The Spotted Turtle - Beaver Creek Wetlands Association

Beaver Creek Wetlands Association
The Spotted Turtle
Volume 27, No. 1
Winter 2013
25th Annual
Meeting –
A Celebration!
People and
Hikes of the
Past Season
Last fall’s EcoSummit at Ohio
State University
visited the Beaver
Creek Wetlands.
Most participants
were from Canada,
Mexico, Europe,
Asia, Australia and
beyond. On another
hike water resources
specialists came from
a three state area (see
page 12). We also
led training hikes for
Glen Helen Naturalists, BCWA volunteer
groups, local scouts
and Wright State
students.
Honored speaker:
Robert C. Glotzhober
Retired Senior Curator,
Natural History,
Ohio Historical Society
Bob Glotzhober finds almost any
area of natural history of interest and
enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for
the wonders of nature with groups.
He worked for 33 years with the
Ohio Historical Society until his
recent retirement. During that time
he planned educational programs in
natural history, wrote text for several
exhibits, authored numerous articles
for both popular and scientific audiences, coordinated land management
at OHS’s natural areas, led public
hikes, gave educational talks, was
involved with recovery of bones from
Pleistocene mammals, and coordinated
a state-wide survey of dragonflies and
damselflies.
Previous to coming to OHS he
spent three years working as a naturalist for the National Wildlife Federation, one year as a naturalist with the
Michigan Audubon Society, and three
years teaching high school biology
and general science in New York and
Minnesota. Glotzhober has a BS in
Education from Concordia Teacher’s
College in Seward, Nebraska and a
MS in Zoology from Michigan State
University. He is a member of several
local, state and national conservation
and scientific organizations.
Continued on page 7 >
Pictured at left: the
OSU EcoSummit
participants explore
Siebenthaler Fen
Photo by Richard Swigart
Also In this Issue
Calendar
President’s Message......................2
News & Photo Contest...............3-4
Volunteer Report...........................5
Emerald Ash Borer.....................6-7
Monarch Tagging..........................8
Seed Collection.............................9
Little Beaver Creek Prairie.........10
Mystery Plant..............................10
Winter Hike at Siebenthaler Fen
Saturday, Feb 9, 10 am
www.beavercreekwetlands.org
Check our website for special
events and volunteer opportunities
Annual Meeting
Hilton Garden Inn, Beavercreek
3520 Pentagon Park Blvd.
Friday, May 17, 2013, 6:30 pm
President’s Message
Children and Nature
Trails that occur within the Beaver
Creek Wetlands corridor.
There are currently 11 reserves
in the Beaver Creek Wetlands that
families can explore to get in touch
with nature. Chances are that you
frequently pass one of these reserves
as you go about your busy life.
Please visit and enjoy these wonderful places. Check our schedule at
www.beavercreekwetlands.org for
upcoming events and, if we can help
out with a program, give us a call or
send me an email.
See you in the wetlands!
Rob Evans
BCWA President
Below: Trustee Mike Zimmerman
shows a Girl Scout Brownie troop
what he has caught in his net during
a hike at Siebenthaler Fen.
Photo by Rob Evans
Several people have recently suggested that I read “Last Child in the
Woods: Saving Our Children From
Nature-Deficit Disorder.” I have
heard the stories. Kids are disconnected from the natural world, sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult with video games and
media exploited fears of the ‘outside’
and there is less and less access to
natural areas. The argument is that
direct exposure to nature is essential
for healthy childhood development,
reduction in obesity and other maladies that impact the wired generation
of today.
Although it is hard for me to
wrap my mind around the issues,
having a mother that never let me
waste away my time indoors and acted
like she didn’t care what I was doing
as long as it was outside (I know she
cared), I think I will pick up and read
this book over my upcoming vacation. This book seems well accepted
as a good presentation of the struggles
parents face and the ways we can help
children and the community get more
connected to nature.
The Beaver Creek Wetlands Association gets numerous requests for programs and hikes for groups of children
of all ages. We have recently provided
programs for home-schooled children,
scouts and science classes. We have
offered opportunities for Eagle Scout
projects and college course requirements. Throughout the year, BCWA
hosts many programs from hikes in the
wetlands to tagging Monarch butterflies. We also highlight all programs
offered by Greene County Parks and
2
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2013
News
Planting Pawpaws and
other cool stuff
This past year we have been
doing quite a bit of management
at Koogler Reserve. Richard Swigart dug up and potted a bunch of
Pawpaws a while back, and this fall
they were ready to plant. Pawpaws
like to be moist, but not wet, and
often are a bit away from a stream,
sometimes on a moist slope. We
found a place like that not far from
the observation deck and have our
fingers crossed that we might one
day see them fruit.
