Lagging - for Good Reason

So I keep coming up with excuses to defend why my blog posts are so few and far between.  If I had the extra time and energy, and less of an attention disorder, I could produce a new bog post almost every day.  The fact is that I am spending so much time actually DISCOVERING Northeast Ohio that I am pooped by the time that I get home for the evening.  Great blog post ideas have come and expired in my brain, but never materialized.  A lot has to do with the amount of time that I have to spend to keep my photo library updated...

On average, I'd say that I take around 200 photos per day.  If its a beautiful spring day where I'm exploring a new place, I may take up to 600 photos.  The beauty of digital photography is that I can come home and chisel those 600 down to about 30 or so that I really like.  The burden of digital is that I have all of those photos to look through and make minor adjustments, crop, etc.  My MacBook Pro is old and my iPhoto library contains 57,759 photos as of now.  My computer freezes all the time.  Hence, updating my photos becomes a major routine that I try to work on almost every day.

Beyond these excuses, I think that I may look into getting a desktop PC and a new photo library software; something that won't be such a time-leeching hassle.  If that ever happens then maybe I will have more time to write blogs and share my discoveries with all of you who are interested : )

To make up for lost times, I figured that I would post some photos and brief summaries of the best experiences/finds that I have had so far this season at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  I came back as a seasonal biological science technician this year; I started at the end of March.

This male held on for dear life as the jealous non-fertilizers tried to dislodge him from the female.  You can see her laying the eggs in this giant communal egg mass.

The male has left and soon these fresh eggs will absorb water and become enlarged like the rest.

I spent a ton of time visiting amphibian breeding sites this year, and this year was sure an amazing one!  It got so warm in late March that later breeding frogs came out way too early!  The Spring Peepers have been calling since Winter and they are still going right now.  Other species such as the Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) pictured above have a much more brief breeding season.  They were out for less than a week and it was action-packed!  I explored pools around CVNP and Kent area to see this amazing seasonal spectacle.  I even found some behavior that I have never seen or heard of before.  Male Wood Frogs were ganging up on female Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) and attaching to them as if they were trying to breed.  I found this occurring in three separate instances in the same pool in CVNP.  If anyone knows more about this behavior or has witnessed it themselves, please let me know.  I am guessing that there is some kind of chemical pheromone attraction going on that must be similar between these amphibian species...but I would love to know if anyone actually knew what was going on.

This male held the best position on this poor Spotted Salamander.  I still don't think that its going to work.  There were five males attached when I first came up.

Breeding for frogs is still going on for many species, this year the breeding season has been prolonged.  The same trend seems apparent for plants as well.  Many species have been in bloom all around for a much longer window than usual.  It is wonderful in my opinion to have this slow-moving Spring due to the weather.  It allows for plenty of time to observe usually brief seasonal wonders : )

Recently at work I heard about a leucistic Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) who lives in the park.  Leucism means that the animal has very little skin pigments and usually appears white.  This is different than albinism because albinos are only lacking melanin.  Anyway, I was able to see this Spirit Hawk, and man was she gorgeous.  Nothing short of what I would have imagined though.  Apparently Lucy (as she has been named) has been around the Everett area in CVNP for a few years now, and she has a nest in some woods nearby.  It is truly a magical sight to see this bird, and interesting to think how this condition affects her life and behavior.

I've had numerous other encounters in the forests of "the valley" with wildlife, but one stands out above all.  Getting late after work one day I was out exploring in the Haskell Run area.  I was moving very slowly through the lowland riparian areas just observing plants and listening to Winter Wrens sing when I heard an angry noise behind me.  I was startled and my sights shot up to the top of the slope where I was standing at the bottom.  An angry Coyote (Canis latrans) was growling and snarling at me from above no more than 50 feet away.  My heart started pounding and my adrenaline flowing!!  It was a scary encounter being in the quiet darkening woods by myself!  I knew how to handle the situation and I stood there and yelled back at the Coyote as he started barking at me and howling non-stop.  He was angrily pacing the ridge side while I started to climb out of the ravine on the opposite side.  Every few paces that I took I would turn around and let the Coyote know that I wasn't afraid.  In my head though I was desperately looking for a nice stick in case he did try to attack me.  I was imagining a couple other Coyotes running up beside him and any more than one would have been actually scary.  It took me about 15 minutes to get back towards where I had entered the woods from and back to my car.  The coyote was in the distance barking and howling the whole time!

