Bat Count at the Barn

If you like bats, counting, or counting bats, this project may interest you. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is coordinating with volunteers in order to perform bat colony emergence counts. These counts take place in the later evening and start exactly a half an hour before sunset. In order to do a successful bat count, the temperature can't be too cold and it can't be too windy. 
The goal of the counts is to approximate the size of bat roosts before and after the pups are able to fly. The process of counting the bats is actually very straightforward and simple to do. All you need is a couple of lawn or folding chairs, some bug spray (trust me. You don't want to forget this!) and a means to record the number of bats you see fly out of the roost. Our intern David and myself have already done one bat count at the green barn which yielded an average count of 130 Big Brown Bats. The process will be complete when we do another count after the pups are able to fly (sometime in July). 
The Big Brown Bat roosting area in the barn
The necessity to estimate bat colony size comes from the threat that is currently facing the bat populations of Connecticut: White Nose Syndrome (WNS). WNS is the name given to the disease that is killing off hibernating bats in eastern North America. It has already been documented in 26 states and in 5 Canadian provinces. The disease is named for the white-colored fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructansthat can appear on the muzzles and wings of affected bats, though it doesn't have to be present in every case. 
Individuals affected by WNS can exhibit erratic behavior in and around their hibernacula (caves where bats hibernate for the winter). WNS causes the bats to become unnecessarily active in the winter, making them lose their fat reserves more quickly. As winter carries on, these bats end up dying off in large numbers. Thus, it's important for us to keep track bat populations to see which ones are at most risk. And because of the high mortality rates seen in other bat populations, being able to save reproducing pairs may be necessary in order to prevent a population collapse.


Interns Part 3

As promised, we've got more information on our new interns. This time, we would like to introduce our new intern Kelsey Sudol.

Kelsey is currently a Junior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, pursuing a BA in biology. Besides wanting to be more outdoors this summer, she also wanted to gain hands-on research experience by interning with us. Being local, she's already familiar with the town of Litchfield as well as some of the trails on our property. Look out for Kelsey and our other interns as they help out at White Memorial this season!

Coverboards

As of late we've been keeping on top of our two coverboard monitoring projects. One is the Amphibian and Reptile Survey and the other is the Snake Coverboard Monitoring Project. 

Scattered throughout the property are innocent-looking planks of wood that serve as habitats for both salamanders and snakes alike. These reptiles and amphibians prefer the cool, moist habitat that the boards create. The snake boards are set up in a row while the amphibian boards are set up in a grid. Our job for each project is simple: Drive out to the locations, flip the boards, and see what's underneath. We then record the species found at each site.
Amphibian Coverboards laid out on forest floor
The ultimate purpose of the amphibian coverboard survey is to keep track of the Jefferson Salamander; an endangered species who's population is declining in the state of Connecticut. This decline is due to the fact that the species is sensitive to habitat fragmentation and disturbances. With this in mind, we want to find out if these salamanders tend to hangout in certain habitats. If they do, we will then be able to focus conservation efforts on these habitats.
When monitoring the snake coverboards, we are not looking for a specific species (though we don't mind finding rare species if they show up). Rather, the goal is to keep track of the snake species diversity on our property. We also want to know where these snakes are generally located and what kinds of habitats they prefer.
We check these boards at least once a month and avoid checking them too frequently. This is because we don't want to inadvertently dissuade these creatures from coming back. So if you happen to run into these boards, we ask that you avoid disturbing them. 

Interns Part 2

We'd like to introduce yet another intern that will be joining us this season. 

Her name is Isis Lawson and she hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. Isis already has a BA in Environmental Science under her belt and has come to New England to pursue a Masters in Science at the Antioch University of New England, New Hampshire. Isis is beginning work on her thesis which is currently
focused on pygmy rabbits in the Great Basin, Nevada. She'll be interning here at White Memorial until August. 

New Interns for the New Season

The first day of summer is technically June 21st, but our summer has already started here at White Memorial. We've got new and old projects on our to-do list and some new interns to help get the job done!


One of those interns is David Milewicz who originally hails from Texas. He's currently a student at Yale University pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He's here to help us out this summer and gain work experience thanks to the support of the Yale Club of Northwest Connecticut. 

You'll be hearing about our other interns as the month progresses, along with the projects we're currently working on. Until then, enjoy yourselves out there on the property!