Thanks Sheryl for noticing our efforts on the garlic mustard removal. We have some dedicated volunteers who help with that project and we are happy to say that we did not find much this year. When we first started this project over 6 years ago, people told us that we were nuts and that we would never make a difference. Now they say, thanks for doing it , it looks great! We hope to be planting some native wildflowers and seed in the next couple of weeks . It has also been suggested that we try to inventory the plants that are coming up now that the garlic mustard has been reduced. Anyone interested in helping with that? Thanks again and Happy Birding! Mary L. Warren Wildlife Communications Specialist Magee Marsh Wildlife Area 13229 W. State Route 2 Oak Harbor, OH 43449 419-898-0960 #31 FAX: 419-898-4017 [log in to unmask] Keep the WILD in Ohio, learn how you can help @ wildohiostamp.com "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order." John Burroughs -----Original Message----- From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sheryl Young Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 7:20 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Another "Thanks" due Magee Volunteers Mary Warren did a great job thanking those who made the Biggest Week in America Birding a wonderful experience for all, but I would like to give one more big "Thank You." Thank you so very much to Mary and all her many volunteers who put in so much time and effort pulling Garlic Mustard! It is boring, backbreaking work, but without your efforts we would been very frustrated trying to view the many wonderful ground dwelling species. I saw quite a few Lincoln's Sparrows this year but I doubt I would have seen any had the garlic mustard not been controlled. Our native vegetation did a good enough job concealing Mourning and Connecticut Warblers, but without the efforts of these people much of the boardwalk areas of Magee would have been carpeted with a mini-forest of garlic mustard - the way so many locations look now. Imagine how many thrushes and Ovenbirds we would have overlooked and how much time we would have spent waiting for White-throated Sparrows, Catbirds, and assorted blackbirds to reveal themselves clearly enough to be identified. I won't expound here on the evils of garlic mustard but it is so very much more than just an annoyance to birders. It impacts the entire ecosystem to the detriment of almost every other species of plant and animal not only by shading out other plants but also by producing chemicals with profound effects on other plants including trees. Let the folks at Magee inspire you to help control garlic mustard in other areas. Join garlic mustard pulling teams. Learn to recognize it both as a first year seedling and as a flowering second year plant. Each plant produces a tremendous amount of tiny seeds and those seeds can remain viable for seven years. If you visit a garlic mustard affected area, clean your shoes afterwards to avoid transporting the seeds to other locations. Garlic mustard often gains a toehold in an area along trails this way so if you see plants beginning to grow in an area pull them before they can produce seed. Adult plants are tough and will continue to ripen their seed even after being pulled so ideally they should be bagged and disposed of but if you are not able to do that, at least pulling them and throwing them on the trail for others to trod upon will help (stripping the flower buds from the plant after pulling helps even more). Once again, thank you Magee garlic mustard pullers! Your efforts show that control is possible. Keep up the battle, and hopefully more of us will join in at Magee and other locations. Sheryl Young Sandusky ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]