Ohio Natural Areas & Preserves Association

Tuesday, December 13, 2022 - RESCHEDULED FROM OCTOBER 18
Woody Species Control at Daughmer Savanna State Nature Preserve

10:00 am – 3:00 pm
786 Marion-Melmore Road, Bucyrus
Crawford County

Daughmer Prairie Savannah is one of the finest prairie savannas in the country. It is a state nature preserve managed by Crawford Park District. The prairie has been grazed, but never farmed. Ever since ODNR purchased the site in 2011 and the sheep were removed, a number of invasive species have appeared.

We will be cutting and treating woody species. We will also control other invasive plants as encountered in the savanna.

Directions: Meet at the parking lot located at 786 Marion-Melmore Road, one mile north of State Route 294, in Crawford County about 9 miles southwest of Bucyrus.

What to bring: Water, lunch, sunscreen, insect repellant, gloves, and muck boots. Tools will be furnished but you may bring your own.

RSVP: If you would like to attend, please REGISTER. If you have questions, please contact The Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association HERE . Online registration is important for our planning.

Enjoy an annual holiday tradition - National Audubon Society's Annual Bird Count

Story and photos by John Watts

This year will mark the 123rd year for the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count annual winter census of birds in the United States and Canada (and other locations). Noted ornithologist, Frank Chapman, and 27 other birders conducted the first of these counts in 1900 as an alternate to the previous tradition of hunting “fur and feathers” during the Holiday Season. In that year, 25 counts across 13 states and two Canadian Provinces, including one at Oberlin, Ohio, tallied a nationwide total of 89 species.

Since that first Christmas Bird Count, these annual winter counts have grown and during the 2020-21 season (121st year), 2,290 count circles were completed in the United States and Canada by 69,860 participants. Today there are about 67 active Christmas Bird Counts in Ohio. Forty-nine of these counts produced 60 species of birds during the 2020-21 Count Season. Counts at Toledo and Wilmont led the way with 94 species each. While learning birds is certainly a year-round endeavor, Christmas Bird Counts offer a beginning birder the opportunity to see a good number of species without feeling overwhelmed as can happen during the peak of spring migration. It’s also a great opportunity for a seasoned, more experienced birder to teach new birders what to look for in terms of field marks, face patterns, wing patterns, and habits as the lack of vegetation can make many species easier to find and observe. It is also a great way to meet new friends and birders who share a common interest in birds and the out-of-doors.

Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding on poison-ivy berries

Dark-eyed junco, also called a snowbird, is common near birdfeeders

To register for a Christmas Bird Count in your area, if you don’t know a local birdwatcher, visit audubon.org to find a count in your area. Counts will be conducted between December 14, 2022 and January 5, 2023. I encourage everyone to participate in a count to enjoy and learn our winter birds.

Reference:
“History of the Christmas Bird Count” and “121st Christmas Bird Count Summary” (by Geoff LeBaron). National Audubon Society’s web page: audubon.org/conservation/history-christmas-bird-count.

Belted Kingfisher waiting out the snowfall

October projects take volunteers from far southwest to northeast corners of Ohio

October was another busy month for the stewardship team, with key projects at Erie Sand Barrens (October 4), Newberry Preserve (October 11), the Heritage Garden (October 13), Brinkhaven Oak Barrens (October 15), and a Scenic Rivers site on Conneaut Creek (October 27).

Two of these natural areas are new for ONAPA, working with Great Parks in the Cincinnati area at Newberry Preserve and with Scenic Rivers staff on Conneaut Creek in far northeastern Ohio. We also worked at the Heritage Garden at the Governor's Residence to help with clean-up of the prairie. At the other four preserves and natural areas, we were removing and treating woody species.

October's Annual Meeting on perfect autumn day celebrates ONAPA's 10th anniversary

This year's ONAPA Annual Meeting was held October 29 at the Eagleview Lodge at Blacklick Woods Metro Park on the east side of Columbus. Almost 70 people, including walk-in's, turned out to celebrate ONAPA's 10th anniversary.

