On July 28 of this year, I did some backyard mothing - something that I should do more of here, as I usually get cool bugs. And who doesn't like cool bugs. This uber-cool bug is a Lesser Grapevine Looper (Eulithis diversilineata), a moth that arches its abdomen up and over until it points at its snout. While conspicuous on a white shed wall, this bizarre posture may serve it well as disruptive camouflage when hiding in vegetated haunts. Its caterpillars feed on grape and Virginia creeper and I've got plenty of that. Worthington, Ohio.
A romp through the diverse flora and fauna of Ohio. From Timber Rattlesnakes to Prairie Warblers to Lakeside Daisies to Woodchucks, you'll eventually see it here, if it isn't already.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Monday, October 14, 2024
Shale-barren Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), white-flowered form
Last Saturday, Shauna had to give a program on Bobcats to a group at the Arc of Appalachia's Highland Nature Sanctuary and following that we headed down to Lynx Prairie in Adams County to drum up some late-season flora. One species that was high on my list to photograph was Shale-barren Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium). It is in peak bloom in early to mid-October, and we soon found ourselves admiring this large colony.
Shale-barren Aster is well-named, as can be seen from this image. It favors dry, rocky ground, and in Ohio often occurs on slopes like this. The plant is rhizomatous and can form sizable colonies. But in our state, it's a rarity and is listed as threatened by ODNR. Shale-barren Aster barely gets into southern Ohio and is known from only three-four counties and Adams County hosts most of the populations.
Here's the typical flowers of Shale-barren Aster. The rays are a showy pale purplish color, offset by bright yellow disk flowers.It will be interesting to see if these plants persist and expand, or eventually vanish.
NOTE: In botany, the equivalent of a subspecies in animals is termed a variety. Varieties are typically stable and distinctive variants but do not rise to the level of a species and are clearly closely related to the nominate, or typical variety. An example involving another aster would be Purple Swamp Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum). It was long split into "subspecies": Symphyotrichum puniceum variety puniceum (the nominate, or typical, subspecies) and S. puniceum var. firmus. As sometimes happens, these two varieties were later shown to be distinct, and both are considered separate species now. Forms do not rise to that level and are minor variants. In the case of Purple Swamp Aster, two forms have been described, Symphyotrichum puniceum forma etiamalbus with white flowers, and forma rufescens with reddish flowers. These forms only different in flower color, thus are minor variations, and possibly best treated as occasional anomalies, not stable characters of the species, hence the forma designation. That's undoubtedly the case with the white-flowered Shale-barren Aster that we found.
Monday, October 7, 2024
Alder and Willow flycatchers, side by side
Back in early June, Shauna and I traveled to rural western New York, to attend the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage. It's quite the event, with hundreds of attendees, scores of field trips and other activities, and lots of speakers. I was there in the latter capacity, speaking about - what else, this year - moths.
The Pilgrimage takes place in a beautiful region with lots of interesting places nearby, so we took the opportunity to tack on a few days and visit some new sites. We saw lots of flora and fauna, managed to eke out some decent imagery, and learned lots about various things. One of the more interesting avian experiences for me was stumbling into a large shrubland that was occupied by both Alder Flycatchers (Empidonax alnorum) and Willow Flycatchers (E. traillii), in about equal numbers.
This vast shrub-dominated meadow is in Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, about 40 miles northeast of Buffalo, New York. We were slowly cruising by when I heard the song of an Alder Flycatcher. As this is a species that I am very much smitten with, we quickly pulled over and got out to better assess the situation. To my surprise I soon heard a Willow Flycatcher, then another Alder, another Willow, and so on.Thursday, October 3, 2024
Brown-headed Nuthatch
I've been playing catch-up with photo labeling and archival - note to self: do not fall behind on this. Anyway, one positive is revisiting many cool sites and lots of interesting flora and fauna. This is one of the world's cutest birds, the Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla). The elfin weighs maybe 10-11 grams, and barely exceeds 4 inches in length. For comparison, the White-breasted Nuthatch is 20 g and 5.5 inches - a comparative giant. BHN's are obligatory pine residents and small troupes of them make a gentle cacophony as cute as the birds: it sounds like a dozen kittens are in the limbs, playing with squeak toys. Hickory, North Carolina, January 1, 2024.
