Coyote Hot Date Site

This scratched up sand is on the shore of West Lake. Since it has large canine footprints it may be a sign of coyotes. When a female is in proestrus her urine becomes increasingly attractive to the male. He will sniff intensively over an area she has just urinated in, then urinate over it and scrape the ground vigorously with his paws. The urination/scraping behavior continues with increasing frequency until the female comes into heat for two to five days sometime between mid January and late March. Once the female chooses a partner they may remain paired for a number of years.

Gestation lasts from 60 to 63 days. Litter size averages 6. The young are born blind, limp-eared and pug-nosed. Three to four weeks after birth, the young begin to emerge from the den and by 35 days they are fully weaned. They are fed regurgitated food by both parents. Male pups disperse from the dens in the fall while females stay with the parents and form the basis for the pack.

This is a Cabbage butterfly caterpillar on a garlic mustard leaf. Cabbage butterfly caterpillars feed on plants in the mustard family and garlic mustard is in the mustard family but I haven't heard of these caterpillars eating garlic mustard.

Butterflies sometimes lay eggs on plants that the caterpillars cannot reach maturity on. They start to feed, maybe make it through a few instars, and then die. An example of this is the West Virginia White. The original food plant is toothwort. The adult gets confused by the smell of garlic mustard, lays eggs on it, and the caterpillars die. This has resulted in West Virginia White populations being drastically reduced as garlic mustard has spread.

I don't think this caterpillar is going to die from the garlic mustard because it is full-sized. Caterpillars frequently move from their host plant when they are ready to pupate but I didn't see any other mustard family plants nearby. Could it be that one of our Cabbage butterflies has evolved the ability to eat garlic mustard?

Even if our Cabbage butterflies develop a taste for garlic mustard, they probably won't be a good biologic control for garlic mustard because they taste too good to predators such as wasps, spiders, and birds. This is why they have protective coloration instead of conspicuous coloration. We will have to keep pulling unless and until other biologic controls are proven out and released.

Butterfly Survey-July 13

Roger Kuhlman surveyed the fen areas of the preserve with Russell's assistance on July 13. He was hoping to find Swamp Metalmark and Mitchell's Satyr (he didn't) but he did find 30 other species. The list is below:

Eyed Brown 11
Cabbage White 7
Pearl Crescent 39
Wood Nymph 30
Great Spangled Fritillary 5
Broad-winged Skipper 1
Red-spotted Purple 4
Viceroy 8
Red Admiral 9
Dun Skipper 4
Little Glassywing 1
Tiger Swallowtail 4
Banded Hairstreak 2
Clouded Sulphur 6
Delaware Skipper 3
Silver-spotted Skipper 3
Little Wood Satyr 1
Summer Azure 3
Meadow Fritillary 4
American Painted Lady 1
Orange Sulphur 6
Monarch 9
Black Swallowtail 1
Checkered Skipper 1
Eastern-tailed Blue 2
Spicebush Swallowtail 2
Appalachian Eyed Brown 2
Wild Indigo Duskywing 1
Mulberry Wing 6
Mourning Cloak 1

Floodplain Forest Work April and May 2007

This is a summary of the areas that were worked on, the invasives removed, and future plans for the floodplain forest. "North" means upstream, even though we know that with the River Raisin, upstream can be any direction.

In the area north of the trail and between the channel and the fen all Garlic Mustard and Dame's Rocket, of which there wasn't much to begin with, was removed, along with some rose and honeysuckle. There is small rose and buckthorn remaining in the northwest corner of this section near the fen and more buckthorn on the western edge near the fen. It will be worked on next spring.

All blooming Garlic Mustard, Dame's Rocket, and honeysuckle was removed from the island. The island was also in good shape so the work here was done by individuals not on scheduled volunteer days. There is a thick patch of small rose and many garlic mustard seedlings in the southeast corner. The worst of the rose will be herbicided this summer and the garlic mustard will be herbicided in the fall and winter. Any rose and garlic mustard that survives the herbicide will receive hand pulling next spring. There is Reed Canary Grass on the south end next to the channel. The grass closest to the water will receive glyphosate and the grass further away will receive Poast Plus this summer. Poast Plus kills only grass but isn't allowed within 10 feet of open water. It would have been better to spray the beginning of June before the grass bloomed but other things were higher priority.

The tiny island just south of the bigger island had all the blooming garlic mustard removed but not all the Dame's Rocket. It has many small roses and honeysuckles. Dame's Rocket and Garlic Mustard rosettes will be herbicided in the fall and on warm winter days. Hand pulling will be used on remaining invasives in the spring.

The rest of Trillium was worked on during volunteer days. After clearing all the way to the stream in the south we started again in the north to get the ones we had missed. Some blooming Garlic Mustard and Dame's Rocket was still there when we stopped working here the end of May, more in the southern part than in the northern part. There is a little Canadian Thistle next to the path, some Reed Canary Grass in one place next to the river, and some small roses. The Canadian Thistle and Reed Canary Grass will receive one or two herbicidings this summer. Dame's Rocket and Garlic Mustard rosettes will be herbicided in the fall and winter. Those that survive this herbiciding will be the focus of the volunteer days next spring. Rose will also be pulled in the spring. Any large honeysuckle that we missed in prior years was cut down and most of the small ones were pulled. Remaining honeysuckle will be eliminated as it is found.

