Long-tailed Salamander

A crew consisting of (L to R) Cheryl Harner, David Hughes, John Howard, and Vince Howard fixate on a very cool reptile perched atop that rock slab. Said reptile is not the subject of this post, but I do intend to get to the beast at a later date.

This photo was made back on August 18, and we found a veritable treasure trove of intriguing flora and fauna along this rocky little Scioto County stream. Such excursions into habitats rich in biodiversity generally net me far more blog material than I can get to in any sort of prompt manner, if ever, so sometimes I like to go back in time and revisit overlooked items.

A beautiful Long-tailed Salamander, Eurycea longicauda, peeks coyly at your narrator from the streambed. We were understandably quite pleased to find not one, but two of these charming amphibians hiding amongst the rocks of the creek.

 

It takes little imagination to infer the reason for the "long tail" part of the animal's name. Long-tailed Salamanders are incredibly alongate, slender, and whiplike. They're many, many, many times longer than wide and that incredible tail comprises over half the length of the animal.

The overall color and pattern of the salamander is exceptional. An adult is a striking shade of muted burnt-orange neatly marked with rows of small ebony blotches. Turning a rock and discovering a Long-tailed Salamander is always a momentous occasions.

Long-tailed Salamanders are common in many of the areas that they occur in Ohio, and the range extends across much of southern and eastern Ohio. They're secretive, and you're unlikely to stumble into one without working a bit. Carefully turning rocks and logs, especially in damp areas near watercourses, is the way to find one.

 

Common Feeder Birds: The Rest of the Story

Brash and bold, a Blue Jay swoops in to disrupt the ebb and flow of lesser birds at the feeder. Cut these extroverted corvids some slack, though - the avian Johnny Appleseeds play a major role in reforesting our oak woodlands.

I'm at least mildly tardy in giving up this plug, but should you find yourself in striking range of Westerville, Ohio tomorrow evening (November 14), I'm giving a talk in that fair city at 7:00 pm to the Herb Society of America. Said program is as follows:

Common Feeder Birds: The Rest of the Story

 
Bird feeding is big business, and brings birds up close and personal to people who might not otherwise notice them. Nearly everyone who tacks up suet blocks or sprinkles sunflower seeds have seen the Top 10 most common feeder birds in Ohio. It’s an interesting list, and each of these birds has a story to tell. Their roles in our lives go far beyond brightening the backyard, and in this talk we’ll explore the rest of the story.

The venue is the lovely Inniswood Gardens, and the price of admission can't be beat - it's free!

Cape May Warbler in November!

Photo: Tom Sheley

Tom Sheley, who is the proprieter of the Wild Birds Unlimited store on Riverside Drive in northwest Columbus, brightened my email inbox by sending along two photos of an unexpected November feeder visitor.

This male Cape May Warbler, Setophaga tigrina, is visiting feeders in a Worthington, Ohio backyard well after most of his compadres are back in their Caribbean wintering haunts. Given that the weather here today was in the 40's and rainy, I would think this little tiger-striped beauty may be lamenting his decision to linger, if he is still about.

Photo: Tom Sheley

Tom made these images on November 8, and normally the last straggling Cape May Warblers are gone from Ohio by mid-October. It'll be interesting to see how long this bird toughs it out.

In spite of their primarily insectivorous diet - although Cape Mays do eat lots of fruit in fall and winter - these warblers can be surprisingly hardy. There are probably 15-20 early winter records, and a few Cape Mays have toughed it out at feeders well into January.

Out of the norm birds often show up at feeders, such as Tom's beautifully photographed Cape May Warbler. If you ever spot anything that seems out of the ordinary at your feeders, such as a warbler in winter, please let me or another birder know.

Lark Bunting, Take 2

Pastoral Holmes County, Ohio, which is near where the Lark Bunting of the previous post was found. Old meets new at the intersection at the base of this hill: a pickup truck rolls up, as does a horse-powered buggy. The latter is the primary conveyance of this area's large Amish community.

