There is something about yellow…….

Did you ever notice that it never quite feels like spring, until our world is dotted with yellow? In our yards we eagerly await the early daffodils and forsythia sprays. We don’t look forward to dandelions quite as much, but you have to admit their bright sunny yellow is a sign that spring really has arrived.

Bird lovers also await an early yellow: The American Goldfinch. This is not a true first of spring like returning migrants. Goldfinches remain here all winter, coming to our bird feeders. Through the fall and winter they are a soft, almost drab, olive color with dark wings and light white or cream wing bars. However, right about now, all of a sudden we spy a flash of bright yellow! The males have attained their breeding plumage, and are ready to show it off!

Photo by Rick Newton

Many birds change plumage when breeding season approaches. Warblers are notably confusing to birders as they change back and forth over the year. However, most of our local resident birds keep the same plumage year round. Think of Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, House Finches, and Blue Jays that visit our feeders through all seasons. Even Cardinals; while males and females are significantly different from one another, each remains pretty much the same throughout the year. It is our Goldfinch that changes the most dramatically.

In the fall, the males begin to get mottled looking, their feathers seem to look a little raggedy as the duller color replaces their bright yellow. During the winter the males and females look pretty much the same except for some subtle differences. Many people believe their “Wild Canaries”, their Goldfinches, have left with the other migrants. Not so.

It is curious that we don’t really notice the males changing back to yellow. Do they hide? Are they embarrassed by their disheveled appearance? No, not at all, though you have to keep your eyes open. It is just that when the day comes, and they appear at our feeder in that glorious bright spring yellow, accented by black wings and black cap; it is a stunning sight. It is hard to believe they have been here all along. A sight for sore eyes that have been counting signs of spring!

Photo by Rick Newton

Goldfinches are birds that use many habitats. They can be most frequently found in field and shrub habitats, as well as around our back yards. They are a species very dependent on seeds so in all seasons you can look for them in weedy grassy fields and hedgerows. Check the fields at the Knox Preserve , among other Avalonia properties, for the bright yellow finch perched atop a grass seed head or flower stem. They are one of the latest of the bird species to nest in the summer. They look for the downy seeds of milkweed, thistle and others to line their nests, and their young hatch when seeds are most abundant in later August.

Written by Beth Sullivan.

Learn more about the American Goldfinch at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

A Big Project for a Little Bunny

If you live in SE CT, you may remember reading articles about local projects to restore habitat for the New England Cottontail (NEC) . From Voluntown and Pachaug Forest, to a North Stonington Sportsmen’s club, this little rabbit is having an impact….and now on Avalonia in Stonington as well.

These rabbits are not the commonly seen lawn bunnies which are the non-native Eastern Cottontail. 

YouTube video of the New England Cottontail Rabbit.

The rabbits in the news are our native ones and, due to competition and loss of habitat, they are candidates for being listed as endangered. As Connecticut has aged, farmlands reverted to shrublands which the rabbits liked. However, further age has turned the shrublands into forests, and the forested landscape does not provide the food and shelter necessary for the NEC. An impenetrable tangle of low growth, briers and vines that deter our visits, is precisely what the Cottontails need.

Many State (DEEP), Federal(USFWS, USDA & NRCS) and local (Avalonia LandConservancy) agencies have come together to support and fund a project on the Peck and Callahan Preserves in the northern portion of Stonington. These lands are deep in the center of a core of mature forests, and until now, have been barely thought about and were not accessible to the public because of their location. A population of the NEC has been located not far from these preserves, which are also intersected by a power line that, when cut to provide access and maintenance of the lines, also creates the shrub and young forest habitat needed by the rabbit.

It has been over a year since the project began as an idea, then a plan, and finally a collaboration. Many countless hours were spent on the ground to survey and study the area, to measure and mark boundaries, buffer and protect wetlands, and to untangle the funding web. We are almost ready to begin the active phase. In order to create NEC habitat, trees will have to be cut. A certified harvester will begin in mid-April to create a shelter-wood cutting. Some trees of high value for wildlife will be left standing; the rest will be removed and large brush piles will be created. In just months, stumps will sprout. Sun will reach the ground, and new shrubs and fruiting plants and berry bushes and brier vines will begin to take over and thus provide an open invitation to the rabbits to move into the area and find what they need to establish a population: food and shelter.

It is not just the rabbits, though, that we seek to support. The new habitat will support over 47 other species of birds, mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians that rely on the same conditions. Over the next years we, and other scientists, will visit the site, monitor plant growth, and record wildlife sightings.

We will continue to post about the progress of the project and provide photos and updates as we move forward. “Stay Tuned” for more!

Written by Beth Sullivan.

Find out more about the New England Cottontail Rabbit. 

Our Water: Upstream & Downstream

Sponsored by the Groton Public Library & Avalonia Land Conservancy

The Groton Public Library and Avalonia Land Conservancy will present a series of programs about our local brooks, rivers, and Long Island Sound at the Library during April.  As WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM, plan to join us to learn more about the quality of our water and how it impacts both marine animals and us! Join us Tuesday April 16 at 7pm at the Library for the second program:

Inland Water Quality: How It Affects Shellfish & Marine Habitats            

Tessa Getchis, an aquaculture extension specialist at the Connecticut Sea Grant program at UConn Avery Point, will present a historical account of shellfisheries and marine aquaculture and how inland water quality affects our marine habitats, and in particular, our shellfish resources. She will focus on how these resources contribute to the ecology, culture, recreation, food and commerce in southeastern Connecticut.

