Controlling Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) in Forested Ecosystems

Japanese Barberry is a highly invasive shrub that forms dense stands under forest canopies.

Gasoline powered weed whackers with brush blades are used to cut
Japanese Barberry when growing densely under a forest canopy. 

Skilled hands and tough equipment turn an invasive shrub into a pile of mulch.

A cooperative investigation between CT Agriculture Experiment Station and UCONN Cooperative Extension is demonstrating the methods and materials of controlling Japanese Barberry in forested ecosystems.  The use of mechanical, chemical, and direct burning has proven an effective strategy at controlling this highly invasive plant.  The investigators are treating a 2-acre stand on Wheeler Hill and will be facilitating workshops for land managers and owners so that they can use the same methods for controlling Japanese Barberry on their own properties.  This project is lead by Jeffrey Ward, Scott Williams, J. P. Barsky of the CAES and Thomas Worthley of UCONN Cooperative Extension.  For more information about this project and to view a series of videos click here.

Detecting the Invasive Emerald Ash Borer in CT: Casting a wide net!

Jenna Klinck, UCONN Natural Resource Management and Engineering student,
hoists a purple trap used to detect Emerald Ash Borer on the property.

Olfactory bait packets used to attract Buprestid beetles, which includes the Emerald Ash Borer.

Buprestid beetle (center) and other forest insects stuck to the side of the trap used to detect Emerald Ash Borer. 

Emerald Ash Borer is the latest invasive forest pest expanding to threaten New England forest trees, specifically ash species.  A cooperative team of scientists are trying to detect Emerald Ash Borer in Connecticut, including the UCONN Cooperative Extension Service, CT Agriculture Experiment Station, and CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  The tools used to capture EAB in CT are purple traps suspended in trees along roads and looks like box kites.  There are scent packets suspended in the center of the traps that mimic the smell of a dying ash tree.  The outer surface of the traps have a sticky glue that captures the insects.  The traps are visited periodically to insure they stay in the tree canopy and to glean the glued surfaces for any insects that resemble EAB for further identification in the lab. For more information about the purple trap project click here or visit this other website for more details about the statewide effort.

Introducing Faye Curran: Our New Student Intern

Faye Curran
Faye will be working with us over the next several months to gain practical experience in science.  She graduated from Wamogo Regional High School with several Advanced Placement credits in June and wants to attend the University of New Hampshire. She is interested in a career in Genetic Counseling and during her "gap" year is working as a child caregiver at a daycare center.  Faye has monitored neotropical migratory songbird populations in the Costa Rican rain forests and studied the periphyton and water chemistry in several of Connecticut's rivers.  She is currently helping us with sampling chytrid fungus on White Memorial's amphibian population.  With all of Faye's experiences, we are looking forward to her contributions to the program.

Some Notable Wildlife Seen During White Memorial's Nature Day, 9/24/11

Olive-sided Flycatcher by Tom Munson

from www.fishandgame.idaho.gov

Nashville Warbler photo by

Jacob Spendelow from http://www.tringa.org/


Northern Parula photo by Alan Murphy

from http://www.houstonaudubon.org/
Blackpoll Warbler photo from the


U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Northern Leopard Frog photo by Dave Rosgen


Blue-spotted Salamander photo by Ashley Hayes

White Memorial's 30th annual Family Nature Day was held this past Saturday, 9/24/11, under mostly cloudy, warm, and humid conditions. Fortunately for all of us, the forecasted rain showers never materialized and the event was a big success. Approximately 784 people attended and were given a chance to learn about a wide range of environmental subjects. The people who went on the general nature walk that Samantha Foster and I led saw lots of plants, berries, nuts, and mosquitoes, plus several Green Frogs and a few birds. Right after that, Sam and I led a walk around Ongley Field and Pond in search of reptiles and amphibians. We found many Green Frogs and a cooperative N. Leopard Frog in Ongley Field. The north side of the Ongley Pond Trail produced an E. Garter Snake, while the pond yielded about 15 Painted Turtles. We found 4 Blue-spotted Salamanders behind the Sawmill Yard buildings. Next came the hawk watch, which I knew wouldn't produce any migrant hawks because of the weather conditions, which included a breeze from the south. Hawks want winds from the north and sunny conditions for their fall migration. However, Veronica, our semi-tame/semi-wild resident Red-tailed Hawk put on a show for the walk's attendees by swooping down and grabbing an unsuspecting young cottontail rabbit from the side of the driveway leading into the Sawmill Yard. We hadn't seen the bunny until Veronica caught it because we were focused on a nice group of warblers that included a Blackpoll, a Palm, a Nashville, 4 Pines, and 5 Yellow-rumps. After Veronica dispatched the bunny she flew into the row of conifers along the west ridge of the Mill Field to eat it. As I was positioning my spotting scope on her, I saw an Olive-sided Flycatcher in the top of the first Tamarack tree in this row. Being a rare bird, I wanted everybody to see the flycatcher, which they did as it put on a good show of its own, catching numerous dragonflies and other flying insects. Veronica took her time eating the rabbit, so they got to see that action too. Back in the Museum Area, we, along with some of our guests, saw another fair-sized wave of warblers that included a Northern Parula. In all, we saw or at least heard 46 species of birds, as well as numerous other forms of wildlife this day.







