Map of Stinchfield

A very generous "regular" to Stinchfield gave me this updated map. I am hoping to GPS the trails and make a new map so check the blog in the future!

Trail Maintenance

Today my wife and I cleared 4 trees that fell across trails. The one pictured below was quite the job since the crown of an oak was blocking the trail.

Old observatories

Lots of visitors to Stinchfield ask me questions about the old observatories and the other facilities. Though I don't know much about them, I can tell you that neither of the observatories near the caretaker's home are operational. I found a website that discusses the history of the observatories but have not verified if this information is true.

The website says that the smaller, older observatory was built in 1950 along with the caretaker's home. The larger, newer observatory was built in 1969.

Soil Ecology Class Field Trip

Students from the Soil Ecology course at University of Michigan spent a few hours this past week looking at 6 different soil pits in Stinchfield Woods. Stinchfield Woods (aka Peach Mountain) is a kame-complex glacial landform that is mainly composed of calcareous parent material. Glaciers act like conveyor belts moving material from one place to another. The calcareous parent material (or geologic material that soil is formed from) was once in the bed of the ancient Lake Erie, but glaciers transported it here.

The 6 soil pits are located on different slope positions and aspects (meaning compass direction). The students got to observe that the soil at the top of a slope and facing the sun (southwestern aspect) are the least developed and most shallow, while the soil that is near the bottom of a slope and shaded from the sun (north facing slope) are the deepest and most developed. They also observed that the plant community and tree size was different depending on soil conditions.

The students took soil and forest floor samples to be analyzed later in the laboratory. They will compare this oak-hickory forest to other forest types such as a black and white oak forest and a jack pine forest.

Mycology Class Field Trip

On Wednesday, the students from a Biology of Fungi course at University of Michigan visited Stinchfield Woods to hunt for mushrooms. They split up into 2 groups: one collected in the conifer forest and the other group collected in the mixed hardwood forest. After about an hour of collecting, they headed back to the classroom to talk about the different mushrooms that can be found in different forest types. For example,  Hen-of-the-Woods (Grifola frondosa) is only found in the hardwood forest and the class only found Lactarius mushrooms in the conifer forest.

This strange looking object is a fungi "egg," which a stinkhorn mushroom will hatch out of. What a great find!

Black Raspberry Research

Master's student Alex Bajcz along with Professors Bobby Low and Robert Grese, are currently investigating what ecological conditions are best for Black Raspberries. They established 12 plots at Stinchfield Woods that are 12 by 12 meters in size and are undisturbed.

Though Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) is a native plant to Michigan, little is known about it's ecology aside from it's natural history. To many peolple, it is a pest that invades pastures, crop fields, and restoration areas. At the same time, it may prove to be a valuable food source for wildlife and humans alike, especially in the upcoming decades. Understanding its optimal niche space more concretely will make managing or controlling Black Raspberries easier. Alex's study aims to do this by comparing soil, light, and plant community conditions to growth, flowering, and fruiting characteristics in Black Raspberry plants.

Mosquito Invasion!

Though Stinchfield Woods usually experiences waves of insects as the seasons pass, such as flies in July, this year we are experiencing a huge wave of mosquitoes. I recommend leaving as little skin exposed as possible by wearing long pants, long sleeves, and a hat. Bring some DEET bug spray and be prepared to swat!

Lost and Found

Please use this blog post to report lost and found items. In order to exchange items, you may use the caretaker's mailbox with note attached or coordinate between yourselves.

Invasive species removal

Students from the School of Natural Resources removed invasive species from a stretch of forest on the main trail near the stone gate on Saturday, May 7th. We mainly used hedge clippers to cut Japanese Barberry near its base and then used small paint brushes to apply herbicide.

Japanese Barberry (scientific name Berberis thunbergii) is a dense, spiny shrub that has bright red berries. It is not native to North America and, like other invasive plants, can alter our ecosystems. According to the National Park Service, Japanese Barberry can alter pH, nitrogen levels, and biological activity in soil. It also displaces native plants and reduces wildlife habitat and forage. Japanese Barberry is a common plant used in landscaping for privacy hedges, but they spread rapidly causing them to turn up in places like Stinchfield Woods!

Record wildlife sightings here!

We invite you to record wildlife sightings by commenting on this post. This will help the University of Michigan and fellow Stinchfield hikers to know what fauna are living in the forest. Thanks!

