Luna moth

A stunning luna moth, Actias luna, slowly dries and unfurls. I had a short hiatus yesterday, in between leading groups on explorations in northern Michigan's Presque Isle County. So Nina Harfmann and I headed over to the shores of Lake Huron and some interesting alvar habitats full of unusual plants. Nina glanced down, and spotted the luna hanging from a twig. It had just emerged from its cocoon and was not yet fully expanded.

What a face! This is a male, as can be told by the large feathery antennae. We gently picked up the twig, which was nearly in the path, and positioned it for better photos. After a female American Redstart seemed to show undue interest in us and the moth, we ended up carting the luna safely out of sight and into a well protected nook so it could continue its transformation in peace.

One doesn't often stumble into lunas, and I felt especially fortunate to see one yesterday. My Columbus Dispatch column, Nature, ran the same day, and you can read that and see what the subject was, below:


The Columbus Dispatch
Sunday, May 20, 2012

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Luna: big, beautiful moth

The world of moths is vast and underappreciated. Many people notice these creatures of the night only as fluttering brown wraiths clouding around the porch light. Yet these seemingly bland insects are among the most important animals in nature. For every adult moth that we see, scores of caterpillars — which ultimately become moths — perish. Moth caterpillars are a vital food source for legions of songbirds, wasps, beetles and other predators. Only a tiny percentage reaches the flighted stage. Even after the moths spread their wings, bats and birds such as flycatchers eat them.

Ohio is moth-rich; approximately 2,500 species occur in the state. Most moths won’t win any beauty contests, and few people other than hard-core entomologists pay them any mind.
But there are lepidopteran luminaries so beautiful that they would stop anyone in their tracks.

Foremost among the ranks of gorgeous moths are the giant silkworm moths of the family Saturniidae. There are only eighteen species of these flashy jumbos in Ohio, and all of them are eye-catchers.

The biggest silkworm moths are bat-sized, such as the cecropia with its 6-inch wingspan. Not far behind in size is the luna moth, a creature so stunning that its image is often reproduced, making the luna the most recognizable of North American moths.

A luna begins life as one of up to 300 eggs deposited by a female moth on an appropriate host plant. Suitable fodder includes tree species such as beech, cherry, hickory and walnut. After 10 days or so, minuscule caterpillars pop from the eggs and begin to feed on leaves. Every week, the caterpillar casts off its skin and emerges a bit larger. These growth stages are termed instars, and a luna caterpillar goes through five instars before reaching maturity. At that point, it is a glorious 3-inch lime-green sausage with bearlike grasping legs, ornately marked with orange dots and bristling with stiff hairs.

The mature caterpillar will soon fashion a cocoon, and late-summer luna hatches spend winter in this state. Earlier-season luna broods spend two weeks undergoing a remarkable transformation from caterpillar to moth within the cocoon. On the fateful morning, the moth wriggles free of its cocoon and begins a brief process of expansion by pumping fluid through its wings and body.

Voila! The result is a moth of staggering beauty. An apple-green luna is a sight not soon forgotten. Its massive forewings are trimmed in purplish-brown, and the hindwings feature stunning tail streamers that are twisted like confetti. How could such a showy animal hide from predators? Spot a luna dangling from a branch and the answer is apparent. The moth is a consummate plant mimic, its purple forewing edge resembling a twig with dangling buds, and the green wings are leaves.

It seems a crime that such an intricate creature lives but a week. Adult lunas exist only to mate and deposit eggs. They lack functional mouthparts and don’t eat. Males possess large fernlike antennae filled with sensitive receptors more acute than a bloodhound’s nose. They can detect the female’s airborne pheromones from a mile or more. After rendezvousing at night, their task is complete, and another cycle of gorgeous but all too ephemeral moths are set in motion.

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


To learn more
A wonderful new moth book has just emerged: the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $29) by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. It covers almost all of the species that one could expect to find in Ohio. Plenty of excellent photos are packed into its 600-plus pages.

Upland Sandpiper

We've been having a wonderful time exploring the back country of Presque Isle County, Michigan. Lots of great finds, such as the road-going bittern of the previous post. One of the avian highlights is Upland Sandpiper, which breeds fairly commonly up here.

