TogetherGreen at Ashley Ridge High School

Audubon South Carolina has received a TogetherGreen grant to help students at Ashley Ridge High School create a nature trail on campus.

The National Audubon Society and Toyota have joined forces to launch TogetherGreen, a nationwide initiative that aims to inspire environmental leadership and community-based action.  Announced in March 2008, TogetherGreen represents an important alliance between Audubon and Toyota, created through a shared belief that we must all work together if we hope to confront the tremendous environmental challenges and opportunities of today and the years ahead.  TogetherGreen supports building a greener, healthier future through innovation, leadership and volunteerism by engaging communities to work together toward progressive environmental goals.

The Ashley Ridge High School Nature Trail will be implemented under TogetherGreen Youth.  Audubon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums have proposed TogetherGreen Youth as a national program designed to offer real-world, hands-on opportunities to students.  The basic goals of TogetherGreen Youth include educational training, programming and outreach, leadership development, and building connections to nature through experiential learning.  Students will explore environmental issues and apply knowledge to engage the next generation in understanding and caring for the environment.

Immature Common Yellowthroat

TogetherGreen Youth couples an Audubon intern, Emily Cavell here at Francis Beidler Forest, with area high school students, who work together to achieve a common environmental goal.  As part of Audubon SC’s TogetherGreen Youth grant, the Education Department at Francis Beidler Forest will facilitate a community action project involving the Ashley Ridge High School community.  ARHS students will plan and develop an on-campus nature trail, identify and catalog flora and fauna around the trail, prepare informational materials regarding the trail (research, content, photography, video, artwork, webpage, brochure, etc.), and map all aspects of the project using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.  The ARHS Nature Trail will provide an outdoor space to investigate curriculum opportunities that stretch far beyond the traditional classroom setting, facilitating dynamic educational experiences for students and increased accessibility to hands-on outlets for teachers.  The addition of the ARHS Nature Trail will aid in fulfilling South Carolina Department of Education high school standards, perpetuate continued opportunity for students to create, develop and implement innovative ideas, and nurture exploration and discovery of the natural world.

Images by Mark Musselman

Spring Break on ARHS Trail

Earlier this week, before the rain arrived, we visited the nature trail at Ashley Ridge High School (ARHS) to see what birds had returned for the breeding season.  A pair of Northern Mockingbirds nesting in an oak along the parking area greeted us at the trail's head.  Through their mimicry, we had a preview of the bird life we could expect to encounter along the trail.

Northern Mockingbird - Mark Musselman

Northern Mockingbird - Mark Musselman

Here's the complete list of what we saw:

Ashley Ridge High School, Dorchester, US-SC
Apr 2, 2013 11:05 AM - 1:50 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments:    Clear, 60Fs
28 species

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)  40
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  3
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)  1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  2
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  2
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)  4
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  4
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus)  6
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)  6
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  4
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)  4
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)  1
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  1
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)  2
Swainson's Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii)  1  (FIRST for trail!)
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  2
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)  5
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  6
Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica)  3
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  5
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  12
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  4

As soon as we entered the swamp, we encountered a pair of bickering Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and several Swamp Sparrows foraging along the wet margins.  A rabbit, possibly a Marsh Rabbit, made a overly dramatic and noisy exit from the grasses growing in a sunny, wet area.  To paraphrase Shakespeare, the rabbit doth protest too much, methinks.  Maybe young rabbits were stashed in the grasses.

Swamp Sparrow - Mark Musselman

Immediately thereafter, we spied a large flock of White Ibis foraging, mainly for crayfish, through the narrow swamp.  Note the scarlet red of the bill, face, and legs, areas which are normally pinkish to orange in the non-breeding season.

White Ibis - Mark Musselman

White Ibis - Mark Musselman

White Ibis - Mark Musselman

White Ibis - Mark Musselman

A variety of plants signaled that spring has arrived.  The parasitic Squawroot (Conopholis americana) was flowering.  This chlorophyll-free plant gets what it needs from the roots of a neighboring tree in the red oak family.

Squawroot - Mark Musselman

Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) was blooming...

