The View From Gildersleeve Mountain

July 10, 2010 - Solitude

2010-07-13T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have always enjoyed being alone in the woods. I grew up on Gildersleeve Mountain. Back then it was 800 acres of forest and orchard, with a quarry plopped smack dab in the middle of it all. The quarry shut down in 1968 because it encroached on state land. I cannot forget how the ground shook and the house rattled every time they would blast. At some point the blasting caused state land to crumble, and that was the end of that.

Much of the forest on Gildersleeve Mountain, was, and still is old growth. Meaning it has good numbers of trees over 200 years old. In the 1960’s it was a state forest. At 370 acres the state forest was the smallest in Ohio, but significant because it was old growth.

By the time I was 5 or 6 the rule was: just be home by dinner time. Not hard, as my stomach lead me home. So I roamed the woods, sometimes with my neighbor and friend Keith, but often alone. I am embarrassed, yet proud, to now see the big beech along the side of what was a trail and is now a road with HAANS crudely scrawled 3 feet from the base of the trunk. I got my first pocket knife on a trip to to New Haven Connecticut to visit my sister and the first thing I did when I got home was carve up a tree! I was just a young boy, so that sin is long forgiven.

As I grew up my time by myself in the woods diminished. In part because we become more social as we get older and because Chapin State Forest became Chapin Forest Lake County Metropolitan Park. Fire lanes became paved roads, paths became trails and eventually it seems like the Park district is determined to pave over the whole 370 acres to make it more accessible.

So while once, the encounters with people on Gildersleeve Mountain were rare, they are now hard to avoid from dawn to dusk. While there are places off the trails where you will not see anyone, the signs of human presence. The noise, the litter, have become very hard to avoid in that once small but still wild place.

More than one circumstance conspired to deprive me of my solitude, to a point where I could not remember being by myself in the woods anymore. I was always with someone else, or guiding a a hike, or encountering other people. I was never truly alone.

Saturday, I found myself in an odd situation. My friend Frank was on vacation and my friend Tom had to work. They have helped me with survey work for the past 3 years. So every walk through the remote woods has been with either Tom or Frank or both. This day provided an opportunity. I could either succumb to the fear of solitude I have not had for so long, or find the joy of it. I chose the latter.

My walk was a wonder. I chose a part of the Holden Arboretum that is 1200 acres of unbroken woods. Although I got a bit of a late start, the birds welcome me with an extended chorus. It is hard to believe they are singing this late in the morning in numbers I cannot fathom. It is as if I have arrived at dawn. The Wood Thrush, the Juncos, the Winter Wren, Hooded, Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers.

I realized it is impossible to be truly alone in the woods. There are few places on Earth so teaming with life as a healthy the forest. There is life everywhere, and it is concentrated and diverse. From the bacteria in the soil to the insects, plants, trees, and birds, there is not a square centimeter in the forest that is lifeless. You will find life wherever you look. It is astonishing. So in the forest you never lack for company. If your intent and attitude are right you merge with the forest, become a part of it. It is not a foreign, or hostile place. It is home. In this state of mind you find both solitude and companionship.

June 30, 2010 A Special Guest

2010-07-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

As it says on the side bar, I am fortunate to live in a beautiful place. However, I am often concerned my fellow Clevelanders have no clue about the beauty that surrounds them. So it is gratifying to have someone who is unfamiliar with our area recognize the unique beauty we have in our own backyard.

We have been attempting to confirm that Black-throated Blue Warblers are nesting in a remote part of the Holden Arboretum. For 3 years we have been finding multiple individuals of this species on the same site. This is the final year of the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas 2 project and it would be great if we could confirm nesting before the project ends. So during June we have spent hours in this area watching these birds and monitoring their behavior. In early June it was males singing on territory. By mid June we spotted females moving in tandem with males. This is consistent with the male guarding the female during nest building. Then in the past week, the males singing intermittently and then diving back into the possible nesting areas. This behavior is consistent with incubation of eggs.

Everything we observe has been reported to Paul Rodewald, Director of the OBBA2 project. He has a few graduate students who work on the project and there was a hope one of them could come to the site and have a look.

Coordination and logistics are difficult. This is not like going to a metropark or even the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. You can’t just drive in, park, walk a bit down a trail and be there. As I have described earlier, this is more of and expedition requiring planning and a knowledge of the area.

On Monday and Tuesday a flurry of emails and phone tag. Dave Slager of the OBBA2 project is going to be in the area and he has experience finding Black-Throated Blue Warbler nests on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He knows this species, its’ habitat, and behavior. We work out meeting late Wednesday afternoon.

My friend Frank Buck and I, meet Dave at the Holden Visitor Center and then we drive the 15 minutes down into the valley of the East Branch of the Chagrin and then along the river to the parking area where we will begin our hike to the deep woods site.

Dave is amazed to be in “Cleveland” and in such a pristine forest. He wonders how these large tracts of land were preserved. We explain some of the history of land conservancy in the region which lead to the Emerald Necklace, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Holden Arboretum natural areas, and county metroparks systems. There is nothing like this in his home state of Michigan, nor in other parts of Ohio.

We spend roughly 3 hours on the Black-throated Blue site. We observe males foraging and singing intermittently. Again behavior consistent with incubation. The site is physically challenging. A hogback with steep slopes and 260 feet of elevation change. Dave feels there is a lot of appropriate habitat and that we just need to spend more time on site and get lucky.. He tells us the Black-throated Blues are a year bird for him. Serious birders keep a year list , a list of all the birds they see in a calendar year. This is the first time in 2010 Dave has seen this species.

We decide to take a loop along the south rim of Stebbins Gulch so Dave can see that spectacular feature. He is impressed by the Black-throated Green Warblers, Winter Wrens, and Dark-eyed Juncos. When we look the 200 feet down into the narrow gulch he is astonished. He had seen the feature on the maps, but maps do not convey the grandeur of a place.

Our walk is slower than usual. Dave is constantly falling behind listening to the birds. Species Frank and I take for granted. Dave wonders if he heard a Broad-winged Hawk? We explain the most common raptors in these woods are Sharp-shinned Hawks and Barred Owls. .We also describe the decline of Red-Shouldered Hawks.

As the evening wanes and we walk back along the seldom used trails, we hear a strange call high in the trees. Frank and I sometimes hear calls we don’t recognize. Sometimes you just don’t know. But Dave has an advantage. He has the complete Stokes’ Bird Songs, of North America, all 3 CDs, on his iPod. He plays Sharp-shinned Hawk. Yes! Sharp-shinned Hawk is what we just heard. Dave is thrilled, and so are we.

Farther along and near the end of our hike, we look over the valley of the East Branch at the southern end of Little Mountain. There is beauty here and the young graduate student sees it. He tries to take a picture. Digital photography allows us to see the picture does not come out. There is too much contrast for the camera to capture both the bright sky and the darkness of the forest. The picture is less important than the memory he will have of this beautiful place.

June 27, 2010 Oh Dark Thirty

2010-06-28T03:56:00.000-07:00

People interested in birds are generally early risers with good reason. The birds are more active in the morning. Or at least this is the conventional wisdom. In the forests around Kirtland, I can attest this is absolutely the case. 20 to 30 minutes before sunrise the birds begin to sing. A few individuals at first, but this choirs builds and rises as the day breaks, peaking just before sunrise, then slowly fades in the next hour or so.

Saturday, we decided to be on the Black-throated Blue territory before sunrise. This meant getting up extra early and traveling the deserted roads in the dark. The newspaper delivery people are startled to see another car and must swerve back to the right side of the road.

It is so dark we need flashlights for some of our preparations to head back into the remote woods. The thick canopy of leaves makes it darker. We do not use flashlights as we hike. Our night vision is fine and we can see the trail, although the muddy parts are less obvious.

What is astounding is the choir of birds. During daylight we are lucky to hear 1 or 2 Wood Thrush singing in the same area. Now we have 5 to 7 in constant ear shot. Tweedle dee... Twedle zeeeeeee. The Cardinal is especially emphatic. Thoo-tut thoo-tut thoo-tut tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tu.The erratic Redstart, and the soft: sooo oh oh laaa zee of the Black-throated Green Warbler. The tinker bell of the Dark-eyed Junco, and the symphony of the Winter Wren. The Red-eyed and Yellow throated Vireos, the Tanagers, Hooded Warblers and Ovenbird All going at once. It is still very dark.

To me it is as if the birds sing to greet the new day.

It is glorious!

We arrive at the Black-throated Blue site, and the males are joining in too. Staying in one place and alternating songs. Adding as much variety as they can manage.

By 9 it is eerily quiet. Once in a while a bird will sing, but we hear more of the wind than birds songs. The day seems half over. Having gotten up at 4 am, for us, it is.

The schedules of our lives make it difficult to be up and in the deep woods at dawn every day. I live in the woods and hear lesser version of this every mid summers morning. I don’t know if I would want to put up with the swarming mosquitoes either. Still, when you can muster oh dark thirty, it really is glorious.

June 24, 2010 What is Different about Titmice?

2010-06-28T03:47:00.000-07:00

This time of year, in my yard, there are lots of fledgling birds. They are easy to recognize, slightly smaller, less vibrant in plumage, tentative in their actions, They visit my feeders for an easy meal. Juncos, Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, and Downy Woodpeckers. Bluebirds come too, but it is usually momma or papa coming in for a something they don’t have to give to the brood. The House Finches are very orderly. The male leads the young to the feeders. As time progresses he stops short and directs them. Pointing the way and egging on with chirp notes. Once at the feeders the battles over pecking order begin. More time is spent sorting out the order than actually eating.

But Tufted Titmice are different. First they are noisy. When they come into the area they are so noisy, you cannot help but notice. You hear the choirs of buzzy “sweet sweet sweet...sweet”. You soon realize it is only about half the individuals who are making this noise. The other Titmice are silent. The fledglings are the noisy ones. The babies look different too. More like the western Plain Titmouse. They have no chestnut patch on their flanks, and lack the darker feathers at the base of their crest or tuft.

They begin staging at feeders. in pairs. One bird feeds, eating sunflower seed after sunflower seed while the other hangs back. “bee bipp, bee ip, bi bip bip” Fluttering its wings in the universal bird signal to beg to be feed. Eventually the bird feeding relents and takes a seed to the begging bird. After eating, it immediately resumes begging but the feeding bird is gone. The begging birds are opportunistic, Sometimes they will leave and pursue a more enticing prospect at another feeder,or if they are not given a seed, will chase the object bird through the trees as they leave the feeders. But the key thing is the pairs. The one to one. Is this parent fledgling? Perhaps older younger sibling? Do the fledglings take turns following the parent around, or is there a community of Titmice that collectively feed the fledgling young? So many questions.

