RODEO-CHEDISKI REVISITED

By Bob Witzeman

 
The mosaic of dark and light areas shows the beneficial effect of the heavy, light and unburned areas of the Rodeo-Chediski fire.  Unlike news reports of 460,000 acres of totally burned forest, this burned/unburned mosaic mix creates a forest/meadow ecosystem with greatly increased species diversity.

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Today, after decades of Forest Service fire suppression in our public land forests, massive fuel loads of fallen conifer needles and branches have accumulated in many places of our forest floors.  Additionally, a century of unregulated USFS livestock grazing has removed forest floor grasses which compete with ponderosa seedlings for sunlight, nutrients, and moisture.  As a result in places a profusion of dense, stunted ponderosa “doghair” thickets have become the fuels which “ladder” fire up into the forest canopy.  Add to that the severest drought in recent Arizona with its insect infestations in our conifers and one sees how Rodeo-Chediski burned in widely varying degrees over different portions of that 460,000 acre total area.  

How will Arizona’s forests change?  Drought and/or global warming may have changed our pinyon pine, Arizona cypress, and ponderosa pine (transition life zone) distributions.  Mixed conifers (Canadian zone) and spruce-fir (Hudsonian zone) have also suffered.  At Rodeo-Chediski new oaks, locust, cypress and juniper have sprung up (some already waist high) after that 2002 fire.  Perhaps our Merriam vegetational life zones will move upwards to higher altitudes, just as we moved downward in the glacier age 10,000 years ago. 

An excellent Arizona Republic article (June 19, 2004, Mary Jo Pitzl) revisited Rodeo-Chediski.  Pitzl pointed out that ponderosa requiring 16 inches of rainfall last year received only 10 inches last year.  

From the Apache-Sitgreaves fire towers (see photo) one can see a now “healthier” forest/meadow mosaic that was 1/3 fully burned, 1/3 partially burned, and 1/3 unburned.  By no means were 460,000 acres of forest destroyed as most news sources reported.  

This mosaic has become beneficial for woodpeckers and avian insectivores like bluebirds, swallows, and many species of flycatchers.  But it is less friendly for forest canopy dependent goshawks, Mexican Spotted Owls, and red squirrels.  It is ideal for deer, elk, antelope and a multitude of mammals which benefit from the new mosaic of sunlit meadows of grass and forbs.  These forest/meadow interfaces are productive for both nesting and foraging birds.  Birdwatching can be less than exciting inside a deep, never ending forest.  Now nature lovers can enjoy the species diversity provided by the many new forest/meadow interfaces.  

Standing, dead burned trees require years or decades to fall.  During this time they are valuable perches for avian insectivores and raptors. When tree tops and branches break off they become homes for bats, owls and other wildlife.  When they finally fall wildlife find cover and homesites.  

Salvage logging and other so-called “forest health” measures are the gambit of the Bush administration and its logging industry supporters in Congress.  President Bush’s top forestry official, Mark Rey, is a former lobbyist for the logging industry.  

Salvage logging of standing dead trees destroys a much needed generation of topsoil.  It litters the forest floor with flammable logging slash. The logging machinery erodes topsoil, incurring stream siltation and fish and water degradation.  

Abigail Hagler of Yuma, Arizona, in protesting industry’s removal of dead or downed trees (Forest Magazine, summer 2004), wrote: “…the forest floor is composed of the long-dead remains of trees.  There is no forest floor—there is no forest—without countless dead trees, which have been left for centuries to rot, which really means composting quietly into nourishing organic matter.  And what about the innumerable creatures that must have dying vegetation to live?  Worms, bacteria, mushrooms, beetles—where will they go when the tree is removed?”

Salvage logging removes the shade needed for recruitment of sun intolerant plant and tree species.  Additionally, fallen trees soak up moisture which is gradually released to nearby plantlife.

Gambel’s oak, New Mexican locust, and some Arizona cypress and juniper are now waist high in profusion in many areas just two years after that 2002 fire, and despite two dry winters.  The fire, which the doomsayers implied would kill almost everything, did not kill those stumps or roots.  Beautiful forest meadow wildflowers now abound throughout the new forest meadows in places where there had been no sunlight before.  