Our group ogles a confiding Upland Sandpiper that is foraging in the short grass on the other side of the road, directly in line with that stop sign. We had awesome views and an extended study of this bird, which is one of the world's true long distance migrant champions.

And here it is - lanky, long-legged and long-necked, with huge eyes. Very ploveresque, and indeed the species was once known as the "Upland Plover". This animal has come a LONG way. "Uppies" winter in the pampas land of southern Argentina, near the other end of the globe. It's always a thrill to see these beautiful birds, and the knowledge of their spectacular migrations makes an observation all the more impressive.

American Bittern in the road

I'm up at NettieBay Lodge in northern Michigan's Presque Isle County, leading field trips focusing on birds, plants, and overall north woods ecology. We're having a ball seeing tons of cool stuff, including about 130 species of birds - today! As I type on the back deck this evening, three northern flying squirrels are my companions, bombarding the feeders a few feet away. The resident Common Loon is occasionally letting loose with its haunting yodels; a true song of the wild. Eastern Whip-poor-wills are whip-whipping away nearby at top volume.

We never know what cool stuff we'll bumble into. This afternoon, our vehicles rounded a corner, and there was an American Bittern smack in the middle of the road! It was sashaying its way from one wetland to another, and when it saw us it went into the neck in the air mimic a swaying reed act. That ruse isn't very effective on a highway, and we jumped out for a better look, some photos, and to ensure the bird didn't get pancaked by a passing vehicle.

American Bitterns are quite common up here; it seems that every wetland of any size has these odd herons in residence. Their strange oonk-ah-choonk calls suggest a pump running under water, and it's a frequently heard sound.

Finally, after wonderful looks of this normally secretive heron were had by all, I moved in to flush him from the road. Keeping my camera at the ready, I managed to snap off this shot as the bittern flopped back over into the bulrushes where he belongs.

Today's adventures also brought Kirtland's Warblers, a porcupine in his den tree, an incredibly cooperative Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and rafts of interesting plants. More on this expedition will follow.

Rare ibis; crane pounds on car

I receive periodic email bulletins from Lorain County Metro Parks naturalist Tim Fairweather, describing sightings he or others have made at Sandy Ridge or Columbia Reservations. These two natural areas are crown jewels of Lorain County, and the park district is one of the top such agencies in Ohio. Tim's missives speak to the value of these reserves, as they are full of interesting reports, often including rare species. Sandy Ridge boasts a large list of noteworthy birds, and as you may recall, Columbia hosted the famous Purple Gallinule of 2010.

 Photo: Bo Bofinger

Bo Bofinger found this trio of White-faced Ibis circling the wetlands at Sandy Ridge yesterday, and made this fantastic image. White-faced Ibis are quite rare in Ohio, although reports are on the increase and we can probably expect even more in future years.

This afternoon, Rick Nirschl and others saw what most likely are the same three ibis at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, some 80 miles to the west.

Photo: Lisa Romaniuk

Yes, that's a Sandhill Crane standing atop that shiny black sedan, pounding away at something. Lisa Romaniuk observed the crane somewhere in Lorain County, and filed the following report:

“Here is something you don’t see every day. I was checking on the eagle nest this morning and I heard a sandhill crane calling, but didn’t see it. When I went around the corner, I heard this pounding sound and the crane was on top of this car pounding away. I suspect he caught something and thought this car would make an appropriate place to kill and eat it. I’m sure the owners of the car aren’t too happy. I rang their doorbell to tell them what had happened. There was blood on the side of the car and the top.”

Hopefully the car owner's insurance covers mutilation by crane. Thanks to Tim Fairweather for sharing these interesting reports, and to Bo and Lisa for allowing me to share their photos and finds.

Miami Mist

I found myself along the banks of the Mad River in Logan County this evening. The Mad is fed by innumerable springs, and as a consequence its waters are perennially cool, even in the heat of summer. Much of the river is also buffered by extensive swaths of riparian forest, such as the locale that I visited tonight.

The stands of this delicate little wildflower, Miami mist, Phacelia purshii, were truly dazzling. There must have been acres of the stuff, all in peak bloom. Even though the fading light presented photographic challenges, I found it necessary to try and capture some of this plant's showiness with my lens.

