Author Archives: nenhc

CONSERVANCY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

The Northeast New Hanover Conservancy stewards some of the best remaining examples of southeastern North Carolina’s ecosystems. And the great wonder of it all is the fact that these places are located right outside people’s doors.

 

NENHC is currently protecting more than 2,000 acres of compelling natural habitats in the northeast part of New Hanover County. Monitoring and management of these places is provided by Habitats Environmental Services, LLC (Habitats), under the guidance of Habitats’ ecologist and conservation educator Andy Wood. Habitats performs environmental assessments on our properties, prepares baseline documentation reports, responds to issues related to Conservancy property conditions, recommends habitat management strategies, conducts habitat monitoring, and implements habitat restoration and enhancement projects for the benefit of the Conservancy’s properties, and in turn, that of their neighbors.

 

The Northeast New Hanover Conservancy properties are protected places, and some of the best-kept secrets in our community. But as “best-kept secrets” these places can be overlooked and taken for granted. While the properties may be protected from development they are vulnerable to neglect that can lead to diminished aesthetic and ecologic value. Maintaining Conservancy properties is a year-round endeavor to protect habitat integrity, safety, and appearance.

 

Conservancy property maintenance ranges from clearing vegetative debris from trails to removing invasive exotic-invasive plants. We also implement conservation landscaping practices to enhance ecosystem services and increase habitat appeal and a welcoming sense of place within the “urban-wildland” interface where residential and conservation properties meet.

 

Northeast New Hanover Conservancy properties are compelling natural heritage assets that provide ecosystem services to everyone’s benefit. These places are urban oases where people can connect with nature outdoors. They also offer opportunities for volunteer science projects including nest box installations to help cavity-nesting songbirds, owls, and flying squirrels. Additional projects involving pond turtles, painted buntings, and other species and their habitats are ready to implement, along with conservation education programs for groups and individuals.

2017 Year in Review

This has been another busy year for the Northeast New Hanover Conservancy! In addition to conducting habitat assessment and data collection for monitoring reports, we also implemented on-the-ground management projects including removal of potentially hazardous storm-damaged trees adjacent to Conservancy neighbors. Other completed works included enhancement projects to improve the appearance and ecosystem function in a number of interface areas fringing Conservancy properties and adjacent residential properties. This neighbor-requested and funded work included removing invasive plants, hand-pruning rank vines and sensitively cleaning existing but otherwise unkempt plants in advance of installing native trees and shrubs to add visual appeal along with flowers and berries to benefit birds, butterflies, and neighbors.

 

Monarch Butterflies

monarch

A Monarch Butterfly conservation project was implemented at Landfall Lake, with a generous donation from a Lake neighbor. The project involved planting more than 6,000 wildflowers, including 1,500 Scarlet Milkweed, Asclepius curassavica, seen below with a monarch butterfly and Ruby-throated Hummingbird feasting on flower nectar.

We had tremendous support from Landfall residents and it was not only an educational event but a fun one too.

Land Management and Aquisitions

heron

The Conservancy is negotiating a land acquisition to protect a 39-acre tract of undeveloped property inside the Landfall community. The parcel raises the Conservancy’s total protected habitat area inside Landfall to more than 400 acres.

We have retained the services of Andy Wood, through his company,  ANDY WOOD & ASSOCIATES, LLC, to provide environmental assessments on our current properties, recommend habitat management strategies, and conduct a variety of other tasks as deemed necessary for the benefit of the Conservancy and the properties it oversees.  Property assessments are very detailed and follow a plan that meets accreditation guidelines.  Andy and his team have found and documented some wonderful plants and animals on our properties and easements.  His work will continue until all of our parcels are documented.  These reports will serve as a baseline for future comparisons to monitor deterioration or any possible contamination.

At least twelve species of amphibians (salamanders and frogs) were observed in and around ponds located within Conservancy properties. The Amphibians, valuable indicators of environmental quality, include two-toed Amphiuma (a large eel-like aquatic salamander in Landfall Lake) broken-striped newt, slimy salamander, and two-lined salamander. Observed frogs include southern toad, southern cricket frog, spring peeper, pine woods tree frog, gray tree frog, squirrel tree frog, green tree frog, bullfrog, green frog, southern leopard frog, and narrowmouth frog. More work is needed to confirm additional expected species.

