Winter Bat Survey

On a Ruffner hike, you’ll see plenty of clues to the mountain’s industrial past. Quarries, iron ore mine openings, test pits, rock crushers, rail beds, and foundations to hoists and conveyors — industrial scars — scrapes and slopes, pits and chasms, valleys and ridges, quarries and crags — this human-altered landscape has become important habitat for wildlife and a refuge from the escalating spread of modern urbanization. Ruffner’s mines serve as good habitat for roosting and hibernating bats. Safeguarding the openings with gates allows access to bats, keeps visitors from entering danger zones (please do not attempt entry into any mines), and allows researchers to monitor the populations for the presence or absence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease which has devastated populations of several species of bats in North America.

Our first bat survey of the winter season at mine No. 3 went well, finding 339 tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) and two big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Although swab samples collected may find the presence of Pd, the surveyers saw no obvious signs of the disease, providing some hope that the bats may be able to either cope with the disease or that researchers may unlock some potential for treatment. Data was collected from 21 tricolored bats and roosting surfaces and will be sent to a Virginia Tech lab where researchers will test the results. Another survey will be conducted in February, near the end of hibernation. With each new survey we learn more about this species using the Ruffner mines for hibernation.

Thanks to Nick Sharp, Biologist - Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), Pete Pattavina, Biologist - US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Jamie Nobles, Conservation Director - Ruffner Mountain Nature Coalition. Outdoor Alabama U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

That's a Wrap—Habitat Garden Club 2022

Habitat Garden Club had its last workday of the year on Tuesday, November 29th.

Thanks to the volunteers for your hard work in keeping the gardens looking good and continuing to provide a food source and habitat for wildlife. This scraggly gulf fritillary (bottom photo) appreciates you— and we appreciate you!

If you would like to join the garden club and learn more about plants and the biodiversity of the mountain, we’ll meet again on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in the parking lot of the East Lake entrance to Ruffner at 9 am and work until noon.

Eastern Screech Owls

Have you met eastern screech owls, Scops and Ziggy?

Eastern screech owls (Megascops asio), Scops and Ziggy, two of Ruffner’s Animal Ambassadors.

On weekends, you may find either of the two little owls hanging out with Wildlife Care Naturalist, Emily Hutto, as she leads educational programs and cares for all of our animal ambassadors. Eastern screech owls (Megascops asio) come in two colors, gray and rufous (reddish brown). Scops is a gray morph, and Ziggy is rufous morph.

In the pictures, Ziggy and Scops demonstrate their amazing camouflage qualities, and you can see for yourself how each color helps them to blend in — colors, along with feather patterns and dark vertical streaking — Scops perfectly matches the oak bark, while Ziggy more closely matches the pine. Both rufous and gray morphs occur across the range for eastern screech owls, and both can be found in Alabama because of our pine and hardwood mixed forests across the state. Rufous morphs occur more commonly where pine trees make up the majority of forest, while gray morphs are most likely to occur in hardwood forests.

Ruffner Wildlife Care Naturalist, Emily Hutto, with the gray eastern screech owl, Scops.

Volunteer Opportunity at East Lake Park

We love East Lake Park—our “sister city park” and hope you do, too!

If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity this weekend, join Cawaco RC&D on Sunday, November 13th at 1:00 pm at East Lake Park to help care for the young forest planted in 2018 and 2019. Learn more here.

Check out this article to learn more about the ongoing restoration and reforestation work at East Lake Park.

Trail Maintenance Update

Thanks to the hard work of Van Coffey, Land Steward at Ruffner Mountain, and Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, you may have noticed some improvements to trail signs and bridges lately.

Van on recent trail maintenance: “We elongated this bridge along the Ridge & Valley Trail and had to add new pieces. The juxtaposition of the old and new revealed something. The planks were not painted red, they were stained red from all the iron ore off of people's shoes.”

Winter Hours Reminder

Happy November!

A few general reminders as we head into the winter season:

* Beginning today through February 28th, 2023, trails will be open from 7 am - 5 pm, Tuesday through Sunday. Trails are closed on Mondays.

* The Nature Center is open Thursday through Sunday from 9 am - 5 pm.

* If you are not yet a member of Ruffner Mountain, be sure to sign up soon to ensure you receive your parking permit for 2023. Click HERE to choose a level that is right for you. Support the place you love!

THANK YOU and see you on the mountain!

Happy Bat Week!

We love bats and how important they are in maintaining healthy ecosystems. We are excited for the opportunity to continue our bat surveys this winter at Ruffner Mountain partnering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Alabama Department of Conservation Natural Resources (ALDCNR) and Virginia Tech. We are hopeful that this survey will confirm the trend of a significant population of the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) using the Ruffner Mountain mines as winter hibernacula despite the presence of white nose syndrome-causing fungus. For more information on bat week and bat conservation visit https://batweek.org/ and https://www.batcon.org/