Four baby raccoon were born on top of the old observatory, summer 2011.

Wood duck, March 2012 

Barred owl, March 2012

Bird survey

The following is the report from this year's bird survey:

For two decades, volunteers have participated in the Stinchfield Woods Breeding Birds Survey by counting birds heard and seen on a weekend morning in early June. The count typically yields species from Michigan's north such as Pine, Blackburnian, and Black-throated Green Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos, and Red-breasted Nuthatches and Ohio's south such as Acadian flycatchers and Hooded warblers.

Year 2011's count took place on a warm, sunny Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 7 to 11:15 am. Special thanks go to our band of 10 volunteer counters. The 703 total individuals was the second-lowest in 14 years -- well below the 14-year average of 751.3 individual birds. In terms of number of species, birders counted 54 species, also lower than the 14-year average of 56.9.

Only two species were at an all-time high: Red-winged blackbirds at 15 and PILEATED WOODPECKERS at 3. On the north central side of the woods, one group saw 2 adult PILEATED including 1 singing on and on and on; on the far east side, a second group heard one PILEATED singing at length. There were good numbers of HOODED WARBLERS at 13. A few of us lingered afterwards and saw the Hooded warbler on the main road heading southbound up the hill from Stinchfield Woods Road. Earlier in the morning, this same Hooded and a far-away Hooded alternated songs. Very cool! At the radio tower, a group heard a female chipping while two males chased each other. Double cool!

Conspicuously absent were Hairy woodpeckers, House wrens, and Yellow warblers. At all-time low numbers were Indigo buntings at 8 -- half as many as the previous all-time low of 16 and Towhees at 3.

Highest numbers were Chickadees at 59, Eastern wood-pewees at 52, and Chipping sparrows at 43. This year marks the 5th in 14 years in which Chickadees outnumbered all other species.

Some folks speculated that doing the count so early in the June might yield migrating flycatchers and warblers. This did not happen.

Please mark your calendars now for next year's Stinchfield count on Sun., June 3, 2012, 7 to 11:15 am. Thanks again to the ten birders who took part in this year's count.

Consult the table below for species heard and seen from 1998 to 2011 (asterisk indicating highest number of species in the year). The table will grow in the years to come. Over the last 14 years, the count has averaged 56.9 species and 751.3 individuals. An issue of Michigan Birding and Natural History gives a five-year summary and interpretation of the count before this time period by two longtime volunteers, J. Latham Claflin and John M. Swales.

