A good man went home on August 11. I’ve been thinking since then about how I might send some good bird and dog and outdoor thoughts after him. This seems like a perfect time.

I first crossed paths with George Macinko in the early 1970s, when I was a young prof in the Geography Department at the University of Colorado’s Denver Campus. George was being recruited by the main department in Boulder and I drove up the Front Range to hear him talk and meet him. His talk was well done – as expected from a geographer with his deep skills in research, and his passion for land use, natural resource conservation and world population issues. I thought he would be a great addition to the department and the university, but given a big push at the time for a different approach to our geographic enterprise he was not offered a position. “Too bad,” I remember thinking, “the guy’s a bird hunter.”

Twenty years later, I walked onto Central Washington University’s campus and there he was. He still hunted birds, he told me, with very special bird dogs – he’d been a fan of basset hounds for most of his life.

That love of bassets started early, when George was a kid, growing up in Pennsylvania coal country. His dad, however, was a coon hound man who wanted no truck with other dogs. A beagle, maybe, but no basset. So George picked blackberries until he had the money for a beagle, and started hunting with it.

The kid from Nesquehoning, PA, had a gift for football and education and a passion for hunting birds with short dogs. Some of that led him to Mary Ann Tuttle (the woman who would become his wife), research fellowships around the country and a sterling academic career centered on the Northwest and Central Washington University.

In the lean early 50s, Mary Ann was George’s “bird dog.” Together, they were pretty successful, although there were periodic conversations about the “dog” kicking bunches of birds out of brushy draws only to find that the hunter had decided to move to the head of a different draw.

With the birth of a son came the gift of a spaniel – Ginger – from the farm of Mary Ann’s folks outside the Tri-Cities. They were now a hunting-dog family. Ginger was a great bird dog. In and around time cooped up with research and writing and graduate school, George and Ginger wandered the Palouse country so successfully that one Christmas everyone on a fairly long Christmas list got a smoked pheasant.

Mary Ann’s dad knew that, in his heart, George wanted a basset hound. When a vet friend needed a home for a “talking” basset hound, Burbank Barnaby (for their hunting area near Tri-Cities, at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia Rivers) became George’s first basset hunting buddy.

In the late ‘60s, George found “Training the Rabbit Hound – Bassets and Beagles.” The 1926 book by Carl E. Smith got him even more enthused about bassets. Turned out that Smith, of Ohio, also bred and trained bassets to hunt birds. Thus came Tasha, George’s dream bird dog. For many years he and Tasha hunted chukars, quail, pheasants and grouse all over the Paradise of Central Washington.

After Tasha came Humphrey, another basset descended from a Carl Smith dog. Humphrey would hunt hard – unless there were distractions. If there were cows nearby, he might just sit and watch them until sundown reenergized him. Then there was Buford, who hunted a bit, but…

Windy arrived in the early ‘90s. The daughter of Central’s new Russian language teacher wanted a pup – a basset pup which refused to be housebroken. George took the pup and straightened her out, but at home she fell back into old bad habits. Windy became George’s next bird dog.

Windy was at the middle of my greatest all time bird hunting memory. In the mid-90s, George and I and Bob Kuhlken hunted ruffed grouse (on now-Suncadia ground) outside Ronald, in Upper Kittitas County. I had never hunted or shot a ruffed grouse. Having grown up with outdoor mag stories about ruffed grouse thickets and shots taken as a bird flashed through a tiny opening in the brush, I had a long-held desire to hunt them. George picked an upcoming October Saturday. I’d hunted over a lot of bird dogs, but never one so close to the ground. Windy went right to work and we soon found birds. George connected with one, and we moved into another thicket as Windy found herself hot on the trail of a ruff. I remember a sudden “Whirrrr” as the bird boiled off the ground a few yards away, a blur rising behind a screen of tall brush, pulling the trigger as the bird hit a three-foot opening, and the grouse on the ground. Never before and never since: a classic shot over a very special bird dog.

A year after Windy passed came the rescue basset Bessie Maude – named with great love and respect in honor of Mary Ann’s mother. Bessie is at the end of a long line of deeply, endlessly, loved bassets.

I doubt that many truly understood George’s love of bassets. Mary Ann once asked him, after a close friend had lost his wife, what he would do if she passed. “Well,” he said, “I guess I would just get another basset hound…” It took a while to see, I think, that George could not conceive of replacing his beloved wife, but knew that a basset hound would bring love and companionship.

