Airboat rides a highlight of bird fest

Monday, May 24, 2004 10:54 AM PDT

A pair of airboats, each holding three passengers, offered tours of the Tule Lake Marsh during Saturday's Tule Lake Migratory Bird Festival.

Published May 23, 2004

By LEE JUILLERAT

TULELAKE - Up close and oh, so personal.

Whether golden eagles, mallards and spotted owls, or muskrat nests, thick-growing tules and baby grebes, Saturday's third annual Tule Lake Migratory Bird Festival was a hands-on, up close encounter with raptors, waterfowl and their habitat.

Birds-eye views of several raptors, including a golden eagle named Sundance and a bobble-headed spotted owl, were offered by Wildlife Images, a rehabilitation and education center near Grants Pass.

Water-level views of Tule Lake's Sump 1-A were provided through reservation-only airboat rides by the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges and Cal-Ore Wetlands & Waterfowl Council.

 

Airboat rides were especially popular. Following a route that variously weaved through a labyrinth maze of tule-filled channels and speedily skimmed along open waters, the tours proved scenic and educational.

Hank Smith, a refuge volunteer who served as a driver for one of the two airboats, termed them as "critical in managing diseases." Last year, he said, a cholera outbreak was kept to about 15,000 birds because the boats, with mostly volunteer crews, were used to retrieve dead and dying birds to minimize spread of the disease.

The route meandered around portions of the 9,500-acre sump, where the water level varies from a couple of inches to 4 feet, and included a fast spin across open water partially clouded by a green algae. Refuge biologist Dave Mauser said the algae creates water quality problems because its suppresses oxygen and blocks sunlight to sub-aquatic plants and vegetation.

The sump is part of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a 39,116-acre area that is mostly open water and croplands. About 17,000 acres are leased by farmers under a program administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Refuge permit holders farm about 1,900 acres of cereal grain and alfalfa that, with waste grain and potatoes, serve as a major food source for wintering and migrating waterfowl.

While the airboat rides were enjoyed by more than 60 people, hundreds more migrated to the Tulelake Honker Youth & Community Center to view displays and listen to a series of programs.

Filmmaker Anders Tomlinson premiered his new video, "Fields of Splendor: The Feast," about spring bird migrations in the Klamath Basin. The video emphasizes how the wetlands and agricultural lands are attractive to people and wildlife.