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.

Common Ravens

Common Raven photo by Ralph Kerr

from http://www.rrbo.com/ via Google Images

While marking locations for safer places for duck nest boxes (see a previous post about this) this past Monday, 1/31, Scott Dayton and I encountered very few birds and mammals in Catlin Woods and Marsh. One species that made its presence known with its distinctive raucous call was the Common Raven. We heard the first one as we re-entered the woods from the marsh. Soon we heard and then saw a second one. They flew from treetop to treetop and then around overhead. The presence of 2 together in suitable breeding habitat in late January could indicate a pair establishing a breeding territory. In the case of Catlin Woods it would probably be re-establishing a territory, as a pair of these birds were encountered here on 2 of our breeding bird census visits last year. At other times last year they were found at Cranberry and Little Ponds, and various other places in between. Common Ravens have large territories, so it is quite likely that this pair claims this entire area. Though they usually nest on ledges and cliffs, they will nest in the tops of tall White Pine and Hemlock trees when their preferred nesting microhabitat isn't available. We have found nesting evidence for this species on our miniscule ledge microhabitat at Plunge Pool and the Solnit Parcel, but I also found an active nest with young in the top of a tall White Pine tree along the Duck Pond Trail a few years ago. Since there are plenty of tall evergreen trees in Catlin Woods, this probably would make a good nesting place for them. We'll have to keep our eyes and ears open for indications of them when we are out there over the course of the next few months. They are usually early-nesters, with building activity occuring in February and March. They could even be incubating eggs by late March if the weather becomes favorable. They would then be likely to be found around the area for the rest of the year. This species has undergone a dramatic population increase and range expansion in southern New England, beginning in the early 1980's. They can now be found with regularity throughout Connecticut, with White Memorial being one of the more reliable places to find them. Besides Catlin Woods and Marsh, I also suggest our Sawmill Field, N. Shore Marsh, Pt. Folly, Little Pond, and Apple Hill as being places to look for them. Please let us know if you find them.

Ceder Pond Duck Box Update

The previous blog post mentioned the one duck box that we hadn't been able to get to yet. It is at Ceder Pond, and is pictured above. The hazards are obvious in the photo. Despite these, Scott Dayton and I managed to get to it this afternoon. We wore snowshoes in from White's Woods Rd., but they proved to be more trouble than they were worth. I wore mine over my insulated chest waders, and am very glad that I did. They (the waders) proved to be indispensable to this operation. Equally useful was my potato hook, which I used to break the inch-thick ice in front of and around the pole. This allowed me to step carefully into the water and avoid the 4 foot deep hole that is right in front of the box. I opened the box and was pleased to find that it had successfully fledged 5 Hooded Mergansers last year. They apparently nested after the flood waters had receded. In April this nest box was almost completely under water. It also spent most of 2009 under water. That's why we are moving it about 15' laterally and 5' vertically up the shoreline. This should make it less susceptible to flooding. I was able to detach the box from the pole and hand it to Scott. He then used his long arms and muscles to rock the pole out of the mud. The old box had too many split parts to be salvageable, so a new box will be erected in the previously mentioned better location sometime soon.

Making Progress with the Duck Nest Boxes

Last week saw a significant amount of progress with the effort to monitor and maintain the duck nest boxes on White Memorial property. Scott Dayton, Dave Rosgen, and James Fischer all spent time out in the field trying to get to the rest of the boxes that hadn't been checked yet for usage in 2010. We have now managed to get to all but one box. This remaining box is standing in 5 feet of open water at Ceder Pond. Given the subfreezing temperatures that have characterized much of this past month it is amazing that any open water can be found in local ponds. However, springs, seeps, and water currents can create openings in some ponds. That's why they can be very dangerous in the winter. Ice can form over these spots, but will be much thinner than on the rest of the pond. These spots can also be meccas for wildlife when the water is open. When we checked the duck boxes at Heron Pond we saw tracks of Bobcat, Deer, Squirrels, Mice, and Juncos around seeps that line much of the west side of this pond. We also saw a flock of Robins in the area. They frequently forage for invertebrate animal food in seeps. Getting back to the subject of the duck boxes, we took down several more that needed major maintenance and later re-location to spots on higher ground (see an earlier post). The photo above shows several of the boxes that Scott and I rebuilt so far. We also built 3 new boxes. The top photo shows one of these in the construction process. The size of these nest boxes is so large that it is much easier for two people to build one. One person holds the component parts while the other uses a cordless drill to screw them together. We always use drywall or deck screws, never nails, because they do a much better job of holding the box together. Once the box is completed, the seams between the top and sides and the back and sides are caulked. This helps keep the boxes resistant to rain and cold drafts.

