Common Milkweed in an autumn prairie

 

As always, click the photo to enlarge

A Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) dehisces its spawn in a west-central Ohio prairie. I made this image on October 25, 2025, in Madison County. Milkweeds are very showy subjects, and I made this image with my bird lens (an 800mm prime). Big lens work well for botanical subjects, and work wonders in melting the background.

The curious epithet of the scientific name - syriaca - means what it implies: Syria. While Common Milkweed is native only to North America, it was long ago transported and spread about the Old World. Linnaeus described and named this species, but because of confusion with its native range on his part, it is branded with "of Syria" in its formal name.

Sage Thrasher - first state record!

 

A Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) streaks across James Yoder's Coshocton County driveway. While some ornithological prognosticators have long predicted this species might someday appear in Ohio, it was still a great, pleasant surprise when one finally did.

Last Sunday, March 15 (2026), James Yoder and family were moseying down that very drive when a different-looking bird popped up on top of a fence post. James's first thought was Northern Mockingbird but almost as quickly as that thought came to mind, he knew it wasn't correct. A bit better view and he knew right away what it was - Sage Thrasher, a species that breeds widely across the western U.S., barely ranging into Canada. James was familiar with this species from a prior Colorado trip. While some wintering birds move south into Mexico, Sage Thrasher breeds almost entirely in the U.S. (other than a relative handful of birds that nest in southern British Columbia and Saskatchewan).

The Sage Thrasher appears to be dustbathing, but I think it's fluttering its wings due to being agitated by a bold American Robin. Thrashers can be quite expressive with their wings, using them for courtship displays and to express irritation.

Here's the source of the thrasher's irritation. This male American Robin kept coming in to glean meal worms that James was putting out for the thrasher, and the latter did not care one bit for the big thrush's company. Here, the thrasher glares angrily at the robin and moments later, it drove off the larger bird.

Of the 15 thrasher species, the Sage Thrasher is the smallest. If the thrasher in my photo above was a Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), the only breeding thrasher species in the eastern U.S. and common in Ohio, it would appear as large or larger than the robin. For comparison, the robin's body length is 1.5 inches longer than the thrasher, its wingspan is over five inches longer, and the robin weighs nearly double our rare visitor. 

The thrasher comes into the mealworms consistently and sometimes remains for some time. When Shauna and I arrived in the early afternoon, James told us that we had just missed it but not to despair, it would soon return. Sure enough, about 25 minutes later it did, then remained for at least 20 minutes.

When the thrasher did leave, it would almost magically disappear, and it was hard to impossible to ascertain where it went. At one point, we saw it slip into a thick tangle of multiflora rose, as in the photo above. When it did that, the thrasher was rendered nearly invisible. In any event, between mealworm refueling, the thrasher was going into other habitats to forage and rest.

As always, click the image to enlarge

At one point, the Sage Thrasher hopped onto this exposed branch. It only stayed a few seconds, but your narrator was on his game and managed this shot. While Sage Thrashers may look rather plain - and compared to most other thrasher species, they are - it is still a showy little beast. I do not know whether this individual is male or female. Other than males being slightly larger, the sexes are essentially identical in appearance. I don't know this species well enough to offer an informed opinion as to the age of this bird, but if I had to guess, I would say an adult - not a first-year bird. The latter should, I think, still manifest more prominent dark streaking on the upperparts. However, if anyone is intimately familiar with Sage Thrasher and knows or has a good idea as to whether it is an adult or juvenile, please let me know.

Major thanks are due to James Yoder for making this extraordinary find. Not only that, but also for graciously allowing the scores of visitors who wished to see it. James got word out the same day that he found it, and the onrush of binocular-toters was nearly immediate. By the time we went - the third day after the bird was found - James reported that over 500 people had visited. Much appreciation to him for accommodating all of us.

I believe this Sage Thrasher is #456 on the Ohio bird list (please correct me if I'm wrong about that number). That's a huge number of species for a midwestern state and I believe of the states that abut Ohio, we have the largest list. Other than, and I say this with some pain, Michigan. I believe they are one or a few species ahead of us. But that won't last, and I am sure we will eclipse that state up north eventually, just as the Ohio State Buckeyes routinely trounce the Wolverines in football.

Urbana residents fight proposed data center near Cedar Bog

 

Data center opponents packed the Urbana City Council meeting on March 3/Jim McCormac

Urbana residents fight proposed data center near Cedar Bog

Columbus Dispatch
March 15, 2026

NATURE
Jim McCormac

“Technology can help us save the planet. But more than anything, we must learn to value nature.”

The above quote was a headline from a 2018 article published by the World Economic Forum. Its first sentence is not aging well. The second sentence remains true.

Growth in AI and other elements of the digital age is exploding, and so is the infrastructure to support it. Data centers are an overt manifestation of the industry, and an increasingly unpopular one.

Data centers, especially so-called hyperscale centers, are technological monsters. Hyperscale centers typically exceed 10,000 square feet and contain over 5,000 servers. Energy and water consumption can be extreme. Even a midsized center can use 300,000 gallons of water daily. That’s the equivalent of about 1,000 households.

