The newborn likely weighs only a few ounces and measures only a few inches tall. But if all goes well, someday it will be far larger and able to dive at speeds more than 200 mph. Three other eggs are still in the nest. Biologists do not know yet whether they will hatch, too.

Kudos are extended to the female falcon that patiently incubated the eggs hour after hour on the nest during this spring’s snow, rain, wind and unseasonably cool temperatures. Both mother and father appear to be doing well.

In fact, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, a falcon that appears to be the male arrived at the nest bearing some type of small critter preyed upon for food. The adults appeared to feed the chick. The female then left the nest, presumably to hunt or exercise. Shortly after she returned and began the shelter the chick with her body. So be patient and check back often if you tune in to view the young one.

This is the first year webcam viewing of the nest at Commerce Tower has been made available to the public by the Missouri Department of Conservation in partnership with NAI Capital Realty, which manages the building.

The nest at Commerce Tower is MDC’s oldest and most productive site in Missouri for peregrine falcon restoration efforts in cities. The falcons originally nested on cliffs along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. They are considered endangered in Missouri. But conservation efforts utilizing big-city buildings as substitutes for cliffs are helping to sustain falcons in the state.

More than 30 young falcons have fledged or flown from the ledge since restoration efforts began there in 1991. MDC staff monitors four other nests in the Kansas City area. But Commerce Tower is the only site in the metro area with a web camera.

For more information on falcons, go to mdc.mo.gov.

I’ve seen people ride horses into caves. I’ve seen people ride ATVs into caves. I’ve seen people park cars and bikes and horses in caves. Missouri has a lot of caves and I’ve seen a lot odd activities in caves.

But this is well, British. And now for something completely
different:

Unicycle Caving from Garrett and Garrett Videography on Vimeo.

MDC fisheries biologists are using information from the research project help manage bass habitat and harvest. This is the second and final year of the tagging effort, which involves MDC staff catching and tagging wild smallmouth bass to learn more about angler catch rates and fish movement in the Black River, Castor River, Courtois Creek, Current River and the North Fork of the White River.

Anglers are encouraged to report tagged smallmouth bass they catch in these waters. Each tag has a phone number printed on it. Anglers are asked to call the phone number listed on the tag and provide the following information: tag number, date of catch, length of bass, approximate location of the catch, and if the fish was kept or released.

“Angler participation was great during the first year and we need their continued help,” said MDC Fisheries Management Biologist Jen Girondo. “Information gained from reported catches of tagged smallmouth bass will help us manage this species, which many Missouri anglers love to pursue. Anglers don’t have to keep the fish. They may simply clip the tag and release the fish if they wish.”

Girondo said the tag return study was prompted by the need to directly measure how much harvest occurs in the Ozark streams.

“We need to ensure that our smallmouth bass fishing regulations are appropriate for providing quality fishing experiences for all Missouri stream anglers,” Girondo said. “Appropriate regulations entail that we understand where and how smallmouth use our streams and where and how anglers catch smallmouth bass.”

MDC also conducted a mail survey of approximately 7,200 bass anglers from around the state in 2010 to gather their attitudes and opinions, and estimated efforts spent fishing for bass in Missouri streams. More than 4,000 anglers responded.

Results of the survey showed that anglers fished Missouri Ozark streams for smallmouth bass most often, followed by largemouth bass and rock bass. Wade/bank fishing was the most popular fishing method reported followed by float fishing. Jet boat fishing was the method least used. Most anglers reported taking multiple trips per year to fish for smallmouth bass, with 10 trips being the average. Most anglers reported catching multiple smallmouth bass per trip, with an average catch of seven per trip. Anglers also reported keeping an average of two smallmouth bass per trip. Anglers also provided more than 8,000 individual responses to what threatens the quality of Missouri stream fishing. Nearly half of all anglers responding cited pollution. For more information on the fishing survey, visit MDC online at mdc.mo.gov/node/21275 .

For more information on how MDC is working with conservation partners to manage bass habitat and harvest rates, read “Tracking River Smallmouth” in the May issue of the Missouri Conservationist, available online at mdc.mo.gov/node/22005.

MDC’s smallmouth bass tagging study and fishing survey are two ways that conservation makes Missouri a great place to fish for more than one million anglers. Fishing activities in Missouri contribute more than $1.1 billion a year to the state and local economies, and support more than 10,800 jobs.

Last Friday I went out to lunch, and saw a half dozen signs that said Big Book Sale!
Well, they weren’t big books, just some surplus the Scenic Regional Library was getting rid of.

I found a modest number to add to our gently used vintage selection. Now, these are all ‘ex-library,’ which means they have the card pocket in them, and library bindings. They are all in good to fair shape. The find of the day was a copy of “Passages of a Stream, the story of the Meramec River by James P. Jackson. Our readers have asked several times if we carry nature field guides….I ran them out of what they had on birds and birding, mammals, an astronomy sky guide, one on insects.

