The Virginia Rail

It's spring migration right now in the bird world. Many species across many different groups of birds are moving from their southern overwintering grounds to their northern breeding grounds. One such species is the Virginia Rail.

A few days ago I found myself in my hometown of Circleville, in Pickaway County, Ohio. I decided to head to the Mary Virginia Crites Hannan Park, a local city-owned park. This park has a small marsh with some open water, and last year I had found Soras in the marsh (which you can read about at this link!). This marsh had only recently been built when the city purchased the land a few years ago, and I was curious if Soras were utilizing this marsh every year, or if last year had just been a random occurrence. As I walked up to the wood deck which overlooks the marsh, I took out my phone and played the call of a Sora to see if one would call back from the reeds. Instead of a Sora calling back, a curious Virginia Rail ran straight out of the reeds. I will admit, I was not expecting that to happen!

The Virginia Rail is secretive species of rail, a group of marsh-loving birds who are known for being shy and hard to see. The Virginia Rail is a wide-ranging species, which can essentially be found across the lower 48 states in appropriate habitat at some point during the year. Generally speaking, they overwinter along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of the US, and breed throughout the west and the northern portion of the eastern US.

Can you spot the rail?

The Virginia Rail is a wetland-dependent species. They mostly inhabit freshwater marshes, but occasionally can be found in saltwater or brackish marshes, mostly during the winter months. They require emergent vegetation for shelter. The browns, tans, and grays of the Virginia Rail's plumage allow it to essentially disappear among the grasses, sedges, and cattails that grow in the shallow areas of marshes. When rails feel threatened, they will often simply freeze among the cover they are currently hiding in. When a rail freezes in a stand of dense reeds or grasses, it can be nearly impossible to see the rail unless you already had eyes on it.

The cautious Virginia Rail looks to the sky to scan for any potential aerial predators.

There are 5 species of rail that can be found in Ohio (I'm excluding the Common and Purple Gallinules and the American Coot from this number; although these 3 species are in the rail family Rallidae, they aren't what most birders think of when they think of rails). Of those 5 species, the Sora is the most common and the Yellow Rail is the rarest. The Virginia Rail is the second most common species of rail in Ohio, and one of the 3 species which regularly breed in the state (the other 2 are the Sora and King Rail). How widespread and abundant are Virginia Rails in Ohio? No one really knows. Rails are super secretive, and this makes estimating populations difficult. The vast majority of them probably go unnoticed. If you check the reports of Virginia Rails on eBird, you will notice that the vast majority of reports are centered around urban areas. Does this mean that rails love urban areas? No; urban areas simply have a higher concentration of birders. More birders in an area means more eyes to find secretive species like Virginia Rails.

The Virginia Rail is an omnivore, but they focus mostly on arthropods. Like other water-tied birds with long beaks, the Virginia Rail will probe into the mud in an attempt to find various arthropods. They also feed on arthropods that are either on the surface of the water or the ground, such as spiders and beetles. The individual pictured above was actually foraging farther from the water than I thought it would. When I took this picture, the rail was foraging about 10 feet from the water's edge. There were at least 2 Virginia Rails present in this marsh, along with at least 2 Soras, and they seemed to have established trails for them to move between foraging areas. They would feed in an area of dense grasses before darting quickly along an obvious narrow trail devoid of plants to another dense foraging area.

As I mentioned in my Sora post last year, I absolutely love rails. For one, they're adorable. But I'm also drawn to the fact they are secretive and difficult to find and see. As a birder, it's always rewarding to find a rail species of any kind in a marsh, and even more rewarding to actually lay eyes on one. I'm really hoping that the two Virginia Rails in this Pickaway County marsh decide to breed here, but they might also simply be migrating through to a more northerly location. The creation of this marsh (and the surrounding prairie they planted) by the city of Circleville has turned out to be a wonderful action. This marsh and the open water in the center has proven to be a migration stopover for many species, including Virginia Rails, Soras, Pied-Billed Grebes, Horned Grebes, Blue-Winged Teals, and many other species. The surrounding planted prairie has attracted species such as the Savannah Sparrow and the declining Henslow's Sparrow. This prairie and marsh only make up half of the Mary Virginia Crites Hannan Park, however. The other half is a well-established wet forest. This forest attracts many migrating songbirds and is a great place to bird in the spring and fall.

