Swamp Slog

One hundred forty years ago, an intense corporate rivalry inadvertently produced the largest wetland in my county, located just a quarter-mile south of my preserve.  In the mid-1870s, the Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading Railroad each were desperate to build a railroad linking Philadelphia to New York City.  The Pennsylvania Railroad chose a route that was slightly longer but which incorporated a straightaway that ran level and flat for dozens of miles along an old geological fault.  The Reading Railroad selected a shorter, more direct route that used the water gap eroded by my creek to penetrate the high, steep northern face of the geologic fault.  Each railroad company had to place tremendous quantities of fill in the wide floodplain of my creek in order to raise its tracks out of the floodplain, and this fill, in turn, impeded drainage toward the creek, thereby impounding the 40-acre wetland with which we are blessed today.

Field trip participants on the former Reading Railroad bridge over the swamp drainage channel

Because the wetland includes habitat that is unusual in southeastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Botanic Club scheduled a field trip to visit the site on Saturday morning, June 6, and they asked me to come along for the walk.  Though I have walked in the wetland proper a few times, I usually stick to the railroad tracks when I explore.  The Reading Railroad tracks have been removed and are now part of a county rail-trail (about which I have posted before); the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks are still in use for commuter rail service.

Making our way down from the railroad bed to the marsh

The water in the wetland is deepest near the rail lines, then the land gradually slopes upward and becomes drier as the distance from the tracks increases.  Nearest the tracks, the wetland is a marsh with dense emergent herbaceous vegetation.  Further uphill, the vegetation grades to shrub-swamp.  And, in the driest areas, the wetland becomes a red maple-pin oak (Acer rubrum-Quercus palustris) swamp forest.  Our group of seven walkers at first scoped-out the wetland from the elevated railroad tracks, and then skidded down the embankment and "took the plunge" into the jungle led by yours truly, who got tired of just poking around the edge.  Fortunately (for the hike), we hadn't had much rain lately, so the wetland had little standing water and just a few inches of organic ooze.

Let the botanizing begin!

Almost immediately, we came across a pair of Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) in flagrante delicto; alas, they disengaged immediately.

The female half of an Easter Box Turtle pair

Further into the marsh, we found a nest likely built by Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) last summer suspended between a few twigs .

Last year's nest, probably from a Red-winged Blackbird

An abundance of sedges (very challenging to identify)

Field trip leader Joe serving as a backdrop for pictures of a blooming sedge

One of the plants we were especially interested in finding was lizard's-tail (Saururus cernuus).  It's not that rare, but it's an interesting wetland obligate that's not extraordinarily common.  I was the first to come across the plant and squealed with delight at my discovery.  Then, as we continued across the marsh, we found huge expanses of the plant.

Our quarry:  Lizard's-tail (Saururus cernuus)

One of my favorite plants: parasitic dodder (Cuscuta spp.) (the orange "silly string")  How cool is that?

We finally emerged from the marsh and shrub-swamp into the drier swamp forest.  Here, there's no understory to impede walking because the large deer herd that finds refuge in this isolated pocket of wilderness eats most regenerating trees and shrubs.

Pin oak-red maple swamp forest in the driest parts of the swamp

I wasn't enthusiastic about participating in this walk.  It was on a Saturday morning after I had just worked a full week, and it involved a trudge through mud and extremely dense vegetation (think African Queen here).  But, you know what?  I had a great time!  I got wet and muddy and the company was simpatico.  When I got back home and told Kali about my morning, she said, "Despite your belly-aching, I knew you'd have a great time!"  She knows me better than I know myself. 

_____

A note to my blogging colleagues and readers:  Kali and I were on vacation at the end of May (blog post to appear soon), and I have been crazy busy since we got back.  I apologize for not having commented or posted recently.

Field Trip Sampler

U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist with a rare bird

Last weekend (March 26-28), I attended the Society for Ecological Restoration Mid-Atlantic Chapter's 10th Annual Conference at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.  (For those not "in the know," never pronounce Newark, Delaware like Newark, New Jersey.  The New Jersey city is pronounced NEW-erk, whereas the Delaware city is pronounced new-WARK.)  Following a Thursday evening dinner at which I and eight colleagues were feted as founders of the chapter, the group re-convened the following morning for a day of formal presentations.  On Saturday, I participated in a field trip of three restoration sites within a half-hour's drive of the university.

Saturday was mostly cloudy, cold (high of 40 degrees F in the afternoon) and windy.  As we waited for the bus to depart, the group endured snow squalls.

Northern Delaware is DuPont territory.  Many of the wealthy heirs of the DuPont chemical fortune established expansive estates in the rolling hills of Delaware's Piedmont west of Wilmington, and some of these were sites we visited.  Our first stop was Mt. Cuba, a 500-acre estate that has been turned into a botanic garden featuring plants native to the Piedmont.  The 50 acres surrounding the mansion are a horticultural showplace and are beautifully maintained, but the remainder of the property (the part our group visited) faces the same challenges I face at my preserve: overabundant deer, invasive plants, and stream flooding. 

Nathan Shampine, Mt. Cuba's natural lands manager, indicating that deer could gain access to this fenced exclosure

The golden rolling hills of northern Delaware's Piedmont in early spring

A Red-winged Blackbird's epaulet (Agelaius phoeniceus) found on the ground

Our second stop was the Delaware Nature Society's Coverdale Farm and Burrow's Run preserves.  At Coverdale Farm, we explored a wetland restoration project in which a wet cattle pasture formerly drained by terracotta tile pipes had been reflooded (by removing and breaking the pipes) in order to provide habitat for federally endangered bog turtles (Clemmys muhlenbergii).

The wetland created by re-flooding the field--a sedge hammock marsh

The re-engineered outlet from the marsh (still a bit raw)

Our group continued walking to the adjacent Burrow's Run Preserve, where the Delaware Nature Society has been converting pastures to native grasslands for grassland-nesting birds.  I literally was in awe and very jealous of their best fields, pictured below.  These fields support moderate growth of little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium) interspersed with dozens of species of forbs (i.e., wildflowers) - exactly the type of habitat meadow-nesting birds are seeking.  The grasses provide cover and the forbs attract insects for the birds to eat.  The fields at my preserve, in contract, are almost exclusively grassy with few forbs, which is why we haven't had luck attracting birds to my fields.

Beautiful native meadows

Queen Anne's Lace (not native) against gray skies

Our last stop was the Flintwoods Preserve, a 157-acre private (DuPont heir) estate whose claim to fame is a stand of ancient forest.  Our group, however, toured the native grassland restoration projects underway in the old agricultural fields on the property.

A renovated barn on the Flintwoods estate

We parked our bus next to a renovated barn on the estate.  The barn is full of vintage baroque harpsichords that Peter Flint is in the process of restoring.  The Flints host sold-out baroque music concerts in the barn several times each year.

Flintwoods' land manager explaining how he intends to modify his management plan for his grasslands this year

A humorous aside: as we were returning to the university following the field trip, driving through the northern Delaware countryside sprinkled with DuPont properties, one of the fellows on the bus quipped, "I keep looking at all these houses and imagining sexually-charged wrestling matches going on in each one." (a reference to last year's film Foxcatcher).  Of course, after he said that, I couldn't look at the places the same way myself! 

Haddington Woods

Colleagues at the edge of the old growth

The Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation (P&R) has invited me to participate in its Urban Forest Working Group, a rather august group of professionals from southeastern Pennsylvania, all of whose members are involved in some aspect of forest restoration.  Philadelphia P&R has mobilized the group to solicit feedback and guidance on forest restoration projects in the city's parks.  I missed group's first meeting (on February 5) because that was the day our infamous regional ice storm shut down most of the area (some participants, somehow, managed to get to the meeting).  Because I missed the first meeting, I was anxious to attend the second, scheduled yesterday (April 2).  In addition, this second meeting included a field trip to an ancient forest - Haddington Woods - probably the finest old growth forest in the city.

