Fauna and Flora in the Sanctuary

Note: We are a natural wildlife habitat. We do no rehabilitation of wild animals injured or otherwise.
If you need such services, please see our compiled
Local Animal Rehabilitation list.


Birds Found in the Sanctuary

Marsh species - Sora Rail, Snipe, Empidonax flycatchers, and even a Sedge Wren - have been found here. Orioles and Common Yellowthroats nest. In the fall, many sparrows visit the Gardens for Nutrition adjacent to the Sanctuary. Listen for Great Horned and Screech Owls. Bluebirds and woodpeckers stay all winter.

A Complete List:

Snow goose
Canada goose
Brant
Mute swan
Wood duck
Green-winged teal
Mallard
Northern pintail
Blue-winged teal
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
American wigeon
Ring-necked duck
Bufflehead
Common merganser
Hooded merganser
Ring-necked pheasant
Wild turkey

Double-crested cormorant

Great blue heron
Great egret
Green heron
Black-crowned night heron

 Pied-billed grebe

Turkey vulture
Black vulture
Osprey
Bald eagle
Northern harrier
Sharp-shinned hawk
Cooper’s hawk
Red-shouldered hawk
Broad-winged hawk
Red-tailed hawk

Screech owl
Great horned owl
Barred owl
Saw-whet owl

Killdeer
Greater yellowlegs
Solitary sandpiper
Spotted sandpiper
Common snipe
American woodcock
Ring-billed gull
Herring gull
Great black-backed gull

Rock dove
Mourning dove

Black-billed cuckoo
Yellow-billed cuckoo

Common nighthawk
Chimney swift
Ruby-throated hummingbird

Belted kingfisher

Red-bellied woodpecker
Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
Northern flicker
Pileated woodpecker

American kestrel
Peregrine falcon

Eastern wood peewee
Alder flycatcher
Willow flycatcher
Least flycatcher
Eastern phoebe
Great crested flycatcher
Eastern kingbird

Blue jay
American Crow
Fish crow
Common raven

Northern shrike

Solitary vireo
Yellow-throated vireo
Warbling vireo
Red-eyed vireo

Purple martin
Tree swallow
Rough-winged swallow
Bank swallow
Barn swallow

Black-capped chickadee
Tufted titmouse

Red-breasted nuthatch
White-breasted nuthatch

Brown creeper

House wren
Winter wren
Carolina wren

Golden-crowned kinglet
Ruby-crowned kinglet

Eastern bluebird
Hermit thrush
Wood thrush
Swainson’s thrush
American robin

Gray catbird
Northern mockingbird
Brown thrasher

 Cedar waxwing

 European starling

Scarlet tanager
Northern cardinal
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Indigo bunting

Virginia rail
American coot

Ovenbird
Northern waterthrush
Blue-winged warbler
Black-and-white warbler
Nashville warbler
Common yellowthroat
American redstart
Northern parula
Magnolia warbler
Blackburnian warbler
Yellow warbler
Chestnut-sided warbler
Blackpoll warbler
Black-throated blue warbler
Palm warbler
Pine warbler
Yellow-rumped warbler
Black-throated green warbler
Rufous-sided towhee
House Sparrow
American tree sparrow
Chipping sparrow
Field sparrow
Fox sparrow
Song sparrow
Swamp sparrow
White-throated sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Dark-eyed junco

Bobolink
Red-winged blackbird
Rusty blackbird
Common grackle
Brown-headed cowbird
Northern oriole
Orchard oriole

House finch
Purple finch
Common redpoll
Pine siskin
American goldfinch
Evening grosbeak 


Mammals in the Sanctuary

Commonly seen:

Cottontail rabbit
Eastern chipmunk
Grey squirrel
Racoon

Occasionally seen:

Beaver
Black bear
Eastern coyote
Red fox
River otter

Red squirrel
Striped skunk
White-tailed deer
Woodchuck (groundhog)


Flora Found in the Sanctuary

Source: Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, Sarah David Rosenbaum, Rosemary Cooney 2006.

