EPOC Awards Menunkatuck $450 Grant

EPOC awarded $450 to Menunkatuck to improve the rooftop butterfly garden at the Barnard Nature Center in New Haven.

(From the May, 2014 newsletter.)

Project Limulus: 2012 Horseshoe Crab Population Survey Summary

I am sorry to report that it was a disappointing spring for Menunkatuck’s Project Limulus  volunteers, especially after last year when we tagged 975 crabs.  Our total tagged for this year was only 240.  The crabs just weren’t there!  This would have been of greater concern to us had we not learned that Short Beach in Branford was crawling with them!  Heather Smiarowski, a Beach Captain for The Branford Land Trust, reported that they almost had more crabs than they could handle.  I wondered if Guilford’s lack of crabs could have been due to reconfiguration of the bottom of the Sound caused by Hurricane Irene.  I asked Dr. Mark Beekey, one of the Sacred Heart professors in charge of Project Limulus, and he said that it is not unusual for the crabs to show up in an area one year and then go somewhere else the next year.  We don’t know why this happens. Finding answers to questions like this is one of the reasons we are doing the study.

Recapture numbers were considerably less in Guilford as well.  A recapture is a crab which has already been tagged.  We found only 61 recaptures compared to 262 found last year.

Guilford’s Project Limulus team surveyed the two beaches at Indian Cove a total of 21 times.  We also met on two extra days for tagging only.  Crabs were tagged at the following Guilford beaches: Indian Cove Public, Indian Cove Private, Shell Beach, Joshua Cove, and Grass Island.  Our 2012 survey period began on May 3rd. and ended on July 1st.  We found the greatest number of crabs on May18th.  It is interesting to note that horseshoe crabs were sighted by volunteers as early as April 15th.   This was approximately one month earlier than the past 3 years and was probably related to the mild winter and warmer than average spring temperatures.  One hypotheses to explain our lower crab numbers this year was that we had missed a couple of weeks of tagging because the tags weren’t available until the beginning of May.  This idea, however, seemed to be negated by the fact that Branford continued to find large numbers of crabs throughout May and June. 

I think it is also interesting to note that during the actual beach surveys, which follow a prescribed protocol according to specific dates and tides, the number of crabs counted,(165), was not significantly different from last year’s count of 171.  I don’t know how to explain this.  All of my seasoned volunteers agreed that we really did see less crabs this year. 

New this year, were two visits to local schools.  Accompanied by a pair of live horseshoe crabs,my husband, Vaughn, and I gave presentations about Project Limulus to the students at the King-Robinson Magnet School in New Haven and at Rockville High School in Vernon.  It was great to see the students "getting up close and personal" with the horseshoe crabs! 

  

I can’t say thank you enough to my great team of volunteers for their time, enthusiasm, and dedication.  Here’s hoping that the crabs will decide to come back to Guilford next year!   I look forward to seeing you then.

We are always happy to have new volunteers.  If you are interested, please contact judy@menunkatuck.org.  For more information about Project Limulus, go to info@projectlimulus.org. 

                                       2010                     2011                  2012

Total crabs tagged-       370                       975                    240

Total recaptures-             26                        262                      61

                                        2010                    2011                  2012

Total crabs counted 

during surveys -              151                      171                    165                   

2010

Indian Cove Public Beach              Indian Cove Private Beach    

Single males-4                                  Single males-13

Single females-1                               Single females- 4

Pairs-30                                              Pairs-19

Female with 2 males-2                    Female with 2 males-3

Female with 3 males-0                    Female with 3 males-4

Total crabs-71                                   Total crabs-80

2011

Single males-19                              Single males-6

Single females-9                             Single females-1

Pairs-41                                            Pairs-13

Female with 2 males-7                  Female with 2 males-1

Female with 3 males-1                  Female with 3 males-0                                                                                                                 Total crabs-135                               Total crabs-36

                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                      

2012

Single males-15                               Single males-7

Single females-4                              Single females-3

Pairs-27                                             Pairs-31                      

Female with 2 males-5                   Female with 2 males-0

Female with 3 males-0                   Female with 3 males-0

Females with 4 males-1                 Female with 4 males-0

Total crabs-93                                  Total crabs-72

Three Chapter Area Schools Embrace Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program

Michelle Frankel and Taralynn Reynolds describe a program for children

King-Robinson Magnet School in New Haven and Melissa Jones Elementary School and Abraham Baldwin Middle School in Guilford are embracing the Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program.

Melissa Jones students admire the Habitat Recognition sign that the school was awarded for its adoption of the Audubon At Home healthy habitat program.

The Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program develops healthy schoolyard habitats for children and wildlife by providing schools with the guidance, training, and resources to create habitat for wildlife on the school grounds and integrate place-based nature education into the curriculum. The program is well aligned with the children and youth programmatic priorities at the schools. Access to a schoolyard habitat will provide all children at the school with access to nature on a daily basis and help them understand the connections between making healthy choices for themselves and for the environment. Activities will build skills in inquiry, observation, and math using experiential techniques, enabling children to be more successful at school. They will have the opportunity to work with adults, play leadership roles and make positive decisions by participating in the Garden Stewardship committee. Family education activities will provide opportunities for families to nurture and support children’s learning and encourage families to make healthy choices at home.

