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I found ‘him’ feeding on top of a phragmites seed head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n He was such a glutton this might be the most interesting pose I got because he spent the entire time gorging himself on the seeds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The individual seeds are tiny – each phragmites seed head can produce about 2000 of them per year so…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n this sparrow and several others nearby were taking full advantage of their abundance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n He really got into it, figuratively and literally.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n He tugged on this stem for quite a while before he got what he was after…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n and then he went after more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Those little seeds seemed to be everywhere but they were\u00a0sure hard for me to see.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eventually he turned on the perch…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n and started feeding on the other side. I had to include this shot, just because I thought it was cute as he watched the phragmites fluff fall. I took about 400 shots of this sparrow over less than four minutes as he was eating and would have continued if another vehicle hadn’t approached me from behind and forced me to leave it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’ve wondered about something regarding phragmites for a very long time and my experience with these sparrows yesterday morning brought the question to the forefront once\u00a0again. What’s the real<\/em> reason phragmites in North America has been\u00a0disparaged by wetland and refuge managers for so long? And does it really deserve its nasty reputation as an invasive species that “should be removed at any cost”\u00a0because it has few if any environmental virtues in North America?<\/p>\n Although the Phragmites australis<\/em> found in North America is commonly considered a foreign and invasive\u00a0species we’ve now learned from the fossil and archeological\u00a0record that\u00a0it’s been here for at least 3000 years. From my own experience I know it provides useful habitat for a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species including birds and mammals.<\/p>\n Land managers have historically thought of phragmites marshes as being “barren of plants and wildlife, particularly waterfowl.” But actual evidence of that belief is thin and inconsistent. Here’s part of what the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation\u00a0Service\u00a0says about Phragmites australis<\/em>, also known as common reed:<\/p>\n But the issue is complicated by the\u00a0following factors:\u00a0there are multiple varieties of\u00a0Phragmites australis <\/em>(all of them the same species), some are native to North America\u00a0and some are not, they can be extremely difficult to distinguish from each other\u00a0and it’s the invasive varieties that are causing the alleged problems.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From my own observations over many years it’s obvious to me that phragmites provides useful habitat and cover\u00a0for a large variety of native vertebrate species and many birds and mammals\u00a0use their seeds, rhizomes and stems as a food source.<\/p>\n But the war on phragmites in our wetlands and marshes continues unabated. Many millions of dollars and endless\u00a0man hours are spent on\u00a0its eradication annually and I’m continually seeing evidence of that effort at places like Bear River MBR and Farmington Bay WMA where they burn, plow, graze cattle and use a variety of other methods and expensive equipment\u00a0in an effort to control it. And they never seem to make any lasting progress.<\/p>\n Invasive varieties of phragmites may or may not be the environmental scourge\u00a0they’ve been thought to be – the evidence is still unclear. So\u00a0several questions beg\u00a0to be asked:\u00a0Should the war on phragmites’ continue as we’ve been fighting (and losing)\u00a0it or would our resources be better spent on other methods of wetland management? And why have land managers,\u00a0refuge managers in particular, been\u00a0and continue to be so consistent in their dislike of phragmites and their\u00a0efforts to control it? I have my own working\u00a0theory about the answer to that last question – it goes something like this.<\/p>\n In my opinion there’s no question that hunters and hunting are the driving force behind many\u00a0wildlife and bird “refuges” and that’s true\u00a0to an unwarranted degree (which is related to the reason I refuse to buy a duck stamp but that’s a story for another post). Many refuges have almost become waterfowl (ducks and geese) farming operations for the benefit of hunters which means that non-consumptive users of refuges such as nature lovers, birders, photographers etc. and many other native species such as predators are left to suck the hind teat.\u00a0Native predators are routinely “controlled” (we know what that means…) on many refuges because of their perceived threat to waterfowl.<\/p>\n And phragmites marshes have long been considered “barren of waterfowl” so refuge managers continue to wage relentless and expensive\u00a0war on phragmites, in part because they’ve “always done it”, when it’s\u00a0obvious that the war cannot be won and it’s very possible that resources could be spent on more effective methods of marsh management. Throw in the fact that native muskrats eat phragmites intensively when it’s available and they’re notorious for tunneling into refuge dikes and making refuge management more\u00a0difficult so getting rid of phragmites may also help to control muskrats and reduce headaches for refuge managers.<\/p>\n The issue of phragmites control is controversial and far too complex for complete coverage here but here’s an excellent summary<\/span><\/a> if you have the interest.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – The last several paragraphs about hunting and refuge management\u00a0are “just my opinion” based on my observations and understanding. I’m sure there are others…<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Does phragmites really deserve its nasty reputation as an invasive species that “should be removed at any cost”?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/white-crowned-sparrow-4154-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"white-crowned-sparrow-4154-ron-dudley\\"")
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