Ruffed Grouse, strutting his stuff!

The following photos and video come courtesy of John Howard. John lives in southern Ohio's Adams County, and is a naturalist's naturalist. Many of the interesting finds and stories that I have shared on this blog from that part of the world, and there have been many, have been in the company of John. He's shown me many a new plant and animal over the years.

 

Anyway, the other day John was out and about in the backwoods of Adams County when he happened onto a Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus. Grouse have declined markedly in much of Ohio, but in some areas of Adams County and neighboring Scioto County, they can still be locally common. Starting about now, one often hears the deep hollow drumming made by displaying males rapidly beating their wings. This sound starts slowly and accelerates, and always reminds me of a lawn mower being fired up. However, male grouse do much more than drum when the testosterone gets flowing, as we shall see.

 Photo: John Howard

A Ruffed Grouse in the brush or woods can be a devilishly hard bird to spot. I've seen hundreds of them over the years, but most were blurs that exploded under my feet and rocketed off through the forest. We can tell that this bird is a male, so we may be in for some action as it is the amorous season for grouse. The thick blackish terminal tail band on a female is somewhat broken and incomplete at the apex of the tail.

Photo: John Howard

Ah! Out struts the grouse, to put on a display that is guaranteed to wow the grousettes! You can see how this species was dubbed the "ruffed" grouse - check out those manelike feather boas surrounding the bird's neck. When male grouse strut their stuff, they puff these ruffs up to incredible dimensions, flare the tail to its full glory, and stalk about in the manner of a displaying tom turkey.

Video: John Howard

On more than one occasion, John and I have lamented the fact that our cameras have excellent video capability - but we forgot to use them! It's easy to get caught up in the moment and focus on making photos when a rare opportunity happens along. Well, that didn't happen this time. After making some really nice images, John triggered the video feature and captured the ultra-cool clip above.

Given the relative scarcity of Ruffed Grouse in Ohio these days, there are many Buckeye State birders who have yet to see one. And one can be in the field a lot, over a long period of time, and never witness the strutting courtship display of a love-struck grouse. I never have, and appreciate the chance to witness this neat aspect of grouse behavior via John's video.

Birding Optics & Gear Expo: March 23 & 24

Be there or be square! The first ever Birding Optics & Gear Expo takes place Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24 right smack in the middle of Ohio, in Columbus. The experts at Bird Watcher's Digest are behind this, so you know it'll be good. These are the people who orchestrate America's best birding event, the Midwest Birding Symposium, after all!

All of the big optics companies will be on hand: Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, Vortex, Celestron, and more. I am especially pleased that Midwest Photo Exchange will be in the house. They've got the coolest camera shop around, and that's where I get all of my photographic gear. They are a treasure trove of everything photographic, and the employees know everything there is to know, it seems, about photography.

Photo courtesy inhabitat.com

The venue is the sleek and slick Grange Insurance Audubon Center, just south of downtown Columbus. It's worth the trip just to see this place!

"Test driving" optics before buying is important, and you'll have plenty to point them at right outside the building. Being that it's mid-March, things won't look quite this green but this is the view outside the center's back doors. The local Peregrine Falcons make frequent sorties over the grounds, and the nearby Scioto River attracts plenty of other birds. CLICK HERE for an article that I wrote about this site, last fall.

Admission is FREE! Just come on down between 9 am and 4 pm on Saturday, or between Noon and 4 pm on Sunday. The complete lowdown is RIGHT HERE.

Bobcat versus Raccoons, with bonus Gray Fox in catnip

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the Hughes are trail cam masters, and they're doing amazing things with their candid cameras. If you've checked this blog with any frequency, you've probably seen some of the fabulous cam work by Laura and David, which they've been kind enough to allow me to share. Some recent examples are HERE, and HERE.

Laura just sent along their latest film-making endeavors, which feature a Mexican standoff between a tough Bobcat and two marauding Raccoons. It's pretty cool stuff, and she upped the ante by tossing in a neat video of a Gray Fox tumbling around in some fresh catnip.