Place-based nature education is critical to the development of an environmentally aware citizenry. At a time when passive indoor activities and restrictions on outdoor play dominate children’s out-of-school time, youngsters have little direct experience in nature. There is an urgent need for place-based learning about the natural world, particularly in urban areas. Richard Louv documented the nationwide epidemic of “nature deficit disorder,” linking lack of nature exposure to rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. The American Association for the Advancement of Science urges teachers to take science out of the textbook and into reality.

Audubon Connecticut has been awarded a grant for $23,314 from the Carolyn Foundation to develop the Schoolyard Habitat Program at King-Robinson. The grant will expand on the three-year partnership Menunkatuck has had with King-Robinson to enable the establishment of a large wildlife meadow, development of a Schoolyard Habitat Educator’s Guide, teacher training, and field trips for the school children.Carolyn Foundation to develop the Schoolyard Habitat Program at King-Robinson. The grant will expand on the three-year partnership Menunkatuck has had with King-Robinson to enable the establishment of a large wildlife meadow, development of a Schoolyard Habitat Educator’s Guide, teacher training, and field trips for the school children.

This slope at King-Robinson Magnet School will be transformed into a meadow.

The Guilford schools have each received grants from the Guilford Fund for Education.

Melissa Jones school social worker Lorrie Shaw was awarded $3500 in 2011 and has used the funds to establish a native wildflower and shrub garden that was used by the K-4 students as part of their classwork. She was also able to purchase binoculars and field guides for the students to use. Melissa Jones was awarded the Audubon at Home Habitat Recognition Award for its commitment to establishing the school as a healthy habitat.

Baldwin science teacher Sue Kennedy received $3500 this year. With the help of students from the Guilford High School Ecology Club, a monoculture courtyard area has been transformed into a garden space with native perennials and fruit bearing shrubs. A sloped area that has been ignored and is overgrown with non-native plants will become a meadow with pollinator-friendly plants. Additionally, Sue will be purchasing binoculars and field guides.

This courtyard at Baldwin Middle School is being converted from a garden of day lilies to one with a variety of native perennials and fruit-bearing shrubs.

The courtyard garden is starting to take shape.

The Schoolyard Habitat Recognition Program addresses core content standards and outdoor environmental education provides the perfect format for students to improve their scientific inquiry skills. The students will have the opportunity to describe basic natural phenomena such as the seasonal changes in plants or the life cycle of insects found in the garden.

Melissa Jones students study plants and insects in the garden.

Students will be able to use the wildlife gardens to develop authentic research projects, such as examining factors that affect plant growth, seed preferences of birds at feeders, and parental care at nest boxes. Students will use the appropriate tools including hand lenses, binoculars, tape measures, and simple data collection sheets. Students could have ‘magic spots’ where they go every week to observe seasonal changes of the gardens. Such hands-on experiences encourage students to set questions for themselves rather than simply to respond to questions set by teachers and engage in authentic research and learning experiences.

The Schoolyard Habitat gardens provide an outdoor learning space in which the students can improve their scientific inquiry skills

The first step in adopting the Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program is an assessment of the school campus habitat followed by recommendations for making it more wildlife-friendly. Contact Taralynn Reynolds (treynolds@audubon.org) for more information about having your school become part of this exciting program.

Michelle Frankel is a Conservation Biologist and Taralynn Reynolds is the Audubon At Home Coordinator for Audubon Connecticut.

King/Robinson Students Experience Raptors from A Place Called Hope

The students at King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven experienced live raptors from A Place Called Hope Raptor Rehabilitators today. In two programs, one for the Pre-K to Grade 4 students and the other for the Grade 5 to Grade 8 students, Christine Cummings and Todd Secki brought out five birds of prey.

An eastern screech owl and a great horned owl were the birds used to describe the unique features of owls. A red-tailed hawk and a broad-winged hawk showed the similarities and differences between the largest and one of the smallest hawks found in Connecticut.

The upper level students also got to see a barn owl in its second performance since coming to A Place Called Hope. The barn owl showed little of the shyness that Christine and Todd thought it might and gave the students a good show.

Live Raptors at King/Robinson

Horizon Wings Raptor Rehabilitation and Education visited King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven on June 18. Mary-Beth Kaeser and Jeanne Wadsworth brought an American kestrel, a broad-winged hawk, a peregrine falcon, and a great-horned owl to show the school's students.

American Kestrel

Broad-winged hawk

Peregrine falcon

Great-horned owl

Highlights of the presentation:

Bald Eagle Visits King/Robinson

When I visited King/Robinson the other day, Cliff gave me copies of the videos he and Anizya took of a Bald Eagle that visited the school on January 13. The eagle was in a tree about 150 m from Mrs Sullivan's science classroom. As the students watched and recorded, the eagle plucked and ate a gull that it had flown in with.