Muller Field Station's Journal

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!

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!