Photo: Hallie Mason

Two-wheeled pedal-powered modes of transportation are also common. These bicycles were probably hurriedly cast aside as their riders rushed off to look for the Lark Bunting detailed in my PREVIOUS POST, as this is the scene of that great rarity.

Hallie Mason dropped me a note with more details of this buntiferous find, and also allowed me to share a few of her photos of the scene. Leroy Erb was the bird's finder, and did it in spectacular style. He was strolling along this very road when an unfamiliar call note reached his ears. Hmmm. He tracked down the bird, which was unfamilar to him, but before even reaching home and his guides, Leroy had sorted through the possibilities and arrived at the correct identification.

Awesome!

Photo: Hallie Mason

This humble green hunting stool, perched along the roadside, holds the sign-in log. Scores of visiting birders have made the pilgrimage to see Leroy's rare find.

Discoveries such as Leroy Erb's Lark Bunting are inordinately common northeast Ohio's Amish Country, which is primarily Coshocton, Holmes, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. In recent years, this includes megas such as Allen's Hummingird, Long-billed Curlew, Swallow-tailed Kite, Yellow Rail, Black Rail, Green Violet-ear, and more.

Why such a preponderance of rarities? This region has no Lake Erie or Ohio River, nor is it ridged with mountains, carpeted with virgin prairie, nor cloaked with old-growth woods. While Holmes and Tuscarawas counties are not heavily developed, and have lots of agricultural, the human footprint on the land is far lighter than it is in the glaciated flatlands of western Ohio, where agribusiness has laid waste to the landscape. The Amish and others in the Holmes County area engage in land management practices that are far more environmentally friendly than is the case in most other farmland regions of Ohio.

But the real reason that so many rare birds turn up so consistently in this area is the people. Some 40,000 Amish reside in this region, and their ranks include some of the best birders in the state. Also, a high percentage of the Amish community is far more bird-literate than the average population, so there are lots of knowledgeable eyes and ears out on the ground. Little in the way of avian occurrences seem to be missed.

Also, the Amish shun cars, and that choice greatly frees one to become more in tune with the environment. When confined to a motorized, nearly hermetically sealed automobile, the occupant cannot hear nor see birds - or most other things - nearly as well as someone on foot, riding a bicycle, or even in an open horse-drawn buggy.

I want to point out two things of interest to birders that visit the Holmes County area. One, if you have any optical needs, be sure to visit Time & Optics, which is run by uber-birder Robert Hershberger. His place is, by far, the most well-stocked and comprehensive optics shop in the state of Ohio. As an added bonus, Robert is the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet, and he knows everything there is to know about anything that you peer through to better see birds. And while you're up there, you can go bird some of the local hotspots, and eat at one of the sensational Amish restaurants. Time & Optics info follows:

Time & Optics
6954 CR 77
Millersburg, Ohio 44654
330 674-0210
866 308-0827
Call for a catalogue

Finally, mark Saturday, March 16, 2013 on your calendar. That's the date of next year's ever-popular Shreve Migration Sensation, one of the highlights of Ohio's birding festival circuit. There's no better immersion into birding Amish Country than a trip to SMS. The organizers don't yet have next year's itinerary posted, but CLICK HERE to see the 2012 details - that'll give you a good taste of what SMS is all about.

Thanks to Hallie Mason for the added info and pics, and of course major kudos to Leroy Erb for discovering the Lark Bunting.

Lark Bunting in Ohio!

Photo: Dane Adams

Bird of the moment in the Buckeye State is a western vagrant, the Lark Bunting, Calamospiza melanocrys, which has occupied some brushy tangles in Tuscarawas County since last Saturday, November 3. I'm not sure who exactly discovered this easily overlooked bird, but Bruce Glick, Ed and Leroy Schlabaugh, and Leroy Erb were mentioned on what I think was the first email to announce the bird. It's a fabulous discovery of a very rare species (for us) that could have easily been overlooked.

Dane Adams made the scene a few days ago, and sent along some of his characteristically excellent photos. In the above image, the bird peers from the dense thorny shelter of a hawthorn tree; apparently it is fond of lurking in dense growth such as this.