Red Buckeye - Mark Musselman

Red Buckeye - Mark Musselman

 and provided a meal for a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae).

Cloudless Sulphur on Red Buckeye - Mark Musselman

Cloudless Sulphur on Red Buckeye - Mark Musselman

Cloudless Sulphur - Mark Musselman

Finally, at the west end of the trail, Atamasco or Easter Lilies (Zephyranthes atamasco) were blooming.

Atamasco Lily - Mark Musselman

Along the way, we heard and saw a variety of birds, including the loudly singing Common Yellowthroat and the secretive Gray Catbird.

Common Yellowthroat - Mark Musselman

Gray Catbird - Mark Musselman

From out of the canebrake at the west end of the trail, we saw our first Swainson's Warbler ever along the trail!  We had expected the bird to be in there, as it prefers canebrakes and dense areas in or abutting swamps, but we had yet to spot one.  Last year, we identified the first Prothonotary Warblers using the swamp along the trail (not yet spotted in 2013) and now a Swainson's Warbler.  That is one productive little swamp!

Can you guess what was not there on the way out?  The warming day brought out the reptiles.  We walked up on an unsuspecting Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor priapus).

Southern Black Racer - Mark Musselman

As the snake patrolled, it did detect us and shot across the water in the ditch and, as quick as lightning, raced up the far embankment disappearing into the thick vegetation.  There is a good reason for calling these snakes racers.

Southern Black Racer - Mark Musselman

We also encountered a small Banded Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata fasciata) sunning on the far side of the ditch, but it too made a quick escape upon detecting us.  Nearby, however, a frog appeared oblivious to our presence.  It continued to call even as we continued to approach its apparent location.  All along the trail we heard peeps and chirps as frogs launched into the water to avoid our intrusion, but not this one.  As we continued to move, we began triangulate the frog's position.  Puzzled by the continued odd call and afraid that moving closer would finally caused the frog to flee, we used our binoculars to scan the frog's suspected location.  There was some slight movement on the far bank approximately 20 feet away, but the eye we saw appeared to have scales around it, though the leg was definitely amphibian.  Before we could unravel the enigma, the snake let loose its captured meal, the frog launch to the safety of the water, and the unidentified snake bolted into the thick vegetation.

We were surprised and disappointed that the snake gave up its meal so easily and at such a distance from the perceived threat (us), but the experience made for another first along the ARHS nature trail!

ARHS Nature Trail Workday

The nature trail construction workday at Ashley Ridge High School was a tremendous success! 
The National Audubon Society and Toyota have joined forces to launch TogetherGreen, a nationwide initiative that aims to inspire environmental leadership and community-based action.  Details for this project can be seen here.

Image by Emily Cavell

Students from the environmental studies classes of Ms. Minde Wheeler and Mr. Jerry Kociuruba helped plan the workday by forming committees for the construction of small footbridges, a 26-foot footbridge, benches, outdoor classroom, and trail enhancement (clearing, gravel, pine straw).  The poles for the 26-foot footbridges were generously donated by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G).

Image by Jim Tatum

More photos by Jim Tatum of the Summerville Journal Scene can be seen here.

With the help of staff from the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, students were able to complete one of the two 26-foot footbridge (the other poles were not yet in place), all the smaller footbridges, the outdoor classroom, and the gravel trail from the parking area down to the ditch spanned by the bridge shown in the above image.

Image by Emily Cavell

With the outstanding work by the students and Audubon partners, access is now available to the natural areas on the Ashley Ridge High School campus.  Not only will the students in the environmental studies classes be able to use the trail and continue to make improvements to the trail, but other students and teachers have the opportunity to work trail visits and exploration into their studies!

Making Maps at ARHS

In the last post, we covered the TogetherGreen project that the Francis Beidler Forest education staff will be developing with the students of Ashley Ridge High School (ARHS).  Part of the project will involve the introduction and use of various geographic technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Students will be using these technologies to gather data and create maps in order to analyze and share that data.  We have created an example map using the free ArcGIS.com site, which students can use to create maps for whatever data they collect or wish to highlight.  In our example, the proposed nature trail is shown on the south end of the ARHS campus.  The trail line was created from points collected with a GPS unit.  The stick pins show locations of interest.  If you click on a stick pin, an image and a description for that location will appear in a popup window.

