Grouse,Grouse,Grouse and more Grouse!

Photos by Penny Arentsen









This, or should I say last Friday's WREN, last WREN for the season was a Grouse and Their Relatives Day. A lot of birds. First we went to the school. When we got there, Penny put us to work at these "Groovin' Grouse" stations.




Station 1 - Identifying Grouse and their Relatives

• I identified the mountain quail, sage grouse, and blue grouse.

Station 2 - Drawing Wings, Beaks, and Feet of Grouse and their Relatives

• I drew pictures of wings, beaks and feet of a grouse, a woodpecker, a raptor and a duck so I could compare them.
  

Station 3- Grouse and Where They Live

• I found out where in Wallowa County the sharp-tail grouse, ruffed grouse, blue grouse, and spruce grouse live. Blue Grouse live in the Wallowa mountains and their higher foothills. Spruce grouse live in the Wallowa mountains. Sharp-tail grouse live in Leap country and Ruffed grouse live in the woods.
  

Station 4- Where did certain kinds of Grouse originate?

• I found out that the Chukar and Gray Partridge originated in Eurasia, the wild turkey and White-tailed Ptarmigan originated in North America and the Ring-necked Pheasant originated in Asia.
  

Station 5- Mating Habits of Grouse

Station 6 - What do Grouse eat?

• Grouse eat: seeds, berries, grasses, leaves, catkins, bugs, pine needles, etc. They eat everything!

After we did the stations, we ate lunch and loaded up in Scooter and the Hit-and-Run mobile. And we were off! After a five-minute drive we stopped by a truck with a bunch of antennas on top. We jumped out of the vans and met Mike Hansen who works for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). Mike was going to teach us how to track sharp-tail grouse by using radio collars. When the collar is on a grouse, it makes slow steady beats. If the grouse stops moving or the collar comes off, then after four hours it changes to fast warning beats. The collars are how they keep track of how many Sharp-tail grouse die and survive every year.

After Mike told us a little bit about the antennae that they use to track the collars, Penny divided us into groups and Mike handed each group a antennae and told us to find the 12 collars he had tossed out into the field. There were four groups and each group found three collars. My group took turns holding the antennae and listening to the beeps from the box that was attached to it.
After we found the collars we caught a signal of a real grouse with a collar on. We walked up on a hill and Mike's dog flushed eight grouse out of hiding in the tall grass. We watched the grouse fly and Mike showed us a Lek. A Lek is a spot on top of a hill that is flat, with no trees, where male grouse get together and show off for the females during mating season.

After we saw the Lek, we ran down the hill, thanked Mike for his time, jumped in the vans, and went back to the school. At the school we did a survey on WREN while we waited for our parents. I loved this Fall's WREN and hope I can do it again in the spring.

Thank you Penny for doing WREN this year and I hope you will do it again next year.

History of Wallowa County

This falls' WREN has been the best season of WREN that I have ever been in! I love it! Today I'm writing about the History of Wallowa County.

First we met at the school and talked about the places we were going to visit and the things we were going to do. Then we jumped into Scooter and the Hit-and-Run mobile and we were off. The first place we went was Leap country, so named that because it was a leap year when it was discovered. We stopped once out there and piled out. We talked about plants, animals, and people who lived there. Then we piled in again and we were off!

The next stop we made was to examine a juvenile Red tail Hawk that was dead. It was totally awesome! Then we drove some more until we reached our lunch stop. We ate our lunch and played a game, and after lunch we headed to a graveyard. We picked partners and Penny gave us each names and a little information about several people who were buried there. My partner and I decided that we would split up check certain graves and come back together to check more. We found another groups' name by accident so they helped us; they found one of ours. Three little toddlers from the same family died in less than five months (twins and their younger brother). It was terrible! The other person we had to find raised 6 kids before she died.

After the graveyard, we hurried to the Joseph History Museum and started a scavenger hunt. I filled out the whole two pages before Penny called us back to the door. She asked us about the questions and we answered them all correctly. One of the things I learned at the museum was that the oldest thing they had was a ammonite. I also saw a ballot box that was attached to a saddle so a rider could go around and collect ballots from farms and homesteads out-of-town. I wanted to stay longer but Penny said that it was time to go. We got back early so we ate the cake that Penny brought us (she is so nice), and played a game. By the time the game was over it was time to go.

Photo by Penny Arentsen

I LOVE WREN!

Girls in Science

Okay. I haven't posted anything from WREN yet. I didn't go to it! I was sick the day before and Mom wanted me to be ready for Girls in Science (GIS) on Sat. so that is what I'm going to write about this week. I didn't type yesterday because I was so sick I thought I was going to die. Actually maybe not - I couldn't think straight. It was a migraine headache and a stomachache.