George was much honored, and rightly so, for his athletics, research and teaching. Still, I cannot think of him without thinking of his beloved hounds – and Windy and that magic ruffed grouse moment.

Thank you, George.

Last minute outdoor Christmas gifts? Not really; you have days yet. With all the gift opportunities of Paradise, or wherever you are, that’s a lifetime, and cost is negotiable. Indeed, some of the most treasured gifts you can give will cost you almost nothing out-of-pocket.

If you have a few bucks left, you can spend them in a way that gets your outdoor nut’s attention.

Consider a wildlife background license plate, with bald eagle, killer whale, elk, mule deer, or black bear, for just a few bucks more than your regular vehicle-licensing fees. Pair that with a personalized plate, and you point a few bucks more toward wildlife. Discover Pass is always a thoughtful get-ahead-of-2018 option. You will find resident adult fishing and hunting licenses in options designed to fit your outdoor nut in a variety of prices. (In Washington, you will need Wild ID number, date of birth and account password at fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/ to purchase the licenses.) The proof of purchase for most any of these will fit nicely in a discreet envelope under the tree.

Of course, all the local outdoor gear shops we looked at two weeks ago are still open. And gift certificates from most any stores in Paradise will fit perfectly.

The choices for free, or nearly free, are nearly endless. Give it a moment’s thought and you will probably find several ideas better than mine, but consider the following suggestions.

I regularly cross paths with the homey who once passed along one of the best ideas ever for getting kids and families outdoors and stretching the fun out long enough to make a real Christmas memory. It seems that one of Homey’s kids had a little digital camera, so in his stocking she put a new memory chip for it, and batteries.  Their two smallest kids found disposable cameras in theirs. That Christmas day, they went on a wildlife watching safari, with hot chocolate, coffee and favorite snacks. They found deer, elk, bighorns and a bald eagle, and some pretty cool scenery. Then, the day after Christmas, they all went down to a one-hour photo places and had prints made. The trip is still a much-anticipated Christmas Day tradition, but now with all digital phones and cameras. The family still regularly enters some of its digital shots in age-appropriate categories of the Field and Stream Club Photo Contest at the Central Washington Sportsmen Show in February (www.shuylerproductions.com). Homey is convinced that this almost-free last minute gift idea will carry on to her kids’ kids – never forgotten. This gift fits almost anywhere in the world, actually.

You can make such an outing yourself; start with critters scattered all around Paradise. Lower Cooke Canyon, Reecer Creek, Colockum Pass, Taneum and Manastash Roads will all get you into winter deer range. The largest elk herds in our valley are probably in Lower Joe Watt Canyon (there will be snow sledding there, too), or scattered over onto the Heart K Ranch at the mouth of the Taneum. I’m seeing a few bald eagles around the valley, too.

The Yakima River Canyon holds deer, a few elk and several bunches of California bighorn sheep, along with its seasonally increasing population of bald eagles and other raptors. The trick here, of course, is the traffic. The handful of good pull-off areas may or may not be anywhere close to critters you want to examine up close, but it is still worth the drive, and kids get very excited about being the first to spot some critter or other. Take your optics. Remember that your contribution to the Kittitas Environmental and Educational Network (KEEN) on behalf of the scenic byway will help make safer watching down the road (pun intended) – just contact Jill at 509-551-8807.

In this part of Washington, the ultimate elk and bighorn watches are, of course, the elk feeding at Oak Creek Wildlife Area, and the bighorns feeding at the Cleman Mountain Site. Both sites are west of Naches, where Highways 410 and 12 split. At the intersection, turn north onto the frontage road and follow it to the California bighorn sheep feeding site. You cannot miss the fencing and the signs. For the elk feeding, turn south onto Highway 12, and look for the signs (and elk) on the right. Take your Discover Pass.

Never underestimate the lifelong pleasure of a homemade gift. I have long-held hand knitted scarves and sweaters, an ammo box made by a buddy and a hand-made leather “possibles” pouch for small things that want to be together. Such gifts bring joy and smiles far beyond the hours it took to make them. How about a gift of your time for something the giftee needs or wants to do?

I know of folks receiving new handguns for Christmas. If you know of one, why not add a lifetime of value to the gift? For top-notch training in the safety, care, handling and shooting of that new piece, contact NRA-certified handgun instructor Marilyn Mason at 509-962-3002.

