On Saturday May 3, 2014 our volunteer crew planted a meadow at Middle Creek. It was a beautiful day and the work went quickly. On the Friday before Dave White, Jim Metzler and Ken Barshinger put a grid on the site, so planting would go on with a minimum of delay. It only took about one and a half hours to plant the one acre meadow.
i would like to thank Fred Habagger, Sharon Hughes, Jennifer Hanf, Jen Slater, Dave White, Ernie Peffley, Jodi Good and Chris Brown for all their help in making this event a success.
The maintenance crew from Middle Creek went over the site on Monday with a culti-packer to give good seed to soil contact. Now we wait to see what develops. The recent rains we have had should give the plants a good start. The first plants will be up in July and by the end of August some of them may be blooming.
After we finished planting and cleaning up my daughter Christine and I decided to tour around Middle Creek and see what was happening. It was a really neat experience. I observed things that were unexpected and I have never seen before.
The Bluebird boxes located closest to the meadow site are a side-by-side pair at one foot distance between them. Although the boxes are newer, this is the same configuration we put in place in 1998 when i was supervising the BB trail. The result that year was that Bluebirds used one box and Tree Swallows used the other one. This was the first time we actually confirmed that Bluebirds and Tree Swallows could successfully nest as close as one foot apart. This year the exact same scenario is playing out with the same two species sharing this site. As we were watching them the Bluebirds and Tree Swallows seemed to be taking turns sitting on the post holding the boxes. We will have to check with the monitor of these boxes to see if history repeats itself.
Our first stop on our "tour" was to look at the meadows SW of the Visitor Center that had been recently burned. As I scanned the area, my daughter said she saw something black moving along the edge of the meadow nearest the woods. It turned out to be a BLACK Gray Squirrel. It was hopping along the grass path and in and out of the burned area as if looking for some food. Soon a couple of hikers passed and it scurried into the woods. I had seen white squirrels in Washington DC many years ago, but as far as I can remember this was a first time I have ever observed a black one. That was neat to see.
As we slowly followed the tour road we saw Canada Geese sitting on eggs in artificial nests, some Mallards and lots of song birds including Bobolinks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Kingbirds, Bluebirds and Tree Swallows. We drove to the end of the road in the NE section of the property and were rewarded with a beautiful sight. As we were turning, we spotted some movement in a small tree along the edge of the road. On closer inspection it turned out to be a Yellow Warbler. This bird defines the color YELLOW---it literally glows. This beauty is all yellow except for a series of red steaks on its breast and for the next 10 minutes or so we watched as it flitted through the newly unfolding leaves of this plant that was no more than 20 feet from our car. I have seen this bird before, but never this close or with such vibrant color. Wow!
As we continued on our journey we were serenaded by male Red-Winged Blackbirds vying for the best territories to attract the females that will arrive soon. At the pull-off at the right angle turn near Stop #4 we stopped to bird watch. After sitting for awhile with not much action, a lone hen Turkey emerged from the nearby meadow, scooped up a loose acorn and casually walked over the road not 30 feet from us. When she reached the edge of a small pond, she immediately took off and flew to the opposite bank about 75 feet away. The landing site was a narrow dike about 3 feet wide, so as she made her approach she had to stop quickly. To do so she had to open her tail completely and it looked like one of the most beautiful FANS i have ever seen. The white, tan and brown colors of her tail feathers were absolutely beautiful. I have often seen turkeys fly, but i have never seen anything like this before.
With that memorable experience, our Middle Creek adventure was over for now and we headed home. If you do not have these kind of experiences you need to get out more---there is a big wonderful world out there just waiting for you.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
MEADOWS 2013---OBSERVATIONS
iI would like to assist others with the same endeavor, if I can.
For the past two years I have been supervising meadow planting from my wheelchair---it has slowed me down, but did not stop me.
During the Summer and Fall of 2013, I visited various meadow sites to see how they were doing.
I was very pleased with how the meadows had progressed.
Landis Woods Meadow, Lancaster, PA, planted in 2012
Brown Meadow, Huntingdon Co., PA, planted 2007
Middle Creek Meadow, N. Lancaster Co, planted in 2009
SOME OBSERVATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED---
Humans like immediate gratification!!
Plant a lot of Black-Eyed Susan, Wild Bergamot, Brown-Eyed Susan and Tickseed Sunflower seed to start. Black-Eyed Susan and Tickseed Sunflowers will bloom the first summer. and continue into the second season. Wild Bergamot, Wild Senna,White Beardtongue, and Brown-Eyed Susan will grow the first year and bloom the second giving you a colorful meadow two years in a row.
If the conditions are right, you can get an amazing number of the grasses and flowers to bloom the first and second years, with many continuing indefinitely.
Black-Eyed Susans and Brown-Eyed Susans bloom vigorously for 2 to 3 years and then usually fade to a few here and there in the meadow.
Tall plants including Joe-Pye-Weed, Wingstem, Green-Headed Coneflower and Tall Sunflower are great wildflowers, but you must be mindful that they can get 8 to 10 feet tall and they can dominate a site.
Little Bluestem, Purple Top and Broom Sedge are great grasses for short meadows.
Big Bluestem and Indian Grass are great grasses for tall meadows, but Switch Grass should be avoided.
Planting a variety of native wildflowers and grasses gives you food sources for insects, birds, amphibians and mammals for the entire season, so as one flower fades, others take its place. The mixes I have been using assure some blooms from June through November and the first Frost.
The first plants to bloom in the summer are the White Beardtongue and Golden Alexanders in May/june.
Soon Black-Eyed Susan, Ox-Eye Sunflower, Wild Bergamot, Buttterflyweed and other Milkweeds show and can dominate.
In August the NY and Upland Ironweeds, Mist Flower, Brown-Eyed Susan, Green-Headed Coneflower, Joe-Pye-Weed, Wingstem, Great Blue Lobelia and various sunflowers take over.
Fall brings Asters, thoroughworts and the native Grasses with Big Bluestem blooming first, followed by Purple Top and Indian Grass. Little Bluestem and Broom Sedge bloom later in the Fall.
Using Roundup on a site within 3 weeks after a SPRING planting yields the best results, because none of the plants I use appear until 6 to 8 weeks. It sets the problem weeds back and then the site can be controlled with mowing.
I strongly believe maintaining the meadow with an annual mowing on or about April first is the best approach to provide the highest quality wildlife habitat, control woody plants and provide the most visually appealing landscape.
Canada Thistle and Crown Vetch are the worst problem plants in most of the meadows I have worked on.
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