‘95 Goose Season: What have we learned? (Fall 1995)

It is a sad irony that the goose hunting season has been closed during the year of Mr. Bob Fuller's passing. Bob, a CWH founding Board member and a good friend, was a strong advocate for the conservation of the "honker" and fought to have the limit cut from 3 to 2 birds, along with a variety of other protective measures, back in the "good old days" of the mid to late 90's.

Bob greatly enjoyed wildfowl hunting but realized that we were putting incredible pressure on the wintering goose flock on a variety of fronts. Ninety day seasons, 3 bird bags, a lack of large sanctuaries, farmland development, roost shooting, a blind on every stretch of shoreline, poor nesting seasons, and politics have all combined to overwhelm the Canada goose.

Geese were thought to be a "relatively easy" species to manage because: they were so long-lived, easy to count, man is the only major source of mortality, we know where they nest and we haven't destroyed it yet, and they show wintering site fidelity. We should all be humbled by our failure to manage these magnificent birds sustainably in this high-tech information age of satellite nesting ground imagery, aerial surveys, computer population models, etc.

Fortunately, the recently implemented nesting ground survey showed the severity of the problem before we cut further into the breeding stock. Now the questions are (1) how long will it take to rebuild the flock and (2) what can we do to make sure this doesn't happen again?

The Maryland DNR Wildlife Division has set up committees in major goose wintering counties on the shore to develop long term sanctuary areas on private lands. CWH is well represented on these groups charged with the mission of providing goose food (corn, wheat, clover, alfalfa) and minimizing disturbance on farms selected as sanctuaries. The goal is to develop goose refuges that will remain undisturbed even after the season reopens in the future.

Duck season will run 50 days with a 4 bird bag limit. Please remember that the improved nesting conditions on the prairies will not result in a single extra black duck or wood duck in the Atlantic Flyway. Season length is the major determination of waterfowl harvest, not the bag limit. We are concerned about the potential for overharvest of woodies (#3 in Maryland hunter's bag, #2 in the Flyway) and black ducks (#2 in Maryland bag, #3 in the Flyway) as a result of the lengthened season.

Maryland's wood duck season will be effectively doubled this year from 2 to 4 days. Then, once our woodies migrate south of there, they and their northern relatives will continue to be hunted for a longer season in the south. Northern Atlantic Flyway woodies (including Maryland's) already experience a lower survival rate that their southern counterparts.

Although efforts such as CWH's Free Woodie Box program have helped to sustain wood duck populations, recent changes in the duck season may put too much added pressure on woodies. Let's ask ourselves, "Have we learned anything from the goose season closure?" (Ned Gerber)
 
SPRING 1995  
Terrapin Beach pilot wetland project - another successful Chesapeake Care projectCWH builds wetland designed to remove 75% of nitrogen from effluent leaving Kent Island sewage treatment plant. (Spring 1995)

Restored and constructed wetlands - how do they work?Wetland construction and restoration has been one of the success stories of Chespeake Wildlife Heritage. (Spring 1995)

Networking between farmers - the key to rural sustainability and farmer self-reliance and problem solvingCWH is collaborating with several other organizations to provide a farmer-to-farmer communications network in Maryland and Delaware. (Spring 1995)

Terrapin Beach pilot wetland project - another successful Chesapeake Care project (Spring 1995)

As you cross the Bay Bridge heading west, have you been concerned about all that construction activity to the right of the bridge? Don't worry, this is another wetland project built last fall by CWH. This particular wetland is a one acre biological nitrogen removal (BNR) wetland located at Terrapin Beach Park in Queen Anne's County. This unique effluent treatment system uses wetlands to remove nitrogen and also provides wetland wildlife habitat. This pilot wetland project is expected to remove more than 75% of the nitrogen from 100,000 gallons of effluent leaving the Kent Island sewage treatment plant per day. If successful in removing nitrogen, Queen Anne's County expects to construct 20-30 acres of new wetlands at the park to dentrify all of the area's effluent.

