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Wildlife Management Notes

Wildlife Management Notes and Observations
August 5, 2004

Woodland pond at Birdsong.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT NOTES

Weather

The heat and humidity have been intense. There’s been less rain recently, but we’ve recorded 3.49 inches since July first. When it does rain the storms have been spectacular with incredible thunder clouds, lightning and wind. We’ve had a lot of trees and branches fall on the trails.

Everything is growing like crazy. The trails and lawns need frequent mowing – it’s a lot for Peter and Blair to keep up with. We definitely need a gas-powered weed-whacker to clear around the bluebird boxes, to help prevent predation; and around the new trail signs, so they can be seen. Blair is continuing our terrace mowing in the Gin House Field, as you can see the beautiful curving antique terraces. We will shortly begin mowing patches of winged sumac. It is just beginning to bloom and this will hopefully get it under control.

At the peak of the growing season like this you can really see the difference between areas that we burned this year and areas that we were unable to get to. We will go in and bush-hog some of them this summer and burn them hot next year.

The place is beautiful, apart from what we view as problems. It’s lush and green, lots of variety, lots and lots of insects, wildflowers, fruit – very good for the wildlife.

Here in the middle of summer we begin to see the start of the fall wildflower plants coming in and the fruit of trees and shrubs that bloom in the early spring. There are several varieties of white Eupatorium beginning to show, some gorgeous fireweed, and patches of Sabatina, light pink, at opposite ends of the place – a lot of it in Linton’s Corner, and some in the Mill Field. If you like wildflowers, it’s worth coming out for a look. There is a lot of yellow partridge pea along the eastern trails – good wildlife food; a favorite of quail. Dog fennel is everywhere in Big Bay Field, with some remaining daisy fleabane and a large crop of a very bushy legume. In the Gin House Field there is a unique summertime fragrance. It may be all the ragweed, which is not yet blooming, but there is a lot of it, and Agalinis is emerging – soon to be pink and loaded with bees. The winged sumac, however, is the most abundant flowering plant at the moment, and is keeping many bees, wasps, and other insects very busy.

The ponds and swamps are full of blooming plants as well. Yellow spadderdock is covering Upper Pond, and Big Bay Swamp is full of fragrant waterlily and Utricularia flowers. There is still some knotweed blooming in Big Bay Pond and the Frog Pond; the Spring Pond has a lot of water in it, some spadderdock, and it’s resident Little Blue Heron.

The elderberry is in full, rich purple fruit. The formerly white flowerheads are drooping down they are so loaded with berries. The cherry laurel’s pointed little fruits have turned black, getting riper. The hickory trees are laden with big green round husks, enclosing the hickory nuts. It appears there will be a good nut-fall this year for the squirrels.

The three gopher tortoise holes over near the Farm Pond appear to be inhabited and well-used. Their doorsteps all fan out with clean smooth dirt and there are trails through the grass leading to all three. It would be so interesting to know what the relationships are among the tortoises who live here so very close together, and to know how close their burrows are to each other under ground. I’ve always wondered if they interconnect.

The Bird Window is an extremely busy place. Our residents have gotten their babies fledged and are teaching them to eat and fend for themselves. Yesterday there were seven blue jays all lined up on the branch near the suet feeder while one jay attempted to rout the Red-Bellied Woodpecker in place at the suet. They must be related to be that tolerant of other jays in their "personal space". Cardinals, too, are feeding and training young, as are the Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers and Red-winged Blackbirds. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are abundant and are becoming tyrannical over the feeder, so there are wild altercations all day long, plus they are going through a tube of nectar almost daily. We are seeing a fair number of Summer Tanagers and Orchard Orioles coming in to the shower and pool. Yesterday there was an American Crow perched on the suet feeder. They seldom come here and it looked startlingly huge compared to the usual Bird Window birds.

Walking across the Farm Pond Dam about three weeks ago I heard this amazing sound, reminding me of a swarm of bees. I looked up and above me were the branches of a good-sized water oak. It was full of bees and wasps of all descriptions, including honey bees. They were each visiting little tiny acorns, and were obviously intensely interested. These little acorns were about one-quarter or one-third of an inch across, and of course attached right to the twigs and branches, no stem. This was apparently the water oak’s flowering stage. The little scaled caps concealed everything but the pistil of the flower or what will become the tip of a mature acorn. Other hardwoods have more obvious flowers. I guess I had just never thought about the fact that an acorn has to come from a flower, but what an unusual and unassuming flower. It may have been visually subtle to me, but it was obviously powerfully attractive and having a major impact on all those insects. A little further down the dam I saw another huge water oak. Its acorns were larger, you could actually see the developing nut, and there were no bees in sight.

A three-footed raccoon has been coming to the Bird Window and eating suet or getting up on the window trough for sunflower seed. She is extremely bold, and is not held back much by her disability. She may be the mother of three very young raccoons who have been raiding the suet feeder regularly lately. They are adorable, very fuzzy and blond-ish in coloring. The three get up and gnaw directly on the suet cake. One sibling, tired of waiting and picking up crumbs, climbed up the cypress knee past the one eating, and lowered itself down over the suet cake, rear-end first, in the face of it’s brother or sister, covering up the suet cake with its body. Took over, just like that.

Nicholas, the wood rat, has come and gone again. For the last several months, he was living under the restroom sink and got used to being constantly peered at and checked on, to the point he wouldn’t even get up and prepare to bolt. He would remain curled up in his perfect nest, eyes bright, whiskers twitching, and just look back, very alert. What a beautiful rat. He is a nocturnal tree-climber and would bring back snacks to have by his nest for day-time nibbling between naps. He appeared to be very fond of mistletoe, resurrection fern, and mulberry leaves. One day I opened the cabinet to say hello and he was sitting up in the nest eating a stick of mistletoe, holding it like someone playing a clarinet. He froze, caught in the act, realized "Oh, it’s just her" and proceeded to eat it from the top down. I could hear the chewing.

He is gone now. I hope he’s gone off to a new nest in a more natural setting. We’ve had some really big white oak snakes showing themselves lately. You have to be careful, getting attached to any member of the food web. Maybe he’ll come back next year.

Yes, it’s very hot, but don’t let it stop you coming out for a visit. The Bird Window is entertaining and full of birds, the Listening Place is shady and relaxing, there are Bluebirds everywhere, and the air is clean and fragrant. What more could you want on a bright summer day?

~KDB

Copyright © 2002, Birdsong Nature Center
Revised -- August 29, 2004