The heron rookery that was in big cottonwood in the river last year is abandoned. The herons nesting in Tom Turkey may be from this rookery.

Honeysuckle, rose, buckthorn, Garlic Mustard, and Dames Rocket in the floodplain forest next to the volunteer area received cutting, hand pulling and some herbiciding this spring. Progress is being made but this area is secondary priority to the north end. The large woody plants have been mostly gone since last year but there is still work to do on the smaller ones and the herbaceous invasives.

Bluebird Nest Boxes

At Ives Road Fen there is a bluebird nest box at the entrance to the central fen, one at the entrance to the volunteer area and one at the barn. Kristen Columbus has been monitoring and maintaining these boxes. Here is her report from May 19:

We have baby bluebirds in the boxes at the Central Fen entrance as well as the one by the barn. (Russell and I saw 3 birds for sure but there were 5 eggs in each box. There could easily be 2 more each underneath the others but we didn't want to handle the babies).

The box at the volunteer management unit has a house wren nest with one egg in it. We cleared out a wren nest about 10 days ago (not being sure if it was a dummy nest), it has since been rebuilt and the egg added.

The N. American Bluebird Society monitoring guidelines say that the nestlings stay in the nest for 17-18 days but that the box should be observed only from a distance from about day 13 until fledging so that they don't get frightened and leave prematurely. We estimate that hatching occurred about May 15 (+/- a day), so May 28th would be day 13 and we should steer clear of the boxes until that Saturday (June 2).

Garlic Mustard Removal at the Fen

In the first three garlic mustard workdays this year we have cleared the scattered small patches of garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket in Trillium Management Area north of the rookery and are now into the big thick patch in the corner.

When removing invasives you are supposed to do the scattered patches first and the thickest, worst areas last. This is because the areas that are solid with invasives will only expand slowly, at the edges, but many small patches will each expand at their perimeters and can quickly infest a large area.

There are many small patches of garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket between the pitcher plants and the rookery. Next week we will start at the edge of the woods by the pitcher plants and work our way in. When we get to the thick patch in the corner, we will then spend the rest of May reducing it. There isn't much garlic mustard in here and the Dame's Rocket that is left will be further reduced by cold weather herbiciding this fall and winter, when the natives are dormant.

Since next year's garlic mustard flowers come from this year's seedlings, and we aren't pulling seedlings since most of them die by themselves during the summer, there will be just as much garlic mustard in Trillium next year as there was this year. There will be much less Dame's Rocket and Honeysuckle because these aren't as prolific so we might be able to finish Trillium before the end of the season next year.

After Trillium is complete the next priority is a small area of floodplain forest that Russell has found near Sutton Road and near an old tractor and near a bog. It has many wildflowers and not too much garlic mustard. Only Russell has seen it but it sounds interesting. Priority for future areas will go to places with many wildflowers, less severe garlic mustard infestation, and places that are adjacent to areas already cleared or where we have cleared the woody invasives but not the garlic mustard.

The Island

The Island is an island on the north end of Ives Road Fen Preserve. It is surrounded partly by the River Raisin and partly by a channel.

In 2004 the seasonal staff of four, with volunteer help, worked for weeks to clear it of garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket. In 2005 and 2006 the volunteers worked on the island for all of April and May, the garlic mustard pulling season. Last year on the last workday they just cleared it (or didn't quite clear it-I missed that workday). We expected that this year it would take just as much time, although it seemed last year that in many of the places we were pulling there weren't any seedlings, which was interesting at the time, but we didn't want to get our hopes up.

When I went to scout out the area for our first workday, there was hardly any garlic mustard on the island!! I cleared the north half of the island by myself in about a day and Sam and I will probably finish the south half on Monday. Partly this is a result of thorough, methodical, persistant pulling every year. We start at the same place every year and follow the same route every year, pulling every plant. Several times during the season we walk the area that has already been pulled and get the ones that were missed or broke off at the ground and later came up. Leaving only a few plants can largely negate the value of your work because those few plants can produce thousands of seeds.

In addition to the thorough pulling, there has been some cold season herbicide spraying. For this to be effective without doing damage to the natives, you need to spray in late fall or winter when the native plants are dormant but garlic mustard rosettes are visible. The garlic mustard needs to be growing so you need a day above 50 degrees. You also need for the plants to not be covered by snow or have all the leaves frozen off. A winter day that is above 50 may be due to warm air currents from the Gulf of Mexico. Besides warm air, these currents can carry rain, making herbiciding on that day ineffective. Even with these obstacles, the herbiciding can reduce big patches to scattered individuals and eliminate a lot of individual plants. You still need hand pulling in the spring to mop up the ones missed by herbiciding but with far fewer plants you can cover more ground.