The reason why I had such an aggressive encounter with this Coyote was because he was a territorial male guarding his den with young pups inside.  These animals can be fierce!  If one ever comes across a Coyote, the best thing to do is just casually make your way out of that location.  In my case I acted "big" back towards the Coyote so that he knew that I wasn't something that he wanted to mess with.  You don't want to show weakness to any larger predatory animal.  

I'm glad that I got to end my blogless streak and post something up, but its my bedtime now so I have to cut off there for now.  There are so many amazing things to see in the park right now!  The neotropical migrants are starting to show up in big numbers around NE Ohio.  I have been hearing and seeing tons of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia).  I saw my first Great Crested Flycatchers, Scarlet Tanager and Baltimore Oriole of the year today.  Hooded Warblers, Blue-winged Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Black-throated Green Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos, Warbling Vireos, and Wood Thrushes have all made their presence known to me this year so far as well.  I am very excited that I will be leading a birding hike for Blackbrook Audubon this Saturday at Indigo Lake in CVNP.  The hike starts at 8am if anyone is interested!  You can read more about it on page 2 here:

http://www.blackbrookaudubon.org/PDF/April2012HW.pdf

I will leave off with a few more happy photos of this Spring : D

Mallard momma was upset with a male following her...not sure if it was a different male or what was going on but she suddenly freaked and fled the scene.  The fresh ducklings were scootin along!!

 Three years in the making I was finally able to photograph a White-eyed Vireo : )

A large population of Wild Geraniums in Mesopotamia, OH 

This crazy Red Squirrel was tweaking out while listening to the loud Hairy Woodpecker nestlings inside the Cherry Tree here.  The momma woodpecker didn't seem to mind the squirrel.  I checked back today and the babies are still alive and making noise!

What To Do During Winter...

As much as I love the idea of keeping my blog updated, my photos updated, and generally staying in touch with the world, I find it hard to do.  I am never in shortage of passion, energy, or ideas, but my focus and follow-through always needs a boost.  I think there is a term to describe me (ADHD?)  I am working on it though : )

Living in Northeast Ohio is extraordinary for inumerable reasons, one of which that I really want to emphasize being our beautiful seasons.  It amazes me how many people that I encounter who just seem to complain about the climate here.  The Winter is too cold, not enough sunny days, blah blah blah.  Do these people ever stop to realize what a diverse and bountiful land that we call home?  Northeast Ohio is positioned so where many different eco-regions come together.  The land here has characteristics of lands surrounding it in all directions.  Such diverse habitats allows for great diversity in flora and fauna.  We also have had glacial history that has blessed us with some of the most fertile till soil that one could imagine.  Oh, and Lake Erie...one of the great lakes that supplies us with such generous amounts of fresh water among other things...Northeast Ohio really isn't so bad.

The seasons here are an effect of our latitude on the globe.  We have wonderful warm (even hot) Summers and cold snowy Winters.  Spring and Autumn are also beautiful transitional periods between.  I would argue that every season has cosiderable beauty, and especially from a naturalist's point of view, there are so many wonderful things to discover and anticipate year-round.  Personally, I enjoy getting outside all year; even during the Winter, but there are many things that one can do to celebrate the natural world even without being outside much.

Being the big nature geek that I am, I decided to use this Winter as a time to develop my tree (and shrub) identification skills.  Without leaves, tree ID becomes a matter of twig ID...and this can be challenging.  One major challenge is to obtain a representative twig from the tree of which you are trying to identify.  For me, twigs are the final step in identifying a tree.  I first take into account habitat, growth pattern, bark, and overall characteristics.  There can also be clues on the ground such as fruits, nuts or leaves.  Sometimes clues may allow me to have a few guesses as to what the tree might be.  If nothing else, I can usually narrow down the suspects and then hope to manage getting a twig (I've climbed many trees).

American Basswood (Tilia americana) is characteristically multi-trunked, and grows in clumps.  This was an extreme example found at Observatory Park.  

Another great thing about Winter in the amatuer naturalist's world is bird identification.  In Winter, we are left with our resident species (birds that stay in one place year-round) and Winter migrants (who come from further North).  Bird numbers are much fewer in the Winter, and diversity much less for most habitats.  I always tell people that Winter is a great time to learn because they can try to get the resident species figured out, so that once Spring comes at least they can recognize some birds.  These common birds include Cardinals, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Nuthcatches, Titmice, and most of our woodpecker species.  Mixed flocks of these birds can be found moving as a group through woodlands often with Kinglets, Brown Creepers, and Juncos.  Wrens and Sparrows are around as well as other songbirds and raptors.  Winter is also a great time for seasoned "birders".  Many rare species are found in Ohio during Winter.  I saw my first Northern Goshawk this year...a species that only gets reported (at least credibly) in Ohio a handful of times each year.  Besides many raptors, songbirds and numerous waterfowl species also can be seen in Ohio for just the Winter.  Every season has it's own wonderful characteristics : )