Click here to go to the interactive map.

Images and map by Mark Musselman

GPS Units Coming to Ashley Ridge High School

Ashley Ridge High School has received a grant from Lowcountry Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) to purchase six or more global positioning system (GPS) units.  Students will be able to use the GPS units to capture latitude/longitude coordinates for points of interest along the nature trail, including the abundant wildlife they encounter, or habitat enhancement sites they create.  Bill Salisbury, representing Dorchester County, presented the check to the grant writers Amy Litz,  Jerry Kociuruba, and Natalie Tarpein after taking a quick tour of the nature trail to see the many possibilities for integrating the GPS technology into the biology and environmental sciences classes.

(l to r) Natalie Tarpein, Bill Salisbury, Jerry Kociuruba, Amy Litz on nature trail

Over the last two years, students in the environmental science and AP biology classes have received GPS training (see Summerville Journal Scene article) as well as geographic information systems (GIS) training, which they used to create maps with the GPS data they had collected.  The training and GPS units used were provided by the education department at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest and had been purchased with a grant from the South Carolina Geographic Alliance.

As an organization, Lowcountry RC&D sells year-old seed to individuals who wish to plant feed plots for wildlife.  Any profits are distributed to projects aimed at teaching students about the environment.   Previous Lowcountry RC&D grants to the education department at Francis Beidler Forest have gone toward the purchase of iPod Touches and binoculars (see below), which also have been used with ARHS students during various on-campus visits.

Ms. Tarpein and class learning birding basics

Geography is everywhere!  Thanks to Lowcountry RC&D, students at Ashley Ridge High School have some new tools to help them explore, map, and understand their environment.

Help Find Rusty Blackbirds

You can help scientists prepare for the retooled Rusty Blackbird Winter Blitz in 2014 by identifying habitats containing Rusty Blackbirds from March through April 2013.

More details at eBird here.

We have seen Rusty Blackbirds at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest and multiple times along the nature trail at Ashley Ridge High School (ARHS).  See the blog entry here.

Male Rusty Blackbird - Mark Musselman

Female Rusty Blackbird - Mark Musselman

The Francis Beidler Forest contains 17,000 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp (1800 acres of old-growth), but the swamp at ARHS is less than 15 acres.  Therefore, do not feel that a stand of flooded forest near you is too small to warrant an investigation!

Final Bridge at ARHS

Yesterday, the final bridge was cemented into place across the west end of the drainage ditch that parallels the majority of the Ashley Ridge High School nature trail.  This project was funded by a TogetherGreen grant, which is a joint effort by the National Audubon Society and Toyota that aims to inspire environmental leadership and community-based action.

During last month's workday, students were able to complete the first ditch-spanning bridge, build multiple smaller foot bridges, lay down a gravel trail through a low area, construct an outdoor classroom, and continue trail clearing.  Unfortunately, two of the four power poles generously donated by South Carolina Electric & Gas could not be moved into place before the workday.  Yesterday, the heavy poles were dragged by truck to a location close to the west end of the trail.

Once the poles were as close to the ditch as they could be moved by truck, staff from the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, environmental studies teachers from Ashley Ridge High School, and several environmental studies students used rope and handles to carry the poles down the slight incline to the ditch.  More ropes and some muscle power got the poles to span the ditch.  Students used post-hole diggers to dig into the ditch bank, then attached some anchoring lumber, and finally filled the holes with cement to securely set the power pole supports in place.

Later this month, students will conduct a mini-workday to attach the decking to the bridge, which will allow safe access across both the east and west ends of the ditch and complete the nature trail!  Even though the trail has yet to be completed, a math class was already walking the trail and using the outdoor classroom space.

As we prepared to depart, we noticed that some of our trail leveling work had uncovered the nest site of an Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum subrubrum).  The four young turtles had hatched from their eggs, but had not yet departed the cavity in a high ground that had become part of the trail.  With plenty of oohs and aahs, we removed the turtles from the cavity and released them in a nearby low, wet area.