Although not visible from Route 50, CWH also constructed last fall a new 6 acre waterfowl impoundment on the back portion of Terrapin Beach Park in Queen Anne's County. This restored wetland is flooded using treated effluent from an adjacent wetland project built by CWH in 1992, which in turn is flooded using the new BNR wetland. All three wetlands should provide brood and wintering habitat for a diversity of wildlife. Funding partners for this project include: Waterfowl Festival Inc., Ducks Unlimited Inc., U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Town Creek Foundation and Kieckheffer Foundation.

Queen Anne's County and Maryland Department of the Environment have permitted CWH to use the BNR wetland effluent to flood the existing waterfowl impoundment year-round. This will enable us to provide brood habitat for Wood Ducks and Black Ducks, as well as a much more stable managed wetland environment for other wildlife species. (Ned Gerber)
 
 

Restored and constructed wetlands - how do they work? (Spring 1995)

Wetland construction and restoration has been one of the success stories of Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage. Wetlands add habitat diversity to landscapes and they provide a variety of important functions including the production of food for resident and migratory wildlife. Wetlands also play a key role in controlling water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and a goal of the Chesapeake Bay Program is to restore water quality by reducing non-point nutrient inputs to the Bay by 40%. How much are the wetlands that have been constructed by CWH contributing to the broad goal of improving the quality of water that enters the Bay?

With funding from the Chesapeake Bay Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service (the new name for SCS), CWH staff have joined with scientists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in a three year study to evaluate how well CWH wetlands are doing in intercepting sediments and nutrients that flow off of agricultural fields. Preliminary results are very encouraging and all twelve of the wetlands included in the study appear to be sinks for nutrients and sediments. stay tuned for additional results from this work which also includes studies of plants and animals as well as water quality. (Dennis Whigham, Ph.D.)
 
 

Networking between farmers - the key to rural sustainability and farmer self-reliance and problem solving (Spring 1995)

CWH, together with Delaware State University (DSU) and several other groups (including Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Accokeek Foundation, and University of Maryland Extension Service), under a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is forming a farmer-to-farmer communications network in Maryland and Delaware. Based upon the successful Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) in Minnesota, CWH, along with its collaborators, is producing a directory of farmers who are adopting sustainable cropping practices and who are willing to share ideas and experiences.

The farming operations included will be diverse, ranging from conventional cash grain operators, orchardists and vegetable growers, to organic producers and viticulturalists. The key behind this scheme is for farmers to share their knowledge gained from local and regional farming practices and for them to take greater charge of the FARMING component of agriculture. The other two components are INPUT and MARKETING. (In 1910, farmers held 41% of the agricultural operation, today they hold only 9%. Scott, M.O.F.G.A., 3/95).

The call for global sustainability has come about from public concerns as to what we are contributing to the degradation of our planet. In the case of conventional agriculture as farming becomes more industrially based many more environmentally benign practices (those that benefit wildlife too) can be incorporated than is often realized. . This is the main thrust of the creation of the farmer-to-farmer network; that we bring agricultural problem solving back into the hands of farmers, and solidify our rural communities. (Michael Robin Haggie)
 
FALL 1994

Bug zappers annihilate good bugs, don't kill mosquitoesNew research into backyard bug zappers proves they kill mostly harmless bugs. (Fall 1994)

Bug zappers annihilate good bugs, but don't kill mosquitoes (Fall 1994)

From backyards to campgrounds the sizzling sound of fried insects is being heard all over. With each pop, crackle and flash of light we smugly think, "ah, another pesky mosquito!" However, don't count all your mosquitoes as dead just yet. New research into the backyard bug zapper is proving that they are mostly killing the harmless bugs such as moths, beetles, and other non-stinging insects.

