A few years ago, we joined with a group of neighboring Dothan Ridge landowners to commission Audubon Vermont to do a study of the suitability of our combined forest lands for bird habitat. Key recommendations to improve bird habitat include:
We are starting to make plans to implement these recommendations. Stay tuned for future updates on these plans.
- To reduce non-native, invasive shrubs as much as possible, because these shrubs do not provide nutritious food for birds, and they crowd out native trees and shrubs that provide much better food and nesting options for birds
- To restore some open fields near the brook, and areas of dense shrubby habitat, with wildflowers, tree seedlings and native shrubs that are mowed periodically. This type of habitat, which is very important to woodcock, bobolink, grouse and a variety of warblers, would have been prevalent on this land after the most recent logging operation in the 1990s, but the open areas were not maintained by periodic mowing, so the habitat for birds has degraded over time.
- To retain and encourage native trees and shrubs that provide good food for wildlife, including apple, cherry, yellow birch, and oak trees
- To harvest some groups of mature trees in the forest, in order to increase the structural diversity of the forest
We are starting to make plans to implement these recommendations. Stay tuned for future updates on these plans.
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