The other fall colors

As the colors on the bluffs and hills begin to change with the freezing cold weather that is on our heels, I would definitely recommend gorging your eyes on the beauty. Some of the trees are already starting to change, but over the next two weeks the oaks leaves will go through their colorful senescence. You can call the Iowa Department of Natural Resources fall color hotline (515) 233-4110, or you can just go outside and look. Last fall I wrote about looking at some of the other plants that change color during the autumn: the prairie grasses that turn golden, auburn, orange and crimson. I was out for a walk in the woodland the other day, however, and noticed a few other, not-so-often thought of colorful things that pop up in the autumn

They might be a bit of a stretch, but certainly things that you might not be so apt to look for due to the colorful trees and grasses and impending winter. While the large landscape views of colorful woodlands are truly amazing, there are other colorfulthings to look at out there if you look hard, or in some cases, work hard!

Chicken of the woods mushrooms (Laetiporus sulphureus) are fall fruiting edible mushrooms that you just can't miss--but as with all wild mushrooms, don't try eating anything unless you are familiar with fungi or have an expert friend that can id them. I just love to look at these polypores (mushrooms with a spore-bearing surface composed of tubes that are pointed down and which open by pores) against the browns and grays of a autumn woodland, and I like to eat them too!

Prescribed fire! Orange and yellow and red flames creeping across the woodland floor, or the bright tangerine hue above the bluffs after dark during a woodland prescribed fire--the colors take my breath away! Prescribed fire season will soon be starting at Whiterock Conservancy, and we're getting ready to do a few large woodland burns. We'll be needing help along the way, and if you are interested in volunteering, just click on the "Get Involved" tab above and input your contact information into the Volunteer Opportunities page.

Hunters on the landscape Deer management and pheasant hunting season are upon us, so you might be putting on a different colored jacket here pretty soon, or you might run into someone with a blaze orange jacket on. Whenever you're exploring lands open to the public where hunting is taking place, it's a good thing to keep your eyes open for people with blaze orange, generally the hunters--and if you see any, just let them know that you're there and keep on what you're doing. Here at Whiterock Conservancy, we're trying to mix managed paid hunting with herd management while still allowing people to recreate on the landscape, and everyone can take part by being aware of your surroundings!

Whatever the colors your eyes choose to rest upon this fall--don't forget to look for the things that you wouldn't necessarily think might catch your eye....

For those of you who are following this blog-check out our new Wordpress blog starting now! http://blog.whiterockconservancy.org/
This is where I'll be posting all of the new blogs--with greater frequency!

The Birds and the Bees

Birds are everywhere is our lives. Can you think of a day that went by without seeing or hearing a bird? With the breeding season underway I discover something new and exciting each time I visit Whiterock Conservancy. On Monday morning I saw the familiar Spotted Sandpiper bobbing its tail while foraging in a bean field next to Highway 141. From a distance, it appeared to have a little peep as a companion, which seemed a bit odd. The plovers and sandpipers that were here weeks earlier should be settling back in the summer breeding grounds. I raised my binoculars for a closer inspection and saw a little puffball bobbing its tail just like mom (or dad). A baby Spotted Sandpiper!

The Spotted Sandpiper is a common resident of Iowa yet very few people have been lucky enough to find the nest or young of this bird. A total of 12 nesting records were reported in the Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas, which details the distribution and life history for each species of breeding bird in Iowa.

The Iowa Ornithologists’ Union and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are now implementing the second Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas project. There are 791 blocks that need to be surveyed by 2012 with a minimum of 20 hours of observation in each block. Block #457 (Whiterock Conservancy) has already recorded 106 unique species and 27 confirmed nesting species. By sharing your field observations, you too can help expand the knowledge of Iowa's birdlife.

About the Guest Author: Scott Schmidt works with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, where he monitors birds on private lands enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program.

Sprung!

