Article written by Isaac Lang & photos taken this summer at Sams Walker Day Use Area by Ken Pitts
Ever since I began this lifelong hobby of birdwatching, I have always wanted to do conservation and improve the well-being of the birds I love and care about. When I joined VAS and started the Young Birders group with veteran birder Ken Pitts, I had this idea in the back of my mind to do some sort of hands-on work that could introduce youth to the fun of conservation. After a bit of searching, Sams Walker Nature Area was a perfect match for us. Not only is it a beautiful habitat home to many species of birds and other wildlife, it also has an active program of habitat restoration coordinated by Sandra Heigh and the Center for Ecodynamic Restoration. After a few emails with Sandra, I knew this was the opportunity I had been looking for all along.
The VAS Young Birders Group headed east of Vancouver to Sams Walker Nature Area near Skamania on June 18th, all of us filled with excitement and joy. Upon meeting Sandra and getting to know one another, we immediately got to work. First we were given a brief tour of the area along with a bit of the history of this restoration project. We saw first-hand the improvements that were already implemented along with ongoing tasks.
Our job was not particularly glamorous work, but necessary. We spent most of the morning clearing a patch of Canada Thistle, which has spiky and painful thistle-covered leaves and stems and is known as a noxious weed that spreads out of control easily. This was a first for many of our participants, most of whom grew up in the suburbs (myself included), and didn’t really have much experience wielding gardening tools. However, we learned quickly, finding the most efficient ways to remove as much thistle as possible with minimal spikes to the legs and hands. We learned that this was just preliminary work, as this patch of thistle would have to be sprayed with herbicides after weed removal to ensure all the thistle were eliminated. We continued our work until the unforgiving sun was bearing down directly above us, and we all evacuated to the shade for a sip of water and refreshments. As we enjoyed our snacks, we admired the fruit of our hard labor: what was once a patch of invasive Canada Thistle was now an empty field welcoming native plants to lay their roots.
Following our snack break, we continued onto the next project: removing Herb-Roberts, a Class B noxious weed in the state of Washington. We mostly worked under the shade of the forest, as these invasive plants are found close to the ground on the forest floor. This was much lighter work compared to removing the thistle, and the shallow roots of the Herb Robert made pulling it out a lot easier. What makes Herb Robert such an annoying weed to remove is that its seeds use ballistic dispersal, where the seeds are shot out of pods once they mature. Because these seeds can remain dormant for quite a while, it is paramount to remove the seed pods before they mature. After clearing a solid patch of Herb Robert we called it a day, dragging our tired bodies back to the parking lot for some lunch. All along the trail, we saw what the patch we cleared could look like in a couple months, native wildflowers blooming left and right, and multiples of native pollinators like bees, butterflies, and beetles visiting these flowers.
Native plants are incredibly important to the well-being of native pollinators, as they have co-evolved with each other for millions of years, refining the most efficient pollinating methods. Birds rely heavily on pollinator and insect availability, especially during the breeding season, when newborn birds are fed almost exclusively on insects for protein. One study on chickadees indicated that one family of the birds requires up to 9000 insects just to feed its young. Because native plants provide food sources and habitat for native pollinators, who in turn are food for birds, native plants directly benefit bird species.
We all enjoyed this restoration project tremendously, and above all, learned about the importance of native plants on birds, and experienced a new side of birdwatching.
A special thanks to Sandra Haigh for facilitating this experience for our VAS Young Birders group!