Of course, many animal species become dormant during Winter, and some change habits or become much less active.  There are plenty of specific examples.  Some amphibians burrough in the mud and can actually withstand parts of their bodies becoming frozen!  Reptiles find some sort of Winter den such as a burrough or stick pile. Some mammals gather up large caches of food to help sustain over the Winter and become much less active, others remain active. All of Ohio's wildlife has it's own special adaptations for surviving through this tough season...a topic on which I still have much to learn.

Beyond actually getting outside, there are other things to do in Winter that can appeal to the nature lover.  I use this time inside for organization, and consolidation of the previous year's collections.  I like to keep somewhat of a loose almanac of happenings in the natural world around me.  Some in pictures, some in notes, others just in memory.  During late Winter it is exciting to think of Spring just around the corner, and the chain of events that occurs during the transition into better weather.  This is when I try to set goals for myself as far as projects to embark on and subjects to focus on for the year.  Once Spring hits, so much happens so fast it can be overwhelming!!

Early flowering Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) seen on January 11th 2012 in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

In 2012 I have already seen early signs of the changing seasons.  We have had such a mild Winter that I think nature may be confused.  February 1st I was listening to at least 3 Spring Peepers along the Mentor Marsh.  I've seen Skunk Cabbage in many places many times this Winter, with flowers and all!  More regular for this time of year, Red-shouldered Hawks have begun their courtship and territorial displays.  I first heard two pairs relentlessly vocalizing over territory at Geauga Park District's new Observatory Park in Montville on February 8th.  Here is a link to hear what they sound like - http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/id/ac Keep your ears out for this screaming hawk and bring some binoculars.  Red-shoulders are among the most beautiful birds in my opinion, you may be able to witness territorial diving displays, or even courtship behavior and mating ; )  Here is a photo that I took a couple years ago in my backyard in Kent.

The moral of the story is that Winter is a great time for certain aspects of the natural world, and there are plenty of things to see and learn.  Even better for some Winter can be a time to refresh and organize to get ready for the next year.  VERY soon we will be amongst breeding amphibians, early spring wildflowers, breeding raptors (some of which have already started), early migratory birds and so on.  Once the chain of events in Spring starts, every day is different!  So I hope that anyone who is interested sets goals for themselves this year to get out and witness some of these amazing seasonal spectacles in nature.  They are so brief, and I for one look forward to them every year.

I even got this lovely lady out with me most of the time throughout Winter and she is a freeze baby : )  Here we are admiring a giant Red Oak (Quercus rubra) at the Mentor Lagoons

Checking off the top bird on my list...

Before I even get into my story, I must announce that Doug Marcum is officially graduated from Kent State University!!  That was an awesome 6-year adventure hahaha :)  Now that I am finished with school, the world is at my fingertips (well kinda).  I will have all sorts of time to work on various projects, such as this blog!

This story goes back to two Wednesdays ago (12/9).  With finals week at school, I haven't had time to write it until now.  I had been working inside all morning at Cuyahoga Valley, staring at a computer screen.  It was time for some fresh air. Sonia (the best boss ever) had just spotted a couple coyotes running around in the field next to our office building.  We were watching them scare away all of the deer.  Andrew (my other awesome co-worker) let me borrow his binoculars, and I was going to take a stroll down to Haskell Run; the creek that runs through the valley behind our building.

I am currently helping out with a beaver (Castor canadensis) survey throughout CVNP.  Apparently, there are around 90 sites mapped out with beaver activity in the park!  Crazy to think that beavers were extirpated from the state for a good century or more until their comeback in the mid 1900's.  European colonization brought on heavy trapping with no respect for ecosystems or healthy population sizes etc.  Beaver pelts were a very valuable item for a while in time.  This lead to their demise in the Midwest.

