Archive Articles
As articles outlive their timeliness but retain their interest, we will move them here. So if you are looking for a piece you have seen before, it may appear here after it leaves the home page. Articles will be arranged alphbetically by title.
Floating Islands and Birds
Rob Crook is a managing partner with Floating Island Southeast wrote the below short article, and it might be of interest to our members.
Quietly, the Blue Heron stood on the edge of the bank not moving at all. Then its neck snapped down in a gray blue blur to snatch a fish from the water. With a couple of flips the fish was tossed into the air until it slid head first down into the big bird’s beak. It was a pretty typical day for the two species, although an unfortunate interaction for the fish, but one that has occurred millions of times between the two animal species. The only difference between this latest incident of Aviary CSI and all the others that took place before is that the Heron was standing on a manmade island that was floating in the middle of a Carrboro Stormwater detention basin rather than the bank of the pond or wading through shallows.
The island is made by Floating Island Southeast which manufactures the Biohaven™ Floating Treatment Wetland for in North and South Carolina and Virginia. It is made from 100% post consumer recycled PE plastic that is extruded into a non-woven matrix. Think - spider web mass of plastic fibers or a really big scrubby kitchen sponge floating in the water. The top of the island has a bunch of holes drilled into it where plant plugs can be inserted during planting of the island. Once the island is launched the plants will take three or four days to grow their roots firmly into the water; if I can use the word firm for roots that grow directly into water. Kidding aside, the plants will then grow normally, much like in a hydroponic system, to attain a normal height and diameter. Once the plants are established they last for a very long time even through the hottest parts of the summer as they are always being watered from below.
With the vegetation and productivity of the island, other things develop on the island naturally as in any other ecosystem. Insects come to investigate the plants and the ecosystem of the island, fish start to feed on the roots of the plants below the island and also on the insects that drop into the water. Turtles come to bask on the island. And birds of all types soon follow.
The most common bird species I see on the islands are Canada Geese, mallards, the Great Blue Heron and numerous other songbirds. Smaller song birds will fly out to the islands to see what is out there and rest on a plant’s stalk or a flower before resuming their travels. So the islands really do serve as a new habitat and oasis for the birds that are found in our area. With a little imagination it would be an easy thing to tailor specific birdhouses for the islands also to try and attract more species to live there. Also it serves as a safe habitat for the birds as land based predators cannot approach the islands. This makes the islands a place where birds and people can enjoy the islands.
Great Backyard Bird Count at Parkwood Elementary
Students at Parkwood Elementary are enthusiastic about birds! For the third year they participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count on their campus in Durham. With the help of volunteers, teachers and teaching assistants, 126 students identified 27 species and reported their numbers to the GBBC. Thanks to New Hope Audubon and the NC Botanical Gardens, a 4th grade class was able to use binoculars to see details on distant birds. This class had previously learned about adaptations by studying the beaks, legs, feet and wings of birds. Since October, the first and 2nd grade classes have been using Cynthia Fox's Guide to Feeder Birds (Wild Bird Center of Chapel Hill) to help them identify the birds that visit the feeders outside one of the classrooms. They used the Internet and learned to identify many birds by sound. Students are also excitedly watching the bald eagles on Jordan Lake via the eagle cam. Parkwood's campus, with its diversity of native plants and animals, is ideal for nature study. There is an adjoining nature trail (never used). There are 4th graders who do not know what a pine cone is! This school needs volunteers. If you can help, contact the school at 560-3962 or Sarah Dendy, 544-8443, gruntled7764@frontier.com.
Last Updated: November 23, 2011