Wildlife Promise » Yosemite National Park

Give a Hoot for Yosemite’s Great Gray Owl

Beth Pratt — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:51:05 +0000

A great gray owl and fledgling in a forest in Yosemite (Photo by Joe Medley)

This year’s theme for National Wildlife Week, “Branching Out for Wildlife,” celebrates trees and their importance to wildlife and people. In California, we couldn’t think of a more remarkable—or more rare—tree dweller to feature than Yosemite’s great gray owls.

Why should you give a hoot for Yosemite’s great gray owls? Joe Medley, a UC Davis PhD candidate and researcher affiliated with the USFS has studied the bird for years and even developed a method for using voice recognition software to track the owl that made my Top Ten California Wildlife Moments of 2012. “This is an amazing bird,” said Medley. “They have a very specialized sensory system and can detect and catch prey under a foot of snow from sound alone.”

A close up of the distinctive great gray owl (Photo by Joe Medley)

Life with the great gray owl involves days and nights wandering in the mid-elevation forests and meadows of Yosemite searching and listening for owl sign. As one part of the project, Medley has been collecting molted feathers for multiple years and the research team will attempt to identify individual owls by using DNA testing. “If the technique works, we can determine how many owls use the habitat and other data that will enable us to estimate how healthy the population is.”

Medley works with John Keane of the USFS, and Josh Hull, of UC Davis, to study the health of the 100-200 great gray owls living in and around Yosemite. With blood samples from the research, Hull conducted genetic analysis and authored the paper that suggested the owl be recognized as its own subspecies in 2010. Author and birder David Lucas in his book, Sierra Nevada Birds, noted the decision: “One of the Sierra Nevada’s most majestic birds was awarded special recognition in 2010 when the population centered around Yosemite National Park was documented as a distinct subspecies (“California” Great Gray Owl, S.n. yosemitensis) found nowhere else on earth.”

Early biologists who visited Yosemite also noticed the uniqueness of the bird, including Joseph Grinnell and Tracy Storer in their 1924 book, Animal Life in the Yosemite: “The discovery of the Great Gray Owl in the Yosemite section was one of the notable events in our field experience. And what was most surprising was the fact that the bird was apparently quite at home, and nesting. No previous record of the breeding of this northern species of owl south of Canada is known to us, and its occurrence even as a winter visitant within the northernmost of the United States is not frequent.”

Yosemite’s great gray owl population was recognized as a distinctive subspecies in 2010. (photo by Joe Medley)

Yosemite’s great gray owls are rare—and part of a species overall that is listed as endangered in California. The park provides a last haven for great gray owls and is home to the majority of the entire state’s population. Research that Medley and others are conducting is vital to understand the long-term health of a population that has been evolutionarily distinct since the late Pleistocene.

But what makes the owls even more important to Medley is a personal connection. “They are that much more special to me because the first one I saw was with my dad.” Medley’s father, an avid birder and leader of a nonprofit in Yosemite for over twenty years, passed away in 2006. “I am obsessed with raptors in general and for me this is the ultimate raptor. They are the largest of the North American owls. They live in the coolest place in California. They manage to survive winters in Yosemite. They can hear a mouse under snow. For all these reasons, it gets my vote for most awesome bird.”

Photo of the Day: The Three Brothers

Rachel Stemen — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:50:44 +0000

Photo by Gary Fua

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From Yellowstone to Yosemite: My Top Ten Wildlife Encounters of 2011

Beth Pratt — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:58:13 +0000

As a child who grew up reading Ranger Rick and watching Wild Kingdom, I cherish any wildlife I encounter. I’ve been lucky enough to live in Yellowstone, where I viewed charismatic mega-fauna on a daily basis, and now live near Yosemite, where the critters aren’t as big but still really cool, but I also love seeing the tiny tadpoles swim in my backyard frog pond. This year has been filled with wonderful encounters, so as a way of saying Happy New Year, I share with you my 2011 top ten wildlife moments.

1. The remarkable life of Yellowstone wolf 495M: A friend of mine sponsored a radio collar in my name for 495M. When I lived in Yellowstone, I followed his adventures as the alpha male of Mollie’s Pack. He died this year, but had a remarkable life and got to live and die like a true wolf. Read the full story here >>

495M while tranquilized for research (Photo: Yellowstone Wolf Project)

2. Zisa, the late bison calf in Yellowstone: Most bison give birth in late April through May, but this little guy came into the world in late fall—and faced many challenges in surviving the winter so young. He hung out near my home in Yellowstone and we all rooted for him and named him Zisa, the Lakota word for orange. Against all odds he survived the winter, but once he changed color to the traditional brown he was tough to track. NWF is working to restore bison to the Great Plains of Montana-read more about this great project.

Late bison calf "Zisa" in Yellowstone (photo by Beth Pratt)

3. Pika running over my foot: On a hike to Gaylor Lakes in Yosemite, I was standing at the shore of the lake and suddenly felt something scurry over my boot. I looked down and to my delight saw a pika hurrying away over the rocks. Very cool!