Do you love rails too? If so, I highly recommend following Dr. Auriel Fournier on Twitter (@RallidaeRule). She is an ornithologist conducting research on rails. If you aren't interested in rails yet, you will be once you follow her!

Thanks for reading!

Sora

The past two weeks have been the peak of rail migration here in Ohio. I saw report after report, photo after photo, of Virginia Rails and Soras from around the state posted on various Facebook groups such as Birding Ohio. I absolutely adore rails; an infamous Black Rail which showed up outside of my hometown in 2008 was responsible for converting me from a birdwatcher to a birder. And of course, with all the reports I was seeing this year, I just had to go out and try to find a few rails myself. I traveled to a few good locations, but came up empty each time. And then I stopped by a local city park in Circleville, Ohio...

The typical view of a Sora in dense reeds.

The Mary Virginia Crites Hannan Park (what a name) lies on the edge of Circleville in Pickaway County. It's half forest and half prairie. In the middle of the prairie section is a small pond surrounded by reeds and cattails. I stopped by to do some birding in the forest, and I checked the pond first to see if there were any ducks hanging out. All of the sudden I heard the distinctive whinny call of a Sora! After searching the known haunts of Soras and Virginia Rails in Pickaway County, and coming up empty handed each time, there was a Sora hanging out right in a heavily-traveled park! And then I heard another whinny; there was more than one! I didn't have my camera on me, so I decided to head back out the next day to try and get some photos. After arriving, I carefully walked the edge of the pond, searching for any movement among the reeds. After a few moments, I caught a glimpse of something moving. A Sora was walking through the reeds, heading away from me.

I positioned myself in a location that was a bit more open. I took out my phone and played a call of a Sora in an attempt to draw one a bit closer. To my surprise one came running at me! He looked at me, apparently decided I wasn't a threat, and then began foraging only a few feet away from me. My camera shutter flying, and my hands shaking from excitement, I took photo after photo.

He moved into the open a few times and allowed me to take photos I never thought I would get to take. The Sora is a common species of rail. Rails are birds in the family Rallidae. Members of Rallidae are duck-size-and-smaller birds which are mostly tied to wetlands, especially here in the US. The Sora is actually not as closely related to the Virginia and King Rails as one might expect, but is instead more closely related to the Moorhens (Gallinules) and Coots. The most common rail in Ohio is by far the familiar American Coot, but the Sora takes second place. The issue with most rails (American Coot aside) is that they are incredibly secretive and shy birds, which means they often escape notice even though they move through Ohio in pretty good numbers. Soras are a bit more outgoing and can often be seen by the patient observer. Virginia Rails are a bit more secretive and harder to see, but by far the hardest rails to lay eyes on are the Black and Yellow Rails. Black Rails and Yellow Rails are scarcely the size of a sparrow, and trying to see one of those moving through 5 foot tall reeds is a bit of a challenge. Those two species are incredibly rare here in Ohio, but they are found every several years. No doubt many more migrate through each year than are found. But back to the Sora!

The Sora breeds across much of the northern half of the US, including most of Ohio aside from the southern portion of the state. They breed in freshwater marshes, including places here in Ohio such as Calamus Swamp, Battelle-Darby Creek, and the marshes of Lake Erie. They overwinter in the marshes of the southern coastal US, Central America, and the extreme northern parts of South America. Like all rails, the Sora has extremely large feet that are adapted to walking over bits of broken reeds as you can see in the photo above. The larger surface area of their feet makes it easier to stay above the water without sinking in, but if it comes to it they are pretty good swimmers as well. Soras prefer shallow water that is less than 20 inches deep, so their large feet really compliment their habitat preference.

The Sora spends most of its time moving stealthily among dense cattails and other reedy wetland plants, foraging on a range of food types including snails, spiders, insects, and assorted plant material (mostly seeds). The Sora is a migratory species, and they migrate through Ohio from April to May and again from August to mid October. Those which nest in Ohio start as early as late April/early May. I really hope that the individuals I saw and heard are trying to nest in the park. The pond and edge wetland are 2.5 acres (1 hectare) in size, and this seems to be the lower limit in area that they will nest in. Soras face the threat of habitat destruction (and what species doesn't anymore?) as acre after acre of wetland habitat is destroyed in the US. The pond these Soras were hanging out in was actually recently constructed as part of a habitat restoration project (it had been an agricultural field for decades). Hopefully these, or future, Soras take advantage of this new wetland. 

