Wood Duck Update

Wood Duck male at White Memorial

photographed by Paul Fusco New and improved duck nest box placement at White Memorial's Mallard Marsh photographed by Dave Rosgen
Wood Ducks have been returning to northwest Connecticut in excellent numbers over the past 3 weeks. The past few days have seen a significant increase in their numbers. Last Thursday, 3/24, we counted 12 of these birds foraging along the shore of Bantam Lake's N. Bay by Litchfield Town Beach. Their numbers nearly doubled to 23 there 2 days later, and increased to 28 on the 28th. We counted 14 more a few minutes later that same day at Pt. Folly. We also counted 9 at Little Pond on the 24th, 6 in the Bantam River near Pike Marsh on the 29th, and 5 around the Museum Area on the 30th. Smaller numbers of these birds have been seen almost daily in various parts of the Property this month. We have no way of knowing how many of these Woodies are likely to stay and breed versus those continuing to migrate on to other breeding grounds. What we do know is that White Memorial typically hosts an average of 20 pairs of Wood Ducks and 7 pairs of Hooded Mergansers in its nest boxes. A few more of these birds nest in natural cavities in trees. This year we have 30 nest boxes out and available for these birds to use, and I hope to increase that number to 35 before the nesting season ends. For the past several years the number of boxes available for use has been around 32, 33, or 34. Massive flooding during the spring of last year really took a toll on the boxes in addition to causing many nest failures. A couple of blog posts earlier in the year detailed the work that our great intern, Scott Dayton, did to help us rebuild or replace many of the damaged boxes. An integral part of this work was to move 16 of the boxes to higher ground at the edges of our wetlands and to mount them onto longer poles so that they would remain above the floodwaters. So far the flooding this spring hasn't come anywhere close to threatening these boxes, even though the water was very deep in places. The boxes at Little Pond, which we haven't had a chance to move yet, were inundated. The photo above this posting shows one of the relocated and remounted nest boxes on its long pole. The bottom of the box is 5' 6" off the ground. Floodwaters never got closer than 3' to it. Also notice the 3' 4" length of 6" diameter PVC pipe around the pole, fastened immediately under the box, that serves as a very effective predator guard. We've already seen Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers around several of these boxes and are confident that they will nest in them. Stay tuned.

Bald Eagle Update


Both Bald Eagle photos by Paul Fusco

Bald Eagle activity has picked-up around Bantam Lake in the past 2 weeks. A minimum of 4 birds have been seen during this time period, including an adult male with a silver band on his right leg and a gold band on his left leg. He was seen at Pt. Folly and/or North Bay on the 17th, 19th, 26th, 28th, and today. In all cases his leg bands were seen, but the numbers on them couldn't be read, even with a 60X spotting scope. Since his behavior is territorial and he seems to be rather unconcerned about humans, he might be the same adult male that was on territory here all of last year and 2009. That bird also carried silver and gold leg bands and didn't seem to be afraid of people. Eagles with gold leg bands were banded as nestlings in Massachusetts, which now has a sizeable population of breeding pairs. Many of these are located in suburban areas, so the young eagles have grown up accustomed to people. That would be a necessity for any eagle attempting to nest on the shores of Bantam Lake, given the fact that it is such a popular recreation area. The adult male last year and the year before was paired with an adult female. They put small piles of sticks in at least 5 trees, and a bigger pile that came to look like a nest in a very large White Pine tree. This type of nesting behavior is common among Bald Eagles, and is referred to as house keeping. It typically occurs one or two years before the eagles really settle down to breed. A glitch in this process occured early last summer when a 5th-year subadult female eagle showed-up at Bantam Lake. During the first few days of her presence she made it known by being very vocal. Then we witnessed her perching next to the adult male and engaging in aerial duals with the adult female. These activities were observed periodically throughout the summer. All 3 of these birds departed by early November. Where they went is anybody's guess. With the adult male (assuming it is him) back as of the 17th, we were wondering when or if we would see either of the females. Yesterday, I observed an adult male which could have been him perched right next to a 5th-year subadult female in a tree at the Litchfield Town Beach. Neither of them seemed to be concerned about my presence, and they remained perched there for the entire 45 minutes that I was there. My observation on the 26th involved the adult male chasing 6 Mallards and 2 Wood Ducks from the Litchfield Town Beach Cove straight at me as I was standing on the boat ramp. The ducks veered to the right about 50' from me, but the eagle kept coming, and made his right turn when he was 20' over my head. I could see his leg bands clearly, but couldn't read the numbers on them because he was moving too fast. The ducks made a clean getaway, and the eagle circled a few times before heading east toward Old Camp Townsend. The 2 eagles that I observed at Pt. Folly on the 25th were immature females (2nd-year and 3rd-year). They haven't been seen there since that day. If anyone reading this post observes eagles at Bantam Lake or elsewhere on White Memorial property, please let me know by e-mailing me at dave@whitememorialcc.org.

