Summer-y (September 2010)

Whew - it's been a while. Apologies for the poor pun in the title.
Summer was great fun, as it tends to be for a frogger like myself. I thought I'd let you in on some of our work.
Looking for a new home for the frogs:
Most days I was out on the water (or in the mud) searching far and wide for suitable habitat for Oregon spotted frog (OSF) introductions. We're hoping to find spaces that have large, shallow sunny wetlands with lots of native emergent vegetation that are already protected, and are bullfrog free.
What does that mean? Well.. if we break it down, we're looking for wetlands that are:

• Large: over 4 hectares (10 acres);
• Permanent water: doesn't dry up in the late summer or in the winter;
• Shallow, warm, mucky, diverse: variety of water depths and soil depths, from 0 - 3 m deep, with a combination of shallow benches, open water, hummocky vegetation and deep muck to hide in;
• Bullfrog free: see previous article - this automatically rules out most of the Fraser Valley.
• Protected: federal, provincial or municipal land that is already protected by species-at-risk management policies, or on private land where land-owners are willing participants in recovery actions.

Sadly, there aren't a lot of wetlands left out there, and many that are have already been modified to improve fish habitat by other, more fishy, land stewards. Bullfrog presence rules out some spectacular habitats along the Fraser River, such as the new Bert Brink Wildlife Managment Area, or the historically OSF-occupied West Creek Wetlands in Aldergrove. The gorgeous wetlands north of Pitt Meadows are also too bullfrog heavy for introductions. I do have a couple of leads, and if they pan out you friendly folks will be the first to hear about it.
Building habitat
In July, the Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition partnered with Stave Valley Salmonid Enhancement Society, the City of Mission and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to continue enhancement at the Silverdale Wetlands in Mission. The event was led by Fisheries and Oceans, and we really enjoyed working together to create habitat that is suitable for both fish and native frog species.
The area as it stood was a series of large shallow ponds that held water permanently through the summer, providing excellent habitat for invasive bullfrogs and fish. This project re-graded the existing pond so that it would mostly dry in the late summer, breaking the reproductive cycle of these invasive predators. We also made the site more structurally complex with wood recycled from development projects, and by striking a diversity of grades and water depths.
Our native amphibian species (other than the Oregon spotted frog) leave the warm shallow wetlands in mid-summer when they have metamorphosed into froglets and toadlets, and are not impacted by the ephemeral (temporary) nature of the wetlands. Bullfrogs and green frogs breed later than our native species, and need permanent water through the summer to metamorphose, otherwise they feed the herons. We encourage herons.
If you're interested in see the site, there's a volunteer tree planting there next weekend: Saturday October 16th, where we'll be planting shrubs and native trees on the upland habitat. It's always a fun (and muddy) good time!
To come:
This Thanksgiving weekend there was to be another habitat construction project in Agassiz, however we've had to delay the work to accomodate the awful weather coming our way. I'll be sure to post some pictures when we're done (if I ever figure out how to post pictures on this thing..)
Happy Thanksgiving to all!