Celebrate Arbor Day!

Did everyone know that this Saturday is Arbor Day? Well, I didn’t until just a few minutes ago… And where better to celebrate Arbor Day than Cornell’s own Newman Arboretum at the Plantations! There will be an event this Saturday that will include a demonstration of tree planting and a guided walk through the arboretum. There will also be a talk about the biology, identification, and care of trees. The demonstration will be at 10am and the walk will begin around 10:30am. If this is too early for you, there will also be a ceremonial tree planting and a talk about the history of Arbor Day at noon. It sounds like a really great way to learn about trees and discover one of Cornell’s great natural areas. Also, if you have a place to plant a tree, they will be giving out seedlings!

There will be a number of other events at the Cornell Plantations starting in May. Including evening wildflower walks at 7pm on May 1, 8, and 15. Check out the plantations as a study break!

For more information about events at the plantations go to the plantations’ website.

There is also a “Natural Areas” link on the site that has information about other places to explore in the Ithaca area, including some great maps! Check it out!

Don’t miss out.

Don’t miss out on the Earth Day Celebrations going on around Ithaca this week.

A calendar of Ithaca Earth Day events can be found here, at the Sustainable Tompkins website.

Some very brief choice picks from the list, just for an overview:

• April 19, 9 am – 3 pm: Ithaca College Earth Day information fair.
• April 19, 6 – 8 pm: “Beyond an Inconvenient Truth.” Talk by energy engineer Ian Shapiro, who has trained with Al Gore, on what can be done locally to slow global climate change.
• April 20, 10 am – 3 pm: Cornell Earth Day celebration, Ho Plaza, Cornell University.
• April 21, 10 am: Earth Day 5K run.
• April 21, 2 – 5 pm: Interfaith Open Space discussion of the role of faith communities in the sustainability movement.
• April 22, noon – 5 pm: 10th annual Ithaca Earth Day community celebration at the Ithaca Farmers Market.

 

Speaking of which….

The Farmers Market is now open! It opened last week. If you haven’t been you’re missing out. And if you have been, you know how awesome it is!

You can buy locally grown food, wine from local wineries, locally made products, and ready to eat food, and see local entertainers and musicians. Oh, and try one of the breakfast burritos from Solaz. You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten one of the breakfast burritos.

You can even take your dog to the market! (But only on Sunday, Saturdays get too busy for pups.)

Don’t know how to get there? They have a little map on their website. (Don’t use Google maps; they put you right in the middle of Ithaca, and Mapquest isn’t any better.) It’s off of Route 13, south of the ScienCenter. If you need more specific directions, don’t hesitate to email me at ithaquest at gmail dot com. Or find a friend who knows where it is and you can carpool!

But really, don’t miss out.

Morels: yummy mushrooms!

      Morels are an edible mushroom that can be found around the Ithaca area. They start popping up in the early weeks of April, so be on the lookout! They have a long body stalk with a head, or cap that is a light to deep brown with very distinct ridges. The mushrooms are typically found in places where forest fires occured the year before, however a burn is not nessecary in order to facilitate the growth of the mushrooms. Often you’ll find these mushrooms clustered together in large groups in the forests in and surrounding Ithaca.  If you know someone in the mushrooms class, the class often has mushroom hunts, so they may know where to find them.  I know somoene who took the class and found them before.  But I hear that if you find them, don’t pick them all, so that they will come back again next year!  And of course, make sure you have a positive identification before eating any mushrooms you find.

Hi!

Hi everyone!  I’m the Mary that Susan metioned.  I think this is a great project that she’s started and I’m really excited to be working with her.  I’m a senior bio major and I work in a herp lab on campus, so I hope to be a good resource to this site.  Look for a post about mushrooms from me soon and keep making your own posts!

Quick Announcement

Ithaquest has gained a second writer!  Mary will be joining me in writing for the site.  I look forward to working with her, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her posts : )

Salamander Update

I went herping with a friend at Bull Pasture Pond tonight and the salamanders are coming out. We saw six or seven spotted salamanders and at least one Jefferson’s. So if you go look, you should find some.