Energy use can soar into the stratosphere. Giant hyperscale centers might require up to 250 megawatts daily. That’s roughly the equivalent of the residential energy use of Cincinnati.

Perhaps 5,000 data centers are now in operation in the U.S., and about 200 are online in Ohio.

Most Ohioans probably only became aware of data centers in the last year or two, and many citizens may still be in the dark about these massive computing operations. This appears to be by design. Tech giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and others have operated under a cloak of secrecy regarding their development.

As people have increasingly become aware of data centers and their prodigious energy and water use (and other negative issues), rebellions are fomenting. A local data center uprising involves a proposal to place a hyperscale center on the south side of Urbana, 1.5 miles north of the legendary Cedar Bog, which is perhaps Ohio’s most iconic natural area.

By the time most people learned about the proposed center, the land had already been purchased, and construction plans were well underway. The billion-dollar hyperscale center, as planned, encompasses about 460,000 square feet.

As word spread through the Urbana community and surrounding areas, residents revolted. Scores of people made their grievances known to Urbana City Council. To their credit, council scheduled a March 3 meeting at which citizens could air their concerns.

To accommodate the anticipated turnout, arrangements were made to use the Champaign County Community Center and its 200-seat auditorium. I attended, in part to offer expert testimony about Cedar Bog and its ecology.

The capacious meeting room was inadequate. An estimated 300-400 people came, the room was packed and the overflow extended into adjacent rooms and corridors.

Over 30 people, ages 13 to 91, delivered five-minute statements, and no one was for the data center. The majority also mentioned Cedar Bog, what it meant to them and its importance to Urbana.

A potentially major issue for the bog involves disruption to its hydrology. Cedar Bog is fed by the underlying aquifer, which provides a stable source of cool water. Cedar Bog depends upon clean groundwater to fuel its peaty wetlands. The hyperscale center would perch atop this aquifer, and upstream from the bog.

Over 520 species of native plants occur within the bog, which is over 25% of ALL the plant species in Ohio. Further, the site harbors three endangered plant species, nine threatened species and 14 potentially threatened or watch-list species.

Some are the rarest of the rare, such as prairie valerian, which was originally discovered in Cedar Bog in 1838. There is only one other small population in Ohio.

The most famous plant in the bog is undoubtedly the showy lady’s slipper, North America’s largest orchid. Likely tens of thousands of visitors have visited the bog in June to clap eyes on the giant pink and white flowers of this threatened plant.

Especially notable to botanists are the carnivorous bladderworts. These plants trap tiny invertebrates in sac-like traps attached to their roots. One species is the endangered horned bladderwort. The other species is, well, we don’t know for sure. It may turn out to be a highly localized “new” species not yet described to science.

Cedar Bog also harbors scores of breeding birds, endangered massasauga rattlesnakes and elfin skimmer dragonflies, spotted turtles, five-lined skinks, Milbert’s tortoiseshell butterflies and much more.

Protection of the underlying aquifer is essential to protect Cedar Bog’s fragile habitats. While the developer’s representatives, from CyrusOne and Thor Equities, claim that this data center would use “closed-loop” cooling, thus greatly reducing water usage, their claims were met with great distrust by those at the meeting.

The reps also expressed willingness to meet with all who wished to discuss concerns. Unfortunately, they left the meeting before all of those with concerns went to the lectern to express their concerns.

In an unexpected bit of good news from the meeting, Urbana City Council proposed a one-year moratorium on building the hyperscale center. Seven of the eight council members were present, and the moratorium proposal passed by a vote of 6 to1. The lone dissenter was Audra Bean, wife of Urbana Mayor Bill Bean. He is a major advocate for the data center.

I cannot think of a worse location for an energy-sucking hyperscale data center than the proposed Urbana site. Not only because of Cedar Bog, but also due to the close proximity of a retirement village, an elementary school and many businesses and residences.

Hopefully elected officials will stand with the Urbana residents who elected them and quash plans for this hyperscale data center.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

The threatened showy lady's-slipper, an icon of Cedar Bog/Jim McCormac

Roseate Spoonbill

 Here's a blast from the very recent past. One of our coolest - and pinkest! - waders, the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). I traveled to the Houston, Texas area back in mid-January to speak at the annual Sadie Gwin Environmental Seminar, sponsored by the River Oaks Garden Club of Houston.

As an aside, my topic for the meeting was caterpillars. Yes, seemingly inconsequential bags of goo that few people notice. But make the natural world go 'round, to the point that we'd all likely be doomed if caterpillars - and the native flora that hosts them - disappeared. I have noticed a much-expanded interest in biodiversity among garden clubs over the decades, and this event was a good case in point.

Anyway, we factored in plenty of time prior to the conference to spend time along the Texas Gulf Coast. There are scores of birds in that region, and we spent quality time with many of them. One species that never gets old, at least to me, is the spectacular Roseate Spoonbill.

A flock of spoonbills in a marsh at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Their vocalizations - ock-ock-ock! - don't quite live up to the spoonbills' vibrant coloration.

