New York: Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
This 566 acre refuge was established in 1999 to manage and protect one of the most extensive, intact, and ecologically significant wet grasslands remaining in the northeaster US. The refuge is the site of the former Galeville Army Airfield and Training Site. A wide variety of grassland birds use this refuge as breeding, feeding, wintering, and migration habitat.
Savannah Sparrow
American Kestrel
North America's most common falcon
Eastern Kingbird
Despite its name, its range extends from the Atlantic (we saw one in Nova Scotia) to the Pacific (we have seen many in CA, WA, & OR)
Male Bobolinks
Female Bobolinks
Pennsylvania: Interestingly, there are only two National Wildlife Refuges in the entire state!
New Jersey: High Point State Park, Cedar Swamp Trail
This trail explores a unique and changing wetland that was created by a retreating glacier over 15,000 years ago.
This is more information than most of you will want so you can skip the next couple of paragraphs. We just found it VERY interesting: This cedar bog is commonly called a swamp, but it is actually a bog. While both have trees growing in them, swamps have mineral-based soils (think mud) whereas the soil in a bog is called peat that forms from partially decayed mosses and other plants as they accumulate in stagnant bodies of water. Over thousands of years, the partially decayed plants fill the lake entirely. As a result, trees and shrubs now grow where water once stood 20 feet deep.
Dry Vernal Ponds
With snow melt and summer rains, these ponds fill with water.
Fish cannot survive here because the pods dry out after the summer months. Ponds like this are a safe place for breeding amphibians (frogs and salamanders) because their eggs and young are eaten by fish.
Silver-spotted Skipper
No comments:
Post a Comment