I have to admit, I was shaking from adrenaline as I was taking these photos. As I mentioned before, I LOVE rails, and I never thought I would have one foraging essentially at my feet, let alone getting a chance to photograph one like this. The Mary Virginia Crites Hannan Park is a special place. Not only are there Soras and Wilson's Snipes hanging out in the wetland during some parts of the year, but the seriously declining Henslow's Sparrow, along with the more common Savannah Sparrow, breeds in the surrounding restored prairie. The other half of the park, a wet forest, offers a stopover location for warblers and other migrant songbirds within the sea of corn and soybean fields which surround it. And apparently (as I just saw my first one at this location after years of birding the patch), a Red-Headed Woodpecker, a species in decline here in Ohio, is setting up shop in the park! It's a lovely park to bird at, and I can't wait to see what other interesting species show up!

Thanks for reading!

Short-Eared Owls!

This past Sunday I was out chasing a Ross's Goose and two Snow Geese in Lancaster, Ohio. When driving back to Circleville, I noticed that it was approaching dusk. On a whim I decided to drive just south of Circleville to Radcliff Road and see if there were any Short-Eared Owls about. Radcliff Road (and the attached River Drive) cuts through the area that was once the Pickaway Plains, a small section of prairie now all but gone. More recently, a large section of land in this area was put under control of the Conservation Reserve Program. In an attempt to create habitat for wildlife and restore land that was intensely farmed for decades, farmland was converted to a sea of various grasses. This area (including the famous Charlie's Pond) has become well-known to birders for the interesting array of grassland species that call it home.

The grasslands along Radcliff Road and River Drive have been known to harbor overwintering populations of Short-Eared Owls for several years. Actual numbers of individuals of vary year to year, and I've personally missed out every time I've gone looking for them here. But this night was different. Just a few minutes after turning onto Radcliff Road, I noticed a Short-Eared Owl on the ground looking at me! Finally, my Short-Eared Owl lifer! I was dancing in my car from excitement and shooting photo after photo. Finally, after a few minutes, I decided to continue on down River Road. Then I noticed the others; there were Short-Eared Owls flying everywhere!

This is when I really started freaking out from excitement. At least 7 Short-Eared Owls were flying over the grassland. I wasn't really expecting to see any, let alone have them circling my car! The Short-Eared Owl is a medium-sized owl species that can be found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. In North America, the Short-Eared Owl breeds in Canada and Alaska as well as the north-western quarter of the lower 48. During the winter months they will migrate farther south to overwinter. Their migration isn't quite like the typical migration of most birds, and instead they exhibit more of an irruptive migration. Basically, they follow vole populations. When vole populations crash in the northern section of North America, large numbers of these owls will irrupt southward to find better food sources. Sometimes this results in these northerly owls being found as far south as Florida or northern Mexico and in great numbers. If the vole populations are high in the north, these owls will not go as far south, and might be completely absent in locations they were abundant at a year ago. These irruptive cycles can make them hard or easy to find in Ohio when it comes to a yearly basis, but they always make an appearance throughout the state each winter. There have even been a few records of them breeding in Ohio, including right here in Pickaway County (probably in this location, but I cannot find exact details), but these records are few and far in between.

Spot the Short-Eared Owl.

The Short-Eared Owl is an inhabitant of grasslands, prairies, marshes, and other open country habitats. They are nocturnal, but they often begin to come out and hunt up to an hour before sunset. These owls were out and about at 4:30, while the sunset wasn't until 5:10 or so. As you might have guessed, the decreasing light made it hard to take decent photos. Telephoto lenses already don't do well in low light, and I have a pretty amateur-level 300 mm telephoto lens at that. Couple that with my Nikon D5100 camera sensor that does okay with ISO (light sensitivity) levels, and it was pretty hard to get a decent, focused photo without a crazy amount of noise. All of these photos were shot at f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/250 seconds and an ISO of 320 and 400. I also shoot in RAW which allows me to be more flexible with exposures. These photos were all underexposed, but Lightroom does a wonderful job at bringing under-and-over-exposed RAW photos under control.

