Diario del proyecto The Preserve at Bull Run Mountains

Archivos de diario de marzo 2021

03 de marzo de 2021

Observational Highlight of the Week: Hylocichla & Seiurus

Observational Highlight #11: Seiurus aurocapilla (Ovenbird) & Hylocichla mustelina (Wood Thrush)
Virginia Outdoors Foundation - Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve



© Janis Stone, all rights reserved (Both images used with permission)


Hello again everyone!

This week's observational highlight will be a two-for-one(!) given the missed opportunity for a weekly highlight last week. This time around, our stars will be the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) and Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) which were both beautifully captured by Preserve friend and volunteer @janisstone ! The quality of these observations just illustrates the wonderful wildlife viewing opportunities that are available at The Preserve. Although taken a few years back, I can say with confidence that the birds have not decided to stop visiting our community natural area preserve (I was able to spot a black-and-white warbler in the South Section parking area last year!). With the spring migration approaching I hope those planning to visit The Preserve will keep their eyes and ears open to the plethora of bird species that regular our trails. Additionally, audio recordings are a viable candidate for upload to iNaturalist!

But let's dig in shall we?

Both of our highlighted feather friends are migratory birds that will soon be arriving from Central America and the Caribbean. While superficially, there are many physical similarities between the two species, they each belong to different taxonomic families. The wood thrush is, well, a member of the thrush family Turdidea, which includes the Hermit Thrush, American Robin, and Eastern Bluebird. The Ovenbird, however, is a member of the New World Warbler family Parulidae, which includes the prothonotary warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and Hooded Warbler. Now being in different families in the bird world is a pretty big difference in relation, despite how similar both organisms look compared to each other.

Unless you find yourself within eyeshot of an individual foraging on the ground for insects, you're more likely to notice them first by their impressive songs. Both species have very distinct songs which can be easy to identify once you've had your own experience with them. The wood thrush's song consists of a loud, flute-clear ee-oh-lay, while the ovenbird's consist of a rapid-fire teacher-teacher-teacher. While the spring and summertime offers a great spectacle of birdsong it can also be overwhelming to those just starting to learn to identify birdsong (I'm still working on my song identification skills myself). Just remember that with many naturalist skills, practice makes perfect and everyone makes mistakes. There is also a wonderful array of bird song quizzes and resources available online for those interesting in diving into the birding hobby. My personal favorite tool to use for double-checking my field identification is BirdNet (it's also free to use!).

I hope this three-part series highlighting bird species on the preserve will inspire you to have an open ear during your next visit. Audio and photographic observations are always encouraged while exploring the trails. Next week with start our next highlight series - Amphibians!


ABOUT #BullRunMountainsNaturalPreserve
The Bull Run Mountains are the easternmost mountains in Virginia. Virginia Outdoors Foundation - Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve is approximately 2,350 acres that serve as a living laboratory that sits in the backyard of our nation’s capital. The preserve contains 10 different plant community types and a plethora of regionally uncommon and threatened plant and animal species. In 2002, this land was dedicated by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation as a natural area preserve to protect the unique ecosystems found here. As the owner and manager of the preserve, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation is committed to protecting the special ecosystem found here and sharing it with the public through managed access.

Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram: @bullrunmountains
Facebook: Virginia Outdoors Foundation (Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve)
Our website: VOF RESERVES: Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve
Meetup Events: Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve Guided Hikes Group

Publicado el marzo 3, 2021 01:14 MAÑANA por mjwcarr mjwcarr | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

11 de marzo de 2021

Observation Highlight of the Week: Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens

Observational Highlight #12: Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens (Red-spotted Newt)
Virginia Outdoors Foundation - Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve



© Jonathan Kolby, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-ND) [left; juvenile red "eft"]; © Michael J. W. Carr, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC) [right; adult]


Happy Thursday everyone!

What a wonderful time to start our delve into the ectothermic, skin-breathing realm of Amphibia at The Preserve! If you haven't ventured out during the cool rains of mid-to-late winter, you might have missed the on-going migration of salamanders and frogs to vernal pools occurring in our area. The marbled salamanders, spotted salamanders, and wood frogs are just a few of the stars of this cold-weather dash to find the best spots for egg-laying. While many may be surprised to learn that such delicate creatures can tolerate the harsh winter weather (even moving over snow and ice!), we will have to discuss them further in coming highlights. This week we will delve into our most commonly observed amphibian species (but definitely not the least interesting) and highlight the observations of the Red-spotted Newt, which comes to us from @jonathan_kolby and @mjwcarr. You might have noticed that the highlight is, for two weeks in a row, is another twofer! However, the two individuals highlighted in this post belong to the same species at different points in their life history.

While being one most commonly observed amphibian on the preserve, the red-spotted newt is also one of the most interesting creatures living in our area. Newts, as they are commonly referred to, represent the Subfamily Pleurodelinae, a branch of the Family Salamandridae which includes true salamanders and newts. Newts exhibit a metamorphose throughout their life history similar to other amphibians like frogs. However, these life stages are a bit mixed up from what we may be familiar with. Per the norm, the red-spotted newt begins its existence hatching from an egg into an aquatic larva. Following this, the red-spotted newt develops into a terrestrial "red eft", or juvenile stage where the bright red, four-legged teen wanders the forest floor with a slightly rough, dry skin. Once maturing (which can take two to three years - Wow!), the red-spotted newt takes a wild turn from the typical route of metamorphosis exhibited in other groups of Amphibia, by returning to the water to again becoming fully aquatic. In this mature "adult" form the red-spotted newt changes from a bright red to a dull olive, while retaining the characteristic red spots.