There is a slim volume on training coonhounds, and a book on white tailed deer.

New books ready to be shelved tomorrow.

Take a look at the revised list below, then come on by between 10 and 5 on Thursday and Friday.
If I leave for lunch I post a note, but you can always call 800-874-8423 x 2, and I’ll be back soon. We’ll also have copies of the June issue, the free floating guide, and all our usual new books and other media for sale. Come meet our new plants (outside and inside) and see what we’re doing to spruce up the joint. As always, bring your rock specimens for free ID, too!

Hope to see some of you tomorrow or Friday. – Jo

Nicknamed Plus 1, new elk bull calf born on the way

Enjoy. (Video courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.)

Story by Joe Jerek, photos courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.

CARTER COUNTY, MO. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) added 20 adult cow elk, 16 yearling cow elk, three yearling bull elk and one newborn male calf to its elk restoration project in the Ozarks Tuesday morning.

Nicknamed Plus 1, new elk bull calf born on the way

Transported via livestock trailer from Kentucky, where they spent the past four months quarantined in a holding pen, the elk arrived at temporary holding pens on MDC’s Peck Ranch Conservation Area at first light. MDC staff quickly ushered the hoofed cargo into spacious holding pens, and within an hour Missouri’s newest four-legged residents were resting in the shade and grazing on lush clover.

Everybody off the truck!

Thirty-nine elk started the journey west, which ended with 40. MDC’s Jake Rieken, who made the trip west with the elk after spending the past four months caring for them in Kentucky, got a wonderful surprise when the convoy stopped so staff could check on the animals. He discovered that one of the pregnant cows had delivered a male calf. To avoid injury to the newborn, Rieken and other MDC staff removed it through a side door in the trailer. They placed it in a large animal crate in the bed of a pickup truck, secured the blanket-covered crate, and continued the trip. The newborn calf, nicknamed “Plus-1,” was reunited with its mother in a holding pen at Peck Ranch.

Kelly Straka and Jake Rieken with new elk.

Dr. Straka added that all of the elk underwent extensive health and disease testing in Kentucky before being brought to Missouri.

The elk will remain in the holding pens at Peck Ranch for up to several weeks as they acclimate to the area and MDC staff continue to monitor them. Some cows will begin dropping calves while in the holding pens.

“We’ve divided the pregnant cows into small groups in various pens to give them privacy and reduce their stress,” said Dr. Straka. “Those that do not calve before being released from the holding pens will seek out secluded spots to give birth. Most calves should be born by mid-June. This year’s group of 40 elk will add to the approximately 70 already living in the restoration zone. We expect several dozen new calves this spring from established elk, plus more calves from this year’s group.”

Ear-tagged and radio-collared - all dressed up for Peck Ranch

The Missouri restoration of this once-native species began with MDC bringing elk from Kentucky in May 2011 and again in May 2012 to the Department’s elk restoration zone covering 221,000 acres in parts of Shannon, Carter, and Reynolds counties.

This year, MDC again worked with Kentucky and Virginia state wildlife agencies to trap elk in January from the Appalachian Mountains of southeastern Kentucky. The effort resulted in 51 elk being trapped with Missouri getting 39, plus the newborn calf. Virginia will receive the remaining elk for its restoration effort.

As done in the previous two years of trapping, Missouri-bound elk received radio collars right before their trip west as part of a research project between MDC and the University of Missouri. The collars help track movement patterns and preferred habitat. The research project is funded by Federal Aid from the Wildlife Restoration Program administered through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation helped fund the 2013 capture and care of the elk in Kentucky. RMEF also donated materials and volunteer help at both Kentucky and Missouri holding facilities.

“This restoration effort is another conservation legacy, for us and for future generations, that could not have been possible without the enormous help and support from our staff and many conservation partners including The Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, LADD Foundation and Forest Service,” said MDC Deputy Director Tom Draper.

“On behalf of MDC leadership,” Draper continued, “we continue to be impressed with the passion, talent and dedication of MDC staff, and thankful for their ongoing hard work on this project. We are also grateful to the states of Kentucky and Virginia for their partnerships in elk restoration. We also thank the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, Big Game Hunters Foundation and Bass Pro Shops for their generous funding and support of this project. We are grateful to the many local landowners who have shown their support by creating elk habitat on their nearby properties, and to the communities of Eminence, Winona, Ellington and Van Buren, which have embraced the effort. We are also appreciative of The University of Missouri and the University of Kentucky for providing research support for the project.”

As in the past two years of elk restoration efforts, the 12,000-acre Refuge Area at Peck Ranch, where elk tend to congregate, is closed into July as new elk acclimate and cows give birth. MDC will open the area to elk driving tours later this summer.

