The Wrack is the Wells Reserve blog, our collective logbook on the web.
Why "The Wrack"? In its cycles of ebb and flow, the sea transports a melange of weed, shell, bone, feather, wood, rope, and trash from place to place, then deposits it at the furthest reach of spent surf. This former flotsam is full of interesting stuff for anybody who cares to kneel and take a look. Now and then, the line of wrack reveals a treasure.
Last week we set up acoustical equipment in 12 locations throughout the reserve, typically about 40 feet off the trails. The equipment will create an ecological soundscape of habitats… mapping sounds of animals and other living things (biophony), sounds coming from wind in the trees, rain, and the ocean (geophony), and sounds of jet planes, people talking, trains, gunshots, and lawnmowers (anthrophony). Together, these recordings will help describe our environment over time… who is there, who is missing, what is disturbed, what has changed.
Will these soundscapes reveal habitats of vitality or quiet? What changes happen over time? Is the food web diminishing or increasing with new animals, returning animals? Are the sounds different from year to year, day to day, month to month, season to season?
A passive integrated transponder is a miniature electronic circuit typically encased in glass and implanted under an animal's skin or in a body cavity (the fish tags we'll use are thin and just 12mm long). Each tag is programmed with a unique number to identify an individual animal. That number is read automatically when the animal travels close to a receiving station.
I get to meet many scientists. While its hard to understand them sometimes, they are all very decent (and underpaid) people. And they are all as astounded as I am that more than half the country does not believe them when they say climate change is real, that it is happening, and that it is man-made.
Music, fun, education, & stewardship converged during April school vacation week at the Reserve! Roughly 150 people celebrated Earth Day with us on Tuesday, families learned lots from whale enthusiast Tony Viehmann on Wednesday, and an excited group of day campers explored vernal pools on Thursday.
Lisa Judd came with her kids on Earth Day and had this to say:
The Earth Day function was fantastic! The kids had a?great time with all the activities and walked through every tide pool on the beach. They ended the day soaked and smiling! Perfect!
Lots more programming for children, families, and adults is on the horizon for the spring and summer!
Last week, UMaine Ph.D. candidate Jared Homola and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Krista Capps visited three vernal pools at the reserve as part of Jared's research into how urbanization affects vernal pools and influences the organisms within them. He is especially interested in how abrupt climate change can impact the persistence of ecologically important species and the genetic basis for the ecosystem services they provide.
Late last fall, the Welcome Booth went into hibernation, tucked away until the danger of snowplows was safely past. This morning, just a few days shy of Earth Day, the booth checked the forecast and made its commitment to Spring. Somehow our Facility Manager sensed the booth's confidence, so John, Frank, and Jim made their move. We're pleased to share this photodocumentary of the journey&
We host a lot of visitors each year. We hold a lot of events.?This is great because it means that people love coming to this place and enjoying all it has to offer. It also means that we inherit some amount of waste in the form of drink bottles, and we don't mind at all. Our visitors are staying hydrated (which means they will hopefully be back again), and we can take those bottles and turn them into sustainable improvements around the Reserve like solar panels, compost bins, and better signs for trash and recycling locations on campus.
Mornings, driving in, Laudholm welcomes me. I loop in to park, take two bags in one hand and binoculars in the other, step out, push the car door shut, and lock it. Already I'm attuned, scanning, panning the landscape, listening for caws and chips.
Most days I'm rewarded. It's a long walk from the parking lot to the farmhouse door and the reserve is famously rich in bird life. With its grassy expanses, ancient hedgerows, mixed woodlands, and the estuaries just beyond them, it's a rare day when no bird moves or speaks during the pedestrian part of my commute.
Four weeks ago, I added a twist to my routine. Every Wednesday, I'd measure my walk both length and time while logging each avian encounter. Then I'd submit my checklist to eBird, where it can be stored and shared.
A wild turkey of the species Meleagris gallopavo has been hired as the new president of Laudholm Trust, the local nonprofit partner of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, according to Goose Read, chairman of the Trust's Brood of Defectors.
In his recent post, Spreading the Fish Ladder News, Jake mentioned our imminent use of passive integrated transponders, or PIT tags, to track fish. But just what is a PIT tag and exactly how does it work?
Last week, UMaine Ph.D. candidate Jared Homola and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Krista Capps visited three vernal pools at the reserve as part of Jared's research into how urbanization affects vernal pools and influences the organisms within them. He is especially interested in how abrupt climate change can impact the persistence of ecologically important species and the genetic basis for the ecosystem services they provide.
We host a lot of visitors each year. We hold a lot of events.?This is great because it means that people love coming to this place and enjoying all it has to offer. It also means that we inherit some amount of waste in the form of drink bottles, and we don't mind at all. Our visitors are staying hydrated (which means they will hopefully be back again), and we can take those bottles and turn them into sustainable improvements around the Reserve like solar panels, compost bins, and better signs for trash and recycling locations on campus.
Most days I'm rewarded. It's a long walk from the parking lot to the farmhouse door and the reserve is famously rich in bird life. With its grassy expanses, ancient hedgerows, mixed woodlands, and the estuaries just beyond them, it's a rare day when no bird moves or speaks during the pedestrian part of my commute.
