of the Mianus River Gorge, Inc.News Bulletin

For newsletter, news and program updates via email, send your email address to

info@mianus.org or put it on the return envelope with your donation.

167 Mianus River RoadBedford, New York 10506

www.mianus.org914 234-3455

Spring 2014 Volume LXIII

The mission of Mianus River Gorge, an independent, not-for-profit organization, is to preserve, protect and promote appreciation of the natural heritage of the Mianus River watershed through land acquisition and conservation, scientific research and public education throughout the region.

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Gorge scientists on PBS Nature’s Meet the Coywolf

(see page 2)

Forest Restoration Experiment

(see page 2)

MRG Adds Three New Trustees

(see page 2)

Wildlife Technician Program Student Achievements

(see page 3)

Calendar of Events (see page 4)

The Rituals of SpringOUTDOOR OBSERVER

For those of us who have vernal (tempo-rary) ponds on our property, the months of April and May can be very loud at night. Fall and winter storms

have filled these areas with water and they are bustling with life. On the first warm rain of spring, amphibians move from their winter lairs into these pools to breed. These seasonal ponds are crucial to many species’ survival as they dry up later in the summer and prevent fish and other predators from

taking up residence. The breeding season is a very vulnerable time for these delicate creatures. Their

bodies are cold and so their move-ments slow. They are often killed

crossing roads or eat-en by hungry opos-

sums and raccoons. Also, because they live in the forest surrounding the pond during the non-breeding sea-sons, keeping this forest healthy is critical to their survival. Amidst the cacophony of frog calls it is often hard to differentiate among species. It is easiest to separate the species according to the time in spring that they start calling and whether they call during the day. The quacking sound of wood frogs is usu-ally the first to be heard, many times while there is still ice on the pond. These vocal and active frogs will call during the daytime as well as at night.

For a week or so they quack and carry on, then lay their eggs in mass and then go silent. The spring peepers on the other hand, will continue their “peeping” calls well into the late spring and will be loudest at night. There are so many of them and their call is so loud that they can sometimes keep homeowners up at night. Their eggs will not be visible as they are laid singly and on the bottom

or attached to vegetation. Even trying to see the adult frogs is often a challenge. If you live near a stream or pond with colder water, you may hear the trill-like call of the American toad. Toads lay their eggs in strings along the edges. At the same time that spring peepers are calling, spotted salaman-ders, and possibly rarer species like the four-toed salamander, move into the pond to breed. In the case of the more common spotted salamander, the males enter the pond first. With the first warm rain they leave small white sacs of sperm in clumps on the pond bottom, called spermatophores. (continued page 4)

By Rod Christie,Executive Director

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2 Mianus River Gorge – Spring 2014

MRG Adds New Trustees Ann Jackson has been an operating executive in both large public com-panies and private equity portfolio companies for more than 30 years.

Nicholas Firth is former Chairman and CEO of BMG Music Publish-ing, and President and a Trustee of The Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Ashley Windemere Schulten is a financial advisor and registered broker/dealer at BlackRock Execu-tion Services. Ashley recently bought a house on Mianus River Road and has become very interested in the Gorge.

ORGANIZATION NEWS LAND PROTECTION

RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Experimenting with Forest Restoration at Twin Lakes Before MRG could acquire our Twin Lakes property, the developer had cleared part of the lot for a driveway. MRG restored a section of the drive-way to meadow last fall. This spring, MRG will be continuing our efforts to restore the rest of the driveway to for-est by planting tree and shrub seed-lings. Deer herbivory is one of the main threats to seedling survival, so MRG is using the Twin Lakes resto-ration project to experiment with methods to protect seedlings from deer. To protect tree species that are desirable to deer, we will be sur-rounding them with less palatable species and brush. If we find that brush deters deer, MRG may begin brushing in areas to protect naturally regenerating seedlings in the Preserve.

Gorge Urban Wildlife Research Featured on PBS Nature: Meet the Coywolf

The brush piles that MRG staff constructed will hopefully protect seedlings from deer.

Chris Nagy and former Gorge scientist Mark Weckel (now at the American Museum of Natural History) recently appeared on PBS Nature’s Meet the Coywolf episode. The documentary explores the ecology and history of the eastern coyote, also known as coywolves due to the variable amount of eastern wolf ancestry in their family tree (some eastern coyotes can have as much as 30% wolf genes in their DNA).

The Gorge has been studying eastern coyotes in our area for many years, and began an extensive camera trapping study across southern Westchester and New York City in 2010. This project has become known as the Gotham Coyote Project and Gorge staff and our partners are focusing on determining

when, where, and how coyotes make their way across New York City and into Long Island – the last major landmass in the country that has not been colonized by coyotes. The pair also appeared on WNET Thirteen’s (the New York City PBS station) MetroFocus to discuss their research.

Meet the Coywolf originally aired on January 22, 2014, and can now be streamed on PBS Nature’s website: www.pbs.org/nature/ . The January 15th episode of MetroFocus can be streamed at: bit.ly/1kUnxQd. More info on the Gotham Coyote Project can be found at: www.gothamcoyote.com/

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Spring 2014 – Mianus River Gorge 3

ORGANIZATION NEWS

Recently Awarded GrantsThank you to Rusticus Garden Club and The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Land Trust Alliance (LTA).

RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Clockwise from left: Carolyn Koestner, Steven Yoo, and Tim Frankstone at the Northeast Natural History Conference in Springfield, MA

Education Program Updates

Our high school research program, the Wildlife Technician Program, had a wonderful year. The class of 2014 participated in numerous regional competi-tions. Below is a list of the awards our students received this year so far. Congrats to all of our students!

