Summer Research Week 9

MONDAY 7/6/2015 Nescopeck State Park

The slow down continues with fewer birds vocalizing. Did the powerline easement first and that had Eastern Towhee and Field Sparrows with a single Prairie Warbler. I wouldn't be concerned with these three species in Pennsylvania despite the decreasing numbers - I think they're flexible enough in habitat to take advantage of gas and electric right-aways and I would through in Indigo Buntings as well. I hear these species all summer at my local grocery (Price Chopper) and around the mall as well. 

The fields that are managed for early successional birds had these birds as well and a few more. Goldfinches are becoming more obvious as their breeding season kicks in. Few Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warblers kicking around. Veerys... tons of them, still singing and calling from the edges. I've been seeing more hummingbirds too - maybe drawn to the flowers that are starting to bloom like the butterfly weed below. Blueberries are starting past their peek but bush honeysuckle, an invasive species, is pulling up the slack and they are heavy with fruit. 

Best bird of the day? Large female Cooper's Hawk that I almost hit in the truck 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Butterfly Weed

Wildflower mix

Bush Honeysuckle

TUESDAY 7/6/2015 Beltzville State Park, Jacob's Property

A added a site near the boat launch. Last round, when I finished my survey, the land manager informed me they just sprayed the field. Now this is two weeks later and the site had been mowed (to about 8 inches) and seeded. There were still tons of song sparrows about the scattered shrubs and bluebirds but the yellowthroats were fewer. We'll see how they make out with the next planting.

The primary field didn't have the Eastern Meadowlark that was there last year. That's a species, unlike Field Sparrows, Eastern Towhee, Indigo Buntings, and Prairie Warblers, that we need to intensively manage. So far, I have ZERO meadowlarks and not a single Golden-winged Warbler.

On the upside this site had tons of Bobolinks. 

Jacob's Property, off 115, was really slow. Best bird was a male Sharp-shinned Hawk. There was other cool stuff there. This place needs a bioblitz. 

WEDNESDAY 7/7/2015 Office 

THURSDAY SGL205 

I didn't go out the day before because of rain. That rain clung to the shoulder-tall grasses. The site consists of several fields and they appear to be managed differently - making for great science. But we only sampled a warm-season and a cool-season grassland. The cool season is full of Red-winged Blackbirds and the edges have all the typical edge species (Indigo Buntings, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow). Like the other sites, I had Bobolinks swing by. 

After the survey, I took a ride over to Edge of the Woods Nursery for some native plants. Picked up butterfly weed, bottle gentian, and some irises. Not cheap. While I was there a red fox was working the edge of the fence. 

FRIDAY SGL036

My favorite site and beautiful morning. I didn't get the species I was hoping (Savannah Sparrow, Henslow Sparrow) but I did get the Northern Harrier, Bobolinks flew over, and I picked up a Blue Grosbeak. 

Black-throated Blue Warbler in the woods adjacent to the fields

Good view of the vegetation and a deer waaaay out there

Grasshopper Sparrow - still singing

Northern Harrier cruising the fields

SATURDAY 7/11/2015 Lehigh Gap Nature Center and Kittatinny Ridge 

Gorgeous morning. Birds were few at LGNC as I expect but the Blue Grosbeak was still singing like crazy. After LGNC went up to Kittatinny Ridge where I have my last point on the Appalachian Trail. Life is good.These first two photographs show bare ground at LGNC where heavy metals obliterated the vegetation and soils. 

THAT'S IT FOR POINT COUNTS! 

Summer Research Week 3

MONDAY 5/25/15 - Memorial Day
TUESDAY 5/26/15 - off 

WEDNESDAY 5/27/15

Went to SGL 221 in Cresco, PA. This is part of our grassland study but not in any way a grassland. The area is a large coppice woodland - the oaks and hickories were cut and left to resprout - and did they! I'd estimate that the height of most of the vegetation is around 2 - 3 and dense with a thick understory of sweet fern, bracken fern, and blueberries. I do need to take photos of the site. 

Went in today with Matt and Sebastian to cut back the vegetation along a trail so I can find my way between points. Somebody tore down the flags I put up last year. Oh well. Bloody hot and Matt picked off eight ticks. I'm going to call the trail the Pike Memorial Trail in honor of a student that went out with me last year 

Some of the interesting finds was the giant coyote poop - complete with dung beetle and a porcupine. Not a day to forget the camera's SD in the computer. But the porcupine is resting in the fork of the large tree.

THURSDAY 5/28/2015

First bird survey of the season and I went out to SGL119. We call the site Francis Walter Dam but the dam is a few miles away. This is a restoration site and is where they removed the top soil to build the dam. So there wasn't much more than bare rock for a number of years. I don't know all the details but Pheasants Forever is out there to help the restoration effort (though I wish it was more "Northern Bobwhite Forever"). 

Bird-wise the site had all the usual suspects: Prairie Warblers, Field Sparrows, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Gray Catbirds, etc. Was hoping for Yellow-breasted chat but I think the shrubs need to develop a bit more. After the survey, I took a walk along the edges where I could hear frogs croaking - not a disappointment. Lots of copulation. Hopefully, we'll have a few more rain events to let the young develop. 

Eastern Bluebird - no nest boxes!

Gray Treefrog doing their thang!

Cinnamon Fern

Interrupted Fern (love this genus!)

We also kicked out the fruit study to look at the effects of landscape on fruit removal rates. So we made agar-fructose fruits with some red food coloring and set them out. They shrunk and nothing ate them after 16 or so hours but we put them back out. We really need cameras on them too. Need $$$. 

FRIDAY - 5/29/2015

Bird survey at Ricketts Glen State Park. One of my favorite places to be at sunrise and one of the most diverse places for a bird survey. The day started out horrible. At 445 in the morning I filled the cup holder in the truck with the entire contents of my mug. So no coffee. 

This trip had fewer species than last year but still good stuff. There were several Common Ravens around - one of the species expanding towards the south. Tons of Prairie Warblers, Gray Catbirds, Tree Swallows. There was an Alder Flycatcher that I, again, called a phoebe before I figured out what is really was (and confirmed with a sighting). There were tons of cuckoos around - maybe in response to the gypsy moth outbreak? Interesting paper suggests they do just that. I didn't realize the outbreak was as large as it was until I was driving along the river towards Berwick and you could see denuded trees on the ridges. A also called a Swamp Sparrow a Chipping Sparrow until I realized they're not in swamps (duh). Didn't get the Northern Harrier this year but last year it was just luck as it spent a total of 10 seconds in the field I was surveying. Did get a Sharp-shinned Hawk that was being harassed by a hoard of Tree Swallows. Also, a bunch of White-throated Sparrows were singing. Yay for elevation. 

The best stuff was the non-birds: smooth green snake! and I got some bear fur for isotopes. 

Sunrise at Rickett's Glen "Hayfields"

After RGSP, a lunch break (at 9), then picked up some students and off to a CREP field to get samples from a bluebird box and ended up catching a song sparrow and gray catbird.