Kiley BriggsViews:
When we started surveys for Wood Turtles in southeastern New York last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Compared to other states in the Northeast, there wasn’t nearly as much data from New York about the status and distribution of Wood Turtle populations. As such, we went into our first field season with few pre-existing notions about where the best habitat would be found. Apart from learning the lay of the land in the lower Hudson River valley, I hoped to achieve one thing from our surveys: to identify a high priority focal site where we can target long term habitat restoration efforts. The Hudson Valley did not disappoint.
At most sites we surveyed, we found a few Wood Turtles here and there. At some sites, we found none, but a couple areas really stood out. The first site property where we had better success was in a more forested landscape. There, it was pretty typical for us to find 5+ Wood Turtles on a survey. Those aren’t exceptional numbers by any means, but without much in the way of leads at the start of the season, I was happy with those numbers.
The Wood Turtle habitat at that site is almost fully protected from development, which is great for the turtles. Looking elsewhere along the same stream, there wasn’t much else in the way of suitable Wood Turtle habitat. I can’t do much in the way of habitat restoration on a river like that other than suggest that the landowner of the one good spot maintain the status quo. Consequently, it wasn’t a good candidate for our first focal site in the region.
Not long into the field season, however, we stumbled across a true gem in need of help. To put things into perspective, there are a couple sites in Vermont where I can find 20+ Wood Turtles in a day, but it took me years of working at those sites to get those numbers. After dozens of turtle surveys and countless hours tracking turtles using radio telemetry, I learned where the hotspots are, where the turtles overwinter, and where the turtles nest. Early on, it was common for me to visit those sites and find zero, or just a few Wood Turtles. Fast-forward to 2023 in New York, and my first trip to the “Magic River” (that’s not its real name), and we found 22 Wood Turtles in just a few hours. That got my attention.
The hotspot wasn’t limited to just one property. After our first great day on the “Magic River,” I reached out to more landowners, eventually getting permission to survey 7 properties spanning just over 2 miles of stream. We never exceeded our numbers from the first day, but every property we visited had Wood Turtles in abundance. However, not all is well on the “Magic River.”
Before those first surveys, I didn’t expect much from the “Magic River.” The stream is small, narrowing to a trickle in places. The water is warm, and the green algae sludge that builds up in pools hints at a high nutrient load. The river doesn’t have a single example of a good nest site, and the surrounding habitat is overrun by thickets of invasive multiflora rose. None of those things are great for Wood Turtles, but for whatever reason, the “Magic River” might have the highest density of Wood Turtles out of all the streams I’ve surveyed. Despite the large numbers of Wood Turtles, however, we only found a couple of juveniles, suggesting there could be a big problem for the Wood Turtle population on the horizon.
Wood Turtles can live a long time, about as long as people, and it is common to find sites consisting almost entirely of very old individuals. Gradually, those populations die out through attrition. Even sites with high population densities can be like this, but it may be decades before anybody takes note of the decline. That makes the “Magic River” a perfect candidate as a long term focal site.
To make the situation on this river even more enticing, every landowner we have contacted is enthusiastic about doing what they can to improve habitat for Wood Turtles. The threats Wood Turtles face on these properties range in severity. There is a farm that has fields on several of the properties, but there isn’t much haying in the floodplain, which is a huge help. Some upland fields that the turtles use are cut in the summer, which poses a risk. First and foremost, I want to take a closer look at the nesting habitat and look for opportunities to improve nest sites in safe settings.
This year, we sunk our teeth into the nesting issue by putting GPS loggers on 15 Wood Turtles. With minimal nesting habitat on the banks of the river, I thought the turtles might be nesting in residential habitat or along roads. Very soon after deploying the GPS loggers, we learned that a high proportion of the turtles are nesting in a single landowner’s backyard. We’ve since learned at least some of those nests are dug up by predators, giving us something to keep an eye out for next year.
As the active season for Wood Turtles comes to an end, I’m in the process of removing GPS loggers from the turtles. At this point, I don’t see much value in tracking turtles at these sites for a second year, so it’s time to wrap things up and see what the last batch of GPS data can teach us. In the coming months, I’ll take a much closer look at that data to look for other concerns and opportunities to restore habitat for these charismatic turtles. Where did they cross roads? How much time did they spend in farm fields? Were any turtles present in fields during mowing operations? The list goes on. All important questions with direct habitat management implications. So, stay tuned!
Read more about Wood Turtles on our priority species page.
