Muller Field Station's Journal

March 16, 2022

6th Wednesday Walk - March 2nd

Maura, Chelsea, Chelsea's mom and partner (Harry), Cris Kenney, and Jane

Saw and heard first make red wing blackbird of the year. Cris provided excellent description of their spring return (males first, early spring) and how they can play up or down their red coloring on their wings. Described how the birds and his bird feeder all have down that the feeder is neutral territory and cover up their bold markings. He observed one bird displaying his bright plumage get a good "scolding" (is that the right word?) from the other guys at the feeder. Funny- the soap operas of birds. We took a bit of a different path- right through the old field near the parking lot, and identified the big will right next to the watercourse spilling down from the road. Lots of down branches from it with lots of nibbling, cottontail? We saw a cottaintail rabbit too! Cris and I looked at the narrow-leaved cattail and noted the notch that clearly the displays the gap between the male and female flowers- even though the male flowers are long gone. Lots of discussion of healing properties of plants and plant physiology. What causes plants to say its go time? Maybe not so much warmer temp or more light but FLUCTUATIONS and what exactly is the physiological pathways for this? Noticed lots of wildlife sign in the honeysuckles/multiflora rose tangles. We saw two nests; one of them loaded with seeds and misc materials. Was it a cache? Or maybe just a nice, protected place to nibble? And then, the highlight of the day, a dead short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) twisted and dangling around a branch. The shrew, moles, voles, and mice saga continues!

Posted on March 16, 2022 12:56 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

March 2, 2022

5th walk- February 23rd

37 deg F. Overcast. Wind 13 mph. Group of 5. Alli and I, Jane, and mother with her two inquistive young sons. We decided not to take the channel trail because it was icy. Walking over the the boathouse, it was interesting to see so many of the winter signs we had previously marvelled at (e.g. the otter sign, etc.) vanished with new wonders revealed. The remanants of so many of the subnivean tunnels now lay bare on the surface. My eyes have really been opened on the diverisity of mice, moles, voles, and shrews. I now feel no confidence in saying whose handiwork we observed. JVN was confident we were observing a shrew tunnel peaking out the snow a few weeks ago because of the small diameter but then I learned there are so many shrews!!! It is like id-ing out a pondweed!

We walked behind the boat house and examined some beaver work. There was a fair amount of ponding back there and at first I was stumped by what tree is was working on. I noticed the resemblance of the leaf scars to a poplar but the bark was not right, and then finally, taking in the whole picture, I saw that a whole large branch of the tangle of toppled over branches still have the dead leaves attached. A willow! Of course!

From there we walked up and around the ponds to discover quite the scene splayed out just inside the edge of the old field. A mat of deer fur with very little of anything else remaining, a jaw bone, some scat and some fresh tracks. Following up with JVN (and Nathan Mahoney) after our walk, John pointed out the bar at the back of the track and the coiling of the scat. At least the most recent vistor to this carcasss seems to have been a red fox.

Wandering around the other side of the pond we also found the carcass of what John (and a user on iNaturalist) suggested to be a species of meadow vole, again just the genus, there are more than one species! Would like to do a little more research on this!

Alli and I also had a discussion regarding the silt fence that we recently put up around the first pond. This pond is used for water intake in the research building. The silt fence hopefully will deter salamander from using this pond. Not only do the salamanders and their eggs clog the pipes it also causes their mortality, acting as a population sink.

So much to learn and think about! Look forward to what will discover on the next one!

Posted on March 2, 2022 01:28 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 24, 2022

4th Wednesday Walk – 2/16/2022

It was warmer, overcast and the snow had melted just enough for great tracking. It was a smaller group than last week. Jane has been our consistent participant every week which is lovely! And then we had another couple and a gentlemen who joined us just for the beginning. Lots of red fox tracks and for the first time really saw the bar at the back that Chelsea has always been referrring too. I think we could actually see some of the shrew's subnivean tunnels. Great discussion about feather and warmth and regulating heat. Thinking about nests and mother's love in the world of waterfowl (plucking feathers from their breast to keep their babes warm in their nest).

