[obol] Scio BBS & Marion County Jackrabbit

[Norgren Family]

      When I worked on Christmas tree
plantations in Benton County in the late
seventies through mid-eighties Lepus californicus
was ubiquitous. Even the plantations in Blodgett
had robust populations. While hunting Band-tailed
Pigeons with my father in 1969 I shot one on the
Alsea side of the summit of old(abandoned) Hwy 34.
This was not in a clearcut or near really open
habitat. I wonder about their rapid demise as
Christmas tree acreage has only increased in the
past two decades. The use of some pesticides
cannot be excluded as the culprit.
     Some of the insecticides used to replace DDT,
Aldrin, and Dieldrin, etc. do not bioaccumulate,
but have very acute toxicity for mammals. My boss
in Blodgett paid for an arial application of Thiodan
in 1984. There was an abundance of mammalian cadavers
over the following week.   Lars Norgren
On Jun 3, 2007, at 9:08 PM, bob altman wrote:

>
> Back in the mid 90s when I was doing grassland bird surveys in the 
> Willamette Valley, I saw about 12-15 jackrabbitts at maybe 5-6 
> different locations.  Almost all of the sightings were in/adjacent to 
> Christmas tree farms.  If I remember correctly a couple of those were 
> just south of Finley NWR, but there were others scattered throughout 
> the valley including a couple jackrabbits seen up in the northern 
> valley near Estacada.  I spent a fair amount of time in Christmas tree 
> farms because vesper sparrows were nesting there (and an occasional 
> streaked horned lark), but I would not call the jackrabbits common….in 
> fact they are pretty rare.
>  
> This is a species that there seems to be little interest in from a 
> conservation standpoint by all the various natural resource agencies 
> and organizations, despite the fact that their historic habitat in the 
> Willamette valley, grasslands and oak savannahs, gets a lot of 
> attention as do the bird, plant, and butterfly species associated with 
> it.  And add to that the fact that although it doesn’t appear they 
> were ever common in the valley, they are almost extirpated from the 
> valley now.
>  
> Bob Altman
> American Bird Conservancy
> 311 NE Mistletoe
> Corvallis, Oregon  97330
> 541 745-5339
> baltman at abcbirds.org
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu 
> [mailto:obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu] On Behalf Of Darrel Faxon
> Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 8:37 PM
> To: Jeff Harding; 'OBOL'
> Subject: Re: [obol] Scio BBS & Marion County Jackrabbit
>  
> Jeff,
>     It wasn't too many years ago I saw some along the road just a 
> little south of Marion.  I have also been told that they are actually 
> common on Christmas tree farms south of Corvallis, although I don't 
> remember whom it was tha told me, and can supply no details.
>  
> Darrel
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Jeff Harding
>> To: 'OBOL'
>> Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 4:31 PM
>> Subject: [obol] Scio BBS & Marion County Jackrabbit
>>  
>> Bill Thackaberry and I found 64 species on the Scio Breeding Bird 
>> Survey this morning. The route runs from near Scio, Linn County, 
>> through Lyons, into Marion County at Mehama, then taking back roads 
>> through grass fields and Christmas trees to Union Hill, south of 
>> Silverton. Notable species included:
>>  
>> A pair of Bald Eagles was on Thomas Creek, east of Scio, the first 
>> for this route.
>> Wilson’s Snipe were winnowing at the first stop, east of Scio.
>> An Olive-sided Flycatcher was singing in the hills south of Lyons, 
>> nice to hear.
>> A Yellow-breasted Chat was singing near the end of the route, in 
>> Marion County.
>> A Vesper Sparrow was singing in a Christmas tree Farm near the end, 
>> on Triumph Road, Marion County.
>>  
>> There was a Black-tailed Jackrabbit at Union Hill, still out and 
>> about at 9:00 AM. Three years ago we found one dead on the road on 
>> the way home from this survey. There must be a small population of 
>> these rabbits still hanging on in the area. Chris Maser, in Mammals 
>> of the Pacific Northwest (1998), says they “formerly reached the 
>> vicinity of Salem”, but have mostly disappeared from the Willamette 
>> Valley.
>>  
>> Cheers,
>> Jeff Harding
>>  
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>  obol mailing list
>>  obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
>>  http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/obol
>>
>>  To unsubscribe, send a message to:
>>  obol-leave at lists.oregonstate.edu.
> _______________________________________________
> obol mailing list
> obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
> http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/obol
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to:
> obol-leave at lists.oregonstate.edu.