Posts
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| Entrance Gate |
Every time we pay
a visit to our South Branch Preserve Restoration Site we keep spotting more
species of birds, butterflies and amphibians. I decided to conduct a breeding
bird survey inside the 100 acre fence on June 21, 2011. I walked from the entrance gate, down Shop Lane to the end of the cul-de-sac, through the forest, across
the main stream and down Yalda Court back to the main gate. I walked this entire
loop from 6am to about 7am. As I walked this route I counted all of the birds I
saw or heard on the entire walk.
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| Shop Lane |
This route will be completed in the same
manner each year. On this first year’s walk I ended up spotting or hearing 30
species of birds and 85 individuals. Catbirds were the most plentiful
bird spotted with 11 individuals. There was a three way tie for the second most
individuals seen. They were six each of the following species, the beautiful
red/orange scarlet tanager,
the ground loving ovenbird and a flycatcher called the
eastern wood-pewee.
Three uncommon hairy woodpeckers
were spotted as well as its larger cousin the pileated woodpecker. One threatened species was seen
called a Cooper’s hawk which may nest on the
property or an adjacent property.
The information
from this survey will be used to monitor the changes in the bird populations of
the site as restoration of the forest continues. This survey will help us
determine what bird species favor the site. We suspect that when the understory
re-establishes itself in the future there will be an increase of ground nesting
bird species. Right now our ongoing total bird list for this site stands at 51
species. |
| Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly |
A total of twenty-one
species of butterflies, have
been identified at South Branch Preserve Restoration Site as of fall of 2011. During
the summer & fall they were spotted feeding on the flowering native plants that grew from the many species of wildflower seeds that
were planted on the site in the summer of 2010. They were also observed feeding
on the native plants that were already growing onsite.
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| Great Lobelia at the South Branch Preserve |
This site is blessed with an abundance of frogs as evidenced by the frequent visits from the great blue herons. One week after the vernal ponds were created American toads produced their egg masses in several of the vernal ponds. One week later these eggs hatched and thousands of tadpoles were seen swimming around in the shallow waters.
Green frogs and tree frogs are numerous
as well and breed onsite.
Twice we have spotted box turtles on the site. Three species
of snakes have also bee observed, they are garter, water &
brown snake. Five species of salamanders were found so far on
the site. Many were spotted under the hay bales that are used for erosion control.
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| Green Frog |
Conventional wisdom suggests that if an
amphibian population is thriving, the area is probably clear of pollutants. This
is true at our restoration site. A lot of the water starts right on site from
seeps and springs and it is near the top of the mountain at around 1000 feet
above sea level.
Twice a red fox has
been spotted inside the fence. Evidence of black bear, (claw marks on a tree and scat) & coyote
(scat) has been seen outside of the fence. We are keeping an ongoing list of the
wildlife that is seen on the site so our list increases with every season.
Stewardship Manager
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