Program Introduction for Waterbury Naturalist Club


James Fischer, WMCC Research Director, will be introducing the Research and Conservation Programs for the Waterbury Naturalist Club.  The presentation will describe several projects that make up the program and vital roles of volunteers within each project.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
First Congregational Church of Waterbury
222 West Main St.
Waterbury, CT

1/4 mile east of S.R. 8 on West Main St.

Added eBird Gadget

You will find a new gadget that reviews the eBird data observed by the local birders on the property along the right side of the page.  Check it out!

Notable Wildlife Sightings at White Memorial, 10/24 & 25/2011

Rusty Blackbird photo from
Four-toed Salamander photo by Dave Rosgen
Eastern Red Bat photo from
This past Monday and Tuesday, 10/24 and 25/2011, produced a fair number of notable wildlife sightings on White Memorial property. Tops among these were an Eastern Red Bat which I saw flying around Ongley Field between 6:00 and 6:10 p.m. on Monday. It then headed off to the south. This is a rather late date for this Connecticut species of special concern. The nearby Activity Field produced a Field Sparrow and a Purple Finch for notable birds earlier this day. On Tuesday, Nicole Morin and I visited the salamander cover boards along the Windmill Hill and Butternut Brook Trails for their final inspection of the year. One of the Windmill Hill boards yielded a Four-toed Salamander, which I think is only the second one of this species found under a board in this plot since we established it about 7 years ago. The rest of the boards in this plot produced a total of 11 Red-backed Salamanders on this visit. About half of these boards were awash in floodwaters a month ago. Interestingly, the cover boards at Butternut Brook, which were completely inundated last month, produced absolutely no salamanders on this visit. However, they did harbour at least 40 earthworms. The Windmill Hill boards had only about 15 earthworms under them. Farther along the Butternut Brook Trail we encountered a nice flock of 18 Rusty Blackbirds feeding under the shrubs in the swampy area. They are a regular, but uncommon fall migrant through this area.

Waterbird Migration Picks Up

Horned Grebe photo by Nancy Johnston
from www.nejohnston.org
Common Gallinule photo by Darlene Knox
Northern Shoveler photo by Paul Fusco
Ruddy Duck photo from www.en.wikipedia.org
Surf Scoter photo by Paul Fusco
Black Scoters photo by Paul Fusco
Migration activity by waterbirds has really picked up in northwest Connecticut since 10/15. Since Bantam Lake and Little Pond are two of the best places in this part of the state to see waterbirds I and many other birders have been checking them almost daily this month. During this time we have been seeing a steady stream of Mallards, American Black Ducks, Wood Ducks, and Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal moving through. This past Tuesday, 10/18, they were joined by a pair of Northern Shovelers at Little Pond. Because the male is exhibiting a very distinctive transitional molt plumage we are sure that the pair of shovelers that we saw at Bantam Lake's Pt. Folly on the 21st and 23rd and back at Little Pond on the 20th and 22nd were the same birds. During this same time span the number of American Coots visiting Little Pond increased to 62. On 10/19 and 20 Mike Doyle saw a Common Gallinule mixed in with them. Mike, and later, Ray Belding also saw 5 White-winged Scoters at this pond on the 20th. This has been a good period of time to find scoters (as it usually is) because Mike saw White-winged, Black, and Surf Scoters on Bantam Lake on the 20th. Two days later, Samantha Foster and I saw a Black and a Surf Scoter on the Lake's N. Bay, along with a Horned Grebe feeding close to Litchfield Town Beach. That day also produced 2 American Wigeons for us at Pt. Folly. The wigeons were still there the next day when John and Tracy Eykelhoff joined me to look for ducks. We also saw a Surf and a White-winged Scoter swimming together in the Lake's central section. Every day during this period has produced between one and four Ruddy Ducks on Little Pond, and a couple of reports of up to 11 of them on Bantam Lake. Other species of water-oriented birds seen on these bodies of water during the past week have included an American Bittern at Little Pond, Common Mergansers, Pied-billed Grebes, quite a few Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants, an Osprey at Bantam Lake's S. Bay, Belted Kingfishers, and lots of Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls. The next 6 weeks should bring even more waterbirds moving through here.