Monday, September 30, 2024
American Copper
I was pleased to stumble into a small population of American Coppers (Lycaena phlaeas) last Thursday, September 26, in Wayne County (Ohio). This one is nectaring on white heath aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum), of which there was plenty at this locale.
In spite of the name, there is strong evidence that the "American" Copper was in fact introduced to America long ago, perhaps in hay shipments from Europe. In the Old World it is known as the Little Copper or Eurasian Small Copper, and the two "species" are quite similar. Also, the American Copper's host plants (what the caterpillars feed on) are Eurasian species not native here, primarily sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) and curly dock (R. crispus). Even if the little butterfly was an unintentional import, it is an attractive and charismatic little butterfly and I'm not aware of any issues that it has caused.
Monday, September 23, 2024
A motherlode of Lincoln's Sparrows
The inaugural Headlands Birding Festival took place last weekend, based at Headlands Dunes State Park. There were a number of breakout speakers on Saturday afternoon, and keynotes Friday and Saturday night. Greg Miller of The Big Year fame was on Saturday, and your narrator spoke about the Great Lakes and their importance on Friday. From what I could tell, there were several hundred attendees, and more people than that wandered through the vendors and exhibitors on Saturday. It was a great time, and I believe this event will only grow. The Lake Erie lakefront in northeastern Ohio is incredibly important for fall migrants, and this makes for great birding as we shall see.
Mentor Marsh was the location of our field trip on Saturday morning, led by Becky Donaldson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and me. We met our group of about 25 people at 7:30 am and hiked this elevated dike through the marsh. While the trip was scheduled to end at 9:30, many of us stayed until about 11 am. The birding was magnificent, and the glut of Lincoln's Sparrows was right along this dike. We estimated 15 Lincoln's Sparrows on our trip, but I knew far more were present. Note the pale lime-green zone off the left side of the dike, right before the trees. That's rice cut grass (Leersia oryzoides) forming a large drift. Its fruit was ripe and seemed to attract lots of sparrows.A Lincoln's Sparrow, on point, showing a classic alert posture with raised crown feathers. This one was part of a group foraging in a small black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) thicket.
Friday, September 20, 2024
Mothing in a cave
Mothing in a cave. At our recent caterpillar safari at Highlands Nature Sanctuary, owned by the Arc of Appalachia, most of us were in the museum photographing caterpillar livestock on Sunday morning. Laura Weis had been out hiking and rushed in to tell us she had found a moth deep in a cave. We, needless to say, rushed out to see this spelunking moth. It was The Herald Moth (Scoliopteryx libatrix), which feeds on willow as a caterpillar. The cave that Laura found (photo above) it in was right above Rocky Fork, which would have plenty of willow along its banks. Highland County, Ohio, September 8, 2024.
Your narrator photographing The Herald Moth, which was in a little alcove about 40 feet back in the cave.
The gorgeous Herald Moth. It is striking and unmistakable, and I've only seen a handful. The adults overwinter, and some of them "hibernate" deep in caves.
Friday, September 13, 2024
Camo caterpillars and the birds that eat them
A Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) in a characteristic hunting posture. The bird is searching for its major prey, the caterpillars of moths. It has its head cocked upwards, searching the lower surfaces of the leaves above, as that's where many caterpillars hide during the day. Lepidopteran larvae - and those are OVERWHELMING moth caterpillars (not butterfly caterpillars) - are the vireo's major food source. During a long summer day, the roughly 130 million Red-eyed Vireos breeding in the U.S. and Canada consume something on the order of 4 billion caterpillars. Hard to believe but based on what is known of their foraging rate and dominant prey items, that's how the numbers shake out.A Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) with a freshly harvested caterpillar (unsure of species). Almost all of the 38 warbler species that breed in eastern North America eats scads of caterpillars, and so do most groups of songbirds. So do some nonpasserine species, most notably the cuckoos. Many of these birds are migrants that winter in more southerly haunts, often in Central or South America, and migrate northward during the breeding season to exploit the eastern deciduous forest region's vast bounty of caterpillars. As this is crop is only seasonally available, many of these bird species must travel back to warmer climes for the winter - where they undoubtedly also consume great numbers of caterpillars.
