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Connecting Students to Bird Conservation

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By Caitlin Welsh

The bird banding net lanes at Rushton Farm. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

Since I was introduced to Willistown Conservation Trust in 2015, it has been a privilege to spend many of my working hours in the field supporting the bird banding program at Rushton.  The time spent walking the net lanes and watching the seasons change over the last two years in particular has made it much easier to stay grounded during a time when it was often easy to find oneself feeling adrift. 

As an educator who primarily engages the public in natural settings, it was especially challenging to connect with our audiences, particularly K-12 teachers and students. However, if there’s one lesson to be learned from the challenges presented by the pandemic, it’s the importance of meeting and engaging with others where they’re at, which is an intrinsic part of good educators’ practice.

I had the fortune to connect with a group of such educators who dedicated time during the pandemic to exploring ways we could help them and their students connect with the natural world.  AIM Academy is a K-12 research-to-practice school in Conshohocken, PA that strives to support students who learn differently, often by using project-based learning strategies and emphasizing 21st century skills.  With students returning to the classroom, Alicia DeVane, Julia Bower, and Cherica Onyango – AIM Academy’s 8th grade science team – were eager to find ways to immerse students in social emotional learning through science education.

  • Ken Leister, County Coordinator for Bluebird Society of PA, and educator Caitlin Welsh at AIM Academy for the bird box building project.
  • The Mobile STEAM Lab truck at AIM Academy

We focused on introducing students to migration ecology with an emphasis on bird-human interactions to help students foster personal connections to local wildlife. Over the course of two weeks, students completed a learning module in which they were able to engage with educators both virtually and in the classroom through presentations, birding on AIM’s campus, and migration mapping activities from Birds Canada that use Motus wildlife tracking data. 

The experience culminated in a project that guided students to creatively promote human behaviors that can support bird conservation, like designing and installing decals to reduce window strikes around the school building, and recording PSAs about preventing interactions between birds and domestic cats.  Activities and other learning resources, as well as an overview of this and other experiences, can be explored in the Educational Opportunities section of the Northeast Motus Collaboration’s web page.

Seeing the ease with which students could activate their empathy through creative pursuits, we were then connected with Kathy Brandon who leads AIM’s Middle School STEAM program where students incorporate art and design principles into STEM disciplines. With the 2021 school year and field season in full swing, Blake Goll, the Trust’s Education Manager, and I took a break from the banding station to work with Kathy’s students and spread the message of bird conservation even farther than the AIM community.

After learning about the Trust’s bird banding program and our work to address the challenges faced by migratory birds due to habitat loss, students had the opportunity to build nest boxes for Eastern bluebirds with guidance from the Trust’s bluebird champion, Ken Leister.  

After building the nest boxes, Kathy plans to mobilize her program and connect with community partners at St. James School, a tuition-free school for underserved student populations in North Philadelphia. Following the AIM’s mission to seek equity and access for all to STEAM Education, Kathy will use AIM’s Mobile STEAM Lab to share cross-curricular learning experiences like the nest box project with St. James Schools’ students and community.  “I really appreciate our collaboration,” Kathy said. “Maybe one bird box at a time we can make a difference for our environment”.

  • Ken Leister and Caitlin Welsh facilitating bird box building with AIM Academy students.
  • Kathy Brandon assisting her students with bird box building.
  • The finished bird boxes!

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Joan Swirsky

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Since the Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) stewardship team began our weekly volunteer days last year, Joan has been our most dedicated participant. Week in and week out, she is ready and willing to come out to the preserves and lend a hand in any way she can. “WCT has greatly enhanced my life, especially during COVID isolation, providing outdoor distanced activities virtually year round,” Joan says.

Joan moved to the Willistown area with her husband in 2017. She became involved with the Trust soon after when she started attending bird banding at Rushton. Upon learning about the various preserves and their need for maintenance, Joan jumped at the chance to help. “I am so impressed with how much property you maintain, with such a small staff, so I am glad to help.” Joan has assisted us with trail repairs, cleared invasive plants alongside Crum and Ridley creeks, and helped blaze paths at our new preserve. Recently, she has begun lending her time to Rushton farm as well. “Whenever I visit, I’m learning about birds, land preservation, or organic farming – besides meeting nice people, enjoying the outdoors, and being active. The WCT properties are a gem in my backyard.”

If you want to get involved, email our Preserve Manager, Mike Cranney (mjc@wctrust.org)

American Woodcock

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American Woodcock. Photo by Mike Rosengarten.