Research and Conservation Program Monthly Volunteer Meeting -- October 2011

Green Fire
Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time
Movie Screening

Hosted by: Great Mountain Forest, Inc. 
Norfolk Public Library
Norfolk, CT
October 19, 2011
6:30 p.m. Reception, 7:00 p.m. movie

Movie Trailer



Amphibian Coverboard Experiment Monthly Check -- October 2011

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) discovered under a
cover-board just as it emerged from it's mole-like tunnel.
Photo by James Fischer  
I observed an amphibian at 57.6% of the cover-board (CB) stations yesterday.  This is the highest proportion of stations that detected an amphibian ever observed during our monthly visits to this site over the past 2.5 years!  This is exciting news but I want to tell you about another interesting observation that I made.

A yellow-hued Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) camouflaged
among newly fallen autumn leaves.
Photo by James Fischer  
The CB grid spans across two stands of trees, one stand is dominated by deciduous trees while the other are evergreen trees.  The CB stations under the deciduous trees detected more amphibians than the stations under the evergreen canopy.  This puzzled me while I was traversing the grid from station to station.  I walk the grid a systematic fashion so that it takes less time.  I walk the grid along the lines within the grid from the evergreen stand to the deciduous stand and back again.  But that question kept bugging me. Why were more amphibians observed under the CB's in the deciduous stand rather than the conifer stand?  I think I may know but I need to tell you about another pattern that I observed whilst walking the line.  This was a new pattern for me this season.  I was wearing my sunglasses while I was in the deciduous stand and not in the evergreen stand.  Okay, if I lost you, please keep reading because there is a reason why this is important.

Just as I was beginning to get frustrated with having to pull out my sunglasses from my pocket each time I entered into the deciduous stand, the light hit my eyes and my skin began to feel warm!  Yes, it was noteworthy moment but not the kind you may be thinking of.  I began to think that the amount of sunlight penetrating the forest floor could have been one factor causing this pattern.  It is now autumn in southern New England and many of the leaves have already fallen from the deciduous trees allowing more of the sunlight to reach the forest floor.  The CB's under the deciduous trees should be warmer than their evergreen counterparts, which explains why so many amphibians were observed under these boards.  But lets not rush to this conclusion too quickly!  There could be several other explanations.  I'll offer another possible process just to demonstrate how complex a walk in the woods can sometimes be to biologists and ecologists.

Northern Two-lined Salamander  (Eurycea bislineata) found
under a cover-board near a spring seep.
Photo by James Fischer
Another explanation could be that the leaf litter on the forest floor could also be warmer and more importantly dryer under the deciduous trees while the conifer stand could be cooler and moister.  The amphibians in the deciduous stands would seek out shelter that offers a moister environment.  The amphibians inhabiting the evergreen stand would not have to seek out these micro-habitats.  Moisture is very important to a group of organisms that breathe through their skin.  Moist skin allows for more oxygen to transpire than drier skin.  Amphibians breathe through their skin as an adaptation which has allowed them to lower their metabolism as they evolved which means they require less energy to live.

Who knew flipping cover-boards and a walk in the woods could be so complex...