Miami mist is a member of the waterleaf family (Hydrophyllaceae), and like the others in its tribe its flowers have an ornately beautiful delicateness that is hard to match among our wild plants. The petals of this species are copiously fringed, as are the sepals.

It was quite a treat to see blankets of Phacelia purshii misting the banks of the Mad River while a Rose-breasted Grosbeak sang from high overhead. Another week or two and this little annual will be done flowering for the year. Spring is rushed, and compressed - one must try and enjoy every minute.

Mississippi Kites return

 Photo: Melissa Krygier

They're back! The now famous Mississippi Kites that have taken up summer residence in recent years in the Hide-A-Way Hills (henceforth HAH) of Ohio's Hocking County are back on their turf. I've received updates over the past week or so from Elizabeth vanBalen Delphia and Melissa Krygier, and Melissa sent along these fantastic images.

In the above image, the male kite is passing some sort of large insect to the female. This, apparently, is how boy kites charm girl kites. I can make out long knobbed antennae on the hapless insect gift and wonder if it might be an owl-fly. Mississippi Kites consume tremendous numbers of flying insects, which they deftly pluck from the air. Later, when the annual cicadas emerge, they'll harvest scores of these massive insects. Cicadas form the bulk of the diet for the young kites.

Mississippi Kites were first documented as nesting in Ohio in 2007 elsewhere in Hocking County. The HAH birds were first detected in 2010, but likely had nested there prior to this, based on anecdotal reports. There have been other kite reports in the area, and in nearby Athens county, and it appears that a small and possibly expanding Mississippi Kite population has become established in the Hocking River watershed.

Photo: Melissa Krygier

If Ms. Kite is suitably impressed by her suitor's gift, this is the reward. Melissa observed this bit of confirming breeding evidence very near to where the kites successfully nested the past two years. If all goes well, they should have a pair of kitelets by sometime in July or thereabouts.

HAH is a gated community, and unfortunately off limits to nonresident visitors. But through the efforts of Elizabeth and Melissa, we have managed a day of visitation for interested birders, which has become known as "Kite Day". CLICK HERE for a piece about last year's Kite Day. The Ohio Ornithological Society stepped in and played a big role in helping with 2011 Kite Day, and hopefully will do the same this year.

We'll watch and wait, and hope for another successful nesting of the HAH Mississippi Kites. And look forward to another Kite Day later this summer, when the kitelets are out of the nest and being stuffed with cicadas by their parents. It's quite a show.

The Wilds

Looking rather Montanaesque, the sprawling 10,000-acre reclaimed strip mines known as the Wilds in Muskingum County, Ohio offers some very interesting birding. I was there all weekend, leading a wonderful group of people around the area. Last October, I was auctioned off - or at least my services were - at the annual Columbus Zoo & Aquarium fundraiser, "Wine for Wildlife". The high bidders got a trip to the Wilds to look for birds, but we packed in much more than just birding. I'll try and share some of the nonbird highlights later.

But birds galore did we see. In all, about 100 species were tallied, including about a bazillion Bobolinks. It's a boom year for these gurgling squeaking R2-D2 sounding blackbirds. The folks that I was with were newer birders, and they - and me! - were regularly dazzled with outstanding views of Neotropical charmers such as  Kentucky Warbler, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Yellow-throated Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Hooded Warbler and many others.

Dr. Danny Ingold of Muskingum University came out this morning, and showed the group a few Henslow's Sparrows that he netted. Danny has been conducting grassland bird research at the Wilds for 15 years, and has unmasked many of the secrets of secretive species such as this Henslow's Sparrow. What a beauty this sparrow is, when seen up close like this. I personally love to watch them sing. A male Henslow's will mount a short weed stem, barely above the grass, and throw his flattened head back with all the pomp and grandeur of a feathered Pavarotti. And out comes a 3/5th's of a second long chirp that sounds like an anemic cricket. But nearly all who see this display are awed, if not a bit amused, and it's really the Henslow's ladies who are the true judges and they seem to like the boys' performances just fine.

Interspersed with the birds were some truly impressive animals, and I'll slap some of those beasts up here later.