My goal that Wednesday was to survey a portion of Haskell Run, where there had been old beaver signs.  So I left for the valley through the field where Sonia, Andrew, and I had just seen the coyotes.  Beyond the field and entering the woods, there are some very beautiful and impressive Shagbark Hickories (Carya ovata).  These trees invited me into the forest, and I headed down into the valley.  The creek is not far from this entrance, and I was soon coming upon an opening in the forest; a wet meadow that where the creek runs. Entering this meadow has a magical power...of which you will soon understand when I finish my story.  Here is a visual (taken the next day):

When I came out into the field, I scanned the area.  I saw something that looked like a dead animal with something standing on it not far away, but my eyes were still blurry from staring at the computer all morning.  When I pulled my binoculars up, I was excited to see a raptor standing on top of a deer carcass! The sequence that ran thrhough my head next went something like this..."Whoa! what the hell is that??  Definitley a juvenile, it has spots all over it...it's huge!  But it's not a Red-tail, so what the heck is it??  Juvenile Red-tails have patterned streaks on their chest...this is thing looks as big as an eagle!  I KNOW it's not an eagle...what raptors have I never seen before? Hmmm...it has a big fat body and head, with feathers going down its legs and big yellow feet.  The spots on its chest are evenly patterned and go from the head all the way down...(bird changed position) oh wow, the back is really pretty, speckled all over...shades of golden brown. (bird shows tail and flies up to a tree) HOLY SH##!!!  It's an accipiter, which means...GOSHAWK?!!!  Dang!!! I don't have my camera!!!  Maybe if I leave to get my camera and come back he will still be here near the carcass!! I need proof!"

Before I left the scene, I took a very careful and detailed look at the bird because I knew that I may never see it again, and I wanted to be sure.  The size alone was a good enough distinction, but when I saw the tail feathers that were striped brown and gold (among other things), I was sold.  I left the scene and then ran back to the office. Busting through the door panting, I told Sonia and Andrew what I think that I just saw.  I asked Andrew for his bird guide so that I could look at images of juvenile Goshawk versus juvenile Cooper's Hawk.  Before I checked the field guide, I still doubted myself a little because I know how rare Goshawks are, and there was also a Cooper's Hawk pair that fledged at least three young this year in the same area.  The images in the book though confirmed my bird 100%, every little thing that I noticed was a characteristic of a juvenile Goshawk.  Now I was sure, but I wanted to get back for photo evidence.  I asked Andrew to come with me for backup, as he knows his birds also. When we came back down into the meadow, my fears had come true.  The magical bird had left the scene, and was nowhere to be found.  The image of what it looked like will be burned into my brain for a while though...with the aide of this photo that I found...the bird in this photo look identical to the one that I saw:

© Matt MacGillivray,

Now to give a little background to help understand the excitement involved with this find.  Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) are the largest of the three North American Accipiter species.  Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks are common sights in Ohio.  Northern Goshawks though, as their name suggests, breed in more Northern regions, especially boreal forests where grouse populations are abundant.  The only Goshawks that we get to see in Ohio are typically migrating juveniles who are searching for territory to hunt and survive the winter.  The adults typically maintain adequate habitat up north for year-round survival, and they also have the hunting skills necessary to do so.  Accipiters in general are forest-dwelling hawks that are adapted for quick powerful flight and tricky manuevers through branches etc.  They have broad wings and long tails to accomplish this.  They mostly hunt birds, but are opportunistic as well.  Goshawks primarily hunt grouse and snowshoe hare in northern habitats.  In Ohio though, smaller birds usually suffice.  The individual that I found was feeding on a fresh deer carcass, which is an interesting note.  To read more about Northern Goshawks, and to view their mapped range, go here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Goshawk/id

Without a Goshawk in sight, Andrew and I walked up to inspect the deer carcass where the bird was feeding.  It was a 14-point buck!  This old buck just added to the magic of it all.  It was obvious that the coyotes had been here just previously by the condition of the carcass.  I got some gruesomely cool photos, but don't worry, I won't include them.

I wanted to go back to the site early the next morning to check around for the Goshawk, and see the progession of scavenging on the down deer.  It was the most beautiful morning with our first good snow, and it was perfect to express the magic of this scene and adventure.  Here are some photos:

The last two photos below include the down buck.  It's hard to say what brought him to his end, but this scene does express the reality of life, and the beauty of death in my opinion.  This buck is returning back to the earth as a food source for numerous creatures, including the juvenile Goshawk, coyotes, red fox, as well as many other animals and organisms that are scavengers or decomposers.  The rest of the deer remains will serve as fertilizer in the soil. Winter is a tough time for wildlife, and death in this manner is certainly not wasted.  Mother Nature also draped a beautiful memorial scene to celebrate this deer's existence, and to express the magic of the cycling of energy : )

I am still on the lookout for my juvenile Goshawk, I hold hope that he may remain in the area for a while :)  So, until he and I meet again, I will keep this beautiful creature in my memory.