Since the Short-Eared Owls came out while there was still light, they weren't the only ones patrolling the grasses for voles. Northern Harriers, which are essentially the niche-wise daytime equivalent of the Short-Eared Owl, were still out. The two species didn't like this competition though, and some scuffles broke out. The photo above shows a Short-Eared Owl (on the left) chasing a Northern Harrier (on the right). These two frantically chased each other for a bit and occasionally hit each other if one got close enough to launch an attack.

These owls are strikingly beautiful. You might be wondering about their name though. The Short-Eared Owl is called such as they have small feather tufts (not actual ears) that stick up from the top of their head, much like a Great Horned Owl. However, these owls only raise these tufts when alarmed or excited. Most of the time these tufts are held down, like in the individual above.

If you want to see these owls, check out Radcliff Road and River Drive in southern Pickaway County at dusk. If you aren't near this location, try checking out nearby hay fields or grass fields at dusk. The roads around The Wilds near Zanesville seem to produce a bunch as well! Thanks for reading!

The Downy Woodpecker

Several days ago I bought a new 300mm telephoto lens. I've been eager to try it out, and December 21st was just the day to do so. I traveled out to a few local parks, including the newer Mary Virginia Crites-Hannan Park right outside of Circleville in Pickaway County. Although a smaller park, there's a decent patch of second-growth forest and a nice prairie they planted about four or five years ago. It's a really birdy park too, which brings me to the subject of this post. There were at least two Downy Woodpeckers in the small area I explored and I was able to get a few photos of them.

Downy Woodpeckers, Picoides pubescens, are probably the most common woodpecker species in the United States. They can essentially be found from coast to coast and everywhere in between, aside from some desert regions like western Texas, Arizona, and smaller parts of southern California and Nevada. They inhabit a range of forest types and even open areas where they will feed upon insects found on small herbaceous plants. Downy Woodpeckers are nearly identical to the Hairy Woodpecker, but there are a few differences to look for in the field. A big one is the size; Downy's are only about 2/3 of the size of a Hairy. Another is beak length; a Hairy Woodpecker's beak is about the same length as its head, but a Downy's beak is much smaller (as you can see above). You can read about some of the other differences here. In Ohio, when you come across a Downy/Hairy woodpecker, it's much more likely to be a Downy. Hairy's are not rare by any means though.

Woodpeckers are well-adapted to their bark-clinging lifestyles. If you look at the photo above, you can see a Downy's large feet with large, curved claws; this helps with clinging to bark. Woodpeckers are also a bit different from other terrestrial birds. Most terrestrial birds have feet with three toes facing forward and one toe facing backward; this arrangement is known as anisodactyl feet. Essentially all woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet, which is where two toes face forward and two face backward. This arrangement also helps woodpeckers cling to bark better. Woodpeckers also use their tail to brace themselves as they cling to bark. If you look at the previous photo, you can see this in use; the tail is pushed down against the branch in order to help stabilize the woodpecker. A woodpecker's tail is made up of very stiff feathers, and these feathers are attached to large muscles which allow for a range of fine muscle control. If you've ever seen a woodpecker climb up a tree, you've probably noticed that it climbs in short, jerky bursts instead of one fluid motion. Woodpeckers actually climb by using their feet and tail. A woodpecker will lean close to the bark, which takes pressure off the tail, and then push straight up with their legs. They will then swing their legs up quickly and grab the bark once more before bringing their tail down to stabilize everything. They will repeat this method to ascend a tree, which gives them their jerky climbing appearance.

While on the trail, I found another Downy on a large, dead tree. I quickly noticed it was a female Downy Woodpecker since it lacked the red found on the males' heads (which can be seen on the two previous photos). She was standing in one place and excavating a cavity. I first thought that she was excavating a nesting cavity (all woodpeckers are cavity nesters), but it seemed a little early for that. I looked around on the internet and my suspicions were confirmed; Downy Woodpeckers begin excavating their nest cavities in mid April and May. So what was this one doing?

It turns out that Downy Woodpeckers not only nest in cavities, but they also roost in cavities. While they mainly excavate roost cavities in the Fall, they will also do it whenever they need to. I'm assuming that this is the case for this individual. A Downy's roost cavity is built a bit differently from their nest cavity. The main difference is the depth of the cavity; a nest cavity is deeper than a simple roosting cavity. Roost cavities are also built to hold a single individual, instead of a bunch of hatchlings.

I stood around for awhile and watched as she worked on the cavity. Eventually she took off, probably to forage for some food.

