Tracks in the Snow

Saturday the 7th brought a lull in two back-to-back snowy days, so I decided to head out after lunch to The Ridges in Athens, OH, to get some relaxation in before finals week and see what I could find.

The snow wasn't too deep; in fact much of the gravel trail had already melted in places, but the forest floor was still covered as you can see. I was the first human on this trail, but far from the first animal.

One of the first tracks I came across, and one I wanted to share, were these. These are the tracks of a Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo. Notice the distinctive shape. These are large prints and definitely stand out from the other tiny, half-inch songbird prints you might find around. I had not found turkey at The Ridges before, but had assumed they were probably in the area. Finding these tracks confirm my suspicions, and now the next step is to see them.

While at one of the cemeteries along the trail, I came across these tunnels. They were very small, but what made them? I'm not exactly sure, but I know it was either a vole, mouse, or shrew species. Come snow fall, those tiny mammals are probably happy to be able to hide in tunnels they dig all around instead of being exposed.

I came across these tracks a few miles in on the trail. They were grouped like this and went across a bridge and off into the forest. There was a decent sized gap in between these "clusters" of tracks, meaning whatever it was was running over the bridge and into the forest. So what made these tracks? Well, there was some snowfall in the tracks so they weren't the crispest which made it hard to see all the details that would make an ID easy. Also add that to my little knowledge of animal tracks, and you have a stumped blogger. I knew it was some sort of carnivore, specifically a canine or feline species, but that was it.

So I posted these photos on the Facebook group Mammals Ohio for some help. In comes naturalist Joe Letsche. He said he "Can't say for sure, but they appear to be Red Fox tracks based on the trail width, the oblong shape of the track outline, and the gait. Bobcats rarely run unless they are chasing something or being chased." I had originally thought it might have been Bobcat tracks because there are supposedly multiple Bobcats at The Ridges; however, after comparing these and Red Fox tracks, I agree with Joe Letsche in this most likely being Red Fox Tracks.

I also found hundreds of deer tracks, raccoon tracks, and some songbird tracks on the trip, but I didn't get photos of them. Also, since my first semester is over, I will have some time to go back and write some more posts on photos I might have saved away, so keep on the lookout!

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: On bird conservation in the Lake Erie region

Hey guys! This is an important issue that needs action!

There has been a push to build wind turbines along Lake Erie. This seems like a good move as it promotes green energy; however, people are failing to realise the ecological damage this would result in.

Location is key with wind turbines. Wind turbines create vacuums behind the blades which suck in and crush flying animals, such as birds and bats. Lake Erie is an important flyway for many species of migrating birds, and these wind turbines would result in the deaths of thousands of birds every year for as long as they would stand. While it is green energy, the ecological harm these turbines would cause would be catastrophic and undo much of the "green" part of it.

Kenn Kaufman, whom you may know from Kaufman Field Guides, at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Ohio has created a petition to stop these turbines. Please take a moment and sign it. The instructions are below:

"Black Swamp Bird Observatory would like to invite all you to register your objection to wind energy development in the highly bird-sensitive areas of Ottawa County, Ohio, specifically the wind turbine projects at the Camp Perry Air National Guard facility and the Lake Erie Business Park.

Rather than an online petition, we opted for a special email address at BSBO where we offer a 100% guarantee that we will not sell your information to advertisers! Your information will ONLY be shared with elected officials.

Please follow these instructions to the letter to save the BSBO staff time and effort.

1) Send an email to: ResponsibleWindEnergy@bsbo.org

2) Put 'RWE' in the subject line

3) In the body of the email, include the following information in this exact format:

Name
City, State, Zip
Email Address

4) OPTIONAL! - A brief comment (1 - 3 sentences) about why you object to wind turbines in these bird-sensitive areas.

The BSBO staff will create a spreadsheet with all of this information and include with our second official letter of opposition which we will send to elected officials. Thank you so much to all the caring birders out there! YOU are the key factor in swaying the opinion of these elected officials!"