Results from the BIG SIT and other fall migration monitoring

Yellow-billed Cuckoo photo by Ronnie Maum


from http://www.fws.gov/


Pectoral Sandpiper photo by Paul Lewis




American Redstart from http://www.tringa.org/



American Pipit from http://www.tringa.org/



White-crowned Sparrow photo by


Keith Carolson from http://www.idahofishandgame.gov/



Lincoln's Sparrow photo by Linda Williams




Savannah Sparrow photo by Paul Fusco




The cold, wet weather that has been a nuisance to us for much of this month has also played a role in the fall bird migration. It stalled on rainy days and moved along at a brisk pace on pleasant days and nights. Winds out of the south also hindered migration activity on some days. For birders, this often meant a bounty of birds on the few nice days this month. One period of time that was especially good was from the 7th through the 11th. Many birds were seen then, including our first American Pipits of the year, which were seen and heard flying over the Museum Area. The Litchfield Hills Audubon Society team conducting the Big Sit bird survey on the Sutton's Bridge portion of the Little Pond boardwalk on the 9th got our first Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Pine Siskin of the year. They also got other rarities like Pectoral Sandpiper, Sora, and Lincoln's Sparrow; and they had some unusually late migrants like Solitary Sandpiper and American Redstart. Before dawn they heard Great Horned, Barred, Eastern Screech, and Northern Saw-whet Owls calling. In all, this survey produced a very respectable 78 species. The day before the Big Sit I led a walk for mostly beginning and novice birders to Pine Island and the Old Sewer Beds portion of the Little Pond Trail. Highlights on this walk were 4 Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Blue-headed Vireo, and several Golden-crowned Kinglets at Pine Island, and 3 White-crowned Sparrows, a Field Sparrow, and a Lincoln's Sparrow at the Old Sewer Beds. We also saw Lincoln's Sparrows in Ongley and Activity Fields this past week. That's pretty good for a species that is usually rare and hard to find! Ongley Field has also produced a Savannah Sparrow and lots of White-throated and Chipping Sparrows over the past 10 days. Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers have been prevalent around the Museum Area, and Dark-eyed Juncos have been increasing slowly, but steadily in number since Friday, 10/7. Nice weather today, tonight, and tomorrow should bring even more migrants to, and through, northwest Connecticut.

Latest Edition of the Research and Conservation Forum -- October 2011


Latest Edition of the Research and Conservation Forum
Click the Image to View

Examining the Feasibility of New England Cottontail Habitat Management

(l to r) Jack Berlanda and Paul Rothbart (CT DEEP Wildlife Div. Habitat Unit)
 speak with Lukas Hyder (WMF Forester) during a visit to a potential
 New England Cottontail habitat management site.  

The New England Cottontail (NEC) Initiative Team from the CT DEEP, Wildlife Division Habitat Unit visited the property today to explore the feasibility of managing habitat on the White Memorial Foundation.  The Team consisted of Paul Rothbart (Habitat Biologist), Lisa Wahle (Project Wildlife Specialist), and Jack Berlanda (Project Forester).  Several ideas were discussed including current management plans, invasive species management options, and NEC population monitoring.  The NEC is our only native cottontail rabbit in New England and is declining due to habitat loss/change and expanding Eastern Cottontail populations.  Eastern Cottontails were introduced to Southern New England for many years for hunting opportunities and adapt quickly to backyard habitats.  White Memorial Foundation property lies within a NEC Initiative Focus Area, where we can offer areas of suitable habitat larger than 25 acres for NEC conservation.  NEC requires large early successional habitats with high woody stem density.

Japanese Barberry Control Workshop Announcement

Click Here to View a Printable Flyer

Invasive plant species including Japanese Barberry have been found to increase the risk of exposure to Lyme Disease.  Controlling Japanese Barberry can reduce the risk of exposure to Lyme Disease while also increasing growing space for native wildflowers and tree seedlings.  

During this workshop, you will learn techniques for an integrated program of invasive plant control in forest understories including: treatment techniques (flame weeding, mechanical control, herbicide application), site evaluation, time estimations for treatments, and field safety.  There will be a hands-on demonstration of techniques and equipment.  

Instructors:  Jeffrey Ward (CAES), Thomas Worthley (UCONN - Coop. Ext.), J. P. Barsky (CAES)
Date:  Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Place:  White Memorial Foundation, Point Folly Campground Entrance on N. Shore Rd., Litchfield, CT along Bantam Lake.
Time:  10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Workshop is Free of Charge
Pre-Registration Required
Space is Limited, Register Early

Contact Thomas Worthley
Pre-Register or for more information
(860) 345-5232, thomas.worthley@uconn.edu

CEU Credits Approved for this Course include: CT Certified Forest Practitioner (1.0 hours)
3 credits for Forest Pest Control (2), Ornamentals and Turf (3A), Rights-of-Way (6)

