WILLISTOWN CONSERVATION TRUST

Nature at Night: Flappy Hour, Using Motus to Track the Flight Path of an Avian Biologist

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Meet Shelly Eshleman, our newest Motus team member and bird conservation biologist as she describes her path to working for Willistown Conservation Trust. She will give an inside view of what life as a Motus technician is like and describe the Bobolink project she’s been working on with Zoe Warner.

Recent Article by Zoë Warner | Article published by Brandywine Conservancy

PRESERVED LANDS IN KING RANCH AREA OF CHESTER COUNTY OFFER HOPE AND SUMMER HOME FOR BOBOLINKS
By: Zoë Warner, Ph.D., Avian Research

Unraveling the Mysteries of Migration with Motus Technology

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Since 2017 the Trust’s Bird Conservation Team along with its partners (the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, Project Owlnet, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Powdermill Nature Reserve) has been working tirelessly to establish what is now the world’s second largest array of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System’s automated radio telemetry stations. Motus is a collaborative research project that uses a network of receiving stations to track the movements of birds and other small flying animals tagged with miniature radio transmitters. This cutting-edge technology has transformed our knowledge of bird migration. Watch this fascinating presentation from the Trust’s Bird Conservation Team to hear what researchers have begun to learn and how these discoveries can be shared to help further bird conservation in your community. Recorded on September 10, 2020.

Nesting Birds in Your Yard

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Did you notice more birds than usual this spring around your yard? Watch the video of this this virtual event held on July 7, 2020. Our Bird Box Team discussed the birds you might have seen nesting around your yard this summer and covered the basics of bluebird box monitoring and maintenance.  We also had a special guest and bluebird expert, Ken Leister.

  • Photo by Mimi Davis
Photos featured from The Bluebird Keeper, County Lines Magazine article.
Photos by Blake Goll/Staff.

Video – 7 Ways to Give Traveling Birds a Boost – Flappy Hour Recap

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On May 14th the Trusts’ Bird Conservation field team held a virtual flappy social hour. They shared short talks about ways you can support migratory birds while remaining socially distant. The talk ended with a casual Q&A session. 52 people signed in! If you missed it and want to learn how to promote bird conservation in your backyard and beyond, click here to watch the recorded session!

  • Did you know that the average adult needs 15 coffee trees per year? By choosing where your coffee comes from and how it is grown, you can help protect our birds that overwinter in the tropics.
  • Did you know that cats have been determined to be the number one cause of bird declines and that we could save billions of birds by keeping cats inside?
  • Did you know that our agriculture is becoming toxic to birds? Many chemicals that are used to coat seeds remain with the plant for its entire life and persist in the environment, despite what the chemical companies say.
  • Did you know that 9 in 10 seabirds have been found with plastic in their stomachs? By reducing plastic use, we can help our oceans and the creatures that inhabit them.
  • Did you know that there are over 48 million acres of lawn in the U.S? By changing how we view these spaces our lawns can actually contribute to bird conservation in a big way.

Explore these topics and more in our Flappy Hour recording.

Magnolia Warbler. Photo by Brian Storey

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Rushton Farm. Photo by Celeste Sheehan

After peeling yourself out of bed in the pitch black of pre-dawn in deliberate disobedience of your circadian rhythm, you wander through the dark to the bathroom where you reluctantly flip on the light and stand blinking into the mirror with owl sized pupils. You go through the motions of getting yourself dressed, quiet as a mouse so as not to wake your sleeping significant other. Finally you creep to the kitchen to adeptly pour coffee into your thermos without spilling a single precious drop even though the light from the east is still woefully dim.

When you get to the preserve, it is near dawn. The air is fresh, and the trees are alive with tinkling chip notes of migrant birds. As you get to work setting the nets in the hedgerows, you take comfort in the sound of an Eastern Screech Owl singing its haunting song down in the lower woods. You smile as the familiar catbird belts out its harsh petition for the sun to rise now. Above you, a rainbow stretches from one lavender cloud to the next and now you remember what it means to be a part of nature.

Billions of birds now have their sights set somewhere over that rainbow as they travel south by starlight. Our bird banding operation at Rushton Woods helps us monitor which migrants are using our specially managed preserve, understand how long they spend here preparing and fueling up for the journey, learn about populations and lifespans, and study their movements.

  • Yellow-breasted Chat captured this week. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • Director of Bird Conservation, Lisa Kiziuk, educates visitor about a Gray Catbird before releasing it. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

This fall has been excellent so far with a catch most days of 90-100 birds despite the warm weather we’ve been experiencing. Some highlights have included Connecticut Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Nashville Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler. Some of the most abundant species include Gray Catbird and American Goldfinch.

  • Chestnut-sided Warbler being banded. Photo by Celeste Sheehan
  • Connecticut Warbler banded 9/5. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • Red-eyed Vireo banded this week. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • American Redstart. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff
  • Black-throated Blue Warbler banded this week. Photo by Celeste Sheehan
  • Young Ruby-throated Hummingbird caught at Rushton this fall. We simply release these at the net since we do not have a special hummingbird banding license. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

Songbird Banding Open House is Tomorrow Morning (9/14) from 7-10:30 am at Rushton Woods Preserve

Come on out to observe our bird banding, see incredible migratory birds up close, and chat with field scientists.

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

Blake

Monarch butterfly. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

OUR NATURE PRESERVES

Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. We will keep them open as long as it is safe to do so. While visiting our preserves, please practice social distancing and wear a mask if you encounter another person who will be closer than six feet … Learn more about our nature preserves.

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The Trust's holistic approach to land conservation, with a focus on the connections among land, farm, birds, and water, protects native habitat and provides open space for our earth to heal. Please help the Trust continue to preserve our natural world for all  generations and consider making an impactful donation … Donate Today

OUR STORY

Willistown Conservation Trust's mission is to: "preserve and manage the open land, rural character, … read more

WHERE WE WORK

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