Anyway GIS was a staged crime of murder. "Mrs. Pringle's Deadly Party! Who Killed the Mystery Guest?" I was in the Beakers group. They came up with some pretty funny names: Footprints, Magnifying glasses, and Fingerprints! Very scientific! We all had name tags with a number (1,2, or 3) on the back. Each of the three groups went with a group leader (mixing up all the groups) to the crime scene, which was actually set up in three different rooms that looked the same. The crime was that Dracula was killed next to the refrigerator.

Mrs. Pringle was rich because her brother had died in a freak bungee jumping accident and left her heaps of money. (Some people still think she killed him for his money.) She wasn't well-liked by anyone because she was never nice. Someone actually said he did not wish her to die, but he was surprised she wasn't the victim! If Mrs. Pringle had died, her "best friends" would have gotten equal amounts of money in her will.

We got to interview the four suspects. They were Mrs. Pringle's "best friends," but none of them really actually liked her at all. One of them was really snobbish and acted scared. Talk about looking guilty! Once when someone asked her favorite animal she ran out of the room. The rest of them just answered questions and acted like they were scared that someone was going to rush in and hit them with a softball bat.

I went to four labs to solve the crime, so I'm going to write a post for each one.

The Ranch

On Friday we went to the Craig and Liza Jane's ranch. We got there and saw four dogs (three were cattle dogs) running all over the place, but at at a whistle from Craig, they all ran to his side and lay down. Then Craig and Liza Jane started telling us about the ranch, their cattle, and the history of the ranch. Pretty soon Craig asked us if we'd like to see the dogs work. He walked out into the the field called the dogs and told them to "bring em' up." The dogs were off like a shot and pretty soon the cows were in the pen.

Craig and Liza went to get the horses so they could show us how to rope. When they came back, Craig roped a heifer and let it jump around him for a while, then Liza threw a trap for it. She had to throw her rope right in front of the back legs so the heifer would step into the rope and then she pulled in her slack. Craig dismounted, instructed his horse to stay, and pulled the heifer down onto the ground. Then he demonstrated doctoring and how to tie the front and back feet together. He took off Liza Jane's rope and rocked the cow up and down until it relaxed, then he took both the ropes off and went over to his horse - he had time enough to get to his horse before the cow got back on its feet.


Next we went over to the outdoor arena. When we got there Craig and Liza told us a little bit about team roping. Then they showed us. It was awesome!


After that we got to chase cows. We got into pairs and stood in two boxes and someone let the cows out of a chute. The pairs had to chase the cows on foot into a chute at the other end of the arena. Once the cow was in the chute, one of us snuck up and opened the gate into a pen while the other stood behind and kept the cow in the chute. When we were finished we had to put up both our arms so they would stop the time. My team was second to last, but we both had fun.

Then we loaded up and went down the road to the indoor arena and barn. When we got there we were divided into two groups - one going to Sunrise Tractors and the other staying there. I was in the group that stayed. When the other group left my group was divided in half. One half went in to learn how to rope and my half watched Craig work with a horse that had never had anything done with it. It was amazing! He took off the halter and waving his arms made it go in a circle around him. He made it slow down, go faster, and turn around. After a while he stopped and the horse came into him. Craig said it was because the horse felt safe with him and wanted to be with him.

After half an hour we switched places and my group went in to rope dummies. Liza taught us the parts of the rope, how to swing it, and to throw it like you mean it or you won't catch it. Roping was really fun (and hard)!

Just as we finished roping the other group came back. Now we had to go to Sunrise Tractors. My group jumped in the van and left. When we got there Penny handed out cards that had descriptions of a tractor on them, we had to find our tractor and tell the rest of the group about it. When we finished we went over to the garage to see one of the first semis. That was cool!

Thanks for the pictures Penny!

Thank you for letting us come to your ranch Craig and Liza. It was the very best WREN I've ever done!

I'm a Weed Warrior!

WREN Weed Warriors

Being a Weed Warrior isn't all that fun! Well, it is if you call tripping and falling backwards into a cactus and hardly being able to walk the rest of the day fun! Luckily it wasn't me, it was one of the other girls there.

Our weed warrior group traveled to Camp Creek in Imnaha. We learned how to identify some invasive weeds that are common in Wallowa County. As we hiked we looked for the following invasive weeds:

Common Bugloss (above), Scotch Thistle (bottom left), knapweed (bottom right), and cheat grass (not shown).























After lunch the real work started. We had to pace out half an acre and rake out all the cheat grass, pull out all the rosettes, and plant native plant seeds so they would take over the invasive weeds and grasses.

We did this three times, in a harder place each time. But it was really fun!

P.S Next week we're going to the ranch. YEE-HAW!