Earlier in the year, using material from MEEC (Marianist Environmental Education Center) provided
by Don Geiger, we planted swamp
roses in the midst of a non-native
sweetflag patch to see if the roses
would out-compete the sweetflag.
Don also provided buttonbushes and
shrubby cinquefoil that we scattered
in around the reserve to increase
diversity. The buttonbush plants may
be particularly important at Koogler
Reserve and may replace ashes
and cottonwood trees lost to either
flooding (beavers) or the emerald
ash borer. Some other plantings went
to our conservation easement in the
southern corridor and we planted
seeds in a patch where we earlier
removed invasive Phragmites aka
common reed.
Wright State Bio Club volunteers
plant pawpaws.
Disaster at
Hagenbuch
Reserve &
Creekside
Crews clearing access
to DP&L power lines
between Creekside
Trail and US35 wiped
out numerous plantings and many, many
hours of management
carried out by BCWA
and MEEC volunteers.
In the photos you can
see how vegetation
was ground down to
and even below the
surface. DP&L owns an easement
that allows this clearing, but this is far
more damaging than has been seen
before, and was not really necessary
as part of the access to the power lines
and towers. Talks are underway to
prevent this problem in the future. We
Ohio Preserves Need Help
Budget cuts have made the job of
protecting Ohio’s natural resources an
ongoing challenge. The Division of
Natural Areas and Preserves (DNAP)
under the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources has been essentially eliminated and much of the conservation
land it was sworn to protect has been
parceled out to other parts of ODNR.
The loss of staff with expertise in
natural area management has been
severe. Dedicated people, most of
them leaders in natural resource protection have formed the Ohio Natural
Areas and Preserves Association, a
non-profit organization, to fill in where
current state personnel are unable to
meet the needs of conservation. Check
out their web page at www.onapa.org
to see what you can do to help.
BCWA is helping by maintaining
the DNAP preserve called Zimmerman
Prairie. This wet prairie was donated
by one of our founders, the late Bill
will attempt to establish a written
agreement on the management of
these green corridors along the bikeway and in other locations within
the greater Beaver Creek Wetlands
system.
by Richard Swigart
Photos
Hagenbuch and his family, many
years ago. Tight budgets allowed the
preserve to become overrun with a
number of undesirable plants, but
work done by BCWA this summer
and fall has made amazing improvements. A new master plan is being
formulated and BCWA will take
over the day-to-day management and
monitoring of the area with the help
of the remnant ODNR staff.
Like many wetlands around
Beavercreek this natural area is fed
by groundwater and many places
within it are identified as fen. The
plant diversity is great with many
unusual plants. Its location immediately adjacent to Creekside Trail
west of North Fairfield Road makes
it visible without entry or trails that
would do it harm. With the clearing
done by BCWA between the bikeway and Zimmerman Prairie we now
have a beautiful vista for all who use
the Creekside trail.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
3
In the fall edition of this newsletter,
an article entitled “Conquering an
Alien Invader” detailed the challenge
of managing non-native sweet flag,
which has invaded area wetlands,
and how success was finally achieved
by utilizing large tarps and old
swimming pool covers to solarize
dense stands of it. This management technique is also being utilized
on patches of Phragmites, another
wetland invasive species.
Accompanying this article was
a request for donations of these
materials. BCWA received donations from the following people:
Bob and Wendy Kirchoff of Beavercreek—two large pool covers,
Gregg and Jennifer DeVilbiss of
Beavercreek—a large (and very
heavy!) pool cover, Michael and
Michele Foley of Beavercreek—a
large canvas tent, and Mickey Gibson
of Huber Heights—a large canvas
tarp. Thank you! These materials
will be recycled for invasive plant
control at various wetland sites in the
spring. As there is now a stockpile of
these materials, BCWA is no longer
accepting additional donations of this
kind, but stay tuned.
Additionally we thank Joe and
Rusty Lehman for construction of a
wellhead protector at the constructed
fen site at Beaver Creek Wildlife
Area, and John Deal (Deal’s Landscaping) for some tree wraps we used
to protect oaks
on the prairie at
Fairborn Marsh.
Left: damage by
deer to oaks in
the prairie
Right: fall color
of oak planted
as a seedling
about 10 years
ago.
4
Upcoming Activities
Winter Hike Mark your calendar
February 9th 10 AM at Siebenthaler
Fen parking lot for a Winter Hike.
Knollwood Garden Party Date
and details to come nearer to this annual springtime event
Spring Planting Starting about
the second week of April we hope to
be planting greenhouse grown plugs of
wetland plants at one of our prime restoration sites. Let us know if you are
interested in helping. We are talking
about hundreds or thousands of plants!
Membership Renewals The
Annual Meeting signals our annual
membership renewal time. See if you
can get friends to become members.
Beetles We will head for Lake
Erie to collect Galerucella beetles to
continue our work on control of purple
loosestrife. Probably in early May –
watch for info on our web page.