American Woodcock (Scolopax Minor) 

An Interview with Lisa Williams, Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, and Webless Migratory Game Bird Specialist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Have you ever had the opportunity to witness the skydance courtship display of the American Woodcock?  Every spring a few lucky birders are blessed with the opportunity to witness the iconic, erratic, and twirling mating dance of the American Woodcock.  Migrant Woodcock return north from their southern wintering grounds to find suitable nesting habitat – and mates.  Woodcock find open areas on the edges of early successional habitat to feed, rest, and breed.  We were able to ask Lisa Williams, the Ruffed Grouse, Woodcock and Webless Migratory Game Bird Specialist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission a few questions about woodcock and their quirky habits, as well as get a few tips and tricks for you to see more Woodcock this spring.

Where should we look for spring woodcock?

“Flat brushy fields, brush thickets, and field edges with moist soils.”

What is the peak time?

“The best time to observe Woodcock is up to an hour after sunset.  Beginning about 20 minutes after sunset, males begin an elaborate courtship display that lasts for 30-40 minutes. They display during both twilight periods of the day (dusk and dawn), with the dusk display period lasting longer than the dawn period.  If you can position yourself to have the bird displaying between you and the western sky, you will enjoy the best views.”

When is the peak migration? 

“Peak migration is occurring now. The first wave of migrants began arriving in southern Pennsylvania in late February and birds had reached the New York border by March 10th. Migration will continue for the next month, with resident birds settling down to nest by mid-April.  

When will they nest? 

“Nesting typically begins in April, with peak nesting initiation beginning in mid-April.  Some nests can show up as early as late March, but earlier nests have a higher failure rate.”

How are Woodcock populations?  

“Slowly declining across the US due to the conversion of their brushy habitat to agriculture, or commercial/ residential development.  Brushy thickets are an ‘unloved’ habitat but are critically important to many birds.”

Is there any backyard habitat that can be done for Woodcock?  

Planting native shrubs in clumps along field edges. Woodcock nest near the open fields where the courtship displays occur. So if you have displaying woodcock on your property or in a local park, working to establish native shrubs as clumps in the field or along the perimeter is highly beneficial.  Providing native shrubs while eliminating invasive shrubs such as honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, autumn olive and barberry provides even more benefit, as there is evidence that non-native shrubs can actually reduce woodcock nest success because they form a dense canopy that can inhibit the hen’s ability to flush to safety when threatened.  

What is the state doing for Woodcock habitat? 

“Public Land Managers in the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Allegheny National Forest are working hard to regenerate young forests and improve habitat quality for ground nesting birds like Golden-Winged Warblers, Woodcock, and Grouse. This is done through a combination of mature timber harvest, prescribed fire, and forest improvement activities.  However, 87% of the forest in PA is privately owned, so the State cannot conserve shrub-associated species alone. The work of private landowners is key to statewide, long term success in supporting young forest species.”

Is the suburban Philadelphia area an important stopover for Woodcock?  

“OH MY, YES!!!!  An ongoing multi-state migration study of woodcock indicates that Southeast Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia area, in particular, is critically important for migrating woodcock who need to stop over to refuel. Improving habitat and working to support dark night skies (“lights out” programs) can really improve the odds for migrants who need a safe haven during their journey.

Visit our Preserves!  To find Woodcock this spring, head to Rushton Woods Preserve and wait patiently along the edges of the hedgerows at dawn and dusk. Another excellent spot is Ashbridge Preserve along the edges of the western fields and brushy stream edges.  For maps and locations of these preserves visit, https://wctrust.org/land/preserves/ and for questions please email land@wctrust.org

https://wctbirds.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/justin-thompson-with-woodcock.jpg
Justin Thompson holds a Woodcock banded at Rushton Woods Banding Station. This bird aged as an adult male as evidenced by the shorter bill length and stubbier wings.  The outer primary feathers of Woodcock give their flight the nice twittering sound heard when they erupt from the forest floor and whirl through the sky. Notice the prehensile bill tip that these birds use to feel and grasp earthworms while probing in the soil.  With big beady eyes to see in the dark and precisely camouflaged leaf-like coloring, this bird is a spectacular and cryptic beauty!  Two Woodcock have been banded at Rushton Bird Banding Station since 2010, for more information about Bird Banding and our Ten Year Banding Report, please visit https://wctrust.org/birds/.