After about 2 weeks things quiet down and this behavior for the most part stops.

The thing I wonder about is why are Tufted Titmice the only species I see doing this? What about their cousins the chickadees. Most passerines fledglings beg food for a while, but none for so long or as dramatically nor vociferously as these Tufted Titmice. Why are they different?

June 12,2010, Black-throated Blues

2010-06-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

Our ongoing quest to confirm breeding of Black-throated Blue Warbler, in Ohio, continued Saturday. After witnessing the astounding changes in Stebbin’s Gulch we hiked to the location where we have been finding these birds for the past 3 years. We needed something more than male birds singing on territory. The history of this species in Ohio has been of bachelors in June. Never a female.

We arrived in the target area and prepared to spend several hours on site. It was not long before we heard it:

zurr zurr zreeee

By now, after 3 years, exciting, but not unusual. Then we heard Winter Wrens in duet. There is nothing like it in the natural world. To hear a Winter Wren singing is special by itself. A song that is a concert in 15 seconds. So rich in notes and tempo. But when one picks up where the other leaves off, there is an extended song which is more beautiful than any human composition.

The Black-throated Blues were not going out of their way to be obvious. Sometimes it was 15 to 20 minutes between times we would hear or see one. My friend Frank managed to get a few pictures of a male. But he has forgotten to put in a fresh battery, and his camera is giving him trouble with auto focus. The images are diagnostic but not all that great. My friend Tom has found another male in a location about 80 meters away. He informs us via mobile phone.

We are spread out. Waiting, watching, listening. Frank and I are in the middle of a grape vine/raspberry tangle. Typical nesting habitat for Black-throated Blues. Tom is down the slope looking over a similar tangle.

***

I have the dangerous habit of calling birds naked eye. People who spend a lot of time in the field with me, are often amazed at my abiltiy. Not to be flip, but I even amaze myself sometimes. I don’t know what I see that leads me to the call, but I somehow get it right. But I have spent thousands of hours in the field and a lifetime in the woods. So I guess I have learned things I don’t know. A paradox but there is no other way to describe it.

So when I saw a bird moving through the tangle and determined it was a female Black-throated Blue, I was pretty skeptical of myself. I don’t know what I saw about that fast moving bird. I have a near photographic short term memory. In my mind’s eye I can still see it. Was it shape and movement and nothing else? But I knew. Then it was gone.

“I just saw a female” I whisper shouted to Frank about 20 meters away. “Where?” “Here, moving through the tangle.”

Frank came over and we stood together watching as only intent observers can. Talking in the barest whispers. Frank has his camera ready. Waiting...

Then suddenly, an almost invisible flash of movement down into the vegetation, 5 meters to our left. Popping just off the ground. We move in silent unison to get closer. “Frank!” I whisper, “ A male is on the ground right here!” I am pointing less than a meter away, looking at a male as he moves along the ground. “I’m looking at a female!” Frank replies.

I look over. He has his camera up and I see movement just in front of him.

Then they are gone, as only birds can disappear.

Frank did not get a picture. The dying battery on his camera caused his auto focus to malfunction, or his 600 mm lens was incapable of focusing at 2 meters. Still for the first time in Ohio history, we have female Black-throated Blue Warblers, during nesting season, in appropriate habitat.

One step closer...

June 12, 2010: When 2 Inches of Rain Becomes more than 6 feet of Water

2010-06-14T03:41:00.000-07:00

Stebbin’s Gulch is, in spite of its’ funny name, one of my favorite places. It is northeast Ohio’s slot canyon. Almost untouched by humans for over 100 years it is also as pristine a place as one can find. Here the water has cut through the 4 major formations of rock. As you move up stream you pass from Chagrin Shale, to Cleveland Shale, to Bedford Shale, to Berea Sandstone. The Berea Sandstone, is the most spectacular with vertical walls more than 100 feet high in places. But what makes Stebbin’s a gulch, is the narrow width. At times it is less than 30 feet from wall to wall.

I have been visiting Stebbin’s most of my life. I think the first time was when I was about 11. In my teens I volunteered to carry the first aid kit on the monthly guided hikes. After that my visits were infrequent until I started doing bird surveys for the Holden Arboretum, which owns the property.

This institutional ownership of Stebbin’s and the fact that access is restricted has kept it in pristine condition. If you want proof go to some of the similar features (although none is an actual gulch) in the Lake and Cleveland Metroparks.

For the past 6 years I have been privileged to have unrestricted access to all of Holden’s thousands of acres of natural areas, including Stebbin’s Gulch. I am currently conducting a stream water quality monitoring project which uses Louisiana Waterthrush as the indicator species. About every 3 weeks we make a run up Stebbin’s and mark the location of every Louisiana Waterthrush we find using GPS.

My last trip up the gulch was May 22. We had had a lot of rain in the previous week, and it was evident some logs had been pushed around by the water. There was some erosion on the banks too, where the water had come out of the rocky stream bed. But none of this is unusual. Stebbin's changes a little every time you visit. It is a dynamic place,where you can actually see geologic forces in action.

On June 12 we visited Stebbin’s again. The previous Sunday, thunderstorms had dumped more than 2 inches of rain in 6 hours on Holden. Not a huge amount by any standard, but in Stebbin’s Gulch this created a cataclysm.

From moment we entered the gulch is was evident things had changed dramatically. The fallen trees we had been going under or climbing over for years were gone. No where to be found. The gulch had been scoured by the torrent of rushing water and rock. These log jams were not trivial either. Sometimes consisting of several trees 3 feet in diameter and accumulated debris. It would have taken high explosives for us to clear these jams, but the water seemed to have just swept them away.

The stream bed itself was drastically changed as well. The course of the water, new shallows, and pools where there were once shallows. A place where the stream now runs under the rock for about 10 meters. Rocks which had been covered with Liverwort, and moss scoured clean. Tumbles of rocks along the banks and massive slides. Vegetation washed away.

In places we could see how high the water had been. At least 6 feet. But these are the wide spots with banks along the run. In the places where the gulch narrows and the sides are solid rock there was no evidence of the high water mark. We could only imagine.

Breeding Black-throated Blue Warblers in Ohio?

2010-06-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Left turn on an obscure road in Kirtland. Past the horse farm nestled against the river. Across the bridge and along the river. The East branch of the Chagrin river is more a mountain stream than a river. Except during heavy rain or snow met it runs clear. Possibly the reason this river system was named "Sha-ga-rin" or clear water by first Americans. Here it is wild and scenic, nearly 2000 acres of forest surround us when we reach the end of the road.

Up an obscure track and a mile deep in pristine, old growth forest where the world is 1000 shades of green. Always climbing, up, up, almost 400 feet above the river. Past wild geraniums and blue cohosh. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, and Dark-eyed Juncos call from the trees and forest floor. Hooded-warblers, pop through the under-story flashing their tail spots. The last 150 feet of climb is along a hogback that slopes away steeply on either side. Once on top. Stop, listen, wait...

zurr-zurr-zree!

Then again, from a different direction:

zurr-zurr-zree!

They're here! For the 3rd year running we have found Black-throated Blue Warblers in this location during the breeding season.

While finding Black-throated Blues in June is not unprecedented in the state of Ohio. Singing males have been found before, this is extraordinary. The fidelity to this location, and multiple individuals. Last year we established them as probable nesters based upon finding multiple birds singing on territory for 4 weeks in a row. We photographed males, but that was it. We never saw a female, let alone a nest. Given the thick foliage and steep terrain it is not the easiest place to track down tiny, fast moving bird among the leaves.

This year the birds are back again, and so are we. We will spend more time listening and looking. If we are successful Ohio will have a new breeding species.

New Yard Bird!

2008-04-17T04:19:00.001-07:00

I had a very nice, late afternoon hike on Gildersleeve Mountain. Such a beautiful early spring day. The sky a beautiful azure blue. In the woods just across the creek I spotted a little bird working the small trees and lower trunks of the big trees. The yellow green color made it easy to identify. A Pine Warbler. Very cute, and a new bird for me here in my backyard.

Because I have lived much of my life I occasionally run into people I know on my hikes. Al and Connie also live here on Gildersleeve mountain but over on Chardon road. They do not cut through the woods to take a hike as I do, but instead drive to the parking area on Hobart Rd. I ran into them twice. The second time was over on the other side when we stopped to listen to the Barred Owl calling. The Owls have a nest over there and the owlets have hatched by now. The calling was probably either a signal that it was time to switch brooding duties, or that the babies were getting hungry.

The view out over the lake was beauty. The lake looked almost white. The calm waters reflecting the light blue of the sky. As I was enjoying the view I took a moment to listen. A pair of mallards came in, the hen quacking. Still it was quiet enough that I could hear them land in the pond about 200 yards away and 150 feet below me. I could hear the cars on the highways. but it did not drown out the Blue Jay or the Piliated Woodpecker.

The beauty of the woods is not yet apparent. The colors are gray, brown and dark red. A few dog tooth violet leaves a poking up through the leaves. The daffodils in my yard are in full glory.

Hi To Weekend America Listeners

2008-04-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone who heard me on Weekend America.

My posts have been rather sparse lately. As spring progresses I will have more words and pictures, so please check back. Also feel free to browse previous posts. They are timeless in nature.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have been moving this past week. I had 2 on Gildersleeve Mountain Wednesday and 3 on my walk at the Arboretum Sunday. Wildflowers have just begun coming out. Daffodils and crocuses The maples are red with buds and flowers.

Last year the Phoebes above 900 ft MSL were all killed by the April 8th snow. I was worried we would not see them on the higher elevations for some time. But last week there was a pair in my back yard. What a joy.

More Hoary Redpolls

2008-01-28T03:58:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the 25th I noticed the Hoary Redpolls were again visiting my feeders. As if on cue the birding friends I called last week called me to see if I had again seen them.

A little later in the day they had their lifer Hoaries.

Since the birds now seem to be repeatable I said it was OK to let the word out and a little later I got a call from another birding friend. They came over early Sunday with the same result. 2 more people can tick Hoary Redpoll on their life list.

