Our Bay Critter Projects

1. Our Bay Critter Projects Mrs. Rolston’s Class March 2012

2. Red Salamanders By: Anthony F. Red Salamanders can be found under rocks, logs, moss and dead leaves. Red Salamanders help make the bay better because they eat insects and worms. Some Salamanders live up to 55 years.

3. The Eagle: The Brave Sky Warrior by Rithik E. Bald Eagles eat many things including the red fox. They show up in many Greek legends about bravery. Their eyes have excellent eyesight, and they can spot a fish from hundreds of feet away from water.

4. The Maryland Terps by Megan M. In the 1800s and the 1700s people ate terrapins as soup. The female terrapin is larger than the male. The diamondback terrapin’s shell is covered in plates or scales called scutes.

5. The Great Blue Heron By Drew.S Great blue herons can live in salt and fresh water. Herons are not migratory. Hawks, foxes and raccoons eat herons.

6. Surprising Shrimp by Ahnya H. A female shrimp may lay more than 100 eggs a day. Also shrimp live in saltwater, freshwater, and at the bottom of the Bay. The shrimp can move frontward and backward by flipping their tail.

7. Zoo-per Zooplankton by Preetam B. A healthy zooplankton population shows a healthy bay. One gallon of water can contain over half a million zooplankton. Zooplankton are so small that they can only be seen in a microscope.

8. The Seeing Seahorses by Rebecca S. When the seahorse hides in sea grass it is good with the camouflage. The seahorse is also captured for souvenirs and fashion key chains. The male sea horse has the babies and carries them for 10 -45 days.

9. The Singing Red-Winged Blackbird By Larissa M. The red-winged blackbird sing songs to communicate. The female is brown with white long streaks on its chest it doesn’t look like the male. The eggs are pale blue.

10. Red Hot Salamander by Wyatt S. The Red-backed Salamander lives in poison ivy. The Salamander waits for its food and comes for it at low frequencies. The Salamander swims by moving its tail side to side like a fish.

11. The Great Climber By Taylor O. The raccoon has great night vision and a great sense of hearing. Raccoons can climb amazing well. They will steal birds eggs from their nests.

12. Oh So Outstanding Ospreys By Ariana S. Ospreys live in trees, crooked rocks, and bushes. Their call can make your ears hurt. People sometimes think they look like bald eagles.

13. Kingly Kingfishers by: Alex.C Kingfishers can naturally be a nuisance around fishermen because they eat their fish. Before they eat a fish, they toss it in the air and bang it against a tree so it won’t wriggle in its mouth. Kingfishers live inside tunnels low down beneath the earth.

14. The Mighty Horseshoe Crab by Maddie P. Capsersprey with front pinchers. The horseshoe crabs live in sand areas. A horseshoe crab has blue to blue-green blood.

15. Horses That Live in the Sea By Karishma R. Seahorses are fish. After baby seahorses are born, they stick together in a group by holding each other’s tails. They can camouflage to hide from their predators .

16. Furry Raccoons By Andrew C. It lives in logs, trees, tall grass, and treeless areas near water or abandon muskrat homes. It eats birds, grasshoppers, mice and other animals. Its predator is a Red Fox, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, and humans.

17. Floating Jellyfish By Natalie B. Jellyfish are not strong swimmers. Sometimes they have to swim with the current. Jellyfish have a floating material.

18. Flounders by: Kient B. They live in sandy and muddy in the bay. There are 300 different kinds of flounders. They eat small fish, squid, seaworms, shrimp and other crustaceans.

19. Fiddle Fiddler Crabs By Lexi .F The Fiddler crab can change colors in light and dark. They eat bacteria , decaying marsh plants. There are 4,500 different species of crabs.

20. Outstanding Osprey by Cole L. Some people think osprey are pests because they eat too many fish. Its wingspan is 6 feet when it flies. The Osprey can live to be up to 8 to 10 years old, sometimes 20 years old.

21. The Real- Oyster by: Jennifer U. Adults can grow to about 8”, long but 4 and 5 is more typical in the Chesapeake Bay. They make beautiful stones called pearls. Oysters act as filters and they take in and release water which means they clean our Bay.

22. Horseshoe crabs by David W. The horseshoe crab can be 60 inches long. The horseshoe crab is the oldest living fossil in Maryland. Fossils of horseshoe crabs have been dated at 360 million or more years old.

23. Z-prizing Zooplankton By: Mateo F. The zooplankton is first in marine food chain. Plankton is a Greek word that means drifting. Crabs and lobsters are found among the zooplankton.

24. Extra Perfect Painted Turtle by Matthew B. The Eastern Painted Turtle is the most common turtle in America. If they sense danger they pounce into the Bay. They make their home in the Chesapeake Bay freshwater part.

25. Sky Sorcerer: Bald Eagle by Andy C. Bald Eagles chase other birds of prey for food. They have a wing span of 7 ft. Long ago Aztecs believed the eagle was the sun.

26. Go Terps ! by: Ricky C. Diamondback Terrapins have lived on the earth for more than 200 million years. The female is bigger than the male. If people throw their trash out and it gets in the Bay, the terrapins may think that it is food and become sick or maybe even die.

27. The Ruby Red- Winged BlackbirdBy: Sophia O. The Red- Winged Blackbird guard their nests with songs. The Red- Winged Blackbird can hide their red feathers. The scientific name for Red- Winged Blackbird is agelaius phoenices.

28. Catfish by Justin C. Catfish lets off a kind of poison that can cause serious wounds to prey. A channel catfish eats insects. If the channel catfish wasn't in the Bay, the fish that eat the channel catfish would die.

29. The Jewel Turtle, Eastern Painted Turtles by: Moshelle B. The Eastern Painted Turtles is one of the most common turtles in Maryland. They can live to be 30 years old. The turtle’s bask to warm their blood and to get rid of parasites.

30. The Curious Clam by Amari A. Clams have a special hair called a cilia. Their habitat is a ocean , lakes, and streams. Clams are also used jewelry and earrings.

31. Class Works Cited • Chesapeake Bay Coastal and Bay Life. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. January 2012 http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/cblife/zoop/ • Creature Feature. Department of Natural Resources. January 2012 http://dnr.maryland.gov/mydnr/CreatureFeature/ • Maryland Fish Facts. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. January 2012 http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/fishfacts/ • Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter. US Geological Survey. January 2012 http://137.227.242.23/id/framlst/. • Study of Northern Virginia Ecology. Fairfax County Public Schools. January 2012 http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/organism_menu.htm. • World Book Student Discovery Science Encyclopedia, 2007 and World Book Encyclopedia, 2007.