About Lisa Williams | Lisa Williams received her B.S. in Ecology/Environmental Studies at Juniata College in Huntingdon PA and her M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Penn State University.  Lisa is currently the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s program biologist for ruffed grouse and webless migratory game birds, with research and management expertise working in young forest habitats. For her work on grouse and West Nile Virus, Lisa received the Governor’s Award for Excellence and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Ernest Thompson Seton Award in 2020. 

The bird whisperer: Pennsylvania Game Commission's Lisa Williams leads the charge in ruffed grouse conservation, innovation - Dominion Post

Nature at Night: Ornithology 101 (Part 1&2)

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Join Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager, for a virtual two-part session that introduces the study of birds. We will begin with some basics of ornithology like where birds came from and what makes a bird a bird.  Then we will delve into exciting topics like bird song and nesting as well as migration. 

From their beauty and song that inspires and uplifts us to their incredible migratory feats and daily dramas that leave us awestruck, birds are the perfect gateway to conservation.  They have the power to awaken us to the natural world; what we do for them, we do for the planet and ourselves.

We will wrap the course up with a discussion of the state of birds today and the importance of bird conservation. We will delve into the latest technologies for studying birds as well as other tools like bird banding.

Leave the course with a better understanding of your avian neighbors and the resources to keep learning more and doing everything you can to help birds!

Nature at Night: Ornithology 101 (Part 1)

Nature at Night: Ornithology 101 (Part 2)

For the Love of Birds

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Join Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager, for a virtual session (video below) that introduced birds through the lens of why we love them.  From their beauty and song that inspires and uplifts us to their incredible migratory feats and daily dramas that leave us awestruck, birds are the perfect gateway to conservation.  They have the power to awaken us to the natural world; what we do for them, we do for the planet and ourselves.

Bluebird feeding on Winterberry by Greg Schneider, Mount Joy, PA Nov 2014 (permission granted)

Blake began the talk discussing why we love birds. First, they come in a dazzling array of diversity found on every continent (10,000 species)! No other life form is this widespread besides microscopic organisms. Birds give us hope with their ultimate freedom of movement and life lived in the present. They represent resiliency having been around for 150 million years longer than we have. Birds are beautifully adapted living dinosaurs!

Birds help us engage with nature. In fact, bird-watching has soared since the pandemic. “It’s quite meditative to watch another life form go about its day,” said Ms. Adanero, 23. “It’s like another way of practicing mindfulness.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/science/bird-watching-coronavirus.html).  Jonathen Franzen opined, “They are our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding.”

Blake went on to say that birds are intelligent and emotional. For example, you might assume Mourning Doves are dull and dumb, but according to wildlife rehabilitator Julie Zickefoose, they are incredibly intelligent and communal. In her book, “Baby Birds”, Julie describes a tender moment in her garden when one of her doves that she raised and released came back to sit right by her in the dirt while she went about her garden chores. The young bird even occupied itself in her company by building itself a “play nest” on the ground.

Other examples of bird intelligence and emotion include crows giving gifts to humans who feed them regularly, or crows entertaining themselves by “sledding” down a roof on a plastic lid! Another example Blake gave was the Barn Owl, known to be monogamous and devoted to their mates. The book “Wesley the Owl” goes into great detail of the intimate relationship an owl developed with his human caretaker over the years.

Another reason people love birds is that they are clever and resourceful. Take the House Wren for example. This little brown bird has deliberate reasons for all its fussing about our yards during the breeding season. Even the little white spider egg sacs that they love to weave into their stick nests has a purpose: these sacs contain the baby spiders of a predatory jumping spider! The spiderlings feast on mites in the nest that could otherwise kill the wren chicks if left unchecked.

Watch the rest of the recording to learn more about why we love birds, why birds are important, what is happening to birds today, and how we can all help birds thrive. This talk was a private event for Radnor Hunt Club on February 10th, 2021. The attendees’ questions follow the presentation.

(Note: The recording begins with music and PowerPoint slides until Blake’s audio comes in around 1 minute 13 seconds.)

OUR NATURE PRESERVES

Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year from sunrise to sunset, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. Willistown Conservation Trust owns and manages three nature preserves in the Willistown area - Ashbridge, Kirkwood and Rushton Woods Preserve. We maintain these lands for the … Learn more about our nature preserves.

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The work of the Willistown Conservation Trust is concentrated on 28,000 acres of Willistown Township … read more