From the Field - Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary

Bluebird Activity

There has been a lot of bluebird activity lately.  Maureen watched a group of four bluebirds investigating the nest boxes in the yard on Sunday.  On Tuesday, I watched a group of four females and one male investigating boxes in one of the meadows.

They actually took turns checking out the boxes, while the rest of the group sat on top, or perched on nearby vegetation.  Is it one of the groups that nested here this summer?  Or is it a family group that flew here from another locale for the winter?  Are they looking for someplace to nest in the spring?  Or are they looking for shelter from a winter storm or a bone-chilling night?

I honestly don't know; but we sure enjoyed watching them.  Something about their color, their bubbling song, even the way they fly is cheerfully infectious. 

No Bobcat Yet

I recently took a "busman's holiday" of sorts.  I spent several days with some friends at their cabin in North-central Pennsylvania.  We did a lot of wildlife watching. 

One day I was sitting on a stump in a patch of open woods.  My friend walked in to join me and spooked a flock of turkeys.  They began flapping wings and flying all around me.  In fact, I thought a couple were going to slam into me as they tried to get their heavy bodies airborne.  I got a great look at their breast feathers.

Some of the other wildlife I saw were pileated woodpeckers, golden-crowned kinglets, and nuthatches.  Ravens were spotted each day wheeling in the wind and croaking.  Barred owls were heard at night. 

I didn't see a bobcat however.  My friends see them on their property often, but I have yet to see one.  I have seen two of the three North American cats in the wild, but never a bobcat.  (Actually, I should probably include jaguars and ocelots to make it five species.)  I once had a lynx only ten feet away from me in northern Quebec.  And I once watched a mountain lion stalking prey from only 40 yards away in Colorado.  Both sightings allowed me to see these animals in their natural environment with no awareness that a human was nearby.  They are truly marvelous creatures, sinew and fur. 

You would think that bobcats should be fairly easy for me to see, considering there is a large and growing population in Pennsylvania.  They may even visit Mariton from time to time, although I have yet to find any sign of them.  So, I will keep hoping that someday a bobcat crosses my trail.

Got Goulashes?

I don't need to tell anyone that it rained A LOT yesterday.  At Mariton, we received 2.35 inches of rain in about 24 hours.  Consider that the average for the entire month of November is 3.37 inches, and you will realize how big a rain event that was. 

This morning, the TV weather folk announced that the Pineapple Express will be delivering a series of low pressure areas to the Northwest (U.S.), which will then cross the county to our area.  They forecast some rain every 2 -4 days, or sometime mid-week and then again sometime during the weekend.  Get your boots ready.

Even though I spent most of the day in the office, I did get out on the trails for a couple hours.  Because most of our trails go up the hill, heavy rains can cause a lot of erosion.  I like to check the trails during heavy rains to find the areas that need attention.  We have installed water bars on a lot of the trails.  In fact, Boy Scouts have been very important in installing and replacing waterbars over the years at Mariton.  I was pleased that very little water was running on the trails.  In addition to the waterbars, the thick layer of leaves on the ground were holding the water and releasing it slowly. 

Color Parade

I think this weekend (and the coming week) will be a good time to view Mariton's fall colors.  The tuliptrees are yellow, the maples are red, the hickories are on fire and the oaks are changing.  Additionally, the sassafras saplings in the meadows are gorgeous. 

I haven't taken any great photos of the colors this season.  Fortunately, Carole Mebus and Molly Border came out on Tuesday, and Carole sent me this photo.  If the colors aren't amazing enough, remember that this meadow was literally mowed down in March of this year.  Now, there are sassafras saplings that have grown four and five feet in only seven months.

Saturday's weather forecast is dreary, but I think there will be plenty of leaves to view on Sunday and the rest of the week.  Places I recommend you visit are to walk out the Woods Trail to the Main Trail and follow that up the hill into the meadows.  Walk around the meadows and come down the Turnpike Trail.  If you feel up to it, take a side trip to the River Lookout.  (Remember it is easy going down the hill, but that you will have to come back up eventually.)  The view of the Delaware River and the bluffs across the River should be glorious.  Don't forget to stop along the way to appreciate the color of individual trees. 

Thank You Tom Kerr

Tom Kerr recently stepped aside as the president of  Wildlands Conservancy.  Mr. Kerr served in that position for almost 20 years.  During his tenure, many wonderful land protection projects were brokered by Wildlands Conservancy in the Lehigh Valley and the Lehigh watershed.  These projects have been a boon for birders, woods walkers, hunters and fishermen.  Additionally, this land protection benefited taxpayers and commuters.

Some might consider that Natural Lands Trust and Wildlands Conservancy are competitors.  Technically, I suppose the two organizations do compete for membership and land protection dollars.  On the other hand, with ONE ACRE OF LAND BEING DEVELOPED EVERY HOUR in our region, I don't think we could ever have enough conservancies and land trusts to compete with the developers.  And everyone benefits from the work that land trusts do in our region.  As someone that lives in the greater Lehigh Valley, I personally benefit from the work of Tom, his board, his staff and volunteers.

Thank you Tom Kerr.  You have left a wonderful legacy for us, and for future generations.

Fall Birding

I had a great morning birding.  In all, I saw about 20 species.  While, I get more excited by the spring songs and waves of migrating warblers, I do enjoy getting out on a beautiful fall morning with the binoculars.  This morning was such a morning.  The fields are ripe with color from goldenrod, grasses, and asters.  Some of the leaves on ashes, birches, and dogwoods are showing color.  Then there are bright red dogwood berries, and blue grapes.