Thanks for reading. Remember, we are the ones who must help protect the Earth from the others wanting to destroy it (even if it may be from ignorance). Do not sit idly by; do your part, take action.

These birds and more would be at risk from wind turbines that would be located along Lake Erie.

 

Hocking Hills Trip

So Friday night (November 22, 2013), the Ohio University TravelCats headed out on their first ever trip. The trip was simple enough; rent a cabin in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio for Friday and Saturday night, and hike Saturday and some Sunday in the Hocking Hills State Park. Who are the "TravelCats?" Well, the TravelCats is a club that was just started this year with the idea to bring together people at Ohio University who love to travel so we can talk to each other and learn traveling tips, and hopefully even plan trips to take with other members. Here is the TravelCats blog if anyone is interested.

My main goal was photography on this trip, so pardon the lack of creatures and so on like my posts normally have. Be warned, this is sort of a "mega-post."

The first stop Saturday was Old Man's Cave, which is one of the multiple "mini parks" of the large Hocking Hills State Park. Old Man's Cave is definitely the most popular part of the park, and visitors are greeted with a three tiered parking lot that can completely fill some days. It's one of the most popular hiking destinations in Ohio, and for good reason. The area is beautiful. The central feature to Old Man's Cave is a carved out gorge with waterfalls, rock formations, and more. This is one of the main features: The Devil's Bathtub. The stream cascades down into a deep pool that is a few feet deep, before flowing back out into the normal stream.

As we hiked from The Devil's Bathtub up the gorge, we came to the beginning of the gorge, marked by the Upper Falls. The recent heavy rains had swollen the stream, and the waterfalls were really flowing. Back when I visited in August, this waterfall was only a trickle. Above the waterfall, just out of frame, is a stone bridge that gives visitors a view of the falls and the pool from above.

We turned around and began heading back past The Devil's Bathtub and on to the area of the Middle Falls. These cascades begin the Middle Falls area, as they continue off frame and over a small waterfall. These cascades are always beautiful, but the lighting is normally harsh and as a result I've always struggled to take a decent photo. Finally, with the sky overcast, I was able to get a photo of this exact area I liked...after 4 years of trying. Go persistence!

And of course, if there's an Upper and Middle Falls, there's got to be a Lower Falls too, right? And that's what this photo is of. The Lower Falls flows over the rock and into the air before falling into a really expansive pool of water.

Next we headed on over to Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve. While nestled in the mid section of the Hocking Hills State Park, this is a separate Nature Preserve and notice that because of that, there are different laws. One I see people constantly breaking (even though there is a decent sized sign right at the very beginning of the trail) is the "No Pets Allowed." All State Nature Preserves have this law, and people constantly bring their dogs to Conkles Hollow. Please don't. But anyway, we decided to opt out of the Gorge Trail due to time constraints, and focus solely on the 2.5 mile Rim Trail.

The gorge in Conkles Hollow is one of, if not the deepest in Ohio. The 200 foot cliffs are some of the highest in Ohio. The Rim Trail is absolutely spectacular, but definitely not for one who fears heights or small children. I want to stress that. For much of the trail, you are literally about 1-2 feet from a sheer 200 foot cliff. People die here on a regular basis, and, to be blunt, it's essentially all from acting stupidly around these dangerous cliffs. Otherwise, this trail is incredibly beautiful with amazing vistas. If you are a hiker, I strongly suggest doing this trail.

While halfway through the trail, much to our delight, it began snowing. Flurries at first, but then it started up in earnest and immediately stuck to the ground. The sight was amazing; looking into the gorge revealed swirling snowflakes as they traveled to the ground and snow-covered hemlocks. It was truly beautiful, and we had no idea snow was even a chance that day.

Sunday we headed out to do a quick hike at Cedar Falls. It was freezing that day; I had put my tripod in the water to take one photo, and the water made the legs freeze up within two-four minutes after that. Cedar Falls has the highest average output of water of the waterfalls in the Hocking Hills, and it was definitely a sight, and a sound, from the recent rains; you could hear it from the parking lot! Anyway, here is a shot of the falls, along with one of the founders of TravelCats in there as a size reference for the falls (she's on the lower left side).