Monitoring Survey Work
needed. If you would like to become a
leader in providing critical information
and have the time to devote to it let us
know. Several areas listed below can
provide us with information that helps
us take good care of the wetlands. We
need people who can commit enough
time and have or are willing to learn
the expertise to run these studies and
perhaps rally helpers to accomplish the
task they chose. Let us know if you
want to give us help like this.
Christmas Bird Count
Breeding Bird Survey
Migratory Bird Count
(Birdathon; April/
May)
Reptiles and Amphibians
Aquatic Invertebrates
Spiders Survey
Butterflies and Moths
Dragonflies and
Damselflies
Plant diseases
Plant invaders
Trash and dumping
reports
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2013
BCWA’s 25th Anniversary
Photo Contest
Share your photos to help celebrate
our 25th anniversary in 2013!
BCWA announces a photo contest to
highlight the beauty of the wetlands corridor and help celebrate a
quarter century of work to protect
and restore this unique space. The
contest is open to members and
non-members. We seek photos of
all seasons showing anything found
in the wetlands: wildlife, flowers,
landscapes, insects, birds, people or
anything else you find interesting.
Entry deadline is March 31, 2013,
with judging in April. Winners will
be announced on the website and
newsletter. All submissions must be
8” x 10” (landscape or portrait style)
prints labeled with name, address,
phone number, and e-mail address,
plus the date of the photo and location in the Beaver Creek Wetlands
where it was taken. If identifiable
people are shown, permission to use
their likeness is needed, particularly
with children. Photos should be in
the highest resolution possible, and a
digital version will be required from
the winners.
Mail prints to BCWA Photo,
Contest, P.O. Box 42, Alpha, OH
45301. Prints will be returned only if
a self-addressed, stamped envelope
is provided. Submission of photos
indicates willingness to allow use
for a calendar or in
our newsletter.
An exhibit of the
winning entries is
planned for the May
2013 annual meeting.
Winning photos will
be published in a 2014
BCWA calendar to be
available in summer
of 2013.
So, get out into
the wetlands now
and don’t forget your
camera!
Photos by Jim Amon
Donations
Volunteer Activity Report
The primary focus of autumn land
management activity in the Beaver
Creek Wetlands was honeysuckle
control and seed collection for restoration purposes.
The Saturday morning volunteer
crew assists with land management on
five different properties along the Little Beaver Creek. Most of the activity
this fall was focused on Zimmerman
Prairie, where volunteers removed the
all too common woody invasives—
honeysuckle, autumn olive, privet,
Callery pear—plus any trees growing
in the prairie, especially under the
power transmission lines. Most of the
cut woody material was dragged to the
fence line along the bike trail, which
is the driest part of the property, and a
Fecon was brought in to shred it. Seed
was collected at this site to be sown in
the winter on the areas left bare after
invasive removal. At Little Beaver
Creek Prairie, the small honeysuckle
was treated with foliar spray, and the
remaining large honeysuckle was cut
and treated. A patch of native shrub
wahoo was liberated from honeysuckle and grapevines. The hundreds
of young trees planted at Creekside
Reserve during the restoration in
2010 received attention—weeds
were cleared and tree wraps were
installed for winter protection. In
addition, a patch of Phragmites on
the US35 side of the park was cut and
treated. Sweetflag control continued
at the Hershner property—surviving
rhizomes were dug out (this is messy
work!) and seeds were collected on
site and sown immediately on the bare
areas after the tarps and pool covers
used to solarize large patches of sweetflag were removed. Volunteers also
performed some maintenance chores
at Hagenbuch Reserve—weeds
were removed from around the newly
planted shrubs and a large sycamore
tree that fell across the creek was partially removed to prevent the undermining of the bank adjacent to the bike
trail. Working under the direction of
Don Geiger, the Little Beaver Creek
crew included Deb Adams, Jim Amon,
Nancy Bain, Skip Beehler, Ann Byrd,
Bill Byrd, Jim Byrd, Matt Cary, Aaron
Deckard, Lois Gschwender, Dan Karr,
Debbie Karr, Steven Lesiecki, Jim
Schneider, Richard Swigart, and Tom
Whitman.
Volunteers could be found working at many other sites in the wetlands
corridor. There was a larger than
expected infestation of purple loosestrife hidden among the willows at the
northernmost meander of the creek
at Beaver Creek Wetlands Nature
Reserve (aka “the mitigation area”).