I would be remiss if I did not recommend a copy of the updated third printing of Jim Huckabay’s inspiring “WILD WINDS and Other Tales of Growing Up in the Outdoor West.” Jerrol’s and the University Store (which also carry many other fine outdoor books) have autographed copies.

Last-minute Christmas or other Holiday gifting is pretty simple, I think. Whatever you give, imbue it with joy.

Merry Christmas…

After the forecasts for a colder and wetter December, we are now emerging from one of the most persistent stagnant air advisories in recent memory – cold and foggy, with little precipitation within a pretty interesting pattern of dense and off-and-on freezing fog. This stagnant air was held in place by an inversion – warm air sitting over cold air (the inverse of a normal atmosphere) – caused by air subsiding from that high pressure system sitting over us the last couple weeks. If air is subsiding from aloft, then the air at the surface is unable to lift and disperse – and fog which forms in that still, cold, air is unlikely to be moved out by incoming storm systems also blocked by that high pressure. So there we sat… still and quiet and cold.

Most of the whining I have heard (was some of that my own voice?) had to do with hunters attempting to scour the ground around Paradise and up on the Army’s Training Center for chukars and trouble-making cow elk. There were moments of white-out 20-foot visibility and iced-over roads and vehicles throughout our valley and across eastern Washington.

We will likely see the return of a number of foggy days before winter passes, so it will serve us well to understand the fogs of Paradise. As Staff Meteorologist for the Reecer Creek Rod, Gun, Working Dog & Outdoor Think Tank Benevolent Association, I offer the following primer.

For a fog or a cloud to develop, air must be at or near saturation for water vapor (holding all the moisture it can hold). It must then cool enough to cause the water vapor to condense, forming the droplets we see as cloud or fog. Fog is generally defined as “a visibility‑restricting suspension of tiny water droplets or ice crystals (roughly .001 inch in diameter) in an air layer next to the ground.” By international convention, “fog” restricts visibility to 1000 meters (about 0.6 mile) or less. A fog is simply a cloud too lazy to fly.

Each fog has its own beauty and its own story to share. We generally get one of four types: a radiation, or ground, fog; an upslope fog; an evaporation, or steam fog; or an advection fog.  Commonly, fogs morph from one type to another over time or distance.

Radiation, or ground, fog is our most common fog. Heat radiates away from the ground through a clear night sky, and, as the ground cools it in turn cools the air above it. When air cools below its “dew point,” moisture can no longer remain as a vapor and it condenses. The layers or “pockets” of fog are cooler and heavier than surrounding air, so they generally settle into low ground. These are the common fogs we see in canyons and low areas around Paradise on cool mornings. This is the type of fog which formed, and stayed, under the inversion layer kept in place by that high pressure aloft the last couple weeks.

An upslope fog will form if moist air is lifted. The resulting relatively constant rate of cooling will often result in condensation. Moisture in humid air moving up the Yakima River into the Kittitas Valley often condenses into an upslope fog.

Evaporation fogs are common in spring (and less so in fall). With bright sun in relatively cool temperatures, a wet surface will often evaporate quickly, creating a layer of very moist air – holding a high level of water vapor. When that moist air lifts even a foot or so into cooler air, condensation can be almost instantaneous, creating an evaporation fog. This is the early springtime fog which scurries across roadways when snow is melting: the sun-warmed pavement evaporates moisture which instantly becomes fog in the cold air just above the road.

An advection fog is simply one of the above fogs moving horizontally. When a radiation fog forms on the river and moves onto land it becomes an advection (referring to horizontal movement) fog.

The fogs with which we’ve been sharing our recent inversion (that stagnation advisory) have generally been radiation fogs.

Now, here’s how freezing fog happens. Given that the liquid droplets are so tiny, they may actually remain liquid to temperatures far below freezing – the droplets become supercooled. Most of our clouds, even in summertime, are supercooled – with temperatures below freezing – given the elevations at which they form. This time of year, our fogs are often comprised of supercooled water droplets as well. When a supercooled water droplet is bumped, or touches an even colder surface, it instantly freezes.

On these cold mornings, then, water droplets touch the very cold roadway and freeze. The process is probably speeded up a bit by cars moving and swirling the air around, increasing the likelihood of contact and freezing. A similar thing happens as a supercooled fog surrounds a very cold car sitting overnight, and droplet after droplet bumps and freezes.