I’ve had a couple people ask me where exactly Bull Pasture Pond is. If you take Blue Grass Lane off of Warren Road (near the Cornell golf course) and follow it down a little hill where there will be a small barn on the left and some ponds and woods on the right. You can park your car there on the road. The best place to find them is in a pond about 200 yards off the road within a wooded area past one of the golf holes. But the other ponds in that area will have them as well.

You’re going to want to walk right into the pond and shine your light down into the water. You’ll see them swimming around.

Also while you’re there you’ll no doubt notice that the spring peepers are out. You won’t see them, but you’ll definitely hear them (be sure to listen to the sound clip on that link if you’re not sure what a spring peeper sounds like). As I’ve heard it, last night you couldn’t hear any peepers but tonight they were peeping. In the next few weeks the peepers will get so loud it’s almost deafening.

 

We saw a bunch of people out there, too. Anybody reading?

The Impending Salamander Explosion

Challenge level: Adventurous

The weather looks as if it might be taking a turn toward the warmer side. As Cornell students return from spring break to enjoy the spring weather in Ithaca, some other Ithaca residents will be emerging.

Of course we all know the charismatic animals who will be coming out of hibernation: the chipmunks, the groundhogs, and returning migrant song birds. And certainly insects will start appearing in larger numbers, while the trees will start budding, and the flowers emerging.

But the animals I’m suggesting you watch for in the coming week aren’t animals many people take notice of as spring dawns. I’m talking about our local salamanders.

After spending the winter hibernating in the mud, salamanders are starting to emerge in reaction to the warmer weather and heavy rains of the spring. These amphibians awake from their winter sleep and climb out of the mud to seek mates and pass on their genetic material to a new generation

The Quest:

What this all means is that this time of year is the perfect time to go out, get a little muddy, and see some salamanders!

There are plenty of places around Ithaca where you can go “herping,” as searching for reptiles and amphibians is known. I suggest taking a look at the Plantations’ map of Cornell natural areas, and for areas not on the Cornell campus see the map of Ithaca natural areas. Of course these are not the only natural areas in Ithaca and they’re not the only places to find salamanders, but it’s a great start.

The best spot to find spring salamanders is small ponds known as “vernal pools”. Cornell students can take a short walk (especially for North Campus residents) up to Bull Pasture Pond near the Cornell Golf Course. This is an excellent place to find salamanders. In fact, K. Zamudio of the Cornell Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has used these ponds several times in her research in the past. Another option is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. Temporary ponds form this time of year in the wetland areas of these woods (marked in green on the map).

Anytime in the evening and particularly after dark in the next couple weeks, take a trek out with flashlights and waterproof boots (rubber boots would be best). Clear nights with temperatures above freezing, and little wind are best. Check in the water for salamanders swimming about; they use their long tails like a rudder as they move through the water. If there’s still daylight, check under rocks and logs in the woods as well. You’re almost guaranteed to find salamanders.

Local species to look for:

You may find it helpful to purchase, borrow, or take a look at a field guide to help you identify species.

Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum)
Info

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
Info

Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus)
Info

Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus)
Info

Two-Lined (Eurycea bislineata)
Info

Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus)
Info

Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
Info

Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)
Info

Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)
Info

If you really want to see something cool:

Because of the high levels breeding activity that take place when the salamanders emerge, you may encounter signs of the salamanders’ presence, besides the actual animals themselves. The species of interest here use a particular form of internal fertilization. When a male courts a female, he will drop a spermatophore on the floor of the pond (or a branch or rock or whatever he thinks is the most attractive). The spermatophore consists of a gelatinous bottom and a cap containing the spermatozoa (the genetic material that will give rise to the embryo). The female will then come along and pick up this spermatophore with her cloaca to fertilize the eggs inside her body.

The really cool part is that you can see all of this as its happening. If you go out to vernal pools and shine your flashlight into the water you might be able to see bright white specks on the floor of the pond; these are the spermatophores. If you’re really lucky, you might also be able to catch the salamanders in the act of courting females, mating, and dropping off and picking up spermatophores. Additionally, look for clear, gelatinous masses floating on the surface of the water, or attached to vegetation on the surface. These are the egg sacs the females lay after internal fertilization occurs.

Keep in mind:

It’s best to simply observe these animals, but if you do catch any salamanders you find, please handle them carefully and only very briefly, placing them carefully back where you found them.

In addition, read the Plantations’ visitor use regulations for further guidance.