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F NA Ca l end ar o f E ven t s

Join us for the workdays listed below. Please remember these points:

No experience required but enthusiasm a must!

Please dress for outdoor work & wear sturdy shoes or boots. Bring work gloves if possible.

Those under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult or have written permission.

Rain, heavy snow, or hazardous weather cancels any outdoor event.

Third Tuesday workdays with the Education Center stewards:

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm, meet in the Lederman Science Center parking lot.

Second Saturday brush cutting days at Indian Creek:

10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Meet in front of Wilson Hall in the “horseshoe” parking area.

Third Saturday habitat restoration work days. Third Saturday of each month, all year long.

9:00 am to noon. Meet at Lederman Science Center parking lot.

Feb 6 Fermilab ELM Committee meeting, Wilson Hall, One East, noon.

Feb 9 Fermilab’s Family Science Open House, Wilson Hall atrium, 1 pm to 5 pm.

“This is a party for children who bring an adult with them to learn about the

world of physics. (There's plenty for the grown-ups, too.)”

FNA will staff a booth, and welcomes volunteers to help! Contact Rod Walton

(see above) if you can spend some time with us on that busy Sunday afternoon.

Feb 25 Fermilab Natural Areas annual meeting. At 7:00 pm in Fermilab’s Wilson Hall,

One West conference room, atrium level. See article on page 2. We will be holding

elections for four Board members, and officers.

Mar 6 Fermilab ELM Committee meeting, Wilson Hall, One East, noon.

Mar 15 Hawk Talk, Wilson Hall, room Curia II, 10:00 am - see page 4 for details.

Please watch your email, or Facebook for last-minute changes or additional events.

FNA News Jan/Feb 2014

www.fermilabnaturalareas.org fermilabnaturalareas@gmail.com 630-840-4845

Fermilab Natural Areas (FNA), is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit

tax-exempt corporation formed in 2006. Our mission: To conserve, restore and study

the natural areas within Fermilab while encouraging employees and neighbors to

experience and enjoy Fermilab's natural beauty.

We envision a future:

* Where our natural areas and ecosystems are rich in biodiversity.

* Where conservation and restoration are sustainable activities.

* Where we are a regional leader in natural areas research.

* Where Fermilab's open spaces contribute to a high quality of life for the community.

A M e s s a g e f r o m F NA P r e s i d e n t Ro d W a l t o n fermilabnaturalareas@gmail.com

Happy New Year! This is a time for us to look forward to another busy and productive year in Fermilab's Natural Areas, and also take a look back at last year and what we've accomplished. One way we do that each year is at our annual general membership meeting. Open to all, this year’s meeting will be at Wilson Hall’s One West conference room on Tuesday February 25, at 7:00 pm. We will be looking over what we did in 2013 and talking about how to make it better in 2014. We will highlight plans for a new website, new educational opportunities with Discovery Days 2014, and a new Strategic Plan. We look forward to seeing you there and sharing your thoughts for the com-ing year. Also in this newsletter, see the schedule for upcoming events, like the popular Hawk Talk on March 15. Please keep in mind also that as a completely volunteer-based organization, we need your help. You can lend a hand in many ways - financial support is always appreciated to advance our mission to conserve, protect and en-hance our natural areas (see page 4 for info). We have plenty of other opportunities to help with outreach, web design and fund raising. We hope you have a wonderful new year and you can share a part of it with us! As al-ways, please feel free to call me at 630-840-2565, or email with any questions, suggestions or comments.

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Annual FNA Membership Meeting and Election of Officers Tricia Bethke, FNA

The FNA Annual meeting is at Wilson Hall’s One West conference room on Tuesday February 25, from 7 pm to 9 pm.

The meeting room is on the main atrium level of Wilson Hall, follow our signs! At the meeting, we will take a look at

the highlights from 2013, and announce the upcoming Discovery Day educational events, and opportunities with FNA.

We will take a sneak peak at the proposed revision to our website, and present our new Strategic Plan. Current FNA

members will also vote on four board members, and officer positions for President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secre-

tary. This is a great opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments and prepare for the upcoming year. We hope to see

you there!