Bluebird Nest Box Spring Inspections

Adult male Tree Swallow photo by

Bob Stanowski
Adult female Eastern Bluebird photo by

Bob Stanowski
Photo by Dave Rosgen of WMCC volunteer

Jim Kandefer opening a bluebird nest box

for inspection in the Bantam R. Field

The Connecticut Bluebird Restoration Project currently maintains 78 bluebird nest boxes on White Memorial Foundation property in Litchfield and Morris. We monitor them regularly from mid-March through mid-October, with the first and last inspections of each year focusing on addressing maintenance needs and performing vegetation management. Fortunately for us and the birds, most of the nest boxes are less than 5 years old, and, thus, don't require much maintenance work. Just like anything else, as the boxes age, they require more maintenance. Eventually, it gets to a point where it is no longer practical to continue repairing an old box, and it is replaced with a new one. This usually happens when a box is between 12 and 15 years old. We are able to achieve such long life spans by using high quality white pine lumber for all of the component parts of the nest boxes, fastening the parts together with 1 5/8" drywall or deck screws (never nails!), and by caulking the seams between the back and sides and top and sides. This technique has proven to be very effective in keeping moisture out of the boxes, which, in turns, keeps them from rotting prematurely. All of the poles are fitted with hardware cloth or aluminum flashing mouse guards as a cap over the PVC pipe predator guard (which is essential!) that encircles the pole on which the box is mounted. Mice can ruin a nest box in one season, so it is extremely important to keep them out. Ice and snow can take more of a toll on nest boxes than rain, so it is really important to check them in March in order to repair winter-caused damage. So far this spring we've been lucky. Out of 24 boxes inspected in the past week, only 2 needed to have component parts replaced. In both cases, the front door was split; probably from moisture entering cracks and then freezing. We also found one old wooden pole to be rotted. That will be replaced very soon with a new metal pole. Over the past few years we've been transitioning away from wooden poles to metal ones because the metal ones last so much longer. We also found one pole at a 45 degree angle, and straightened it back up. This might have been caused by a buck White-tailed Deer sparring with it last fall. While checking the boxes we were pleased to see a pair of Eastern Bluebirds back on territory in each of the fields, and a group of 8 newly-arrived Tree Swallows in the Alain White Rd. field. These maintenance inspections will probably continue for another 2 weeks, until all of the boxes have been visited, and until any problems that are encountered are corrected.

Confirming the presence and local distribution of porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum) on the White Memorial Foundation property, Litchfield and Morris, Litchfield County, USA.

We observed our first definitive evidence of porcupines on the property on March 15, 2011.  Lukas Hyder, WMF Asst. Property Superintendant, observed 4 to 5 sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees that were recently de-barked by chewing animal while performing the forest inventory.  The de-barked regions of the tree boles were approximately 10 to 15 feet above the forest floor; each tree was approximately 6 to 10 inches dbh (Figure 1).  
Figure 1:  Sugar maple tree debarked by porcupine.
Photo By: James Fischer
Trails in snow, claw marks on tree boles, gnawing tooth marks, and nipped twigs of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) (Figure 2) and red maple (Acer rubrum) (Figure 3)  were observed in this vicinity. 

