Whetstone Woods

Shelter for migratory shrubland birds

The blue-winged warbler breeds in scrubby grasslands where it can conceal its nest in a low bush or on the ground.

The warbler is just one of many shrubland birds whose populations are declining.

Vermont shrublands were lost when forests grew back after intensive farming in earlier centuries. Development and invasive plants aren’t helping either.

Volunteers tackle invasive plants to create bird habitat

But all is not lost for the warbler. We are exploring what’s possible when you remove invasive plants and give native shrubs a fighting chance to establish themselves.

At Whetstone Woods, we’ve removed 2.5 acres of invasive glossy buckthorn and recruited volunteers to plant 300 native shrubs.

A birding trail is in the works!

We are working with the Southeastern Vermont Audubon Society to create a birding trail through the shrubland habitat and into the woods beyond. If you visit, consider logging any bird sightings on the eBird app so that we can see if our habitat improvements are working.

For now, birders are most likely to find catbirds and song sparrows in Whetstone’s shrubland area, or maybe an indigo bunting.

Visitors can also look for Louisiana water thrushes as they follow the stream toward the woods, and tufted titmice and six species of woodpeckers around the hill that leads to the pine forest.

Birders might even catch a pine warbler or blackburnian warbler, or, in the openings between trees, an eastern wood peewee.

Invasive insects: Emerald Ash Borer and Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

Ash trees make up more than five percent of Vermont’s woods. Turkeys eat their seeds, rabbits their bark, and tadpoles their fallen leaves. Porcupines and bats are quite happy to den up in their trunk hollows.

Any threat to the trees also threatens the lives that depend on them. Nearly 80 species of invertebrates rely on ash trees and are at risk of becoming endangered should ash trees go the way of the American chestnut.

Five moths, including the Canadian sphinx, which feeds exclusively on black ash, are at high risk of extinction.

The Emerald Ash Borer threatens every ash tree in Vermont

The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive insect that has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees across the country. Females lay eggs in the tree’s bark. Their larvae feed on the inner bark for more than a year, blocking water and nutrients the trees need.

We are monitoring emerald ash borer populations at Whetstone Woods by placing sticky pheromone traps near ash trees. So far, Vermont’s Emerald Ash Borer population is small, but it is expected to grow quickly and reach peak devastation in the 2030s.

There is no known solution.

However, we are treating select ash trees on Whetstone Woods with an insecticide that kills the insect. The trees must be retreated every three to four years. The hope is that this approach will keep the trees alive until scientists develop an answer.

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid: A race to adapt faster than climate change 

The hemlock wooly adelgid is hard to spot. But if you look closely at the underside of the branch where it lives out its entire life, you can find the evidence: a wooly, white egg mass about the quarter of the size of a Q-tip.

It’s hard to believe that such a small aphid-like creature could take down magnificent, large hemlock trees. But, if left unchecked, these adelgids will kill a mature tree in 4-10 years.

Hemlocks are essential to healthy forests: Climate change threatens them

Hemlock is a keystone species, which means that its absence alters the entire ecosystem around it.

They shade and cool streams to the benefit of fish and other aquatic species. Their dense stands also provide some of the best winter habitat for deer.

Here in Vermont, the eastern hemlock has been somewhat sheltered from the threat because our cold winters knock back hemlock wooly adelgid populations. But as climate warms, their numbers are growing, and heading north.

We are tracking the adelgid populations at Whetstone Woods and researching solutions. Some of which may eventually lead to educational opportunities and, we hope, maintenance of hemlock in Vermont’s woods.