The revisiting of the Ask The Land survey is going great! Since my time here at Shepherd’s Corner we have had the following people do resurveying:

1. Allison Shaw, Colleen Sharkey, and Stephanie West surveyed birds, and they are all with the Metroparks

2. Jim McCormac, and avian expert for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, also conducted a bird survey

3. Mark Dilley, founder of MAD Scientists, surveyed plants

4. Jenny Adkins, who works for MAD Scientists, also did an extensive plant survey

5. Aaron Laver, employee of MAD Scientists, and Hunter Ardvey, intern for MAD Scientists, surveyed amphibians, fish, and invertebrates

6. Dan Boone, a retired arbologist and current botanist, surveyed plants

7. Jeff Bates, instructor at Columbus State, did soil analysis throughout the different patches of land

The turn out so far has been really impressive, and it is great to see how willing people are to lending their time to help with this survey. It takes a team of experts to put this together, so I say thank you to all of those that have, and will be surveying! This week I will be doing a fungus survey with Jim Davidson, a wildlife and fungus expert. There are so many different fungus that have sprouted up over the last couple of weeks because of all the rain. So while the rain is a nuisance for many humans, it is a gift to many plants! Just walking around on my own I have come across at least 10 different kinds of fungus, and that is only on one of the three paths that I can take. I have identified one type as Turkey tail (pictured on right), and another kind called Coral fungus. The eyelash fungus was out during camp week, but I think that with everyone walking over it that it has gone away. However, it will be added to the final list of fungus because it was present at one point this summer!

This is where it pays to always keep a close eye on the surroundings, and not just when the specific survey times come. Environments are constantly changing, and not necessarily on a large scale, but the small scales… like flooding one day and not the next due to the rain. These changes cause living things to adapt, such as the mushrooms sprouting when it’s wet, and not when it’s dry. Looking at these, sometimes over night changes, are going to be extremely helpful during my final reflection on how the addition of buildings around Shepherd’s Corner is affecting the wildlife. Just over night the trails scenery can change, and I can only imagine how much difference a few years worth of change has made.