Figure 2:  Yellow birch nipped twigs by porcupine.
Photo By:  James Fischer
Figure 3: Red maple nipped twigs by porcupine.
Photo By James Fischer

To date, all of this evidence was observed in the ravine and valley that extends SSW of Plunge Pool across the Beaver Pond trail and ends at the Teal Pond-south woods road.  We have not yet observed the animal, only the evidence of its activities.

Since this is our first observation of this species on the property, we need to establish if this animal is a resident or using it as a corridor.  Summer home ranges expand greatly from winter home ranges (Roze, 2009).  However, attempting to capture, mark, or track this lone animal will be costly and time consuming.  We would like to attempt a novel approach to detecting the presence and potential local distribution of this animal on the property.  Porcupines have a seasonal salt drive from April to August, which peaks in May (Roze, 2009).  We propose to utilize this behavior to our advantage by placing “salt licks” in the local vicinity of where we made our initial observations.  We are going to distribute salt soaked stakes (1"x1"x20" white pine) throughout the 5 Ponds region and to observe the presence/amount of chewed wood at each station.  If the animal remains on the property then the wood should be chewed by the porcupine.  We'll be replacing the stakes every month to assure that the stations display a relatively constant amount of salt because the rain will leach the salt from the stakes over time.

We are going to need a lot of help with this project, so if you are interested in volunteering to help us.  Please contact James Fischer.


Roze, U. 2009.  The North American Porcupine.  2 ed. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.  pp. 282




Frog and Toad Call Study Guide

We are surveying frogs and toads at White Memorial by call recognition.  This is a study guide for volunteers to become more familiar with the calls of the frogs and toads that we are searching for on the property.  If you are interested in volunteering to help our survey efforts please contact White Memorial for more information (860-567-0857).

How to use this study guide:  
Play each video and observe the animal vocalizing their call.  You can play more one video at the same time to hear each call in close proximity.  This could be useful for vocalizations that have similar qualities such as the American toad and Fowler's toad.  You can also hear in several of these videos the songs of other  species other than the focal species.  Can you identify the calls in the background?  Feel free to make a tape of the calls in the field at your survey points and compare them to the calls on this study guide.  Frogs and toads will have regional dialects to their vocalizations, just like songbirds.  Can you identify any of these variations?  

American toad

Fowler's toad


Bull frog

Northern leopard frog

Pickerel frog

Green frog

Spring peeper

Wood frog

Gray treefrog



What killed this White-tailed Deer? Part 6: Results and Discussion

I want to start by reviewing the evidence that we observed before I offer some conclusions.

§         We discovered the animal dead within 50 feet of Bissell Rd.
§         There were some external injuries to the hind limbs and although the animal was still warm the crows were already starting to eat portions of the carcass.
§         We determined that the animal was an adult female approximately 6 years of age.
§         The carcass did not exhibit any internal injuries, or at least none were observed. 
§         The kidney fat index and heart fat index were low but small amounts of fat were observed.
§         The bone marrow fat index was marginal. 

I started this examination thinking that there could have been several factors that contributed to the death of this animal.  I hypothesized that it could have been struck by a vehicle, predation, or winter severity.  I feel confident to conclude that it was not struck by a vehicle.  The internal organs were not injured nor were any of the large bones.  This gave you an opportunity to examine relatively healthy white-tailed deer internal organs.  Pretty cool, Huh! 

I was left wondering if this winter was severe enough that the animal depleted its fat reserves and could not procure enough food due to the deep snow.  This doe was an older animal with respect to the rest of Connecticut’s white-tailed deer population.  Old and young animals tend to die during seasons of extreme environmental stress.  All Connecticut residents can attest to severity of this winter.  We had extremely deep snow, cold temperatures, and with relatively no thaw like we usually experience during most winters. 

