Adjacent Project Wetlands Construction       July2009 | June2009 | Mar2009 | All   7WM - July 2009 Photo 1: View of one of the vernal pools, stocked with logs and branches for cover and basking sites for aquatic animals. Photo 2: Wetland enhancement area where new emergent wetlands are becoming established behind the new berm. These seasonally ponded areas are used by ducks and geese, frog, toads and many aquatic invertebrates. Photo 3: Almost immediately after construction, many frogs were found using and breeding in these ponds, including the Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota) (top photo).  Close up of the green frog, very happy in small creeks and shallow water ponds (bottom photo). Photo 4: Also commonly observed at the new wetlands is the new generation of American toads (Bufo americanus), hatched from the abundant black eggs seen earlier in the season.  These toads hop around the shallow pond edges looking for insects. Photo 5: The wetland mitigation area seems to be in an active home range of several Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina).  Here is one older animal, at least 18 years old. These are terrestrial turtles, preferring to spend their time in the woodlands, but seen mud-bathing in the new vernal ponds. They will retreat under logs and leaves in hot weather but come out of hiding when cooling summer showers pass through. Photo 6: Also found were smaller, younger box turtles, like this palm-sized juvenile. Photo 7: Signs of animals more active at night may also be found throughout the site, including these front and hind foot tracks of the raccoon. Photo 8: The final emergence of a large dragonfly from its nymph casing, a process that can take several hours. This one appears to be a newly minted Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens) which prefers shallow pools. Photo 9: Much showier than its upland cousin is this swamp milkweed, (Asclepias incarnata) whose rose-colored blooms dot the wet meadows (right photo). In bloom mid summer is the blue or pink monkey flower (Mimulus ringens), so named because the flower is thought to resemble the face of a monkey (left photo). Photo 10: Surrounding the wetland mitigation site are "conservation boundary" markers indicating the area as preserved open space to remain undisturbed.           Project News       Community Newsletters       Related Sites       Subscribe for E -Mail       Submit a Question or Comment       FAQ          Twitter