With the island now clear, we will spend this season working in Trillium Management Area south of The Island. This is a large area with garlic mustard and Dame's Rocket dispersed throughout but none of the patches are as big or as dense as what was on the island so we hope to cover a lot of ground. Garlic mustard in this area was also herbicided during the winter.

PussyWillow Fen

Pussywillow Fen is the temporary name we have given to the fen south of the Volunteer Management Unit. It is named that due to the large Pussywillows growing in it. We know it is a fen because of the large amount of Shrubby Cinquefoil growing there. There are many buckthorn trees, an invasive, and willow and dogwood, native shrubs. There is one large open area near the river, a few small open areas in the interior, a narrow open strip at the bottom of the hill and small numbers of natives such as Marsh Marigold, Skunk Cabbage, Spicebush, Ninebark, Swamp Thistle, Joe-Pye Weed, and Godenrod interspersed among the area overgrown by shrubs. Since this area is too big to attack all at once, a trail was made through it cutting off a piece on the north end. Our strategy will be to work north from the trail until we have eliminated all the buckthorn between the trail and the volunteer management unit, then cut off more sections until finally the whole area is clear. There may be a controlled burn some year. Today we greatly widened the area on both sides of the trail between the first two brushpiles, connected the area between the two brushpiles, and broke through to a small open area south of the trail. There are enough natives already here that the area can regenerate naturally without any seeding being necessary. This area will be our main cold season work area after Vaughn Woods is finished. Tom Turkey and Campbell Strip is still the main priority for this coming summer. I will make regular visits to Pussywillow Fen this summer to spray any sprouts and control the buckthorn seedlings that sometimes germinate in large numbers the first year that a buckthorn area is opened up.

Today we saw Pussywillow, Spicebush, and Skunk Cabbage in bloom, a praying mantis egg case, Swamp Thistle and Marsh Marigold seedlings, garlic mustard on the hill, a giant buckthorn trunk, and got to smell Skunk Cabbage and Spicebush.

Spring Honeysuckle Cutting on the Side of the Hill Day

The woods we cut in today have been degraded by years of honeysuckle growth but there are two other reasons for clearing invasives here. One is that the fen below is still in fairly good shape and the honeysuckle was so thick that it was hard to get to the fen or to see it to be inspired. The other is that if the fen is cleared but the hill above is covered with invasives, the invasives can come back in. Honeysuckle doesn't usually grow in wet areas and buckthorn usually doesn't grow in dry areas but we did cut some buckthorn on the hill today and there is honeysuckle on the fen-forest interface. Multi-flora rose, which we cut some of today, grows vigorously in both habitats. Long term, getting rid of the honeysuckle allows native trees, shrubs, and flowers to regenerate. The fen that we cleared access to is south of the volunteer area. During the regular work season we will work north from the volunteeer area to eventually link up with the crew working south. Today's piece of the fen will be worked on piecemeal in the winter. Last year we didn't get to it at all and this year half a dozen clumps of buckthorn have been cleared so far. It will be the top priority in the few weeks before garlic mustard season starts in a few weeks. It would be nice to burn this area on the same day that we burn the volunteer unit to knock back the dogwood. No burn is scheduled here this year but in a few years when the volunteer unit recovers further we could have a good one.

Wildflower Conference and Educators Workshop

The WAM (Wildflower Association of Michigan-not part of The Nature Conservancy) will hold a conference on the MSU campus in East Lansing on March 4 and 5. Both days start with bagels and coffee and have an optional luncheon with speaker. March 4 is the Educator's Workshop with discussions on topics such as raising funds, school site development, native plant gardening, and invasive plant control. The day concludes with the WAM annual meeting and birthday bash. Topics on March 5 include native landscapes, Environmental Effects of Invasive Species, Monarchs and Milkweeds, "Gardening with Native Plants to Attract Birds" and "Michigan Trees and Shrubs for Homeowners". Let me know if you are interested and I can send you the full agenda and a registration form. The registration fee gets higher as the start date approaches.

Great idea Chuck

This will be a great idea for all of us to keep up on what is happening at the fen. I stopped down yesterday and cut some of the "medium" sized black locusts for a few hours. I think we should try and drill-and-fill any of them bigger than "medium". What does everyone else think about that idea?

Farm Machinery

Vaughn Woods, the management area where the volunteers are working this winter, used to be the machinery graveyard for the farmer who owned it. There is an old baler there and other pieces of equipment that have nothing left but a rusty frame partly buried in the ground. I put a little information about these in the last workday report and Judy Holcomb suggested that I try to sell them on E-bay or to the Lenawee County Farmers' Antique Tractor and Engine Association. The baler is listed on E-bay now. If we make enough profit on that sale to buy refreshments for a few workdays, I will list the other pieces. Otherwise I will offer them for free to the Antique Tractor Association or Freecycle them. There is also a scrap metal dealer who claims to pick up or as a last resort, the landfill.