Restoration and rehabilitation
(For the time series of the backyard seeded prairie and our other plantings, see the Changes: 2021 page.)
The early growing season had sufficient rain, but we were at or near drought conditions for the remainder of the year. But our native plantings are resiliant, rmaturing and very colorful:
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| Northern side of front yard - July 25, 2022 |
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| Septic planting on June 2, 2022 |
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| ...and the septic planting a month earlier on May 20, 2022 |
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| Lower pond on August 22, 2022 |
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| Front door plantings on May 20, 2022. |
Flora and fauna
Here are the updates and totals, with some photo highlights.
Birds: 180 species. No additions to the bird list in 2022.
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| Great Blue Heron visiting the pond on June 5, 2022. |
The Finch Forecast predicted movement of some species.
- Red-breasted Nuthatches were regulars as of mid-August with a few females and males hanging around.
- Pine Siskin individuals were flyovers in October and November.
- Purple Finches moved through late September through October. One to two individuals present many days. Nearby preserves had dozens of individuals during peak days.
- Evening Grosbeaks appeared again this year: 1 or 2 individuals in late October, then sporadic individuals through November with most being flyovers.
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| Here is a female-type Evening Grosbeak at our office feeder on November 17, 2022. |
- Eastern Bluebirds: we had limited success with bluebird breeding this year. The older banded male was paired with a new female and the weather may have caused poor hatching (cold spells and hot spells).
- Black-capped Chickadees had a tough year in boxes due to aggressive House Sparrows. Their second attempt was a failure due to Brown-headed Cowbirds.
- An immature Red-shouldered Hawk turned up in late November. It may have been around earlier but we have a Blue Jay that imitates the hawk quite well. It hunted around the house and yard, picking off a shrew, vole, Gray Squirrels, and a Hairy Woodpecker during our times of viewing.
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| Red-shouldered Hawk on November 23, 2022. |
One of my expectations is to find sunning screech-owls on sunny, cool days. Over the past year, I've found two preferred, south-facing cavities.
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| Eastern Screech-owl on January 28, 2022. |
Avian flu concerns slowed banding in 2022. We banded just 32 new birds of 9 species this year. Our banding totals can be viewed here.
Mammals: 21 species. Nothing new in 2022.
Herps: 12 species. Nothing new in 2022.
We always look for salamanders eggs in the swamp, but have been unsuccessful so far.
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| Wood Frog eggs on April 16, 2022. |
Fish: 1 species (and unlikely to increase!)
Invertebrates
Butterflies: 52 species. No new species in 2022.
Zabulon Skippers (Poanes zabulon) were more plentiful this year than past years, and we found the females particularly beautiful.
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| Female Zabulon Skipper on skullcap August 23, 2022. |
Moths: We added 16 species in 2022, bringing our property total to 609.
The moth caterpillars this year were more interesting than the adults.
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| Horned Spanworm (Nematocampa resistaria) larva on Honey Locust June 29, 2022 |
We have had Saddleback Caterpillar Moths (Acharia stimulea) in past years on the Redbud by our front door, but never a gathering like this.
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| The
group initially stayed together (here on August
21, 2022), then spread out over nearby branches and leaves in later instars. |
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| Closeup of a Saddleback on August 28, 2022. |
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| Snowberry Clearwing (Hemeris diffinis) on the native Lonicera dioica growing at our deck on August 25, 2022 |
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| Io Moth caterpillar (Io automeris) on aster outside our office window August 29, 2022. One of us found this the hard way. |
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| Clear Dagger (Acronicta clarescens) caterpillar on a potted Downy Hawthorn August 29, 2022. |
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| White-streaked Prominent (Ianassa lignicolor) on Northern Red Oak September 16, 2022. |
Flies (Diptera): 151 species, up from 144.
Bees/wasps (Hymenoptera): 120 species, up from 107.
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| Herb Gall Wasp (Liposthenes glechomae) on Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) on June 6, 2022. |
Note below, the very small female wasp on one of the cocoons of the wasps that parasitized the caterpillar. The parasites are braconid wasps (likely in the subfamily Microgastrinae; Cotesia is the common genus, and those that parasitize "hornworms" are Cotesia congregata). Thus, the smaller wasp may be a hyperparasite -- we can't tell if it oviposited into the cocoon or not. Most of these hyperparasitoids are Eulophida, but also Chalcidae and Ichneumonidae have been mentioned.
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| Virginia Creeper Sphinx caterpillar with multiple parasitic wasps on August 17, 2022. |
For a few days, we had been hearing wasps fly by while sitting on the deck. I finally paid attention and found a strange-looking wasp that looked like a mud-dauber, but it was taking its provisions into the track of our sliding screen door. Upon closer inspection we found this to be a non-native species that recently turned up in Michigan.
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| Non-native Asian Mud-dauber (Sceliphron curvatum) on August 31, 2022 |
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| Asian Mud-dauber nests in the screen door track. |
Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata): 47 species. Two new species in 2022.
Julie had briefly observed one Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans) at a vernal pool in our woods in a previous year. This year saw an influx of this species in the region and we had up to eight males at the vernal ponds on a single day.
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| Male Great Blue Skimmer on June 21, 2022. |
Surprisingly, the spreadwing below has not been found prior to this year, but we had a few observations this past summer.
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| Female Sweetflag Spreadwing (Lestes forcipatus) on August 13, 2022. |
Beetles (Coleoptera): 136 species. Six new species in 2022.
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| Imported Willow Leaf Beetle (Plagiodera versicolora) larvae on Shining Willow (Salix lucida) on June 29, 2022. |
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| Asiatic Garden Beetles (Maladera formosae) were found in great numbers near our garden on August 14, 2022. |
True Bugs (Hemiptera): 81 species. Six new species in 2022.
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| Hawthorn Lace Bug (Corythucha cydoniae) on Washington Hawthorn August 22, 2022. |
While looking for Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) seed pods, I realized our Witch-hazel was full of spiny galls. These galls are due to Spiny Witch Hazel Gall Aphids ((Hamamelistes spinosus; surprised by the name?) and have alternate hosts. This species alternates between Witch-hazel and River Birch (our neighbor has a couple trees in his yard nearest our property).
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| Spiny gall on Witch-hazel October 28, 2022. |
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| Adult Spiny Witch Hazel Gall Aphid on October 28, 2022. |
Other bugs and insects: 79 species. One new species in 2022.
While walking in our old field, I noted a line of eggs along a shaft of grass. Closer inspection showed two shapes. A response came quickly after posting an image on bugguide.... these were owlfly eggs! An insect we'd wanted to see and now we know they occur in our yard. The top eggs are the fertile eggs (white). Below them are abortive eggs called "repagula" that are coated with a substance that repells ants, and thus protects the fertile eggs above.
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| Eggs of Four-spotted Owlfly (Ululodes quadripunctatus) |
Plants
We added a few non-native species we found in the yard, and one nice native fern.
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| We walk by this fern almost every day and finalized realized it was a Crested Shield Fern (Dryopteris cristata). |
Our new FQA (Floristic Quality Assessment) stats follow:
Whole property: 361 species (65.7% native), overall and adjusted FQI* 43.7 and 28.4
Woods: 216 species (84.3% native), FQI 52.6 and 35.8
Woods + old field: 277 species (77.3% native), FQI 54.1 and 32.5
Fungi: 165 distinct kinds have been found, with 145 of them identified close to species with a fair degree of confidence. We added one new species, Marasmius siccus, which we found all over decaying wood in an area where we cut back a lot of cherry seedlings.
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*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 greater than 35 are considered important floristically while most undeveloped land scores less than 20.