To date, more than 120 species of birds are known to use Conservancy properties during all or part of their life cycle. This number will likely grow as more data is collected, and birders are invited to provide us with their avian and other observations.

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Red bay trees, Persea borbonia, the namesake of egg-shaped landscape depressions known as Carolina bays, are dying throughout the southern US, including within Conservancy properties. The die-off is due to a fungal infection transmitted to the tree by a tiny Asian beetle introduced to North America by way of shipping pallets. There is no cure or treatment and at this time we can only monitor the tree decline and hope some specimens are able to resist the blight.

These habitat surveys of the Conservancy’s conservation easement properties have been very productive. The studies are being conducted to collect baseline information about the habitats themselves, including their overall condition and ecosystem services they provide to southeastern North Carolina. They are an ecoregion that contains a rich assortment of habitats supporting a diverse array of plants and wildlife, which in turn enrich the lives of people who inhabit and visit this special place.

The Northeast New Hanover Conservancy stewards 1,500 acres of diverse habitats, including some of the best remaining examples of southeastern North Carolina’s ecosystems. And the great wonder of it all is the fact that these acres are located in and around the residential areas where we live. It may be safe to say that these protected places are some of the best-kept secrets in our community.

storm-debris

But as “best-kept secrets” these places are easy to overlook and take for granted. While the properties may be protected from development, they are vulnerable to neglect that can lead to diminished value. Wild places, especially small parcel habitats within residential neighborhoods can languish if not properly managed in keeping with their natural form. An example of this is best seen in the 39 acre tract being negotiated for trade. While I can extoll the property’s many natural virtues, I must couch my words with understanding that the property needs some tending; clearing vegetative storm debris from trails and removing invasive exotic trees (notably Chinese tallow) as examples.

 

Managing this and other Conservancy properties is not all work and no play however. These places can be augmented with interpretive signage that introduces visitors to the habitats they stroll through. And most sites offer opportunity for volunteer science projects including nest box installations to help cavity-nesting songbirds, owls, and flying squirrels. Additional projects involving pond turtles, painted buntings, and other species and their habitats are ready to implement, along with conservation education programs for groups and individuals; just as soon as we have the financial resources to make them possible.

While this may sound like a shameless pitch for money, it is intended as a transparent request to support the Northeast New Hanover Conservancy’s efforts to steward its compelling natural areas; the greenspace oases that enrich our lives, right outside our doors.

Great Blue Heron wade-fishing in Landfall Lake

Financial donations to the Conservancy are tax-deductible because they fund work that contributes to the common well-being of our community; a community that includes people, plants, and wildlife; and the habitats that support us all.

Osprey Nest Platforms

In 2014 we replaced Osprey nest platforms in the Conservancy’s North Marsh property located between the Intracoastal Waterway and northern end of Figure Eight Island. This past summer (2016), three of the four Osprey nest platforms were occupied by nesting osprey! All told, at least nine Osprey chicks were observed during the early part of their respective development, though it is not known how many offspring successfully left the nest.

Ospreys are migratory fish-eating birds that overwinter in southern regions of North America, and Central and South America. Ospreys migrate northward in early spring to reach breeding grounds throughout much of North America. Shown here is restored Platform 2, with a defensive parent in attendance. The platform was selected by a male Osprey in late April. Soon after, he and his mate completed a stick nest that fledged at least one young bird this summer. Platform 4 saw our first occupancy this year and all the platforms are popular with many fish-eating birds, including colorful Belted Kingfishers that use the high perches to spy fishy prey in the surrounding marsh.

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Map of restored Osprey platforms (left), and image of a platform (right).

