Ornithology Lab, October 21

This is the sixth installment in a series of weekly posts for my ornithology class at Ohio University. We go out in the field every Wednesday (weather permitting) to do some birding and/or bird banding. One of our assignments is to write a blog post about each of these field trips, which is what this series will be about.

First Post: September 2
Second Post: September 9
Third Post: September 16
Fourth Post: September 30 
Fifth Post: October 7

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The morning chill has set upon Southeastern Ohio. Wednesday morning's lab was a brisk 34 degrees Fahrenheit. It didn't help that we were out before sunrise either; we arrived at The Ridges in Athens, Ohio, at 7:00 AM. The sunrise was at 7:44 AM. We used this twilight time to set up the banding nets at our usual locations.

This lab was filled with birds, especially when it came to banding. We banded a total of 20 birds (the most yet) over the course of 3 and a half hours. Eleven of the 20 were species of permanent residency in Ohio. The other 9 were all Chipping Sparrows, a migratory species in Ohio. While the warblers, vireos, tanagers, and others are all but gone, a few species are still migrating through. Many of these are various sparrow species, like the Chipping Sparrow. This must have been a big movement day for the Chipping Sparrow, as we just kept netting individual after individual.

As I previously said, the other 11 birds were all non-migratory (or permanent) species for Ohio. As many of you probably already know, not all birds migrate. In Ohio, birds can essentially be split up into 4 different groups when it comes to residency status. First off, you have the permanent residents. These species, such as the Northern Cardinal, live in Ohio year-round. Second, you have the transient species. These are the species which only move through Ohio during spring and fall migrations. These species, such as the Blackpoll Warbler, normally breed farther north in Canada and overwinter down in Central or South America. As a result, they can only be found in Ohio for a few select weeks out of the year. Third, you have the summer breeders. These are species, such as the Red-Eyed Vireo, which migrate into Ohio during spring migration, breed during the summer, and then migrate back south during fall migration. These species are not found here during the winter months. The fourth group is the overwintering birds. These are species that migrate from up north (typically late in Fall migration), spend the winter here in Ohio, and then migrate back north early on in spring migration. This group includes birds such as the American Tree Sparrow, White-Throated Sparrow, and White-Crowned Sparrow.

As always, there are exceptions. For example, Dark-Eyed Juncos are considered an overwintering species in Ohio; however, there are a few individuals in extreme northern Ohio which actually stay all year round and breed in the Summer. Now, it's kind of deceiving to call the junco a permanent resident when there's only a few individuals that do this, and thousands upon thousands of other individuals which only come here to overwinter. Another species in a similar situation is the Hermit Thrush. Generally speaking, the Hermit Thrush does not breed in Ohio. They can be found mostly during Spring and Fall migrations. However, there are a few locations in Ohio, such as the Hocking Hills and Mohican State Forest, where the Hermit Thrush breeds. And often there are several dozen pairs at these locations, making them locally common. Then, in the extreme southern half of Ohio, you can often find overwintering individuals. There are many other species which don't fall neatly into one of the four residency categories, but these categories are useful as a baseline understanding. The more you learn about nature, the more often you will run into exceptions like these.

Anyway, Chipping Sparrows are a migratory species. More specifically, the Chipping Sparrow is a summer breeder. They migrate here during the spring, breed over the summer, and then migrate back south over a long period of time during fall migration. Like I said, we ended up banding 9 Chipping Sparrows over the course of the morning. These individuals probably belong to the last wave or so coming through Ohio.

The rest of the birds we banded that day included Carolina Chickadees (including 2 of our own recaptures from earlier in the semester), Tufted Titmice (including 2 of our own recaptures), Song Sparrows, and a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

Here's the complete checklist of birds observed during the morning:

1. Canada goose
2. Turkey Vulture
3. Red-Bellied Woodpecker
4. Downy Woodpecker
5. Pileated Woodpecker
6. Blue Jay
7. American Crow
8. Carolina Chickadee
9. Tufted Titmouse
10. White-Breasted Nuthatch
11. Carolina Wren
12. Eastern Bluebird
13. American Robin
14. Cedar Waxwing
15. Chipping Sparrow
16. White-Throated Sparrow
17. Eastern Towhee
18. Northern Cardinal
19. House Finch
20 American Goldfinch

Important: There's a new URL for this blog!