It has been an amazing last few weeks here at Whiterock Conservancy--the change of seasons has nearly completed, and while it isn't technically summer yet, it is sure starting to feel more like it. The shorebirds have mostly moved on, but the migratory warblers are still hanging around, the deafening frog chorus has lessened, but the tadpoles in our wetlands are growing by the day! The spring ephemeral wildflowers have mostly all gone to seed, but their foliage is still a little green. Finding all of the little clues about seasonal change is happening is one of my favorite things in life-when the little brown bats are breeding or when the wood betony is blooming-this is called understanding the phenology of a particular plant, animal, or fungi.

Phenology: the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate.

I've been keeping track of the phenology at Whiterock Conservancy lately, or as much as I can of it. It's been an amazing amount of information to collect--observing and recording all of the birds and plants and animals I see ever few days. A great excuse to get outside and have an adventure, keeping track of the phenology of the world around helps you to get to know the changes that take place on the landscape. Once you begin to engage and see all of the different happenings: Nest-making behavior of the Great blue heron (March 25) the first Red-sided garter snake sitting on a rock (April 6), the first American redstart flitting around in the canopy (May 12), the last snow trillium blooming on Whiterock Bluff (April 28), the last patch of big yellow morels (May 22)......the list goes on an on.
If you haven't tried keeping track of the activity in your neighborhood, give it a whirl. At minimum, it will help you to realize how VERY much is actually going on out in the natural world. And it will also help you to want to be a part of it, through active observation and general awe....
Enjoy!

Birders come to Whiterock!

This morning, a group from the Iowa Ornithologist's Union annual meeting came down to the Whiterock area for a field trip. This was the quintessential perfect morning for playing outside-- with crisp blue skies, warm sun and a cool breeze. The group of birders was wonderful, everyone so enthusiastic about getting outside, observing wonderful winged creatures, and exploring a new part of Iowa--I was surprised at how few of the folks had ever been to Whiterock Conservancy--but I'm sure they'll be back to bird again soon!

We met up at the Home Farm and headed east on Hwy 141, checking out the Riis Farm wetlands just north of the highway. Here we found several handfuls of Canada geese and a few ducks, but also ran across Semipalmated plover, Least sandpiper, Spotted sandpiper, Baird's sandpiper, and Lesser Yellowlegs. We moved on to the campground, and watched as a group of migrating Northern Rough-winged swallows used the Bank swallow colonial nest in the Whiterock outcrop. In the next few weeks, the Bank swallows will show up and kick the Northern rough-winged crew out.
We headed up the south side of the river on the Long Farm and found a few morels and an Eastern Bluebird, striking blue against a green backdrop. It was hard to keep my eyes in the trees and sky looking for birds while the mushrooms were starting to pop, but we'll have time this week to go mushroom hunting. Prothonotary, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, and Northern Parula warblers were all sighted on the Long Farm--each an exciting spring find! We got great looks at a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a male Eastern Towhee, both singing loudly from perches, and observed Red-bellied woodpeckers engaged in courtship behavior, flirting and flitting through the trees on the Long Creek ridge.

Besides staring at every flying object, we also took time to discuss the plant communities on the property, primarily the wetland seeps that we passed by, where right now, a profusion of marsh marigolds are blooming and the fiddleheads of sensitive ferns are starting to come up and the chorus frogs are doing what they do best. The birdsfoot violets were blooming up on Long Creek ridge, along with pussytoes and a handful of spring woodland ephemeral plants like bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, and woodland phlox.

Next we headed over to McCord's Pond--and right away heard a swamp sparrow singing. American coot, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Lesser scaup, and Northern shovelers are still around and a Kingfisher hovered and dive-bombed for us. We also ran across one of my most favorite birds, the Yellow-headed Blackbird--such a delight to see and hear!

I left the group as they headed north to go visit Dunbar Slough Wildlife Management Area for another few hours--I'm sure that they will find a host of wonderful grassland and wetland birds up there. We spent about three hours tromping and driving around the Whiterock area and saw 80+ birds on May 2--what a great morning!!
I'm headed up to Webster City this afternoon to attend the Iowa Rivers Revival annual conference, and I'm quite excited to share that Coon Rapids will be named as the IRR River Town of the Year for 2009!! I'm hoping to stop on the way and see a White-faced Ibis a friend gave me a tip about--I didn't think things could get any better!