While I can make no guarantees, anyone interested can contact me at: ( haans42 AT gmail dot com ) if they would like to try for these birds on Groundhog Day, next Saturday. Unfortunately I will have no clue about the fidelity of these birds during the week because I am at work all day, and will not know if the birds are still coming to my feeders.

I have managed to get pictures of some additional individuals and these are posted below. The birds we identify as Hoary Redpoll are done so using the conservative criteria of lighter upper parts, less streaking and at most one small streak near the vent on the under tail coverts. (Sibley drawing “d”) No one has been able to see the upper tail coverts because the birds are covering those with their wings.

As I write this the Titmice are in a freeze. Interesting because the other species all went to ground but the Titmice are frozen not moving. I wonder if the Sharpie has developed a taste for the slightly larger Titmice.

As far as Hoary Redpolls go I think there are still at least 5 individuals. They seem to be most reliable before 10:30 in the morning and around 2 in the afternoon, but given the limited amount of time I have been watching that may just be when I notice them from the windows that look over the back yard

Next Saturday, they may be gone.

More Hoary Redpoll Pics

2008-01-28T03:52:00.000-08:00

These 2 individuals are different than those previously photographed. Both images cleary show the under tail coverts. The pictures were taken on Saturday January 26.

In the case of the male only single streak at the vent was observed. The female appeared to be completely unstreaked.

Hoary Redpolls

2008-01-21T04:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday January 19,

It was kind of an odd really. I was up before it was completely light, but noticed Redpolls on the front feeder. Cool! I thought, but immediately realized one was not a Common Redpoll It was too pale and not streaky enough. No way, I thought . It has been so long since I have looked at winter finches in a field guide, I had to look up Redpoll in the index.

For someone like me, finding a rare bird is is not a pleasant experience. Sure it is initially exciting, but then the self doubt follows. In the case of Common versus Hoary Redpoll the differences are not all that obvious. Hoary is lighter, having a “frosted” appearance and fewer streaks and a shorter bill. According to the Sibley guide under tail covert streaking is something that can be used to separate the 2 species when other features overlap. Well it was dark and I did not see the under tail coverts. Just a whitish Redpoll with almost no streaks on its flanks.

The day was overcast and pretty dark but I was very lucky. The Redpolls kept returning to the feeders and over the course of the day I got great looks and even managed to get some photos. Careful study revealed that the unstreaked pale birds did indeed have little or no streaking on their under tail coverts.

Because of the lousy light photography was difficult. I could not get the camera to focus on the feeder just 3 feet away because it would focus on the intervening window instead. Out in the branches 15 to 20 feet away I had more luck, although the lousy light resulted in less than perfect but adequate pictures of 3 individuals.

Even with fairly good diagnostic photos the doubt still lingered. The thing about rare birds is they are well... rare. This is now the 2nd ultra rare Ohio bird I have had in my yard this decade, and that is pretty unusual for a place like my little yard. At least I got pictures which is a relief.

Lest I be accused of sitting on these birds I did call my birding friend Anders and left a message. I was not in the mood to deal with the skepticism of some other people and left it at that. Anders finally called back but it was getting dark and I promised to call if the Hoary Redpolls showed up again the next day.

Sunday was frustrating because while there were plenty of Common Redpolls the Hoary Redpolls did not return. I got a headache scrutinizing every lighter Common Redpoll that showed up. I was surprised actually, because after studying the Hoary Redpolls for several hours the previous day, the Commons were obviously Commons and even the pale birds had more streaking on their under tail coverts. I now wonder if I didn’t have more than the 5 individual Hoary Redpolls I counted yesterday.

Hoary Redpolls

2008-01-21T03:55:00.000-08:00

The male to the left and female below had no streakiing on their under tail coverts.

The male individual shown below the female was more problematic. Not only does it have more streaking on its' flanks, it also has a little on the under tail coverts. Given the short bill it still seems consistent with Hoary Redpoll.

July 1, 2007 Update on the Past Week

2007-07-02T04:49:00.001-07:00

I cannot express the beauty of the summer. The lush green, the color of the flowers, the music of the birds singing as they go about their day. A few minor stories have played out in the last week or so.

A fledgling Nuthatch came to me for help. It landed on the sill by the window where I was reading. It was in trouble. Barely able to fly, completely exhausted. I gave it some sunflower seed. It quickly grabbed a seed but did not quite know how to break it up into manageable bits. It managed to eat. I don’t know what happened to the bird. I know the family of fledgling Nuthatches is no longer chasing around the yard. I don’t worry. I just do what I can at the time but do not dwell on the fate of individuals. That would be too trying

The Bluebirds have started a second brood. This time in one of the boxes in the front yard. They have moved out of the hole in the siding. I think 4 babies fledged from the earlier brood. They still hang around the yard, Watching their parents go about go about building a second nest.

The woodpeckers have been successful as well. As I write a fledgling Downey follows its Dad to the feeder by the window, It is awkward. Not a good flier yet. I am not paying attention, concentrating on writing. It squeaks and hits the window. Sure enough the feeder is empty. I wonder if that was the lesson being taught, because the parent did not do this. No it was the fledgling. The Red-bellieds have three babies. The Chickadees and Titmice have countless fledglings. It is good they have so much energy to keep up with all those hungry little birds.

A fledgling Rose-breasted Grosbeak visits. More skittish than the adults. It is uncertain about the feeder

Yesterday I had a Stebbin’s gulch walk. It was a lovely hike. The gulch was very dry, but cool lush and beautiful. We found several Black-throated Green Warblers, but no Canadas, or Blackburnians. The group was a bit too noisy to find Louisiana Waterthush. We were serenaded by a Winter Wren. Blue-headed Vireos were numerous. We found several Gray Petaltail Dragonflies. In May the gulch was dangerously and comically slippery. Yesterday it was not. In the field on the east end of the property we found an Orange Sulfur Butterfly. Yellow, orange green and aqua blue. Just beautiful. A nice walk.

In the afternoon I had the front door open. It was interesting because several birds gathered on the front porch. They were just hanging around there by the open door as I sat in the room and read.

Today I worked around the yard. Saw my first fledgling Junco of the season. A brilliant male Scarlet Tanager outside the window. Additional lilies are starting to bloom. Several colors. During the coming week they will be in full bloom.

June 30, 2007 Gray Petaltail

2007-07-02T04:44:00.001-07:00

Not the best specimen or image. This Gray Petaltail in Stebbins Gulch was posed in a typical hanging posture. Gray Petatail is found in shaded ravines and is very tame. This one readily landed on several people.

Dunking bugs in cool water slows them down so they can be photographed and does them no harm.

June 21, 2007 Solstice

2007-06-22T04:13:00.000-07:00

The longest day of the year. For me, someone who loves the light it is bittersweet. I know that from now until December 21 the days will get shorter. This is why the first day of summer is mid-summers night. The weather today was highly variable. Rain, thunder, bands of clouds, now sun. The evening and night promise to be cool. I spent time in the yard but did not have time for a hike. While it is beautiful there is not a lot going on. The summer rhythm has settled in. The passerines are no longer moving. If there is a time of year when there is no bird migration it is this week. Soon fledglings will begin disbursing and shorebirds will begin moving . But right now, this week across the neoarctic, everything is staying put.

Lilies are starting to bloom. They are perhaps a week later in my cooler yard and without fertilizer. The large Iris are coming into full glory. I found a beautiful purple flower I need to identify. It looks like a small lily, but I have to key it out. That will have to wait for tomorrow or Saturday.

There are no obvious stories right now. Every beautiful day is like the next and things are routine. I wonder how much I will be able to write? What new observations I will be able to put into words. How many times can one describe astounding beauty with making it mundane?

June 20, 2007 Perfection

2007-06-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

How could a day be any more perfect? Not having to work! Still the day before the solstice is as perfect as a day can be. Clear, 80° high absolutely beautiful. I have my first hike since Saturday. No extra weight, not too far. Perhaps I have gained some wisdom. The view over the lake is gorgeous. Visibility more than 40 miles. The mottled light through the trees plays with my eyes as I walk the summit. No people today, a few birds.

Back home I cook and eat on the patio. Watch a family of Nuthatches chase each other from tree to tree. 5 birds all on one trunk. It is so very lovely. The Grosbeak sings, the Chipmunk scurries through the hostas. The shades of green and the sun to the west. As I eat my dinner of grilled fish and vegetables it cools noticeably. I must either build a fire or go inside to stay warm. This writing drives me to the latter.

June 19, 2007 “Much Needed” Rain

2007-06-20T04:01:00.000-07:00

Thunderstorms have me stuck inside. I am glad I got the lawn cut yesterday. I am surprised at how quickly my foot is improving. A day of rest, plus traction to stretch the toe really helped. Coming home it was cool to see the thunderstorms coming over. The scud rolling over Gildersleeve mountain in the distance

Even in the rain the birds visit the feeders. I would like to get out and look around the yard, but the thunderstorms are going to last a while. While it has been dry, nothing is withering. Whenever rainfall goes below the average people say the rain is needed. They have little understanding of what normal weather is. They also have a misconception about how often soil needs to have the water replenished. Our soil was completely saturated in April into May and was still several weeks from drying out.

Once the rain lets up and am able to get outside, I realize how many fledglings are around. Chickadees, Bluebirds, Titmice, Nuthatches. No baby Juncos yet.

A section in the back yard is full of foam flowers. White, pink and deep red. It gets cool as the evening falls. Fireflies are out for the first time this year. A lovely mid summers night.

June 18, 2007 Notably Cooler

2007-06-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

People were complaining about the heat today. I like it hot and today felt great when I got out of work. It was 89° near the lake, 91° a few miles south. I watched the temperature on the thermometer in my car. In the past I have noted how it gets cooler as soon as I get into my neighborhood. I believe the abundance of trees and the higher elevation are the reasons. Today was no exception. On U.S. 6 it was 91° according to the car thermometer. As soon as I turned off the main road I felt it cool, by the time I got to my driveway the thermometer read 86°. I find that amazing.

Given the condition of my toe I do not want to push it. My toe is remarkably better today but still hurts. I cut my lawn and leave my activity at that.

New flower activity this week. More Iris coming in. Numerous foam flowers. All beauty

June 17, 2007 Hobbled

2007-06-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

Early on the hike yesterday I tripped and hyper extended my big and second toe. It hurt a bit yesterday but overnight it swelled and became obvious that I had sprained my big toe. What a silly injury! It has me hobbled today. I am at least smart enough to realize I need to rest today and not aggo the injury.