Hello everyone!

I decided to bite the bullet and change the URL of my blog. From this point on, the URL for Ohio Nature will no longer be www.ohionature.blogspot.com, but will be www.kylefromohio.blogspot.com.

Why the change though? Well, there's a good chance that I won't be in Ohio after I graduate college. I want a more general URL that allows me to be flexible with my blog, instead of having a very specific URL with less flexibility. It would make no sense for my URL to be "ohionature" when I might be in say Arizona writing about Arizona nature in a few years.

As for now, only the URL has changed. The blog is still named Ohio Nature, at least for the time being. Nothing else has changed.

I want to thank all of my readers, and I hope this change hasn't made getting to my blog too difficult for those of you who directly type in my URL. Most of my page views come from either Google searches or direct links, so all of those people won't really be affected. Only a small percentage of my readers will notice the difference.

Thanks for reading!

Franklin's Gull Visits Ohio!

This past Friday I left Athens, Ohio, and drove up to the town of Huron along Lake Erie to help with some salamander research. I had Sunday free, so I decided to do some birding at Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve. I received a notification a few hours in from the Facebook group Ohio Rare Bird Alert that Ohio birder Steve Landes had found 4 Franklin's Gulls on the beach at Alum Creek Reservoir. Now, Alum Creek was 2 hours away from me, but it was also along the way back home to Athens. I decided to seize the opportunity and go chase the gulls.

Two hours later, I arrived at the Alum Creek Reservoir beach. A large group of gulls sat on the beach, and I hoped that at least one of them was the Franklin's Gull. Why all the fuss over a gull? Well, the Franklin's Gull is a rare visitor to Ohio. It breeds in the northern region of the Great Plains before migrating south through the rest of the Great Plains, down through Central America, and then to the Pacific Coast of South America where it overwinters. Ohio is outside of their migration flyway, which means that this species can't normally be found in Ohio; however, normally a handful of individuals are found here every year. I noticed that there were two other birders on the beach, and one of them was taking photos of the gull group. A good sign, but I was still apprehensive approaching the group. The most nerve-racking part of "chasing" rare birds is arriving at your location and not knowing if it is still there. Luckily, one of the Franklin's Gulls was still present. Can you spot him among the Ring-Billed and Herring Gulls above?

Here's a closeup of the Franklin's Gull. Like the more familiar Bonaparte's Gull, this species is one of the "hooded gulls," but he is currently missing his hood. This is because he's currently in his winter plumage. This is an adult Franklin's Gull in nonbreeding plumage. This stage typically lasts from August to March. At the end of March they will molt into their breeding plumage, which has the characteristic black hood. You can see a photo of a breeding individual at this link (photo by Terry Sohl).

When confronted with a bird you're unsure of, especially if you think it might be a rare species, you should always have a run down of characteristics to ensure a correct identification. So why is this a Franklin's Gull? The first question you should ask yourself is "What is the more reasonable bird choice?" In this case it is a small gull, smaller than a Ring-Billed Gull (see the previous photo for a comparison). The more realistic species for Ohio is the Bonaparte's Gull, another small, hooded gull. This is when you start comparing the field marks of this individual to each choice. The Bonaparte's Gull in nonbreeding plumage also has a black bill, dark eyes, and black wingtips. However, the Franklin's Gull has more extensive black on its head than a Bonaparte's Gull, which only has an "ear spot" and some black near the eye. The Franklin's Gull also has a darker back than the light gray back of the Bonaparte's. Also notice the dark-colored legs of the individual above; a Bonaparte's Gull would have orangish-pink legs. Overall, the dark legs, dark back, diminutive size, and extensive black on the head confirms it is indeed a Franklin's Gull. To see a photo of a Bonaparte's Gull for comparison, see this link to Terry Sohl's photo. 

The Franklin's Gull is one of the several species of inland gulls which nest on the marshes of the northern Great Plains. They nest in large colonies, with some colonies reaching 10,000 individuals. They feed mainly on arthropods, often spending time in freshly plowed agricultural fields. The nests they build are quite interesting, as they are actually floating nests. These nests are constantly maintained by the adults as they continually sink as the materials decay in the water. Eventually the chicks even begin maintaining their nests once they get older.

