Federal government takes New England cottontail off list of species considered for protection

Recent habitat management efforts throughout Southern New England have ensured the long-term conservation of New England Cottontail Rabbit and many other species associated with early successional habitats.  White Memorial joined in with these efforts.  You can see the results of the habitat management at Apple Hill on the Foundation Property in Morris on East Shore Rd.

New England Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus transitionalis)
John Huff/Foster's Daily Democrat via AP

DOVER, N.H. (AP) — Public and private conservation efforts have helped the New England cottontail rebound to the point where it can be taken off the list of species under consideration for protection, the federal government said Friday.

The small, brown rabbit has been threatened by a loss of habitat throughout its range in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. It's vanished from Vermont. It's endangered in Maine and New Hampshire, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had been studying whether to list it under the federal Endangered Species Act. Continue Reading

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.

Fox Sparrows have arrived!

Fox Sparrow photo by Bob Stanowski

Yesterday, 3/7/11, WMCC Education Director Jeff Greenwood came back from the Bird Observatory behind the Museum with the exciting news that there were 3 Fox Sparrows under the feeders. These are the first of this species seen on WMF Property in 2011, and the first seen here since mid-November of last year. A little while later, Ray Belding reported 2 at Pt. Folly. Today, I am seeing reports on the ctbirds listserve of Fox Sparrows elsewhere in Litchfield, plus ones in Mansfield, Portland, W. Hartford, and Westport. Obviously, their migration is underway. Being seed-eaters, they naturally have a tendency to gravitate to bird feeders along their migratory route. Those few individuals that winter this far north, including one this year in Winchester Center, stick very close to feeders. They are a ground-feeding species, so they are very unlikely to be found perching on a tube feeder, or even a platform feeder. They are also a bird of shrublands, so they are more likely to be found at bird feeders located close to bushes. When not visiting our feeders during their spring and fall migrations through here (most of them breed in Canada and winter in the southeast and mid-Atlantic states) they can be found in shrubby habitats along the Little Pond, Mill Field, and Apple Hill Trails, and at Pt. Folly. Most of them should be done migrating through southern New England by mid-April.