No one can predict the next dominant forest type, but it probably won’t be one of those even-aged ponderosa “tree farms” President Bush’s pals in the logging industry are hoping for.  

Never forget our National Forests provide less than 5% of this nation’s wood products.  More than 75% of our products come from private land, primarily from the southeastern U.S. states. The remaining small balance regrettably comes largely from Canadian public forests in a country with few environmental laws. 

5

VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD

By Jim Burns

Is it possible that here in the hummingbird capital of the U.S., a state in which 15 species of hummingbirds can be seen and I personally have seen 10 in one day, that one of the plainest of these colorful jewels may be my personal favorite?  Violet-crowned, Amazilia violiceps, is one of nine Arizona special species, species found only here or more easily here than in any other state, in this unique and beloved family of birds, and the affirmative answer to that question has much to do with how the plainness of the species makes it stand out in the busy, bustling crowds that frequent the feeders where it is typically sought.

On the other hand, can our third largest hummer, the only one with snow-white underparts (which make it appear even larger), and a bright coral bill with black tip be called plain?  Certainly not when the angle of light changes and the dull purple crown flashes to neon blue rivaling the throat of the gaudiest Broad-billed.  Sheri Williamson calls Violet-crowneds "handsome."  Steve Howell calls them "unmistakable."  Well . . . yes!

Violet-crowned Hummingbird ranges from extreme southeast Arizona southward to central Mexico along the Pacific Slope and through the interior.  Here in Arizona it is considered "local," its breeding habitat sycamore/willow riparian.  It has been observed as far north as Madera Canyon in the Santa Ritas, but is usually looked for and found with regularity in the Chiricahuas (Portal), the Huachucas (Miller Canyon), and in Patagonia, most famously there at Marion Paton's feeders.  Recent years have brought increasing reports of overwintering birds near the well known and observed feeding stations.

The Violet-crowned nest, like most in this family, is an open cup of plant material bound together with spider webbing and decorated (camouflaged?) with lichen.  Here in Arizona at the northern limits of its breeding range, Violet-crowneds tend to nest rather late in the summer.  Perhaps because of the bird's size and bright underparts, nests are often found and then easily observed, typically on a horizontal sycamore branch in heavy shade, occasionally no higher than eye level.

This species has a loud, dry "chip" note, and is aggressive toward other hummingbird species.  Often around multiple feeders, Violet-crowneds will favor one over others and make regularly scheduled visits to "their" feeder, much to the delight of awaiting birders.  Though these intervals can be as much as an hour apart, they can sometimes be timed nearly to the minute.  After drinking, Violet-crowneds may perch above the feeder, guarding, and driving away other species.  Early in the morning around the nest they can be seen making flycatcher type sorties from exposed perches for flying insects.

The accompanying photograph taken in September, 2003 across from the Patagonia roadside rest south of the town represents the only time I have ever seen a hummingbird on the ground.  A Violet-crowned nest had been seen in the area earlier in the summer.  I had come to look for the Rose-throated Becards whose original nest had been destroyed in an earlier windstorm.  As is often the case with this conspicuous hummer, I first heard, then noticed it buzzing about its morning rounds.  As I endeavored to visually follow its route, I finally realized the bird was returning repeatedly to the exact same spot in leave litter under a tangle of vines, hovering momentarily, then dropping to the ground?!

Initially I thought the bird was injured, or then perhaps that there was a young bird on the ground or in a blown-down nest.  Closer and prolonged observation revealed that this Violet-crowned had apparently discovered an ant colony beneath the duff and was periodically tonguing up a protein breakfast treat.  This behavior continued three to four times per hour all morning for at least three mornings.  Gilded Flickers in the area would have loved an invitation.

Next time you're in Patagonia, stop into Paton's backyard and concentrate on the feeder farthest to the left, the lowest and closest to the entrance gate.  Usually in late summer and early fall there will be both adult and immature Violet-crowneds coming to this feeder, and for several years at least one of these handsome, unmistakable hummingbirds has spent the entire winter.