Herrick Fen- natural history romp

Herrick Fen Nature Preserve was one of the pre-trips for Friday's Conservation Symposium at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. As a huge fan of the fens, it was a pleasure to trek up to Portage County to see the fall colors coming to life. Rick Gardner and Tom Arbour from Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves were the guides on our journey, but many in the group were the nature-nut types, including the gal in the next photo.

Preserve Manager Karen Adair gave us the background of the removal of a dam which created the lake that had engulfed this fen. Once the dam was removed, the wetland plants are springing forth from the seed bank and taking hold once again. The Purple-stemmed Aster, Symphyotrichum puniceum, a tall "swamp" aster and bold yellow Beggar's Ticks, Bidens cernua bloomed in profusion.

"New" mud flats are the by product of the release of the lake, and we watched as a Solitary Sandpiper and many Killdeer enjoyed feeding in the murk. Ohio Birders are watching this fen to see what might be attracted to it this fall. I kept watching for a Long-billed Curlew.... maybe next trip.

Viceroy Cats

Viceroy is one of our better known Ohio butterflies. These denizens of wetlands, their host plant is the willow, are often confused with the similar looking Monarch. Their coloring is the same- providing some safety in mimicry of the toxic Monarch butterfly. Viceroy's are a bit smaller, faster in flight and have the distinctive postmedial line in the hindwing.

And what could be cuter than a kitten? This Viceroy caterpillar is so small-think sunflower seed size here- it is hardly more than a hatchling! Thanks to Kim Kaufman for sharing these amazingly tiny caterpillars with folks visiting the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Their gift shop carries a huge assortment of desirable insect and natural history books- along with the expected birding accouterments.

Another of Kim's kitties (Viceroy caterpillars) a bit further along in the transformation to butterfly. That bird-dropping camouflage make them devilish hard to find in the wild, and less tasty looking to predators.

This is what the final larval-stage product will look like, four or five instars later.

Check out those horns! This particular jumbo sized (about 1.5 inches) caterpillar was found in Ashland University's wetlands and is found immortalized in the Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio - a handy field guide distributed by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Call: 1-800-WILDLIFE for your free copy.

Red Knot- not red

By briefly interrupting the family vacation at Lakeside, a short trip to Maumee Bay State Park beach produced some spectacular looks at a not red Red Knot. This juvenile has been hanging out with the holiday weekend sun-worshipers and it was too good, and too close, to miss!

The Red Knot probes shallow water in search of a meal. (click on photo to enlarge) Thanks to Kenn Kaufman and Janet Creamer for assisting in the finer points of identification of a fall bird. Kenn mentioned last week's two juvenile Red Knots at Pickeral Creek wore more of a silvery sheen than this one, but the distinctively barred flanks and a gray rump when in flight are key markers.

This juvenile Sanderling is a good size comparison for the somewhat larger knot. Both birds were foraging not far from small flock of Ring-billed Gulls, who were nearly twice as large in size: about 9-10" for the knot and 17" for the gulls. We had a great opportunity to study them at our leisure.

Another beautiful day on the Lake Erie shoreline, add in the mix the Caspian Terns in various plumages, and I am really getting reved for Midwest Birding! Bring it on!

Shawnee Butterflies: the bold, beautiful and rare

Wednesday found me in Shawnee, leading a butterfly field trip for a Wildlife Diversity Conference. We scouted along the ridge tops of Forest Rd #5, in search the the bold and beautiful, and were delighted when we stumbled upon the rare.


Our days total tallied out at 24, the first being a Cloudless Sulphur. The giant-flying-lemon-wedges are larger and lighter in color than our more common Clouded Sulphurs and look entirely different in flight. Their lofting, yet determined-looking flight makes sense when one factors in the long distances these southern migrants cover.

Co- leader Jim Davidson is a wonderful butterfly mentor and friend. His vast knowledge makes any field trip more enjoyable and his ability to call butterflies in flight is legendary.

Our rarity of the day: Leonard's Skipper, first spotted by the keen eyed Linda Romaine. These penny-sized wonders are found near their host plant - Little Bluestem grass, Schizachyrium scoparium and prefer purple flowers, like these Rough Blazing Star, Liatris aspera. This was not a butterfly we were expecting to see, as they are a bit of a rarity in Ohio. But if you can find them, they are usually present in good numbers.

The Harvester, our only carnivorous butterfly, took front stage when it landing on this backpack and later on Tom Bain's hat. It seemed to be fixated on green!

Harvester, a very unusual butterfly, is totally hit-or-miss in the field. Although they are many-brooded, they are more unpredictable than the rarer single-brooded Leonard's Skipper. Both species were unexpected and welcome sightings on a fabulous field trip at Shawnee, and it was a pleasure to share them with good friends.

Evening at Bat Cove

Spectacular sunset and a Little Brown Bat on the horizon.

Last evening I had the good fortune of a spectacular sunset on the Clearfork Reservoir, and was soon joined by friends who were also drinking in the cool night sky.

Actually, the Little Brown Bats were drinking in the Clearfork Reservoir... but they did so on the wing. Bats are devilishly hard to photograph, since they are creatures of the night, however Little Browns are the first to shake off the day's slumber and take to the sky. And the first order of the day, er... night, is to get a drink of water.

Just as the sun silently sinks into the water, 20 or more bats winged their way about the cove, wheeling and cutting with acrobatic prowess. Insects gathered above the day-warmed water were quickly dispatched, and brief fly-by visits to the water's surface provided the much needed drink to cut the "cotton mouth" of their day's sleep. Dipping and diving along the shoreline lasted but 20 minutes, then off they winged to feed at higher elevations above the tree canopy.

Word from the environmental community to our south, says the Darby's Indiana Bats have already started to migrate. It won't be long before these curious creatures take the cue from the cooling nights and head to more favorable winter conditions.

Bats have been a much studied subject of late, as fungal condition called White Nose Syndrome has been decimating whole communities. Add to this the impact of windfarms, and now what was the most plentiful family, constituting 25% of all the mammals, is under siege on several levels. A most fascinating species of warm-blooded furry fliers, you'll want to use these last few nights of summer to catch their show.