Birding Amish Country

Amish Country and grassland birds seem to go together and recent reports of a Dickcissel near Shiloh, Ohio were too good to pass up. Shiloh is a little burg in Richland County, a mere 20 miles from my home. It was time to gather up a few friends for a day of excitement... Amish style.



This ground nesting song bird was teed up and singing his heart out, a distinctive stuttering "dik-dik-dik- sizzel." It was easy enough to locate three or four of the birds in the immediate vicinity, calling from posts and fence wires encircling a tidy Amish farm on Free Rd.

It is a pretty scenic spot to bird, but it makes you wonder how they pin the clothes on a line as high as a barn! One has to believe a pulley system in employed in this effort.

Friend Greg Miller (of The Big Year fame- book is about to be released as a movie) trains the scope on some Horned Larks in a nearby field, while Bobolinks "bubbled" their song over our heads.

Here is the yellow-chested wonder! Looks like he played it a little to close-to-the-chin with the dandelion heads! The size of a sparrow with Meadowlark-like markings, these uncommon birds are worth the drive. Ohio is the eastern most portion of their range; Dickcissels are Great Plains birds generally found well west of these parts.

A nearby auction house provides for both "English" and Amish parking.

And if you come to see the Dickcissel, don't plan to be in a hurry. The roads are windy and buggy traffic is the norm. Slow down and enjoy life a little.

Nothing escapes this trio of birders! Greg Miller and Greg and Leslie Cornet helped me scope out the best birds and the best deals in Shiloh's Amish country. We recommend the local grocery for cookies and pies!

West Woods' Sedge Workshop

This post is strictly for the most avid botany types: the sedge heads. Anyone else is excused now, unless you want to learn a bit more about one of the most fascinating genus in botany- hands down- Carex. Carex is King, and as we say, that sedge is going to bring you to your knees!

There are only a handful of guys in Ohio qualified to lead a sedge workshop- and this is one of them- Dr. Jim Bissell from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He knows his stuff, and we were thrilled to be learning from a master, the sedge master.

Buxbaum's Sedge, Carex buxbaumii (don't start sweating Sedge-heads, this in NOT from Geuaga Co. It is an old photo from my file.)

Whats not to like about a sedge? They have great geometry and color, come in all shapes and sizes and are as confusing as heck! Oh, yeah, did I mention they are confusing? We like a good challenge.

And if you have any interest in really learning sedges, you'll need to have a good magnifying lens.

Some folks brought a good book to the class to help them key out sedges. I brought a good botanist: Steve McKee. I was lucky my friend was happy to attend this day of wonderful sedginess.

Interested in learning more? Here is a great guide- until we get one for our own state. Come on Mr. Gardner... we are counting on you!

And of all the places to see this license plate- a sedge workshop.. no real surprise there!

The White Stuff

Shawnee State Park and Forest offers a myriad of natural delights and while the birding is good, the botany and butterflies are excellent as well. This southern Ohio treasure trove aways provides something I just don't get to see back home in Richland County.



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American Ipecac has distinctive leaflets, and five petals- which should not be too surprising for a member of the rose family. The flowers have a dove like quality as they flutter in a breeze. Lack of color is certainly compensated by the uniquely shaped leaves and flowers.



Appalachian Azure is technically blue -however it is such a light shade- it qualifies a bluish-white in my palette of colors. This southern species is a bit larger and more "floppy" in flight than our Spring or Summer Azures. You'll only need to see one fly to know the difference, and if you don't believe me...

well, phooey on you (sticking her tongue out!)

Treasures from Adams Lake and Prairie

Our recent travels to Adams county included one of the best spots in the state for birding, botanizing and butterflying: Adams Lake and the Adams Lake Prairie. This spot remains a reliable location for Summer Tanagers, Red-headed Woodpeckers and a couple of lucky finds: two Orchard Orioles, an adult and a first-year "bearded male."



This is an awful place to bird with a "Weedpicker" with dragonfly interests. In three seconds flat I was at the water's edge admiring one of my all-time favorite flowers, the Water-willow, Justicia americana and the black-saddlebag dragonflies zooming past them. These orchid and white flowers totally befuddle most folks as to plant family, as it belongs to the largely tropical Acanthaceae family.



This one is a pretty obvious ID, nothing difficult about a Red-headed Woodpecker- except finding them. Dead tree snags in or near water and open oak savanahs are their most reliable habitats.



Southern Sundrops, Oenothera fruticosa is related to the far more common-to-Ohio Common Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis a standard of wastelands and fields. Fruticosa varieties have been hybridized for the garden and can be found at plant nurseries in a pink form.

Another Adams Lake Prairie specialist, Spider Milkweed, Aslepias viridis. These oddly colored greenish-yellow flowers did not seem to attract butterflies or bees, so what is pollinating them? Spiders? I doubt it, and would start by looking to ants as pollinators - as I noticed ants on many of these plants.

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Watching the local fauna interact with the flora can unravel many questions, or put more questions in your head. Either way, I encourage an active learning mode in the field rather than the simple check-it-off-my-list mentality. Nature has many amazing secrets, and careful observation is the best way to learn her ways.

Nightjar Food

Who says all moths are dull-colored night fliers? On a recent visit to Adams County we found this beautifully colored moth flying in the early evening, well before dark. Seems to me it was just begging to be picked off by some gap-mouthed nightjar, either a Whip-poor-will or Chuck-will's-widow.

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Called the Common Spring Moth, or Heliomata cycladata it was well worth stopping for a photograph of this quarter-sized insect. It had a striking white, saddle-like marking edged with blueish specks. Moths often capture my attention as they are close relatives of butterflies. However, with over 10,000 species of moth in North America, I am not very confident in my ability to learn them all, and that is one of the main reasons I stick to butterflies! When I do need to sort a moth out from the crowd, I go to Moth Photographer's Group and use their amazing data base. I can flip through hundreds and hundreds of photos until I find a similar family on which to to hone my search.

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The previous day, a few of us were out botanizing when we flushed a Chuck-will's-widow off its nest. I think "nest" is a pretty generous term for this unstructured egg clutch. Nearly the size of a small chicken egg, I figured it would take at least four for an omelet (Just kidding- no hate mail!!!)

"Chucks" have been a target of interest for me for about 5 years now. In fact, it has been a bit of an nemesis-bird. I have made numerous night trips to Adams County to cruise back roads with my car windows rolled down, listening for their calls.

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The next day, I stood face to beak- at a safe respectful distance- with my newest Ohio "life-bird". We were able to safely view our little "widow" brooding her eggs, through a high powered scope. She is difficult to find and even quite cryptic in this frame filling shot. Follow the dark line from the centered plant across to the right, and you will find her beak smack dab in the middle. She lies facing us, with her tail extending back to the left.
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Thanks to Kathy McDonald for sharing the photo we took through the scope (her camera- I pushed the button.) And thanks to all the great folks who helped with the OOS Breeding Bird Workshop at the Edge of Appalachia. We met some new friends, and saw some wonderful birds, plants, butterflies, and much, much more. I'll be spreading the blog fodder out for the next couple of days!