The amazing life journey of the red-spotted salamander can last as long as 15 years in the wild, so be sure to remember the names of the newt friends you make along the public trails of the preserve - you might come across them again! This impressive life span is also a reason why preserving our natural community resources is so important for our native species. Amphibians, including our highlighted species, are incredibly sensitive to pollution, habitat degradation, and human activities. When utilizing The Preserves trails, please practice Leave No Trace principles and continue environmentally safe and aware practices in our own backyards.

Amphibian species around the world, including here in our own backyard, are facing tremendous pressure from human-induced actions, including climate change and the spread of chytrid fungus (which we will cover more in coming highlights). If you would like to learn more about how you can support the conservation of amphibian species, follow our highlighted observer Jonathan Kolby who is a National Geographic Explorer & Science Communicator currently working to stop the extinction of Amphibians.


ABOUT #BullRunMountainsNaturalPreserve
The Bull Run Mountains are the easternmost mountains in Virginia. Virginia Outdoors Foundation - Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve is approximately 2,350 acres that serve as a living laboratory that sits in the backyard of our nation’s capital. The preserve contains 10 different plant community types and a plethora of regionally uncommon and threatened plant and animal species. In 2002, this land was dedicated by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation as a natural area preserve to protect the unique ecosystems found here. As the owner and manager of the preserve, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation is committed to protecting the special ecosystem found here and sharing it with the public through managed access.

Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram: @bullrunmountains
Facebook: Virginia Outdoors Foundation (Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve)
Our website: VOF RESERVES: Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve
Meetup Events: Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve Guided Hikes Group

Publicado el marzo 11, 2021 04:33 TARDE por mjwcarr mjwcarr | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

18 de marzo de 2021

Observation Highlight of the Week: Anaxyrus americanus americanus

Observational Highlight #13: Anaxyrus americanus americanus (Eastern American Toad)
Virginia Outdoors Foundation - Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve



© Joe Villari, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)


Hello everyone and happy daylight savings time!

Spring is fast approaching with late winter rains bringing about the movement of so many of our amphibian friends and beckoning the return and farewell of so many of our favorite backyard birds. This week's observational highlight from The Preserve comes to us from the preserve manager and passionate naturalist @jvillari. As you might have gathered from the array of warts, resting grump-face, and the impressively zen meditative posture, we are highlighting the humble Eastern American Toad! Toads are one of the most emblematic amphibian species within western (English) folklore and idioms: ugly as a toad, biggest toad in the puddle. There is also the myth that I believed as a child that touching toads could give you warts - oh no! Thank goodness that today it wasn't true or I wouldn't be able to see my hands. While these sayings might not mean much on their own, the fact that so many of us can easily identify a toad without much prior experience signifies their value within not only our ecosystem but our culture as well.

But let's dig in! the American toad is a ubiquitous species in our state and is the most widely distributed member of Bufonidae in North America. This wide distribution is a testament to the ability of the toad to tolerate the multitude of environments throughout the eastern United States and Canada. Typically associated with hardwood and pine-hemlock forests, the eastern toad can adapt to live in open fields, pastures, and even urban environments as long as leaf litter (or other hiding spaces), borrowable soils (loam/sand), and stable moist habitats are available. The ever-present issue of food is another factor, though the American toad is not a very picky eater. Their diet can include crickets, slugs, earthworms, spiders, or any other small critter it can fit in its mouth.

Soon enough, the toad breeding season will bring about an almost ear-piercing chorus of male toads singing their hearts out to attract the much larger, and quiet females. The call of the male is described as a long, high pitched bur-r-r-r-r- that can last from 6-30 seconds. You can listen to an example of this distinct call of the wild here, on the Virginia Herpetological Society's website (an amazing resource and whose membership includes yours truly). Following a rigorous courtship, which includes the incredible application of amplexus, the duel strings of potentially 4000-8000 eggs are deposited in shallow vernal pools or even waterfilled potholes (which I witnessed last year). The eggs may hatch in as short as four days but may take as long as two weeks. The small black tadpoles that hatch consumes algae and mature into toadlets after about two months. Remarkably, the longest living recorded captive toad lived to be 36 years old. This longevity is not however typical of wild toads which only live a few years at most.

As the end of this month marks the beginning of the American toads breeding season, please show extra care when moving about the public stream trails. If you are lucky enough to come across any of our resident croakers, please share your observation here on iNaturalist!


ABOUT #BullRunMountainsNaturalPreserve
The Bull Run Mountains are the easternmost mountains in Virginia. Virginia Outdoors Foundation - Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve is approximately 2,350 acres that serve as a living laboratory that sits in the backyard of our nation’s capital. The preserve contains 10 different plant community types and a plethora of regionally uncommon and threatened plant and animal species. In 2002, this land was dedicated by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation as a natural area preserve to protect the unique ecosystems found here. As the owner and manager of the preserve, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation is committed to protecting the special ecosystem found here and sharing it with the public through managed access.

Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram: @bullrunmountains
Facebook: Virginia Outdoors Foundation (Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve)
Our website: VOF RESERVES: Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve
Meetup Events: Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve Guided Hikes Group

Publicado el marzo 18, 2021 08:55 TARDE por mjwcarr mjwcarr | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario