Erie Marsh Walk

     Dan humored me last Saturday and accompanied me on a Nature Conservancy walk at their Erie Marsh in Erie, Michigan.  The property originally belonged to the Erie Shooting Club.  The members continue to hunt there and their service hours help to stretch the dollars used to restore the marsh.

     The wind made it a little difficult to see the variety of birds we were all hoping for, but James Cole (the Nature Conservancy Lake Erie birding expert) kept things interesting by giving us tidbits about name origins, nesting habits, songs, and the biology of the species we did see (Baltimore oriole, Blue-winged Teal, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Dunlin, Spotted Sandpiper, Black-crowned Night Heron, Green Heron, King Bird, Cliff Swallow, Tree Swallow, Purple Martin, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, among others).

     I don't try to compete with photographers who use huge lenses to capture song birds, but my tiny plant-photographing camera did a fair job of getting this Fox snake resting in a tree.  Our non-bird count included American Toad, Eastern Cottontail, Raccoon (dozing in a tree, as well), Muskrat, Woodchuck, and an unidentified turtle.

Cecropia Moth

     Hudson and I came across this beautiful creature on the side of the road while coming back from our morning walk. The wingspan is 6 to 7 inches across and the body is at least two inches long.  It took some coaxing to get him onto a stick and out of harms way.

     Before I had a chance to do my own research, I checked in on Jim McCormick's blog and, to my surprise, his post today is on this moth.  He's more of an expert than I, so please read his posting for more details - and photos that better capture the intense coloration.

Viola lanceolata

     I am happy to have any excuse to visit a place in Oak Openings we plant monitors call Butterfly Meadow.  It is a beautiful field that holds many of my favorite plants.  

     We were there today to count this little fellow, the Lance-leaved violet.  Since it is listed as only a potentially threatened species in Ohio, we don't count it every year.  It is found in moist, sunny areas.  The leaves are the thicker of the two types seen in the photo.

            The flower measures approximately 1 cm. across.  The bloom is over in a few short weeks.  By then the surrounding plants have grown so tall, it is impossible to find.

Flood Plain Walk

     Not too long after I learned from the Blue Jay Barrens blog that Tree Swallows will nest in Blue Bird boxes, I noticed this pair on the flood plain in our neighborhood.  The photo isn't the best, but I couldn't resist trying.  The Swallows seemed patient, but it's difficult to keep Hudson still long enough to get a good shot.  He learned long ago not to spend too much time on birds, especially when there is a better game afoot....

    ...such as may be found in a Woodchuck burrow.  He disappeared into the hole right after I took this photo and I had to reel him in - or out.

Trillium grandiflorum

     Several years ago a friends of mine discovered that the empty lot across the street from their house was going to be turned into a tennis court.  It took some time and we were able to "rescue" many wildflowers each year for several years.  I can't remember how many trillium I transplanted (around 3), but I have had at least nine clumps blooming for the last 2 years.

     Each year someone (deer? rabbit?) eat several of the flowers.  The thought had crossed my mind to put out moth balls to ward them off, until I read this in The American Woodland Garden by Rick Darke:

"Each tiny seed has an edible lipid-rich appendage called an elaiosome, there only for attracting ants.  Ants respond by carrying seeds to their nests, where larvae consume the elaiosomes, leaving the embryos in the seeds undamaged.  The seeds are left to germinate within the ant nest or after being discarded to waste piles."  I don't want to discourage the ants, so maybe I'd better leave well enough alone. 

     The shady bed housing these trillium contains a lot of myrtle (which you can see in the background of the photo).  I have heard that myrtle will smother wildflowers, but at least two of the clumps are entirely covered by the myrtle.  I also have wood poppy and even native ginger popping up through the myrtle.  

Monclova Sand Pits

     We monitored today at the Monclova Sand Pits.  This is an area in the Oak Openings Metropark that is just east of Wilkins Road and just north of the NORTA bike trail. There are several "ponds" in amongst the sand ridges.  

     Today I learned the story behind the topography from one of the new volunteers who had been a former park ranger.  The bike trail used to be a railroad line.  During World War 2 the sand here was mined (leaving the pits which then became ponds because of the high water table), shipped on the railway, and used to sandblast mortar shells.  Several side rails went into the sand pits and a remnant railway tie can be seen in the lower left of the photo.

The lupine were beginning to bloom - several weeks earlier than usual.

Red Admiral

     The Red Admiral is a fairly common butterfly in Ohio, but I've never seen as many at one time as I did yesterday.  There were dozens nectaring on our Redbud trees.  My field guides say the species occasionally experiences tremendous population outbreaks.  It is also one of the few migrating species of butterfly.  One of my favorite blogs - Blue jay Barrens - mentioned seeing a similar number of Red Admirals nectaring on his Red bud trees in southern Ohio several weeks ago.  Perhaps the mild winter contributed to this population spike.