As with many other bird species, the Franklin's Gull population has been declining over the past several decades. Accurate population data is difficult to acquire with this species, as they depend on wet marshes which naturally fluctuate in quality depending on the weather of that year. Some years a marsh might hold enough water, while it might be too dry in others. This forces the colonies to shift nesting locations from year to year, which makes it hard for ornithologists to get an accurate idea of the population dynamics. Some areas have recorded sharp declines, while others have been stable. There have been some instances of the Franklin's Gull expanding into new breeding regions as well. Overall, the North American Breeding Bird Survey claims that the total population has declined by 4.7% every year from 1966 to 2010. This means there has been a cumulative decline of 88%. In the early 1900's, this species suffered greatly due to large scale destruction of breeding habitat, but more recent management and creation of appropriate wetlands have helped the population from completely crashing. It will be interesting to see how this species does in the future, especially with the effects of climate change on the Great Plains.


Thanks for reading!

Ornithology Lab, October 7

This is the fifth installment in a series of weekly posts for my ornithology class at Ohio University. We go out in the field every Wednesday (weather permitting) to do some birding and/or bird banding. One of our assignments is to write a blog post about each of these field trips, which is what this series will be about.

First Post: September 2
Second Post: September 9
Third Post: September 16
Fourth Post: September 30 

~ ~ ~

As the goldenrod and asters fade, and the leaves begin to change to more colorful hues, so comes Autumn; and with Autumn comes a whole new array of birds to Ohio. Most of the summer neotropical breeders have left, and now many Canadian birds are moving southward for the Winter months. Dark-Eyed Juncos, Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, Golden-Crowned Kinglets, and all of those typical Winter birds are making appearances all around Ohio, and now the birders know it is indeed Autumn.

For this week's lab trip, we went once more to Lake Hope State Park in Vinton County, Ohio. Overall it was a pretty quiet day, so this post won't be that lengthy. Here are the highlights:

Arriving at 7:30 AM, we first stopped at the dam overlooking the lake. Two Belted Kingfishers patrolled the waters, a Great Blue Heron stood like a sentinel on the beach, and a few Canada Geese swam around. It was a normal day on the lake. The previous night must have been a huge movement day for Eastern Phoebes, as they were literally everywhere. It seemed like every other tree had at least one Eastern Phoebe in it, and they were by far the most numerous migrant of the day.

Next, we moved on to a small wetland that had been created when some beavers dammed up a small creek. Upon stepping out of the vans, over 20 startled Wood Ducks took flight and escaped the group of birders. Once again, there were more Belted Kingfishers and more Eastern Phoebes. We decided to walk a short distance along a trail that led us through some thick shrubs and young trees. As it is in the midst of sparrow migration, we were hoping for some interesting sparrows, but we only had a Song Sparrow. Elsewhere in the area were Indigo Buntings, a very cooperative Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Golden-Crowned Kinglets, and the usual Carolina Chickadees and Eastern Towhees. 

Moving on to a very large marsh/lake down the road from the park, we hoped to find some more ducks. Once again, there were only Wood Ducks. Another Belted Kingfisher sat atop a snag. That was about it for birds at the marshy lake complex. By far the highlight of that specific area were some tiny yellow flowers in the water near the bank. Upon closer inspection I was surprised to find out it was a bladderwort species of some sort! Bladderworts are a species of carnivorous plant which trap small aquatic creatures, like protozoans and rotifers, in tiny traps that dot their free-floating root systems. After some research later on, I discovered that the bladderworts we saw were Humped Bladderworts, Utricularia gibba. This is a species which I've seen before at Calamus Swamp in Pickaway County. You can read about it, and other plant species, on my Calamus Swamp plant post.

Piling back into the vans, we turned around and headed back to the park. We ventured up a ridge to the Nature Center and campground section. This is a wonderful area to see Red-Headed Woodpeckers, which was why we checked the area out. It was quiet at first, but soon the forest came alive with dozens of Eastern Bluebirds, like the one pictured above. We noticed one area where two or three bluebirds were foraging on the ground. Soon, Pine Warblers joined them. Then Chipping Sparrows joined in. Walking onward, we scared up a group of Dark-Eyed Juncos, my FOS (first of season) for the year. Only a little bit later we found my FOS Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. Then, to much excitement, a Red-Headed Woodpecker flew in. The Red-Headed Woodpecker is an absolutely stunning woodpecker, but sadly it is becoming harder and harder to find. It's always a treat to see it when I do.

