A patch of oak savanna along the slopes of Lower Table Rock that was rehabbed last year already is showing enough signs of health that the warblers have taken notice.
There are fewer conifer-loving hermit warblers now that encroaching pine and firs have been systematically removed, and they’re being replaced by oak-loving black-throated gray warblers.
“We’ve already seen this shift,” says Jaime Stephens, science director for the Ashland-based Klamath Bird Observatory, which is inventorying bird use of these and other oak habitats. “The birds are telling us the story, in addition to what the oaks are telling us.”
This story could be an early chapter in a novel approach grassroots groups like KBO have embarked on throughout the Pacific Northwest to reclaim lost and overrun oak habitats and the animals that rely on them in the face of climate change.
Read the full story at the Medford Mail Tribune.