By: Ian Salisbury, Stewardship Intern

This past summer, I had the privilege of being the Stewardship Intern here at Willistown Conservation Trust. I worked with the Stewardship department to maintain all five of our nature preserves, while learning the techniques and protocols to do so. When managing land, you are pulled in many directions – there is no way to predict how one day or another is going to go. For instance, when we have storms, trees fall, and anything else you were planning on doing has to get pushed off until the downed tree is dealt with. Consequently, there is very limited time to observe how nature is interacting with the land you are managing. This is why, as an intern, I wanted to complete a project involving surveying. Surveying is the act of making observations in a planned and organized manner so as to collect the most reliable data possible. This data is then used to influence decision making.  

To conduct my surveys, I chose Kestrel Hill Preserve, the newest preserve owned by WCT. Observations here are vital in creating an accurate management plan that is tailored to a specific land area. I collected data on woody plants, birds, insects/pollinators, and mammals living within the Preserve, which contains grasslands, meadows, and forest with tributaries that lead to nearby creeks and streams. Much of the land was previously used as agricultural fields with an annual crop rotation of corn and soybeans. This land use history highlights the importance of proper management to help restore the land back to native habitat, only possible with a comprehensive management plan.  

By surveying, you gain an understanding of how the ecosystem is truly functioning, and what constitutes the habitat. Most ecological surveys begin by first designating an area to study. It is unrealistic to expect that we could observe everything that is happening on an entire preserve at any given time, so we make zones or transects (specifically measured areas, often boxes in a grid pattern, depending on the terrain and needs of the survey) to help get a representative sample of the site. After determining what details and information should be recorded, we finally conduct the survey. This can be done just once, weekly, biweekly, annually, etc. – as long as you feel it is necessary to collect good data.  

The best data I collected was from trail cameras during my mammal surveys. Capturing eastern coyotes (Canis latrans), red fox (Vulpes Vulpes), Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), lots of raccoons (Procyon lotor), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), was absolutely the highlight of this project. When surveying mammals, it is a common practice to track and record the presence of various predatory species because their presence is directly correlated to the number of prey species present in the ecosystem. While prey species are hard to observe, they are important to understanding the impact we are having on our preserves. Mammalian prey species, mainly small rodents, rely on the plants in their environment. By planting native plant species and removing invasives, we are directly benefiting both the predators and their prey.  

I also conducted pollinator surveys that showed how the newly restored meadow and grasslands are already helping our beneficial insect populations grow by providing nectar sources and host plants for young to feed on. I was able to observe a variety of swallowtails, skippers, and other beautiful native butterflies, as well as multiple native bee species, many of which are declining in population. The grassland is particularly worth noting because many of the species of skippers rely on native grasses to lay eggs on and for their caterpillars to feed on. Caterpillars and other insects are also vital food sources for both migrant and resident bird species. While bird surveying didn’t produce as many results as I wanted, I was able to see a Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) in August, which is their migration season, an unusual site for me. There are also many American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) nesting in nest boxes that have been set up, showing we have suitable habitat for them. Finally, I have observed Northern Harriers (Circus hudsonius), Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and many hawk species flying around the preserve, indicating there must be ample food supply for all of them to feed on.  

Unfortunately, due to my limited time here, I couldn’t fully conduct the surveys in the way I would have preferred. With a longer project period, I could have had proper transects creating more usable data, more recorded bird survey data blocked by habitat type, time of day and weather, and much more specific trail camera data that catalogued behaviors, species identifications, and number of individuals. My hope is that these surveys can be continued by other researchers moving forward who may be able to expand upon the work I have started. 

Surveying is an under-appreciated part of land management in my eyes, particularly with the trail cameras. We can easily walk around the Preserves during the day, but we can’t at night when a lot of our local wildlife are active. With restoration efforts already underway in the meadows and grasslands, surveys and continued monitoring will help demonstrate the long-term impact of these projects. As I mentioned before, when managing land, you are pulled in many directions. Restoration work on the scale being done at Kestrel Hill requires many hands and hours of work to achieve. This internship has been a gift to me, and I am grateful for the environmental playground that I was allowed to explore and experiment with at Kestrel Hill Preserve.