Walk•About: Sharp's Ridge

•

This Saturday, April 16, join Ijams naturalist Emily Boves and her ornithologist husband and cerulean warbler expert Than Boves for an early morning (7:30 AM) bird walk along Sharp's Ridge off Broadway (Ludlow Road).

Early migratory birds are passing through. Expect to see several warblers, vireos and other colorful delights such as the blackburnian warbler pictured above. Such a sprightly thing makes you want to sing!

Free to Ijams members. $5 for non-members. Call 577-4717, ext. 10 to register.

Great fun!

•

woodcock display

•


Last evening, while scouting out for woodcocks in preparation for tonight's annual Ijams' Woodcock Walk to Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area, I almost stepped on one. Not a good thing if you are the one on the receiving end of the stepping. It was the closest I've been able to position myself to date.

I'm always pleasantly surprised that the nondescript damp location that Peg Beute and I discovered many years ago by complete happenstance, is still such a favored display ground for the chunky ground birds. I was so close, I could almost smell the earthworms on the timberdoodle's breath.

If you'd like to see if we can do it again, then join Emily and Than Boves and myself for tonight's foray into the muddy wetland. To sign up, call Sheila at 577-4717, ext. 10.

If you sign up, make sure you dress for muddy conditions. Muddy!

•

cerulean blues

•

Exquisitely blue. Some might say "heavenly," as perhaps should I.

If you are one of those reading Jonathan Franzen's new book Freedom—and it seems like many of the people I know are or have already read it—then this is the marvelous species at the center of environmentalist Walter's concerns.

Rightly so.

The cerulean warbler is declining faster than any other warbler species in the United States; some report that its population is only one-fifth of what it was just 40 years ago, that is everywhere except in the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee. There, the diminutive songbird seems to be holding its own, at least for now.

What is going right there, that's going wrong elsewhere?

I proudly work with naturalist Emily Boves at Ijams Nature Center. Emily has assisted her husband Than with a cerulean warbler study the past six years. Dennis McCarthy (yet another friend of Ijams) recently penned an article in UT's Quest magazine about the declining warbler and some of Than Boves' findings. For the link, go here: cerulean.

•

zigzag

•


The warm weather and spring rains have brought out the herps.

Ijams outreach educator Emily Boves and her husband Than recently found an Eastern zigzag salamander (Plethodon dorsalis) at the nature center. The amphibian gets its common name from the “zigzag” stripe on its back.

This salamander is considered common in hardwood forests with rocky substrates like Ijams, but it is reported that the zigzag’s populations are affected by deforestation and forest conversion. This is one species that does not survive well on agricultural or urban lands.

The Eastern zigzag is generally found in or near rocky habitats often with abundant limestone bedrock, caves or rock crevices (a perfect description of Ijams). They retreat underground in the heat of summer and in the cold of winter.

Even though the zigzag is considered common within its range, it's a new salamander to the nature center’s species list. Emily and Than, good find!

•

local howlin'

•


Are there coyotes in the Tennessee Valley? Just ask Emily and Than Boves. In this case, one photo is worth a thousand words.

For the complete story go to my article howlin' coyotes in the farragutpress.

- Photo by Than Boves

*

royal blue

•



Okay. File this one under "Great Job!"

Ijams naturalist Emily Boves reports that the 2009 cerulean warbler research season was recently completed.

Emily assists her husband Than, who is a part of the Cerulean Warbler Technical Group. The field-research project is studying the response of cerulean warbler populations to experimental timber management throughout the species’ breeding range.

Than Boves, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tennessee in natural resources, is in charge of two study sites in the Cumberland Mountains of Eastern Tennessee: Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area and Sundquist Wildlife Management Area. Because land will continue to be developed, the group is trying to figure how to best manage for cerulean warblers. Their numbers have been steadily declining over the last 20 years and 80 percent of their remaining population now breeds in the Appalachian Mountains. Many believe that the cerulean warbler population has declined more in recent history than any other species of woodland bird.

Than just completed his second field season on July 15. His crew found over 70 nests between the two sites. Sharp-eyed Emily worked for Than both seasons and found 46 nests this year and 35 last year. The nest success rate was over 50 percent both seasons.

Than and Emily, great job!

For more background on the cerulean warbler go to my column on the farragutpress web site.

- Pictured is Emily Boves with a cerulean warbler. Photo by Than Boves