Thank You Volunteer Prescribed Crew!

On February 25 we lit our first prescribed fire of 2009 and over the next few days, we'll be lighting our last until the fall. The last 8 weeks have presented us with the great fortune of overlapping perfect weather conditions and gracious volunteerism!

Spring 2009 Whiterock Conservancy prescribed fire specs:

-Grand total of 1864 acres

-26 burn units

-25 volunteers

-Over 270 hours of volunteer timeWe are so very thankful to all of our volunteers! Only one of our burns was successfully fired by Whiterock Conservancy staff alone--each of the 25 other burn units necessitated bigger crews--and our volunteers all stepped up to help. Whiterock Conservancy also teamed together with 6 neighboring landowners to conduct prescribed fires on adjacent land, and was thankful to receive access to drive fire vehicles on a neighboring piece of land to burn a prairie remnant. Community awareness about prescribed fire has grown too, as many folks driving through or by the Whiterock valley see the first black, and now bright green areas that have been recently burned.

The prescribed fire program at Whiterock Conservancy is an extremely fulfilling and learningful part of my job. Each burn is different: different fuels, management objective, weather, crew, etc.--and each burn makes for an incredible lesson about controlling prescribed fires. While going out after a burn to see what is coming back up is exciting, a great joy of mine is seeing people who haven't ever burned before enjoying themselves and taking their knowledge with them back to their own land. Now we'll put away all of the burn equipment for the summer, and just watching things grow now (below is a birdsfoot violet blooming in recently burned area)

Thank you for all of your help!!

Great Egret

There's the Great egret, hanging out in the wetland by the Home Farm. Will have to go check out the heronry to see if it's spending a few days with the Great blues...

If you're on Highway 141, stop for a minute at the Roadside Park located 1.0 miles east of Coon Rapids. Looking east from the stand, you can look over the river and into our Riis Farm wetland, where there are Canada geese (nesting) and snow geese, great blue herons hunting, and a suite of ducks: Mallards, Blue-winged teal, Gadwall, Scaup, Northern shovelers, Ring-necked, Bufflehead, and Common goldeneye. Pied-billed grebes were also there two days ago.

Pretty nice diversity for a small wetland. I'm pretty sure that the relative proximity of McCord's Pond and Dunbar Slough Wildlife Management Areas are the reason for all of these showing up--thank goodness for public land!

The GBH's are back!

After seeing that the Great blue herons had returned on March 13, I went to check on the heronry (also known as rookery, which is a colonial nesting area) yesterday afternoon. I only checked on the nests on the north side of the river, but found 8 of them were intact. This afternoon, I'll go check on the nests on the south side of the river to see if they made it through the windy winter. As the Great blue herons return, some of the males will choose old nests and defend them as territory. Other males will begin the construction of a new nest. Last spring, 12 new nests were built after being knocked down the winter before.

Great blue herons typically arrive in Iowa during late March and early April to nest. They start with ritual courtship dances, which are taking place right now here at Whiterock. The males will collect branches and as he returns to the nest, the female will stretch her bill up towards the sky making a "arrroooo" noise, while the male will raise his crest and make croaking noises. Anothef display involves the birds clapping their bills together and attempting to clasp the other birds' bill. The female takes the nest material and works it in to the nest, which is generally located in a dead tree or dead limbs of trees 30-70 feet above the ground. At Whiterock Conservancy, the nests are located in cottonwood in the floodplain and dead elm trees on the ridges above the Middle Raccoon River. Three or four pale blue eggs are laid which hatch asynchronously (hatching one or two days apart) nearly four weeks later during May. The young fledge during July and stay with the family group for the summer to hunt and fish around the colony before migrating south.

There are a number of different species of waterbirds that nest colonially in the state of Iowa, among them are Double-crested cormorants, Black-crowned night herons, Yellow-crowned night herons, green herons, little blue herons (one record from 1984) cattle egrets, and great egrets. Double-crested cormorants are found at Whiterock Conservancy during the spring and fall migrations and green herons nest here, but no colonial nests have been found on the property. Look for one pair of green herons nesting by the last pond on the north side of the main trail located one miles east of the campground. Last year, a Great egret was seen "hanging out" around the Great blue heron rookery for three days, but left. Occasionally, these two species have been known to nest together in a colonial situation. We can only hope!