Species	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998
Canada Goose	21	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	35	0	0	0	0
Sandhill Crane	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	2	0	3	2	0	0	0
Great Blue Heron	3	0	0	1	0	4	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0
Green-backed Heron	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	8	8	1	2	0	12	2	0	12	7	14	9	4	6
Cooper's Hawk	1	1	1	2	1	3	1	1	2	6	3	0	1	2
Broad-winged Hawk	2	0	0	0	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	0	2	1
Red-Tailed Hawk	4	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	2	2	0	1	1
American kestral	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ring-billed Gull	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Ruffed Grouse	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Wild Turkey	1	8	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	2
Killdeer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
Mourning Dove	6	9	8	11	4	8	3	6	6	8	5	1	18	9
Black-billed Cuckoo	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	3	1	1	1
Barred Owl	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Great Horned Owl	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Chimney Swift	0	1	1	0	2	0	5	4	3	3	4	3	0	2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	3	3	4	0	2	2	4	2	5	4	3	1	3	2
Ring-necked Pheasant	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Red-bellied Woodpecker	11	10	5	17	9	11	13	17	28	10	15	7	11	4
Downy Woodpecker	6	17	9	16	11	9	2	12	4	0	3	10	5	3
Hairy Woodpecker	0	5	4	3	0	3	2	2	3	6	2	0	2	0
Pileated Woodpecker	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Northern Flicker	2	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	5
Eastern Wood Pewee	52	59	48	57	38	47	46	43	44	48	36	30	30	32
Acadian Flycatcher	19	25	23	25	16	9	5	3	0	2	2	2	1	8
Willow Flycatcher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Least Flycatcher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Great Crested Flycatcher	6	8	8	2	2	10	8	11	12	10	7	6	15	6
Eastern Phoebe	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	0
Olive-sided Flycatcher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Eastern Kingbird	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
Tree Swallow	0	0	1	0	4	0	2	0	2	4	1	0	1	0
Barn Swallow	3	0	0	1	3	1	6	2	3	0	1	2	1	10
Purple Martin	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	4	2	2	0	1	1
Belted Kingfisher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Mallard	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
Wood Duck	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Blue Jay	40	63*	37	24	27	33	33	54	53	63	38	41	59	49
American Crow	31	59	38	39	56	36	45	26	41	48	53	55	37	45
Black-capped Chickadee	59*	56	50	45	52	49	47	60	80*	89*	75*	45	73	81*
Tufted Titmouse	24	22	15	36	33	29	29	31	33	22	21	13	21	29
Red-breasted Nuthatch	9	5	15	8	17	18	18	18	11	8	10	20	18	12
White-breasted Nuthatch	15	13	12	13	13	11	9	14	6	12	12	8	15	5
Brown Creeper	6	10	3	4	3	2	2	7	14	2	5	3	5	3
Carolina Wren	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
House Wren	0	2	0	5	3	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	9	5	0	8	3	5	1	11	3	2	11	3	18
Blue-grey gnatcatcher	2	10	14	11	9	1	3	5	5	1	3	1	3	4
Eastern Bluebird	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0
Veery	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Wood Thrush	4	6	6	15	12	8	6	2	16	13	5	4	6	6
American Robin	8	23	11	5	6	6	5	6	7	8	10	16	17	20
Gray Catbird	8	7	2	6	10	6	5	4	9	9	5	6	5	4
Cedar Waxwing	40	11	21	0	10	42	22	23	22	17	26	45	14	24
European Starling	1	0	0	3	0	1	0	2	4	2	2	0	0	0
Blue-headed Vireo	1	3	5	9	5	5	4	3	3	2	0	0	1	1
Yellow-throated Vireo	4	1	5	6	1	3	1	3	6	2	3	0	3	3
Warbling Vireo	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Red-eyed Vireo	39	46	29	46	39	49	39	50	47	41	36	25	30	19
Blue-winged Warbler	1	2	2	2	0	5	0	3	2	6	3	6	3	1
Yellow Warbler	0	2	0	2	2	4	1	1	5	2	1	2	1	4
Yellow-throated Warbler	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Black-throated Green Warbler	8	13	28	13	10	18	16	29	12	16	16	7	13	11
Blackpoll	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
American Redstart	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Pine Warbler	28	41	30	27	26	23	36	26	31	23	24	15	19	22
Ovenbird	36	39	33	50	35	*51	51	*63	63	57	67	*62	54	53
Common Yellowthroat	7	1	2	1	3	2	5	3	3	5	4	0	1	3
Hooded Warbler	13	18	8	11	1	3	2	3	1	0	2	3	6	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	3
Magnolia Warbler	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Prairie Warbler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Tennessee Warbler	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Blackburnian Warbler	0	1	0	1	0	2	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Northern Parula	0	0	0	1	1	1	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Black-throated Blue Warbler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Black-and-white warbler	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scarlet Tanager	10	22	16	22	21	20	17	9	23	8	24	18	13	12
Northern Cardinal	32	32	32	60	34	44	32	44	48	47	30	52	57	39
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	0
Indigo Bunting	8	21	17	18	16	19	25	31	34	20	28	31	27	26
Eastern Towhee	3	11	7	7	7	9	5	7	6	7	9	10	6	8
Chipping Sparrow	43	42	50	62*	57*	28	48	57	45	38	44	53	74*	71
Field Sparrow	0	1	2	3	1	1	1	1	4	2	7	7	4	5
Swamp Sparrow	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Song Sparrow	1	1	1	3	1	0	3	1	2	8	6	9	8	5
Red-winged Blackbird	15	2	1	6	3	4	5	4	11	6	7	6	2	2
Common Grackle	0	0	2	1	1	3	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	3
Brown-headed Cowbird	17	19	36	16	20	14	8	15	22	12	0	4	18	12
Baltimore Oriole	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	2	0
Orchard Oriole	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
House Finch	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	2	4
American Goldfinch	33	25	*56	32	46	42	*57	23	46	44	43	55	39	43
White-throated Sparrow	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Total Species	54	53	53	57	52	61	61	60	58	61	58	49	61	58
Total Individuals	703	800	717	762	688	732	714	754	871	806	738	717	769	753