It is so beautiful. Hard to just sit around. Just watch the feeders and the yard . Nothing exceptional. I have noticed the hummingbird has some favorite roosts. I can hear the buzzing of the hummingbird’s wings at an amazing distance. 30 yards or so. We watch the Chipmunks. They are so cute. Fun to watch as the scurry to and fro. I know from bitter experience tree squirrels cannot be trusted. I wonder about ground squirrels like a Chipmunk? Are they more trustworthy?

Oh well, a few days without hiking. I would rather take a few days off than spend weeks nursing an injury like this.

June 16, 2007 Hidden Paths

2007-06-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

This morning I did one of the great walks in northeastern Ohio. The Carver pond, East Branch, Baldwin hike. I last did this hike on April 8th in the snow. It was so much different today In carver pond the Spatterdock and Water Lilies are in bloom. We were hoping for dragonflies around Carver Pond but only saw two, Eastern Pondhawk and Twelve-spotted skimmer. Eastern Forktail and a Spreadwing sp. were the only damselflies. The walk along the East Branch of the Chagrin, through the Hemlock Hardwood forest was beautiful as always. We took time in several places to stop and just enjoy the place. We were far enough from roads and everything else that we could not hear any sounds of human activity. That is so rare today. To be able to get that far from our machines.

We looked at rocks along the river. The strata that make up our local bedrocks. We could see two layers. Chagrin shale and Cleveland shale where the river cuts 100 foot bluffs on one side. Along the river we can see examples of all the local rocks and many glacial erratics.

In the last third of this hike we cross two ox bows in the river. I find it fascinating how in 50 yards, crossing a small river, there is a complete change of habitat and ecology. In that short distance you go from a forest, with broken ground cover, ferns and Hemlocks and hardwood trees, to a lush herbaceous forest floor with Walnuts and Elms being the predominant trees. That fast. To someone like me, attuned to transitions, it is amazing. Technically we are going from an Oak-Sugar Maple Forest, to a mixed flood plain forest. There is no change in elevation, what probably changes is the soil.

The birds and dragonflies were sparse. Newcomb’s wildflower guide failed us at every turn. Either I need to learn more about how leaves are defined, or I need to be more patient.

My walk had 5 participants. None younger than 40. Some commented that there is something wrong, when a walk through such a beautiful place can only attract 5 Arboretum members. But at the end of the walk, one participant quipped about our stamina. This is not a walk for people used to sidewalks and gravel paved trails.

In the words of Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott: There is something to be said for exploring beautiful places.

June 15, 2007 Impossible Green

2007-06-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Walking though the woods today, another perfect day, I took some time to appreciate the beauty of the green. It is impossible to describe, being enveloped in green, the sun streaming through the leaves. I am tall enough to look over the low trees. The understory is sparse enough so that the canopy is an obvious ceiling 70 feet above.

Visibilty today was hazy out to the horizon. About 25 miles or so. Nothing in the distance was crisply in view. In the ponds below the old quarry Mrs. Mallard quacked loudy. I answered. We went back and fourth a couple of times. Ducks do not stick around in those ponds. Fed by seeps and rain water they do not turn over much. The Wood Thrush, Junco, Pewee, Scalet Tanager and Blue-headed Vireo were all singing. The Hooded Warbler was noteable in its absence. I wonder why some days they are singing everywhere, and other days silent. What changes? I don’t know. There are so many mysteries in the bird world. Particularly when it comes to behavior.

June 14, 2007 Another Beauty Day

2007-06-15T05:46:00.000-07:00

Nothing exceptional today except the day itself. It has been beautiful all day. It is another “cloudy” day in Cleveland, but I would trad a day like today for another anywhere else. We complain about our weather but forget about days like today. Sunny warm and beautiful.

The light this morning was deep green. The air is fresh with oxygen. The temperature is in the high 70’s. Perfect. What else can you say?

June 13, 2007 Crows Harass a Young Owl

2007-06-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

We have had a string of beauty days. Today adds another. To me, the temperature in the low 80’s is just perfect. In the woods Hooded Warblers, and Scarlet Tanagers are singing loudly.

On my side of the summit the crows have found a young Barred Owl in a tree in the ledges. It is close to the trunk and among branches with leaves so it is safe, but the Crows are vociferous. They caw loudly to their clan attempting to increase the number of individuals involved in the boisterous mobbing. I move on and the noise subsides with both distance and activity.

Visibility is hazy and barely 18 miles. The horizon is lost in a light gray haze.

Lots of people again today. I wonder what has changed? It makes no sense to me why for several weeks with nice weather there has been little human activity, but now in the past few days there has been a noticeable increase? Of course I don’t know if the change is really significant. I may be seeing a trend that does not really exist. If I really wanted to track this I would have to consistently take my hike at the same time and count the people. After a while I could determine the true limits of the system. I suspect what I am observing is within the normal distribution.

June 12, 2007, Close to Home

2007-06-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I started to get a cramp in an inner thigh muscle. I must have hurt it a little because it hurts today too. That happens. I need to do a little work around the yard. Because my yard is anti neat and tidy I don’t do a lot of trimming. But in order to keep the walk clear and the fence exposed I occasionally have to get out the weed whacker. I am judicious in using it. Careful not to take out may wildflowers. Trying to just use it on grass.

Next I move to the back yard. The patio actually, needs to be swept clean. I should do this every week but I often go 4 times that long. Nearby one of the neighbors has a service that is using a blower. I have one of those, but I use a rake and a broom. It may take a little longer, but it is a lot less noisy and does not burn gasoline.

Once I am finished I eat dinner outside. Typical of a day like today I should have left my phone inside. Instead I end up talking rather than doing much looking around.

I do notice is the Canada Anemones are still beautiful. Yellow and purple Iris are still blooming, as are the Cranesbills. Wild Geranium predominate in one section and Newcomb’s 542, with yellow flowers, Moneywort, creeps along the edges of the grass. The Juncos sing as I eat and the Wood Thrush calls from across the creek. It is a beautiful day and I am so thankful to be able to enjoy this place.

Sphinx Rock

2007-06-13T04:18:00.001-07:00

When I was a boy and came upon this formation, it looked like a Sphinx to me. It still does. The formation is about 20 feet high on the down slope side and is all Sharon Conglomerate.

June 11, 2007. People in Exceptional Numbers

2007-06-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

For several weeks I have had much of my daily walks on Gildersleeve Mountain to myself. I might see one or two other people but that would be it. Today was very different. I saw more than a dozen people during my hike. I wonder what changed and got everyone out?

While the sky was blue and the temperature in the 70’s visibility was just 20 miles or so. The birds were quiet even in the back yard.

Walking home through the woods there is a small yellow wildflower in many places along the ground. I decide to put my Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide to the test. A flower with 5 regular parts, basil leaves, divided: Key 524. Leaves more than 3: page 182. There it is! Dwarf Cinquefoil. “A low plant with 5 palmate leaves”. How about that! I would have given up with a guide arranged by color.

June 10, 2007 A Long Hike

2007-06-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

Last night I went with my friends Carol and Dave to Swine Creek Reservation in Geauga county for an Astronomy thingie. The area astronomy club was meeting there and a colleague from work is a member of the club and had predicted conditions that would provide exceptional viewing. The clarity was excellent and so we were able to view many deep sky objects. I found that it made little difference being there or in my yard from the standpoint of light pollution. During the summer Gildersleeve mountain and the trees block much of the light and I could make out the Milky Way just as well in my front yard as I could 20 miles farther from downtown.

Today was another beautiful day, I took a long hike covering most of Gildersleeve Mountain both the summit and the slopes to the west north and south. Most notable was a Clubtail species of dragonfly I found it in the ledges picnic area. It was an interesting little dragonfly. It was wroking a rather small territory above a grassy swale. Whenever another of it’s kind would approach it would quickly chase it away then return to its patrol. I watched it for perhaps 10 minutes trying to see more detail, both naked eye and through binoculars. In that time it never landed. Even after looking in both Rosche and in Dunkle I cold not do better than Clubtail sp.

Visibility today was again excellent. Better than 40 miles. Through binoculars I could see small boats and a freighter out on the lake. The Avon power plant shimmered in the distance. The picture on the masthead of this blog is accurate in showing downtown Cleveland, rising out of the forest. Even through binoculars few buildings are visible. The landscape is mostly covered by trees. I find this amazing. Cleveland's nickname is "The Forest City" and from here you can see why.

I cover a lot of ground, both on the summit and the forest below. At the old Stannard quarry near Chillicothe Rd. the park system has stationed some volunteers. They only have written materials and little instruction or training. Their written material is based in part upon Christopher Crary's memoir here, and little else to help them intrepret for visitors. They do not know what Poision Ivy looks like, and they say this is a common question. I show them the plant and probably give an overly technical discription of how to indentify it.

I work my way home bushwhacking through the woods. The additional weight in my pack is very heavy by the time I get cross the creek into the back yard.

June 9, 2007 Places Seldom Visited or Seen

2007-06-11T04:25:00.000-07:00

It is beauty this morning. A very cool with a temperature of 53° as I leave for my walk. It is very early, just a little after sunrise. The woods has the beautiful morning light, impossible to capture with the leaves fully out. Wood Thrush, Pewee, Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Hooded Warbler, Towhee and Juncos all singing loudly. In the woods I flush a female Hooded Warbler. I do not want to disturb her from a nest. From her behavior t is obvious she has one nearby. The Woodcock is getting used to my forays. It just runs a few meters rather than fly as I come by.

I decide to not walk on the summit but around it, staying 50 to 100 feet down the slope. Below the ledges that rise vertically 20 to 50 feet around much of Gildersleeve mountain. There are no trails and this involves bushwhacking on sometimes very steep terrain and avoiding some areas labeled by the powers that be as “Restricted”. The old quarry is one such area but I wanted to savor the view and take pictures this morning. Visibility is wonderful, clear and crisp. The angle of the light makes it difficult to pick out far off features like the power plant at Avon. Still I would say visibility is better than 50 miles. Downtown is colorful in the morning light and the lake is very blue.