I haven't had many bird-related posts on this blog, but that has started to change in the past month. I'm a bird-guy first and foremost, but I haven't been able to get any decent photos with the lenses that I had. With my new 300mm lens, I should have more opportunities to get some photos, and hopefully that means more bird posts, so keep on the lookout!

Two Rarities From Hitler Pond

I'm still alive. Promise. I know it's been awhile since I last posted; life has simply gotten a little hectic. I have like 6 posts somewhere between started and half finished, but none obviously done. It's been especially crazy this week because I moved back to Ohio University last weekend and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I'll be a sophomore this year in Wildlife and Conservation Biology. I'm hoping to add a minor in Environmental and Plant Biology too as plants have sort of become a recent obsession of mine...

So, speaking of plants, let's move on to the subject of this short, rushed post. A few weeks ago I finally traveled out to Hitler Pond in Pickaway County. Yes, Hitler Pond. Pickaway Co. has a history of Hitlers, but they are not related to the infamous Adolf. You can read more about the family here. Anyway, Hitler Pond is actually on the site of a new preserve-in-making, the Floyd Bartley Preserve (more info here.) Hitler Pond is a prairie pothole that is an ephemeral wetland (meaning it doesn't contain water all year). Prairie potholes are depressions that have been made by glaciers. This particular one was made by the Wisconsian Glacier, the last major glacier period in a series of glacial periods. So why go here? Well, fellow nature blogger Andrew Gibson, of The National Treasures of Ohio, traveled out a few weeks ago and made a post on the rare plants found there. So, I decided to check it out myself. If you want to learn more about the history of Hitler Pond, and the other plants found there, I highly suggest you head on over to Andrew Gibson's post on Hitler Pond. My post is more of a "I'm still alive" post, and not a comprehensive overview of the area like his post is.

The first of two rare plants I want to go over is Engelmann's Spike Rush, Eleocharis engelmannii. This state-listed Endangered species is quite the rarity here in Ohio. It's only been recorded in 4 counties here, but only 2 of those counties have post-1980 records. One of those counties, as you can guess, is Pickaway. In fact, Hitler Pond is one of the last remaining locations where this plant grows, and let me tell you, it is not scarce by any means there. It's basically everywhere in the pothole, so it's kind of crazy to learn it's endangered. But alas, while it is common in this one locale, it is far from common anywhere else in Ohio. This species is very similar to the related Blunt Spike Rush, E. obtusa, but has a few differing features. These features, however, are quite technical, so I suggest you read Andrew Gibson's post on telling the two apart if you haven't already. One of the features that I could easily grasp onto was that E. engelmannii generally has longer spikelets than E. obtusa, although there's always variation. 

This second rarity is the most strange and significant one of the site, and one of the most significant ones of the region. This tiny, insignificant looking sedge is the state-endangered Rocky Mountain Bulrush, Schoenoplectus saximontanus. So, what's so special about this plant? Well, this is the only place in Ohio where it has been found. Actually, this is the only place east of the Mississippi that this species has been recorded. Rocky Mountain Bulrush is a sedge species mainly of the Great Plains, although it's not even that common there either. So why is it found in this random depression surrounded by soybeans across the street from some corn outside of Circleville? Well, the exact reasoning is unknown, but there are a few theories. The main one, and the one that is generally accepted as true, is that migrating waterfowl are to blame. It is believed that some individual picked up some of the seeds on its legs and inadvertently transported the seeds to this wetland when it chose to rest here. The seeds fell off, took root, reproduced, and then a new population was born.

At Hitler Pond, both endangered species can be found right next to each other in many cases, as shown above. Hitler Pond is an incredible place, and I am so glad it has been set aside for preservation. Right now the "preserve" is still a soybean field and not really a place you can visit, but within a few years, and a lot of hard work later, Hitler Pond will be a part of a restored Burr Oak savanna. Once work on the preserve gets started sometime in late 2015, I'm guessing Hitler Pond should be visitable by 2016 or 2017; however, that is just a guess.


Expect more posts coming up. I need to actually make the time to sit down and write. Thanks for reading!

Some Plants from Calamus Swamp

Last Thursday I visited Calamus Swamp in Pickaway County. I wrote a post giving a general overview of the park and the trails which you can read here, but I also promised to go over some of the plants I came across while there.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the main attraction at Calamus Swamp is a 19 acre kettle lake, now mainly filled with aquatic plants as shown above. Many unique plant species can be found in this also unique ecosystem. I'm going to focus on more of the showy species you can come across here in late June and early July.