I also wonder if predators could have wounded the animal enough that the animal died from these injuries.  Coyotes are quite common on the property and are observed eating from deer carcasses.  They quite often employ a strategy of wounding an animal's hind limbs and then letting the animal wander off to die.  This strategy is quite efficient because they do not have to expend more energy to kill a large animal and it reduces their overall risk of being injured by a swift kick from a large animal.  Coyotes are commonly observed scavenging carcasses, which could be an efficient strategy relative to predating their food. 

But why could it not have been a little bit of both factors (winter severity and predation)?  Unfortunately, we can’t say that one factor was the only thing that killed this animal.  So, we have to hedge our bets and say that both factors contributed to this animal’s death.  The animal died at the end of a severe winter and Eastern coyotes are known to predate white-tailed deer when the deer’s movements are limited and they are in a weakened condition. 

We need to be very cautious to not expand this observation to what happens to all white-tailed deer that died this winter.  It only indicates what may have happened throughout the state.  White-tailed deer were observed exhibiting “yarding” behavior throughout the state of CT.  “Yarding” is a seasonal migration pattern usually observed in white-tailed deer populations in Northern New England, Adirondacks of NY, some of the Northern Midwest States and Canada Provinces.  White-tailed deer migrate long distances from their breeding/warm season grounds to a central location that provides several resources that they need to survive.  These locations offer adequate cover, food, water, and space so that they can survive the extreme winter environment; in other words these are their winter “habitats”. 

I hope you enjoyed this series.  It was an unique opportunity to show you not only what a white-tailed deer looks like from the inside and out, but also it gave me an opportunity to demonstrate one activity performed by a Wildlife Biologist.  You have learned what knowledge we have as a discipline by those who created that knowledge before us.  You also have learned how we apply this information to monitor and learn more about the populations we conserve.  I hope to show you more things like this in the future.  So, come back soon and often. 

The Migration Continues!

Sharp-shinned Hawk photo
by Darlene Knox
Red-shouldered Hawk photo
by Darlene Knox

Adult Bald Eagle photo by Paul Fusco
My posting yesterday promised an update of the bird migration activity that I expected to encounter in the afternoon after I sent out the post. At the time I figured that we would mainly find more migrant waterfowl. While we did find birds in this group, it was the raptors that proved more interesting. They were obviously staging a migration yesterday. The first one that I encountered was a Sharp-shinned Hawk that came in from the south, buzzed all of the birds at the Museum's Bird Observatory Feeders, and then spiraled upward after failing to catch anything. It continued northeastward out of sight. Within minutes of this sighting, I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling. I saw it come in from the southwest, soar and circle overhead, and headed due north. About 5 minutes after this bird disappeared, a second Red-shoulder appeared on the southwest horizon, soared overhead while calling constantly, and headed off to the northeast. After another 5 minutes had elapsed, a third Red-shoulder appeared appeared in the southern sky. It was also calling, and followed the same flight path as the second one. Two hours later, while working along N. Shore Rd., Jim Kandefer, John Eykelhoff, and I saw a total of 5 Red-tailed Hawks. Four of them (2 pairs) were likely residents by their locations and behavior. The fifth was an immature bird that flew and soared over us from southwest to northeast without stopping. It was likely a migrant. A little while later, we saw an adult male Cooper's Hawk fly past us, hit the ground, and come up with a small mammal that looked like a vole. It carried the critter deeper into the woods of Wheeler Hill, where we lost sight of it. On our way back to Pt. Folly we saw the Canada Geese and Ring-necked Ducks rise up in a panic. Swooping over them was an adult male Bald Eagle. It failed to catch anything, and landed in a tree on the Point. It perched there for several minutes before taking off and disappearing around the Point. We re-located it about 20 minutes later sitting on the ice off Deer Island. It was still there as of the time we left. As for the waterfowl, the Northern Pintails and most of the other birds mentioned in the previous post were still off Pt. Folly, but Canada Goose numbers had dropped sharply to 260. Since we stayed along the road watching for them until dark, and they failed to materialize, it is highly likely that they have migrated farther north. By contrast, Wood Duck numbers had increased to 29. Most of them were found feeding under the shrubs in the Bantam Lake Outlet area. We also saw a Great Blue Heron opposite the Pt. Folly observation platform, and heard and saw 4 American Woodcock displaying in the Bantam R. Field. In the non-bird category, we heard our first Northern Spring Peepers of the year calling from 3 spots along N. Shore Rd., and we saw a total of 5 Muskrats in various spots.