Bedminster Lane Parcel Finds

On a recent visit to a Conservancy parcel on Bedminster Lane, Andy Wood found a southern dusky salamander with her eggs. Picture below, with cardinal flower growing in another area of the parcel.
Southern dusky salamanders appear to be declining in North Carolina, for yet unknown reasons beyond simple habitat alteration and loss. Brush-hogging to remove understory forest vegetation, as commonly seen around our region, is extremely harmful to this species because the practice drastically alters the forest floor ecosystem.
Finding an adult dusky is significant enough, but one with eggs is very cool. Dusky salamanders are semi-aquatic. Unlike many amphibians this species provides considerable parental care to its eggs. After mating, the fertilized female finds a log or other forest floor debris to crawl under and place her 10-25 eggs, which she stays with while they incubate (which can take up to 80 days), leaving them only at night to go forage for food and returning before morning.
The eggs are thin-shelled spheres that she helps keep moist by wrapping her body around them as the embryos develop inside. The hatchling salamanders push through their eggs shell as half-inch long versions of the adult, and quickly migrate to water, typically a small swampy stream. They are equipped with delicate external gills to breathe oxygen from water, while otherwise feeding in tiny aquatic invertebrates. The larvae complete their metamorphosis during winter and spring, and then take on a life as a terrestrial adult, with a lifespan of 5 to 10 years or more.
This female and her eggs were located about three feet from the swamp creek that meanders through the property, and no doubt that is where she got her start on life, considering this species has a home range of only a few square meters. All this to say, the Conservancy property is the buffer protecting the creek that is home to this and other dusky salamanders. I plan to revisit the site this week to check on the eggs’ and female.
We also found an adult box turtle, which is again significant considering that species’ range-wide decline. In addition, there are more than a few tulip poplar trees in one swampy area that each have a trunk diameter of more than 3.5 feet. We’ll collect tree ring data to age them. They aren’t terribly old but they are majestic.

Two-lined Salamander in Landfall Preserve

The Two-lined Salamander is a widespread species, but jeopardized by silty water and forest alteration. Landfall’s protected wooded wetlands are this animal’s oases, where they hide and forage among leaves and logs in and around streams and seepages. Tiny insects, mites, and worms are preferred prey. In turn, these amphibians are food for birds, small mammals (and bears), and some snakes. Though small in size, as predator and prey, salamanders move lots of energy through the ecosystem.
Two-lined salamander, Eurycea cirrigera
This is an adult male, about three and a half inches long. It was found 24 October 2016, in the Bedminster Conservation Area. The little nubbins under its nostrils are called cirri; their function is not fully understood, but likely play a role in courtship.

Conservation Area Photos

As we make our way through yet another cold and windy winter day, we are all longing for summer days and time spent on the water.  Our conservation area in northeastern New Hanover County offers so many beautiful spots, so we wanted to share a few pictures of the marsh, beach and waterway from last year.  The pictures are all great reminders to preserve and protect the great natural resources that we enjoy!

2014-06-07 06.04.40

2014-10-07 14.57.30

2014-10-11 08.43.20

2014-11-08 09.55.05

2014-11-15 17.34.29

Osprey Platforms

Four osprey platforms, originally built more than a decade ago, were replaced this year in the North Marsh Conservation Area. The platforms, located behind the north end of Figure Eight Island, were in disrepair and no longer suitable for Osprey nesting. This replacement project, implemented by ANDY WOOD & ASSOCIATES, LLC, with construction logistics provided by GULFSTREAM BUILDERS, INC., required and received approval from State and Federal wildlife agencies before work began in early March 2014.

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Ospreys are migratory fish-eating birds that overwinter in southern regions of North America, and Central and South America. Ospreys migrate northward in early spring to reach breeding grounds throughout much of North America. Pictured above is restored Platform 2, with a defensive parent in attendance. The platform was selected by a male Osprey in late April. Soon after, he and his mate completed a stick nest that fledged at least one young bird this summer. Summer surveys revealed platform 3 had two sticks, but platforms 1 and 4 remained clean. Maybe 2015 will see higher occupancy, but in the meantime, all the platforms are popular with many fish-eating birds, including colorful Belted Kingfishers that use the high perches to spy fishy prey in the surrounding marsh.

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