When it comes to the actual kettle lake, one of the most stand-out species in the water is the Common Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis. Common Buttonbush is a shrub that is about 4-10 feet tall that can be found in habitats such as wetlands (like Calamus Swamp), floodplains, mangrove swamps, moist understories, and on the borders of streams and lakes.

Common Buttonbush becomes covered in these spherical flower clusters from June to August before giving way to small spherical fruits that stay on the plant from September to October. Interestingly, Common Buttonbush is actually a member of the family Rubiaceae, more commonly known as the coffee family.

This is one of the dominate species at Calamus Swamp. There's buttonbush basically everywhere you look. The photo above shows a common scene while on the boardwalk. A wall of Common Buttonbush fills in the edges of the lake, offering many birds a place to nest and many waterbirds protection. Wood Ducks are especially fond of nesting in the dense growth. Bees are also a very common visitor to the flowers, as well as butterflies.

Another common aquatic plant in the kettle lake is Bur Reed, specifically the species Sparganium eurycarpum. Bur Reed is a flowering marsh plant that can either be floating in the water or emergent, meaning they grow in the water but also go into the air. Recent phylogenetic analysis has found that the bur reed genus is actually closest related to the cattail genus, which isn't surprising to learn when you see the 3-6 feet tall "grasses" coming out of the water.

The large, pointy spheres are actually the fruit of Bur Reed. They also help identify the species. For example, the fruit of S. eurycarpum (shown above) are glossy and have an abruptly pointed beak, versus the similar S. americanum which is dull and has points that taper gently like an ice-cream cone.

Next is another aquatic plant, and a unique one at that. This is the flower of the Bladderwort, a carnivorous aquatic plant. Specifically, this is the species Utricularia gibba, more commonly known as the Humped or Floating Bladderwort. Calamus Swamp only has one recorded bladderwort species, U. gibba. U. gibba has been recorded in 19 other Ohio counties, making it one of the more common bladderwort species, but still not overly abundant. Bladderworts grow in nitrogen and phosphorous poor water and have evolved to make up for this deficiency by consuming prey. Bladderworts have small bladders which actively transport water out of them, creating a vacuum inside of the bladder. Once the vacuum is great enough, all it takes is one tiny aquatic animal, like a Daphnia or mosquito larva, to trigger one of the hairs by the door. The animal, by hitting the trigger hair attached to the bladder door, creates a small hole which breaks the vacuum seal and water, along the with animal, rushes into the bladder. The door is shut and the trapped prey is dissolved normally within a few hours.

These small purple and yellow flowers belong to Bittersweet Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, an invasive vine. Most of the individuals I came across that day were wound around the Common Buttonbush shrubs. This species, as I mentioned previously, is an invasive. It was brought from Eurasia as an ornamental and broke free of human control and now can be found in most of the lower 48 states. Bittersweet Nightshade runs a bad rap for being poisonous to humans and livestock. The flowers give way to small red berries, which to a cow or say curious child look tasty. Eating only a few can result in vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, irregular heartbeats, and other symptoms. Eating a good amount of the berries can result in paralysis, hallucinations, and even death, although deaths have only been rarely recorded. 

Now let's move on to some of the species that were growing in the prairie section. These familiar flowers are Black-Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta. There is also a large Prairie Dock leaf in the upper right corner. Black-Eyed Susans are a native species belonging to the daisy/sunflower family Asteraceae. They grow in a variety of habitats such as fields, open forests, roadsides, gardens, and so on. There are a few other species that can be found in Ohio that look like Black-Eyed Susan, all of which have a handful of characteristics which can help differentiate them if you know where to look. When it comes to Black-Eyed Susans, the stems and leaves are covered in hairs that help keep other insects away that might bother flying pollinators. This characteristics can help you know you're looking at R. hirta versus say Brown-Eyed Susan, R. triloba.

If you've been driving along the highway or on country roads recently, you might have seen a small, bright orange flower like the one above. This is Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa. Butterfly Weed is actually one of the many species of milkweed we have here in Ohio.

Closeup of the flowers of Butterfly Weed.

