As I mentioned the other day, we've found 13 different frog and toad species that have colonized the constructed H-02 wetlands on site. So far no salamander species have shown up. We also have seen several snake species including
garter snakes and
banded water snakes (shown in photos). I've also seen marsh hawks hanging around and we usually see a good number of red winged blackbirds. I hadn't realized how many until we went to the wetlands the other night and as we walked around we were blown away by how many birds were in the bulrush in the wetlands. Literally had to be over 1,000 red-winged blackbirds. There have also been some ducks and quite the surprise this summer a juvenile alligator showed up for a while. It's clear that the wetlands have attracted a lot of wildlife, now our job is to figure out whether the habitat is ok for amphibian reproduction or whether it is an ecological trap. We've started looking at this question for three species: the southern leopard frog, the eastern narrowmouth toad, and the southern toad. Next we'll start talking about those studies.
As I mentioned the other day, we've found 13 different frog and toad species that have colonized the constructed H-02 wetlands on site. So far no salamander species have shown up. We also have seen several snake species including garter snakes and banded water snakes (shown in photos). I've also seen marsh hawks hanging around and we usually see a good number of red winged blackbirds. I hadn't realized how many until we went to the wetlands the other night and as we walked around we were blown away by how many birds were in the bulrush in the wetlands. Literally had to be over 1,000 red-winged blackbirds. There have also been some ducks and quite the surprise this summer a juvenile alligator showed up for a while. It's clear that the wetlands have attracted a lot of wildlife, now our job is to figure out whether the habitat is ok for amphibian reproduction or whether it is an ecological trap. We've started looking at this question for three species: the southern leopard frog, the eastern narrowmouth toad, and the southern toad. Next we'll start talking about those studies.
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