"These devices are essentially worthless", says George B. Craig Jr., a professor of entomology at the University of Notre Dame, who has researched the issue. To begin with, most mosquitoes aren't attracted to light, and tend to feed during the daytime hours. Those that do bite at night are attracted to their prey purely by sensory factors - skin excretions, for instance. Although originally led to the zapper by the light, these mosquitoes quickly veer away when they find no food source available.

Another factor to consider is the breeding pattern of the female mosquito (only the females do the bloodsucking). One female mosquito can produce over 60,000 females in a single summer season. Killing a few hundred a night by a bug zapper doesn't even begin to put a nick in the population. A three month study at the University of Notre Dame concluded that only 3% of the insects killed by bug zappers are female mosquitoes. The remaining 97% are the less pesky insect species who are key links in the food chain, consumed by fish and birds.

Turn off your zapper? Absolutely! (from WSJ 7/25/94)
 

SPRING 1994

Make your property more friendly to wildlifeSpring is the time to plan and implement activities beneficial to wildife. (Spring 1994)

Make your property more friendly to wildlife (Spring 1994)

Spring is the time to plan and implement activities beneficial to our wildlife resource. The following list contains activities applicable to backyard habitats, as well as to farms, marshes, and woodlands. Please call CWH at 410/822-5100 with any questions.

1. Use tree branches to create brush piles useful to a variety of wildlife. Put them in corners of yards, hedgerows, woodland edges, and adjacent to wetlands, where rabbits, songbirds, garter and black snakes, skinks, and other wild friends will use them. As a result of the recent ice storm, the mid-shore now has an overabundance of wood chips, and our landfills are overwhelmed. So, instead of mulching or filling, make a wildlife brush pile.

2. Erect nesting boxes for wildlife (CWH has the box plans):

Backyard - Bluebird, Chickadee, Bat, Purple Martin, Screech Owl, Squirrel; Farm - (all of the above), Kestrel, Barn Owl; Woodland - Screech Owl, Fox Squirrel, Barred Owl, Bat, Wood Duck; Salt Marsh - Barn Owl, Osprey, Purple Martin; Fresh Marsh - Wood Duck, Purple Martin, Osprey, Barn Owl.

3. Build a hedegrow! Maryland has lost thousands of miles of hedges in the last 30 years due to clean farming and poor land stewardship. We suggest restoring hedges with low-growing, shrubby species that won't shade too much adjacent farmland. Backyard hedges make great living privacy screens. Did you know that a hedgerow 20 feet wide and 2,000 feet long doesn't take up even an acre of land? Hedges provide travel corridors, nesting, and brooding areas for wildlife. By blocking the wind, they reduce thermal stress in creatures such as humans and geese. Aesthetically, they break up the landscape and begin to ameliorate the effects of industrial agricultural and sprawl development.

4. Create a wild meadow - Reduce your time spent on the mower this summer and break the "manicured look" addiction. Simply deciding to only mow an area once a year (in September) will greatly benefit ground nesting wildlife (rabbit, quail, meadowlark, praying mantises, to name a few). Better yet, plant an area with a warm season grass and wildflower mixture. Areas adjacent to permanent cover (marsh, woodland, hedge) will be most productive if left unmanicured for our wild friends.

5. Plant a butterfly - hummingbird garden (CWH has plans)!

6. Create or restore a wetland on your farmland through our Chesapeake Care program.

7. Explore sustainable agriculture - should we require farmers to encourage wildlife habitat on farms that our tax dollars are helping to subsidize?

8. NO BUGS, NO BIRDS! Do you love bird life but hate insects? Consider this - most birds depend primarily on insects for food for the first 6-8 weeks of life. Many of our most troubled birds eat insects for a living (hence, the name Insectivore). So, why are we spraying for mosquitoes and killing a rich diversity of insect life and creatures that depend on them? Mosquito-born encephalitis is extremely rare in people, so, if you really want to increase your chances for a long healthy life, turn your bug zapper off (they kill mostly non-mosquitoes, including rare moths), stop spraying for mosquitoes, and drive your car less. (Ned Gerber)

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