Several afternoons were spent collecting mature seed heads that were then
destroyed off-site, preventing downstream distribution of large quantities
of seed of this wetland invader. At
Siebenthaler Fen, boardwalk maintenance and repair were needed, while
at Fairborn Marsh volunteers worked
on seed collection, honeysuckle
control, weeding around shrubs previously planted, clearing honeysuckle
from the fence line at the park entrance, liberating a stand of American
hazelnut, and cleaning up after Fecon
work. At Koogler Wetland/Prairie
Reserve, the primary land management activities were seed collection,
trail and boardwalk maintenance and
even repair—one of new benches was
damaged by a falling tree. Pawpaws
were planted along the edge of the
strip of woods and the fen and redbuds
were planted along the New Germany
Trebein Road fencerow. The primary
invasive plant targeted at the conservation easement in Beavercreek
Township has been reed canary grass,
with secondary target of autumn olive.
Volunteers collected seeds of wetland
plants to be used for restoration and
planted Eleocharis, Carex stipata, and
bur-reed that had been grown in the
WSU greenhouse from seed or plugs
previously collected. Volunteers under
the direction of Jim Amon for most of
these activities included Skip Beehler,
Lorrin Bush, Steve Carnegis, Matt
Cary, Bill Gruner, Lois Gschwender,
Jennifer Howard, Debbie Karr, Joe
Lehman, Allysion Loveless, Jim
Schneider, Judith Streiff, Richard
Swigart, and two student groups—the
Beavercreek Youth Council on Make
a Difference Day, and the Wright State
University BioClub.
Seeds collected at multiple sites
were taken back to the lab at Wright
State University, where volunteers met
several times to process it. Participants
in this activity were Jim Amon, Denise
Fong, Bill Gruner, Michelle and Anya
Hickman, Jennifer Howard, and Debbie Karr.
Land management activities have
wound down for the season, although
there will be a brief burst of activity mid-winter, an optimum time to
sow all the seed previously collected.
Volunteer activities will resume in
early spring—watch for details on
the website and in the spring edition
of The Spotted Turtle. Thank you to
all who have donated their time and
efforts to these restoration activities!
—Debbie Karr
BCWA receives award!
Partners for the Environment recently
awarded BCWA $2500 to fight the
ongoing battle with invasives such as
purple loosestrife, reed canary grass,
Callery pear and honeysuckle. Partners for the Environment is a Dayton
Foundation-related group which
has seen the need for environmental
achievement in the Miami Valley and
has stepped forward to help organizations like ours through a competitive
grant program. BCWA is deeply appreciative of all they do and offers its
sincere thanks.
See this in living color
You can read the newsletter online
in full color. Help us save paper and
mailing costs by letting us know if
you wish to receive your newsletter
electronically. Email Bob at
admin@beavercreekwetlands.org
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
5
Editors note: Our speaker for the
Annual meeting, Bob Glotzhober,
provided this fascinating article and
photos on the Emerald Ash Borer.
His work at Cedar Bog is using
biological controls in an attempt to
prevent the extinction of ash trees
throughout the region.
Attack
of the
Invaders
Using Exotic Wasps to Counter
Emerald Ash Borers
The first wave of an invasion was
observed in the Detroit area in 2002.
Ash trees were dying everywhere in
the region. The cause – a tiny metallic
green beetle called the Emerald Ash
Borer (abbreviated as EAB) which
was likely introduced from Asia along
with wooden shipping materials. By
2010, 20 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan, northern Ohio and
Indiana were dead, with nearly 100%
mortality. By that time, the infestation had spread to 13 states and two
Canadian provinces, and the beetles
continue to spread.
Ash trees make up about 12
percent of all forest land in Ohio, and
are particularly abundant in swamp
forests. The devastation was so heavy
that one of the Toledo Metro Parks
Small Purple Fringed Orchid at
Cedar Bog
with a lot of ash was closed for an
extended time while workers came
6
in to cut down and burn the trees in a
combined effort to protect the public
from falling trees and to attempt to
halt the spread of more beetles.
At OHS we became concerned
about the potential affect of EAB at
Cedar Bog Nature Preserve in Champaign County. Cedar Bog is a complex
of various wetland habitats surrounded
by drier buffer areas. The most critical
habitats are the sedge meadows and
their surrounding evergreen swamp
forests composed of Northern White
Cedar. However, a large area of the
preserve is a hardwood swamp forest,
where Black Ash, Green Ash, White
Ash and Pumpkin Ash abound. In the
wettest areas of the swamp forest, ash
trees are as much as 60 to 80 percent
of all the trees. Several uncommon or
rare species thrive in the swamp forest,
including the state endangered Small
Purple Fringed Orchid (Plantanthera
psycodes).
How do you protect ash trees
from an exotic, invasive animal like
the EAB? While there are chemical
pesticides that are effective against
the EAB, they are somewhat costly
and impractical for anything beyond
single, residential landscape trees.
Further, the potential impact on other
beetles and insects in a nature preserve
quickly eliminated this type of approach at Cedar Bog. As early as 2003,
researchers with the USDA started
looking for natural predators of the
EAB back in Asia where the EAB
is native. They found three species
of tiny, non-stinging wasps that are
parasitic on the eggs and larvae of
EAB. Experiments showed that they
parasitize no other insects beyond the
EAB, or if really stressed some other
borers in the same genus as the EAB.