Butterfly Weed is named as such because the color and nectar attracts butterflies, as well as a lot of other insects. Butterfly Weed is a species that requires full sun exposure and can also tolerate dry soil, making roadsides a great place for it to go. In fact, this individual was in the prairie section along the road.

Blooming in force in the prairie was Wild Bergamot (also known at Bee Balm), Monarda fistulosa. This species is variable, so the photo above is not a good representative of what it will always look like. A widespread species, Wild Bergamot can be found growing in prairies, thickets, clearings, and on calcareous soil. Blooming from July to September, this showy flower added a beautiful contrasting bluish-purple to the greens of the grasses and the yellows of the Black-Eyed Susans in the prairie area of Calamus Swamp.

One of the more unusual plants growing was Wild White Indigo, Baptisia alba. The wind was blowing probably around fifteen miles an hour that day, making it incredibly hard to photograph flowers, so sadly I wasn't able to get a full-plant view of this tall and strange looking wildflower. A southeastern species, this plant has a spotty range in Ohio. It has been recorded in about 23 counties here, and most of those counties are grouped into a circle of 4-5 counties and scattered around the state. There were a handful of individuals located at Calamus Swamp, and they offered a unique contrast to the other species there.

And finally we have a wildflower everyone is probably familiar with. This is Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. The butterfly visiting is a Pearl Crescent. Purple Coneflower is known more as an ornamental plant to many people, but it is a native species that can be found in prairies, barrens, and dry, open woods throughout the eastern United States. Note the characteristic drooping purple petals and spiny center.

This kind of turned into a long post. To those of you who read it, thank you! There will be more posts coming up, as always, so stay tuned!

Calamus Swamp

This past Thursday I visited nearby Calamus Swamp in Pickaway County. Calamus Swamp is a private preserve owned by the Columbus Audubon Society only a couple miles from Circleville. While it is privately owned, it is open to the public, although most people do not even know it exists. This post will give a broad overview of the park for any interested in visiting.

When you first arrive at the park (I'll give directions at the end of this post), you are greeted by a small prairie filled with all sorts of goodies. Wild White Indigo, Purple Coneflower, Butterflyweed, Wild Bergamot, Prairie Dock, Black-Eyed Susan, assorted grasses, and more are all around. If you're interested in plants, please check out my post on some of the plants from Calamus Swamp. The trailhead is at the edge of the prairie by the parking lot. The trail itself splits halfway through the prairie to offer a loop around the park.

The main feature for Calamus Swamp is a 19 acre kettle lake formed during the end of the last ice age. The geological history of a kettle lake is very interesting. As you probably know, much of Ohio was covered by glaciers during the Wisconsin Glacial Episode, which ended 11,000 years ago. As this glacier receded, large blocks of ice would break off and be left behind. These huge ice blocks would create depressions in the land and then would get covered by outwash debris from the melting glacier. Eventually, this ice block would melt and the debris would fall in the depression. Many times this depression would fill with water, creating a kettle lake. This is what happened in the photo above. Over the next 11,000 years the lake has slowly filled in with vegetation and soil, shrinking in size. This brings us to its present state. Eventually, it will fill in enough to become a bog, and then completely fill in and a forest will take over. As you can see above, Calamus Swamp is currently filled with aquatic vegetation and doesn't overly have open water.

The main trail leads around the kettle lake, and much of the trail is actually boardwalk that winds over water or very squishy mud. Occasionally the trails are flooded and impassable, so be aware of that possibility if you go after a lot of rain. There's a mix of swamp and more marsh-like habitats at Calamus Swamp. You can see part of the swamp area in the photo above. Swamps are wetlands that are dominated by trees. On the other hand, marshes are wetlands that are dominated by reeds and grasses.

The boardwalk takes you through the swamp areas and also through the marsh areas, like the one above. Buttonbush and Burr Reed dominate much of the water. Bladderworts, a type of carnivorous plant, also occupy the water. Many animal species of note have been recorded here as well. Ohio Fairy Shrimp, an uncommon freshwater shrimp, can be found here. Tiger Salamanders also make their home here. Soras are relatively common here, and the more uncommon King Rail and the rare Yellow Rail have both been recorded here. Least Bitterns, Common Moorhens, and other waterbirds have been recorded here as well. Occasionally ducks will make an appearance, as well as the odd Double-Crested Cormorant. Prothonotary Warblers can occasionally be found here too. Rusty Blackbirds are almost a guaranteed sighting if you go during migration. At least eight species of frogs and toads have been recorded here as well, along with over fifty species of butterflies and skippers.

