Welcome to my exciting summer as a Manassas LEAF intern. Virginia's Link to Education About Forestry (LEAF) in Manassas is a partnership between the National Parks Service at the Manassas National Battlefield Park, the Virginia Department of Forestry and the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Through this internship I will be able to experience working with each of these organizations and I will use this blog to record what we are working on.
One of our larger projects this week was bird surveying throughout the park. This involved periods of listening, fancy equipment so try to see the birds (making it a little easier to identify), and some very early mornings. The Manassas National Battlefield Park monitors the Bobwhite Quail in particular to determine the distribution of the quail throughout the park and to help maintain proper habitat management for them. These quails are in decline across the United States and have gradually become a larger concern for conservationists. Although we spend some of the time specifically listening for the distinct "bob white" sound, we are also able to find so many other species throughout the park. The park not only provides habitat for the birds, but the birds are able to play a large role in the ecosystem of the park by acting as both predators and prey, dispersing seeds, and some birds are even able to pollinate flowers.
One of our larger projects this week was bird surveying throughout the park. This involved periods of listening, fancy equipment so try to see the birds (making it a little easier to identify), and some very early mornings. The Manassas National Battlefield Park monitors the Bobwhite Quail in particular to determine the distribution of the quail throughout the park and to help maintain proper habitat management for them. These quails are in decline across the United States and have gradually become a larger concern for conservationists. Although we spend some of the time specifically listening for the distinct "bob white" sound, we are also able to find so many other species throughout the park. The park not only provides habitat for the birds, but the birds are able to play a large role in the ecosystem of the park by acting as both predators and prey, dispersing seeds, and some birds are even able to pollinate flowers.
This week we also spent some time stocking a couple of the ponds at the park with young fish. Maybe unknown to some, but all the ponds on the park's property are open to the public for catch-and-release fishing and are monitored by National Parks Service biologists. We stocked the ponds with catfish, bluegill, crayfish, and minnows (which often end up becoming food for other fish).
We finished this week by working on some wetland habitat management by fixing up a few deer exclosures and planting live stakes throughout the exclosures. The live stakes are branches of dormant trees about a foot long that are cut off and replanted by being placed in the ground like a stake. The stakes perform many important functions such as creating habitat, stabilizing soil and nutrients, and preventing erosion. If you are ever out and about and see a stick poking out of the water, it could very well be a new tree growing!