Natural Lands Trust Preserve Blog

Butterflies and Spiders

Naturalist Jim Dowdell was doing his periodic butterfly inventory at the Burden Hill Preserve when he noticed this butterfly not taking off like the others. Looking more closely (you can click on the image to see a bigger version), he noticed that it was in the grip of a yellow flower spider, also known as a crab spider. These spiders sometimes sew petals together and hide under them in wait for prey. And they--like this specimen--are sometimes camouflaged the same color as their host flower.

Beaver Take Over Burden Hill Preserve Pond

About a year ago, beaver moved from an adjacent landowner's property to a pond on Natural Lands Trust's Burden Hill Preserve. They raised the water level a couple of feet by damming the pond's small waterfall and built themselves a nice lodge along the pond's edge. They have felled many trees (including this one that held an NLT sign!) for lodge and dam construction, and to more easily eat the tasty bark.

Some trees are girdled rather than felled completely. White oak trees seem to be especially tasty; they have completely girdled a number of oaks up to two feet in diameter or more. In this photo, Liz Eisenhauer (daughter of New Jersey Manager Steve Eisenhauer) poses by a large white oak that the beavers have been gnawing on. Girdled trees, even if they are not brought down by the beaver, may die within a year or two since their nutrient flow is cut off, preventing the tree from carrying nutrients to its limbs to support leaf growth in the spring.

Though it is interesting to see beaver on the preserve, it is always somewhat startling to see the amount of destruction they can cause to trees and shrubs. After humans, beavers are the animals that cause the most change in their habitats.

Hike at Burden Hill

On Sunday New Jersey Regional Manager Steve Eisenhauer led a group on a hike at Burden Hill Preserve. We spent two and a half hours walking the trails (and adventuring off-trail!) while Steve showed us some of the special features of Burden Hill, including the rare wetland species Swamp Pink, which grows in the seeps that come off the hill. We also saw a variety of bird species, although we were dissappointed not to see any eagles. All in all, the hike was a great way to be introduced to one of Natural Lands Trust's newer preserves.

Resident of the Burden Hill Forest Preserve

One of our local residents of our Burden Hill Forest Preserve is this Northern Red Salamander.

These salamanders are found throughout our state and are usually found near cool, clean flowing streams or clean springs. This one was found several hundreds yards from a spring fed pond.

These salamanders grow to a length of just over 7". Although this was a young one, it was already over 6". They may live to an age of over 20 years. Their home range is from New York to Alabama and west to Ohio and Indiana.

Another close relative of this Northern Red is the Eastern Mud Salamander. The easiest way to tell these two species apart is the color of the eyes. The eyes of the Northern Red have a yellow iris, whereas the Eastern Mud has all brown eyes. The Eastern Mud Salamander has a status of Threatened in NJ, and Endangered in PA.

If anyone observes one of these with all brown eyes, please contact us at our NJ field office at 856-447-3425. According to NJ Fish and Wildlife, there has been 4 confirmed sightings of the Eastern Mud Salamander in NJ.