Free, no registration required. For more information call the Library at 860 441 6750.

The Mourning Cloak: Another First

Butterflies are funny creatures. They seem so fragile and ethereal, yet they are quite durable and adaptable. In grade school we learn of their life cycle: Egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult that starts it all over again with egg laying. Here in the Northeast, most of our butterflies overwinter in the chrysalis stage, often protected by camouflage attached to a stick or stem or buried amid the leaves on the ground. They emerge as spring warms up, and they “know” there is an ample supply of flowers ready to supply the nectar they need for sustenance. By the time they are ready to lay eggs, there is also plenty of herbaceous material, leaves and grasses of specific types, available for their caterpillars to feast on and grow.

We have one outstanding exception, another FIRST - Butterfly of Spring: The Mourning Cloak. It is a good sized butterfly, with a deep mahogany color on its wings, which are edged with a band of creamy yellow. It is not hard to identify, there are no others like it.

                        Photo by Rick Newton

Take a walk in the woods on a warm spring afternoon, and you may be surprised to see something take flight, then quickly disappear. Look again and you may spot it take off, flitting quickly in the sunlight before coming to rest on a tree trunk or on the ground. These butterflies overwintered as adults. They hibernated in cracks and crevices, in tree holes and even rocky outcrops. They are roused by the warmth of these early spring days, fly about, but will go dormant again if the weather turns back to cold for a spell. This has already happened several times this year. But what do they survive on? There are no flowers out so early in the spring, and surely none in the woods. The answer is in the trees themselves. The butterflies rely on tree sap instead of nectar. After all the wind and storms this winter, there are abundant broken twigs. The warm days bring sap flowing upward into the trees, the same conditions that those who tap Sugar Maples for their syrup look forward to, and when the sap hits a break in a stem, it begins to drip. The sweet sap is perfect food for the butterfly. By mid-April temperatures are more consistent, and the butterflies remain more active. By May and June, their host food plants, willows, including pussy willows, have leafed out. When the butterflies lay their eggs on the host plant, the caterpillars emerge and are voracious! Many eggs are deposited on the same plant, and a large hatch can really chew a lot of leaves. The caterpillars are black with red spots and black spikes. They will go through their metamorphosis during the summer, and by later summer and fall, the newly emerged adults reappear on the scene to gather nutrition prior to their winter hibernation. And so the cycle continues.

                                  Photo used under creative commons from wanderingnome

The First Mourning Cloaks were out a few weeks ago. We saw one today, 4/2, on the Peck Preserve in Stonington. Look for them as you walk the wooded trails in the warm spring sunlight.

An added Bonus: I know first-hand that the Monarchs have arrived in South Florida. We still have many weeks to go before the first ones are spotted here in CT. Spring is making its way up the coast.

Written by Beth Sullivan.

To learn more about the mourning cloak visit Butterflies and Moths of North America.

Another First - The Osprey

Spring struggles to arrive. Winter has done its best to thwart us: snow, cold, wet, dark and gray. Yet spring does arrive; birds return; amphibians emerge; plants begin to break ground and their buds swell.

Many spring events are triggered by daylight and day length; others respond to warmth. Some need both. Avalonia volunteers spend a lot of time outdoors, all year long, and we respond to day light and warmth too. As we are out and about, we are looking for signs of spring and continue to count “FIRSTS”.

                                                        Photo by Rick Newton

Birds that have spent the winter in southern climates don’t know what the weather is like up here, so they rely on day length to trigger their impulse to return north. Of course, a nice southerly breeze is a big help and frequently in mid to late March we experience a period of warm teasing weather. It is during these times we look for our returning birds, and the most eagerly awaited are the osprey. Many of the osprey from our area winter in Central and South America. As the hours of daylight begin to increase and reach equality with hours of dark at the Spring Equinox, these birds are making their return. Here in Southeastern CT we count on them arriving around St Patrick’s Day, give or take a few days. Ospreys are very loyal to their nest sites. While males and females do not spend the winter together, banding records and studies have shown that bonded pairs will return to the same nest site, usually at different times, and one will wait for the other to renew that bond for another year.

Despite the strangle-hold of winter, the first osprey was reported locally on Saturday March 16^th. Right on time. As “fish hawks” they rely on open water to find food. While the ice has melted from most bodies of water, fish often tend to swim deeper to find warmer temperatures. If the weather continues cold with freezing nights, the newly arrived osprey may have a hard time finding food. However, as the next weeks go by, temperatures are bound to warm up. With southerly breezes, more osprey will return to their nest sites along the shore, and there will be plenty of food.

                                                        Photo by Rick Newton

Take some time to look for the very visible platforms used for nesting. Decades ago, osprey nested on big dead trees, called snags, along marsh edges, and along the shore. Those sites have nearly disappeared and now osprey rely almost exclusively on man-made platforms for nesting. They will reuse and enhance and enlarge the nest each year, some reaching quite impressive sizes. After the super storm Sandy last fall, and the blizzard and wind storms this winter, the returning osprey may have more work to do.

Now that the weather is finally warming, go find a nest site, and observe from a distance. Several Avalonia properties in Stonington have osprey nests, including Cottrell Marsh, Continental Marsh, and Paffard Marsh which may have the most visible one. There is also one just over the railroad tracks very visible from the Knox preserve. Many others are on private or state properties all along the shore. Enjoy the return of the osprey!

Written by Beth Sullivan

Learn more about the osprey at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology