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Chesapeake Bay |
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Chesapeake Bay |
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SIERRAThe Newsletter Of | ||||
| Club Member slides and photographs. Our members do unusual things. One canoed the periphery of N.C. and Virginia; one did water rafting on the Colorado; and another spent 10 days in the woods of Maine clearing trails. Some how it works and it works beautifully. In addition, we have invited Brian van Eerden, the local Nature Conservancy's Ecologist to come and describe some of the local projects TNC is involved in and how we can help. This months outing is assisting Nature Conservancy with one of their more important projects in the vicinity of Wake field. TNC now has the habitat for the last three nesting pairs of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the State of Virginia. In the past there were any where between two and three thousand nesting pairs. TNC has other exciting projects. |
| Come with us for a marvelous day in the woods. For some blue skies above and evergreen every where, come and visit The Nature Conservancy's Piney Grove Preserve. It is located in the deep forest around Wakefield. Here TNC has recently acquired 1,500 acres of prime forest for the special purpose of expanding the number of red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia. There are only three known nesting pairs of this species of woodpeckers in Virginia and they are all on this preserve. At one time it is believed that there were between 2,000 and 3,000 nesting pairs. Our challenge is these woodpeckers have very specific habitat requirements. This inflexibility makes these birds vulnerable. The birds require tall mature pines with very little or no undergrowth. The lack of undergrowth was a natural condition due to the fact that lightning induced fires ranged through the areas on the average of every 5 years. Fires like these are no longer allowed to spread, thus they must be man-made and done with great care. Much of the work that we will be doing will be the preparation of fire lanes. A |
couple of us did it during December and had a wonderful experience. These are very interesting birds and they have some unusual behavior patterns. For example a nesting pair will be surrounded by several immature males. It is like an extended family of all males. Each bachelor has his own tree hole. The first thing in the morning the family assembles for conversation and then spreads out for a day of foraging. In the evening they reassemble and discuss the days events before retiring to their individual dwellings. If you are interested in finding out more about these creatures and want to have a great day in the outdoors, and this applies to both genders, come and join us. The day is Saturday, January 29. We will meet at the Virginia Beach Central Library at 7:30 AM and proceed by car pool to Wakefield. Bring a lunch and something to drive as well as work gloves. Layered clothing is important as well as warm shoes. Because TNC can supervise only a small group, numbers are limited. Please contact: Fred Adams via e-mail, or phone 757-467-2775 |