It's Time to Get the Songbird Nest Boxes Ready!

It's time to check those nest boxes to insure they are ready for this breeding season.  We'll be hosting a volunteer training for those people who would like to help us with monitoring all of the nest boxes on the property.  More information about the workshop will be posted soon, but take a look a the video in the meantime to see who makes them and how they are created.

Major Early Snowstorm and its Aftermath

Large White Pine tree broken behind White Memorial's

Museum after the 10/29/2011 snowstorm

photo by Dave Rosgen

Shrubs flattened by 10/29/2011 snowstorm

at White Memorial's Wheeler Hill

photo by Dave Rosgen

White Memorial's Pt. Folly Marsh

2 days after the snowstorm

photo by Dave Rosgen

Bald Eagle photo by Paul Fusco from

www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com

Winterberry Holly photo by Dave Rosgen

Pokeberry photo by Dave Rosgen

Eastern Bluebird photo from www.allaboutbirds.org

Fox Sparrow photo by Bob Stanowski

Connecticut was pounded by a record-breaking early Nor'easter snowstorm from around 1 p.m. on Saturday, 10/29/2011, through sunrise on Sunday, 10/30/2011. It dropped 20" of snow on White Memorial and was accompanied by high winds for about 8 hours. This spelled disaster for many trees, shrubs, and other plants which were either flattened by the heavy, wet snow, or broke under its weight. Power was knocked out to the Museum Area for 9 days. Much of the tree damage involved broken limbs or sections of trunk rather than entire trees being blown over as happened during the tropical storms in August and September. Still, damage is extensive, and it will take quite a while to get all of our trails cleared despite the Herculean efforts of our great maintenance crew. A major savior to our wildlife (especially the birds) through all of this mess has been the super abundance of berries, nuts, and seeds. Though it was rendered unavailable for a while after the snowstorm, rapid melting of the snow exposed much of these foods within 12 hours. Therefore, I doubt that much, if any, starvation occurred among our wildlife. One exception would be totally insectivorous birds, but virtually all of them had already migrated south before this storm. One species just beginning to migrate south through here now is the Fox Sparrow. Bird feeders can greatly help these birds through foul weather, and that proved to be the case for the feeders behind the museum. In addition to hosting a ton of White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and other common birds after the snowstorm, they also fed 3 Fox Sparrows for a week. Since then we've seen this species feeding on weed seeds along the Little Pond Trail and at the Butterfly Garden. Some people expressed concern for American Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, and Cedar Waxwings after the storm, but they are doing just fine chowing down on an abundance of Winterberry Holly and Pokeweed berries. Waterbirds seemed to be unphased by the storm since Bantam Lake and most of our ponds (except Cemetery) remained ice free. Bald Eagles and other raptors seemed to carry-on as usual. I even saw 2 different Bald Eagles fly low over the museum on Sunday, 10/30, while I was shoveling snow off the deck. So, while this unprecedented snowstorm completely disrupted the lives of us humans and did quite a bit of damage to vegetation, it probably didn't do much harm to our wildlife.

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.