So, if you end up driving slowly, or must stop, because of fog, take a deep breath. Take a moment to think about how it developed. Recognize that it was here long before us, and will be a regular companion for the next few months.

If you must mutter at the fog, so be it. At least you can mutter at the correct kind of fog.

Happy winter.

Homey was talking about the birds his family was enjoying, and the various types of food they were going through. “The kids really love this stuff, you know, and they like trying to identify the birds we’re feeding. With these really cold nights, my youngest girl keeps asking how the little birds stay warm. I tell them the food keeps their bodies warm – like fuel for little engines – but I know there’s more to their coping mechanisms, and I want to sound like I know what I’m talking about (I am the dad, after all)… So, what else keeps them from waking up frozen to death?”

“Well, you are right about the food, of course,” I said. “They have to eat regularly or they die, and, since different birds have different needs, we generally give them a choice of seeds and suet. Most of the foods we offer are fatty or oily since the oil is a good burning fuel to help keep their metabolic rates up. Let me dig around for this coping with the cold stuff, and see what all I can find for your conversation.”

Back in my office, I reached for “The Birder’s Handbook,” by Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye.  Then I got on the horn to Deborah Essman (Bird Whisperer of Paradise and Official Birder of the Reecer Creek Rod, Gun, Working Dog & Outdoor Think Tank Benevolent Association) for her thoughts and observations on our common and occasional small birds of winter. Among the birds you may be feeding or seeing are the house sparrow, house finch, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, redpolls, pine siskins, red breasted nuthatch, and perhaps a couple downy or hairy woodpeckers. Some of these – and others not named – are irruptive, meaning that numbers of them may show up from time to time in response to (most commonly) food scarcity in “normal” wintering areas. Keep your bird ID book handy.

Metabolism is the conversion of food to the energy needed for life itself: for cellular activity; for the building blocks for proteins, carbs and so on; and the elimination of nitrogenous wastes – it is the sum of all chemical reactions occurring in living organisms. If metabolism fails the critter dies, so food is critical.

Different birds have different metabolic rates. Smaller birds have proportionately greater surface areas in relation to their body mass than do larger birds, so little birds lose their body heat faster in the cold. Since they all maintain similar body temperatures, small birds have higher rates of metabolism than big ones and eat proportionately more food. For example, hummingbirds have the highest rate of metabolism of any bird – maybe a dozen times that of a pigeon – and they must consume their weight in nectar daily. (It is said that a warm-blooded mammal could not survive if it was smaller than a hummer, since it could not eat enough to stay alive, but the tiny Etruscan shrew weighs less than a dime and somehow eats its body weight twice a day.)

Each bird has its own needs and many have special adaptations. The redpolls, for example, have a partially bi-lobed pocket about midway down their necks, where they can store seeds. The little chickadees are often seen “caching” seeds in some hiding spot. Most birds, however, just need handy food.

Once food is settled, other cold weather survival tools kick in. Feathers hold heat generated from metabolizing that food. We have all observed birds sitting “fluffed up” in some protected spot. This erection of feathers traps air in tiny pockets, providing excellent insulation (think down coats or featherbeds) – a bird’s skin temperature may be 75 or more degrees warmer than the air less than an inch away. You have likely noticed that juncos, finches and sparrows foraging in cold weather frequently drop down, covering their legs and feet with their breast feathers while pausing in their food search, thus minimizing heat loss from featherless parts of their bodies.

Dark objects commonly absorb more sunlight than lighter objects, and it has been assumed that dark-feathered birds absorb more energy that light-colored birds. Turns out that there are other factors at work; a great deal depends on such things as wind speed and whether feathers are sleeked (laid back) or erected. In fact, research indicates that erect white plumage gains heat, and resists heat loss better, than dark plumage in cold temperatures and moderate winds.

To help birds keep feathers clean – thus best able to erect and insulate – provide water for baths, and keep it heated if possible. Provide areas near your feeders where vegetation is dense enough to still the wind, and put up birdhouses or structures where your little feathered friends can cuddle up next to other, maximizing their metabolic outputs. (On very cold nights, birds have been observed in “interspecies huddling,” likely preserving heat and survival odds.)

It takes food and feathers to get these critters (from whom we derive so much pleasure) through the cold season. A thoughtful feeding area helps them maximize the use of each.

