Durham County

Moth Night at the New Hope Bottomlands

lepidopteran — Tue, 13 May 2025 04:13:02 +0000

Moth Night at the New Hope Bottomlands lepidopteran Tue, 05/13/2025 - 00:13

Sat, Jun 28 2025, 8:30 - 11pm

Join NCBP member David George at a public moth night event at the New Hope Bottomlands in Durham. Details to come!

Habitat Survey of the Eastern Section of Hollow Rock Nature Park

lepidopteran — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 04:19:17 +0000

Habitat Survey of the Eastern Section of Hollow Rock Nature Park lepidopteran Sun, 01/12/2025 - 23:19

The 2021-2 survey conducted by the NCBP of the New Hope Creek corridor in Durham County included the Hollow Rock Nature Park but focused primarily on the floodplain habitats along the creek itself. An upland area located east of Pickett Road was noted, however, for the maturity of its stand and its somewhat unusual composition, with a large number of Shortleaf Pines and Post Oaks intermixed with Northern Shagbark Hickories and Florida Maples. In 2024, Steve Hall and Carol Tingley conducted a more detailed habitat analysis of this site in a project funded by the Durham Open Space Program. Although focused on the vegetation – surveyed over 61 randomly selected, 5m radius circular quadrats -- this project was conducted more as a habitat survey. Instead of recording structural features, including cover and dominance in the various strata, this survey evaluated species within a set of spatially overlapping habitats and based on the viability of their occurrences within the study area, qualities that could be applied to any taxon. The odd mixture of xerophytic and mesophytic species, and acidophilic and basophilic species was confirmed, with a number of species expected for the individual habitat types as found to be missing from the site. The ecosystem overall, however, appears to closely match the Mixed Moisture Hardpan Forest recently described by Mike Schafale in his 2012 revision of the Natural Communities of North Carolina. This site may, in fact, represent one of the largest and best developed examples of this type in the state.

/sites/default/files/publications/Hollow%20Rock%20Report%2C%202024-11-27.pdf

Steve Hall, Carol Tingley

2024

Hall, S., Tingley, C. 2024. Habitat Survey of the Eastern Section of Hollow Rock Nature Park. Report to the Durham County Open Space Program. North Carolina Biodiversity Project.

Vascular plants

Breeding Bird Survey, New Hope Bottomlands, 2024

lepidopteran — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 04:11:59 +0000

Breeding Bird Survey, New Hope Bottomlands, 2024 lepidopteran Sun, 01/12/2025 - 23:11

One of the noteworthy, but troubling, finds of the 2021-2 NCBP biodiversity survey of the New Hope Bottomlands was a strong decline in the number of breeding bird species compared to what had been recorded in a survey conducted in the 1980s. To confirm that this was not just a particularly bad year, with numbers recovering to a more normal level thereafter, a more intensive breeding bird survey was conducted in 2024 by Steve Hall (NCBP), David Bradley (Durham Open Space Program), and the following members of the New Hope Bird Alliance: Jin Bai, Gail Boyarsky, Vicki Nebes, and David Anderson. Unlike the 2021-2 survey, which was qualitative – recording species as present or absent over a series of survey trips – the method used in this survey was quantitative, based on the type of territory mapping approach that has long been the gold standard for assessing the density of breeding bird populations. However, instead of using a large grid typical of those studies, we mapped the territories intersecting a 40-meter-wide corridor following the loop trail that runs through the bottomlands. By using the same protocols for handling edge territories as used in the traditional approach, we were able to compare our results to those of the breeding bird surveys conducted by Haven Wiley, Helmut Mueller, and their students at Mason Farm from the 1970s to 2010s. Among the neotropical migrant species, twelve species had either smaller territorial densities than were recorded in the Mason Farm surveys or were missing altogether. On the other hand, four migratory species had slight increases in density, as did eight of the eleven species of permanent residents. Overall, there was a net loss of 1.64 territories per hectare, but with a net loss of 4.43 among just the neotropical migrants. These results are consistent with trends measured over eastern North America.

