WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT NOTES
October 16, 2007
Weather
Fall has arrived. We?ve had several days in a row with cool, pleasant mornings
and clear blue skies with low humidity all day. The
star-gazing has been spectacular thanks to this clarity. We?ve had 4.35 inches
of rain since September 1st which has made a dramatic
difference in our herbaceous vegetation?the wildflowers are short, but spectacular.
This is very different from our limited spring wildflower showing which occurred
right at the worst part of this year's drought.
A
short walk through the House Pasture and Gin House Field will expose you to
a marvelous array of wildflower species, featuring the
purples and golds of autumn. There are abundant patches of Pityopsis, narrow-leaved
sunflower, various goldenrods, blazing star, and
Ageratum. The Gin House Field is carpeted with frost aster this year.Across
the property we are seeing the results of drought: all our
vegetation that would usually be hip-high is only about a foot tall or so.
Very different. Unfortunately we are missing our usual bloom of
pink Agalinis, but fortunately the winged sumac was so stunted it didn't bloom.
It is so odd to see short goldenrods, dog fennel, and
Liatris that are usually so tall and willowy. Ragweed really appreciates these
conditions - it has spread far and wide around the
Star Pasture as never before.Grasses have responded beautifully to the recent
rains and are tall, flowering, and glowing in the sunlight. The variety and
sheer quantity across the property is amazing. This is the time of year to
really see the subtle beauty and intricacy of grasses, plants that are crucial
in the food web and overall ecology, yet we take them for granted the rest
of the year when they are less showy. The broomsedge in Linton?s Corner is
absolutely gorgeous.Other wildflowers in bloom include Lobelia, Scutellaria,
Eupatorium,
and lots of elephant?s foot. Other wildflowers that are usually obvious and
abundant but are sparse this year include blue curl, American beautyberry,
and partridge pea.
Land
Management
The severe drought really has made a difference in the vegetation this year.
In general, all the herbaceous plants are stunted; they really weren't able
to grow. This means less biomass, which means less fuel for burning. It will
be very interesting to see how our burning goes this year. The Gin House burn
is next, probably late November if conditions permit. We?d love an early frost
to dry out the grasses, so they can carry a nice hot fire. We shall see.Big
Bay Swamp and the PondsEven with the rains of the past few months, there has
been no net gain of water in our ponds or swamp. On the plus side, there have
been some beautiful stands of wildflowers: on the Upper Pond flats Ludwigia
has been beautiful; and right now on the former swamp floor, now exposed,
golden Bidens midas is making a beautiful showing swamp-wide. Pink knotweed
is blooming profusely across the dry bottom of the Frog Pond and Big Bay Pond;
the Spring Pond is bone dry and full of grasses and pokeweed and persimmon.
Farm
Pond
The Farm Pond still has enough water in it to support wildlife. The Great
Egret and Great Blue Herons are often spotted hunting on the
western flats, and White Ibis are seen circling the pond bank, probing for
invertebrates. Wood Duck have been flushed recently, and a flock of about
20 Blue-winged Teal visited for a few days, probably on their way south.
Until just recently, there had been no sign of our resident gators. In the
last few years we've had two; one about five feet long, one
smaller. We?ve seen the large one in the past month. Two days ago I stopped
to see if they were around, and there one went, working its
way fairly quickly through the watershield (a small waterlily that covers
the pond surface). The gator seemed to be kicking up the lily
pads in front of it?s nose, but when I looked through the binoculars, those
shapes were not lily pads, they were the struggling webbed feet and head of
a softshelled turtle being carried away. The smaller gator was showing great
interest and following along. I assume the first gator got a good meal that
day. We all must eat, but I didn't want to wait around and observe the outcome.
Gopher
Tortoise
We rarely ever see a gopher tortoise, but we have a very interesting place
at Birdsong called the Gopher Tortoise Neighborhood where there are four active
burrows. We don?t know how many tortoises actually reside here: does one manage
all those homes or is there one per burrow? These holes are all close to the
trail and two days ago all four displayed freshly smoothed earth on each "porch"
and two had
toenail prints that correspond to a gopher's foot print. We don't know why
they are so active right now; maybe they are enjoying wildflowers for lunch.
Butterflies
There are butterflies everywhere! All the wildflowers are extremely attractive
to the hordes of gulf fritillaries and various sulfurs, and
the zebra longwings have appeared. We?re also seeing more monarchs than in
years past. Chris has been raising dozens of caterpillars on
the back porch and making sure her "livestock" are fed keeps her
very busy. Thanks to the flats of milkweed donated by Carl and Linda
Tinsley there have been plenty of monarch larvae to raise, and they are very
happy caterpillars indeed, capable of stripping a milkweed
plant in a matter of hours. It?s been great fun. We really appreciate the
butterfly "cage" donated by Native Nurseries that enables us to
share the butterfly life cycle with our visitors.
Unusual
Orchid
Chris found a new orchid in the House Pasture straight south of the barn and
across from the old calf feeders. She found it by chance and
we're lucky she found it at all. It is the Michaux?s Orchid or Habaneria
quinqueseta. It is listed as a threatened species in Georgia, and has
not been seen on Birdsong before. It is a very self-effacing orchid with greenish
flowers that blend beautifully into the background of grasses and forbs in
this area. There are about 20 plants there, and three of them flowered. We
were extremely surprised to find an orchid in the House Pasture.I blame the
Florida Native Plant Society, Magnolia Chapter. They came out this spring
for a program and stayed to help us burn and oh, what a nice little burn it
was. Thank goodness so many people were interested in helping - it was a windy
day and it burned hot. Whatever botanical magic they brought to the occasion,
it released this interesting orchid, in a very unlikely place, so the Native
Plant Society will be invited back to help us burn again. Who knows what they'll
release next time!
-KDB
Bird Window Notes
Activity at the Bird Window is usually slower in September, but this year,
possibly because of the drought, the mister and pool seem to be
in high demand. In addition to our usual residents and their offspring, visitors
have included Wood Thrush; Swainson's Thrush; Veery; Northern Mockingbird;
Black-and-white, Pine, Hooded and Northern Parula Warblers; White-eyed and
Red-eyed Vireos; Summer and
Scarlet Tanagers; Indigo Buntings; Common Yellowthroat; House Wren; Common
Ground Dove; American Redstart and male and female
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Last week some of our winter residents started to
put in an appearance. These included a small group of Gray
Catbirds and our first fall Yellow-rumped Warbler and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds were still numerous in September busily sipping sugar water at
the feeders and nectaring on flowering plants.
These little dynamos easily double their weight this time of year in preparation
for migration. The last hummers spotted looked a little
bit like flying ping-pong balls with wings. Although we have not seen a hummingbird
in October at the Bird Window we plan to leave our
feeder up at least another month in hope that one of the nine species of hummingbirds
reported to have overwintered in Georgia last year
just might decide to use Birdsong as a winter vacation site.
This
year two Queen butterflies were spotted laying eggs on our milkweeds. We collected
about fifteen caterpillars, and most have
completed their life cycle and been released. There are still about five chrysalises
that should produce new butterflies any day now!
This species has probably been around in previous years but it has not been
officially recorded on Birdsong since the mid 1990's.
-Chris
Bittle
| Birdsong Home | Hours ~ Location & Map | Calendar of Events | Festival Information |
| Mission and History | Wildlife Management Notes | Membership Form | Birdsong Pictures |
Birdsong Nature Center
Copyright © 2002, Birdsong Nature Center
Revised -- Nov 1,2007