Migrant Birds Continue to Arrive in Litchfield

Snow Goose photo by Eric Reuter
from http://www.ducks.org
Red-breasted Merganser photo by
Eric Reuter from http://www.ducks.org/

Great Blue Heron photo by Bob Stanowski

Killdeer photo from http://www.stlucieaudubon.org/
The past few days have produced several first spring arrivals of migrant birds around White Memorial. On Tuesday, 3/15/11, Ray Belding found a Snow Goose mixed in with a flock of Canada Geese at Bantam Lake's Pt. Folly. This flock also contained 2 Cackling Geese. Ray also saw 8 Northern Pintails at this spot. A little while later, Jim Kandefer saw a Great Blue Heron at the Bantam River Oxbows along N. Shore Rd. while on his way to Pt. Folly. A short time after that, either that Great Blue, or another one, was seen flying over the Mill Field by John Grabowski. Only an hour later, Jeff Greenwood reported a Killdeer flying over Barney Hill. Around 5 p.m., John Eykelhoff, George Stephens, and I went to Pt. Folly to look for the Snow Goose. We didn't see any geese, which must have been out feeding in a cornfield somewhere, but we did see 5 American Wigeons, which hadn't been reported earlier in the day. John and I got cold and left after half an hour, but intrepid George returned to Pt. Folly around sunset, and did see the Snow Goose come in with 1,000 Canada Geese. The next day, John Eykelhoff visited Pt. Folly in the hopes of finding the Snow Goose. It, and all of the Canadas, were out feeding elsewhere again, but he spotted a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers in with 10 Common Mergansers. This species (the Red-breasted Merganser) is very uncommon at inland bodies of water in Connecticut, even though it is very common on Long Island Sound and the Great Lakes during the fall, winter, and spring. In the past few years it has been appearing with increasing frequency at Bantam Lake during the spring and late fall migration periods. I'm headed for Bantam Lake and other water bodies around White Memorial soon, and will report report my observations in an upcoming blog post.


2011 White Memorial Foundation Property-Wide Frog Call Survey Workshop


Saturday, March 19, 2011
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 
A. B. Ceder Classroom

Wood frog Photo By Donna Potwin

We are continuing our property wide survey for frogs and toads by identifying their calls.  Laura Saucier, CT DEP, Wildlife Technician, will facilitate our workshop.  We will be discussing the importance of monitoring these species and their natural history.  Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy footwear because there will be activity in the field.  This program will be a rain or shine event.  

2011 Great Backyard Bird Count for W. M. Foundation Summary

2011 Great Backyard Bird Count Totals for White Memorial Foundation
Conducted February 18, 19, 20, and 21 by Dave Rosgen, Mike Amodeo, John Eykelhoff, Samantha Foster, John & Carol Grabowski, Lukas Hyder, Jim Kandefer, John Marshall



Species                                         Total
Canada Goose                                350
Mute Swan                                       17
Wood Duck                                       4
American Black Duck                        3
Mallard                                             57
Ring-necked Duck                           18
Hooded Merganser                             5
Common Merganser                           3
Turkey Vulture                                   4
Cooper's Hawk                                  1
Red-tailed Hawk                                2
American Woodcock                         1                       
Ring-billed Gull                               92
Herring Gull                                       5
Mourning Dove                                38
Eastern Screech-Owl                          1
Great Horned Owl                              3
N. Saw-whet Owl                              1
Red-bellied Woodpecker                   3
Downy Woodpecker                        16
Hairy Woodpecker                             4
Pileated Woodpecker                         5
Blue Jay                                             53
American Crow                              286
Black-capped Chickadee                 152
Tufted Titmouse                              41
Red-breasted Nuthatch                      3
White-breasted Nuthatch                 22
Brown Creeper                                  4
Golden-crowned Kinglet                   9
Eastern Bluebird                              29
American Robin                              37
European Starling                          575
Cedar Waxwing                               14
American Tree Sparrow                  27
Song Sparrow                                    2
White-throated Sparrow                  19
Dark-eyed Junco                              74
Northern Cardinal                            42
Red-winged Blackbird                     73
Common Grackle                             27
Brown-headed Cowbird                    4                      
House Finch                                     30
American Goldfinch                        20
House Sparrow                                11

Total Species: 45
Total Individuals: 2,086

Monthly Volunteer Meeting: March 2011

Vernal Pool Workshop facilitated by Hank Gruner, VP of Programs Connecticut Science Center
Join The Fun!

Wednesday, 16 March 2011
7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
A. B. Ceder Classroom


We'll be discussing your observations on from the property including the Winter Track Transects and other projects that will be started this spring. 

These meetings are open to all and are free of charge.  Please attend so that you can learn how to help the Research and Conservation Programs of The White Memorial Conservation Center, Inc.  For more information, please contact James Fischer (james at whitememorialcc.org or 860-567-0857).

What killed this White-tailed Deer? Part 5: Bone Marrow Index

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BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION



We are getting closer to answering our question!  Please remember that occasionally as a biologist, we are also ecological detectives.  Put on your detective hats (Sherlock Holmes style) and let's continue the sleuth.

Lets start with a little review.  So far, we've determined the sex and age of this animal that we are investigating.  We continued by examining the internal anatomy, especially the organs that have fat stored in close proximity.  These organs and the amount of fat around them indicate the overall fat reserves that the animal still has to use as energy when other sources of energy (food) are limited.

This entry will explore one more body region that we can use to indicate the nutritional status of this animal and it is not the stomach!  This is the bone marrow.

Figure 1:  White-tailed deer femur bone marrow color indicates
the nutritional status of the animal  in the winter at the time of its death.
Photo By James Fischer 

Biologists have selected the femur bone to examine bone marrow fat levels for two reasons.  It is a large bone  and it provides a large amount of bone marrow to inspect (Figure 1).  The femur bone is about an inch or more in diameter.  Imagine a bone that is about the same size of two adult fingers held together, specifically the largest fingers, the fore and middle fingers held next to each other.  This is about the same size as some of the bones found in an adult human's skeleton.

I exposed the femur by cutting the muscle tissue away from the right hind leg.  I struck the bone with several sharp strikes with the back of my knife to break the bone and to expose the marrow in it.  We examine the marrow color, white marrow indicates that there is more fat in the marrow, while redder colors indicates less fat.  The bone marrow of this animal indicates that it had a little fat in the marrow because it is pink in color but probably less than it did in the autumn after it had fed on acorns and other nuts.  Now you can compare the bone marrow (Figure 1) with the kidney fat in our previous blog entry for yourself.  Pretty Cool!

The femur marrow indices corresponds closely with kidney fat indices.  Kidney fat indices are closely associated with the nutritional status of white-tailed deer.  It is important to realize that we don't always have an intact carcass to work with in the field because scavengers quickly clean carcasses.  So, when we approach a heavily scavenged carcass then we are limited by what we can observe.  The femur may be one of the only bones remaining.

Fortunately, we follow explorers who discovered this pattern and so we can use it.  Fat is energy, when food is limited or the landscape is difficult to navigate because the snow is as deep as a deer's legs are long or more.  Storing fat on their bodies is a natural process that every animal performs every year and it is a very good strategy for surviving winters that are variable.

If you are interested in reading more about this topic, then I suggest reading Susan C. Morse's latest contribution to Northern Woodlands Magazine (Spring 2011, Marrow Core Analysis p. 18 - 19).  It gets to the heart of the issue. :)

What is all of this evidence telling you?  Think about it and next time I will reveal the answer to our mystery!

Previous Blog Posts:

What killed this White-tailed Deer?