Childhood Dream Fulfilled!!!

Ahhh so I am writing this blog a couple weeks after the experience but it's probably better this way because I was way too excited to sit down at a computer!  Anyway, two Mondays ago was a great day.  I was out in the field working my wonderful job at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and it was just one of those days where everything is inspiring and you see some cool things in nature.  As Sonia and I were heading back from our field site to the truck, my face was in a book trying to identify some plant.  She suddenly stopped and said "OH MY GOD!"  When I looked up and saw what the commotion was about, I couldn't believe my eyes. A HICKORY HORNED DEVIL!!!  Ok, so most of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.  A Hickory Horned Devil is a giant caterpillar...one that I've never seen previously.  See, when I was a kid caterpillars were my thing (well one of them anyway), and the Hickory Horned Devil was always my favorite.  I even have drawings of this thing from when I was 10 years old to prove it!  My nature buddy ever since elementary school, Chia and I would go out collecting insects all the time, even during recess!  We were "Nature Nuts", a name that came from our favorite TV show when we were kids.

Anyway, I always wanted to find this magical caterpillar, and about 14 years later was my lucky day!!  Sorry to keep you wondering what this beauty looks like, here's a photo of me holding the monster...

Isn't that thing AWESOME?!?! What an amazing coincidence that this caterpillar just so happened to be crossing the towpath as Sonia and I walked by! This path was extremely dangerous for the Devil to be crossing as bikers and joggers galore zoom by without even realize their surroundings most of the time.  If I had come up on a flattened individual that day, I'd probably still be there on my knees crying!  Well that may be a bit extreme, but the point is that it was meant to be that I saw my caterpillar that day!  And saved its life!

While guarding and admiring this beautiful creature, many towpath users were curious about two goofballs wearing orange vests who were crowding the middle of the path. They stopped and saw the caterpillar and got a brief explanation from excited me about the life cycle and how seeing one was my dream.  I am the biggest nerd ever  : )  Sonia made fun of me because when I was on the phone spewing out the great news to Chia I apparantly said "dude" about every other word...I'm sorry, I get excited! Once I cut "dude" out of my vocabulary, I didn't have nearly as much to say haha.

So now for a brief life history lesson on the Hickory Horned Devil.  The reason why this caterpillar was on the ground risking his life is because he was looking for somewhere to pupate.  For this species, that means that he will find somewhere to dig a hole in the ground to metamorphose rather than spin a cocoon.  I know that this caterpillar was about to pupate for 2 reasons; first, he is dressed in a beautiful turquoise  hue rather than his previous pure green.  Many caterpillars change colors just before they pupate.  Secondly, there aren't many instances why this caterpillar would be on the ground otherwise, and this is the time of year to find them coming out of their host plants.

Once the Devil buries himself in the earth, he may overwinter there for one or two years!  A magical transformation will then take place and the beautiful Regal Moth will emerge!  As you can imagine, these moths are huge, and they too are gorgeous.  I have yet to see one, so here is a photo that I found on the web.

The Regal Moth will devote all of its time to mating and the females will then lay their eggs.  The adult moths don't even eat and they only live for a few weeks just for the purpose of creating offspring.  I hope that I get to see one soon!!

I am going to leave this post with a few other caterpillar photos that I've gotten recently.  One of which seemed to be some sort of alien on first sight!

This bizarre creature is called a Monkey Slug.  It is a species that specializes in mimicry.  Chia spotted this guy while we were hiking in Cuyahoga Valley.  It is believed that the caterpillar is mimicing a tarantula shed in order to deter predators from eating it.  Furthermore, the adult moth has two forms.  The female is a bee-mimicing moth, and the male is a wasp mimic!  What a crazy creature with such evolutionary trickery at work!

The last two caterpillars to share are the Luna Moth cat (left), and a Monarch cat (right).  Two more beautiful species, but I'm done telling stories for now!

Hmm...that was a long hiatus!!

Well, I'd like to first start out by saying hello to the world again...Hello : )  I have been incognito since the beginning of April and now I'm back, hopefully for a while.  Spring was just getting exciting when I cut all of you off and I apologize for that!  I didn't tell any stories about life's magical rebirth in NE Ohio.  As it is basically Fall here now, that is old news though.

 I've stayed pretty busy, finished up Spring semester and also took classes through much of Summer break.  Both were exciting field courses though so it was a good time.  I've been working the most wonderful job since Spring as well, as an intern at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  I work for the park's Wetland Biologist, Sonia Bingham, and she is awesome.  They actually pay me to roam the woods and look at plants, butterflies, and birds all day!!!  What more could I have asked for?!  So obviously while I'm at work I get to see much of nature's beauty and her interesting creatures.  I will add some photos of the highlights...

