Restoration and rehabilitation
Although the summer was dry we had a fairly wet spring, and the seeded
prairie was dominated by Wild Bergamot which grew about 6 feet tall! In
combination with the even larger Cup Plant, we could barely see to the
gap.
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| The seeded prairie after killing the grass and overseeding, fall 2012. |
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| The seeded prairie late summer 2013. |
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| Mid-summer 2014 |
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| Early August 2015 |
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| Close-up, August 2015 |
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| Mid-July 2016. |
Flora and fauna
Here are the updates and totals, with some photo highlights.
Vertebrates
Birds: 164 species, up from 161 at
the end of 2015.
An entire family of Pileated Woodpecker were found in the woods throughout the year. Additions to the bird list in
2016 were
Trumpeter Swan, Hooded Merganser, and
Olive-sided Flycatcher (the first two were flyovers).
A cumulative list of breeding birds on our property can be found
here.
The "Prairie Oaks Ecological Station" had a good year. We continued to contributed to several
research projects. We banded 289 new birds of 48 species in 2016. New bird species banded were Gray-cheeked Thrush, Wood Thrush, and Pine Siskin, bringing the cumulative total to 70 species.
Full list here.
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| Adult male Connecticut Warbler on 9/16/16 |
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| Female Red-breasted Nuthatch on 11/6/16 |
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Slate-colored Junco, originally banded on 3/16/14 and recaptured 11/6/16.
Within the same flock, we had other old birds such as this one banded on 12/29/13. |
Catching birds that are not resident in the area in a subsequent year is always interesting, like the juncoes noted above. We recaptured two Gray Catbirds this year that were both originally banded as young (hatching year) birds on 30 August 2015. A House Wren that we caught as an adult in 2015 returned to nest this year. We also caught an American Robin that we first captured in 2014.
Mammals: 18 species. Nothing new in 2016.
Herps:
12 species. Nothing new in 2016.
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| Blue-spotted or hybrid Salamanders seemed more numerous around the house and yard this year. |
Invertebrates
Butterflies::
48 species. No new species in 2016.
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| Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar, soon to pupate on 8/28/16 |
We participate in
Monarch Watch, including
tagging Monarchs that we have raised from eggs/larvae, as well as Monarchs from other
sites. In 2016, we tagged 25 Monarchs from the property, 18 wild and 17
reared.
Moths: We added 23 species in 2016,
bringing our total to 376. Despite our good intentions of baiting or using black lights this summer, we still only recorded moths from the porch lights.
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| Snowy Urola (Urola nivalis) |
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| Yellow-necked Caterpillar Moths (Datana ministra) on basswood |
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| Caterpillars of Saucrobotys futilalis - Dogbane Saucrobotys on 9/4/16 |
Flies: 78 species, up from 62. The best place to see many insects, especially flies, bees, and wasps, is on the several species of mountain mint (
Pycnanthemum) we have planted. These flowers are magnets for pollinators. We have a patch in the seeded prairie, but our biggest patch is in the old sandbox.
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We weren't sure what to do with this sandbox, after we cleared
out all the weeds. We decided to add some topsoil and plant
sand-loving plants. We put in 3 species of mountain mint. |
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| Then we pulled off the boards and spread out the soil. |
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By the next year (2013) it was flourishing. It is huge now,
and we have added two extensions that include bee balms
and other species. |
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Trichopoda lanipes on mountain mint. This is a very
large, showy species of feather-legged fly. |
Bees/wasps: 77 species, up from 63. At our old house we were very diligent about documenting Hymenoptera, and we are back to working on it here. The potter wasps are a large group of black and yellow wasps. A good look at the pattern is important, as is sometimes the texture of the thorax.
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Euodynerus crypticus was new for us, and
one of the few
in this genus that has reddish coloration. The females
provision their larvae with the caterpillars of skippers. |
Dragonflies and damselflies: 41
species. New in 2016 were Lancet Clubtail (
Gomphus exilis), Spatterdock Darner (
Rhionaeshna mutata) and Variable Dancer (
Argia fumipennis violacea).
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| young adult male Spatterdock Darner (R. mutata) on 5/28/16 |
Other "bugs": up to 171 species. Nothing "earth shattering", but here are a couple pictures.
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| Elm Borer (Saperda tridentata) on 5/30/16 |
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| Pleasing Fungus Beetle (Megalodacne heros) on 9/30/16 |
Plants
In
2016, we added 20 species, bringing the total number of species to the property to 318 (growing wild, none we know or think were planted), with an overall
Floristic Quality Index ( FQI)* of 41. In addition to the overall
property list, we keep separate lists divided into zones. The "yard"
covers the 1.25 ac area around the house, including lawn areas. Another
1.25 ac is old field that has experienced some disturbance and
management. The "woods" covers 8.5 acres and is the most natural and
undisturbed portion of the property. We generate 3 separate lists, FQIs,
and other metrics; some plants species occur on more than one list.
- Yard: 114 species (32.5% native), FQI 5.3
- Woods: 202 species (85.1% native), FQI 46.9
- Woods + old field: 259 species (76.8%), FQI 45.1
After another year or so, we will take into account some species that
are no longer present (rare natives or removed non-natives) and
calculate
a new, more "current" score. We managed to identify 2 new sedges, including the big
Carex comosa below.
It didn't bloom last year, so we were excited to see what it was.
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| Carex comosa, Bottlebrush Sedge. |
Identifying hawthorns requires examination of the leaves, flowers, and later the fruit and seeds.
Some years they don't flower or fruit well. This was a good year for them, and we confirmed the identification of 4 species.
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Scarlet Hawthorn, Crataegus coccinea. The pink anthers
help identify this species. |
It will become more and more difficult to find new plant species. Unless we tackle grasses!
*In
standardized botanical assessments, each species is
assigned a "C value" or Coefficient of Conservatism from 0-10,
gauging its tolerance to disturbance and affinity for intact
historical ecosystems. From this, an index is calculated.
Abundance is not figured in (thus a huge population of a
rare/specialized species "counts" the same as a single plant) and
species not native to Michigan always score "0", even if they are
expanding their ranges into Michigan naturally, or are not invasive or
habitat specific. In
Michigan FQI's of >35 are considered important floristically
while most undeveloped land scores <20.