What killed this White-tailed Deer? Part 2: Sex Determination and Tooth Wear Pattern



What killed this White-tailed Deer? Part 4: Examination of Internal Organs


Advisory:  Please do not touch, feed, or disturb wild animals of unknown origin.  If you see an animal in distress please contact a licensed animal control officer, licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or other trained and certified wildlife professional.  You may expose yourself or the animal to unnecessary injury, distress, or disease.  This procedure was performed by a professional wildlife biologist who took proper precautions to avoid exposure to pathogens and other potential human-wildlife diseases.

Results from Saturday's Bird Walk along N. Shore Rd.

Drake Northern Pintail from werc.usgs.gov
Continuing the theme of my recent blog postings about waterfowl surveying at Bantam Lake, this one gives the highlights of our public field trip along N. Shore Rd. this past Saturday, 3/12. The focus was on waterfowl at Bantam Lake and along the Bantam River from the Outlet downstream to the Oxbows. Fortunately for us, N. Shore Rd. affords ample views of these places. Otherwise, we would have had great difficulty accessing Pt. Folly and the Litchfield Town Beach due to serious flooding of those spots. On a positive note, this flooding brought many of the ducks and geese up close to the road as they foraged in the flooded bottomland. Whenever woodlands and shrublands become flooded, waterfowl are quick to exploit the new-found feeding opportunities. Our group of 30 people, including 15 Boy Scouts, were treated to excellent views of a Cackling Goose, 350 Canada Geese, 10 Northern Pintails, 2 Green-winged Teal, 27 American Black Ducks, 70 Mallards, a hybrid American Black Duck x Mallard, 45 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Buffleheads, 4 Common Goldeneye, 40 Common Mergansers, and 5 Hooded Mergansers. Though 8 Wood Ducks were present, only 6 members of our group got to see them because these birds hid so well among the shrubs. Waterfowl weren't the only birds spotted on this trip. Everyone got to see a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as it foraged among the trees by the Butternut Brook bridge, a male Eastern Bluebird as it sang from the tops of the trees at the Bantam R. Oxbows, a Red-bellied Woodpecker at Gail Scoville's feeders, and numerous Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, and other common birds. In all, we saw 38 species of birds in 2.5 hours along 1.25 miles of road. We also saw a Muskrat, 2 Red Squirrels, and lots of Gray Squirrels. That's pretty good!

Recent waterfowl surveys at Bantam Lake

Greater White-fronted Goose photo from
dfw.state.or.us via Google Images
Male Wood Duck photo by Bob Stanowski

Male Hooded Merganser photo by
Bob Stanowski
Waterfowl surveying at Bantam Lake's Outlet, which is on N. Shore Rd., has produced an increasing number and variety of birds this week. On Tuesday, 3/8, I focused on counting ducks and geese as they came in to roost between 5:15 p.m. and dark. Most of these birds had spent the day feeding in cornfields around Litchfield, Morris, Bethlehem, and Warren. Among the 1,650 Canada Geese that came in were a Greater White-fronted Goose, a Canada x Greater White-fronted Goose Hybrid, and a Cackling Goose. These are all quite rare in Connecticut. Also seen were 3 Wood Ducks, 45 American Black Ducks, 100 Mallards, 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 26 Hooded Mergansers, and 25 Common Mergansers. Things were a little different when I conducted the survey between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 3/11. Most of the Canada Geese were probably still out feeding in area cornfields, as only 325 were counted at the Outlet. These were mostly feeding in the flooded bottomland downstream from the Outlet bridge. With them were 16 Wood Ducks, 185 Mallards, and 1 American Black Duck. The open water closer to Pt. Folly held our first Bufflehead and 2 Common Goldeneyes of 2011. Also there, were 34 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Hooded Mergansers, and 17 Common Mergansers. Since the bulk of the northbound spring waterfowl migration occurs in March it will be interesting to see what surveys every few days turn up. These will be expanded as the month progresses (and as ice diminishes) to include all of Bantam Lake, plus Little and Cemetery Ponds. Any help with this effort from our readership would be much-appreciated.


