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Wildlife Management Notes

Wildlife Management Notes and Observations
March 26, 2004

Woodland pond at Birdsong.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT NOTES

Weather

One day after the last newsletter’s wildlife notes were written it was dry enough to do some burning. Weeks of rain had kept us from proceeding. As of today, no burning has been allowed in our county for over a week because it has been so dry and windy. Peter has recorded only .22 inches of rain so far for the month of March.

In spite of all this, it is Springtime! Dogwoods are in full flower and trees are exhibiting every possible shade of green. The red maples have already bloomed and changed from red to orange. Wild azaleas are in full fragrance, providing a food source for early swallowtails. Spectacular cascades of Cherokee rose line Meridian Road and cover the hedgerows, bright white against the greenery, no doubt being eyed by courting Brown Thrashers as nesting sites.

What an interesting year we’ve had so far (i.e. what a challenging season for land managers). First it rained so much for so long we couldn’t get started. Then it stopped and we burned and it was amazing – we were able to do almost half of the place in two sessions and it was some of the easiest burning we’ve done in years, thanks to high moisture levels in the soil, creeks flowing, and very secure firebreaks. Not to mention excellent crews.

Then – no more rain and very low humidity. We burned around the Listening Place and along the Bay hotter and drier then I really liked, but we needed to get it done. Then two weeks ago we got what seemed to be acceptable conditions for the east line prescription, but once we got our test fire started it was clearly too dry and too windy to proceed, so we called it off. That is never easy to do, especially when you have an enthusiastic crew geared up and ready to go. It was one of those difficult judgment calls – but it was the right one.

Now we are really hoping for some rain so we can finish up. If it doesn’t happen soon we’ll wait until after nesting season. We’ve been so conscientious in keeping up with the burning, even throughout the drought, that it won’t hurt to skip a year in most of the remaining areas. We also don’t want to burn through our huge crop of young longleaf pines. So, it will all balance out in the end, but we will still want some rain! It’s hard to be patient when you are on a mission.

Gin House Field

The crimson clover crop is beginning to bloom, although slowly. Once it rains the field will probably turn red overnight. Right now the clover leaves are curling up, it’s so dry. We are also waiting on our annual dual crop of coral-colored sourgrass and lavender toadflax. Usually these would be out by now – a lovely haze of purple and pink.

The Bluebird season is off to a great start. The birds have been courting and singing intensely for weeks. Our bluebird volunteers started monitoring this week and found several nests with gorgeous blue eggs. Brown-headed Nuthatches are also using these boxes – several had unmistakable nests lined with pine mast wings and tiny brown-speckled eggs. There were also a few moss-lined nests started by Carolina Chickadees. It promises to be an excellent season!

We do invite anyone who is interested to join our monitors on their rounds. They go twice a week, every other week through August and could use your help from time to time. The experience itself is absolutely fascinating – each species’ nest, eggs and behavior is unique, and you can see all of it close up. You also can have the satisfaction of contributing to a 20-year monitoring project that now successfully fledges well over 100 birds a year, benefiting cavity-nesting species that really need these boxes to reproduce.

It will be greening up soon, so come out now to the Listening Place to see our four visible Great Blue Heron nests – the adults appear to be sitting on eggs, and another one out of view, sounds as if there may already be young hatched out and begging. The nests are easy to see, and one is perfectly silhouetted above the tree line. Anhingas, too, are congregating and nesting, straight across the swamp, lower down, closer to the water.

On your walk to and from the Listening Place don’t miss the garden of violets on the north side of the trail. We have never seen so many. They are glorious in the morning sunlight - another photo opportunity.

The Farm Pond’s resident alligator has emerged after the cool winter weather. He or she is definitely in charge of this place. She likes the shallow sloped bank on the north edge, on the Upper Pond Dam, for sunning, and can startle a person if you walk up on her and she thrashes into the water. She’s a good 7 or so feet long and curious. We’ll be keeping our eye on her.

We have a full complement of martins already, 10 pairs, and they are busy from dawn until dusk. They appear to have chosen their gourds and soon will begin building. Peter has prepared their special clay pool nearby, where we dampen the red clay and the martins collect it in their bills to assemble their nests. They are currently spending a lot of time at the gourds, doing lots of singing and chortling, a very happy sound. You can come and relax on the benches close by and watch their behavior at very close range. They have settled in now and rarely take off when visitors walk by – another excellent photo or drawing opportunity. I love the idea that they have traveled here to nest with us from Brazil. I spent six years of my childhood there and they were known as "andorinhas" or little swallows. There was a beautiful modernistic sculpture in a square in our town dedicated to them. My mother tracked down the sculptor and he agreed to create a version of this statue for her, which is now at my parents’ home. It makes me think of Birdsong. It just demonstrates how interconnected all life is on the planet – in space and in time – and hopefully teaches us to care about what happens everywhere else and to take right action.

This time of year is an auditory delight – especially if you are an early riser. Peter, our gardener, is coming in even earlier then usual lately, due to his "cardinal alarm clock". The birds in my neighborhood get started right at dawn, celebrating spring, the sunrise and another opportunity to nest. The exuberance goes on all day out here. We’ve recently welcomed Northern Parula Warblers, not as frequently seen as heard. There are lots of them singing this year, which pleases us – we had very few last season and really missed them.

The Bird Window has been very busy. Our male Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds came in on March 17^th, just as Betty always predicted they would. Visitors have also seen: Northern Bobwhite, Eastern Phoebe, Cedar Waxwings, Juneos, House Finch, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Hermit Thrush, Northern Parula Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Ground Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and all our year-round residents.

On March 17^th two Wild Turkeys were spotted in the right vista and spent about a half an hour just wandering and feeding. At one point they were energetically pecking the blossoms off a yellow wildflower, gorgeous and coppery in the sunlight.

Rodie’s wild azaleas are in full bloom, scenting the garden and feeding pipevines, zebra and tiger swallowtails. The golden Senecio has been glorious, glowing in the morning light. Our Garden volunteers could use your help with weeding, mulching, and planting, etc., as we move into the warmer weather that butterflies and their food plants thrive on.

The little four-foot gator is back at its post at the now-full Spring Pond. Wild white indigo is up and blooming along our east line. There are some gorgeous patches of yellow rock roses all around the property, a bed of them near the bluebird box by the Upper Pond. A stroll through the Wildlife Woods is like walking through lace, there are so many dogwoods in bloom, and the big beech tree is fully leafed out in pale green. We disturbed ten young deer there the other day and off they bounded, their white handkerchieves waving goodbye.

As always, we invite you to come out and enjoy the place. It is truly lovely right now, still cool and great for walking. Betty loved this time of year and we miss her. It will soon be two years since her passing. Within a week or so the red mulberries will be a full fruit, attracting Cedar Waxwings and new arrivals such as Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Rose-breasted and Evening Grosbeaks. Betty would say, "In nature there is always something to look forward to". We look forward to seeing you!

~KDB

Copyright © 2002, Birdsong Nature Center
Revised -- May 10, 2004