I'm always flabbergasted by the amazing critters that the Hughes manage to find via their cams. This isn't luck - they know animal signs, and place the cameras in the right places. And remote and sparsely populated Monroe County, where they make these vids, abounds with wildlife. Of course, a little bait doesn't hurt, either. I've got the feeling that they'll eventually record something truly stunning - even better than what we've got here.

 Puffed up and looking large and in charge, two Raccoons swagger into the deer carcass. Too bad someone even badder is already there.

The Raccoons test the waters, as it were, and attempt to horn in on the deer carcass. Their bullying attempts do not dissuade the Bobcat, which bristles up and stands its ground. I suspect that, from a distance of two feet or so, that little cat's stare looks mighty intimidating. Were there audio accompanying these screen captures, I'm sure we'd be treated to some ear-splitting snarls and blood-curdling screams.

Here, we can see the Bobcat caught in full-throated yowl, and apparently that's enough for the band-tailed would-be robbers. They turn tail and amble off, looking for easier carrion.

Laura had two cams on this deer carcass - one shooting stills as seen above; the other video. Unfortunately, the video cam 's battery died before the cat/raccoon encounter, but before it conked it it did record this cool sequence of the Bobcat coming into the carrion.

Here's the bonus Gray Fox cavorting in catnip video. Spicing the ground strategically with a little Nepeta cataria can work wonders, and this fox reveals its catlike attributes by rolling around in the stuff.

Thanks as always to Laura and David for sharing their stuff!

An extremely hardy caterpillar

Last night showed great promise for a big salamander run. It rained all day, and temperatures crept up into the low 50's. We haven't had a good salamander movement around here as of yet, and I thought last night would be the magical night. My longtime favorite local haunts to seek salamanders is over in the Bellefontaine area west of Columbus. So it was there I headed, stopping by to pick up Bellefontainite and amphibian enthusiast Cheryl Erwin.

 

March is an incredibly volatile and unpredictable month weatherwise, and last night's sudden shift in conditions bore that out. When I left Columbus, the rain had quit and the ground was soaked - perfect for migrating salamanders. The temperature was 50 degrees - also ideal. Forty-five minutes later, as I entered the Bellefontaine area, the temp had nosedived to 42, which is too cool for big salamander movements. Nonetheless, we trolled some roads anyway, and found a couple of the bizarre unisexual hybrid salamanders - more on those HERE - two Red-spotted Newts, and the prize of the evening, a whopping big Tiger Salamander.

 

But it was a caterpillar that captured my imagination. Who woulda thunk it? I head out on a cold wet evening to look for hypothermia-defying amphibians, and return with material for a blog on caterpillars.

 

Up until last night, my personal best cold weather caterpillar was this animal, a Woolly-bear, Pyrrharctia isabella, the larva of the Isabella Tiger Moth. The heavily bristled Woolly-bears are well known for cold weather wandering, and I made this photo on December 26 when the temperature was 42 degrees and a brisk wind was blowing. The caterpillar was trucking right along. Sorry for the less than stellar photo; I saw it from the car while clipping along at a good rate, and barely had time to jump out and snap this one image.

Well, I was much more surprised to see this seemingly uninsulated specimen crossing the road last night. The temperature at the time was 42 degrees, tying the aforementioned Woolly-bear, but everything was wet. None of this fazed the caterpillar, which was moving quite well. I knew it was some sort of cutworm, and it didn't take long to determine its identity as the larva of the Large Yellow Underwing, Noctua pronuba.

I didn't have a photo of a live adult Large Yellow Underwing, but I did have this specimen photo. It shows the features of this handsome moth well enough. Noctua pronuba is not a native; it is indigenous to much of Eurasia, and was introduced to North America at Novia Scotia, Canada in 1979 and has since spread like wildfire. It is now locally abundant in many areas. Demonstrating the extreme mobility of flighted insects, this moth has made it all of the way to Alaska and California.

The caterpillars are well known for their cold hardiness, and if you see a decent sized plain jane cutworm running around in temperatures less than 50 degrees during winter thaws, it is almost certain to be this one.

Zanesville's Yellow Cardinal, revisited

Last Friday, I found myself heading off east on Interstate 70, car-surfing a six hour straight line all the way to York, Pennsylvania. A tedious drive indeed, but one that would bring me into close proximity to Tom Ruggles' back yard in Zanesville, Ohio. Tom's been hosting a most special visitor for half a decade; an animal that I really wanted to see.

