March 2015


Upcoming Programs

- Pop-up Spring Salamander Search!

- Woodcocks and Cocktails 3/27

- Herp Night Hike 3/27

 

 

Future Meetings
- Look for 2015 Schedule later this month
-Spring Songbird Banding Open House 5/16


Blake Goll
Nature Education Coordinator
Phone: 610-353-2562 Ext. 20
Email: [email protected]

WCT Headquarters
925 Providence Road
Newtown Square, PA 19073
610-353-2562
wctrust.org

Rushton Farm & Rushton Woods Preserve
911 Delchester Rd.
Newtown Square, PA 19073



Willistown Wild Wings Newswire
 

Photo caption: Spotted Salamander (photo by Blake Goll).

Pop-up Spring Salamander Search 
One Night this month-TBA     
Meet at Ashbridge Preserve on Strasburg Rd.

March is an exciting month, especially on rainy nights with temperatures in the 40's after the ground has thawed; that's when some of our most fascinating critters, the amphibians,  are waking up and migrating!  Animals like this beautiful Spotted Salamander are seldom seen by the average person because they spend most of their lives underground, only emerging under the safety of darkness to feed and during spring to migrate to temporary woodland pools to breed.  The Spotted is one of our largest salamanders and can be up to 9 inches long!

Join me in the search for Spots and other amphibians!  We will report all of our findings to PARS (PA Amphibian and Reptile Survey), a relatively new project that began in 2013 to document the state's amphibians and reptiles, which are largely understudied and important indicators of the health of our ecosystem.  
 
Stay tuned and check your email for our pop-up date as we track the spring rains next week.  When conditions are ripe for a major spring amphibian event, also know as a Big Night, I'll let you know with as much notice as I can. What better way to celebrate the vernal equinox?

Woodcocks and Cocktails Family Event
Friday, March 27th from 6-7:30 pm 
Rushton Woods Preserve and Farm

Join us as we celebrate another of nature's hard-to-catch, "pop-up" shows! Here's a preview that might make your day: woodcocks display preview.

Photo Caption:  American Woodcock (Photo by Mike Rosengarten) and spectators waiting for the Woodcock show to start at Rushton during Woodcocks and Cocktails of 2012.

 American Woodcocks, also known as Timberdoodles or Swamp Suckers, are delightful little quail-size birds in the sandpiper family that spend much of their time among the leaf litter perfectly camouflaged and hunting for worms.  In early spring each year at dusk, these birds can be found in moist woods near open fields performing their spectacular aerial courtship displays, during which the male shoots straight up into the air and spirals downward making astonishingly loud twittering sounds with his wings!  It's better than a fireworks display and not to be missed, especially when you're fortunate enough to live right near a display area, like Rushton Farm!  

RSVP to Blake Goll at [email protected] Woodcocks are for everyone.  Cocktails for adults only. BYOB & B  (Bring your own bottle and binoculars). We will provide mixers.
 

Photo Caption: Wood Frog
Herp Night Hike
Friday, March 27th from 7:45-9 pm
Ashbridge Preserve on Strasburg Rd.

Junior Birders, friends and family are welcome to go straight from Woodcocks and Cocktails into the Herp Hike or just attend the Herp Hike if they wish!  Amphibians and reptiles are collectively called herps, and the act of searching for these animals is called herping!  It's best to do this by the cover of night since that's when most of these animals are most active.  Rain is also ideal, especially for amphibians that breath through their skin, but even if it's not raining we should be able to find some exciting critters this time of year especially around the wet areas and vernal pools that Ashbridge Preserve has to offer. 

As birders, it is also our responsibility to take an interest in other important indicators of habitat health, like herps!  The very presence of certain species can tell us a lot about an area.  We will report all of our findings to PARS, described above.  Bring headlamps, flashlights and galoshes! 

Register with Blake Goll ([email protected]).

What You Missed in February


Photo Caption: A flock of robins finding shelter and food under the holly trees and two brave Jr. Birders during the GBBC!

One family, the Hetzels, get a shout out for attending the Great Backyard Bird Count with the rest of the brave nation on a brutally brisk single-digit morning!  We would have rescheduled under normal circumstances but  this was a global citizen science project with a set schedule.  We submitted our results and watched in real-time at http://gbbc.birdcount.org/ as other American families and more than 100 other countries submitted their bird checklists.  

We contributed to PA finishing second (after California) with 141 species recorded and 7,120 checklists.  What's more, we contributed to tracking the health of bird populations with the largest snapshot possible.  At the Trust headquarters we managed to find 18 species of birds, mostly around our bird feeders!  We were able to closely approach a large flock of beautiful robins that cared more about feasting on the delicious holly berries than our presence.  We even had a Snow Goose flyover!
Thanks for your interest in Willistown Conservation Trust's Junior Birding Club, a chapter of PA Young Birders. Studies have shown that regular experience with nature makes kids healthier, happier and significantly improves their performance in all school subjects. Getting your child involved with PA Young Birders is a wise choice that makes positive waves in your child's future.
 

Our Mission is to develop a culture of caring           

for the natural world and desire to conserve  

land, by providing meaningful, thought provoking  

experiences with nature, especially birds.

 

Our Objectives for Your Child:

  • Connect intimately to nature in order to foster a lasting love of the natural world.  
  • Nurture a spirit of discovery and wonder.  
  • Refine birding abilities and cultivate a wholesome lifelong hobby.  
  • Develop science skills and understanding of the scope of science.  
  • Create a confident conservation ethic by demonstrating the importance of preserving open space.
  • Recognize the interconnectedness of habitat, birds and other wildlife.    
  • Ensure an ultimate understanding of the positive role humans can play in the natural world 

 Programs are free unless otherwise noted (although donations are always appreciated), and kids are only expected to bring a desire to learn about birds and explore nature as well as hiking shoes and clothes they don't mind getting dirty!  Binoculars are a plus, but we always have a few on hand to borrow.  All programs are appropriate for kids ages 8-12, but most are adaptable for younger or older kids as well; just ask me if you are concerned about the age appropriateness of a program.


 

The Willistown Conservation Trust is a non-profit land trust working to protect the rural beauty of the 28,000 acres surrounding Willistown,Pennsylvania.  We're dedicated to permanently protecting our countryside from development and inspiring in people a lifelong love of the land and the natural world.  Please visit our website to learn more about us, and subscribe to our bird blog to learn about what's been going on at our bird banding station this year.


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