The Lee Town Meeting in 2002 voted to place a conservation easement on most of the nearly 200 acres of wooded property the town owns, permanently protecting it from development.

But without an inventory of the plants and animals that lived there, how could we effectively protect them or detect long-term changes in their populations?

I decided to start by identifying the birds. I figured I could handle that. I had one memorable experience right away. In May of 2002, a Lawrence’s warbler - a rare hybrid - appeared on the property and sang for 10 days before departing. Wow! I’d never seen that species before, and had the good fortune to see and hear it several times over 10 days.

After making substantial progress on the birds, I decided to add herbaceous plants to my efforts. A UNH colleague, Janet Sullivan, helped me hone my rusty herbaceous plant identification skills. Chairman of Lee Conservation Commission (and retired UNH forestry professor) Dick Weyrick had already identified most of the trees and shrubs, so I worked on finishing that piece of the inventory as well. And, since I was familiar with wildlife, it was easy to look for animals while I was in the field looking for birds and plants.
           
I became a familiar figure to the people (and dogs) who regularly hike the trails. Usually I had books, lenses, binoculars, and note pads with me. In 2005 I often had insect nets, which aroused considerable curiosity.

I discovered two large American chestnut trees, the only mature ones I’d ever seen. This is rare; chestnuts were wiped out in the early 1900s by introduction of a fungus from Europe. We hope these two are resistant to the fungus.
           
One morning I sat quietly in a blind, my telephoto lens aimed at a gray fox den. After 90 minutes with no signs of the fox, it surprised me by coming from behind and suddenly barking, no more than eight feet away. I’ll bet my blood pressure spiked to 140 then.

Another time (a rainy early April night) I stood at the edge of one of the vernal pools and netted a spotted salamander almost nine inches long. I’ve caught and kept trout smaller than that!

One July day I slogged through the wooded swamp, and surprised a moose. Later that same day, a mother ruffed grouse pretended to have a broken wing, while her chicks scurried to safety. Further on, a beautiful milk snake sunned itself on a stump. It must have recently shed its skin, its colors were so bright.
           
Several bird-watching friends kept asking me about dragonflies and butterflies. “What? You’re an entomologist, but you’re not counting the dragonflies and butterflies?” I eventually relented and added them to my list. But some things defeated me. Fungi were one group I had no hope of including. Mosses (very difficult) were another. Bats were another group that would take some pricey equipment and time to cover.

I finished last fall. My lists show that we have a diverse group of plants and animals living in the town forest, including a couple of rare specimens. Fortunately, we have very few invasive plant species.

Why not pay a visit yourself? The property is criss-crossed with well marked trails, with several points of easy access. You could park your car at the Lee Town Library, the transfer station road, safety complex (police/fire) or on Rita Lane and begin walking on trails that depart close by.

You’ll find lots of interesting things to see and hear. There are picnic tables at Durgin Park (the piece along Wheelwright Pond). You could even launch your canoe or kayak there. The bog has an observation platform, so you could see pitcher plants without getting your feet wet. When there is fresh snow, you can find tracks of fisher, fox, deer and ruffed grouse.

If you do make a visit, make sure you check yourself for ticks at the end of the day (ticks are abundant in southeastern N.H.). Say hi to me when you’re on the trail. I’ll be out there somewhere.

And if your town owns some acreage worth protecting, why not volunteer to begin a bioinventory yourself. You don’t need special credentials. Ask others to join you. Who knows? Your town may harbor a forester, a few passionate bird-watchers, a couple of gardeners who really know their wild plants, a wildlife biologist—maybe even an entomologist like me.

By Alan Eaton, UNH Cooperative Extension entomologist and Lee Conservation Commission member

For more information call the UNH Cooperative Extension's Family, Home & Garden Center's Info-line (toll free) at 1-877-398-4769 or send us an email. Volunteers are available to answer your questions Monday through Friday 9:00am to 2:00 p.m.

4/20/06