised to encounter numerous Dusky Grouse. I wonder what they are eating? Wildflowers and grasses are thriving in some areas. Shrubs and trees that did not burn too hot are slowly recovering.

New grass growing on the hills above the canyon.
The canyon walls
Buttercups
Lomatium sp
Small balsamroot plants
This balsamroot is in an area that didn’t burn so hot.
Imagine the heat
Rolling rocks are a potential problem.
Home for someone
Dusky Grouse
Spring beauty
Growing out of a crack in a rock
Grass growing on top of a rock.
Moss cups
Currants
Aspen buds
Serviceberry bud