Restoration and rehabilitation
There was significant damage to trees due to snow/ice and wind storms early in February and March. We had large crabapples toppled, a large white pine split in two, and the weeping willow lost about a third of its branches. However, we were fortunate since we have a good buffer of forest and plant diversity which seemed to help prevent even more damage. Some neighbors and nearby areas with more open habitat looked like they were hit by a tornado.
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Lucky that the white pine didn't take out the banding shack or bench.
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So close to the banding shack.
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Cleaning up the white pine on 3/4/23.
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Gap created by broken crabapples.
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We were limited with outdoor work many days this summer due to the Canadian wildfire smoke and potential health risks.
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Smoke thick as fog midday...looking down our driveway on 6/28/23
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We continued with the expansion of native vegetation by adding a partial shade fern and grass patch, expanded the front planted prairie, and put in more Michigan Hollies and chokeberries.
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North side of front yard on 7/25/23, continued reclaiming of turf grass.
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Mid-summer storms with significant hail didn't help with the plant growth.
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Hailstones 1/2 hour after sitting in the sun on 7/20/23
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Flora and fauna
Birds: 180 species. No additions this year but we keep looking.
Mammals: 21 species. No additions this year.
Herps: 12 species. No additions this year.
Fish: 1 species and unlikely to increase.
Invertebrates
Butterflies: 52 species. No additions this year.
Moths: 673 species. 64 species added this year since we made new setups to utilize LED blacklights at sheet set up at our bird banding shack. Here are some of favorite new species --
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Epimecis hortaria - Tulip-tree Beauty on 4/21/23. One we'd been wanting to find for some years.
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Eutrapela clemataria - Curve-toothed Geometer on 5/22/23
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Dryocampa rubicunda - Rosy Maple Moth on 5/23/23
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Charadra deridens - The Laugher on 5/23/23
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Pheosia rimosa - Black-rimmed Prominent on 5/29/23
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| Sthenopis argenteomaculatus - Silver-spotted Ghost Moth on 6/6/23. An ancient and curious species. The larvae bore in roots of their host plant (alder, willow, birch) and may take 2-3 years to develop. |
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Argyrotaenia alisellana - White-spotted Leafroller on 6/6/23
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A wasp mimic, Synanthedon rileyana - Riley's Clearwing on 8/14/23
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Aglossa cuprina - Grease Moth on 8/12/23
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Spiloloma lunilinea - Moon-lined Moth on 7/9/23
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Pupa of Wockia asperipunctella in it's lace-like cocoon, found on Weeping Willow 7/9/23; species not confirmed until adult emerged (next photo)
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Adult Wockia asperipunctella emerged on 7/17/23
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Habrosyne gloriosa - Glorious Habrosyne on 9/4/23
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Coptotriche agrimoniella - mines in Agrimony leaves on 10/8/23
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Flies (Diptera): 158 species, up from 151 in 2022.
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Gall midge - Blaesodiplosis crataegifolia on hawthorn - 5/21/23
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Galls on Shingle Oak, likely a Gall Midge - Polystepha sp.
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| Larvae in the Shingle Oak galls, likely a Gall Midge - Polystepha sp. |
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| Underside of Shingle Oak leaf gall, likely a Gall Midge - Polystepha sp. |
Bees/wasps (Hymenoptera): 136 species, up from 120 in 2022.
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Shingle Oak gall from an Oak Gall Wasp - Kokkocynips decidua
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Carrot Wasp - Gasteruption barnstoni
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Neuroterus saltatorius - California Jumping Gall Wasp |
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| Ancistrocerus waldenii |
Dragonflies/damselflies (Odonata): 47 species. No additions this year.
Beetles (Coleoptera): 150 species, up from 136 in 2022.
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Xylotrechus colonus - Rustic Borer on 8/4/23
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Nicrophorus orbicollis - Roundneck Sexton Beetle with phoretic mites on 10/25/23
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Metallic Wood-boring Beetle - Anthaxia quercata on 6/19/23
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Anatis mali - Eye-spotted Lady Beetle |
True Bugs (Hemiptera): 89 species, up from 81 in 2022.
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Baeoalitriozus diospyri - Persimmon Psyllid on our largest persimmon tree, but didn't seem to affect it too much.
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Stenotus binotatus - Two-spotted Grass Bug on 7/2/23
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Other bugs and insects: 85 species, up from 79 in 2022.
Plants: We only added a few early successional species this year that no doubt came in on soil or plants..
Our new FQA (Floristic Quality Assessment) stats follow:
Whole property: 365 species (65.8% native), overall and adjusted FQI* 43.9 and 28.4
Woods: 217 species (83.9% native), FQI 47.1 and 35.7
Woods + old field: 278 species (77% native), FQI 46.7 and 32.5
Fungi: 168 distinct kinds have been found, with 151 of them identified close to species with a fair degree of confidence. It was quite a dry summer but next year perhaps all the downed woods from the storms will produce some additional species.
Pholiota granulosa
Marasmius capillaris
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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