Maybe while studying all the other plants and animals along the trail, students will come across the turtles they helped get started in the world just south of the campus.

Images by Mark Musselman

Rusty Blackbirds at ARHS

We have previously highlighted the Rusty Blackbird  (Euphagus carolinus) in this blog, buy on December 14, 2011, we caught a quick glimpse of eight Rusty Blackbirds by #6 along the boardwalk at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest!  Last week, we had lengthier observations along the nature trail at Ashley Ridge High School.  Although the nature trail is but a quarter mile long through a small wooded wetland, the habitat continues to offer excellent wildlife observation opportunities! More on that tomorrow, but today's focus is on the Rusty Blackbird.

From eBird:

 A century ago, the Rusty Blackbird was an incredibly abundant bird. Accounts from the period detail spectacular spring migrations between the species' wintering grounds in the bottomland forests of the southeastern United States and its breeding grounds in the forested wetlands of North America's vast boreal forest. Ornithological reports from New England and southern Canada describe waves of tens to hundreds of thousands of Rusty Blackbirds blackening the earth and clouding the sky in the spring. In many communities, the migration of Rusty Blackbirds was likened to the year's first chorus of tree frog--a sign that spring had finally arrived in the thawing countryside.

Today these reports seem unbelievable since Rusty Blackbirds populations have suffered one of most staggering population declines of any bird in North America. An understanding of the Rusty Blackbird's habitat requirements is urgently needed to conserve its remaining populations. This is especially true during spring migration when Rusty Blackbirds congregate in large flocks which may be particularly vulnerable to habitat losses, blackbird control programs, or other disturbances.

Russell Greenberg, director, Migratory Bird Center on the Great Backyard Bird Count (coming Feb. 17-20, 2010!) webpage:
It is particularly disturbing to monitor a decline and not have a specific, definitive underlying cause. But considering the distribution and ecology of this elusive species, the search for the culprit becomes almost like the Agatha Christie novel where all the suspects were guilty.

So this is what we know. The Rusty Blackbird has a geographically extensive breeding range from New England to Alaska throughout the boreal zone in forested wetlands. The species is strongly associated with wooded wetlands in the winter as well, although foraging birds can be found in agricultural settings, particularly in association with livestock. The species is more insectivorous than other blackbirds, often foraging in single species flocks, not associated with blackbirds, and (based on experiments by Claudia Mettke-Hofmann) is more averse to novelty when feeding than other blackbirds. The last observation suggests the bird may be less adaptable in the face of rapid environmental changes.

From this we can suggest a number of factors leading to the decline: Winter habitat loss due to conversion of wooded wetlands to agriculture. At least 80 percent of the bottomland hardwood habitat has been converted since European colonization. Habitat loss may have caused the Rusty Blackbird to feed in more open habitats where it is more exposed to competition with birds such as Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. Wintering ground problems could have been exacerbated by large losses during blackbird control programs in the 1960s and 1970s. It should be noted that the species is still listed as a pest species in a number of states and thus still subject to more modest control programs aimed at blackbirds.

Breeding habitat loss and degradation, including boreal wetland drying and changes in water chemistry due, directly or indirectly, to global warming. Birds associated with boreal wetlands have shown consistent cross-species declines. Global warming is suspected in causing major changes in the extent of boreal wetlands, the chemistry of the waters, and the structure of invertebrate communities. Peat production, logging and reservoir formation have contributed both to direct loss of boreal wetland and profound changes in hydrology, particularly in the eastern portion of the species range.

The eastern portion of the range is where, historically, the species may have achieved the highest breeding densities and is also the region where it has shown the greatest decline. Acid rain and mercury accumulation (an only recently detected problem in songbirds) may be differentially affecting boreal wetlands in the East. The Rusty Blackbird may be at higher risk for accumulated mercury than other blackbird species because of its preference for feeding on aquatic invertebrates and small fish. Its preference for wetlands with acidic soils may also make the effect of acid rain on calcium loss particularly great in this species. (see our blog for mercury-related entries)

Once again, conservation of habitat is critical to the survival of a species.  We too have habitat requirements.  By protecting critical habitat for other species, we benefit ourselves.

Images by Mark Musselman