A well-named bird, the Roseate Spoonbill indeed sports a massive spoonlike appendage. The spathulate-shaped bill tip is heavily beset with fine-tuned nerve endings that enable a feeding bird to feel when prey enters the bill, which ii then promptly clamps down on and consumes.

Keep your eyes peeled for spoonbills no matter where you are. They can appear well beyond their normal range, and there are records from most Midwestern states. There have been about a dozen Ohio records to date, and there'll be more to come. Most extralimital reports come from late summer/fall.

Great Lakes talk - next Saturday, March 14

 

Bridalveil Falls careens 140 feet down a colorful cliff along the Lake Superior shoreline in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The falls has the longest drop of any waterfall in Michigan.

Next Saturday, March 14, I'm giving a talk on the Great Lakes for the Clark County, Ohio, park district, at their headquarters at 1301 Mitchell Blvd, Springfield. All are welcome, but there is a $5.00 fee. The program begins at 10 am. To register, GO HERE.

I've spent a huge chunk of my life exploring our Great Lakes, pretty much from stem to stern, including their outflow into the Atlantic Ocean at the mighty Gulf of St. Lawrence (where the world's largest Northern Gannet colony is found, and whales abound).

Following is the talk description:

The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world’s freshwater and are one of North America’s most vital natural resources. The entirety of the Great Lakes flow into the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River, which in turn forms the world’s largest estuary, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Each lake – technically, there are only four Great Lakes – has its own character, and collectively they support staggering biodiversity. The lakes are incredibly important to birds, and that will be an important facet of this program. We’ll look at how the lakes interact and how water moves through them, and distinctive characteristics associated with each, as well as the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Finally, we will zoom in on Lake Erie and Ohio’s 262 miles of lakefront. Lake Erie, while the smallest of the lakes by water volume, is by far the most biologically rich of the Great Lakes. This talk features many images of Erie’s fascinating flora and fauna, especially birds.

Hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you if you do!

Cedar Bog update - one-year moratorium on data centers put in place

A portion of the estimated 400 people who came to the Urbana City Council meeting on March 3. Not everyone could fit in the room, and there was no way to capture all attendees in one photo.

In my last post, I mentioned the one billion-dollar, 460,000 square foot hyperscale data center that has been proposed for development on the south side of Urbana (Ohio), within 1.5 miles of the iconic Cedar Bog preserve, one of the most iconic natural areas in Ohio and the Midwest.

I shared a link to one of the two petitions circulating that objects to this development. Thanks to all who signed it. That petition can be FOUND HERE. Thus far, 4,558 people have signed, and several thousand have signed another, similar petition.

Last Tuesday night (March 3, 2026) was the night where the public got to come and give feedback to the Urbana (Ohio) City Council, the mayor, and several of his executive staff regarding this data center. Because of the enormous water needs for these centers - they’d undoubtedly tap into the aquifer that feeds the bog - its construction would likely do in Ohio’s most famous natural area.

Around 400 people showed up, and all of them (insofar as I could tell) were in opposition to the center. Over 30 people made comments directly to council, from kids to adults, and all made it clear that they did not want data centers in their community.

In response to public opposition, city council voted to place a one-year moratorium on data center construction, and we have high hopes that the project will be scrubbed before the moratorium ends.
Thanks to everyone who came out, and to those that took to the lectern to speak against this atrocity.

I'm going to write a more detailed piece about this whole debacle for my Columbus Dispatch newspaper column. I'll share that here after it has been published.

Ohio's iconic Cedar Bog threatened by proposed data center

 

A fen meadow at Cedar Bog, near Urbana, Ohio, in Champaign County. The meadows at the "bog" (it is actually a fen) are full of rare species, including many highly sensitive plants that are extremely particular about hydrology (water regime). Here's a link to a Columbus Dispatch newspaper article that I wrote about Cedar Bog in 2024.

This proposed data center is a short distance upstream (about 1.5 miles) from one of Ohio’s most iconic and sensitive natural areas, the legendary Cedar Bog. If you aren't up on data centers, they are massive computer processing plants that house servers, storage systems, and networking equipment that serve various aspects of the digital economy such as storing, processing, and distributing data related cloud computing, AI, and various online services. To learn more about these centers, and the harm that they cause environmentally, see THIS ARTICLE in Smithsonian Magazine.

The data center would tap water - LOTS of water - directly from the aquifer that feeds Cedar Bog. And the ecology of Cedar Bog is directly dependent upon the health of its aquifer - it is fed by ground water. It’s the worst possible location imaginable to site one of these monstrosities and we should all protest it. Please sign and share this change.org petition protesting the location of this data center, RIGHT HERE.

To inject some science in defense of Cedar Bog, it harbors one of the highest concentrations of rare, highly specialized plants of any site in Ohio. When Barb Andreas, John Mack and I authored the Floristic Quality Assessment Index of Ohio, we used that methodology to score numerous best of the best examples of various plant communities. Cedar Bog scored 45.4 - the highest score of any habitat that we are aware of in the state. Cedar Bog is singled out on page 16. To see a copy of the FQAI, with information about the methodology, GO HERE.

It's a shame we have to spend time and effort defending things that should not have to be defended, but this is just such a case. Please sign the petition, RIGHT HERE.