For more information on elk restoration in Missouri, visit mdc.mo.gov.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Through a partnership of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Ameren Missouri and the World Bird Sanctuary (WBS), people around the world have been getting a bird’s-eye view of peregrine falcons raising four chicks in a nest box at Ameren’s Sioux Energy Center in St. Louis. A camera mounted near the birds’ nest box provides video feeds to each organization’s website.

Peregrine mom with her first egg

This year’s nesting activities were first spotted in the beginning of February. According to WBS Director Jeff Meshach, the female peregrine falcon laid four eggs in mid-March, which hatched in mid-April.

Meshach placed leg bands on the four falcon chicks on May 17 — three males and one female. The process took about one hour and involved removing the chicks from the nest and taking them down from the nesting site to a trailer. WBS staff drew blood samples and weighed and measured the chicks. After banding the chicks, Meshach returned them to the nest.

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/wildlife-cameras/peregrine-falcon-web-camera

“The chicks appear healthy and very well fed,” said Meshach. “The chicks should be fledging the nest in mid-June.”

The leg bands are issued to permitted organizations through the U.S. Geological Survey.

“The bands provide information on migration routes, migration distances and distributions on breeding birds,” Meshach explained. “For instance, we can tell that the mother of the chicks was hatched in 2006 at a power plant in Iowa. We know the male was hatched at the Labadie Energy Center in 2004.”

The nest can be viewed live from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. (CT) seven days a week on MDC’s website at mdc.mo.gov/node/16934, on Ameren’s website at AmerenMissouri.com/FalconWatch and on the WBS website at worldbirdsanctuary.org.

Considered the world’s fastest animal, peregrine falcons have been clocked diving at 261 mph. For more information on peregrine falcons, visit MDC online at mdc.mo.gov.

It’s official. Turtles are on the move. I’ve stopped twice in the last three days to turn turtles (one three-toed and one painted if you must know) that for some reason have decided to travel the roads in the same direction as traffic, as opposed to simply cross the road in search of turtle love.

Alexis Mandry's turtle made the cover last yeat

We had so much fun with this last year, the little kid in us says; AGAIN!

Opening Turtle Photo Contest II – Now until June 1

Rules: Original photos only. Post on our Facebook page, or send to Jo and she will post for you.
No prior entries. If we get 10 entries, there will be fabulous prizes for the winner and runner up.
Contest open until midnight May 31. Winner by number of ‘likes’ on Traveler’s FB page only.
Winner announced June 1. Make sure we have a way to reach you (phone or email) to notify winners.

Meanwhile, help those turtles across the road if you can do so safely.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir, by Leland and Crystal Payton, has won a silver medal in Best Regional Non-Fiction Mid-West (which includes eight states) in the 2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Lens & Pen Press’s newest title is their third book to receive such recognition. Mystery of the Irish Wilderness in 2009 received a gold medal; See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image was an IPPY award finalist in 2004.

This respected competition is open to independent book producers, university presses, and divisions of major publishers that release 50 or fewer books a year. Chosen from a total of 5,300 entries, the 382 medalists represent 44 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, five Canadian provinces, and eight countries overseas. Co-author Crystal Payton will receive the award at a ceremony on May 29th, in New York City.

Damming the Osage chronicles the untold story of crime, duplicity and deception in the conversion of a free flowing prairie stream into reservoirs. Rising in Kansas’s Flint Hills, after gathering tributaries through prairie country, the Marais des Cygnes River enters Missouri and soon after becomes the Osage River. It cuts a meandering course through the northern Ozarks, before dumping into the Missouri River. It’s a big, turbid river with a turbulent history. Changes caused by massive water resource development have rarely been examined with a sharper focus and never better illustrated.

Authors Leland and Crystal Payton

Gray-headed coneflower. MDC photo.

At the first, second, and third Prairie BioBlitz’s, held at three different MPF prairies, participants documented 16 species of amphibians and reptiles, hundreds of plants, including 33 species of mosses and other bryophytes, blooming orchids, and a rush previously undocumented from prairies, 20 species of butterflies, dozens of bird species, and Arkansas darters, a fish that is a candidate for federal listing.

MPF provides: a big tent for eating under, chairs, tables, and portable toilets. Participants should bring tent camping supplies, outdoor clothing, sunscreen, flashlight, field guides and camera if you wish; and drinking water, plates, utensils, and a dish to share at the potluck dinner. You may also want to bring food for breakfast on June 2 and snacks. A stove will be available for making coffee and tea in the morning. Tip: rubber boots are nice for shielding against morning dew.

Directions: Three and one-half miles west of Hwy. 49/71 at Sheldon on Hwy.N, 1.5 miles south on county gravel road, 0.25 mile east on gravel road. Look for the big tent.

RSVP for the BioBlitz by emailing info@moprairie.com or calling 888-843-6739. When you RSVP, be sure to indicate which field study groups you want to join ).

To RSVP, call 888-843-6739 or send a message to info@moprairie.com.