A Message From the President
Photo Credit: Tim Reynolds
May 18, 2017
As usual in eastern Idaho, May is a roller coaster of weather: nearly 80 degrees and sunshine one day, snowing and blowing the next. Dr. Edson Fichter, long-departed Professor of Biology at Idaho State University, described spring weather in eastern Idaho as predictably unpredictable. Truer words were never spoken. But, the unpredictability is welcome. The diversity of weather brings high energy and a freshness to the air that is palpable. It easily and neatly dove-tails with the wonderful diversity of habitats, plants and animals we can celebrate every day in Upper Snake River country.
Friends of Camas is Celebrating three milestones this month. (1) The web cam on the peregrine nest is streaming live. Many thanks to Friends Board Member Mark Delwiche and the folks at Mud Lake Telephone for making this happen!!! The birds started incubating sometime during the third week of April, and the eggs should be hatching any day now. Click here for a peek into the nest box. (2) The final connections, hoses and sprinklers were installed for the pollinator garden sprinkler system. Planting of forbs and grasses will happen in early June. In spite of the heavy snow accumulation and the concentration of deer and jackrabbits around the headquarters building all winter, nearly all of the shrubs and trees we planted last fall survived. Some are a little beat up, but even the hackberry’s, all of which were hit very hard by the rabbits, show new growth. Thanks to the Idaho Master Naturalists who showed helped weed the shrub and trees area last week. Click here for more info on the Pollinator Garden Project (3) The First Ever Friends of Camas Photography Contest is “open for business.” Thanks to Friends Board Member Linda Milam for coordinating this. Click here for details and instructions.
Friends of Camas will participate in several community events between now and June: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Day the Zoo in Idaho Falls (May 19); International Migratory Bird Day in (May 20); and the Second Annual Bird-A-Thon (May 27) sponsored by Friends and the Snake River Audubon Society. Click here for Bird A-Thon details.
June will also be a busy month for Friends, with a Bird-A-Thon awards Pot Luck dinner and the formal dedication of the Peregrine Cam on June 10, and several opportunities for volunteers to help plant the Pollinator Garden and to assist with the Monarch/Milkweed project associated with the Pollinator Garden. Drop a note to camasfriends@gmail.com if you are interested in being a part of any of these activities.
Spring is in full force at the Refuge. Come and take a look.
Tim Reynolds, President
Read Past Presidents Messages
Timothy D. (Tim) Reynolds, PhD.
President
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What's New - Late May 2017
Watch the live Falcon Web Cam Now
Peregrine Cam Screenshot
Be sure to check out our annual wildlife calendar.
Our 2017 activity calendar is available here.
After weeding the Pollinator Garden by Rose Lehman
Volunteers from Friends and Idaho Master Naturalist beat the weeds in the shrub and trees segment of the pollinator garden. Click here to learn more about this project.
First Ever Friends of Camas Photo Contest ends August 31.
Click for Details
Refuge News
May 17, 2017
The Refuge has been receiving a good amount of water from Camas Creek for over a month. Many of our wetlands are reaching the full stage with a few still filling to capacity. Over bank flooding has been occurring in the last week and we are seeing water in places that we have not seen in 7 years.
With the water comes the birds. Plenty of habitat out there for many different species of water birds. Seeing plenty of long-billed curlews and short-eared owls along the auto-tour route. Many different species of waterfowl, grebes, cormorants, pelicans and others. In terms of shorebirds have been seeing good numbers of white-faced ibis, willets, balck-necked stilts and marbled godwits. The eagle nest on the Refuge appears to have two chicks this year as best we can tell at this point. Have seen some small Canada goose broods showing up in the water and cranes still appears to be on nests.
Great time to come out to Camas and see all the water and the wildlife that is showing up with it. Refuge staff has gotten busy with field season, as we are moving water, starting vegetation surveys, small mammal trapping has started and songbird surveys should start this week. Cool weather has delayed us but things are looking better and will be spending a good deal of time in the field in the coming months.