Here's another, higher, view of the kettle lake. Trust me, there's water out there. Also something to note: as one might expect, the bugs can get pretty bad here. Mosquitoes are plentiful, and so are biting flies. Be prepared to get bit, and also be prepared to get muddy.

Part of the trail follows the old Cincinnati-Muskingum Railway, which has long since been abandoned. The photo above shows the old railway, although the only evidence of it is some leftover coal along the sides of the trail. The abandoned railway from Circleville to New Holland (a total of sixteen miles) is now owned by the Pickaway County Park District. The end goal is to make it into a paved hiking/biking trail, but this will take years to finish due to money shortages. However, part of the Pickaway Trail is currently complete. You can hike from Calamus Swamp to the nearby Canal Park. The Canal Park features hiking trails along the towpath of the old Ohio-Erie Canal along the Scioto River, as well as a few other trails and Scioto River access. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth checking out for the history and the sights.

Now for some information about parking and so on. There is no sign for this preserve, so it takes eyes to not pass it the first time you go. The red arrow above points to the parking lot. The park is along SR 104, off of 22. The parking lot is a simple gravel parking lot, so keep your eyes peeled for it. The blue outlines the part itself. The yellow arrow shows the new Pickaway Trail that leads to the Canal Park. The distance between the two parks is about 1.5 miles each way. There are two actual trails at Calamus Swamp itself. The main trail is a loop which starts at the parking lot and goes around the lake and back. The second trail is an extension on the loop, which can be very helpful if this one section of the trail that lacks a boardwalk is flooded or too muddy to pass (as can happen many times).

Here's a shot of the parking lot. As you can see there's no sign, and nothing really that screams "I'm a park." More information about the park can be found at the Columbus Audubon's page on it located here. The park is open 24/7, and no permits are required. Please treat the unique and important area well; it is one of the remaining pristine kettle lakes in the region.

Common Musk Turtle

A couple weeks ago I went out on an early morning hike at AW Marion State Park in Pickaway County. As I got to the other side of the dam there I noticed an Eastern Milk Snake basking on the trail. Creeping forward, camera ready, I edged closer and closer to the snake. Sadly, it quickly slithered away into the rocks along the dam, leaving a disappointed blogger (although I did have an encounter with another Milk Snake later, which you can read about here.) However, I turned around and walked about fifteen more feet and saw another reptile...

Meet the Common Musk Turtle, Sternotherus odoratus. Well, at least the carapace of one. As I went up to her to take a picture, she pulled herself up into her shell for protection. I have to admit, while missing the Milk Snake was disappointing, this encounter made up for it. This species is a very aquatic species, essentially only coming to land to lay eggs. This individual was about thirty to forty feet away from lake which leads me to think I caught a female on the way back to the lake after laying her clutch of eggs.

I picked her up to get some closer photos to help with identifying later on as I am not that well acquainted with turtles yet. She put on her scariest "Don't get near me or I'll bite" face on, but still stayed within the safety of her shell. So why the name "musk turtle?" Well, like many reptiles, this species has the ability to release musk, a bad smelling liquid, in self defense (the musk is phenolalkalinic acid for anyone interested). This habit has also led to the Common Musk Turtle being known as the Stinkpot. What about identifying these guys? Well, Common Musk Turtles are smaller turtles. The photo above gives you some idea with my hand as a reference. They have highly domed shells, compared to the flatter shells many other aquatic species have. Also, look at the yellow stripe going across the face in the photo above; this characteristic is a really good field mark for identification.

Another characteristic worth noting is their small plastron, or the bottom part of the shell. In fact, the plastron doesn't do much for protecting the legs and tail, as you can see. Common Musk Turtles, as I mentioned earlier, spend most of their life in the water. In fact, they possess an adaption that allows them to do aquatic respiration. Their tongues are covered in papillae that allow them to take oxygen out of the water, sort of like a fish's gills. This species can be found all throughout Ohio in wetlands and slow moving, vegetated streams.

I am a huge lover of turtles and have been ever since I was little. Having encounters like these are always awesome and very interesting. I'm hoping to also find a Box Turtle this summer, but I haven't been that lucky. Hopefully I'll have more turtle encounters in the next few months.