Most interesting is the northwest side of Gildersleeve mountain. This is the Portage escarpment and from here it is down hill all the way to the lake. This down hill is very obvious and in along here it makes sense why 18th century European surveyors and settlers called this feature a “mountain”. From the lake it is one of 2 obvious features visible. On the land in the trees the climb is long, and at times very steep.

The predominant trees are Canada Hemlock and Yellow Birch. Some of the Birch are impressive for that species, more than 2 feet in diameter. There are numerous ferns along the slope and at times the cover the ground over a large expanse. The seeps run in narrow furrows. The outcrops of Sharon Conglomerate are sometimes small solitary buttes rising out of the slope 20 feet high. I recognize one formation. It has been so long since I was here. When I was a boy I called this Sphinx Rock, because to me it vaguely resembles that monument. There is a large head like element with a narrower neck atop a reclining body like element. I had forgotten about this, and laugh remembering the time I first saw it. I was perhaps 7 or 8 and exploring here on my own for the first time.

As I hike, anywhere the paths allow people to approach the edge of the ledges above, I find trash below. Bottles, glass and plastic, cans, even a diaper. It makes me wonder. I am not sure about what. This behavior is expected. It is not like there is a lot of it either. Just a little here and there, and given the number of people who visit this area it is sort of surprising there is not more.

June 8, 2007, Misidentifying Wildflowers

2007-06-11T04:24:00.001-07:00

The day was quite warm. 90° closer to the lake. At home it the high 80s was as warm as it gets. As a front comes through thunderstorms develop that last into the afternoon. The thunder keeps me close to home. I spend some time with my new Newcome’s wildflower guide. I like the concept of the guide. It has a system for identification based on shape. Flower shape, leaf type, leaf shape, and plant type. Based upon this key you should quickly get to the right page in the guide. I try this in the yard on flowers I already know. It is funny because I soon realize I have to learn to match my observations to the definitions in the guide. Although I have read the instructions, I need to spend more time with the definitions, because my initial efforts do not even get me close. Everything requires some practice. This guide is far better than anything based on color. To me color was an impossible starting point

June 7, 2007, But it is a Dry Heat

2007-06-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast was accurate for once. Sunny with highs in the upper 80’s I love this sort of weather. To me it is just right. It is cooler here on the higher elevations and as I drive down my street I can actually feel the temperature drop. In the woods it is even cooler. I flush the Woodcock again, but it lands just a few yards away. Visibility is only about 20 miles and the summit of Gildersleeve Mountain is very quiet.

Before I left for my hike we ran out of electricity. A neighbor tells me it is just our street. My computer is running on batteries so I need to keep my comments brief.

It is worth noting that while fixing food, I was surprised when a bird hit the kitchen window where I was working. A fledgling European Starling. Very unwelcome. It looks at me then drops to the peak of the roof of the enclosed part of the patio below. Another joins it and they both do the feed me wing flutter. I see the suet feeder has been picked clean. How odd. Even the Starlings know I am the one who puts out food. I ignore them. One hits the widow again, hard, then they fly off.

June 6, 2007 An Uncommon Day.

2007-06-07T04:05:00.000-07:00

The day is cool clear and dry. Everyone in the neighborhood, me included, have our lawn machines out. It is noisy as a result. Soon after starting the lawn, I spot a large dragonfly working low over the grass on the shady side of the house. I net it. I am surprised I was able to catch it on my first try. Probably the cool weather and the shade. After taking pictures, with the dragonfly safely on a plant, I finish the lawn.

With my pictures I manage to get to the right page in Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio. When it comes to dragonflies I am a neophyte. I barely can separate the families and 90% of my experience is the darners and skimmers. The dragonfly in question is my first spiketail, a Dual-spotted Spiketail. Female because she has an obvious ovipositor. The book says this is an uncommon species in the region.

My curiosity satisfied, I take a hike. Sans weights today. At first all I can hear are the lawn machines. On the summit of Gildersleeve mountain it is a bit more peaceful. Visibility is uncommon. More than 50 miles. I can see detail on the Avon Power plant 40 miles away. A little bit north of the old quarry I hear a Black-throated Blue Warbler. This is very late and unusual for this species in the region. Also a Hermit Thrush. This is along a ledge system with Hemlock Hardwood forest. Very interesting. I had Black-throated Blue near hear last June. When I get home I look up the date. June 6. Interesting symmetry. It is really cool in the woods and I wish I had a jacket as I make my way home. Only 61 degrees. The forecast is for much warmer weather tomorrow. We will see.

June 6, 2007 Twin-spotted Spiketail

2007-06-07T03:59:00.001-07:00

This Twin-spotted Spiketail was patrolling low over the grass on the shady side of the house. I netted her, and as I have learned to do, dunked her in cool water so she would stay put while I photographed her. This does the bug no harm, just slows it down until it warms up again. This dragonfly is listed as uncommon in Northeastern Ohio.

Cranesbill

2007-06-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

I believe this is a Bicknell's Cranesbill. They are all over the yard. About 12 to 14 inches with 0.6 inch flowers. The leaves are palmate. There are other varieties of Cranesbills but this seems to be the best match in my Peterson's wildflower guide.

June 5, 2007 An Embarrassment of Beauty

2007-06-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

It is cold and wet today. 56 degrees, not unexpected, but not usual either. My walk is completely unremarkable. Visibility is better than it has been in a week, about 30 miles, but there is more activity in my yard than anywhere else on Gildersleeve Mountain. The flowers and birds in my yard exceed anything in the area. At this moment 2 male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are on the feeder by the library window. A Red-bellied Woodpecker and 2 Juncos wait their turn.

My neighbors do not have birds or flowers or ferns or bugs to any extent. They have lawns like shag carpet, trimmed shrubs and mulched beds. I have Iris, and Peonies, Anemones, Clover and Ironweed. Ferns that rise in 3 foot high bunches. More Hostas than I can count. Cranesbills and Azelias, Lilies yet to bloom. I can honestly say it was not always this way. Yes some of the plants are the result of cultivation. The Ferns, Hostas, Iris, Peony, and Lilies are originally the result of my mom’s efforts. But other flowers, the Anemones, Cransbills, Columbine and Hyacinth. The explosion of ferns and hostas to new places, the additional Peonies, the Iris where they have never been before. These are the result of letting things go. Not applying chemicals, letting the bugs and Chipmunks have their way. Not weeding! Some plants need the shelter of others to thrive. Others do not look like much until they bloom. How can one tell what should stay and what should go?

I think every suburban yard could be filled with wild flowers in just 5 years. But the sacrifice would be too great. No chemicals, no mulch, an untidy look, a lawn of clover and rye. Oh, and bugs! yes bugs! Ants and wasps and bees and flies and spiders. Ick!

Sometimes a neighbor will ask if they can pick some flowers. “OK” I say, “but only if I am here. I want to supervise.” My yard is not a greenhouse, not the florist. “But you are not here when I come by.” "Too bad, then grow your own." Sometimes I want to make a deal. If you quit applying all chemicals to your yard, quit weeding, I will bring you a bouquet every week of the spring and summer. I’ll give you 10 to 1 they wont take that deal.

My yard has such an abundance of beauty, but it is very unconventional. It is the sort of yard the people at Scott's-Miracle Grow, have nightmares about.

June 4, 2007 Banded Sky

2007-06-06T04:11:00.000-07:00

The afternoon features bands of rain broken sky. It rains then clears, Thunders then rains again. The temperature has dropped from the high 70s into the 60s.

It is interesting to watch and listen to the Juncos around the yard. They sing and forage. They are the predominant species. A song sparrow has staked out a territory in the back yard. A Wood Thrush sings from this side of the creek.

I wanted to hike but a thunderstorm is a thunderstorm. My house is also susceptible to lightning strikes. It has an insurance company installed arrester system. Last September was the last time it was hit. It just popped a breaker and thanks to the lightning rods no other harm. What it is about my house I don’t know. the neighbors houses are not far away but they do not get hit.

As I write the sky gets progressively darker. 10 minutes ago there was sunlight though a break in the clouds. To the west the sky is an ugly brown gray. More rain. The wind is picking up and the air cools a bit more. The birds are quiet now. They too can feel the coming rain.

June 3, 2007, Rain in a Green World

2007-06-04T04:29:00.000-07:00

I am up early to get in a hike before the rain. As I head through the woods I think I should have gotten out at 5:30 rather than an hour later. There is a beautiful morning bird chorus these days. To be in the woods at that time is very special. It takes an effort though, to be up and out before dawn.

The thunder starts, and the rain follows while I am out. The rain drums on the leaves but none makes it to the ground. It is fun to watch the rain over the lower elevations. The layers of green get more and more subdued in the distance. Each ridge and valley like a deeper layer in the distance.

After I get back to my house the rain picks up. There is a steady rhythm to the drumming of the rain. The birds dart across the open areas. The smaller ones like the Goldfinch and chickadee can use a single maple leaf for cover. A the feeders are doing a steady business. A Tufted Titmouse, completely drenched, comes in. The rain makes a convenient way to take a shower.

The rain saturates the colors. The predominant color is green. Yellows are especially bright. A Goldfinch, a Buttercup, an Iris, all stand out at a distance in this light. But on a day like today, here in the woods, it is a green world. Almost everything is green from the sedges and grasses on the forest floor all the way up. The canopy is complete so I am surrounded by green. It is remarkable. Other colors are just dots on a canvas of green.

June 2, 2007, Why Would I want to Live Anywhere but Here?

2007-06-04T04:27:00.000-07:00

It is the sort of day that makes you forget January. The sort of day where lake effect snow is just a distant memory. You forget what it is like to get several feet of snow in a few hours.

The weather forecast was very non specific so it could not be wrong. The morning is clear and sunny and the temperature perfect. High 70’s low 80’s. I woke up to an Indigo Bunny singing in the back yard. Paired notes: Cha cha che che sue sue see see chit chit . Around the yard the flowers are still spectacular. The Peonies are spectacular deep magenta. As far as I can tel they are the only cultivar in bloom at the moment. White Canada Anemones, pale blue Wild Hyacinth, Yellow Iris. Purple columbine linger, and a small 5 petal variegated pink flower, I think it is a Storksbill, is everywhere

Because today is Saturday I can walk in the early morning. I have the woods and summit to myself. There are Blueit Damselflies. I don’t know what species. I find them everywhere. Not in large numbers but enough to be noticed in the deep woods and along the ledges.