After extensive studies to confirm their
safety, the USDA approved them for
release to help control EAB infestations. The staff at OHS put together a
proposal to introduce these parasitic
wasps at Cedar Bog and submitted it
to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for approval – a step required
by Cedar Bog’s status as a Dedicated
State Nature Preserve. The ODNR
fully endorsed our plan, and commended us for taking a pro-active step
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2013
to protect this unique nature preserve.
After several years of monitoring
the site, in October of 2011 the first
adult EAB showed up in the purple
pheromone traps at Cedar Bog. There
were only two EABs in each of two
traps. In past wasp introductions,
this would not have been sufficient
evidence to start introducing the
wasps – as the wasps are difficult
and expensive to rear and the USDA
wanted to make sure that releases
took place at sites that had significant
infestations of EAB. However, EAB
may be established for a year or two
already before they start showing signs
of infestation, and many previous
introductions were too little, too late.
After several discussions, the staff at
the USDA lab in Brighton, Michigan
agreed that it was time to experiment
with a more aggressive introduction of
these parasitoid wasps. Yes!
Avi Eitam collecting parasitoid wasps
for EAB control
On Friday, May 25, 2012 Dr.
Avraham (Avi) Eitam of the USDA
office in Reynoldsburg, Ohio brought
out our first round of parasitoid wasps.
Site manager Eric Doerzbacher and
myself assisted him in locating the
best spot for our introduction and
then releasing the wasps. We selected
a central point, and then divided the
area around it into quadrants. Releases
would take place on three ash trees in
each of four adjacent quadrants to the
central point. Since additional releases
are planned, and monitoring of the
effectiveness of the introduction is
important, each tree used was marked
with a numbered metal tag to assure
our introductions and monitoring will
be consistent.
A total of more than 4,000 parasitic wasps were released; 1877 of
Parasitic wasp on my arm, Cedar Bog
Spathius agrili (a parasite on larval
EAB), 1088 Tetrastrichus planipennisi (another parasite on larvae) and
1452 Oovius agrili (a parasite on EAB
eggs).
Some people have expressed
concern over the introduction of wasps
– might they not attack and sting visitors? The answer to that is a resounding “NO.” These wasps are very, very
tiny – the largest (Spathius) measuring
Containers with wasps
only about 5 mm long (about 3/16
inch).
The wasps were shipped by
over-night delivery from Brighton,
Michigan where they are reared to Dr.
Eitam’s lab in Reynoldsburg inside of
coolers. Friday, when Avi arrived with
the coolers of wasps at Cedar Bog, we
unpacked the small plastic containers
which held the wasps – and proceeded
to open each up on the specified trees.
The two species of larval parasitic
wasps were shipped as adults – so as
we started releasing them, they flew
and crawled not only on the ash trees,
but also on our arms. It was sort of
interesting, trying to ignore a few
mosquitoes landing on us, so as not
inadvertently swat one of these valuable wasps!
The egg-parasitic wasps (Oovius
agrili) were shipped in the same
plastic containers, but on eggs of EAB
which they had already parasitized,
and in which the wasp larvae were
waiting to hatch and emerge. Instead
of opening a container and letting the
wasps fly away, these containers were
tacked onto the trees upside down,
with a layer of fine cloth netting sealing off the bottom. When the wasps
emerge, they can easily crawl through
the netting, and search the ash trees for
more EAB eggs to parasitize.
There is no guarantee that the
introduction of these three species of
parasitic wasps will eliminate or even
control the Emerald Ash Borers. That
is certainly the hope – at least that they
minimize the destruction of the ash
trees and develop a balanced population of EAB and the parasites. That
type of balance exists in many native
wood boring insects and their parasites
or predators. That is also the type of
balance that exists now with other examples of biological control of pests,
such as the beetle that feeds upon
Purple Loosestrife which a couple
of decades ago had taken over much
of our Lake Erie marshes. Today,
Purple Loosestrife has been greatly
reduced by the beetles and is no longer
a major threat to the marshes. So, if
this introduction of parasitoid wasps
Attaching parasitic wasps for EAB
control
works, we might loose some ash trees,
we will see some EAB surviving, but
the parasitic wasps will keep the EAB
from becoming so numerous that they
wipe out all of our ash trees. All I can
say is “Go wasps!”
—Bob Glotzhober
Retired Senior Curator
Natural History
Ohio Historical Society
> Speaker / continued from page 1
In 1989 he was appointed by the
governor to the Ohio Natural Areas
Advisory Council, and was reappointed every three years through 2004, and
acted as Council chair for more than
seven years. He served on the Federal
Recovery Team for the Hine’s Emerald
Dragonfly. In 2008, he was awarded
the Wildlife Diversity Conservation
Award by the Ohio Division of Wildlife for his work with dragonflies and
damselflies in Ohio. In 2011, he was
given the Distinguished Professional
Interpreter Award by the Great Lakes
Region of the National Association for
Interpretation.
