Trekking Through Whitewood Village and New Castle County Park Natural Area
The Christina Conservancy held a Bioblitz to explore tWhitewood Natural Area and New Castle County Park on June 7.
Click image to see area of Christina Watershed and New Castle County where the BioBlitz event was held on June 7.
On June 7, 2014, a group of Christina Conservancy Trekkers (CC Trekkers), led by Derek Stoner, professional naturalist from the Delaware Nature Society, embarked on a Bioblitz of the Whitewood Natural Area and New Castle County Park. They wanted to see birds, trees, wildflowers, and anything else they could find on 60 acres of forested rolling lands.
Following the trek, Derek Stoner said, “I really enjoyed being part of the BioBlitz this morning at Whitewood Village. From Zebra Swallowtail to Six-spotted Tiger Beetle to the Box Turtles, the group was treated to a lot of highlights in a short amount of time. With great weather and a wonderful bunch of people, we had an excellent opportunity to sample the diverse flora and fauna.”
More events like this will be held in the future. Interested participants can send their contact information to the Christina Conservancy by e-mail: christinaconservancy@gmail.com.
Trekkers’ notes, compiled by Derek Stoner, Judy Montgomery, Lorraine Fleming, and Greg Inskip follow below.
The following list of Flora was compiled by Lorraine Fleming with identification of grasses by Greg Inskip and recording assistance in the field from Derek Stoner and Judy Montgomery.
| Ferns | Trees | Vines and Brambles |
| Sensitive Fern | Red Maple | Poison Ivy |
| Christmas Fern | Sweet Gum | Japanese Honeysuckle |
| Cinnamon Fern | White Oak | Common Greenbrier |
| Royal Fern | Northern Red Oak | Mile-A-Minute |
| Marginal Wood Fern | Scarlet Oak | Oriental Bittersweet |
| Lady Fern | Willow Oak | Virginia Creeper |
| New York Fern | Ironwood | Wineberry |
| lvory Glade Fern | American Beech | Northern Dewberry |
| Tuliptree | Black Raspberry | |
| Grasses | Common Pawpaw | Wild grape |
| Sweet Vernal Grass | Wild Black Cherry | |
| Kentucky Blue Grass | Mockernut Hickory | Shrubs |
| Orchard Grass | Sassafras | Barberry |
| Brome Grass | Flowering Dogwood | Strawberry Bush |
| Switchgrass | Box Elder | Multiflora Rose |
| Meadow Fescue | Osage Orange | Arrowwood Viburnum |
| Deer Tongue Grass | River Birch | Spicebush |
| Broom Sedge |
| Flowering Herbaceous Plants | |
| Broadleaf Plantain | Silverweed |
| Narrow-leaved Plantain | Canada Goldenrod |
| Daisy Fleabane | Elm-leaved Goldenrod |
| Pennywort | Lance-leaved Goldenrod |
| Oxeye Daisy | Yellow Wood Sorrell |
| Venus Looking Glass | Northern Bedstraw |
| Common Yarrow | Dogbane |
| Canada Thistle | Blue-eyed Grass |
| Bull Thistle | Jack-in-the-Pulpit |
| Sorrell | Jewelweed |
| Corn Speedwell | Garlic Mustard |
| Common Milkweed | Common Blue Violet |
| Swamp Milkweed | Mayapple |
| Foxglove Beardtongue | Stinging Nettle |
| Bulbous Buttercup | Wild Bean |
| Cow Vetch | Smartweed |
| Common Cinquefoil | |
Animal data compiled by Derek Stoner with assistance from Judy Montgomery
| Reptiles | Mammals | |
| Box Turtle | White-tailed Deer (tracks) | |
| Raccoon (tracks) | ||
| Amphibians | Beaver (damage on trees) | |
| American Toad | ||
| Wood Frog | ||
| Pickerel Frog | ||
| Birds | Birds | Butterflies |
| Canada Goose | Red-eyed Vireo | Zebra Swallowtail |
| Great Blue Heron | Blue Jay | Tiger Swallowtail |
| Great Egret | American Crow | Spicebush Swallowtail |
| Little Blue Heron | Barn Swallow | Monarch |
| Cattle Egret | Tufted Titmouse | Cabbage White |
| Black Vulture | Carolina Wren | Little Wood Satyr |
| Turkey Vulture | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | Red Spotted Purple |
| Osprey | American Robin | Silver Spotted Skipper |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Gray Catbird | Least Skipper |
| Red-tailed Hawk | European Starling | |
| Mourning Dove | Cedar Waxwing | Dragonflies |
| Downy Woodpecker | Eastern Towhee | Common Whitetail |
| Hairy Woodpecker | Field Sparrow | Green Darner |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | Scarlet Tanager | Eastern Pondhawk |
| Northern Flicker | Northern Cardinal | Twelve-spotted Skimmer |
| Pileated Woodpecker | Indigo Bunting | Painted Skimmer |
| Eastern Wood-pewee | Red-winged Blackbird | Halloween Pennant |
| Acadian Flycatcher | Common Grackle | |
| Great-crested Flycatcher | Brown-headed Cowbird | Damselflies |
| Eastern Kingbird | American Goldfinch | Ebony Jewelwing |
| Assorted Arthropods | Assorted Arthropods | Mollusks |
| Carrion Beetle | Cricket species | River Clam species |
| Six-spotted Tiger Beetle | Grasshopper species | Land Snail species |
| Wood Roach | Bagworm species | Oyster species |
| Cranefly | Goldenrod Gallfly | |
| Spittlebug | Dog Tick | |
| Stink Bug | Spider Mite | |
| Termite | Wolf Spider | |
| Leafhopper species | Daddy Longlegs | |
| Ichneumid wasp species |