The pika who ran over my foot poses for a photo. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

4. Two bald eagles in one day: I had never seen a bald eagle in the Sierra. So imagine my surprise when I encountered two in one day this winter—one perched along the bank of the Merced River and the other soaring over Tioga Pass in Yosemite.

Two bald eagles in one day in the Sierra (photo by Beth Pratt)

5. Dancing penguins on Hollywood Blvd: Although Hollywood is known for its ‘anything goes attitude,’ it’s not often you see penguins dancing in the streets. During the premiere of Happy Feet 2, I had fun dancing with colorful penguins. The National Wildlife Federation teamed up with the movie to encourage people of all ages to take the steps necessary to protect amazing wildlife species such as penguins and wild places such as Antarctica.

The joy of dancing penquins (photo by Beth Pratt)

6. Bighorn sheep in Anza-Borrego State Park: After a mere fifteen minutes upon entering Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, my friend Michelle started pointing and uttered something incomprehensible in her excitement. Finally, I made out the word “sheep” and pulled off the road as soon I could. To our delight, a herd of ewes and young lambs leapt up the rocks and gazed back at us as we stood watching their movements. Desert bighorn are rare to spot, and although the animals were once in abundance, the population in the park has decreased to less than 300.

Desert bighorn sheep in Anza-Borrego State Park (photo by Beth Pratt)

7. Black bear in Tuolumne Meadows:The road to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite opened very late this year because of what seemed like a never-ending winter. During my first trip to Tuolumne in June, this black bear wandered out of the forest. I think he was hoping the long winter would end as well.

Black bear in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite (photo by Beth Pratt)

8. My backyard frog pond: My proudest accomplishment is being a mother to hundreds of tadpoles each year in my backyard frog pond (and in my NWF Certified Wildlife Habitatof course). I love watching the tiny frogs take their first steps out of the pond.

The life of a frog in my backyard pond (Photos by Beth Pratt)

9. Misguided frog mating in Yosemite: During a spring hike in the Gaylor Lake Basin, I spent an hour listening to the music of pacific chorus frogs and watching some “misguided” mating attempts—see the video below for the full story.

Click here to view the embedded video.

10. Ranger Rick at the Ahwahnee Hotel: During the first meeting of NWF’s California Advisory Council, we had a special visitor—Ranger Rick came to Yosemite! Also in the photo, council member Jack Laws, the talented naturalist and author of The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada.

Ranger Rick in Yosemite! With myself and Jack Laws.

Happy Holidays from Yosemite!

Beth Pratt — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:49:50 +0000

The California office of the National Wildlife Federation wishes you a Happy Holidays from Yosemite National Park. Thank you for your support of wildlife and wild places!

Click here to view the embedded video.

A Pika Running Over my Foot, Misguided Frog Mating, and Other Lurid Tales from a Hike in Yosemite

Beth Pratt — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:55:50 +0000

“Bully!” as Teddy Roosevelt would have exclaimed, seems the most appropriate way to describe my perfect day hiking in Yosemite National Park last week. I wandered for an afternoon in the Gaylor Lakes basin (Tioga Country is my favorite place on earth), marveling over the abundant, late season snowpack that still covered most of the region while enjoying the constant melody of running water that accompanied me during my hike. Yosemite is usually alive with water in the spring, but this display of turbulent creeks and roaring waterfalls is unusual for late July.

Snowpack comparison of Gaylor Lakes (Photo by Beth Pratt)

I also counted myself lucky with wildlife sightings, although I am still adjusting to being forced to downgrade my expectations in the Sierra after having just returned from three years of living in Yellowstone where I encountered charismatic mega-fauna on a daily basis. I miss the wolves, but I’ve had no better wildlife encounter than on this hike when a pika—an animal I cherish seeing in the high country—ran over my foot. My friend, the naturalist Jack Laws, who I have often scrambled up boulders with in the high country searching for these remarkable creatures, claimed when I related the story to him that it was the pika’s way of welcoming me back to the Sierra.

Discovering a well-populated frog pond, however, certainly qualifies as the highlight of the day (along with observing some “misguided” frog mating—see photos below), as I am a well know frog-o-phile. For most of the day, running water and the boisterous call of the Clark’s nutcracker dominated the soundscape, but as I descended down the basin to lower Gaylor Lake, suddenly I heard the distinct and very loud call of the Pacific chorus frog. Music to my ears! And did I hit the frog jackpot. I spent a couple of hours taking photos and filming these little guys as they swam and sang. A couple hiking Roper’s Sierra High Route stopped to listen when they passed, along with another couple, one who taught biology and who was delighted at the sight of all the frogs. To paraphrase Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that people just love frogs.

I’ve shared some photos and video from my bully day below. For more photos, visit the National Wildlife Federation’s California Facebook page.

The pika who ran over my foot poses for a photo. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Pacific chorus frog swimming (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Pacific chorus frog trying to mate with a plant (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Still partially frozen Gaylor Lake (Photo by Beth Pratt)

A misguided mating attempt by two male frogs (Photo by Beth Pratt)

A marmot surveys the scene (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Pacific chorus frog calling (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Video of Pacific chorus frogs at Gaylor Lakes

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video of Gaylor and Granite Lakes

Click here to view the embedded video.