Portage Parks

The Park District has an opportunity to do a wetland plant survey near Potter Creek in Suffield Township in order to fill some grant match hours we’ve promised.I am looking for volunteers and I thought of you right away, since you may be knowledgeable in this area! I would need a few helpful leaders to help out the other volunteers who may not be quite as experienced, but willing!
Would you be available Saturday November 7, Saturday November 14 or Sunday November 15?I am surveying a few key volunteers before I set the date.
Please let me know if you’d be willing and available to help out!
Thanks,


Susan Blair
The Portage Park District
128 North Prospect Street
Ravenna, OH 44266
330.297.7728

President Obama Takes Crucial Step for Wetlands

Restoration efforts will benefit critical Louisiana coastal habitat.

"On the eve of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Obama took a crucial step toward saving Louisiana's nationally important coastal wetlands that provide natural hurricane protection, essential economic benefits and vital habitat for birds and other wildlife," says Dr. Paul Kemp, Vice President of Audubon's Louisiana Coastal Initiative and a recognized coastal expert. One of the worst disasters in our nation's history, Hurricane Katrina made its landfall in New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality announced it was creating a new federal interagency task force to coordinate the "economic and environmental resiliency" of Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast region. Audubon and other conservation groups have called for White House intervention in what is widely viewed as a stagnant process – now overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – for bolstering coastal wetlands.

Audubon and other national and regional conservation groups are urging bold actions to reconnect the Mississippi River to its delta in Louisiana, thereby allowing sediment and freshwater to maintain and rebuild coastal marshes that help lessen storm surges, provide critical wildlife habitat, protect oil and gas infrastructure, and serve as nurseries for shrimp and other valuable aquatic species. Primarily because of the separation of the Mississippi River from its delta by levees, Louisiana has lost more than 1.2 million acres of coastal land in the last 75 years, representing about 80 percent of all coastal land loss in the United States. Louisiana continues to lose the equivalent of up to 32 football fields of coastal land each day.

Coming Events

I just updated the FOWL.ORG web site. John combed through the various pages, including 'Art' and shared a number of comments and suggested some improvements. Most of these edits were long overdue. I really appreciate feedback from the website. Mistakes can linger on line for months if nobody points them out to me. Thank you to John, Robert and others who have helped make my work better.
Along with the tweeking, I have updated the Events page with a variety of new items. The Lorain County Fair is next week, plans for the FOWL Fall Picnic and Fundraiser are coming together, the OEC has a Clean Water Conference and Friends of Big Creek have some exciting Wetland programs in the near future.
So, get your calendar out and record these local wetland events.

If you can come to the fair and work the booth, please contact john@fowl.org to schedule a time.

Wetland Plant Givaway

Kathleen B. says; "Hey- anybody want some free native water plants? Go see the wetland, even if you can't use the plants.

She forwarded this message from Jim Wohl;

On Wednesday, August 5 from 8:30am to 3:00pm Valley Forge High School
teacher Jon Komar and I will be removing an excess of Pickerelweed and some
Arrowroot from the Valley Forge Wetland. Probably half of it has to go. If
there is any one that would like these native water plants we are giving
them away for free. To learn more about our project visit:

http://valleyforgewetland.shutterfly.com/

All you have to do is bring with your garbage bags and carry away what you
want. They will grow in any standing water. I was told by Chuck Thomas,
naturalist with Cleveland Metroparks, that you don't even have to plant the
Pickerel weed, just throw it in the water and it will root itself. Valley
Forge High School is at 9999 Independence and York Rd in Parma Hts. All that
is not carried away will be composted at the school.

Jim Wohl, Wetland Project Coordinator

Steering Committee Member

Friends of Big Creek

Sounds of Ducks, Geese, and Swans

After the great blockbuster weekend in Southern Lorain County centered around Findley State Park, I have a greater awareness of those talented individuals with an ear for birds. Hearing a bird is just as good a way to document its presence as seeing, maybe better.
If you want to hear the sounds of birds the Cornell Lab of Ornithology lets you listen online. As an introduction, try these wetland birds for a variety of sounds. If you like those try others. CD's with high quality nature recordings are not cheap. Allaboutbirds.org presents this digital content in a well organized and useful method.

Huron River Paddle

Thanks to everyone who responded to the Huron River Paddle announcements. We will launch at 11:00 am from the back picnic spot at the Homer Page Farm. If you haven't responded, please email me if you intend to join in. Details can be found here.

Clinic Construction in Twinsburg Wetland

Last year I attended a workshop and had the pleasure of meeting the President of the Buckeye Forest Council, David Maywhoor. While we were listening to presentations he doodled out this drawing about the Cleveland Clinic development plans in Twinsburg.

Now we hear that the Ohio EPA and the Cleveland Clinic have come to terms that will protect the high quality wetlands on the site. Is this a case of the regulatory agency doing its job? Is the hospital recognizing the error of its ways? Will the wetlands continue to function essentially unchanged by construction activities? This would indeed be good news if we could accept it at face value. Vigilance is still the watchword. See full article at Ohio.com, The Akron Beacon-Journal.

Vernal Pool Hikes

Our Vernal Pool hikes were absolutely delicious. Sometimes, I wish I could explore these places in stead of going to work inside a classroom without windows. On most days, it's easier for me to check the weather at my computer than to look outside!
Nonetheless, over the weekend we got to see the birth of a new growing season in the wonderful wild at the Babcock farm with the treasure of spring ephemerals in Happy Valley.
The woodfrog (thanks to Alan Tomko) in this picture is a representative of the delicate ecology on this farm that is likely to survive for future generations. We have documented significant vernal pools on this property where they breed and extensive upland habitat where they exist for the other 51 weeks of the year. This is a notable example of an amphibian that depends not only on the vernal pool wetland that we love to explore but also the adjacent upland that supports it during the 99% of its life when it is not breeding. All too often, the limited wetland protection that does occur ignores the essential supportive contiguous habitat that surrounds the wetlands.
The next week we returned to the luscious backwoods and riparian wonders on the McConnell property. After many visits and surveys of the property, there are still mysteries and plants that defy the identification of local experts. This is a deeply diverse habitat that is worthy of our admiration. Thanks to the birding skills of Brad Phillips I was able to watch the foraging habits of the Grey Cheeked Thrush as it stopped by the Black River Valley during its northward migration.
Such visits include the enjoyment of both the ephemeral and the migratory. We hold these moments precious with our photos, memories and with our community.

Green Eggs and Jam

Nina Harfmann has shared with the OVPP some of her explorations. You can find her on her blog, NatureRemains.
She provided this link to an explanation about the algae symbiosis in salamander eggs.

Odonate Conference

There is a dragonfly conference at Ohio Northern in ADA, OH next Saturday. I'm thinking about going. There won't be any real ondonates out yet, I don't think, but the people should be interesting. It would be nice to have some company anyone once to come along. There is no charge for the conference. If you register in advance you get lunch.