Things Observed While Monitoring Duck Nest Boxes

The monitoring of duck nest boxes continued at White Memorial on Monday, 1/10. Dave Rosgen and Scott Dayton managed to get to a total of 12 boxes at Pine Island, and Teal, Fawn, and Heron Ponds without getting wet. The ice at all of these locations was good and solid, even though there was open water along the western shoreline of Heron Pond. We found plenty of nest box usage by Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers; the details of which will appear in a future blog post. We also found a used Great Crested Flycatcher nest in a box at Teal Pond. While moving about these places we saw very few birds, but a group of 7 Golden-crowned Kinglets at Teal Pond and a flock of 22 American Robins at Heron Pond were somewhat notable. We saw tracks of Coyotes at Pine Island, a Bobcat at Heron Pond, and White-tailed Deer, Gray and Red Squirrels, and White-footed Mice everywhere. There was quite a bit of evidence of deer pawing for acorns along the Fawn Pond Trail. The photo above showing a double Beaver lodge was taken at Fawn Pond. The lodge on the left was built in 2008 and the one on the right was built in 2009; probably to replace the one on the left. For 2010 & 2011 it appears that they have refurbished the lodge on the left, and added a food cache to one side of it. They have chewed a fair number of small trees around the perimeter of the pond.

Duck Nest Boxes at White Memorial

The White Memorial Foundation has been involved with the restoration and management of Wood Ducks ever since the 1930's when their population was at a perilously low level nation-wide. WMF land was used by the CT. Board of Fisheries and Game and the Ripley Waterfowl Trust to raise Wood Ducks in a semi-captive situation at Duck Pond and a couple of other locations on the Property. At that time it was called the Litchfield/Morris Game and Bird Sanctuary. Artificial nest boxes were an integral part of this restoration effort. As time marched on, the successful captive breeding effort was abandoned in favor of the provision of nest boxes in suitable habitat. For a long time it was believed that the boxes would be more successful if they were over water. Consequently, that's where most of the boxes in White Memorial's ponds and wetlands ended up. The ducks would use them in the spring, and we'd check them and gather data from them in the late summer, fall, or winter. That worked well until about 5 years ago, when it became evident that these bodies of water were holding water for much longer than they used to, and ice wasn't as thick as it used to be in the winter. We also noticed that flooding of the nest boxes was becoming increasingly common even though most of them are mounted on poles that are sunk 8 to 10 feet deep in the water. This has led to an increased number of nest failures. This increased risk to the ducks and the people who monitor them has prompted us to adjust the management strategy so that boxes and their poles are being re-located from the water to adjacent land. The boxes that have already been moved onto land have proven to be very successful in fledging young birds. All of the boxes are protected from climbing predators by a 3' length of 6" PVC pipe surrounding the pole immediately under the box. The boxes are made of 1" thick white pine lumber, with the seams between the back and sides and the top and sides being caulked. This makes them quite secure, and leads to a high level of success. We anticipate even more success once we eliminate the flooding issue by moving the rest of the boxes to higher ground. Meanwhile, visitors to the Property may notice some vacant poles while the boxes are down for refurbishment and relocation. Fortunately, we have a college intern, Scott Dayton, who is spear-heading this effort. We could always use more help, though, so if you would like to help, please contact us.