It's not all we do -- but managing beach-nesting birds is in our DNA. Four of our five permanent staffers have worked the Vineyard beaches, putting in long hours of hard work, concentration, and, often, frustration. But the rewards of this work are enormous: getting to know the personal quirks of individual plovers, or seeing tern fledglings take to the air! So the return of the Vineyard's nesting beach birds is a high point of our spring. And our work with these vulnerable birds illustrates the essence of our organization: applying skills and determination to do whatever it takes to protect wildlife and gather reliable information. Thanks to the volunteers, donors, and partners who are always at our side! Read on for a look at what your support makes possible.
How many woodcock will we count?
Twenty-five volunteers have joined the first annual island-wide woodcock survey effort! After attending an online training to learn the survey protocols, the woodcock volunteers met near the Correllus State Forest Headquarters to hone their woodcock detection skills. Despite high wind, at least two birds gave us the full show, with PEENTS and aerial displays! After their training, volunteers completed trial runs of their routes to determine the best stopping points and to practice so they could complete their survey in the required 38 minutes.
The survey window is open, so volunteers are driving, biking, or walking 21 different routes across the island on nights with suitable weather to get their counts completed. How many woodcock do you think our surveys will document? You can enter your best guess, and next month we'll announce who came closest to our final tally.
The woodcock survey window is from April 20th to May 10th. If you hear a woodcock peenting during the survey window, email Liz the location and time at lizo@biodiversityworksmv.org and we may be able to add it to our survey count!
Tracking Biodiversity
One goal of our Martha's Vineyard Atlas of Life project is to document as much of the Vineyard's biodiversity as possible. Knowing what is here is a critical first step to protecting our shared natural wealth. The same principle applies to smaller areas -- including, if you want, your own property. With a little patience and attention, it's easy to start recording the wildlife diversity around where you live. You may be surprised to find how many species are your neighbors!
For example, BiodiversityWorks has been using the iNaturalist "citizen science" platform to build a checklist of wildlife found on our three-acre office parcel along Lambert's Cove Road. So far, we've documented 170 species on our modest property, including some uncommon or obscure ones, like this tiny robbery fly, Taracticus octopuntatus. We find it endlessly challenging and fun to keep the list growing!
User-friendly analytical tools and ID assistance from both artificial intelligence and human experts make iNat a great way to learn, record wildlife sightings, and assess diversity at any particular location. You can create an account here; help is available within iNat, or you can watch a webinar on iNat basics. If you're really stuck, email MVAL program directer Matt Pelikan for help!
The MVAL is a collaborative project with
the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation.
Does your yard bring you joy?
The beginning of lawn maintenance season presents an opportunity to evaluate your lawn and consider some options. This month, Angela Luckey's Natural Neighbors blog discusses your relationship with your lawn and offers tips for converting some lawn area into a native garden or meadow. CLICK HERE to read her tips for more yard joy.
Natural Neighbors has once again partnered with Polly Hill Arboretum to offer native plant packs with plugs grown from seed collected and propagated locally. In this CSA-style opportunity, a whole share will provide you with a native plant pack in late May and another in the fall. You can also purchase a half share (spring or fall) and donate a share. CLICK HERE to learn more and order.
Opportunities to Connect with Angela and Natural Neighbors: - Saturday May 7 at 1pm at the West Tisbury Public Library, a presentation about becoming a Natural Neighbors and a native plant give away!
- Wednesday May 11 at 4pm Natural Neighbors presentation at the Art of Flowers event at Featherstone.
- Saturday, May 14th 10 am to 2 pm at the Grange Hall for Climate Action Week's Finale Event
Natural Neighbors is a collaborative project of BiodiversityWorks, the Village and Wilderness Project, and the Martha's Vineyard Vision Fellowship.
Beach Bird Nesting Season has Begun!
With help from several volunteers, we took advantage of mild weather in April to install symbolic fencing and signage on nesting beaches across the island. These posted areas help protect the nesting habitat from human disturbance and provide a safe place for shorebirds to nest. The mild weather earlier in the month encouraged the American oystercatchers and piping plovers to start breeding earlier than usual.