Here in Washington, Kittitas County Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is next weekend, by the way, and you may still be able to play. Call Gloria Baldi at 509-933-1558.

Okay, Homey, go talk to that little girl.

As winter looms many of us begin thinking about watching wildlife around Paradise. Winter is the limiting season for wildlife populations – particularly for deer and elk. Weather conditions directly affect how many deer and elk reach spring strong enough to survive. The big question is, “What sort of winter?”

We have been hearing that we might prepare for yet another La Niña winter of colder and wetter (think “more snow”) conditions. To me, this means more wildlife likely in the valley and in places where they can be easily seen. And it may mean more snow on and along rural roads, with fewer places for four-legged and two-legged critters to avoid traffic. Thus, we may have easier wildlife watching, and need greater caution driving.

Several homeys have already been muttering things like “I just don’t want to deal with another winter like last year…” As Staff Meteorologist for the Reecer Creek Rod, Gun, Working Dog & Outdoor Think Tank Benevolent Association, I am duty bound to follow up.

Perhaps the three most dependable sources for long range seasonal forecasts in Paradise are the Office of the Washington State Climatologist, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Weather Service and Climate Prediction Center), and The Farmer’s Almanac. This year, they seem generally on the same page.

The State Climatologist notes that weak La Niña conditions are still present in the tropical Pacific Ocean, with strong odds of continuing through this winter. Sea-surface and below-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are below normal, with stronger westerly winds over the equatorial Pacific and unusually stable air over the International Date Line. For us, this set of atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns leads to below average temperatures and above average precipitation statewide through December. That pattern also holds true through winter, as the Climate Prediction Center gives 30 to 50% odds for January and February across our state. The Almanac, with a tradition of 80% accuracy in long-range predictions, is looking for our December to be similar to what the others are seeing, but calling for the rest of our winter temperature and precipitation to vary only slightly below and above averages, respectively.

These are just probabilities, of course, indicating to me that this may be a slightly nastier-than-average winter. Please note, however, that nothing in here says our coming winter will not decide to thoroughly kick our collective fanny.

However our winter shapes up, we need to be mindful of the deer, elk and bighorns we love to watch. Animals will be easier to find as they move onto their limited winter range.  They will move around less, and seem “less wild.” Winter survival is everything to them. Under the best of conditions, the stress of the season is the major controlling factor for their populations. Our job, as we reach out to wildlife and nature connections in our lives, is to not add to the stress.

Through the fall, as they add fat reserves, wild ungulates will develop thicker, longer coats with many hollow, insulating hairs. These heavier coats provide more protective and insulation with “piloerection” (the ability to make the hairs stand up and trap more air). These coats and limited movement make it possible for deer, elk and sheep to slightly lower metabolic rates and caloric requirements. Even with a decent food supply, though, and a balance between energy in and out, an average winter will likely cost a large ungulate 20 percent of its fall weight. Disturbed and spooked, a critter may double its energy burn. Burning 30 percent of fall body weight will generally cause death, even if food becomes available.

The bottom line of all this is that we must observe critters from a distance comfortable to them, not us.  Even if we think we pose no danger, what matters is what the animals perceive. Causing wildlife to stop feeding, or leave a feeding/resting area, will affect their health and well-being.

Each species and individual will have its own “comfort zone.” Watch behavior, and you will identify that zone. If an animal out in the open looks at you, avert your eyes (“staring” is threatening to most wild critters). You might mimic non-threatening activity, such as browsing bushes or imitate some grooming activity. A head‑up, ears‑forward posture, with obvious nervousness, is a sign to sit still, or back off quietly. Final warning signs include skittishness; moving away; hairs on neck and shoulders standing up; snorting or slapping the ground with a foot or paw. Any more will cause flight – and undue stress.

Find wild things all around the valley and down the Yakima Canyon this winter, on most any drive. Joe Watt Canyon is a favorite sledding area, often with a fair number of elk nearby.

By early January, find herds west out of Yakima. The Cleman Mountain Bighorn feeding area is just north of the intersection of Highways 12 and 410. A couple miles south on Highway 12 is the Oak Creek Wildlife Area. Over a couple hours, you may see a hundred or more bighorns and deer, and a thousand or more elk.

Enjoy the wildlife which enriches our lives, and watch the winter roads looming before us. Hitting a deer or elk or person can mess up the whole day for both of you.