I found and documented some behavior on many bird nests this year while on the job at Cuyahoga Valley, including this Common Yellowthroat nest!! One of my favorite songbirds!

 ABOVE LEFT: My co-intern this Summer, Luke. He's a Forestry major at University of Kentucky. We had a lot of fun together, he fell in the swamp that day while we were measuring trees haha.


ABOVE RIGHT: My first sighting of a Harvester, a butterfly that is related to Blues. These guys are very beautiful, I wish I could have gotten a better photo with my real camera...

Along with my disappearance from the internet (I literally have been slacking on emails and everything else too), I have unfortunately gone on the biggest photography slump of my career...I don't know what happened.  Hopefully that will change soon, I am actually very confident that it will : )  I bought an iPhone solely for the capabilities of its amazing camera.  So convenient, a phone, iPod, and amazing camera all in one.  Brad Schultz was my inspiration.  You can see his stale blog from this link.  Just for the record, the news just came in today that Brad is now officially a Registered Nurse working for Akron General Hospital, congrats to him!!  Brad has been my best friend since 7th grade!  ANYWAY, the point is my iPhone has replaced my Nikon and that needs to change.  Just because the phone is convenient and takes nice photos, it's definitely not up to par with a DSLR and nice lenses in all situations (thankfully).  So I hope to dust the ole' camera off and have some pretty pictures to show and tell very soon : )

This semester in school right now is the beginning of the end (at least for a while), because I think I might FINALLY graduate from college in December : )  If everything goes as it is supposed to that is, I've got my fingers crossed.  I hope to make the best of my last stretch here in Kent, and I should have some exciting stories to tell!  I'm definitely ready to begin the post-college chapter in my life, I would much rather take real-world experience over a classroom, though school can be great at times.  Someday I will return to grad school...that will be fun : )

From here on out I plan on having more photos and adventure stories to share, so I am going to close up my blogging return with a few more photos from the quick Summer!  I have a caterpillar story to tell next!!

Spring Memories...

 Western Chorus Frog, which I spent FOREVER locating for a photo.

 Yellow Warbler heralding the arival of Spring back in late April.

Love and Rebirth : )

 Mother Willow : )  One of my special trees...

 Blue-winged Warbler - this was one of the males that would playfully chase each other around in "bird paradise" out in my sanctuary in Mesopotamia, OH.

 What the forest floor looks like with healthy deer populations.

 The elusively common Scarlet Tanager : )

 Just as beautiful in another shade, the Indigo Bunting : )

Wake Robin (AKA Purple Trillium), one of many wildflowers that I'm sorry that I never shared...

Stay tuned for more stories from the Summer and new adventures!!

Wait, March 31st is Spring I thought...

The adventures keep adding up, and the story to tell keeps getting longer and longer. It seems like I get out and explore every day so if I don't write something it piles up. I think that this blog is either going to end up going 1 of 2 routes. Either I just continue summarizing highlights of my outings with some of my prettiest photos, or I decide to talk about one or two aspects of nature at a time, and focus more on passing on what I have learned about a particular part of an ecosystem...hmm we'll see. Maybe it doesn't matter.

Anyway, I feel like this transition from Winter to Spring has been the most drawn out tease ever. Everytime I think that we are taking a step into warmer Spring days, Winter grabs me by the ankle again and pulls me back. I think that it's time to get away for good! At least the Spring Peepers are calling outside my window now again...they got silenced for a few days there when the ponds froze over again and again. Tough year for amphibians!

Hmm well since I want to keep this as short as possible I think I will illustrate some of my Spring highlights from the past few days. Since I have been away, the sky has been painted on day after day with some of the most beautiful clouds. We have also had rain, sleet, and snow, but it has all been pretty. A few adventures to Mogadore Reservoir with my right hand man Brad Schultz produced some nice bird sightings and beautiful scenery. Highlights include a pair of eagles during an epic sunset as well as 250+ Ring-necked Ducks, along with other waterfowl. I "heard" an Osprey while in the woods almost a week ago at Mogadore, but haven't seen or heard since so I'm beginning to wonder if it was imaginary...I'm dreaming to hard for one of my favorite birds : )

Snowing again...(photos courtesy of Brad)

April 1st sunset

March 29th sunset

Oh yeah, one day I was at the wildlife property at KSU and Rob and I were watching the tree swallows hawking insects in the sun. Such a beautiful sight. Tree swallows definitely rank up there with some of my favorite birds. Well out of about 200 photos that were out of focus, I had about 4 that came out decent. Here's one...