Survival Day

Survival day (WREN) was about how to survive if you get lost in the wilderness. Search and Rescue (SAR) people taught us all about being lost, what you do to prevent it, and what to do if you are lost. To prevent being lost you would want to make a flight plan, have someone with you, and make sure that you or someone you're with has a map of the trail, or knows it well. If you do get lost, sit down, try to think and don't freak out. If it's cold, build a shelter by using your instincts - what would keep you warm? Try to build your shelter on a slope and build your fire downhill from you because hot air rises. Don't go too far uphill or you will be too hot. Doing these things could help you survive.

The SAR team taught us survival skills. First we learned how to make smoke signals. We hiked up a hill and found a good stump to light cottonballs on. Our leader rubbed vasoline all the way through a cottonball and lit it. That cottonball lasted for three and a half minutes. Then we lit a wet cottonball with vasoline on it, and that one lasted ten minutes, I couldn't believe it - it was wet and it burned longer! He showed us the match he was using. It is called a magnesium match. Magnesium matches are made of magnesium, which is flammable. On one side of the match, you can flake off pieces of magnesium and on the other side you can use it like a match box and strike a fire (Right - magnesium match).

We hiked some more and found a stump from a Ponderosa pine that had pitch in it. Our leader showed us pieces of wood with pitch in it and passed them around so we could smell them. We asked if we could each have a piece of the pitch wood. One of the leaders started chopping up the wood with her hatchet and the hatchet missed the stump and hit her ankle. The other leaders bandaged her up and one of them brought her to the hospital. We learned that you should always cut away from you.

After we lunch we learned which wood is best to start a fire. If it sounds hollow, it burns well. Ponderosa pine is the best choice and most commonly used because it burns well and it has a pitch stump. To light your fire, you start with the small pieces of wood and add the larger ones slowly.

Put together a kit for hiking or for the car. Your kit should have the following:

1. Space blanket
2. Garbage bag
3. String
4. Rain gear
5. First aid kit
6. Extra batteries
7. Flashlight (You may also want a candle.)
   
8. Colored ribbon
9. Magnesium match
10. Signal mirror
11. Duct tape
12. Paper and wooden matches
13. A metal edge (to start your fire with)
14. Saw
15. GPS and/or compass
16. Whistle
17. Non-perishable food items, chocolate
18. Water
19. Tin can
20. Iodine tablets or water filter

We also learned about cairns. A cairn is something to mark a trail, such as a pile of rocks. Cairns do not look natural because if you cannot see the trail they help you find your way.


After we learned about cairns, we were almost done. We watched a demonstration of the search and rescue dogs. Two people from our group were chosen to hide. They zigzagged to their hiding spot so the dogs had to follow their trail. The dogs found them both really fast!

Then the SAR people had to leave, so Penny divided us up into two groups and we went to build our shelters. I built my shelter in a hole in a slash pile that was left by loggers. When we were finished, we built a fire with one match. My match went out, so I had to borrow fire from someone else in our group.

All too soon we had to leave. Survival day is so much fun!

The Wallowa Lake Tram

My first post. Wow! I thought it would never get typed but here it is. I'm so excited!

WREN (Wallowa Resources Explorations of Nature) started on Friday. WREN, in short, is where a ton of kids from 5th to 8th grade get together and go hiking with a leader to teach them about wildlife, geology and so on. In short. What it really is is a great learning experience, and a lot of fun. We meet at 8:30 on Fridays and Penny (the leader) with some field staff drives us to the hike or place.

This particular Friday (the first fall WREN) we went up the Wallowa Lake Tram and took a hike. At the bottom of the Tram we divided into two groups because those were the groups we were going to be in for hiking, then we divided into groups of 3 or 4 to go up the Tram. At the top, we went back into our two groups and started hiking. My group went to the valley overlook first and ate lunch. The valley overlook is a cliff where you can look down on the valley. It looked like a giant checkerboard of green and yellow; the yellow was hay or wheat and the green was grass, We also saw the lake - it was dark blue and surrounded by the yellow moraines. Then was the real hiking, it felt like a mile and a half straight uphill, and then a mile and a half straight downhill. It was hard. On the way up we stopped frequently to learn about wildlife, and on the way down we stopped frequently to learn about geology and soil.

We saw a lot of trees - the most common was the subalpine fir. Subalpine fir trees have purple pine cones and they grow between 6,000 to 7,500 feet.











We didn't see very many animals. We saw a Pika, which is a member of the rabbit family. Pikas live in the mountains in cold climates. We saw a Yellow-Pine chipmunk, which likes seeds of knotweed, yarrow, larch, thistle, huckleberry and yellow-pine trees.
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We also saw a Clark's Nutcracker (right) and 2 gray jays (left). Clark's Nutcracker nests early in the year and likes to eat pinon seeds. Grey Jays are also called "camp robbers" because one of their favorite things to do is steal scraps of food from camps. They will eat almost everything.

After our hike we rode down the tram and left. I had a lot of fun.





I got my information (and photos) about the plants and animals from Birds of Oregon Field Guide and Wikipedia.