See the article by Bob at left.
BCWA’s Annual Meeting will
be held at 6:30 pm on May 17 in the
Garden Ballroom of the Hilton Garden Inn. The meal will be $25 (menu
TBD).
Invitations will be mailed to the
membership.
Members are encouraged to bring
along friends and neighbors with an
interest in preserving and caring for local greenspace and the life it supports.
New members are always welcome.
Sponsors needed for
Annual Meeting
The annual meeting is a great time
to celebrate all we have done in the
past year, but even more so this year
as we celebrate a quarter century of
progress. To do justice to the event
we need sponsors. Sponsors will be
recognized in the announcements
sent out, in press releases and on the
event program. If you or your business
would like to sponsor this milestone
event, please contact us at admin@
beavercreekwetlands.org.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
7
Monarch Tagging Results
pearl crescent, orange sulphur, clouded
sulphur, painted lady, wood nymph,
Peck’s skipper, and silver-spotted skipper. In addition, other insects were
captured and examined in magnifier
boxes, including an impressively large
praying mantis.
The kids running around chasing
butterflies worked up quite an appetite, so they then proceeded to the
Edible Entomology station. Here they
constructed insects from a variety of
treats to demonstrate their knowledge
of insect anatomy, and then consumed
their creations.
In the Monarch Watch pre-migration newsletter, its director expressed
concern that the size of the migratory
generation of monarchs could be
diminished by the early start to the
2012 growing season—plants were
flowering weeks earlier than normal,
and then going dormant earlier than
normal. The main concern was the
condition of plants in the milkweed
family, the only food source for
monarch caterpillars. Milkweed was
expected to be past prime at the time
the eggs would be laid for the migrating generation, reducing the numbers
of caterpillars, and thus diminishing
the number of migrating monarchs
and reducing the size of the overwintering population in Mexico.
BCWA’s 2012 tagging results
bore this out. In the past two years,
it took about a week to tag 100 monarchs. In 2012, volunteers were out
nearly every afternoon for over two
weeks after the public program, and
although weather conditions were
generally favorable, the monarchs
just were not there in numbers as in
previous years. Hopefully, this was
just a local issue and other tagging
programs had better results. For
more information about monarch
butterflies, their life cycle and migration, and the status of the overwintering population in Mexico, please see
www.monarchwatch.org.
—Debbie Karr
Tagging Totals
2012
63 Monarchs tagged
57 Wild
40 Male
6 Reared*
23 Female
*a class project at Shaw Elementary
Photo by Jim Amon
This was the third year that BCWA
participated in the monarch butterfly
tagging program conducted by Monarch Watch, a nonprofit education,
conservation, and research program
based at the University of Kansas.
This is a large-scale, long-term
citizen science project, and the data
collected by participants during tagging in the United States and Canada
and subsequent recovery in Mexico
contribute to the understanding of the
dynamics of the monarch population.
There was a big crowd at
Koogler Wetland/ Prairie Reserve
for the public tagging event on
September 15th. There were 34 cars
in the parking lot, plus a school bus
that brought the Mad River Middle
School Green Team, for an estimated
total of 80-90 people!
It turned out to be a great afternoon for exploration and discovery—
many families were visiting this Beavercreek Township park for the first
time, and explored the entire loop
trail through the prairie and wetlands.
Although only 4 monarchs were captured and tagged during the program,
the kids caught many other species of
butterflies. These were identified and
temporarily placed in a cage for all to
admire, and included morning cloak,
the beautiful variegated fritillary,
buckeye, viceroy, cabbage white,
8
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2013
Seed Collection
Plant identification can be challenging
enough during the growing season for
all of us novices; for an even greater
challenge, try it in the fall while helping with seed collection! Guided by
a list of desired species, the volunteer
seed collector attempts to locate and
identify plants that are now just a dead
stem with dried up leaves and a few
seedpods. Some plants shrivel up and
virtually disappear, others fall over
and are obscured by surrounding vegetation, and seed from one species even
ended up underwater. And no one tells
you that while you are collecting seed,
you are also inadvertently collecting
lots of spiders and other little creepy
crawlies! In addition to the targeted
species, you unintentionally collect
many types of “stick tights” in great
abundance all over your clothing.
Collected seed was taken to either
the MEEC office or the biology lab
at WSU to be cleaned—removing the
stems, pods, and chaff by sifting it
through sieves of varying sizes. Once
separated, the seed could be examined
under the microscope. It is fascinating
to see some of the methods different species utilize to distribute seed.