Presentations by Guy Denny and Jennifer Windus covered ONAPA's accomplishments over the past year. Guest speakers covered a variety of subjects:

Dr. Elliot Tramer, retired, University of Toledo: Winners & Losers in the Age of Humans
Cody Berkebile, Senior naturalist, Blacklick Woods MP: Preserves in Your Columbus Metro Parks
Judy Semroc, Nature Spark: Hiding in Plain Sight – Amazing Patterns of Camouflage, Evasion, Trickery & Mimicry in Nature

After a short business meeting during lunch, participants enjoyed a perfect autumn afternoon on one of three field trips: Tucker Preserve (a dedicated preserve at Blacklick

Woods) led by Cody Berkebile; Cranberry Bog groups led by Guy Denny and Jennifer Windus and Shallenberger Preserve, led by Dick Moseley.

Collecting prairie seeds brings out a crowd in October

The ONAPA seed collecting event at Guy Denny's prairie October 1 brought out a crowd of members and guests. Participants, which numbered over 65, took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and a chance to learn about establishing their own prairie or pollinator-friendly native garden.

Guy gave a nice overview of prairies and how to manage them, as well as tips on seed collecting. He had many samples out on tables so that people could see how the plants appear when in seed. We had several ONAPA folks available to help people in the prairie identify species and collect the appropriate parts of the plants.

The opportunity to collect a variety of tall grass prairie seeds usually comes along once a year, so if you missed this year's event, look for another opportunity in the fall next year.

Photos by Jennifer Windus.

Stewardship projects target woody threats to natural areas in September

September began our fall schedule with scaled-back projects for 1-2 days through November. Three of our stewardship assistants went back to college, but we still have Maddie and Lydia working with us. We have a busy fall schedule with partners including DNAP. In September, we had five stewardship projects at Myersville Fen (Sept 6), Kiser Lake Wetlands (Sept 8), Wolf Run Park with Knox County Park District (Sept 15), McCoy Fen with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Sept 20), and Cedar Bog (Sept 29).

We worked on woody species for most of these sites, except for Kiser Lake Wetlands where we cut and treated cattails in the Headwaters section along the boardwalk. At Myersville Fen, we removed purple loosestrife in addition to woody species in the southern meadow. At Wolf Run Park, we removed woody species in two prairie units that had been burned in the spring (with assistance from ONAPA). At Cedar Bog, we continued to open new areas for massasauga

habitat which has been very effective. We removed plenty of large Asian honeysuckle, honey locust, autumn-olive, and more to generate a huge pile.

Stewardship projects benefit preserves

North Bog

Herrick Fen

August was another busy month for our stewardship program with six projects at North Bend Bog (August 9), Cedar Bog (August 11), Brinkhaven Oak Barrens (August 16), Herrick Fen (August 18), Meilke Road Savanna Wildlife Area (August 23), and Jackson Bog (August 30).

We also had several field trips for the stewardship assistants to Tucker Preserve in Blacklick Woods Metro Park, Singer Lake, and some Adams County prairies. Most of our stewardship projects were with other partners such as the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cedar Bog Association, Killbuck Watershed Land Trust, and the Division of Wildlife, besides DNAP. We worked on woody species control at North Bend Bog, Cedar Bog, Herrick Fen, and Meilke Road Savanna. At Jackson Bog, we controlled purple loosestrife and cattails.

Three of our stewardship assistants returned to college in August, but we still have Maddie and Lydia working with us through the fall. The new fall schedule is posted HERE with projects scheduled for most Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jackson Bog

Volunteer Stewardship Project Reports

For the latest Stewardship Project Reports,
CLICK HERE.

Member Activities

For the latest Member Activity Reports,
CLICK HERE,

Stewardship
Projects

We plan stewardship projects year-round throughout Ohio and we are always looking for volunteers. We will include a short field trip on each project to see some of the preserve where we are working.

Member
Field Trips

Preserve
Monitoring

Field trips are scheduled from late spring into early fall. Most are easy walks through our state's Division of Natural Area's preserves. Watch the website and Facebook page for updates.

Any state nature preserve in your area can be visited and a report completed to help inform ONAPA and the preserve managers about the condition of the preserve.