After the Fire at Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary

Today was the first opportunity that I had time to hike Sassafrass Trail at Waseeka and survey the damage from the 6 or 13 or 40-acre (depending on what report you read) brush fire that occurred there on April 28.  The smell was the first thing that hit me.  Really, it smells like you are walking in a fireplace.  That's the only thing I can compare it to.  The other thing that surprised me was that the trail itself did not appear burned.  Guess it was packed down enough from years of use that it didn't get charred.  Interesting.  Firefighters had trouble fighting the fire because of its remote location and the fact that there were no nearby hydrants.   I can't express how it felt to walk through this barren section.  No wildlife can be sustained here now.  The ground is just ash.  An occasional breeze blew little whirlwinds of ash around....

Because this sanctuary is located near my home, I have a chance to walk it more frequently than others.  You start to feel ownership after a while.  Especially when, over time, you are witness to the variety and beauty of the wildlife that is sustained by this one sanctuary alone.  As I've walked here over the last two years, I have seen:

Birds:

1. Baltimore Oriole (breeding)
2. Barn Swallows
3. Belted Kingfisher
4. Black-capped Chickadee
5. Blue Jay
6. Brown Creeper (breeding)
7. Canada goose
8. Common Grackle
9. Downy Woodpecker
10. Eastern Phoebe
11. Golden-crowned Kinglet
12. Great Blue Heron
13. Great Egret
14. Great Crested Flycatcher
15. Hairy Woodpecker
16. Hermit Thrush
17. Hooded Merganser
18. Mallard
19. Northern Cardinal
20. Northern Flicker
21. Osprey (breeding)
22. Ovenbird
23. Palm Warbler
24. Red-Bellied Woodpecker
25. Red-breasted Nuthatch (breeding)
26. Red-tailed Hawk
27. Red-winged Blackbird
28. Ring-necked Duck
29. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
30. Scarlet Tanager
31. Song Sparrow 
32. Tree Swallows
33. Tufted Titmouse
34. White-breasted Nuthatch (breeding)
35. Wild Turkey
36. Wood Duck
37. Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Mammals:

1. Beaver
2. Mink
3. Muskrat
4. White-tailed Deer

Amphibians:

1. Eastern leopard frog
2. Eastern Painted turtles
3. Garter snakes
4. Northern water snake
5. Wood Frog

Butterflies:

1. American Copper 
2. American Lady
3. Black Swallowtail
4. Clouded Sulphur
5. Eastern Pine Elfin
6. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
7. Gray Hairstreak
8. Great Spangled Fritillary
9. Juvenal's Duskywing
10. Little Wood Satyr
11. Mourning Cloak
12. Pearl Crescent
13. Spring Azure

Dragonflies:

1. Calico Pennant
2. Chalk-Fronted Corporal

Flora:

1. Black-Eyed Susan
2. Blue-eyed Grass
3. Cinnamon Fern
4. Daisies
5. Foam Flower
6. Fringed Milkwort
7. Milkweed
8. Mountain Laurel
9. Queen Anne's Lace
10. Spotted Wintergreen
11. Starflower
12. Violets
13. Water Lilies
14. Wild Blueberries
15. Wild Iris

WOW!

It is very dry this spring.  We need to be careful with things that may cause fire.  Please don't smoke in or near the woods.  Please don't throw your cigarettes or dump your ashtray out the car window.  Please don't litter the woods.  Please don't choose a WILDLIFE SANCTUARY as the place to walk your dog, no matter how convenient it may be to your house.  This is a sanctuary.  Let's keep it that way.