Additional Pages Under Construction

Several new pages have been added to the blog.  The links to these pages can be found in the left side bar under the title "Inventory and Monitoring".  Please consider these pages as "DRAFT" editions.  Several others are under construction.  Please stay tuned.

What killed this White-tailed Deer? Part 4: Examination of Internal Organs

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WITH THE PRIMARY INTENTION OF 
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The next stage of this field necropsy was to examine the internal organs.  If a vehicle collision caused its death then there could be internal bleeding, damaged organs, and broken bones.  This winter has been an extremely cold and snowy winter for Connecticut, at least the historical records suggest it.  This environment may have put more stress onto the animal and it had to use more stored energy (fat) than other typical winter environments to maintain certain bodily functions.  This animal died at the end of the winter season so the lack of fat would indicate its nutritional status.  If the animal was lacking fat deposits around certain vital organs then this would suggest that the animal was utilizing its fat resources this winter and maybe depleted them detrimentally.   


Figure 1:  White-tailed deer gastrointestinal cavity with internal organs labeled,
the presence of feces in this cavity was caused by damage to the large intestine by observer.
Photo By James Fischer 
I began by rolling the animal onto it's back and then creating an incision into the lower gastrointestinal cavity (Figure 1) .  I did not notice any damage to these organs, except for a small incision that I made into the large intestine.  When hunters remove the internal organs from the animals they harvest, they try not to cut the intestinal organs because these organs contain pathogens that could make you sick if you consume them.  Fortunately, I don't make a living as a butcher.  Notice the different diameters of the large intestine and cecum (ceacum) versus the small intestine.  Most of the stomach can not be observed in Figure 1, but it is quite large because it has multiple chambers to digest the vegetation it consumes.  The diaphragm is the muscle that separates the lower body cavity from the upper body cavity and it is the muscle that is used to expand and constrict the lungs.  You can observe the liver in this body cavity and it was not injured (Figure 2).  Some of you may be wondering what an internal injury would look like.  There would a great deal of blood in the body cavity and the organs would be difficult to distinguish because they would be covered in blood.  The organs of this animal are relatively unblemished.   

Figure 2:  White-tailed deer chest cavity with organs labeled.
Photo By James Fischer
I then opened the chest cavity to examine these organs.  The rib cage was not damaged and neither was the lung on both sides of the body (Figure 2).  

Figure 3:  An adult white-tailed deer heart is a little larger
 than the size of an adult human's fist.
Photo By:  James Fischer
The two vital organs that we use to index the nutritional status of a white-tailed deer are the heart and kidney, specifically the amount of fat layered around these two organs.  I exposed the heart, which is a little larger than  the size of adult human's fist, to find that there was some fat deposited around it (Figure 3).  The fat around the heart is really important for any individual's survival, it provides padding and insulation for a vital organ.  Without this fat, an animal would probably die.  So, it was a good thing to find some fat, but not as much as it probably had in the autumn after eating loads of acorns.  

Figure 4:  An adult white-tailed deer kidney is similar in size to a tennis ball...
Photo By James Fischer
I had to turn the animal onto it's side so that I could gain access to the kidneys, which are located along the back near the spine but in the gastrointestinal cavity.  The kidney is similar in size to a tennis ball and is kidney shaped (Figures 4 & 5).  

Figure 5: ...and is kidney shaped.
Photo By James Fischer
I observed a little bit of fat around the kidneys (Figure 4 & 5), but like the heart, there was probably more in the autumn after a diet rich in nuts and fruits.    

Next time, I'll show you another organ in a white-tailed deer's body that we can observe to indicate it's nutritional status and it is not it's stomach!
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Advisory:  Please do not touch, feed, or disturb wild animals of unknown origin.  If you see an animal in distress please contact a licensed animal control officer, licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or other trained and certified wildlife professional.  You may expose yourself or the animal to unnecessary injury, distress, or disease.  This procedure was performed by a professional wildlife biologist who took proper precautions to avoid exposure to pathogens and other potential human-wildlife diseases.