Good News from Unexpected, April 2006
A birder friend of mine once told me that he did not believe the old axiom: “Birds of a feather flock together,” and looking out the cabin window on a warm March morning, I would tend to agree with him. In the Main Pond, the eight little duck bottoms pointed skyward are attached to both mallard and woodduck couples, and preening nearby is a small flock of Canada geese. A pied-billed grebe is swimming both above and below the surface of the water, popping up a good 15 feet from where she dove. Along the bank, not far away, is a majestic great blue heron standing perfectly still with impressive dark breeding plumage. Above all this togetherness are the newly arrived tree swallows, seeking out the newly arrived airborne insects.
The story at the old log feeder is no different, with chickadees next to cardinals next to doves. The sturdy little juncos have departed, and in their place are the red-wing blackbirds with their beautiful, melodic spring songs.
One of the new nest boxes
We replaced several old nest boxes with new ones, and the bluebird couple has been critically inspecting our installation; the chickadees were not so picky. These boxes are from a Georgia-based company called Bluebird Housing, www.bluebirdhousing.com, founded in 1972 by Hope Buyukmihci’s brother, Lawrence Sawyer, and his wife Adelaide. These rustic birdhouses are made from logs, routed out and fitted with metal caps. They come complete with pole and predator protection, and they are very complementary to any natural setting.
In preparation for the return of the prothonotary warblers, Don from Cherry Hill donated one of these log birdhouses to the Refuge, along with one that he made himself.
Prothonotary warblers winter in Central and South America, and they return to Southern New Jersey on or near April 15th. This beautiful little yellow bird is one of only two warbler species that breed in holes, and since they breed in wooded areas over or near water, beavers provide perfect habitat with dead trees and wetlands. Don and I went out in early March and installed the new boxes near Wild Goose Blind and then spent the rest of the morning cleaning out all the other boxes. Hopefully we will be rewarded with their sweet, sweet, sweet call in mid-April.
Human Activity
Susie and Mark Highland
after installing a free-standing
sign at Muddy Bog
Last fall, we were adopted by a little ball of fire named Susie Highland. Susie is just full of great ideas, and one of the projects she developed was the creation of new trail signs. This may not seem like such a task, but if you consider that we have over ten miles of trails, which host almost 300 cracked and faded signs, it is a considerable job to say the least. Susie designed the hand painted signs, and shortly after hanging the first batch a local Boy Scout turned it into his Eagle Scout project. Susie has shown him the ropes, and he is off and running. Susie can now turn her attention to her Unexpected calendars, cotton tote bags and, hopefully, a little bird watching.
It was an unusually windy winter, and with the brief but heavy snow fall we had in February, there were a lot of broken trees and fallen branches to clear out. Many thanks to our volunteers, Karen, Dolly, Mike and Jonathan, Bob, Don and MalagaMoe for helping out with clean-up, clearing and equipment T.L.C. The trails are all in pretty good shape, and are ready for hiking.
Beaver Activity
During the winter there was a surprising amount of beaver activity going on in New Jersey. Though our beavers were quiet and snuggled up in their cozy little lodge, others were out and about, causing a stir with the neighbors. I was invited to the Borough of Wenonah by members of the Environmental Commission when beavers began taking trees down in the Mantua Creek floodplain (which also happens to be a whole lot of back yards).
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Commission Chairman Bob Bevilacqua and I surveyed the creek and floodplain from our kayaks, and although there were not very many beavers living there, those few were very busy. I gave a slide show, Beavers 101, to the local homeowners followed by discussions about beavers and how to live with them. Most of the residents were very receptive to having these furry creatures living in the creek, and one fellow said he didn’t care if they took all the trees down in his yard, as long as his three-year-old daughter got to watch. The Environmental Commission decided to incorporate the beaver works into their regular nature walks, lead night walks and perhaps see the beavers and provide beaver talks to the school children in town. They also offered to assist homeowners in wire wrapping and sand painting trees they did not want to lose.
Needless to say, I found the frame of mind of everyone effected by the beavers very refreshing. Considering that Wenonah is smaller in size than Unexpected Wildlife Refuge and has dedicated over 20% of their land to conservation, their attitude shouldn’t have come as a surprise. In March, the town has a Turkey Vulture Festival to celebrate the arrival of hundreds of vultures that were forced out of their habitat by development in a neighboring town. The people of Wenonah embrace education, compassion and activism and take their role as land stewards seriously.
Another area that experienced some new beaver activity was in Morganville, New Jersey. Len Flynn found out that he had beavers in his pond and was thrilled. However they were damming up the creek and flooding out his neighbors, who were not so thrilled.
Len did his homework and investigated ways to keep the beavers in his life and keep the neighbors happy. After researching the problem and reaching out to every beaver expert he could find, he settled on installing a flexible pipe that will allow him to control the level of the water behind the dam. Ultimately, the water will be high enough for the beavers, but low enough for the humans. Len is getting installation support from HSUS and some local Beaver Defenders, like Janine Motta from New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance. We will keep in touch with Len and let you know what happens.
Unexpected Activity
Early Tuesday morning I put my kayak into Main Pond to see what the beavers have been up to. The sun was low in the east with cloud cover generally blowing out to sea and a promising brilliant blue in the western sky.
I found lots of beaver chewed sticks as I tipped the boat over five small dams, working my way downstream. Before I knew it, I had crossed eight little dams, going much further than I had intended with my investigation.
The wind was picking up, so I decided to continue downstream to Miller Pond, check on the lodge, stash the kayak along Unexpected Road and hike back to the cabin for the truck. (Yes, I was too lazy to re-cross all those little dams upstream.)
The lodge was secure, and no one came out into the choppy water to say hello. As I navigated through the vegetation and old stumps in the marshy part of the pond the weather suddenly turned. It became quite rough with the wind blowing whitecaps at me sideways and rain pelting my face. It became cold, and I still had quite a bit of water to cover.
At the wind’s suggestion, I hugged the bank and worked hard to go forward. As I neared the road, I entered a small protected cove where things were much calmer. I stopped paddling and rested while the gentle waves did the work.
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On the bank, I saw a little brown furry body slip into the water. Sure enough, a yearling beaver was floating nearby, watching me intently. He swam around the boat in our tight quarters and gave one half-hearted slap. I examined the bank and saw that he had been eating blueberry and sweet pepperbush with his peeled sticks littering the entire area. I had discovered his own private dining hall. He had even tasted the pitch pine (though not much of it).
I thought that being out near the road at mid-morning was a little odd for a beaver. But perhaps his mother had kicked him out of the lodge while she had this year’s kittens. He did not stray far from the cove, even with me in it. Perhaps he, too, misjudged the weather and was resting in the calm.