Carolyn Koesnter, Mamaroneck High SchoolCoyote Activity Periods in Urban Parks in New York City and Southern Westchester.4th place, Animal Science – Junior Science and Humani-ties Symposium4th place, Animal Science – Westchester Science and Engineering Fair

Lucia Tonelli, Ossining High SchoolImproving the Accuracy of Camera Trap Abundance Estimates of White-Tailed Deer.1st place, Biology – Junior Science and Humanities Symposium2nd place, Animal Science – Westchester Science and Engineering Fair

Danielle Andreozzi, Yorktown High SchoolImproving Water Quality One Wet Spot at a Time: Using Hydrological Models to Estimate Water Saturation Potential of Soils.1st place, Biology – Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

Timothy Frankstone, Sleepy Hollow High SchoolThe Dietary Preferences of the Yellow-spotted Millipede Boraria stricta – an exotic species in the Mianus River Gorge Preserve.Mianus River Gorge Ecology Award – Westchester Science and Engineering Fair

In addition, Carolyn Koestner, Steven Yoo, and Tim Frank-stone went to the Northeast Natural History Conference in Springfield, MA to present their research to scientists, man-agers, and other professionals. Tim and Steven presented posters and Carolyn gave a lecture – our first WTP student to give an oral presentation at a professional conference.

We also wish to welcome our newly accepted class of 2016:Ben Davar, Bronx Science High SchoolErin McKenna, High School for Environmental StudiesSarah Cosmedy, Ursuline AcademyLakshmi Mahajan, Ardsley High SchoolSigne Forsingdal, Scarsdale High School

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4 Mianus River Gorge – Spring 2014

Calendar of Events

The females enter later at the next warm rain, pick up the sperm sacs, and in the coming days attach small jelly masses of fertilized eggs to sticks in the pond. As eggs begin to hatch, tadpoles graze on algae and salamander larva (which can be spotted by their feath-ery gills) can be seen swimming

around the pond and eating anything that moves. It is a race to grow, devel-op and emerge before the pond goes dry and dormant until fall rains start the process all over.

April 22 7:30pm – 8:30pm Bedford Historical HallBirds & Bees Lecture: “The New NIMBY: Nature in My Backyard” Lecture on local ecology and enhancing your property’s biodiversity.

April 26 11am – 3pm Pound Ridge Elementary SchoolPound Ridge Go Green Day. Visit poundridgegogreen.com for more information.

April 27 Westchester Wilderness WalkMorning walk: 10am – 11:30am Afternoon walk: 1pm – 2:30pm Birds & Bees Nature Walk #1Led by Jonathan Rosenthal.

April 27 1pm – 4pm Mianus River Gorge Preserve Twin Lakes Restoration: Volunteers wanted! Celebrate Arbor Day by helping the Gorge plant trees. Ages 12 and up. Limited to 15 people.

May 4 8am – 10am Clark Preserve Birds & Bees Nature Walk #2Led by Matt Coulter and Tait Johansson.

May 10 10am – 11:30am Mianus River Gorge Preserve Woodland Wildflower Walk MRG Executive Director Rod Christie leads this walk exploring the numerous late spring wildflowers. Register: alison@mianus.org or 914 234-3455.

May 17 10am – 12pm Bedford Audubon Enhancing Natural Biodiversity in Your Backyard At this Biodiversity workshop led by native landscape designer Kim Eierman you will learn techniques for planting native species to encourage songbirds and pollinators. Register: tate@westchesterlandtrust.org or 914 234-6992 x10.

May 17 8:30am – 9:30am Mianus River Gorge Preserve Bird Banding 101Dawn Fariello hosts a program explaining bird banding and its uses in studying birds. If you wish to watch or help band, come anytime after 6am.Register: alison@mianus.org or call 914 234-3455. Raindate: May 18th

June 7 7:30pm Mianus River Gorge PreserveOwl Walk #1 Chris Nagy leads a nighttime walk in search of screech, great-horned, and barred owls.Register: alison@mianus.org or call 914 234-3455

July 12 8:15pm Mianus River Gorge PreserveOwl Walk #2 Chris Nagy leads a nighttime walk in search of screech, great-horned, and barred owls.Register: alison@mianus.org or call 914 234-3455

September 13 9am Mianus River Gorge Preserve Bird Banding Research: Benefits from Birds Dawn Fariello hosts a program exploring the role birds play in maintaining our ecosystem and the benefits they directly provide to humans. If you wish to watch or help band, come anytime after 6am. Space is limited. Register: alison@mianus.org or 914 234-3455. Raindate: Sept 14th

November 8 1pm – 4pm Mianus River Gorge Preserve Trail Day 2014 The Gorge Staff needs your help with time-sensitive projects that will keep trails in good shape for all to enjoy. Ages 12 and up. Limited to 20 people. Register by November 3: sarah@mianus.org or 914 234-3455

November 9 1pm – 3pm Mianus River Gorge Preserve Natural and Historical Treasures of the Mianus River Gorge and Surrounding Area Tour abandoned paddocks once used for orchards and livestock, a remote graveyard, and a deserted quarry that illustrate how land use 100 years ago shaped the forests we see today. We will be walking a few miles over uneven ground. Register: alison@mianus.org or 914 234-3455.

Rituals of Spring continued from page 1

A new face to our old labWith MRG’s growing research and education program, space in our lab-oratory is tight, especially during the field season. To get ready for the upcoming field and labwork season, MRG staff remodeled the laboratory so that we could use the space more efficiently. We hope that our students will enjoy working in the new space. Feel free to stop by and check it out after your next walk in the Gorge.

ORGANIZATION NEWS

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