Monday, September 9, 2024
Epic caterpillaring results in many cool finds
Dozens of species of caterpillars were found and photographed, including this Cherry Dagger (Acronicta hasta). We brought lots of livestock back to the Arc's forest museum - our base camp - and from 10 am - 2 pm the public is invited in. Dozens of people got to see crazy larvae that they likely never knew existed. One should not underestimate the value of moth larvae (which the overwhelming number of caterpillars are). They are the primary organisms that convert plant matter into a digestible form of protein for birds and myriad other animals and underpin food webs.
We certainly do not ignore the occasional butterfly caterpillar that turns up, and this was a particularly interesting one. It is the caterpillar of the Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), which specializes on feeding upon species in the Pea Family (Fabaceae). These cats resemble Mike & Ike candies and are tiny and easily overlooked.
This one is feeding on a tick-trefoil in the genus Desmodium. Many hikers know this group of plants by their triangular loments (fruit) that are thickly beset with stout hooked hairs. They evolved for mammalian dispersal, and that includes the clothing worn by humans. Those loments can be tough to get off and will even survive trips through the washing machine.
Here's what that Gray Hairstreak caterpillar in the previous image will (hopefully) morph into - one of our showiest butterflies. I say "hopefully" because the survivorship of caterpillars is astonishingly low. Just about everything wants to eat them and for some species of moths, at least, probably only one percent or so of caterpillars make it through the complete life cycle and to the mature reproductive stage. The rest become part of a great food chain. To compensate for such high mortality, butterflies and moths lay enormous numbers of eggs; a carpet-bombing strategy if you will.Monday, September 2, 2024
Blanchard's Cricket Frog
The trick is to find a possible subject, slowly ease closer, then slowly drop to the mire and ever so gently worm your way towards the frog. Done with delicacy, one can get quite close - I was probably only a few feet from the animal in the photo. It's best, in my opinion, to have your camera on the ground. Eye level is usually best with small ground-bound organisms.
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Some juvenile birds: Tis the season
An immature White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) peeks inquisitively from a grape thicket. It was part of a family unit of 3-4 young birds and two adults. I have found this species to be quite curious; nosy, almost. Nonetheless, they typically remain well-concealed in dense growth, peering at objects of interest from within the foliage. White-eyed Vireos are also accomplished mimics and insert snippets of other species' songs and calls into their repertoire. Gray Catbirds, Blue Jays, Willow Flycatchers, Eastern Towhees and other species in earshot are all fodder for copy-catting. This vireo family was in Ross County, Ohio, on August 22, 2024.This little streaked sparrow might throw one for a loop, especially as this species doesn't hold its juvenile plumage for very long. When the adult arrives to feed the little beggar (2nd photo), its identity is instantly clear. While searching out Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels in a Ross County cemetery yesterday, I was temporarily distracted by a family unit of Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina), the youth noisily exhorting the hard-working parents to bring more food.
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel
The eastern "prairie dog", a Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) crouches at the entrance to one of its burrows. Like true prairie dogs, this species is a member of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) and is closely allied to the more westerly prairie dogs. Like the four species of prairie dogs, almost all of the 21 ground squirrel species (formerly in the genus Spermophilus) are westerners. Only the Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel and Franklin's Ground Squirrel ((Poliocitellus franklinii) range east of the Mississippi River, and the eastern terminus of the Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel range coincides with the former range of the great prairie ecosystem that once blanketed much of the midwestern U.S. The squirrels make it no further east than central Ohio. Franklin's Ground Squirrel barely makes it as far east as westernmost Indiana.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
A few random things from recent days, including a beautiful grass
A Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) strikes a pose on a wingstem leaf. Last night was hot, humid, with some showers and lots of the little frogs were out and about. This was at a recently acquired Arc of Appalachia property in Holmes County, Ohio, along Killbuck Creek. Our crew found lots of interesting creatures during our nocturnal foray. The peepers were especially notable, and we saw many. August 8, 2024.
A portion of the flowering spike of Side-oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula). The orange appendages are the grass's anthers, which contain the pollen. The white feathery objects are the stigmas, which are the pollen receptacles. Rather than evolve fancy flowers to lure insect or other animal pollinators, grasses go for the simpler carpet-bombing strategy. These plants release thousands upon thousands of tiny windborne pollen grains in the hope that some land on the stigmas of other plants and thus cross-pollinate them. The multisyllabic scientific name is a mellifluous delight: Boo-teh-loo-ah ker-tih-pen-do-la. This Side-oats Grama is in my front yard in Worthington, Ohio.