Grasses:

- Annual bluegrass (Poa annua)
- Barnyard grass (Ehchinocloa sp.)
- Nodding foxtail grass (Setaria faberi)
- Rice cut grass (Leersia oryzoides)
- Virginia wild rye grass (Elymus virginicus)
- Yellow foxtail grass (Setaria glauca)


Shrubs and Sub-shrubs:

- Arrowwood verburnum (Viburnum dentatum)
- Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia)
- Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)
- Mock orange (Philadelphus sp.)
- Morrow’s honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii)
- Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)
- Periwinkle (Vinca minor)
- Swamp dogwood (Cornus amomum)
- Willow (Salix sp.)


Vines:

- Climbing hempweed (Polygonum scandens)
- Dodder (Cuscuta sp.)
- Fox grape (Vitis labrusca)
- Japanese hops (Humulus japonicus)
- Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
- Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
- Virgin’s bower (Clematic verginiana)
- Wild balsam apple (Echinocystis lobata)
- Wild yam root (Dioscorea villosa)

Trees:

- American elm (Ulmus americanas)
- American hackberry or Common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
- Ash-leaf maple or Black ash (Acer negundo)
- Basswood or American linden (Tilia americana)
- Black cherry (Prunus serotina)
- Black walnut (Juglans nigra)
- Box elder maple (Acer negundo)
- Cherry tree (Prunus sp.)
- Eastern hemlock (Tsuga americana)
- Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa)
- Norway maple (Acer platanoides)
- Pin oak (Quercus palustris)
- Red maple (Acer rubrum)
- Red oak or Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)
- River birch (Betula nigra)
- Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
- Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)
- Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra)
- Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- Weeping willow (Salix alba var.)
- White ash (Fraxinus americana)


Sedges:

- Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
- Hop sedge (Carex lupulina)
- Spikerush (Eleocharis sp.)


Ferns:

- Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
- Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)


Herbs:

- Arrow arum (Peltandra virginica)
- Arrow-leaved tearthumb (Polygonum sagittatum)
- Asiatic dayflower (Commelina communis)
- Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)
- Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)
- Blue-stem goldenrod (Solidago caesia)
- Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis var. canadensis)
- Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense)
- Cattail (Typha latifolia)
- Cespitose smartweed (Polygonum cespitosum)
- Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
- Clearweed (Pilea pumila)
- Cleavers (Galium aparine)
- Common blue violet (Viola sororia)
- Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
- Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
- Common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
- Common plantain (Plantago major)
- Common wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris)
- Confederate violet (Biola sororia var.)
- Daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus)
- Dock (Rumex sp.)
- Duckweed (Lemna sp.)
- Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)
- English plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
- False mermaid (Floerkea proserpinacoides)
- Field garlic (Allium vineale)
- Field thistle (Cirsium discolor)
- Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolate)
- Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida)
- Gill over the ground (Glechoma hederacea)
- Grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)
- Great burdock (Arctium lappa)
- Halberd-leaved tearthumb (Polygonum arifolium)
- Heart-leaved aster (Aster cordifolius)
- Hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteate)
- Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)

- Jumpseed (Polygonum virginianum)
- Kidney-leaved crowfoot (Ranunculus abortivus)
- Marsh blue violet (Viola cucullate)
- Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia)
- New England aster (Aster novae-angliae)
- New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)
- Orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
- Pigweed (Chenopodium album)
- Poke weed (Phytolacca americana)
- Poor man’s pepper (Lepidium virginicum)
- Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
- Purple willow herb (Epilobium coloratum)
- Red clover (Trifolium pretense)
- Rough-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago rugosa)
- Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
- Siberian geranium (Geranium sibiricum)
- Silverrod (Solidago bicolor)
- Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)
- Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica)
- Star chickweed (Stellaria pubera)
- Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
- Tall angelica (Agelica atropurpurea)
- Tall nettle (Urtica dioica var. procera)
- Tawny day lily (Hemerocllis fulva)
- Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)
- Three-seeded mercury (Acalypha sp.)
- Trout lily (Erythronium americanum)
- Water hemlock (Cicuta maculate)
- Water meal (Wolffia sp.)
- Water pepper (Polygonum hydropiper)
- Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum sp.)
- White avens (Geum canadense)
- White clover (Trifolium repens)
- White snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum)
- White turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
- White vervain (Verbena urticifolia)
- Wild madder (Galium mollugo)
- Wood nettle (Laportea canadensis)
- Yellow forest violet (Viola pubescens)
- Yellow jewelweed (Impatiens pallida)
- Yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis sp.)