Hawk Watch results from White Memorial for 9/16, 17, & 19/2011

Broad-winged Hawk photo by Ron Austing


Northern Harrier from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/



Sharp-shinned Hawk photo by Darlene Knox


Osprey photo by Bob Stanowski


Bald Eagle adult photo by Paul Fusco

from http://www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com/


Red-shouldered Hawk adult

photo by Darlene Knox


Cooper's Hawk immature


The White Memorial hawk watch started its 2011 season on September 16th with a good showing of birds. The weather for much of the month prior to this was too lousy for hawk migration to occur. By contrast, the weather on the 16th was sunny, very cool, and with a steady 20 - 30 m.p.h. wind from the northwest. These conditions were optimal for hawk migration along the coast, as many birds were blown that far. I saw reports from Lighthouse Pt. in New Haven of 3,000 hawks and from Greenwich Audubon Center of 6,000 hawks that day. Inland sites, like White Memorial did o.k., but the results were not nearly as impressive as those from coastal sites. We counted a total of 259 hawks passing over the Museum Area between 10:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. The vast majority of these (255) were Broad-winged Hawks. The biggest kettle (or group) of Broad-wings consisted of 40 birds circling around overhead at one time. We also saw 1 Osprey, 2 Bald Eagles, and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. The next day, 9/17, was our "official" hawk watch day for the public. About 20 people attended at various times between 10:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. and were rewarded with a total of 107 hawks passing overhead. Of these, 93 were Broad-winged Hawks, including 50 in one kettle. We also saw 2 Black Vultures, 1 Osprey, 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, and 3 Red-shouldered Hawks. No one manned our hawk watch site on Sunday, 9/18, but judging from observations from other places, we didn't miss much. Winds were coming from out of the south, and hawks weren't moving. The next day, 9/19, the winds shifted around to the west, and a few hawks started moving in the afternoon. Between 2 and 5:15 p.m. we counted a total of 16 hawks passing over the Museum Area. These consisted of 2 Black Vultures, 1 Northern Harrier, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, and 5 Broad-winged Hawks. The weather since this day has been too lousy for hawk migration to occur.

Stream Salamander Survey, Van Winkle Rd., 9/13/11

Northern Dusky Salamander

photo from www.uga.edu

Northern Two-lined Salamander


Green Frog juvenile photo by Dave Rosgen


On Tuesday afternoon, 9/13/11, I surveyed the brooks that run between E. Shore Rd. and Van Winkle Rd. in Morris for salamanders and other amphibians. In most years these streams can be classified as seasonal since they largely dry-up during the months of July and August. Not this year! Even though dry conditions for awhile in July and early August reduced water flows in these streams to a trickle, they still held enough water to support amphibians and aquatic macroinvertebrates. The double whammy of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in the past 2 weeks sent torrents of water down these streams. The embankments were scoured-out in several places and at least 25 trees were undermined to the point of falling across or along the stream channels. On 9/13 these streams continued to hold and flow a decent amount of water. Walking along them proved to be difficult, or even impossible, in a few places due to the downed trees and shrubs. Despite this, I was able to survey quite a good amount of habitat between the 2 roads. The smaller feeder streams didn't host any amphibians except Green Frogs, but the main stream really produced. I found 21 Northern Dusky Salamanders, 1 Northern Two-lined Salamander, 31 Green Frogs, 2 Wood Frogs, 2 Gray Treefrogs, and 1 Northern Spring Peeper in the 1/4 mile between the 2 roads. I only found Green Frogs in the short section of this stream between Van Winkle Rd. and Bantam Lake. Of the Dusky Salamanders, 19 were adults and 2 were juveniles. I didn't see any larvae. The N. Two-lined Salamander was an adult. All of the frogs were juveniles. It is also worthwhile to note that the water was crystal clear and quite cool. Sediment loads appeared to be less than had been present in previous visits this year and in the past 5 years. That boads well for amphibians.

