Species Updates

After a long summer we needed to make some updates to our species lists.  With the addition of many new bird sightings and new plantings like the chokeberry, Swamp Milkweed, Cardinal Flower, and other, the list was becoming a bit outdated.  Unfortunately, we here at DomEc didn't have the availability to make these updates incrementally over the summer as we would have liked.

We logged our first reptile at DomEc this summer--a young Black Rat Snake.  We don't have a category in the sidebar for reptiles because they are so rare here.  The same is true for amphibians; none of which have yet been logged.  Hopefully that will change.  Birds are now up to 106 species with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Cape May Warbler added in just the last few days.

Sadly some of the native plants didn't survive the heat wave and lack of rain that has afflicted the Domicile Ecophile property this August.  The American Chestnut seedling was one of the victims.  Many years ago a fallen tree created a hole in the canopy along the eastern edge of the property.  The chestnut had been planted in that hole in hopes of one day replacing the missing tree.  There are Eastern Poplar seedlings around the property.  One of them might get transferred in as substitute.

Butterfly Weed, a milkweed species, is now finally reproducing on its own.  About half-a-dozen seedlings have come up around the small hillside patch that was planted in the summer of 2014.  I suspect that since it is a temperate species the seeds may require a form of stratification (temperature changes to break down growth inhibitors in the seed).  Temperate plants often employ growth inhibitors to prevent them from germinating late in fall and dying in winter.  I suspect our new recruits are born of the 2014 seeds, not the plentiful 2015 crop that is blowing around the property now.

The Dappled Willow that was part of the horrendous (but typical) exotic-based landscape installation present when we took over the property has been pulled.  Many of the exotics are now being removed in conjunction with the vinyl siding project that is ongoing.  Two Burning Bush, two huge Japanese Barberry, and the willow have been removed so far.  In time these will all be replaced with natives or (human) food-producing plants.  More updates to come...