In fact, it was around the berries where I saw a lot of bird activity.  Waves of rufous-sided towhees, robins, and bluebirds fed along an edge gorging on poison ivy and grapes.  I watched a female yellow-bellied sapsucker hammer on a tree, and a little later watched a male eating grapes.  I saw five of the six woodpecker species this morning (sapsucker, flicker, downy, hairy and red-bellied).  While I didn't see the pileated, I did hear it calling from the woods.

I watched nuthatches checking for insects in the sassafras bark, then I saw a black and white warblers doing the same thing.  I watched ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets feeding together in a mixed flock, often joined by yellow-rumped warblers, chickadees and tufted titmouse.  It was a great morning for a walk at Mariton, and I am especially glad that I took my binoculars.

September Rains

We started and ended September with rain.  You will recall that Ernesto rained on our Labor Day weekend.  Maureen and I were camping with the dog that weekend,  so we remember Ernesto well.  We were fortunate to dodge the bullet(s) on an active month in the Atlantic.  Several tropical storms and hurricanes stayed in the ocean and headed north, instead of towards the United States.

September 2006 ended with 5.95 inches of precipitation.  That is about average for the month.  Since 1997, the average at Mariton has been 6.08 inches. 

In 2004, however, we had 14.88 inches of rain in September.  Only two years ago, can you remember the three tropical storms?  First, there was Tropical Storm Francis, who arrived on the 9th and left us with a little over 3 inches of rain.  On the 18th, Hurricane Ivan hit and dumped over 7 inches in a short period of time.  Tropical Storm Jeanne visited on the 29th and left us with almost 4 inches of rain (when you count the rain from a cold front that she rode up on).

You forgot Francis and Jeanne?  Me too.  Fortunately, I had written about them in my rainfall records.

Territorial Turkeys

This morning while working in the office, I heard some noises upstairs in the Nature Center.  It was gray, windy and still wet from last night's rain.  I thought it odd that someone would be walking the trails.  (Then again, I had already been walking the trails).  I glanced out the window and didn't see any cars in the parking lot, so I continued tapping at the keyboard.

When I heard it again, it finally dawned on me.  I grabbed the camera and snuck upstairs as quietly as possible.  There were three hen turkeys pecking at their reflections in the glass doors.  Though it is more common in spring, hens can get territorial.  Often they will chase unfamiliar hens from their breeding territory, or a strutting tom.  Today, it was probably more about feeding territories.  It could have even been something as petty as, "why didn't you say Hi?"

Turkeys have unbelievable eyesight.  Even as they looked at the reflections of themselves and the woods behind them, they were able to detect my movement inside the Nature Center.  I snapped some photos (through the glass) quickly before they deicided something was amiss and exited.

Raptors Migrating

This morning, a Broad-winged Hawk flapped over the parking lot just as the fog was lifting.  I made a mental note to keep checking the sky.  I figured the appearance of this hawk signaled that there were several in the immediate area that were waiting for thermals to form so they could migrate.  While we don't see the number and species that one sees at Hawk Mountain, a watcher at Mariton can see a good number of raptors when the conditions are right.  There is often a thermal that forms to the northwest of the Nature Center, and over the years I have watched hundreds of hawks fly directly overhead while working in the yard.  Walking the trails to the top Bougher Hill can be even more productive.

Around 10:15, I looked up to see a kettle of Broad-winged Hawks forming.  There were a dozen hawks gathered already, and more were flying in from different directions.  I ran and grabbed my camera and attempted to take a couple photos.  Too far away to do them justice, but perhaps you will get the idea. 

I put away the camera and was resuming work when a large raptor approached, flying very low.  It had come from the Delaware River and was headed directly for the thermal the hawks were using.  As it flew directly overhead, only about 50 feet above me, I realized it was a mature Bald Eagle.  I ran to retrieve the camera and managed to take a photo before it got too far out of sight. 

As the day progressed and the temperature reached the mid-eighties, I saw many more Broad-winged Hawks, and lots of Turkey Vultures.  But my day was made by the sighting of the Eagle directly above Mariton.

Annual Picnic

We had a great gathering at the Annual Picnic on Saturday.  About two dozen people attended and shared dishes like baked corn, pasta salads, home-baked bread and angel food cake.  Yummy.  We grilled hot dogs and shared good conversations on the lawn.

The evening's speakers were Kathy and Eric Uhler from the Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, and they had a special treat for us.  They released a young Red-tailed Hawk back into the wild, while eveyone watched.  It perched at the edge of the yard and everyone was able to watch it through the binoculars.  It could be seen hanging around the yard into Sunday, but evenutally flew off to find its own territory.

Then we moved into the Nature Center for the program.  Kathy and Eric use animals that cannot be released back into the wild.  While talking about each animal, they educate the audience about what and (what not to do) when you encounter an injured or abandoned animal.  One of my favorites was a raven that was imprinted on humans.  It cannot be released into the wild because it has no fear of humans.  Its plummage was stunning under the lights, I can only imagine how magnificent it would look in the sunlight.  They brought several animals including a (descented) skunk, barred owl and this peregrine falcon.  It was a very informative program, and people really enjoyed watching the wildlife up close.