Special Features on the Farm
Vernal pools
Pools of water that dry up for part of the year are called vernal pools. There are two of these at Small Ones Farm. You’d never know by looking at them, but vernal pools are really important places for certain frogs and salamanders that won’t lay their eggs in any other kind of water body except vernal pools. Why are they so picky? Because, if they lay their eggs in waters where fish live, the fish would eat their eggs. And fish can’t survive in pools that dry out in summer.
If you visit this pool when it has water in it, you may be lucky enough to see tadpoles of wood frogs or other kinds of frogs. Maybe you’ll even see salamander larvae, which look like tadpoles except they have feathery gills sticking out of their neck. If you watch the water closely you’ll probably start to see lots of different types of bugs swimming around. Can you see the caddis fly larvae, who live inside a protective tube they constructed of twigs or bits of leaves? They’re about an inch long and walk along the bottom eating decayed plant material. Before the pool dries up, they metamorphose into moth-like adults that fly away and lay their eggs in another vernal pool.
Animal Tracks
Many animal species have been observed on our farm, such as the Virginia opossum and the star-nosed mole. Sometimes we spot interesting creatures, but usually we know they’re there because of the clues they leave behind, such as their tracks in the new snow.
Bluebird Houses
There are 8 bluebird houses on our farm. These boxes were erected to attract Eastern Bluebirds. This gorgeous little bird is found in open fields and pastures where it hunts for insects such as caterpillars, earthworms, grasshoppers, crickets and beetles. They also eat berries, especially in the winter when insects can’t be found.
In the last century, many problems combined to make the bluebird population drop sharply. One was the import of two birds from Europe, the house sparrow and the starling. Both these species aggressively compete with bluebirds for nest sites and the house sparrow will even peck to death bluebird eggs, young, and adults. Other reasons for the loss of bluebirds are regrowth of open fields into forest and the replacement of wood fenceposts with metal ones that can’t be hollowed out to make a nest. Pesticides harm bluebirds both by making them sick and by killing the insects that bluebirds depend on for food.
In the last decade or two, people have been helping bluebirds by providing houses for them and planting the kinds of shrubs and trees that offer yummy berries for them. These efforts have been successful and bluebird populations are now rising again.
Bird species
Over 30 species of birds have been observed on Small Ones Farm, and the habitat on our farm is likely home to dozens more. Here is the list of the observed species so far. Is your favorite bird listed here?
- Mourning Dove
- Blue Jay
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Tufted-titmouse
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Chipping Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- American Goldfinch
- Carolina Wren
- Dark-eyed Junco
- European Starling
- Catbird
- American Crow
- American Robin
- Yellow-shafted Flicker
- Common Yellow Throat Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Raptor (unspecified species)
- Eastern Phoebe
- Turkey Vulture
- Mallard Duck
- Ruffed Grouse
- Wild Turkey
- Eastern Bluebird
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Killdeer
- Tree Swallow
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Barn Swallow
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Peewee
- Veery
- American Redstart
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Common Grackle
- House Sparrow
Special thanks to Molly Hale, wildlife biologist, for providing most of the text for these sections, and to Betzi Sylvan and Ted Watt for our bird list.