Here's a side view of Cedar Falls. As I said previously, you could hear the roar of the falls from the parking lot, and this show gives you a good idea of why. You can also see some of the icicles that were everywhere around that area of the park.

Last photo! Here's the members of the TravelCats that went on this trip. The co-presidents are the two in the middle, and your blogger is on the right end. Future trips currently in the planning stages for TravelCats include a possible Seattle trip, with a visit to Olympic National Park (which is at the top of my bucket list).

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! And one final plug. I recently made a Facebook page for my photography. If you like my work, check it out! You can see other photos not posted on here, and even buy prints if you're interested. Click on this link to visit "Kyle Brooks Photography!" Thanks again, and keep tuned; there are more posts in the works!

Some Really Strange Midge Behavior

While on a trip to The Ridges, in Athens County, a few weeks ago, I came across a very strange phenomenon in a deep ravine. I had no idea what I was looking at, so I went to Reddit and posted my photo on the very helpful "subreddit" called What's This Bug to get some help on finding out what the heck I was looking at. 

Here is the phenomenon in question. Hanging from the exposed rock outcrops were these "strands" of midges. And there wasn't just one; there were multiple strands all along these rocks. The midges were all still alive, but appeared to be holding on to something like a single strand of spider silk. The people on /r/whatsthisbug quickly pointed me to a BugGuide page on the phenomenon. Here is what that page had to say: "The Porricondylinae and the Cecidomyiinae together are monophyletic. They differ from the Lestremiinae in the loss of ocelli and the shortened first tarsomere. This modification may have arisen as an adaptation for roosting on spider webs, where Porricondylinae and Cecidomyiinae are often found. Lestremiinae are never found on spider webs." -- Raymond Gagné

BugGuide also noted that "Cecidomyiidae found on spider webs are likely to be the longer-lived fungus feeding species hanging around waiting for mates to appear; gall-forming species tend to live a day or less." To me, this behavior was incredibly interesting; I had simply never observed anything like it. This is just another reason why you should keep your eyes peeled for the smaller organisms around you, because you never know what you might come across.

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

This past Saturday, (November 2, 2013) some members from the Ohio University Wildlife Club traveled to the Earl H. Barnhart Buzzards Roost Nature Preserve (what a name!) outside of Chillicothe in Ross County. The goal was simple, visit the Northern Saw-Whet banding station there that was run by Dr. Kelly Williams in hopes of seeing some of these adorable little owls.

Well, long story short, we netted no owls in over four hours of waiting. It was a disappointment, but the rest of the trip was great. For those of you interested in the Saw-Whet aspect (which is incredibly interesting), please check out these posts on Jim McCormac's blog: Post 1, Post 2, and Post 3.

We arrived a few hours before sundown to participate in some passerine (songbird) banding, just in case we didn't get in owls (so thankfully we got to see some birds!) They banded a Downy Woodpecker, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, and a Golden-Crowned Kinglet. The kinglet is the star of this post.

This tiny guy is a male Golden-Crowned Kinglet. I wanted to include this photo to give you guys a scale of just how small this species is. Now, they might be small, but they are definitely a packet of energy. In Ohio, Golden-Crowned Kinglet migration peaks in April and October, but some stick around all winter. They breed in Canada and western montane ecosystems of the US.

Here's a close up that shows the namesake golden-crown. In the breeding season, this tiny songbird actively forages for insects high-up in the canopy of coniferous forests; however, in winter this species can be found in a variety of deciduous and coniferous forests.

Dr. Williams, while holding this kinglet in the "photographer's grip," soon discovered that by slowly petting his back, he would raise his crest. Normally, they only raise their crest for intimidation and the likes, so I'm not sure if this one was raising it out of anger or fear, or if he was raising it because he simply liked the petting. He wasn't putting up a fight really, so who knows why he raised his crest exactly. Regardless, it was really awesome to see because one normally doesn't get to witness this in the wild.

That's all for this post! Keep tuned; there's a lot of posts I have backed up that will hopefully be published soon!