Not only is it hard to follow these aerial acrobats through a 300mm lens, my lens also doesn't ever like to focus on the bird, just the water behind it...pretty annoying for $1500...I guess I will have to figure out a new strategy. I'm glad that I ended up with this photo at least though, and I am always happy just watching them up close : )

Jumping around in the week, I made it back out to the farm on Saturday, and hunting for the first wildflowers was on my agenda. An early morning hike produced a rowdy mixed flock of Grackles, Red-winged, and Rusty Blackbirds. Other usual birds were to be seen, but the wildflowers that I scoped out stillll weren't open...ALMOST though. I was with a group of friends, and after our morning walk, we made our way back to the cabin to cook the usual late breakfast feast. I won't tease you by explaining it in detail. Since it was a beautiful warm(er) day, I wanted to go back out and check the progress on some of the flowers, I imagined that the sun would have perked them up. I also wanted to look for possible emerging snakes and butterflies.

Guess what?! We found a couple open flowers!! Sharp-lobed Hepatica and Spring Beauty. Sprouting Bloodroot, Trout Lily, Blue Cohosh, and others aren't too far behind either! Here are a coulple photos.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

Not only did we get a couple flowers, Brad managed to spot an Eastern Comma butterfly that he must have stirred up as he walked by!! I was expecting a Mourning Cloak if anything, but I was no less excited for the first butterfly of 2011!! Eastern Commas overwinter as an adult form by "hibernating" under logs, brush piles, or really anywhere they can. It's pretty amazing to me that these fragile creatures can endure Winter like that. Eastern Commas have a defense strategy to escape predation of blending into the forest. When landed, they close their wings and look like tree bark. They can easily go undetected. The open wings are beautifully patterned with oranges and black! Here are the two views...

We never managed to find a snake and it was time to go, but if we would have explored all day I bet we would have made our Mourning Cloak discovery!! Soon! Since Brad and I got back around Kent with time in the day, I said let's take the canoe out!! We went out on Mogadore. It was rough! The sun that had been with us all day gave way to sleet and strong winds blowing us backwards. We pushed through though and got a nice upper body workout in the process : )  The views of Bufflehead flying past from the closer proximity against the forest backdrop is always beautiful. It was a great ride and at the end of it all, we were rewarded with an epic sunset that decided to come out after all!

I think that this blog entry is a bit more scattered and jumbled than I would like, so I will refine it for future entries...I'm trying to figure out how to catch up. I can't wait to see what this coming week of Springtime fun has to offer (besides all the crap I have to do in school...)

Out to the Farm : )

I have been dying to get out to the farm (family property in Mesopotamia) ever since the minute I left last. I totally wish that I could live out there because it is definitely where I belong. If everything goes as planned, I will be living out there in a few years. I need to get some jobs after college to start paying off some loans, and then I can think about a building loan for my house!!! It's going to be so amazing! Living amongst the Amish, but I'm going to be and environmental friendly homesteader. I hope that over time, I can help my neighbors to have a greater respect for nature. Oh yeah and the picture is me doing one of my favorite chores on my future homestead : )

The list of opportunities for me at the farm is endless and SO EXCITING : )  The property has passed down my mom's side of the family for I don't know how many generations, and I know that it will one day be in my name, which I plan on putting a conservation easement on it and keeping it in the family. I think it will be great to take the land back to it's farming roots, I will have a smaller-scale garden, a greenhouse, chickens, I will forage for many things and occasionally hunt...I will be almost entirely self-sufficient and the remainder of my needs will hopefully be fulfilled within the community. I think that localizing economies and trade is one of the best ideas to help save the planet from the craziness.

Anyway, I could go on all day, but I must tell a few stories about my wonderful time in Amish country. I met my parents out there Saturday late afternoon, and took a nice walk through the woods. Immediately I recognized the unfamiliar song of a Chipping Sparrow in a small open field between our yard and the woods. This is a small bird paradise here, and in a month it will be filled with the songs of Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, Blue-winged Warblers, Indigo Buntings, and more. Add to these the songs of the American Redstart, Cerulean Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Carolina Wren, and many more coming from the woods just beyond the small field, and the Spring harmony is at it's finest. I play a game where I try to see how many birds I can tally when I wake up before I even get out of bed...just by listening to the songs. Beginning to understand why I love this place so much?