It was then that I noticed we had seen every single species of normally-occurring woodpecker in Ohio. Throughout the morning we had a Downy, Hairy, Pileated, and Red-Bellied Woodpecker. We also had a Northern Flicker and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker in addition to the Red-Headed Woodpecker. These seven species make up the regularly-occurring group of woodpeckers in Ohio, and I've never had a "complete" woodpecker day before! It was a wonderful way to end the morning.

Here's the complete list of birds I observed that day:

1. Canada Goose

2. Wood Duck

3. Great Blue Heron

4. Turkey Vulture

5. Yellow-Billed Cuckoo

6. Belted Kingfisher

7. Red-Headed Woodpecker

8. Red-Bellied Woodpecker

9. Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

10. Downy Woodpecker

11. Hairy Woodpecker

12. Northern Flicker

13. Pileated Woodpecker

14. Eastern Phoebe

15. Blue Jay 

16. American Crow

17. Carolina Chickadee
18. White-Breasted Nuthatch
19. Carolina Wren

20. Golden-Crowned Kinglet

21. Eastern Bluebird

22. American Robin

23. Pine Warbler

24. Black-Throated Green Warbler

25. Chipping Sparrow

26. Dark-Eyed Junco

27. Song Sparrow

28. Eastern Towhee

29. Indigo Bunting

30. American Goldfinch

South Carolina, Pt. 2

Part 1 can be found here: South Carolina, Pt. 1

This is the second post, covering the second day, of my trip down to South Carolina two weeks ago. I am currently taking Ornithology (the study of birds) at Ohio University. This class is one of the required classes for my Wildlife and Conservation Biology major, and also one of my most-anticipated classes of my college career. We go on weekly field labs (You can read about each one at this link), but we also get to go on two big trips. One of these trips is to Lake Erie, which is coming up in November, while the other trip is coastal South Carolina. The point of this trip was to expose us to birds we would normally never see in Ohio.

We awoke before sunrise to get a start on the day. While everyone got dressed and ate breakfast, I had some time to sneak off to watch the sunrise on the beach and snap a photo or two. Daylight wasting, we quickly loaded the vans and left Hunting Island State Park. Our goal for the day was to head a tiny bit farther south and closer to the South Carolina-Georgia border. The first stop of the day was at Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. Located near the tourist town of Hilton Head, Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is a collection of islands and tiny hammocks. The main (Pinckney) and surrounding islands have a very extensive history. Archaeological sites have shown Native American activity going back all the way to 7000 BCE, with intensive use from 1000-1500 AD. Temporary settlements built by the French and Spanish dot the 1500's and 1600's. The first permanent settlement was in 1708, and this began a period of intensive change. In 1804, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who had been an officer in the Revolutionary War and a founding father, moved to the islands and began a cotton plantation there. The land was cleared, drained, and worked by 200-300+ slaves, leaving a natural, and humanitarian, scar on the islands. After the Civil War, the islands changed hands multiple times and experienced periods of continued agriculture and management as a game preserve. 1975 saw the land and surrounding waters become a dedicated national wildlife refuge. Nowadays, several miles of gravel pathways are used extensively by the residents of Hilton Head, tourists, and nature-watchers.

A variety of habitats can be found throughout the preserve, making for great birding. Salt marshes held birds like the White Ibis pictured above. Willets, Greater Yellowlegs, Tricolored Herons, and others made appearances too. The island also features several small freshwater ponds which held the likes of more White Ibises, Common Gallinules, Black-Crowned Night-Herons, Anhingas, Green Herons, Pied-Billed Grebes, and more. Pine forests and scruffy secondary growth held songbirds like the Boat-Tailed Grackle, various warblers, Brown-Headed Nuthatches, Fish Crows, and more.

Of course, birds weren't the only creatures out and about. One of the many eye-catching insects of the day was the Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. We saw dozens and dozens of these incredible butterflies; I have never seen such a vibrant butterfly in person. The Gulf Fritillary has a wide range that extends from southern South America, through Central America, and into the southern portions of the United States. Although this species is found primarily in the south-central and southeastern portions of the US, the Gulf Fritillary is a species that will often "wander" northward. Ohio pretty much has a one-state buffer zone around it from this species' normal range, but these can be occasionally found in Ohio. Most recently, 2008 proved to be a very large invasion year of Gulf Fritillaries in Ohio, as Jim McCormac covered in his blog. As he points out, global warming, coupled with the fact we are seeing more and more individuals farther north, suggests that the Gulf Fritillary might possibly be a new Ohio resident in the future.