/sites/default/files/publications/Breeding%20Bird%20Survey%2C%20New%20Hope%20Bottomlands%2C%202024.pdf

Steve Hall, David Bradley, Jin Bai, Gail Boyarsky, Vicki Nebes, David Anderson

2024

Hall, S., Bradley, D., Bai, J., Boyarsky, G., Nebes, V., Anderson, D. 2024. Breeding Bird Survey, New Hope Bottomlands, 2024: Report to the Durham Open Space Program, New Hope Bird Alliance, and North Carolina Biodiversity Project.

Birds

Youth Climate Summit

lepidopteran — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 21:02:52 +0000

Youth Climate Summit lepidopteran Sun, 11/03/2024 - 16:02

Mon, Nov 11 2024, 11:30am - 1pm

The NCBP will have a table at the Youth Climate Summit at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham.

New Hope survey featured in the news

lepidopteran — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 05:09:56 +0000

New Hope survey featured in the news lepidopteran Sat, 08/17/2024 - 01:09

This WUNC article about the upcoming moth night at Hollow Rock Nature Preserve features an interview with David Bradley of the Durham County Open Space Program. Bradley shares details about the NCBP survey of the New Hope Floodplain, and the threats faced by insect populations.

https://www.wunc.org/environment/2024-08-16/moth-night-durham-county-biodiversity-population-decline

News Link

https://www.wunc.org/environment/2024-08-16/moth-night-durham-county-biodiversi…

New Hope Moth Night

lepidopteran — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 03:57:06 +0000

New Hope Moth Night lepidopteran Thu, 08/01/2024 - 23:57

Sat, Aug 17 2024, 8 - 11pm

Join NCBP member David George for a moth night event at Hollow Rock Nature Park in Durham. The New Hope floodplain was previously surveyed by the NCBP and is an important reservoir of biodiversity within an urban area. Please register for the event online.

New Hope Bottomlands Survey Meeting

lepidopteran — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 03:04:26 +0000

New Hope Bottomlands Survey Meeting lepidopteran Tue, 04/23/2024 - 23:04

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 5:30 - 7:30pm

NCBP members will meet at the New Hope Bottomlands Trail to discuss plans for monitoring leaf-mining insects.

Durham Butterfly Count

lepidopteran — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 03:21:43 +0000

Durham Butterfly Count lepidopteran Thu, 04/11/2024 - 23:21

Sun, Aug 18 2024, 9am - 5pm

Join NCBP member Jeff Pippen for the annual NABA Durham Butterfly Count.

Pack your binoculars and join us for the annual Durham Butterfly Count, which routinely sees between 50-60 species, vying for the highest species diversity of any count in the Carolinas. The Durham count circle harbors many excellent butterflying locations, so we can use all the eyes we can get! Beginners welcome (see below).

Pack yourself some snacks, your lunch, and LOTS of beverages as it's usually pretty toasty outside this time of year. Jeff always recommends hiking boots, long pants, a hat, sunscreen and binoculars. Note that there is a mandatory $3 per person fee to participate (levied by and forwarded to NABA for printing/compiling costs).

Please contact Jeff Pippen if you plan to participate, so that he can coordinate participants for the count. If you would like to participate and be paired with an experienced leader, he will put you in touch with that leader so you can coordinate meeting times and locations.

Contact: jeffpippen9@gmail.com

Durham Spring Bird Count

lepidopteran — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 06:41:11 +0000

Durham Spring Bird Count lepidopteran Fri, 03/08/2024 - 01:41

Sun, Apr 28 2024, 7am - 12pm

Join NCBP member Brian Bockhahn for the Durham spring bird count.

Description: Butterfly and bird counts focus on identification and counting of subject critters, but we of course enjoy observing everything. Bring binoculars, camera, water, lunch, hat, sunblock and be prepared to be outside hiking all day in various terrains. Bug spray or tick shield clothing is helpful as we may go off trail some.

For more information, contact Brian Bockhahn at birdranger248@gmail.com.

New Hope Monitoring Meeting

lepidopteran — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 03:50:58 +0000

New Hope Monitoring Meeting lepidopteran Fri, 12/08/2023 - 22:50

Mon, Dec 11 2023, 5 - 6pm

A meeting will be held to discuss continuing efforts to monitor biodiversity in the New Hope Bottomlands.