Schist boulders weathered out of the hillside; some bear graffiti - hey, it's the city

Not all of Haddington Woods is high quality old growth; in fact, only 5 acres of the 27 acre forest are ancient woods.  Other parts of the site are very badly degraded by invasive vines, which blanket the trees with their weighty green shrouds.  Though we enjoyed visiting the old forest, we spent most of our time in the field surveying the areas of the park most in need of restoration.

Weighing options for restoration

Haddington Woods is a small part of the city's 851-acre Cobb's Creek Park located on the extreme western edge of Philadelphia.  In fact, Cobb's Creek traces the city's western boundary.  The very densely populated neighborhoods bordering the park are not among the city's most prosperous enclaves, and group participants were told that many local residents feared going into the park.  Perhaps that's why the forest is not especially vandalized or trashed.

The Big Tree

Near the end of our tour, we stopped to see the "Big Tree," the largest and oldest denizen of the forest.  It is a northern red oak (Quercus rubra), and the city's foresters have estimated that the tree is at least 250 years old.  The trunk has a diameter of 60 inches.

Bocce 1; each tree is protected from deer with a mesh sleeve

At the very end of the walk, as we headed back to our cars, we stopped to see a forest restoration project completed last year in conjunction with a ravine stabilization project.  The parks folks named this Bocce 1 because it is located adjacent to a bocce ball court situated in the park.

Despite a little bit of drizzle, it was good to get away from my desk for a few hours, walk in the woods and confab with some of my professional colleagues and friends.

Field Trip

Demonstrating the white-tailed deer trap

Members of the Society for Ecological Restoration's Mid-Atlantic Chapter visited "my" preserve on Saturday afternoon, March 22, to review forest restoration and white-tailed deer research projects underway here.  This field trip was one of three trips scheduled to coincide with the Chapter's annual conference that took place the day before at Temple University.

Deer researcher explaining how he remotely springs the deer trap from his laptop

A research and teaching colleague from a local college began by reviewing the white-tailed  deer movement research he has been conducting since 2006 using collared deer and digital telemetry. 

A chapter member from New York City Parks pointing out chestnut blight canker

The group then took a walking tour of an old-growth woods recently cleared of invasive plants, several reforestation projects (including one project that incorporated American chestnut trees, now exhibiting signs of chestnut blight disease), riparian reforestation projects, and the preserve's 160-acre native grasslands.  We also took advantage of the fact that one of the tour participants was a former University of Pennsylvania researcher who had established a forest succession research project in the preserve in 1990 - a project he had not been back to review in over two decades.

Former University of Pennsylvania researcher explaining a research project in the background

Fortunately, the day was partly sunny and warm - the warmest day so far this year, with temperatures in the mid-60s.  I had expected the preserve's trails to be muddy after the endless winter snows, but they were pleasantly firm and dry.  Participants seemed to have enjoyed themselves - even if it was just to have a chance to be outside on a nice spring day.  We even heard spring peepers trilling in one of the wetlands!

Timing for the tour was fortuitous - there's more snow forecast for tomorrow!

Glorious Early Fall Field Trip

Autumn dogwood as stained glass

I'm teaching a graduate course in restoration ecology this term, and brought the students to my natural area to give them some first-hand experience with state of the art restoration techniques and land management strategies in a natural area that is subject to considerable pressure from white-tailed deer and from invasive plants. Many of the students are landscape architecture candidates, so they need some exposure to native ecosystems, not just design classes.

The day was absolutely perfect--temperatures in the mid 70s, low humidity, and billowy white clouds sailing across an azure sky.

The native grasslands are at their peak right now, especially where they contain goldenrod and white snakeroot. The meadows are just gorgeous!

Back at the nature center, white wood aster was blooming in the shade of a specimen tree alongside a white picket fence.