On the summit few birds of note. The expected species. Hooded Warbler, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood Pewee, Scarlet Tanager. The Barred Owl calls from somewhere to the west, and a Red-shouldered Hawk calls from high over the trees. Visibility is low because it is hazy. I cannot see the lake but can see a ghostly image of the skyscrapers downtown illuminated by the morning sun.

Back home my first Cedar Waxwings of the year. Finally! The Indigo Bunny is still in the yard. Juncos are singing. The females are on their nests but the males come up from under the vegetation to sing and to visit the feeders. Chipmunks chitter as they cross the patio. A Deer Fly lands on me and wants to bite. I kill it. An ant about 8 mm long, finds it quickly. It takes a minute or so, but once it gets a good grip the ant drags the much bigger fly 10 feet across the patio, and up the six inch vertical wall of the curb into the Anemones. I realize the strength of ants is more a matter of scale than anything else. Still it was interesting the ant wanted the fly.

As the day progresses it gets progressively cloudy. Cumulus clouds building as the afternoon progresses. By late afternoon it is overcast. Still it is beautiful.

I don’t know if it is familiarity but I find this place more beautiful than any other. There are places that have their charms, More sunny days to be sure. Still I cannot think of anywhere that has the consistent natural beauty of my home. If I lived just a few miles away, in Mentor perhaps, I would not feel this way. But I don’t. How could I live anywhere else?

June 1, 2007 Nuthatch Display

2007-06-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

There are sometimes days when things just don’t work out. Today rain, shopping, and a need to identify a wildflower kept me in the yard once I got home.

The wildflower was a wild hyacinth. Beautiful pale blue flowers. My mom was the botanist. She knew her herbaceous plants. Sometimes it is good to save things for later. Fun to keep learning throughout one’s life. For me I hope I continue to find new things to learn my whole life.

I continue to be astounded how many different kids of wild flowers are in my yard. I know they are here for one reason. I use almost no chemicals. This allows these native pants to thrive. Because I don’t weed. that is remove any plants not in the lawn, I don’t remove any wild flowers. I do go after 5 plants because I need to keep them from overrunning they others. Poison ivy, which I treat topically with systemic herbicide, Glossy Buckthorn, which I cut and apply the same to the stump to kill the roots. Raspberry, which I cut back, and chokeweed which I pull. I also have a minimal tolerance to thistles. I sometimes try to cut them before they seed. I have been successful in some parts of the yard with this strategy, unsuccessfully in others.

On my feeder a confrontation, between a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a White-breasted Nuthatch. The Nuthatch has an interesting aggression display. It will spread its wings exposing the under wings. It then rocks back and forth. This both makes the bird appear larger and show a a black against white pattern. I did a little drawing of what It think this might look like. Vaguely like the face of a Raccoon.

The Grosbeak and smaller Nuthatch have a stand off for about 2 minutes. The Grosbeak then tires of this and chases the Nuthatch off the feeder.

May 31, 2007 New Flowers

2007-06-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

My Thursday schedule precludes a hike. It is a beautiful day but I must be content to walk the yard and and look at the flowers, picking a few for a bouquet. . A yellow peony is a highlight, but the yard also holds pure white Canada anenome, metallic yellow buttercups, magenta mallows, asters, and a many flowers beyond my experience. I did not notice many of these just a few days ago. I may have the opportunity to take pictures tomorrow.

May 30, 2007 Feeling Gull Ible

2007-06-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

My hike around the summit was uneventful. It is warm and hazy today. I could not see downtown through the haze and would put the actual visibility at about 8 miles. Hooded warblers were the obvious species singing, but I did hear a single Black-throated Green Warbler.

I received my Peterson Guide to the Gulls of the Americas today. I feel so gullible for having purchased it without first looking it over. Well at least I got it for 33% off and didn’t pay for shipping.

The Book is a Petersen *Reference* Guide and covers all the gulls found in north and south America. What don’t I like? It is a photo guide, no illustrations and is full of dense technical prose. If you like word pictures in dry technical language reminiscent of geo chemistry texts and photos, this is the book for you. Everyone else is better off sticking with Grant or Harrison, for obscure stuff, and Sibley for the expected.

When it comes to guides, illustrations a preferable to photos in all circumstances. This is because an illustration is a composite of many individuals, while photos depict only one individual. The brilliance of Roger Tory Peterson was to distill each species down to its essentials. Prior to Peterson, descriptions were overly complex, technical and based on bird in hand. Peterson changed that with simple elegant prose and concise illustrations that gave the field observer the essential elements or field marks needed to identify a bird. Howell and Dunn abandon all of these principals in Gulls of the Americas. It is a book based upon a formula that will make money for the publisher. While there is probably useful information to be found, little is aimed at people interesting in field identification of gulls. Rodger Tory Peterson, is rolling in his grave.

Grandfather Tree

2007-06-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Along Pierson's Creek Tail at Holden Arboretum, just east of the north stairs, is this magnificent Red Oak. It is about 5 feet in diameter and goes up over 100 feet. I call these old trees, Grandfather trees. Having seen pictures of our NE Ohio forests before the settlers cut them down, I wonder what it would have been like to be in a forest filled with trees like this?

May 29, 2007 Fooling a Hooded Warbler

2007-05-30T04:31:00.000-07:00

Yard work delays my walk. Cutting the grass and trying to get the Glossy Buckthorn, in the yard under control. I spy a Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly. In is just getting its’ black and white wing spots.

My hike is abbreviated. After bonking so hard yesterday, I don’t want to push it. The visibility is a little hazy but about 40 miles. I stop by the spot where I had the encounter with catharus enigmus, Sunday. The Chipmunk who was my only co witness is in the same spot, but pishing does not turn up any birds.

On my side of Gildersleeve Mountain, there are a lot of Hooded Warblers singing. One is close to the path and singing clearly. I whistle an imitation of its song. Wheety wheety wheet e Oh! To my surprise this fools the warbler and he comes in for a closer look. Anyone who as ever tried to track down a singing a Hooded Warbler in the understory knows it can be astoundingly difficult. The bird hides and flits. Wont sit still or give you a good look. So imagine my surprise when this bird spirals in from a higher branch and lands a few feet away. It sings back. I respond, we go back and fourth as I usually do with Cardinals. This is perhaps the best naked eye look I have ever had at a Hooded Warbler. So yellow with his black hood and black eyes. Olive green back. Just beautiful. I had no idea you could fool them like this with just a whistled imitation of their song.

May 28, 2007 Out of Gas in Pierson’s Creek Valley

2007-05-29T04:31:00.000-07:00

I got quite a late start today. As is expected, yesterday’s weather forecast of cloudy and 73° was wrong again. The day is beautiful, clear and sunny, so I decided to do one of the great hikes in northeast Ohio. The Pierson’s Creek, Old Valley Trail loop at the Holden Arboretum. This is a beautiful hike of around 3 miles with lots of up and down. Moving quickly you can do this hike in about 45 minutes. Today it will take me twice as long.

A few days ago I added a third again more weight to my pack. I ate lightly yesterday and just had some cereal for breakfast today. A mile into my hike, at the bottom of the north stairs I knew I was in trouble. My legs were rubbery and I was in ketosis.

In spite of struggling with my energy level, the walk was beauty. The valley does not seem as lush as in years past. Perhaps the cold has had its’ effect here too. Most of the expected bird species were found. Acadian Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Dark-eyed Junco were nice. No Phoebe. It was very cool and still humid in the valley. But the air is heavy with the smell of plants, the perfume of flowers and rich with oxygen. Still, I was struggling.

From my perspective, one of the nice things about this hike is the up and down. You start at roughly 950 feet elevation and descend to around 750 feet at the bottom of the northern stairs. There are stairs along the trails to limit the effects of human traffic on the valley sides. People tend to cut across switch backs and this facilitates erosion along the human paths. The north stairs descend roughly 14 stories into the valley and are the longest of the 3 sets found along the valley. Today the up and down caused me difficulty. On rubbery legs one has to concentrate on walking and cannot pay as much attention to the surrounding beauty.

Out of the valley around blueberry pond I found several odinates. Variable dancer, Dot-tailed Whiteface and Common Whitetail. A large Northern Watersnake was sunning itself on a rock. I do not want to get too close to this ill tempered reptile, but I do get a couple of nice pictures.

Although I have now had something more to eat and the temperature is in the 70’s I am still cold. The residual effects of using up all of your available energy. It is beautiful and sunny. I think I will go out and be like the watersnake. Catch some sun to warm up a bit.

Notes On an Unreportable Bird

2007-05-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

These are my field notes on the catharus enigmus, described in the previous post. I hope readers will understand the true spirt of putting this information up for general scrutiny. To not do it, would be contrary to the purpose of this endeavor. I am also posting my field notes here, to give readers an idea of the difficulty of finding a rare bird. In this case without documentary photos, and given my lack of experience with this species. I do not feel there is enough evidence to submit this sighting to the OBRC or the Cleveland Bird Calendar.

Unlike some people I know, I could care less if my name is attached to a particular record. I just write them up and send them in. If I don't do it right away, I will forget later. In the case of this bird, I feel I should report it. So it is on the books. If it is later found that this species is more common in migration than previously believed, the information may be useful. But I wont. The pressure in field ornithology is to support the dogma. Unless you have strong evidence, reporting might damage your reputation and integrity. The idea that someone might be motivated only by the purpose of adding a bit of knowledge to the pile is simply not accepted.

May 27, 2007 Catharus enigmus

2007-05-29T04:16:00.000-07:00

I have one of those dilemmas that sometimes face birders at my skill level. Walking along the lookout a Thrush of the genus catharus, popped up to look at me just a few feet away. The bird was at eye level and in good light. It didn’t look right. It was so small for this genus, almost warbler sized, and while it looked like a Gray-cheeked Thrush, it was too brown. OK, a Veery then, but look at those bold dark spots on the breast, not a Veery, Hermit Thrush? but that it is not right, the spots are not bold enough and there is no red on the tail a Bicknell’s Thrush! a one in a million bird here, and I don’t have my camera. A lifer too. Try as I might I just cannot make this bird into one of the more likely catharus species. Here I am, by myself, 4 feet from what would be only the 2nd record in Ohio of this species. All I can do is eye this bird. Look at it in disbelief and try to convince myself I am not seeing what I am seeing. That does not work. I am seeing what I am seeing, and I cannot make the bird more gray green of give it a red tail or fade the breast spots. Then it is gone, It has dropped down over the edge.