Tom was good enough to allow me to stop by on my way to PA, and I did. This is a quick Droid snapshot of their backyard, a woody place indeed. Tom has created a virtual arboretum, and as we shall see, it doubles as a cageless aviary.

We were joined by Susan Nash, a local birder who also wanted to see Tom's special feathered guest. Susan is an artist, and in one those cool coincidences, the Ruggles' happened to have one of her works hanging on the wall by the front door. Take a virtual trip to her gallery, Studio 202, HERE.

I was clicking off photos rapidfire in burst mode, as subjects galore presented themselves nearly at arm's length at the battery of feeders on the back deck. Carolina Chickadees were numerous.

One of the feeder bullies, a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

There was a decent influx of Pine Siskins this winter, and a flock was hanging out in Tom's conifers. Nice looking specimens such as this would make periodic trips to the thistle feeders.

Another boreal irruptive that swamped the landscape this winter is the Red-breasted Nuthatch, and at least four individuals were constantly in and out of the feeders.

White-breasted Nuthatches were also common. Note the greatly elongated hind toe on this animal, all the better for bark climbing headfirst.

This was our target, however, and what an incredible bird! It's "just" a Northern Cardinal, but it's obviously not just any old cardinal. This male exhibits a genetic anomaly known as xanthochroism. The "yellowbird" is a seasoned veteran, having frequented the Ruggles' feeders for five years. I've written about the bird before, who has been dubbed Jeffrey by their grandchildren, HERE and HERE.

I've wanted to lay eyes on this cardinal since Tom first shared photos of it, and made an attempt last year. After waiting and watching for three hours, I gave up, a defeated man. Jeffrey does not constantly hang at the feeders. He is quite intermittent in his visits, and usually doesn't stay long. However, we scored quickly this day - he popped in just minutes after my arrival and returned once or twice. All told, he wasn't there long though, and I didn't have the opportunity to leisurely click off lots of shots.

A question that anyone would ask: Why is this normally brilliant scarlet bird yellow? I'll excerpt what I wrote about xanthochroism from a prior post:

This cardinal is exhibiting a condition known as xanthochroism, a genetic anomaly that causes an excess of yellow pigments to show through. It may be caused by darker pigments being suppressed, thus permitting less dominant colorations to shine through.
If we are to get a bit propeller-headed here, the bright red plumage of Northern Cardinals is caused by at least nine different carotenoid pigments. Knock one or some of them out of whack, and we can end up with the bird in the photo or something similar. In my previous post, there is a (bad) photo of a heavily leucistic Red-tailed Hawk. That bird is displaying the effects of yet another genetic anomaly, but one that causes the individual to appear much whiter or paler than normal.

Carotenoids occur in plants and some animals, and birds uptake them as part of their natural diet. It's possible that xanthochroic individuals, like Tom's cardinal, result from dietary deficiencies. A well-known example of the role of carotenoids and bird coloration involves flamingos. If deprived of the blue-green algae and brine shrimp that are rich in beta carotenes that gives them their bright pink plumage, the birds become pale and whitish. By providing captive flamingos with a compound called canthaxanthin, the rich pink coloration can be restored.

Xanthochroism has been documented in a number of bird species, in addition to Northern Cardinals, including: House Finch, Cape May Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Another question that begs an answer: Does Jeffrey successfully manage to attract a mate and participate in the production of offspring? We don't know. Tom watches for signs of a mate and pair bonding each year, but hasn't yet seen anything. However, Jeffrey seems quite furtive and apparently spends much of his time elsewhere, so it may be hard to pin down his relationship status.

The oldest documented wild Northern Cardinal reached nearly 17 years of age. This fine golden specimen is already at least five years old. With luck, it will live for many more years, delighting all who are fortunate enough to see it.

Owl pellet, dissected

A short while back, on my birthday as fate would have it, I wrote about this drowsy female Barn Owl. She had taken up an intermittent roost site in a Knox County barn. You can see that post HERE.