Spring is almost here

While it is actually snowing outside, last week on Thursday I saw the first Killdeer and Red-winged blackbirds of the spring. In the last few days, we've also had Greater white-fronted geese, Snow geese, Canada geese, Redheads, Northern Shoveler and possibly others aplenty in wetlands by the Home Farm. Robins and Eastern Bluebirds are everywhere to boot, adding color and texture to a drab landscape.

But the bird song....oh the call of the male Red-winged blackbird and the flash of epaulets, sure makes me feel like spring is coming soon!

Mid-winter burns!

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we were able to successfully set fire to four different burn units on the property, on the Reimer, North Whiterock, and Anthofer farms, all on the north side of the Middle Raccoon River. The relative drought of the last few weeks, along with warm temperatures and a low relative humidity, created the perfect conditions for a few days of mid-winter burning on south facing slopes!The map above shows the four different units that we burned during the mini-spring we had this week. For reference, the Middle Raccoon River represents the sourthern boundary of all of the units and the three ponds in the middle of the page are due east of the Whiterock campground, which is labeled with the black arrow. Last fall, we attempted to burn the two easternmost units, South Reimer and Anthofer Triangle, but the days were cold and the ground was moist, so we had little luck.

On Tuesday of this week, a small crew went back to South Reimer and secured a portion of the perimeter by relighting the burn line. We then went in to the interior and set fires on the degraded woodland ridges. On Wednesday, a larger group, including myself, Matt Reiling, Sean Christensen, Jeana Feazel, Brian Golay, Liz Garst, Mary Garst, Doug Ramsey, and Jerry Peckumn, went out and burned the Log Cabin Pasture, North Whiterock, and relit the Anthofer Triangle. The log cabin, which was built in 1933 by Delbert Brutsche, is located northeast of the campground and in the middle of our burn unit and is a Whiterock Valley antiquity, and we took extra care to not burn it down!

The Log Cabin Pasture and North Whiterock units are dominated by cool-season oak savanna pastures and woodlands, and the mid-winter burn helped to topkill the invasive multiflora rose, honey locust, and eastern redcedar, and also stimulate the smooth brome. Most of these units have historically been sprayed with herbicides, so the presence of native plants is limited, and they are both part of the Whiterock Conservancy pasture system. Many of the fires that we'll light later on in the spring will be aimed at diminishing the smooth brome in areas where native plants dominate, like our prairie and savanna remnants. By using fires set during different times of the year, we can manage for and against many species.

The burns this week went way better than expected, due to our fabulous staff and volunteers on the prescribed fire crew, and some of the most excellent burn conditions we've had in the last year! Keeping up-to-date with the weather and fuel conditions is a hard thing when you're watching over 5,000 acres of land, but it's worth it when you get to set fires like these!

Keep up to date with our prescribed fire program over the next few months, and sign up for our volunteer crew by emailing elizabeth@whiterockconservancy.org if you'd like to receive updates of when we'll be burning.

The weather forecast for today reads:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 56. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 10 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.....

Wait...a high near 56?

The warm weather this weekend, together with the flocks of bluebirds and American robins and the sounds of dripping and running water reminded all of us that this winter will not last forever. This morning, a group of several hundred Canada geese were up on the Riis Farm wetland (north of Highway 141 and east of the Middle Raccoon River). The water on the wetland opened up yesterday due to the extreme thaw we’ve had over the last three days, and the Canada geese showed up immediately.

We’ll begin to see more and more migrating waterfowl over the next few weeks, and within a month, there will likely be more ducks and geese that we know what to do with. Folks recently saw an American Wigeon up at Swan Lake State Park, and further west, close to Council Bluffs, there were Greater White-fronted, Cackling, and Ross’s geese mixed in with the Canada geese.

