Vernal Pool Pt 2

Today, finally, Gary and I got the vernal pool finished with the help of OCVNers Marvin Smith, John Abt, and Ralph Susey. Thanks guys! The first picture shows the pool pre-digging - we had gotten it to this point with the backhoe. The pool was holding a good bit of water.

They guys and I started digging, sloping the edges and opening up the channels. We also made a small island in the middle.


After we go the contours we wanted, we created a berm and shaped it, then raked the edges smooth.

Here's a picture of the guys after we seeded the berm with annual rye and mulched with a thin layer of straw to prevent erosion. The pool looks great, seems to be holding water perfectly, and is all ready for the frogs and salamanders to find in the spring!

Vernal Pools

This year, with a grant from OEEF, we have offered two vernal pool workshops. The first was conducted by David Celebrezze from the Ohio Environmental Council and focused on vernal pool monitoring. The second was conducted by Mark Dilley from Mad Scientist and Associates. Mark took us out into the field and talked about vernal pool construction. With volunteers from these two classes, we are constructing a brand new vernal pool. This week, we did the rough digging with a backhoe and tomorrow we'll be using volunteer labor to do the final grading. There is already about 6 inches of water in the pool. Watch for more posts as we finish the pool and being monitoring it this spring. The pictures below are from the work we've done so far..

Mark Dilley standing at the site of the vernal pool

Digging the pool with backhoe

Pool 3 days after it was dug - several inches of water!

Black Throated Blue Warbler

The Wilderness Center's Bird Club was holding its annual planning meeting on Saturday, October 17th in the observation room when to our astonishment we had a Black Throated Blue Warbler land on the feeder right in front of us.

It is not usual to see this warbler at a feeder and especially so late in October.
What a wonderful bird to spot!

Posted by Vicki Capps Shoenfelt 10-20-09

Some Enchanted Evening

It's Enchanted Forest Week! For those of you not familiar with this event, it is our non-scary Halloween hike. Small groups are led by "fireflies" - guide with lanterns - along a pumpkin strewn path to visit with the woodland creatures. Below are pictures of this year's characters; dirt, slug, star-nosed mole, spider, salamander, and crayfish. There's still time to register! The event is Friday and Saturday night - for more information visit our website, http://www.wildernesscenter.org/, or call 330-359-5235.

Black Rat Snake

This young Black Rat Snake was on the front steps this morning. These little ones (less than 10" long) put on a great show of posturing - they even shake their tail like a rattlesnake - although they have no rattles). The following video is not of great quality, but it shows the posturing pretty well.