So far, we have eight pairs of oystercatchers incubating and seven active plover nests, which is more early-nesting pairs of piping plovers than usual. We are awaiting the arrival of the terns and skimmers! Thank you to Nicola Blake, Karen English, Morgan Muir, Laurisa Rich, Marc Rosenbaum, Christine Seidel, Keren Tonnesen, and Janet Woodcock for their help protecting these vulnerable birds.
Can we misinform egg predators on beaches?
With funding through MassWildlife's piping plover HCP program, we are working to reduce predation on nests and chicks of piping plovers. Part of our efforts this year involves a research project using odor misinformation to confuse mammalian egg predators. In collaboration with Maureen Durkin from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Rhode Island and URI graduate student Nicole DeFelice, we are replicating a successful project in New Zealand that used concentrated bird odor the month before egg laying began to misinform predators -- teaching them that bird scent does not equal an egg reward. Our pilot study began at the end of March, when we started randomly deploying tiny amounts of concentrated bird scent every three days at 19 of 48 sampling points. We have had some weather issues and lost two game cameras to sandblasting from high winds. But so far it is clear that skunks, crows, and oystercatchers all come to the scent placed on surf clam shells that we deployed. Crows seem to be turning the shells over, so it isn't clear to us if they and the oystercatchers are interested in the shells or the scent. We'll be at this until mid-June, so stay tuned for more on this innovative project!
Welcome Silas!
Meet Silas Beers, our seasonal Wildlife Technician, who will be with us until mid-October. Silas graduated from Virginia Tech last year with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and minors in Biology and Blue Planet. He's been busy working on a variety of wildlife research projects from Hellbender salamanders in Mississippi to Bachman's Sparrows in Florida and Bobwhite quail in Indiana. He also has experience with camera trap data, which will help tremendously with our odor misinformation pilot study.
A new bat house at BWorks' HQ
During Earth Week, we installed a Super Rocket Roost that we hope will host a bat maternity colony this summer. This multi-chambered bat roost is designed to retain heat and provide more roost crevices for bats. Our office is near several Northern Long-eared bat maternity roosts, so we hope to attract that species as summer tenants. But we will welcome any bats who want to roost! Northerns, little browns, and some big brown bats have recently emerged from their winter hibernation in crawlspaces or other structures that protect them from freezing and offer cool and damp conditions.
In the spring, pregnant female bats seek roosts where the sun will keep it hot and dry for them to give birth and raise their pups. This Rocket Roost will do just that and will allow us to monitor the colony easily. Because we have ample forests and ponds nearby, we have an ideal location for this type of roost. Installation was no small feat. The 16-foot, 4" x 6" post was set into a 36" hole filled with concrete and gravel. Many thanks to Geoffrey Kontje for donating the post and volunteering his contractor expertise to set and level it so our Rocket Roost will be secure for years to come. He's a bat-tastic supporter!
Thank you also to the George G. and Doris B. Daniels Wildlife Trust for a grant that funded the purchase of our Super Rocket Roost.
Learn to Birdwatch at Long Point April 30th
Four times each year, the MV Bird Club offers 'Birding 101' outings for beginning birders. These events are perfect for anyone who has always wanted to get into birdwatching to give it a try and receive some free instruction. This Saturday, April 30th, Shea Fee (Club President and Trustees of Reservations ecologist) and Luanne Johnson (BiodiversityWorks biologist and club founder) will lead the outing. They will have extra pairs of binoculars to share. Meet at the winter parking lot for The Trustees' Long Point Wildlife Refuge, off of Deep Bottom road, at 8:00 am. Families are welcome, but instruction will be best for children grades 4 and up. Visit the club web page to check out the calendar of birding opportunities, or to join the club.
Save the Dates!
Wednesday, August 3rd will be our annual Summer Gathering at Tashmoo Springs, from 5 - 7 pm. We'll have staff at displays about all of our programs and projects to give you an opportunity to spend some time learning and sharing with us. We hope you will keep this evening open on your calendar.
On Wednesday, August 17th, join us at Polly Hill Arboretum's barn for an evening with Denver Holt from the Owl Research Institute. Denver will have just returned from his 31st year studying snowy owls in the arctic, so he will be able to tell us about the nesting season and perhaps whether the winter will bring a snowstorm of snowy owls to Massachusetts. We'll be sharing links to register for this event next month.
