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Subject:

Birding off trail

From:

Patricia Wood

Reply-To:

Patricia Wood

Date:

Sat, 20 May 2006 14:35:41 -0400

With the MOS conference coming up, and possibilities of birding in less 
traveled woods than those here in Montgomery county--even needing to think 
about bears,no less--I was struck by something I came across in researching 
invasive plants.  (I've put aside much Weed Warrior work for this the last 
summer of the Atlas, but it has become for me a very interesting project, 
helping restore our parks to their uninvaded state.)  What struck me was 
finding that state conservation depts and outdoor organizations from Alaska 
to Wisconsin, and including Maryland, consistently mention the same means 
that these habitat-wrecking plants are spread--HIKING BOOTS!  

Esp. if the ground is muddy, those boots pick up seeds along the edges of a 
trail, where invasives concentrate, and transport them into the forest 
interior, where many of them, such as garlic mustard, can flourish even in 
the shade.  Of course there are plenty of invasives that spread in sunny 
areas too, but the shade loving ones are the ones that surprised me.  
Anyway, I took a look, and sometime soon I plan to be doing some cleaning 
out of dried mud on my boots and running shoes, before I take them to the 
conference, or even into my Washington Co. atlas block.  And I think I may 
try to wear flat soled regular shoes if I know I have to go through a stand 
of garlic mustard in order to get into a woods!

(To be fair, the same sites also tell people to clean their backpacks, 
camping gear, boats, even pets!)

Anyway, just wanted to share the warnings I found.

Good Birding!
Patricia Wood
Silver Spring MD