Snakes, Salamanders, and More! The Results of Our First Monitoring Year Tristan Schramer , FNA

This past year, Fermilab Natural Areas embarked on a new quest to determine the herpetofauna currently on site, and

update the previous 1989 survey. I, Tristan Schramer (a student at Glenbard West High School), began this process in

late March after determining, along with Ryan Campbell, the necessary strategy and protocol for surveying these ani-

mals. This consisted of the placement of various plywood cover boards near the edges of ephemeral wetlands at various

locales on site to ascertain which salamander species, if any, were present. [See page 3 of the July/Aug 2013 newsletter

for a brief introduction, http://www.fermilabnaturalareas.org/newsletter7-8-13.pdf ]

Spring of 2013, having a delayed onset, yielded poor results for salamanders as the ground didn’t thaw until April. The

occurrence of the Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata), Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens), Chicago Garter

Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus), and Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum) were easily con-

firmed by the end of April. One of the most intriguing findings during this time was the unearthing of a Brown Snake

hibernaculum in the southwest quadrant of the Main Ring, where dozens of individuals (continued on page 3)

Butterflies and Moths In Winter Tom Peterson, FNA & Fermilab’s butterfly expert

Where do the butterflies and moths of Fermilab go in the winter? The following answer to that question appeared in the

FNA newsletter three years ago. But given our cold and snowy winter, we thought it was worth describing, again, the

amazing fact that butterflies and moths live here through winters like this one, and the methods they use to do so.

The remarkable migration of monarch butterflies all the way to central Mexico, long a mystery, may now be the best

known answer to the question of where butterflies and moths go in the winter. (The decline in numbers of monarch but-

terflies made news this past fall, such as in a New York Times article entitled “The Year the Monarch Didn’t Appear”.

I will not repeat the information here, except to say that the decline is being attributed at least in part to the decline in the

numbers of milkweed plants, the caterpillar food plant, with extensive herbicide use.) Although other butterflies also mi-

grate, most are actually right here on the Fermilab site all winter!

Each species of butterfly or moth has its own particular method of surviving the winter. 37 of the 56 species of butter-

flies observed at Fermilab hibernate through the winter on the Fermilab site. Hairstreaks do so as eggs, fritillaries as cat-

erpillars, swallowtails as chrysalids. Mourning cloaks, eastern commas, and gray commas, which hibernate in the woods

as adult butterflies, are among the first local butterflies flying in the spring. The photo, below, shows a gray comma in

early spring. The hibernating insects have a chemical “antifreeze” in

their blood which prevents freezing during the cold winter temperatures.

Some of our common adult butterflies, like the monarch, do not survive

subfreezing temperatures. Red admirals, buckeyes, and painted ladies do

not survive winters here, but all disperse again to the north each spring,

often becoming quite common here in the summer. As with the mon-

archs, several generations occur in the south between migrations; no in-

dividual butterfly makes the entire round trip.

Moths also have their unique ways of surviving winter. Giant silk

moths, like polyphemus and luna, overwinter in a cocoon. The common,

furry, banded wooly-bear caterpillars often seen “running” across walk-

ing paths in the autumn hibernate as a fully grown caterpillar. They spin

a cocoon in the spring, using fur from their bodies, and emerge a few

weeks later as an orange moth, the Isabella moth.

In whatever form they hibernate, butterflies and moths remain inactive and well hidden. Even in winter as we walk

through a snowy woods or prairie, butterflies and moths are all around us, waiting for the warmth of spring.

For links to details about moths and butterflies at Fermilab , please visit this page:

http://www.fnal.gov/pub/about/campus/ecology/wildlife/butterflies.html

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hibernate communally. In the 1989 survey, only one Midland Brown was documented on the entire property, so this

new discovery either advocates the positive effects of habitat restoration or, at least, determines the presence of another

relic population. Once it was evident that the snakes were leaving their hibernacula, we moved the boards away from the

ponds to the prairies and woodland edges.

The month of May produced a few more species confirmations, which included the American Toad (Bufo americanus),

Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix), and Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vul-

pina). With the start of summer, other volunteers including Liz Copeland, Bridgett Thomson, and Elise Worthel began to

help monitor snakes, and we began placing corrugated sheet metal for monitoring. Liz shared

her thoughts as a volunteer: “Monitoring snakes was like a treasure hunt. We never knew

what we would find underneath our snake boards. I am glad that I can help Fermilab Natural

Areas as a "citizen scientist" to discover the riches of flora and fauna on the property. Here's

to finding that elusive smooth green snake, or red-bellied, next season!”

The summer months confirmed the presence of additional species like the Common Snap-

ping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), and Bull-

frog (Rana catesbeiana). Additionally, August provided evidence of successful breeding as

we encountered neonates and metamorphs of many of the already-confirmed species, includ-

ing the Tiger Salamander.

Some species, which I suspect could be present at Fermilab, were not located this season,

including: the Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis

triangulum triangulum), Graham’s Crayfish Snake (Regina grahamii), Green Frog (Rana

clamitans), and Smooth Green Snake (Opheodrys vernalis). All of these species have been

found about a mile north of Fermilab’s northern boundary in remnant habitat, leading me to

believe that unknown relic populations were at least present at one time, if not currently per-

sisting. There is also a likelihood that the Central Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens lou-

isianensis) may have been present on site as well, as more recent populations have been un-

earthed just five miles north of Fermilab. With continued efforts, now that the protocol and

survey sites are established, I’m confident that new herpetological discoveries await us, hid-

den within Fermilab’s 6,800 acres.

