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Wildlife drawn to Geauga's Frohring Meadows
(by Joan Demirjian - September 03, 2008)
Wildlife drawn to Geauga's Frohring Meadows
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Frohring Meadows in Bainbridge is a model for the slogan, "If you build it, they will come."
Linda Gilbert, naturalist with the Geauga Park District, led a group of nature enthusiasts recently around Frohring Meadows off Savage Road.
Since the 100-acre tall-grass prairie and wetland were developed on the former farmland owned by Paul Frohring, who donated it to the park district, all manner of wildlife have been showing up, Ms. Gilbert said.
"We started a hiking series in February to document the changes each season," and one more will be held in November, she said. "This is a way we can collect baseline data for the park, and for park biologist Paul Pira," she said.
"We're keeping track of birds, insects, wildlife and vegetation," Ms. Gilbert said. A management plan will be developed from that information, she said.
"The vegetation has grown, and it's neat to see the evolution, from ground up," she said. Invasive plants were sprayed with herbicide, and seeds for native prairie wildflowers were planted at the park.
In three to five years, the park district plans to present the progress of the meadow for the regional park conference of park districts that include Geauga, Lake, Portage, Summit and the Cleveland Metroparks.
"The wet meadow is one of the most interesting features because of the shore birds it has attracted," Ms. Gilbert said. Almost as soon as the wetland was developed, shorebirds began showing up, she said.
"One of our regular park visitors reported seeing a black sora rail chick," she said, which means the adults raised young there. The sora is listed as one of Ohio's species of concern.
Other birds spotted there have included a Virginia rail and a bobolink, which also are on the list of species of concern.
One day last May, a black tern was seen. It is on the Ohio endangered list, Ms. Gilbert said.
How the rare birds find the wetland is a mystery, she said. "Maybe they fly over and say, 'Hey, there's a wet meadow in Bainbridge.'"
On the recent walk around the meadow wetland, Ms. Gilbert used a recording of a sora rail to try to induce it to call back.
Rails are "laterally compressed so they can move silently through the sedges and cattails," she said, hence, "thin as a rail."
Her bird-call recording produced results, enticing a sora to call back, but it did not show itself.
Ms. Gilbert said that, at a previous outing, a Virginia rail actually came out onto the grass, responding to a recording.
"We're trying to get rid of the invasive cattails that have grown up, but the rails love them," she said.
The park district is hoping to attract the grasshopper and henslow sparrows and possibly a sedge wren to the meadows, Ms. Gilbert said.
When part of the wetland was a mud flat, shore birds showed up, she said. The park district is considering producing another mud flat, "so we can have the best of both worlds," Ms. Gilbert said.
In surveying the meadow growth, she noted that ragweed is thriving. It isn't what the park district wants, and the weed will be mowed down, giving space for the desirable plants to grow.
She pointed out meadow coreopsis and black-eyed susan that are thriving in the field.
As the group walked around the wetland on the trail, which is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, a monarch butterfly was spotted, as was a green darner dragonfly. Blue damselflies flitted from plant to plant, attracted to sedge and meadow areas.
Frogs, including wood, green and gray tree frogs, as well as toads, have taken up residence in the wetland. The northern leopard frog prefers the grasslands of the meadow, Ms. Gilbert said.
At one point in the hike, Ms. Gilbert spotted an uncommon band-wing meadowhawk dragonfly. It will be added to the list of Frohring dragonflies. She discovered a rare band-winged dragonlet dragonfly in 2007. It is native to Texas.
"Who knows what's going to show up," she said. "The wildlife here is amazing."
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