What will we lose?

The barred owl won’t like pavement.

The Barred Owl is one of the few Owls that can hunt by day. These Owls can be seen hunting from the shaded overhanging branches of Bolin Creek every morning. They perch directly over the Creek and search for Crayfish, Snakes, and Amphibians. They tolerate walkers and runners easily but they can not tolerate habitat loss. The Owl requires branches over the creek as hunting perches. It requires shade so that it throws no shadow as it hunts, and it requires large, standing, dead trees for nesting sites. They also require a large population of amphibious life as a food source. So, what happens if the trail is paved? You lose trees. The trees that provide shade, and nesting sites, and hunting perches. As the water heats from pavement run-off, and lack of shade, you lose Amphibians. So, the Owl can not hunt. The nestlings require continuous feedings in the Spring and Summer. The Owl will move away from the Creek…or the nestlings will perish. The riparian border is absolutely necessary to maintain the habitat for both the Owls and its prey.

And here we have the very center of Creek life. The Beaver is our great wetland engineer. The Beavers live in lodges along the creek. The lodges are located by the banks of the Creek in the riparian border. The very presence of Beavers is a sign of an intact habitat. Every dam built by the Beavers slows the flow of water through the creek. The water slowing prevents erosion. Soil that is washed downstream is redistributed onto the spreading wetlands that are created as the Beaver dams the stream and creates a Beaver pond. And what about the trees that are killed? Note that quite often the Beaver will kill a tree by removing the bark at the base. The dead standing tree provides snags for nesting Barred Owls and many of our Woodpeckers. The Wetland is a perfect breeding ground for Amphibians, and the pond itself is home to many fish and most of our aquatic Turtles. As an added bonus, the Beaver is quite fond of invasive Privet as a food source. Most important, the Beaver is a indicator species of the ecological integrity of a habitat.

It is a mere fifteen feet of trees and brush that separates the Beaver lodge from the trail. The Beaver will not tolerate the loss of that narrow riparian border.

Some people think that paving by Bolin Creek will not have any major impact, and have stated the the Bolin Creek trail is already a disturbed habitat. This is simply not true. We have an intact ecosystem. If the Creek trail is paved, we will not be seeing the Beavers or the Owls, and imagine what a great loss it will be.

Letter sent by Mary Sonis to the Greenways Commission.