No - you have not.
That’s because the birds that spend their winters in New England are extraordinary! As we know, winter temperatures can fall well below freezing in the Sandwich, NH region. Large amounts of snow can bury food sources and natural habitats. Wind can funnel hard over the mountains and blow down branches where birds could ride out a storm or roost at night. |
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Have you been on the trails and wondered why brush piles have been left here and there along the way? Perhaps you have come across a large fallen tree that was previously across the trail but is now cut, cleared and left alongside? These piles and downed trees old or new are important to a natural forest environment in many ways. |
Deer, bears, squirrels, birds, slugs, and insects to name a few, all take advantage of edible mushrooms/fungi found in the forest. While some forms of mushroom are poisonous, most are loaded with nutrition and are an important food source. At a time when summer fruits and berries are becoming a bit more scarce,
mushrooms are a welcome addition to the daily sustenance of CSVW wildlife. Mushrooms are crucial to the environment/ecosystem of a healthy forest. They are excellent decomposers and recyclers who break down the forest's natural litter of fallen leaves, logs and other organic matter including animal carcasses. They deposit nitrogen rich nutrients back into the ground to enrich and actually create soil. |
CARING FOR BIRD BOXES
CSVW Caretaker, Paul Healy, takes care of the many bird boxes on the sanctuary acreage. An ammonia solution is sprayed on the posts as a deterrent to other creatures that may otherwise take the eggs or nestlings as food. This process helps ensure successful nests and the return of birds to the area in the future. |