American Bittern sighting at Chantilly Ecological Sanctuary at Briar Creek

The American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is a medium-sized, wading bird in the heron family. They are often found in the marshy areas along side of lakes and ponds. This particular American Bittern spent the past winter in one of the small retention ponds at our Chantilly Ecological Sanctuary in Charlotte, NC. The bird was first seen November 11, 2020 and wintered through April 25, 2021. During this time frame, it was spotted over 70 times! These birds typically prefer the coast, but this special bird decided to winter in the city. This is a success story for Chantilly and a point of pride for Wildlands!

Check out the photos below taken by Patty Masten, along with the eBird map showing all historical records for American Bittern in the county. Note, the red circle on the map marks the Chantilly location.

Unique ‘Pink Sundew’ plant spotted at Wildlands‘ Devil’s Racetrack Mitigation Site

This spring, Wildlands’ land stewards found a new population of pink sundew (Drosera capillaris) within a restored wetland at our Devil’s Racetrack Mitigation Site.  The pink sundew is a carnivorous, perennial plant found in pine savannas and wet, peaty areas. They are low-lying plants with rounded traps of sticky, tentacle-like leaves to hold their insect prey. This specimen was the first such sighting at the site and is also believed to be the first county record of the species (LeGrand et.al., 2021). Prior to restoration, the site was in agricultural production for decades.  Seeing this plant recolonize after so many years in agriculture is truly remarkable!

The Devil’s Racetrack Mitigation Site successfully reached the close-out milestone in August 2021 and is now in long term stewardship.

Source: LeGrand, H., B. Sorrie, and T. Howard. 2021. Vascular Plants of North Carolina [Internet]. Raleigh (NC): North Carolina Biodiversity Project and North Carolina State Parks. Available from https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/index.php.

Wildlands helps NCDOT protect critical aquatic habitat to mitigate impacts from construction of Interstate 540

In 2018, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) worked out an agreement with the Southern Environmental Law Center to mitigate potential effects to critical aquatic habitat from the Interstate 540 expansion. As part of this agreement, NCDOT committed to preserving land along the Little River and Buffalo Creek in northeastern Johnston County. Wildlands was one of the firms selected by and contracted with NCDOT to acquire the necessary land to meet the agreement conditions.

This past summer, Wildlands met with landowners along Little River and Buffalo Creek and successfully purchased 450 acres of conservation easements along 37,897 linear feet of stream (over 7 miles) from 27 different landowners. The conservation easement areas contain Little River Aquatic Habitat, dubbed by the North Carolina Heritage Program as a Natural Heritage Area with exceptional collective conservation value. This habitat area hosts imperiled species, including the dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon), yellow lance (Elliptio lanceolata), Atlantic pigtoe (Fusconaia masoni), Neuse River waterdog (Necturus lewisi), and Carolina madtom (Noturus furiosus).  The project landowners expressed deep love for the streams and were excited to do their part to protect them in perpetuity.

Wildlands will work with subcontractors this winter to plant native hardwood trees on previously unforested areas within the conservation easements. Triangle Land Conservancy, who assisted in the acquisitions, will serve as the long-term land steward.

Click here to view enlarged map »