Long-billed Dowitcher and other notable birds seen at Little Pond, 9/27/11

Long-billed Dowitcher photo from http://www.gobirding.eu/




Wilson's Snipe photo by Bob Stanowski



Rusty Blackbird photo by Bob Duschene


from http://www.pvcaudubon.org/



Blue-winged Teal photo by Rob Whitney


from http://www.ducks.org/



Green-winged Teal photo by Rob Whitney


from http://www.ducks.org/



Great Egret photo from




A visit to Little Pond this past Tuesday evening, 9/27, (before the latest rainstorms inundated this area with floodwaters) turned up White Memorial's first-ever (in recent times) Long-billed Dowitcher. While scanning the shoreline for shorebirds I spotted a gray bird with a very long bill probing like a sewing machine in the mud. Since Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers look very similar, and their bills are only 1/4" difference in length, it was initially very difficult to determine which species we had. Even with the spotting scope it didn't show a definite characteristic for either species. However, since Short-billed has been seen here approximately 8 times in the past 12 years, and Long-billed had not been seen here at all in that time span, I was leaning toward calling it Short-billed or just Dowitcher sp. Most of the previous sightings have been in the spring when the two species have enough differences in plumage to distinguish them. Plus, all of the previous birds gave their distinctive Short-billed "tu-tu-tu" call notes while we watched them. Fortunately for us this time, this bird let loose with its distinctive "keek" call notes several times when it flushed and flew around for no obvious reason. The call notes clinched this bird's identification as Long-billed. These calls, coupled with the lack of striping on the head and back ruled out Wilson's Snipe, which we had just seen a few minutes before spotting this bird. Other notable birds seen on and around the pond on this visit included 52 Wood Ducks, 5 Blue-winged Teal, 13 Green-winged Teal, 4 Double-crested Cormorants, 1 Great Egret, and 2 Green Herons. Notable by virtue of high numbers were Mallards (99) and Swamp Sparrows (45). The Little Pond Trail produced our first Rusty Blackbird of the fall season, 24 White-throated Sparrows, a Marsh Wren, and a hooting Great Horned Owl as notable species. In all, this visit tallied 44 species of birds in 1 hour and 45 minutes. Three days later, after 5.5" of rain had inundated the boardwalk and the rest of the area, we only came up with 34 species along the trail leading in from White's Woods Rd. and the overlook area on the west side of the pond. With no feeding habitat available for shorebirds we didn't find any, but we were surprised to find a Sora trying to forage along the edge of the woods where the floodwaters were intruding into them. For ducks, we only saw 2 Woodies, 2 Blacks, and 25 Mallards. The rest of the birds seen on this visit were common resident and migrant landbirds along the trail, including 35 White-throated Sparrows.



Peregrine Falcons over WMF Hawk Watch, 9/30/11

Peregrine Falcon adult in flight

by Jim Burns from www.azgfd.gov


The weather finally improved enough on Friday, 9/30/11, to conduct a hawk watch around the Museum Area between 11:00 a.m. and 3 p.m. Since the winds were out of the southeast, south, and southwest at a sustained 20 m.p.h., conditions were not really good for hawk migration, but 30 members of this group flew over our site, anyway. I wouldn't have bothered to engage in hawk watching/counting this day if it hadn't started with a gorgeous adult Peregrine Falcon flying low over us. It went from north to south without showing any difficulty in dealing with the headwind. Soon after that the first of 8 high-flying migrant Red-tailed Hawks went over. This species doesn't usually migrate until later in October or November, but these birds had to be migrants because of their altitude and their direct flight from northeast to southwest. The rest of this day's migrant raptors consisted of 4 immature Bald Eagles, 6 Ospreys, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 4 Cooper's Hawks, 1 late Broad-winged Hawk, and an immature Peregrine Falcon. We, and the hawks, quit when the sky became overcast. So far this fall's hawk watching hasn't been particularly good at White Memorial because the weather has been unfavorable, and quite often downright awful, for most of the month of September. We've only been able to put in 4 days of effort, which has yielded a grand total of 412 hawks. This breaks down to 354 Broad-winged Hawks, 14 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 9 Bald Eagles, 8 Ospreys, 8 Cooper's Hawks, 8 Red-tailed Hawks, 4 Red-shouldered Hawks, 4 Black Vultures, 2 Peregrine Falcons, and 1 N. Harrier. It is amazing that we haven't seen any American Kestrels, yet. We hope to have at least one more day of good hawk watching conditions before their migration season ends. Last year, we counted a total of 905 hawks passing over our site on 15 favorable days, so we don't expect to come anywhere close to that figure, but it would be nice to end this year with a total around 450. If the weather forecasts are correct, we might be in for more movement later this week.

Wildlife Monitor New Layout

Take a look around at the new look of the page.  Let us know what you think of it.

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