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The Annual Christmas Bird Count at Fermilab Dave Spleha, FNA

The conditions for the recent 2013 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) held on December 14, 2013 were much improved over

the previous 2012 CBC. Whereas it rained all day for the 2012 CBC, this year we had a beautiful, snowy day with mild

temperatures. The CBC is conducted in many locations throughout the country (and much of the Western Hemisphere)

as a full day of censusing birds within a defined 7.5 mile radius circle. These counts are held on any day between Dec.

14 and Jan. 5. Fermilab is the center of the "Fermi Circle" Count and the data herein includes just the birds from inside

the Fermilab site and not the full circle. The snowy conditions did have some affect on the birding, but we still ended up

with 50 species for the day which is just about the ten-year average of 50.6 species.

The best of the waterfowl were two each of Ring-necked Ducks and Bufflehead (only

the 2nd Fermi CBC sighting). Other waterfowl of interest were American Black Duck

(1, lowest in 13 years), Common Goldeneye (242, a respectable number), and Common

Merganser (8, fairly low count). The number of Great Blue Herons (3) was well below

the twenty-year average of 7.5. We did well on Raptors, finding Northern Harrier (4),

Sharp-shinned Hawk (3), Cooper's Hawk (1), Red-tailed Hawk (8), Rough-legged

Hawk (1), and American Kestrel (1). A respectable quantity of three Wilson's Snipe

were found several in open creeks. The oddity of the day, pictured at right, was a fe-

male Red-bellied Woodpecker with a yellow nape, looking just like a Golden-fronted

Woodpecker (typically found in Texas & Mexico) but lacking the all-white rump.

Some of the other more interesting passerines were Northern Shrike (2), Blue Jay (23,

highest in 10 years), American Crow (1, their numbers still remain suppressed),

Horned Lark (4), Red-breasted Nuthatch (1), Brown Creeper (4, past 10 year aver-

age=2), Eastern Bluebird (7), Cedar Waxwing (46), Yellow-rumped Warbler (3, high-

est number at Fermi), Fox Sparrow (3), Swamp Sparrow (13, 20 yr Ave=3.8), Lapland

Longspur (49, previous high=4), and Red-winged Blackbird (2). D.

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Snake Monitoring, continued ...

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Membership/Donations

http://www.fermilabnaturalareas.org/membership.html by U.S. Mail or online

Help us enhance Fermilab's ecology. Members receive the FNA Newsletter via email, are invited to special

events, and get a discount on FNA merchandise. FNA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization.

All donations to FNA are tax deductible, and can be made in memory or honor of a friend or loved one.

Fermilab employees can donate online via the Employee Self Service website.

Name: _______________________________________

Address: _______________________________________

City: _______________________________________ Donation $ _________________

State: ____________________ Zip: _____________

Email: _______________________________________

Please mail your check or money order to: Fermilab Natural Areas

P.O. Box 500, MS 444

Batavia, IL 60510

For Sale by FNA See all of our items online at http://www.fermilabnaturalareas.org/shop.html

Rain barrels are on sale! Buy now and avoid the springtime rush! Assembled by us, these recycled food-grade plas-

tic barrels have an overflow connection on top, a spigot with hose bib on the bottom, and metal mesh covering the big

hole in the removable lid. Barrels are black, brown, or terra-cotta, but other colors may be available (please call). We’ll

also include 3 concrete blocks to use as a stand. Sale price of $65.

HUGE SALE on all FNA apparel! See below for our special prices, via e-mail orders only!

E-mail us at fermilabnaturalareas@gmail.com, let us know your item, size and quantity and we

will confirm the purchase arrangements.

Tan baseball-style caps with our embroidered logo, made in the USA of sturdy cotton twill material,

with adjustable Velcro strap. Now only $10 for FNA members or non-members.

FNA long-sleeved or short-sleeved t-shirts are natural organic, with our logo printed in front, web address across the

back. Short-sleeved tees are $10, long-sleeved are $10. Sizes from Small to XXL.

Benefactor $2,500 and up

Patron $1,000

Supporter $500

Donor $250

Sponsor $100

Contributor $50

Member $25

Student/Youth $15

Fermilab Natural Areas presents:

HAWK TALK

Saturday, March 15th, from 10:00 am to Noon

A natural history of raptors including basic identification features.

Presented by Larry Miller in conjunction with the Hawk Migration Association of North America. Mr. Miller will present the natural history, and basic identification features of some of Chicagoland's hawk and raptor species. This event is open to anyone or any family with an interest in the outdoors

and learning more about raptors found within the Chicago region, especially at Fermilab.

Hosted in room Curia II which is located next to the art gallery on the second floor of Wilson Hall, Fermilab. Signs will direct you from the first (atrium) floor, front entrance.

This is a FREE event. All are encouraged to attend!

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