Some species release large volumes
of tiny seeds, others use “parachutes”
and are distributed by wind, and others use barbs and hooks to attach to
passing animals for dispersal. One of
the “stick tights” that we intentionally
collected—nodding bur marigold—
was given the nickname of “4-horned
devil” by one of the volunteers who
was processing the seed and that was
BEFORE she looked at it under the
microscope! It looks evil, with barbs
on top of barbs. Monkey flower
seeds are as fine as dust and look like
maggots under the scope, and a lunch
bag packed full of seed heads of Torrey’s rush reduces down to seed with
the consistency of ground cinnamon
taking up only about a half inch of the
bottom of a small seed envelope.
Seed collection has been an educational experience and thanks to this
“hands-on” activity, I can now identify
a few of the sedges and rushes with
both common and botanical names,
finally breaking through the mental
block (something about teaching an
old dog new tricks can be inserted
here….). It just sounds impressive to
say with authority that the name of this
plant is Cyperus strigosus (and hope
I’m pointing to the correct plant!)
—Debbie Karr
Top: Seeds circled are magnified here,
but are too small to see with naked
eye. The are a type of Rush in the
genus Juncus.
Bottom: This mass of tangled seed is
held together with fine threads that
make seeds stick to fur. The seeds are
barely visible to the naked eye and
belong to the Wool Sedge in the genus
Scirpus.
Photos by Richard Swigart
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
9
As we drove past it, I pointed out the Little Beaver
Creek Prairie (LBCP) to the
employee of Eastgate Ford
who was taking me back to
my house while my car was
in the shop. “It looks like
weeds to me,” he said. Ah,
yes, I thought, no doubt the
subconscious response of
many who pass by this 2
½-acre remnant prairie that
was secured for conservation in 1986.
That year was a busy
one. The now defunct
Native Plant Society of the
Miami Valley (NPSMV)
had formed in the spring
and chose the small triangular area as one of its major
projects to promote and
educate about the conservation of native plants and
plant communities. Once
connected to Zimmerman
Prairie, which is owned by
the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources (ODNR),
the prairie fen, severed
by US 35, supports native
species such as queen of
the prairie, green dragon,
Indian grass, bergamot,
and whorled rosinweed.
But much to the Society’s
dismay, it was soon discovered that the land was
being covered with fill and
seeded with Kentucky 31
fescue in connection with
the construction of the new
Research Park Boulevard.
Originally part of property
owned by the family of
BCWA’s first president,
the late Bill Hagenbuch,
NPSMV found that the remnant now belonged to the
Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). Working quickly, NPSMV hand
delivered a letter in July to
10
the chief of ODNR about
the significance of the land.
A week later, NPSMV met
with personnel from ODOT,
which agreed to stop filling
and to preserve the site.
Later a sign was posted
announcing that LBCP was
being jointly managed by
NPSMV and the City of
Beavercreek. Two or three
times a year, NPSMV members gathered at the wet
prairie to remove invasive
and aggressive species,
participate in spring burns,
and transfer seeds gathered
from Zimmerman Prairie.
They stomped and raked in
seeds of Ohio goldenrod,
Riddell’s goldenrod, sedges,
and mountain mint. In 1988,
during one of the “Prairie
Stomps,” Beavercreek
city police showed up in
response to a call reporting
that wildflowers were being
dug up. This greatly pleased
NPSMV members who felt
that already citizens were
becoming aware of the
value of this unique native
habitat.
Today, Eastgate Ford
no longer exists. A bustling
interchange replaces the
sleepy intersection of US
35 and Fairfield Road. A
former exit ramp to US
35 now connects a local
bikeway to Creekside Trail.
BCWA’s Conservation Crew
has taken over the tasks of
NPSMV. Lately an exciting
discovery was made: Ohio’s
native burning bush—wahoo—grows in the prairie
fen. To some, these may
look like weeds. But they
are weeds of significance.
Little Beaver Creek Prairie
endures.
—Nancy Bain
Photo by Richard Swigart
Weeds of Significance—
Little Beaver Creek Prairie
Mystery Plant Revisited Again
In the past, I wrote
about a plant that was a
“mystery” to us. At first we
thought it was one of the
horse gentians and our main
problem was determining
which one it was. We waited
for the seedpods to form in
the hope that would help us
determine which species it
is.
When we finally saw
the seedpods, we realized
that our plant couldn’t be
a horse gentian because
the seeds were completely
wrong. From the seeds, we
thought that it was probably
one of the wild petunias.
This summer when our
Spotted Turtle—Winter 2013
mystery plant bloomed,
the flowers showed that it
was indeed one of the wild
petunias. Close examination
of the flowers and plant will
be required to determine
which of the wild petunia
species it is.
