Winter 2020-21 Newsletter

Spotted Lanternflies reach Blandy

By T'ai Roulston
Arboretum Curator
In 2020, the spotted lanternfly claimed its second county in Virginia: Clarke. First found in eastern Pennsylvania in 2014, it reached Frederick County, Virginia, just west of us, a couple of years ago; now it has claimed Berryville and Blandy Experimental Farm. We found four adults on a tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) in November.

Although the insect preferentially feeds on tree of heaven, a tree despised for its prolific seeds, foul-smelling foliage and hydra-headed regrowth after cutting, the spotted lanternfly is not a godsend curing us of a plague of weed trees; rather, it is a second plague nourished by the first. It spills from tree of heaven onto roses, grapes, fruit trees, walnuts, maples and many more, tapping into the plant's circulatory system and sending a constant stream of sticky liquid out its little insect butt. The liquid, euphemistically called 'honeydew,' coats everything beneath the tree, leaving car windshields glazed like jelly donuts and the roads sticky as a movie theater floor. So, despite the flash and dash of a new polka-dotted insect on the landscape, its popularity is quite fleeting.

"Honeydew" coats leaves with a sticky substance.

At the arboretum, we are most concerned with potential damage to our maples, walnuts and ornamental fruit trees. We have 147 maple trees of 24 species and don't know which are most vulnerable. Locally, red maples and silver maples were preferentially targeted by the lanternfly in late summer, with hundreds and even thousands lined up along the stems to feed and lay eggs. Excessive feeding can cause the stems to flag and sometimes break. That, combined with the local emergence of the 17-year periodical cicadas this year could make it a tough year to be a small tree.

Combatting the spotted lanternfly is a big challenge, and we will be following scientific guidelines in order to save our own collection and to prevent ourselves from being a lanternfly nursery for our neighbors. Control is focused on reducing the population of tree of heaven on the property but leaving occasional large trees treated with insecticide that will attract the insect and kill it when it feeds, so it doesn't just switch to less preferred species nearby.

Removing tree of heaven is challenging, both because it is such a large part of the wild areas in our region and because it requires the use of herbicide after cutting to prevent regrowth; but we must undertake it. We will focus on the largest trees and densest patches first and work out from there as new trees are found. The large trees even include arboretum specimens, towering trees planted in 1939 before it became known as an invasive species. It is a big task for us, and for government agencies, public land managers, and private landowners; but a coordinated effort will benefit us all.

2020 was a good year for birders

By Dave Carr
Director, Blandy Experimental Farm
Public Relations Coordinator Tim Farmer asked me for some wildlife photos last month.  One of the photos I offered was a Lark Sparrow.  It was not my best photo, but I mentioned that it was maybe the rarest bird seen at Blandy in 2020.  “I’m hearing a topic for an Arbor Vitae article,” he replied.

I discovered the Lark Sparrow on 11 November 2019.  I was driving to the Blandy Farmhouse when it flew off the road in front of me.  Lark Sparrows have a distinctive white pattern along the edge and tip of their tail that is unique among North American sparrows.  Even though there should not have been a Lark Sparrow within hundreds of miles of Blandy, I slammed on my brakes, grabbed my binoculars, and looked at the bird as it perched in a tree about 20 feet off the road.  Bold facial pattern, plain white breast with a single black spot – yes, no doubt about it, this was a Lark Sparrow, the first I had ever seen in Virginia, much less Blandy.

For the most part, Lark Sparrows are birds of the prairie and western grasslands, but a few show up on the east coast almost every year.  This bird ended up hanging out at Blandy into March 2020.  It was never easy to find, and I talked to many birders who searched for it in vain.  Missing it on the 2019 Christmas Bird Count was especially painful to me.  But to those who persisted, a Blandy Lark Sparrow sighting was a special thrill.  However, it was not the only rare bird to show up at Blandy in the past year or so.

On Christmas Eve, a female Painted Bunting was discovered in the vicinity of Rattlesnake Spring.  The male of this species is perhaps the gaudiest of all North American songbirds – a red-breasted, blue-headed, green-backed sparrow-sized neotropical migrant.  A male that showed up at Great Falls in Maryland this winter is getting a lot of press.  The yellowish-green females are less flashy.  Painted Buntings breed in the states along the Gulf of Mexico and the southern Atlantic Coast.  In Virginia, a few turn up at feeders, usually in the coastal counties, each year, but this was a first for Blandy and Clarke County.  Needless to say, when I heard about it (word of a rare bird can get around quickly in the digital age), I interrupted my last-minute Christmas shopping to search for it.  No luck for me, but a more fortunate birder relocated the bunting on Christmas day.  That was the last sighting, though.

One of the more surprising Blandy sightings of 2020 was a male Ring-necked Pheasant.  Members of the Arboretum crew started hearing the pheasant’s rasping crow in February, and soon thereafter our buildings staff was texting me photos of the bird.  I did not get lucky until June, but when I did, the bird gave me an unusually up-close-and-personal view.  Ring-necked Pheasants are native to Europe, but they were introduced as gamebirds to North America.  They were once common throughout the mid-Atlantic, including the Shenandoah Valley, but a variety of factors has caused them to disappear from most of our area.  Presumably, this pheasant was a recent release by hunters somewhere in our vicinity, but this gorgeous bird was an exciting find, nonetheless, and persisted at Blandy through the summer.

Back in October I found a species that I had seen at Blandy only once before (22 years ago!).  Each year, American Golden Plovers undergo one of the longest migrations in the Americas, a 20,000-mile round-trip from the grasslands of South America to the arctic tundra and back again.  Their main migration route takes them through the midwestern U.S., but migrating flocks show up along the Atlantic coast in spring and fall each year.  They do not often show up in Clarke County, though.  A couple of birding friends and I found at least three American Golden Plovers hanging out with a large flock of Killdeer (the only commonly occurring plover in Clarke County) in a recently harvested cornfield at Blandy.  They did not stay long, but when you are bound for Argentina, it is best not to linger in Virginia.

I am happy to say that 2020 was not finished with bird surprises.  In November, I was leading a small birding tour at Blandy, something I had been offering each month that fall.  We were searching for wintering sparrows in one of our meadows when the unmistakable rattling call of Sandhill Cranes spun my head around.  Sure enough, flying low over a cornfield was a line of eight cranes winging their way southward.  I have seen Sandhill Cranes only three times in the Shenandoah Valley, but all in the past four years.  Sandhill Cranes are a major conservation success story, and they seem to be expanding their range.  I am optimistic that they may soon become an annual visitor through Blandy.

So, 2020 wasn’t all bad, I guess.  It had its moments.  Then again, I am looking forward to seeing what 2021 has to offer.  Finches have been on the move this winter, so maybe Evening Grosbeaks or crossbills will make an appearance.  One thing for certain is that despite being at Blandy for over 23 years, 2021 will provide some things I have never seen before.

Former Blandy REU named to Forbes "30 under 30" list

Earyn McGee, a student in Blandy's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in 2015, was included in Forbes Magazine's "30 under 30" list. Earyn is working on her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. She is one of the brilliant young people who are working to make the world a better place. Read more