So what do I do? I come home and look in Sibley. Yep, Bicknell’s is the size of a Hermit Thrush but looks like a brownish Gray-cheeked. I draw a picture and write down my observations. I would much rather have this be a Hermit Thrush or a Gray-cheeked. Something more expected. Am I certain about what I observed? Yes. Did I get a good look? Yes, from only 4 feet away I studied this bird for more than a minute. Am I certain this was a Bicknell’s Thrush. No. I have no experience with this species and can only rely upon my memory.

I have another problem. This bird will be irreproducible. It is migration, it will not stick around. It is in a difficult place, too. Unless it would come up to the edge again, it is in a pretty inaccessible area. What to do? Larry, ever the skeptic and seemingly unable to understand how someone can go through a process of critical thinking, will say I made a mistake. He only believes pictures. In this case I do not have enough evidence to even convince myself. There is another aspect to my dilemma. Honesty and integrity. For me these include not lying through omission. Omitting or not telling is every bit as much a lie as adding detail or plain making something up. I can only be honest when I report exactly what I remember observing. Still, this bird goes down in my book as catharus enigmus... That’s the way it is sometimes.

May 26, 2007 Empids Along the Lake.

2007-05-29T04:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to the lake. Warm, cloudy and light rain but sometimes weather like this is great for birds. Driving along the parkway, to the last parking area, of the park, I could hear Warblers in the trees. Blackpoll, Tennessee, Chestnut-sided. In the cottonwoods, more warblers, A Grey-cheeked Thrush, my first of the season offers a fabulous look. Having been interested in birds since I was a child, I have never had the trouble many do with identification. Sure I make mistakes, but it does not take much practice and soon I have it down. I tell people woodland Thrushes are easy. It is a matter of red and green. Reddish head is Wood, reddish tail is Hermit, reddish all over is Veery. Gray-green with an eye ring is Swainson’s, without is Gray-cheeked. There are other differences too but those are the most obvious. There is one other species. Bicknell’s Thrush, very similar to Gray-cheeked but it is found in a specialized habitat of New England, mountain tops

It was fun seeing lots of Warblers, this morning. There were female Blackpolls, everywhere, and an abundance of Canadas, but I really enjoyed were the empids. These are the small flycatchers of the genus empidonax. While empids are not particularly colorful, I find them to be very cute. They have large heads and big dark eyes. There are 5 species of empids expected in the east. Least, Willow, Alder, Acadian and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. There was a time when field identification of these was considered impossible without hearing them. They all have distinct calls or songs, so it was possible to identify by song and habitat. But not by sight. Our advanced high quality optics have changed that for the most part. Especially if the birds have fresh feathers Identifying empids is largely a matter of bills, bellies, and eye rings. Least has a very short bill and an obvious eye ring. Willow and Alder are difficult to separate and were once lumped into the Traills species. Both have long bills, weak eye rings, and long primary tip extensions. Acadian has a long bill and is greener on the upper parts, has a complete eye ring, and long primary tips. Yellow-bellied is the easiest because it has the most color. Green upper parts and yellow green underneath with an obvious eye ring. With a little practice and good optics these differences start to pop out. With inferior optics, forget it. Also learning the songs makes things even easier. Least is che-bek, Willow, fitz bew, Alder fee be o, Acadian, spit see, and Yellow-bellied, chew-ee.

We had 4 empid species this morning. The only miss was Acadian. Ray and I had what we both agreed was one of the most magnificent looks at a Yellow-bellied we had ever had. And that is saying something because we have both had a lot of looks!

This afternoon I put out an orange for the Oriole. Mr. came to the living room window and sang but I have not seen him on the orange as yet. Juncos are on the feeder an in the yard, but the birds are not singing much as I write. Everything is very lush in the wet. While beautiful I would like to feel the baking warmth of the sun.

Once again the weather forecast was wrong. The forecast yesterday was for partly cloudy with a low chance of rain. What we have is overcast with intermittent rain.

May 25, 2007 Rain and Thunder

2007-05-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

I could smell the coming rain as I was driving home. Smell is a sense we tend to discount and ignore. Sure the sky was darkening, but the air had a different smell as well. The rain started as I was pulling into the driveway. 10 minutes later is was heavy and there was thunder. A Tufted Titmouse sits under the eaves on the feeder to stay dry. As I sit down the bird just give me a glance. Unworried about my presence.

I decide to sit in the living room and watch the rain through the large window. After the rain lets up a male Baltimore Oriole comes to the window. It lands on the sill and checks me out. Eyeing me. After a minute he flies back to into the spruce tree.

While the rain is now past it is still cloudy and wet. I will not take a hike. My concern of yesterday evening is realized.

May 24, 2007, Warm and Quiet.

2007-05-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

The day is wonderfully warm. In the woods it is quiet. The back yard has limited bird activity. The Juncos, Bluebirds, Goldfinches, sing quietly. The warm weather means there are insects. Finally! The birds are out foraging. Just a few visit the feeders.

My Thursday schedule, precludes much time outside. Around the yard the flowers are in between. Many past their peak and others coming up. Looking around I find some very beautiful and unusual ones. The diversity is astounding. I need an expert to tell me how many are native.

We are in a dry spell, but it is not yet showing on the plants. Everything is very lush. There is still a lot of water in the soil. The seeps are not yet dry and neither is the dirt below the surface. Their is rain likely over the next few days. I hope it is just enough. Not too much. Not so much that it keeps me indoors.

May 23, 2003 Does Haze Constitute Clouds?

2007-05-25T04:24:00.000-07:00

A wonderful warm day. Temperature is in the 80’s and the sun is shining. In the woods the Wood Thrushes are singing beautifully in full song. A Wood Thrush can sing more than one not at once. I say this is polyphonic. I don’t know if this is technically true. If you have ever heard Mongolian or Tuvan throat singing, the Wood Thrush does the bird equivalent. As a result you hear multiple overtones as the bird sings. It really is beautiful. Perhaps the most lovely song in the woods.

I am surprised by the number of Blue-headed Vireos. As I circle the summit I count 4. the song of the Blue-headed is distinctly different from the Red-eyed Vireo. It is slower, more measured and has so high notes that are different from the Red-eyed. From my observation, Blue-headed Vireos are increasing in numbers here in Kirtland. I am finding them in more places than the past. The same seems to be holding true for Dark-eyed Juncos, and Eastern Bluebird as well.

I can hear the Juncos singing as I write, They are working the backyard and the males are visiting the feeders.

While the sun is shining today, the sky is almost white with haze. Downtown is visible, but the shoreline just 7 miles away not distinct. A hazy day. Detail is lost in just 4 or 5 miles. I wonder if today will be counted as a cloudy day? Probably. It is the sort of cloudy day that will give you a severe sunburn. The kind where the sun will sink in the lake like a piece of red hot burning charcoal.

May 22, 2007 Splitting Hostas

2007-05-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

The day is so beauty and warm. But it is as if my house has conspired against me, because I have to do some plumbing work. A pipe behind a wall has sprung a leak and needs to be fixed.

My friends Carol and Dave came over because I have offered them some of my hostas. If wealth were measured in hostas I would be very comfortable. Carol and Dave dig and split some of my numerous varieties, as I complete the replacement of my leaky pipe. Thankfully my craft is adequate and none of the copper leaks. Together we go for a quick hike. They enjoy the view from the lookout, and the singing of the Blue-headed Vireo, and Wood Thrush. Visibility is 15 miles or so with detail. 25 miles absolute . The sun is bright but there is again a high overcast. Another "cloudy" day in NE Ohio.

May 21, 2007 Birds Under the Canopy

2007-05-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day but still cool. Low sixties and “overcast”. Actually it is a lovely sunny afternoon with a thin layer of high stratus clouds. The sun is bright above the leaves.

The woods hold Chestnut -sided and Canada Warblers. Wood Thrush and Veery are everywhere. Eastern wood Pewee too. On the far side of the summit Bluebirds deep in the woods. A bit out of place this far from the edge. Visibility is out to the horizon, or over 20 miles but it is hazy and detail is lost at about 10 miles. A male Wood Duck flushes from the ponds below the lookout. I need to check but I think he is new for my list here. I can see Common Green Darners over the water below and Common White tail comes whizzing up and into the woods as I look out over the woods and lake below.

Few people these days. Spring fever must have broken. Just 4 people in my whole circle of the summit, 3 of them running. My own legs feel springy and I climb with my weighted pack without difficulty. Even climbing the bigger hill and pushing hard I am barely out of breath. Time to add more weight, but also testament to the fact that a couple of days of rest sometimes improves overall fitness.

Coming back through the woods I flush a Woodcock out of a little wet spot. One has to be very close to a sitting Woodcock for it to flush, and in this case my foot had come down less than 18 inches from where the bird was sitting. Too close. Flushing a Woodcock does not startle like flushing a Ruffed Grouse. It is more a pleasant surprise, while flushing a Grouse is so noisy your heart skips a beat.

May 20, 2007 Last Sunday Walk of the Season

2007-05-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

Today was the last of the Sunday Audubon walks of the season. The 76th year of these walks is now finished. We had just 67 species at the Arboretum this morning. It was cool with light rain at times. Nothing noteworthy on the walk except the absence of Empidonax flycatchers. No Chebecker (Least), nor Willow, nor Acadian. I have been leading these walks for over 15 years and cannot remember a year where we did not have a single empid. The cold has delayed the arrival of many birds this year.

Leading the walks at Holden has other compensations. The gardens were in their full glory today. The Holden Arboretum, is a beautiful garden in the middle of pristine natural areas. To walk this land, both the cultivated and and the natural, at this time of year, is a joy in its own right. Admiring the rich and elegant magenta, pinks, and oranges of the Rhododendron garden, or majestic old growth Oaks and Maples of Bole woods, it is a pleasure to walk the Arboretum.

At home I notice more columbine, both red and purple, in new places in the yard. May, flowers are everywhere in the full spectrum of colors. Under the cloudy skies the pinks and blues and yellows are intense and beautiful.

Activity at the feeders is unusual today. A Baltimore Oriole, comes to the feeder, then, a little later, flutters against the window singing. This is in the library where I am writing. This behavior defies my understanding. My intuition or instinct is that the Oriole wants food. I have no oranges in my fruit bowl. A little later a Towhee on the feeder. Very odd as these feeders are 18 feet off the ground. The cold is hard on these birds. They depend on insects and there are few insects when the temperatures is only in the high 40s. For many years spring has been warmer. A cold spring like this will really challenge the less hardy of the neotropical migrants.