Posted on February 24, 2022 10:54 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 16, 2022

3rd Wednesday Walk Feb 9th

What a crew we had! Alli, Chelsea, Maura and John Van Niel for staff than we also had seven guests including one current student (Cris Kenney), two alumni, and three community members. Day started off at 34deg F with hazy clouds (stratus maybe?). So many rich observations and conversations. As we gathered, some a chickadee sang to us and then our first discovery was a couple small (~2inch) holes poking out of the snow. John Van Niel excitedly led a discussion of the top three possibliities (mouse, vole, and mole) but then led us to a fourth, and perhaps most probable- the shrew, based the diameter of the opening. A quick Google revealed that there are seven species of shrew in NYS (https://www.esf.edu/efb/lomolino/courses/MammalDiversity/labs/NYS1.pdf). We also observed squirrel tracks and were reminded that all rodents have three middle digits parallel and two outer digits radiate out diagonally. Also and opportunity to discuss how the back feet of rodents and lagamorphs register ahead of their front feet but that the lagamorphs front feet are offset causing a "Y"-like arrangement. While stopped observing some blonding on an ash tree, a cavitity about 20ft up the tree caught our eye. We discussed the difference between nesting cavitities and feeding holes. The height of this cavitity, its size, and the diameter of the tree lead us to conclude that this was a feeding hole, not a nesting cavitity. As we discussed this we could hear the drumming of a woodpecker in the distance. A little early, my friend? We also stopped and looked at the red maple flower buds, so plumb but probably still far from bursting. John Van Niel shared that once they do burst they loose their wildlife value. The hike ended in sunshine, perhaps 10 degrees warmer, with the discover of some excellent otter tracks and tail slap signs. Otter and fisher were the top two guesses. John shared that when in doubt, follow the track and if it goes up a tree you can confirm it is a fisher. Sidenote: both fisher and otter slide so that does not always work. The hefty tail sign in this case was the confirming factor. An exciting way to end the walk!

Posted on February 16, 2022 01:34 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 9, 2022

2nd Wednesday Walk- February 2nd, 2022

Another cold, bright sunny day. Plenty of snow. Bigger crowd this week with six guests, one was a repeat visitor, and Alli, Chelsea and Maura. We were enthralled by lots of fox sign- tracks, scat and maybe urine.
We took a few sniffs but did not get a super strong skunk smell. Once guests pointed out blood splots on the trail as well. We stopped at the beaver chews and another guest noticed that in the tangle of honeysuckle and multliflora rose is also AUTUMN OLIVE, a nother non-native species, and that the beaver is actually chewing down this shrub in this tangle. Must be tasty! An our return trip along the channel, the group saw three Eastern Bluebirds that landed in some winterberry along the trail and two red-tailed hawks were sighted soaring above the station as the guests were leaving.

Posted on February 9, 2022 12:49 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 2, 2022

First Wednesday Walk- January 26, 2022

Alli, Chelsea and I led the first Wednesday Walk. The intention of these walks is to see, observe, document, and share the ever-changing natural world of Muller Field Station. Three community members joined us. It was cold and sunny with almost two feet of snow. Alli and Chelsea had cleared two paths along the channel with the gator prior to the walk.

Highlights- On this walk with sat with a flock of American robins, wondered over the might of the American beaver chewing and pulling honeysuckle apart from a tangle of multiflora rose, marveled over the magnificent architecture of a Virgin's bower seed head, and eavesdropped on a Black-capped Chickadee pecking away at meal of cattail seeds and tidying up afterwards.

Posted on February 2, 2022 01:23 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

October 13, 2021

Project Kick-off

13 Oct 2021

On this fine, sunny fall Wednesday afternoon, Amy Slentz, Alex Fairbrother and Maura Sullivan kicked off the official Muller Field Station iNaturalist Bioinventory project. With the goal of making Muller Field Station an official "place" in iNaturalist, we set out to ID a goal of 50 species (minimum needed of "verified" observations to add a "place" in iNaturalist). Althought focus on this semester is on fall wildlflower, we recorded all taxa today to increase our list. Various goldenrods, aster, pollinators, birds, etc.

Posted on October 13, 2021 08:44 PM by mauraflora7 mauraflora7 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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