Whiterock Conservancy Blog

After the super-cold temperatures during October, I’ve really appreciated the relative warmth of the last week. Although large groups of waterfowl have already migrated south through Iowa due to the cold autumn, with the oncoming cold, there are still a lot more to come. Yesterday afternoon, I went out looking for waterfowl with Scott Schmidt, the IDNR Natural Resources Aide who has been surveying Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) lands in western Iowa and WRC. We took a few moments to check out the one of the properties that WRC helps manage next to Dunbar Slough Wildlife Management Area in Greene County.

There were few groups of waterfowl in the large wetlands at Dunbar, but when we stopped to walk around the open water we manage, there were only Coot and a Pied-billed grebe, along with a couple Great blue Herons. Earlier in the day, Scott had seen Stilt sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Greater Yellowlegs, Semi-palmated sandpiper, Long-billed dowitcher, Cattle egret, Black-crowned night heron, Canada goose, Wood duck, Mallard, Blue-winged teal. Besides the Cattle egret, most of these other birds are fairly common to observe during spring and fall migrations in Iowa. We went back out together to get a look at the exciting find, the two Trumpeter swans he saw on property just next to ours.

Trumpeter swans, North America’s largest waterfowl, historically nested in Iowa in the prairie potholes and in marshes and wetlands in the large river valleys. However, due to loss of wetlands habitat and extensive hunting, the last wild nesting pair was observed Hancock County in 1883. Trumpeter swan reintroduction in Iowa was started in 1995, and this summer 33 pairs attempted to nest in the state. The Iowa DNR reintroduction program has established 50 sites around the state where both cygnets (babies) and older birds are released, in hopes that they will nest in the future. However, there are many difficulties facing the cygnets that are released in Iowa, and the IDNR is doing something about it. Trumpeter swans mate for life and generally have predictable annual movements that include migration north for nesting as well as migration to wintering sites. After the cygnets can fly in September, families stick together through the winter and the adults teach the young key migration routes and food sources. When IDNR releases young in Iowa, they are generally without an adult to teach them this important knowledge. However, for the next few years, a joint venture between Iowa DNR, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Trumpeter Swan Society, and the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission will help young cygnets learn the migration routes by actually moving them down to overwintering sites in Arkansas wetlands. This will help the young Iowa swans establish migration routes that they can teach their young in the future, ensuring that nesting pairs of this beautiful animal will continue in Iowa wetlands.

If you see a swan: all Iowa-released Trumpeter swans are marked with plastic green or red neck collars and leg bands with the letters F, J, H, P and two numbers (00 through 99), along with US Fish and Wildlife Service bands. Report any sightings of Trumpeter swans to the Iowa DNR with this form: http://www.iowadnr.gov/wildlife/files/swanrptform.html

I just received an email from one of our volunteers who leases out a small portion of the Whiterock Conservancy landscape during deer archery season. He sent along a great picture of an animal that I rarely see at Whiterock taken by a trail camera he set up. Even though he uses it primarily to keep track of the deer in the area, I think that George likes to look at the images of all of the animals (and sometimes confused hikers) that the trail camera catches just as much as he likes seeing the big bucks and does. Turkeys, squirrels, the ubiquitous deer and coyotes comprise the bulk of the trail camera action, but on October 4, George’s camera caught a mink!

I have only seen a mink one time on Whiterock Conservancy property—three summers ago when I first began doing research up here, walking along the river after dusk. I asked around and a long-time resident of the area made an anecdotal observation that there are more mink in the Middle Raccoon River valley than when he and his father were trapping them…

Mink are really interesting animals:  domestic cat-sized carnivores that flourish near any perennial body of water. In Iowa, they’re found mostly along rivers and large streams and near marshes and wetlands. They are carnivores and consume fish, crayfish, mussels, and salamanders in aquatic environments and on land, hunt for voles, shrews, mice, snakes and a variety of insects.  Mink nest in bank burrows left by beaver or muskrat and commandeered by mink, but they will also make dens in natural cavities in streambanks, under trees and in drift piles that they line with grass, leaves, or feathers. Keep any eye out for their tracks along streambanks or on sandbars, and watch for the generally nocturnal animals after dark. Like George, you may be looking for one mammal, bird, or fish most of the time…but let yourself get excited by all of the diversity out there.

Have you seen anything cool or rare on Whiterock Conservancy property? Email me with pictures! elizabeth@whiterockconservancy.org

As the colors on the bluffs and hills begin to change with the freezing cold weather that is on our heels, I would definitely recommend gorging your eyes on the beauty. Some of the trees are already starting to change, but over the next two weeks the oaks leaves will go through their colorful senescence. You can call the Iowa Department of Natural Resources fall color hotline (515) 233-4110, or you can just go outside and look. Last fall I wrote about looking at some of the other plants that change color during the autumn: the prairie grasses that turn golden, auburn, orange and crimson. I was out for a walk in the woodland the other day, however, and noticed a few other, not-so-often thought of colorful things that pop up in the autumn.

They might be a bit of a stretch, but certainly things that you might not be so apt to look for due to the colorful trees and grasses and impending winter. While the large landscape views of colorful woodlands are truly amazing, there are other colorfulthings to look at out there if you look hard, or  in some cases, work hard!

Chicken of the woods mushrooms (Laetiporus sulphureus) are fall fruiting edible mushrooms that you just can’t miss–but as with all wild mushrooms, don’t try eating anything unless you are familiar with fungi or have an expert friend that can id them. I just love to look at these polypores (mushrooms with a spore-bearing surface composed of tubes that are pointed down and which open by pores) against the browns and grays of a autumn woodland, and I like to eat them too!

Prescribed fire! Orange and yellow and red flames creeping across the woodland floor, or the bright tangerine hue above the bluffs after dark during a woodland prescribed fire–the colors take my breath away! Prescribed fire season will soon be starting at Whiterock Conservancy, and we’re getting ready to do a few large woodland burns. We’ll be needing help along the way, and if you are interested in volunteering, just click on the “Get Involved” tab   above and input your contact information into the Volunteer Opportunities page.

Hunters on the landscape Deer management and pheasant hunting season are upon us, so you might be putting on a different colored jacket here pretty soon, or you might run into someone with a blaze orange jacket on. Whenever you’re exploring lands open to the public where hunting is taking place, it’s a good thing to keep your eyes open for people with blaze orange, generally the hunters–and if you see any, just let them know that you’re there and keep on what you’re doing. Here at Whiterock Conservancy, we’re trying to mix managed paid hunting with herd management while still allowing people to recreate on the landscape, and everyone can take part by being aware of your surroundings!

Whatever the colors your eyes choose to rest upon this fall–don’t forget to look for the things that you wouldn’t necessarily think might catch your eye….