Wetlands at work.

If you love plants, birds and mammals  -biodiversity in general-  you should seek out wetlands. Often called the "cradle of biodiversity," these places are crawling with life!

One of Ottawa N.W. R. newer projects

 A few years back, during the Midwest Birding Symposium held in Lakeside, Ohio, we collected donations for Carbon Offset Birding Project.  The Ohio Ornithological Society also kicked in funds to seed some efforts on a wetland restoration in Ottawa county. This previously wet county was part of the Great Black Swamp. It had been mostly drained for farming, but now a few of those fields are being re-purposed back in to wetlands for wildlife.

Dottie McDowell enjoys the boardwalk and viewing platform.

 The area was enhanced with a viewing platform and parking area, as well as native plantings- both forbs and trees.

This reconstructed wetlands is attracting loads of migratory birds this spring.  It has been educational to watch the tranformation from corn field to natural looking wildlife habitat in just a few short years.

Mystery plant!
Certainly of the  Ranunculus family.

The mystery plant has been solved!  Check the comment below- by Helen.  It certainly is in the buttercup family, and commonly called Cursed Buttercup or Cursed Crowsfoot, Ranunculus sceleratus.  It is reported to cause blistering - especially in the mouth- when eaten by mammals. Hence the "cursed" part. BUt then again, most of the buttercups are rather toxic when eaten.

This is exactly why Flora-Quest 2016 is undertaking wetland plants as the topic for 2016.  Too often we learn the Spring ephemerals and never learn about the amazing botany driving the wetlands in Ohio!  Time to broaden your plant horizons.  Sign up now, as quests are filling!

Just a few of the birds being sighted here!

Wetland birds and mammals need wetlands.  Ohio has lost over 90% of our wetlands to development and agriculture.  Our federal dollars and the massive work of conservation minded hunters has protected the few significant wetland remaining in Ohio.  If you have not yet visited Ohio's Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, sign up for the Flora-Quest which offers a bus ride to normally off-limit sectors.

Working together for conservation.

Conservation leaders in Ohio, like Friends of Ottawa, Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Ohio Ornithological Society and Toledo Naturalist Association all pitched in for this project.  Flora-Quest is partnering with many of these organizations for our fall workshop in Lakeside. We want to help people understand some of the major plant players in these exciting and dynamic wetlands.  So go ahead, dive in and join us on Sept. 30, 2016.

Ottawa NWR- A Copper Mine

Ottawa National Wildlife Reserve in northwest Ohio has been all the talk of late. The gates have been open more frequently to birders, and the shorebird migration has been all the rage. It seems they had a gob of godwits last weekend and Larry Richardson tells the full story here.



Another group of nature-seekers have been haunting the paths at these same impoundments. September and October aren't just a good time to see shore birds and fall color.

Jason Lewis (Ottawa NWR manager) and Jackie Riley (Karner Blue butterfly monitor), hard at work!

Fall is also prime time for late butterflies! Especially the RARE Purplish Copper, Ohio's most wanted butterfly; they had not been seen in about ten years! That is, until someone got a photo last year while birding at Ottawa.

So the great hunt begins! First we need to wade through the Bronze Coppers, their sister species. After seeing nearly 400 Bronze Coppers in one day, one might think they are as common as a butterfly could be! However, since they are strictly a wetlands species- and Ohio has lost over 90% of our wetlands- they are only common in rare places.

Butterflies often have highly refined tastes for certain host plants, and our target species, the Purplish Copper, feed on a terrestrial form of the Water Smartweed, Polygonum amphibium. Some say Purplish are extra keen on the hairy form of the plant.

We checked over every plant and every individual we could find. This female appeared to be settling in to lay eggs, but alas she is only a Bronze Copper. We continued to look...

Did I mention there was over three miles of possible habitat? It was like searching for a needle in a haystack! Unfortunately, after four hours of beating the bushes, we were no closer to solving the mystery of the missing Purplish Copper.

But we haven't given up! Well, maybe for this year. But next year, we will be back at it, armed with these amazing "cheat sheets" that Jackie made for us. Now you have the scoop on Ohio's "Most Wanted" butterfly! Take a close look and you will see why it is so easy to confuse these two different species of the copper colored butterflies.

Special thanks goes out to Mike Reese of Wisconsinbutterfly.org for allowing us to use his wonderful photos. If we can't find our own Purplish Copper soon, we may have to go visit Mike to see a little bit of their marsh magic!

Remember, keep your eyes to the skys (and the smartweeds) if you are visiting Ottawa NWR!

Sky Fishing at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

As with any good fishing story, this one starts at sunrise. The Friday morning kick-off of Midwest Birding I was the local guide for Paul Baicich and Wayne Petersen. Oh yeah, throw me in the brier patch.

The sun was just creeping into the sky as we drove out on the dikes to meet the experts in shorebird banding. For the botany lovers, this vegetation is your basic wetland fare: Marsh-mallow- Althaea officinalis, Smartweeds- Polygonum sp., Cat-tails- Tphya sp., and Beggar's-ticks Biden cernua dominated this scene.

Clad in high waders, Tom Kashmer carefully works his way out to the sky nets. This scientific expedition is is all about collecting data on the comings and goings of shorebirds, but first, they must be caught in the nets.

Once the birds are safely retrieved from the nets, Tom and Tom gather the details, weight, wing length, fat-reserves and so and on. The bird receives a souvenir band, as the guys pledge to love, honor and cherish....

Tom Barlett holds a Wilson's Snipe for our inspection. One never tires of seeing birds close-up, details we know only as blurry field-marks are wonderfully clear at this distance.

The dowitchers and snipe have amazingly flexible bills. It comes in very handy while probing in the mud for tasty treats.

After the paparazzi finish with photos, (Bird Chick in the foreground) the birds are released unharmed and sent on their merry way.

Thanks to Tom and Tom for this marvelous adventure, and Dana Bolin and Micheal Bolton (the Ottawa census guy, not the singer) for this opportunity to visit the dikes for some sky fishing and a morning of a lifetime.