LREC Weblog

Observations From A Single Spot

Try this activity with your students this winter. Students select a spot on the schoolyard to make observations. They sit for a few minutes and just look, listen, smell and touch. Then they record impressions and observations.

January Bluebirds

I just had my first bluebird sighting of the year and was fortunate enough to have a camera with me. Two males and one female were hanging out in the recently burnt North Woods. There are two bird boxes nearby, so lets keep our fingers crossed - maybe we will have bluebirds nesting here this year!

Male Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Female Bluebird (Sialia sialis) - note her muted colors compared to the male.

Dramatic vista

Belted Kingfisher Sighting

These two belted kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) were spotted along Deer Creek this morning. These two, along with a third not in the photo, were making a bit of a racket.

New Mailing Address

Our new mailing address is:

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center
292 East Ave. Suite 28
Webster Groves, MO 63119-1702

Our physical address remains the same.

Prairie Royalty -- Monarchs visit LREC

Monarch butterfly eggs have been found on three types of milkweed at LREC in the past couple of weeks. We've been raising a few of them ourselves so we can witness the exciting changes of these creatures.

New Water Quality Study

The 2011 paper Water Quality in Deer Creek and its Tributaries by Danelle Haake is now available to download. This study is an analysis of samples collected by Stream Team 2760 in the portion of Deer Creek running through Litzsinger Road Ecology Center. Download the study as a pdf (694KB).

Is an Invasive Plant Species in Your Backyard?

LREC has produced a new brochure detailing identification information and removal recommendations for ten of the most threatening invasive species of the River des Peres watershed. Native alternatives are also listed. You can download the brochure or request a copy from a member of the staff.

Courtyard Restoration at Edgar Road Elementary

Below is a link to Betsy Guthrey's 3rd grade class at Edgar Road Elementary School. It chronicles their courtyard restoration project.

http://www.webster.k12.mo.us/education/components/docmgr/default.php?sectiondetailid=54434&

Surviving the Winter

Recent difficult weather has The Prairie Ecologist (Chris Helzer) thinking about how animals survive winter.

Read the entry at The Prairie Ecologist blog.

Preparing to Burn

As fall sets in, LREC staff are starting to think about fire. Every year, we use fire to assist in the restoration process in at least one of our habitats. This year, we are hoping to burn in four different habitats: the North Prairie, the Pasture Prairie, the North Woods, and a central patch of the woodland.

When will we burn you ask? We can't say. Not because it is a secret, but because we don't know. The date of our burn is highly dependent on the weather. We must have had no rain for a certain period of time. The wind must be the right speed and direction. The humidity must be low. The air quality must be good. In addition to the weather, schedules must work out; since we need the fire department on-site for safety reasons, we must consider their schedule as well as the schedules of other key staff members.

In addition to all of the other factors we consider, our burns would not be successful without the help of a large number of volunteers. We need volunteers to carry backpack-supplied watering hoses, to carry rakes and fire-smothering equipment, to stand along the edges of the burn unit to watch for escaping flames or cinders, to monitor weather conditions, and any other of a number of tasks. If you are interested in participating with the burn, please call or e-mail Danelle (314-961-4410). We will put you on the list of individuals to be notified of our plans for the burns. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty in predicting weather in St. Louis, we cannot generally offer more that a 24-hour advance notice to volunteers.

Good Reading: Children, Youth, and Environments Fact Sheets

As I mentioned in my recent newsletter article, the fact sheets from the University of Colorado - Denver's Children, Youth, and Environments program make for good, short reading you can pass along to parents, colleagues, and administrators. The three currently online focus on:

1) The benefits of nature for children's health

2) The educational benefits of place-based education, and

3) The educational value of gardens.

Enjoy!

Stream Sampling Results

The LREC Stream Team continues to grow, today hosting a record 9 volunteers! We collected water samples and made observations at 7 sites this morning.

The wildlife in Deer Creek is doing rather well, despite a fish kill earlier this month. We saw fish at 6 of the 7 sites - at the 7th, they were probably hiding in the deeper, darker water. We also saw crayfish, water striders, and tadpoles.

Water chemistry readings were all within the normal ranges. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 5-9 mg/l. Chloride was 130 mg/l or below at all sites. The pH was mostly between 7.8 and 8.2, though at 8.9, the pH was a bit on the high side of normal (6 to 9) at our furthest upstream site.

If you have questions about what these numbers mean, post a comment and I'll respond!

ID of mystery amphibian unveiled (sort of)

No reader of the May issue of our newsletter was able to id the mystery amphibian on page 7.

On further research however, the little guy seems to be yet another species of grey treefrog, though exactly which we still are not sure.

Turkey Poults Due Anytime

Keep an eye out for the newest members of the LREC team. Turkey hens should be seen very soon with their chicks (called poults) around the Litzsinger grounds. This photo was taken last June at the North prairie.

According to MDC, turkey nests are usually found on the edges of fields and roads and not far from water. The prairies at Litzsinger that are located near Deercreek are perfect nesting sites for turkey hens. The average clutch of eggs is about 11 and the incubation period is 28 days. Most eggs will hatch in late May and early June.

If you're out at LREC early this summer you may catch a glimpse of these newest additions.