During the next month, if you are interested in following the waterfowl migration on and around Whiterock Conservancy-managed properties, watch the Riis Farm Wetland from Hwy 141 or take a hike back to the Whiterock ponds, due east of the campgrounds. McChord’s Pond, a 112-acre IDNR Wildlife Management Area, is locate 5 miles east and 1 mile south of Hwy 141 (on Hickory Ave) and always hosts a diversity of waterfowl during the migration. Dunbar Slough WMA, a 1,640-acre IDNR wetland complex, provides habitat for thousands and thousands of waterfowl species. Drive up the Carroll/Greene county Line on N-58 (Grant/Apple Ave.) and look for parking areas east of the county highway on 290^th, 270^th, 250^th, and 240^th Streets. This spring, there will be a birder's trail map of the Carroll/Guthrie/Greene/Audubon area posted Roadside Park, east of Coon Rapids on Hwy 141.

In the meantime, another check for the weather this Friday looks like things are going to be back to normal soon…

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 16.

Now that's what I'm talking about

Winter Birds at WRC

Most folks don't think that winter is the perfect time for birdwatching, however, with no leaves on the trees and reduced species diversity, this is actually a great time to get outside (or sit inside looking at your bird feeder) to become more familiar with Iowa birds and to see a few species that you won't during the summer. And, with the warm weather last weekend and another few days of warmth to come, get out there and enjoy the winter birds!

Juvenile and adult bald eagles have been back in the valley for the last few months, so keep your eyes out for open spots in the water where they can be found fishing, or look for them scavenging animal carcasses. For deer hunters, a switch to copper slugs will keep our eagles safe from lead poisoning during the winter months--check out more information at http://www.soarraptors.org/EaglesandLead.htm

There are about 40 common bird species that can be found relatively easily at Whiterock Conservancy, and I'll describe a few that you might not get great looks at during the summer:

Eastern screech owls are small gray, brown, or reddish-brown owls (6-10" and up to 1/2 lb) with feathered ear tufts

Rough-legged hawks have been seen on both sides of the river valley recently. They are large hawks with broad wings (with dark tips) and black wrist patches and dark bellies, but they occurs in both dark and light morphs.

Pine siskins are small finches that are streaked brown overall with either buffy or yellow wing and tail markings. They have very thin beaks and are the most common winter finches to see.

Horned larks can be found in flocks along the roads and on the runway north of hwy 141 (it is hayed very short during the summer). They are about the same size as many sparrows, but look as if they are crouching down. They have black masks and breast bands as well as tiny black "horns."

Check out the Iowa Winter Birds publication from the Iowa Association of Naturalists (http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN602.pdf)

Some of the bravest Eastern bluebirds and American robins have stayed up during the cold winter months too--a peek at one of them is pretty exciting this time of year. Email me (elizabeth@whiterockconservancy.org) if you'd like a list of winter birds that frequent WRC!

Brome-to-Prairie Transition

During the last few weeks of 2008, our flagship acres of the "Brome-to-Prairie" Project were seeded to tall and mixed-grass prairies by Jon Judson of Diversity Farms. Of the 240 acres total, nearly 160 acres of Whiterock Conservancy-managed properties were seeded with a 50+ species mix after being newly enrolled in the SAFE Initiative (State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement). Another 80 acres are left to plant, but snow, ice, sleet, and rain kept us from continuing. The rest of the planting will take place over the next few weeks--we're just waiting for a day or two with low winds.

The acres seeded to prairie were recently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) under the Gaining Ground for Wildlife, SAFE initiative, which assists landowners in establishing high-quality grassland habitat with cost-share assistance, sign-up incentives, and an increased annual rental rate. The initial SAFE acres dedicated to the state of Iowa were all allocated as of December 2008, but there is the possibility of more acres becoming available in the future. This program has enabled us to plant a diverse array of local ecotype seeds on a large expanse of land, with little cost to us—the essence of subsidization of conservation

The reconstructed prairies planted this winter have the highest diversity and conservatism of any of the planted grasslands on Whiterock-managed property—and we invite you to watch them grow! We’ll be developing maps that show the areas where active savanna and prairie restoration/reconstruction have been taking place this winter, and will be accessible on the website by March.