Photo: Dane Adams

Lark Buntings belong to the sparrow tribe (Emberizidae), and just about anyone might guess that by looking at this bird, which appears to be a juvenile male. But if you were to see this animal next summer, you'd not even think it to be the same species. Adult male Lark Buntings in their breeding finery wear a coat of jet black, offset by large white wing patches, thus transforming into one of our flashiest sparrows.

Map: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

As can be seen from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's fine map, Ohio is a bit off the Lark Bunting's beaten path. This is a sparrow of the Great Plains that normally retires to the southwest U.S. and Mexico for the winter.

However, small numbers of Lark Buntings regularly wander well to the east of their normal haunts, and Ohio's current bird is by no means our first. This is probably the 13th or 14th record for the state.

Kudos to the finders of this bird, and congratulations to everyone who has successfully made the trek to see it. And of course, I appreciate as always Dane Adams' excellent camera work and his willingness to share his imagery with us.

Evening Grosbeaks (sort of) invade!

Lest you've been thinking about what to return as in your next iteration, avoid choosing a sunflower seed. One of the giant black-white-and-yellow seed destroyers that follow might get you. Your fate would be crushing: ground between the robust and powerful mandibles of our most powerful grosbeak, your tattered remnants to be unceremoniously expelled later from the bird's aft end.

But if you're not going to be a morsel for one, an Evening Grosbeak is just about the coolest, baddest, most eye-catching songbird that can grace one's feeders. Some years ago, these showy grosbeaks of the North Woods made regular southward incursions into wintertime Ohio. Up until the early 1990's, fairly large-scale invasions could be expected every few years. And even in the off years, there would be a smattering of grosbeaks to be found.

For newer Ohio birders, some of whom may not have even seen an Evening Grosbeak in the Ohio Territory, some of the counts of yore are nearly unimaginable. For instance, the Ohio Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) of 1969 collectively totaled 1,430 birds. Winter 1976 CBC's tallied 2,077. A jaw dropping 2,686 grosbeaks were counted in the winter of 1984. The average CBC total over the past decade is a paltry 16 birds. The decade prior to that saw average CBC totals of 122 birds each winter. Go back another decade and the CBC winter average over the ten year span was 653 birds.

You get the point. There has been a precipitous downward slide in the number of Evening Grosbeaks invading Ohio. Thus, I was delighted to get two recent emails reporting grosbeaks, each with photos.

Photo: Bob Rafferty

Bob Rafferty reports five Evening Grosbeaks at his Knox County feeders on November 2, including this handsome male with a more somber female.

Photo: Rosalyn Rinehart

Last Saturday, November 3, Rosalyn Rinehart glanced out the window of her Logan County home to see five of the showy big-billed gluttons making mincemeat of her feeder's stock. Strangely, few people object to the hefty seed bills that will be incurred should a flock of ravenous Evening Grosbeaks descend and settle in at the feeders. An Evening Grosbeak is the feathered version of Joey Chestnut, and can gobble down the sunflowers like no one's business.

These weren't the only Evening Grosbeaks to be found. At least four or five other reports have come in from widely scattered locales. Keep an eye on those feeders. Thanks to Bob and Rosalyn for sharing their reports and photos with us.

Brant invade Lake Erie

The wildly swirling edges of Hurricane Sandy rolled through Ohio last week, and really put the wallop on Lake Erie. This storm is probably the strongest hurricane fallout that we've experienced, at least in recent memory. With hurricanes often come wayward birds, blown far off course, and I most definitely planned to take off a day and try to get to Lake Erie. Last Tuesday was just too rough - waves pushing 20 feet!!! were slamming the Lake Erie shoreline, and the rough seas in conjunction with driving rain and high winds wouldn't have made for good viewing conditions.

So, I waited until Wednesday before jumping in the car at 5:15 am and heading north to Lake County. My first stop was John Pogacnik's house, which overlooks the lake and offers a commanding view of a nice swath of water. Because of his location, and the fact that John stocks his yard with scores of feeders, and he watches the lake closely, his yard list must be the largest in Ohio. I think he's seen over 250 species from the property, including lots of odd and rare bedfellows such as Green-tailed Towhee and Long-tailed Jaeger.