A new problem arose
making it difficult to do
that. Due to variations in
our growing season, as
witnessed this past year,
and the fleeting quality of
wildflowers, it appears that
a number of excursions to
the reserves will be necessary to find the flowers at
their peak.
This past fall, we were
working in one of our reserves removing invasive species when one of our
volunteers discovered a plant that she
didn’t recognize. Several of us did
recognize the seed heads as that of
the horse gentian. The question then
arose as to which of the horse gentians
it could be. From the seedpods we
think we know which one it is, but to
know for sure, we will need to see the
blooms to make a final determination.
This gives us another excuse to look
forward to a new growing season and
more explorations of our reserves.
—Richard Swigart
Spotted Turtle Name and
Logo: Noted area wildlife artist Charley
Harper generously donated the art for our
logo in 1988. His work has been adopted
by the National Park Service and is appreciated worldwide. Our newsletter recognizes the Spotted Turtle as an icon for the
many rare animals and plants protected in
the Beaver Creek Wetlands.
Submissions, Questions, or
Comments: We rely on members like
you to make this newsletter the product
of several diverse voices. If you have an
idea for an article or a picture to include,
please send them to admin@beavercreekwetlands.org. Also, we welcome any
comments or questions. For submissions,
questions, or comments, please include
“newsletter” in the subject line of your
e-mail. We reserve the right to edit for
content or clarity.
Donations of Land/Easements:
If you are interested in donating land,
placing an easement on property, or remembering the BCWA in your will, please
don’t hesitate to call the Beaver Creek
Wetlands Association at (937) 320-9042.
BCWA Annual Report: Copies
are available by request. E-mail the office
at admin@beavercreekwetlands.org or
call (937) 320-9042.
Founded in 1988, the Mission of the
Beaver Creek Wetlands Association
is to protect the wetland ecosystem
in the Beaver Creek watershed
through partnerships, community
networks, and public education.
Join the BCWA Today!
Help reclaim our local wetlands corridor
and restore it’s natural beauty and function.
Your member dues fund land acquisition,
education programs, habitat restoration
and management of our preserve.
Please make your check payable to BCWA and
mail to: BCWA, P.O. Box 42, Alpha, OH 45301
Name
Address
A 501(c)(3) land
trust organization.
Your donation is
tax deductible.
Phone Email
Choose your member level:
$5
Student
$10
Senior (60+)
$15
Individual
$25
Family
$35
$50
$100
$1,000
Contributing
Supporting
Patron
Life
Endowment at $135K
and growing
Our Endowment Fund has grown to
over $135,000 in a little over three
years. A recent bequest was left
in the form of a life annuity. Such
planned giving can result in tax
savings and/or income to you, while
leaving a legacy of conservation.
The BCWA Endowment Fund is a
permanent savings plan to help ensure that BCWA continues to protect
wetlands for future generations. The
BCWA Endowment Fund may accept
many types of planned, deferred,
and outright gifts that can actually
increase the value of your estate,
enabling you to do more with what
you leave for others.
Spotted Turtle Society members include anyone who has made a gift to
the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association Endowment Fund.
Name
Address
Phone Email
I would like to learn more about gift
options to help grow the Beaver Creek
Wetlands Endowment Fund. Please
contact me about planned giving.
I have already included BCWA in my
estate planning. I would like to become
a member of the Spotted Turtle Society.
I wish to make an outright gift payable
to ‘”BCWA Endowment Fund”.
Please return to:
Beaver Creek Wetlands Association
Attn: Endowment Committee
P.O.Box 42, Alpha, Ohio 45301
For information on a
variety of planned giving
options, call or write to us,
or contact The Dayton
Foundation directly.
See this newsletter in full color online at www.beavercreekwetlands.org
11
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The Spotted Turtle | Volume 27, No. 1 | Winter 2013
Officers
Rob Evans, President
Ann Byrd, Vice President
Deborah Karr, Secretary
Doug Hull, Treasurer
Jim Amon, Technical Officer
Trustees
Lois Gschwender
James Runkle
Roger Beehler
Nancy Bain
Deborah Karr
Sue Rytel
Mike Zimmerman
Rob Evans
Mark Martel
Christina Simmons
Deborrah Adams
Ann Byrd
Jim Schneider
Donald Geiger
Denny Jarvi
Publisher
Oregon Printing
www.oregonprinting.com
Spotted Turtle Editors
Jim and Carol Amon
Mark Martel
Deborah Karr
Webmaster
Rob Evans
Visit us Online
www.beavercreekwetlands.org
Contact Us
Administrative Coordinator
admin@beavercreekwetlands.org
President
president@beavercreekwetlands.org
Technical Advisor
technical@beavercreekwetlands.org
Webmaster
webmaster@beavercreekwetlands.org
Media
media@beavercreekwetlands.org
Newsletter
newsletter@beavercreekwetlands.org
Photo by Richard Swigart