Continuing my walk along the Eastern treeline, there is a large corn field adjacent. I began hearing the sound of a flock of blackbirds in the distance, and I unconsciously assumed that they were Red-winged Blackbirds and maybe some Grackles. When I got a bit closer, I realized that I was hearing Rusty Blackbirds! There were so many that it was hard to pick out an individual call to focus on, and the Red-wings were loudest. Rusty Blackbirds aren't really a common sight, I usually spot them about this time through May every year, maybe a few times a year. This time was awesome though, there were at least 60 birds plus some RWBBs and a couple Cowbirds mixed in. I've never seen more than 10 at a time before. I really wish that I could have gotten a photo to put up, but they are very skittish. Oh and by the way, I love them because of their bright yellow eye, and their awesome call that sounds like a cassette tape being rewound and played...you know like a yak bak or scribbling or something. So cool. I recommend trying to seek these guys out! They prefer wetland areas (like other blackbirds) but can be found really anywhere blackbirds are found. Gotta listen for them though.

The rest of my walk was nice as well, but moving on, I had dinner with my parents around sundown when I came back to the cabin, Mom had it done soon after I came back. Gotta love Moms : )  After a little Jam session with some Eagles, Elton John, and Marshall Tucker Band, we went to bed, and I was ready for a morning hike.

I woke up at sunrise and the Cardinals, Carolina Wren, Song Sparrows, Chickadees, Titmice were singing through the walls of the cabin. I ate a piece of triple berry pie for breakfast and headed out. Oh!! The Carolina Wren started building a nest with his mate in our outhouse last July. Pretty funny. Anyway, he finished it this Spring, and it looks SO COOL. I keep forgetting to get a photo of it. But I also haven't managed to photograph the bird yet anyway so I will have to do a bit on them soon...

My general destination on this walk was to make it to a place that I call Waterthrush Falls. Haha, it's located in Cerulean Gorge and it's so pretty. It is named Waterthrush Falls because many a Louisiana Waterthrush dance and forage along the slate bedrock in the creek. Did I mention that the Louisiana Waterthrush could be a candidate for one of my favorite songbirds? I love them! I plan on studying a nesting pair this year so hopefully I will have some good observations and photos in a couple months! I expect them to return in a week or no more than two weeks. Can't wait! Here is a photo of a bird from last year. I will get better ones this year for sure!

I think that my photos of Waterthrush Falls explain what isn't needed to be said, it's just a magical place...the heart of my sanctuary really. I must say though that I love how dynamic streams and floodplains are, every year so many things change. This falls looks different every year. There is also a big Hemlock that uprooted and fell off the slope along the creek this past month. It will be interesting to watch this new gap on the hillside's ecosystem develop over the next years!

If you want to see more photos than the ones I put on here, they are on my Flickr page (there is a link on the side of this page). I think this entry is already somewhat lengthy, but I must also quickly mention a few things about my trip to the Grand River Wildlife Area. (which is just down the road from me)

It's always interesting there, I usually head over to the old fishponds on Norton Lane, and there are many birds (waterfowl etc.) and herps to be seen here! The Leopard Frogs were calling with the Spring Peepers, but I could not locate one for a photo : (  I will try harder next time I promise! Bird highlights included; Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, 2 Bald Eagles, and these beauties!!!

Trumpeter Swans! They are a listed state endangered species. Historically, they have been over-hunted and their wetland habitats been destroyed. Seeing these big beautiful native swans is always a treat. Every time I've ever seen them, it's been a pair, many of which have tags on their legs and collars on their necks. It was nice to see this pair without. They make a wonderful trumpeting sound (unlike the annoying honk of a Canada Goose in my opinion) and I love hearing them : )

I wish I could have photographed more waterfowl in the gorgeous blue water, but they are all very skittish. GRWA is open to public hunting, and shotgun shells line the dikes between the ponds. These ducks don't take any chances (though if I had a gun I could have popped a few lol). I was down low looking for frogs for a while and some teal flew right over me. Good thing I only shoot with my camera : ) Not the best photo, but at least you can see a GW Teal drake in flight right??

Well I need to go to bed so I will end with a few more photos of wildlife that I found at GRWA. If you ever get a chance to check it out, I would recommend it!

Oh, one last thing to mention, I saw some tiny sprouts of wildflowers. Hopefully in a week I will be posting photos of them on here because I will have made it back out to may sanctuary to see them : ) I anticipate Bloodroot, Hepatica, Spring Beauty in numbers, and some other misc. as well!