This photo was taken with my Droid, at Conneaut Harbor. It shows the conditions that we had to endure for most of the day. Cold, windy, and near consistent drizzle if not outright rain. It definitely was not a day for getting killer photos, but I was very impressed with my new Canon 5D's performance. I generally just left it on shutter priority at 1/500, in order to try and freeze the birds with a fast shutter speed. That meant that the camera would bump the ISO as high as 12,800 at times, but there still is next to no graininess in even those images.

John and I spent the first few hours of the morning parked on his picnic table overlooking Lake Erie. One of the first cool "yard birds" we saw was this obliging female Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw) that was loafing just offshore. We were to see two others at different locales before the day was through.

Other highlights from the Pogacnik "yard" included 119 Brant, 2 White-winged Scoters, 32 Black Scoters, 3 Harlequin Ducks, 61 Common Loons, and four birds that were probably Red-throated Loons. Believe it or not, this was slow compared to what John and some of the other veteran Cleveland area lake-watchers were seeing in the two days prior.

A stop at Fairport Harbor yielded more scoters, of all three species. This group is comprised of three White-winged Scoters on the right, and two Surf Scoters on the left. As always, click the photo to enlarge and see more details.

John and I made it as far east as Conneaut Harbor, which is as far east as one can go on Lake Erie without entering Pennsylvania. The weather was rather inhospitable, as described previously, and as the gate was shut we had to walk a fair piece through the damp sand to reach the observation platform. Once there, we hunkered under the tower's modest shelter, and saw a fair number of interesting birds. About 20 Dunlin - one of our hardiest sandpipers - hunted the shoreline, and they were joined by two rather late Sanderlings. We were quite pleased when a Red Phalarope, pictured above, rocketed by and settled on a small pond not far away. It bathed and preened for a few minutes, then flew back out over the lake, That's typical of Conneaut Harbor - birds pop in and out constantly, and often don't linger for very long.

The highlight at Conneaut - and bird of the day (and week) in my view - were the Brant. We saw 71 of the small sea geese foraging on Conneaut's sand flats, and between all of our stops, John and I observed a grand total of 240. From October 27 through the end of the month, perhaps 1,500 - 2,000 Brant were reported from Ohio's Lake Erie waters, a staggering total. For historical perspective, Bruce Peterjohn in his The Birds of Ohio cites the previous one-day high count of Brant as 290+ on November 11, 1985 off Vermilion. He notes that Brant are normally rare and produce six or fewer sightings annually. In the latter days of October, there were multiple observations of 300+ Brant in a morning. I would guess that strong westerly winds associated with Hurricane Sandy caused Brant to track further west than normal, thus piling them up in Lake Erie. Most Brant move south from their Arctic breeding grounds via southern Hudson Bay and James Bay, then move southeast through Lake Ontario and other points east of Ohio before ending up along the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Note the flock of four Brant in this photo contains two adults, and two juveniles. The youngsters can readily be told by their strong white "wingbars" and the lack of white on the neck.

At least 43 Brant are visible in this shot, making for a scene reminiscent of coastal New York or New Jersey - certainly not something one expects to stumble into in Ohio!

We finished the day at Fairport Harbor, and were greeted by 50 more Brant on the beach. John and I darted under the protective shelter of a building's alcove, which also acted as a blind. Something flushed the flock at one point, and they wheeled around and settled in right in front of our hideout. It was neat to hear the flock's collective low chuckling honks, and watch them bicker among themselves like old maids.

By now, I suspect these Brant and most of the ones that we saw last Wednesday have made it to the sea, which is their true domain. After all, the Brant's scientific name is Branta bernicla: the specific epithet means "barnacle". So tightly wedded to the sea are these small geese that legend has it that they hatch from barnacles. Their peregrinations into freshwater habitats are rather rare and brief, and it was our good fortune to experience such an unprecedented albeit brief invasion of these marvelous little geese.