Six or so miles of walking and several hours later, we left Pinckney Island NWR and headed inland to Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Savannah NWR lies several miles away from the Atlantic Coast, which is just enough for a whole new set of habitats and animals to come into play. The refuge straddles the Georgia/South Carolina border, with half the park being in one state and the other half being in the other. We stayed in the South Carolina section the entire time, choosing to drive the length of the 4 mile Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive, a one-way gravel road which winds through portions of the park. This road passes mostly through freshwater wetlands, but also passes through hardwood hammocks like the one pictured above. A hardwood hammock is essentially an "island" of trees which can persist in a marsh due to the ground being only a few inches higher than the surrounding marshland. Notice in the case pictured above (click to enlarge), the hammock consists primarily of Southern Live Oak, Quercus virginiana. Also notice the distinctive and characteristic Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides, hanging from the Live Oaks. Spanish Moss is a species of flowering plant that is actually an epiphyte, meaning it grows harmlessly on trees and absorbs water and nutrients from the air, rain, and debris that collects around it. As a result, Spanish Moss only uses the tree for support instead of parasitizing it.

One of the main features in the freshwater marshes at Savannah NWR were dikes. Dikes are man-made levees that help control water levels and flow in marshes. Back in the 1700's, much of the land in the refuge was managed rice fields. These altered marshes remained and natural vegetation came back. Now there's a whole range of birds that make this refuge home at some point of the year. A few shorebirds were present when we went, including this Solitary Sandpiper pictured above.

Other birds present included 3 species of rails. Rails are a cryptic and elusive bunch, with most species preferring dense marsh grasses and reeds. The species Ohioans are most familiar with is the American Coot. We saw several of the coot's cousin, the Common Gallinule (pictured above). The Common Gallinule can be found in Ohio, especially along Lake Erie, but it is definitely a more uncommon species there. The Common Gallinule is much more common down along the southern coasts. The most exciting bird of the day was a Purple Gallinule that I spotted along the banks of a ditch. Like the Common Gallinule, the Purple Gallinule is also a rail, but an incredibly colorful one. This truly tropical-looking rail can be found extensively throughout the tropics, but is restricted to the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coast here in the US. In fact, Savannah NWR is even approaching its northern limits. Another species of rail we observed here was the Sora. Sadly we only heard them instead of seeing them.

Another strange southern specialty in the US is the Anhinga. Although it superficially resembles cormorants, the exact relationship between the Darters (which includes the Anhinga) and the Cormorants is uncertain. They are certainly related, but how closely is still up in the air. The Anhinga is a freshwater-loving species, and prefers the marshes and swamps of the southern US. They can often be seen drying their wings on the banks of waterways, like the one above.

Other interesting birds we observed at Savannah NWR included Cattle Egrets, Northern Harrier, Great-Horned Owl, Peregrine Falcons, and various migrating warblers.

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip down to the South without one of these guys. This is the American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis. Savannah NWR is known for its Alligator population, and we saw over 12 individuals during our time there. A large crocodilian reptile that reaches lengths of 9-15 feet on average, the American Alligator can be found throughout freshwater marshes, lakes, and swamps in the southeastern US. The American Alligator was once very endangered, but has staged an incredible comeback in the past few decades.

Part of the class on the beach at Hunting Island. I am the one in the green hat and shirt looking through the spotting scope. Photo credit: Michelle Ward

We left Savannah NWR at sunset and made the hour and a half van ride back to Hunting Island where we camped for a final night. It was an incredible trip, and I added 19 bird lifers in the end. I personally finished with 75 species of birds over the two days in South Carolina, but I know I missed a few species that others on the trip saw or heard.

Here's my complete eBird lists for the two locations of the day for those interested:
1. Pinckney Island NWR
2. Savannah NWR

I have to admit I fell in love with the southern maritime forests and the salt marshes over the course of the trip. I am planning on going back to this region on a birding trip over Christmas Break, and if that happens then I'll have many more in depth posts on this amazing region. Thanks for reading!