While the owl may be drowsy in this photo, she becomes a winged tiger come nightfall, and we've got the pellets to prove it. Read on...

These are Barn Owl pellets. The pellets in this photo are not from the bird in the previous photo; I made this image some years back courtesy of a bird in Jackson County. No matter, the protagonist of this post created pellets just as robust as these. If you scan the aforementioned post you'll some pictures of her handiwork.

The production of an owl pellet is a very necessary bodily function for the owl, but if we humans were to do the same act we would be considered crass indeed. Downright Neanderthal, in fact. Basically, an owl pellet is a giant furball, upchucked via the mouth in the manner of a cat. Much bobbing and wretching can accompany the expulsion of a pellet, but I'm sure the owl feels 10x better afterwards. The contents of a pellet are the indigestible parts of its victims: bone and fur.

Photo: Carma Jo Kauffman

You can only imagine my delight when Carma Jo Kauffman sent along this photo. Had it only been my birthday. In all seriousness, I find this photo utterly cool, and am glad that Carma Jo - sometimes tender of the owl - allowed me to share it with you. On my visit, I snatched a few pellets from the barn floor and did a quick and dirty dissection so that she could see the contents, along with a brief lecture on why owl pellets are made.

Carma Jo took owl pellet dissection many steps further, and she and I believe one of her daughters painstaking extracted and sorted the contents of this pellet. Yes, pellet - everything that you see in this photo was removed from just ONE owl pellet. She's even neatly numbered things - those are seven (7), count 'em, skulls! Various and sundry other underpinnings that create the superstructure of a mouse or vole are scattered about. No wonder these owls gag and heave to expel these pellets!

I am not an adept when it comes to identifying skulls and bones that were festering in owl pellets, but I know the parts in Carma Jo's pellet were from small rodents. The primary victim was probably the hapless beast hanging here, the Meadow Vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Do yourself a favor: never come back as a vole. Everyone wants to eat you, and the end will not be pretty. Very few voles, I suspect, die of old age. The animal in this photo was harvested by a Northern Shrike, which unceremoniously hung it in this autumn-olive bush. We saw almost the whole thing go down, and it was cool! The shrike, or butcherbird, came lumbering in toting the vole, disappeared into the shrubs, and as soon as the bird left we dashed in to inspect the kill. Later, the shrike, which is essentially a feathered Vlad the Impaler, would have returned and torn the cute little critter apart, gobbling down the chunks.

If a vole could choose its executioner, it would probably opt for the Barn Owl. The end would come quick, with an unseen and unheard WHACK and a fast bite to sever the base of the spinal cord. Hours later, our vole would come back - as a regurgitated compact mass of fur and bones.

This is a White-footed Mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, another of Nature's furry sausages with legs. They are also probably routine victims of Barn Owls. Rodents such as these are good at what they do, which is eat and reproduce. Thanks to voles, mice and their ilk, we have spectacular predators such as Barn Owls to ooh and ahh over.

Two Excellent Events

If you want to learn more about interesting animals such as the Eastern Box Turtle, consider attending the upcoming Wildlife Diversity Conference. This conference is major in every way, attracting around 900 attendees, and it always sports an interesting roster of speakers and subjects. Topics covered this year include the aforementioned box turtle, Ohio's breeding birds, ticks, the Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist Program, bats, and much more.

The Wildlife Diversity Conference rapidly approaches - March 13, and it's in Columbus at the Aladdin Shriner's Complex at 3850 Stelzer Road. Sorry, I should have been out there with a plug for this some time ago. Anyway, you can register online, or just show up - walk-ins are quite welcome. All of the details and registration info are RIGHT HERE.

Everyone loves singing insects such as the "counting katydid", above, which is more appropriately known as the Broad-winged Bush Katydid. If you want to learn more about Nature's most ancient animal soundmakers, you'll definitely want to attend the March 11 meeting of the Columbus Natural History Society. Lisa Rainsong will give a fascinating presentation entitled Connecting People to Nature's First Musicians. Lisa is an authority on the Orthoptera: crickets, coneheads, katydids, trigs and the rest of the six-legged songsters. Her outstanding blog is HERE. Admission is free, and all of the details are RIGHT HERE.