Amphibian Cover-board Experiment -- Monthly Check

Red Eft Life Stage of the Red-spotted Newt
photo by James Fischer
We revisited the cover-board experiment grid and observed a few interesting patterns.  Faye Curran, a new student intern, helped us today with this project, please visit the blog in a couple days to read her introduction.  Recently, we have recorded almost 14 inches of rain from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  Although most of the surface run-off has slowed, there is still quite a bit of water in the forest percolating into the soil column from vernal pools or bubbling out of springs.  The amphibian cover-boards encounter rate appears to have been affected by all of this precipitation.  A total of 65 of the 132 cover-board stations detected an amphibian, which is the second highest percentage of cover-board stations detecting amphibians since the project started 2.5 years ago.  We encountered a total of 79 Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), 19 Red Eft (Notophthalmus viridescens), 2 Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata), 1 Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum), and 1 Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica).  The primary question of this project is to examine the differences between softwood and hardwood cover-boards amphibian detection rates using a pair-wise comparison experiment.  The softwood cover-boards detected a total of 57, while the hardwood boards detected 45 individuals.

Frogs Galore at White Memorial!

Northern Spring Peeper photograped by

Ashley Hayes at White Memorial's Museum Area

Wood Frog photographed by Ashley Hayes

at White Memorial's Mott-Van Winkle Area

Green Frog photographed by Dave Rosgen

at White Memorial's Duck Pond

Bullfrog photographed by Dave Rosgen

at White Memorial's Duck Pond


Northern Leopard Frog photographed by

Dave Rosgen in White Memorial's Ongley Field


Frogs are thriving at White Memorial, thanks in part to the massive amounts of rain that have fallen here this year. In many years frogs and other amphibians that breed in vernal pools face a race against the clock to grow-up, metamorphose into their adult form, and exit the pool before it dries up. Not this year! Ample amounts of rain kept water in vernal pools and other wetlands long enough for these animals to go through this process with time to spare. Even though there wasn't much rainfall in July, our wetlands retained a decent amount of water. Frogs, and especially juvenile ones, have found that the upper reaches of floodwaters are an ideal place to hang out, wait for invertebrate animal food to come close enough to be caught, and escape into the safety of the water if predators come after them. On several occasions since Tropical Storm Irene passed through this area I've gone out to look for amphibians, storm-blown birds, and other creatures. That includes trying to get reasonably accurate counts of frogs. I found that walking the upper reaches of the floodwaters was the ideal place to find these animals, whether it was in woods, fields, or wetlands. Frogs were in all of these places. On Tuesday, 8/30/11, I went around our Lake, Windmill Hill, Ongley Pond, and Mill Field Trails, following the border of the floodwaters. I counted a total of 225 Green Frogs, 16 Northern Leopard Frogs, 10 Wood Frogs, 10 Northern Spring Peepers, 2 Gray Treefrogs, 1 Pickerel Frog, and 1 American Toad. Surprisingly, I didn't see any Bullfrogs. I also saw a 3/4" wide Eastern Garter Snake attempting to swallow a 2" wide Green Frog, a fair-sized Northern Water Snake heading towards a group of Green Frogs, and 10 Painted Turtles foraging in the shallow water. Three Belted Kingfishers at the intersection of Lake and Windmill Hill Trails were undoubtedly looking for easy pickings in the shallow water. They will eat frogs just as readily as they'll eat fish. However, I also saw small fish in the water, so the kingfishers may have been after these, too. On Friday, 9/2/11, I checked the Mill Field and Interpretive Trails and counted 43 Green Frogs, 6 Bullfrogs, 5 Northern Leopard Frogs, and 2 Pickerel Frogs. Some of these were caught by student volunteer Nicole Morin and swabbed for Chytrid fungus as part of another one of our on-going research projects. The following day, student volunteer Marcus Johansson helped me lead a walk for 16 members of the public with the focus being on amphibians and reptiles. We visited Ongley Field and Pond and the Mill Field and Interpretive Trails, checking all of the flooded areas. We counted 150 Green Frogs, 12 Northern Leopard Frogs, 5 Northern Spring Peepers, 3 Wood Frogs, 3 Bullfrogs, 2 Pickerel Frogs, and 1 American Toad. Marcus caught 3 of them for swabbing. This was very educational for the attendees. A quick check of Pine Grove 2 after our latest flooding event today (at least 4" of rain fell yesterday and last night) revealed 75 Green Frogs around pools of water.