Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
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• Waterfowl often visit the area in the spring and fall. Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Mallard<br />
(Anas platyrhynchos) are seen nesting along the shore and in the adjacent woods (Corbisier 2000).<br />
The basin houses a variety of frogs including spring peepers (Hyla crucifer), leopard frogs (Rana<br />
pipiens), wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), and gray tree frogs (Hyla versicoloer).<br />
• Red-shouldered Hawks have been heard in the lowland swamp. Other birds observed in the upland<br />
hardwoods include Scarlet Tanagers, Ovenbirds, Eastern Wood Pewees, and Red-eyed Vireos<br />
(Grimm 2001B).<br />
• Rare plants include the state threatened linear-leaved sundew (Drosera linearis goldie), sedge (Carex<br />
exilis) and arrow-grass (Triglochin maritima). The Red-shouldered Hawk is state threatened. Bog<br />
copper butterflies (Lycaena epixanthe), a state special concern species, are also found near the<br />
alkaline fen.<br />
Hibbards Creek<br />
Hibbards Creek, upper <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s longest steam corridor, is 7.4 miles long and varies in<br />
width from 10 <strong>to</strong> 30 feet. It has a low gradient of 7.6 feet per mile and originates southeast of Thorp Pond<br />
in a series of springs and emergent wetlands. The creek drains a watershed of 21.9 square miles.<br />
Emergent wetlands, conifer swamps, dry-mesic woodlands, and ridge-swale complexes are characteristic<br />
of the stream corridor.<br />
Hibbards Creek is the only stream in <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong> moni<strong>to</strong>red by the USGS under the National<br />
Water Quality Assessment Program (NWQA). Under this program, Hibbards Creek is used <strong>to</strong> compare<br />
other streams with similar physical settings. According <strong>to</strong> the USGS survey, habitat, algae, benthic<br />
invertebrates, and fish scored a fair rating (Corbisier 2000).<br />
• The Hibbards Creek watershed is in the Towns of Jacksonport and Bailey’s Harbor. Both <strong>to</strong>wns have<br />
adopted the county’s zoning ordinance.<br />
• Land use surrounding the creek is primarily agriculture with lesser amounts of woodland and<br />
residential area along the lakeshore. A sand and gravel quarry is located adjacent <strong>to</strong> the stream.<br />
Future residential development is planned along the stream corridor off of <strong>County</strong> Highway A<br />
(Grimm 2001).<br />
• Soils are mostly shallow <strong>to</strong> deep, well drained, and nearly level <strong>to</strong> moderately steep. A sandy loam or<br />
loam subsoil lies over loam, fine sandy loam or dolos<strong>to</strong>ne bedrock (USDA SCS 1978).<br />
• Overall, stream habitat is ranked good. Most of the stream is considered a warm water forage fish<br />
community, but 2.8 miles of the stream are classified as Class II trout water (Corbisier 2000).<br />
• Vegetation in the northern portion is comprised of wet-mesic and dry-mesic woods. These were<br />
traditionally maple (Acer spp.), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and yellow birch (Betula allgheniensis).<br />
Hibbards Creek flows through conifer swamp and shrub-carr before it passes through a ridge-swale<br />
series and empties in<strong>to</strong> Lake Michigan. (Corbisier 2000). In the 1830’s, a vegetation survey found<br />
that paper birch (Betula papyrifera), sugar maple, white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), hemlock, quaking<br />
aspen (Populus tremuloides), willow (Salix spp.), beech (Fagus grandifolia), basswood (Tilia<br />
americana), tamarack (Larix laricina), and white spruce (Picea glauca) were common tree species.<br />
Unders<strong>to</strong>ry is beech, sugar maple, hemlock, pine, cedar, and tamarack (Grimm 2001).<br />
Bay <strong>to</strong> Lake <strong>Wildlife</strong> Corridor 101