May 20, 2007 Indigo "Bunny"

2007-05-21T04:46:00.000-07:00

Indigo "Bunny" is a nickname for Indigo Bunting. because we tend to drop the "t" bunting ends up sounding like bunny.

I was not able to get real close, so the image is not the best, but the beauty of this bird's color sure comes through in this enlargement.

May 19, 2007 Lake and Marsh

2007-05-21T04:41:00.000-07:00

I got to the Lake pretty early. I am so lucky to live so close to such a wonderful birding spot. The Headlands beach, dunes, Mentor marsh, Mentor Lagoons area is on of the great birding spots in North America. No hyperbole. The “Mentor” list rivals that of Magee-Ottawa, and Point Pelee. Yet it is hardly known to most birders. If you read the Ohio section of North American Birds, you will see HBSP cited as a location in issue after issue, but on a day like today, perhaps 30 people will bird the area.

The other wonderful thing about birding in this location is the birders. Almost every day 2 of the best birders anywhere, work the beach, dunes and Cottonwoods. Hike the edge of the marsh and the trails of the forest east of the lagoons. Ray Hannikman and Jerry Talkington are a joy to bird with. They are great at finding birds and very knowledgeable. Ray’s expertise on Gulls and Shorebirds found in eastern North America is unrivaled by anyone, and Jerry is an outdoorsman of uncommon skill. Jerry has fabulous ears and knowledge that make him better at finding birds by ear than anyone I have ever met. Jerry’s knowledge of non avian fauna is tremendous as well. Other people bird the area on a less regular basis. Many of them are the crème de la crème in terms of field identification.

I arrived pretty early but Ray was already off the beach and in the cottonwoods. He had found a Black-bellied Plover on the beach. Jerry showed up about 7 and he and I worked the dunes and the Cottonwoods. There was not much to be found. The Grand River Dock Co. property between the dunes and the Coast Guard station was more productive.

We hiked Zimmerman Trail, along the marsh and found nice pockets of birds. Jerry and Muggsie got on an Orange-crowned Warbler which Ray, Suzanne, and I missed in spite of being right there. Sometimes it is like that. Among experienced NE Ohio birders, Orange-crowned Warbler is one of the hardest of the expected species to get every year. We found Wilson’s and Canada in one pocket and I very much wanted a Hooded to complete a Wilsonia sweep in one spot. That is, all 3 warblers of the genus Wilsonia. But my desire went unfulfilled.

Being with such great birders was a joy. I was again astounded at the level of skill in that small group. For instance, assembled in our small group was the most combined experience with migrating Kirtland’s Warbler anywhere. This is the honest to god truth, because together we have seen more individuals of this rare species during migration than any other 5 people in the world. We could add 3 other people to that list, but they were not with us today.

Still on the subject of field identification I am astounded at how short a glimpse is required to identify a bird. I am not a talking about a flash card image here either. An oblique view of less than a second is all that is needed in many cases. A blue gray back, long tail, and a little yellow on the under part is easily a Canada. A flash of chestnut on the sides, either Chestnut-sided or Bay-breasted. A little white on the under parts, Chestnut-sided. This holds true for species other than warblers too. Sparrows are the same. Other types of birds require more study. Flycatchers of the genus Empidonax, require real study unless they are singing. Gulls, fall Shorebirds, and flying Hawks are other groups that cannot be identified in a flash. But as in anything human, mistakes are made. Something out of context or unexpected is the most common reason for this. We tend to see what we expect to see. Everyone is fallible. The only people who don’t misidentify birds are people who don’t identify birds. I pulled a real good one today. I saw a pair of Downy Woodpeckers in courtship, but I was thinking about how they resembled Brown Creepers, so what came out of my mouth was Brown Creepers. I committed the crime of not engaging my left brain before moving my mouth. Amusing to be sure, because I did not realize what I was saying as I said it.

Thinking about this, I realize birding is very much a right brain activity. No wonder so many people find it so challenging. No wonder so many great birders are excellent illustrators as well.

I ran out of gas around 10:30, so I did not continue after we finished walking Zimmerman. Collectively we had 17 Warbler species. I had 14 of those personally. Not bad for just a 10 mile drive from home.

May 19, 2007 Misty Sunrise

2007-05-21T04:36:00.001-07:00

Driving to the lake, this scene of the mist over the field along Chillicothe Road, caught my eye. The sun had just come up over the trees. The human eye is better at seeing this than a CCD is at capturing it. I need to spend some more time with Photoshop on this one.

May 18, 2007 Ballistics and the Math of Dandelions

2007-05-21T04:31:00.000-07:00

I am watching the birds come to the feeders. I realize birds rely on trajectory. They understand the force of gravity and use it to their advantage. Now that the leaves are out, birds tend to work through holes. There is a hole I can see from the dining room, I cannot see from the library. From the dining room I can see a path through the leaves that goes back 300 meters ever increasing in height to near the tops of the trees. From the library holes only extend back about 50 meters.

I watched a Rose-breasted Grosbeak bomb in from 250 meters out. All the way through the hole. There were twists and turns to be sure. The path was not that of a falling body, The Grosbeak checked its’ fall and turned with the lift of its’ wings. A chickadee will do this, but not with the twists and turns. It follows an almost straight path. Dewit, dewit. A series of convex curves but straight on the y axis. I wonder if coming from the neotropics differentiates the Grosbeak form the Chickadee? If spending the majority of one’s life in a world with leaves as opposed to a world where leaves fall to the ground makes a difference?

Since we are on the topic of mathematics I wonder how many people have really looked at a dandelion seed head? It is a perfect ellipsoid. The number of strands in a single seed pod seems to always be a prime 61, 73, 89... I wonder if anyone has taken the time to count the individual seeds or plot their relationship? To me they seem to be arranged on the basis of a pentagon which would lead me to hypothesize it may be related to phi, 1.618. Like pi and e, phi is one of those numbers that seem to be fundemental to the structure of the universe.

May 17, 2007

2007-05-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

Another cool day temperature in the low 50s. A true partly cloudy day. I can’t take a hike because I have no time today. But I do spend a little time outside. The Wood Thrush and the Scarlet Tanager are the most obvious of the singing birds. The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are not as obvious at the feeders. The males are singing on territory. The females come in for a bite to eat though.

I found Columbine along the side of the house. Only 2 daffodils in all the yard, but other flowers are taking their place.

I am looking forward to some warmer weather predicted for tomorrow and Saturday. If a warm fron does indeed come through, We could have a couple of good days for birds.

May 16, 2007 One Thousand Shades of Green

2007-05-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

The cloudy sky created light that fully saturated the colors. The rain brought out the lushness of the forest. Always difficult to capture, forest scenes like this are especially challenging because there is no main subject. In this case I tried to get branches at several distances to give more depth to the scene.

May 16, 2007

2007-05-17T04:12:00.001-07:00

Cold and rainy. 53° is cold for mid May. The cloudy light saturates colors. The forest looks so lush. Only with light rain and clouds do you get this thousand shades of green. I have no desire to take a cold wet hike. The yard holds lovely flowers and the feeders are busy. Birds sing in this weather, especially the neotropical migrants. Out in the back yard this is who I hear. The Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Hooded Warbler.

The color of the Goldfinches is especially intense against the green. I have seen Scarlet Tanager in similar light. A red beyond and other. But no Tanager views today. Just increasing rain as the evening progresses.

May 15, 2007

2007-05-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

So nice and warm today. A front coming through sometime tonight. It is windy and the cumulus clouds are building. I had to do some shopping in Orange Village, and came home along the Chagrin River Valley. I stuck to the high roads so I could catch the occasional long vistas. We really do live in a forest here. The long views are always of trees and it is only the buildings that are higher than their tops that show in the distance.

Walking though the woods, I hear Wood Thrush and Pewee. The birds skittish and moving fast. There is little sound or movement on the summit. It is hazy and visibility is only about 7 miles. I can pick out the outlines of the buildings downtown, 18 miles away, but they are very faint.

Coming down I hear there is more activity on my side of the mountain. Grosbeaks, Goldfinches, and Hairy Woodpecker.

I have no path through the woods. Now that the leaves are out there are no visible references in the distance. It is not very far to my yard. Just a few hundred yards. I use distance and direction rather than landmarks. I do this in other areas as well. Other woods without distinct paths. The lay of the land and the change in vegetation also provide a means of picking my way though the woods. In some cases I use a compass. When features are not obvious or the land is so irregular it is easy to lose track of direction under the canopy on a cloudy or rainy day. In 1999 on Little Mountain doing breeding bird survey work with Carol Skinner, I found myself using bird territories as an aid on the 1.5 mile off path walk. I had learned who lived where and would use the singing as both a measure of distance and as a landmark of sorts. It is almost impossible to get lost in this part of the world. There are too many clues. Running water, the sound of highways. Such is life in a major metropolitan area..

May 14, 2007

2007-05-16T04:27:00.000-07:00

Today the winds turned. By 4 pm it was 70°. Nice and warm, sunny too, but the day will be recorded as mostly cloudy. On the lilacs Red Admiral, and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies. The shady areas in the yard are full of flowers. Blue, white, purple, yellow, delicate shades, not bright. Very beautiful. In the woods the leaves and canopy are almost full. The light has a green cast and seeing though trees is now difficult. Wood Thrushes scatter as I climb the slope on the other side of the creek. It is quite and beautiful on the summit. The air is fresh with oxygen from the leaves. Near the lookout I hear the Barred Owls. 3 individuals calling back and forth from the southwest side of the old quarry. Spicebush swallowtails flit through the under story. Scarlet-Tanager calls chick-terrr, chick-terrr from the center of the summit. Visibility from the lookout is a little more than 20 miles

I don’t linger at the lookout. The woods is quite until I near home where the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are singing like mad. Like a round of Row, Row, Row, Your Boat, one starts and two or three others pick up with the same song at regular intervals. The effect is wonderful.

I am a little overwhelmed by the beauty of this place and my fortune at being able to enjoy it

May 13, 2007

2007-05-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

How can such a beauty day be so dismal? It is clear but cold, in the 40’s early high 50’s in the afternoon. My walk at the Arboretum produced a mere 66 species and we had to work hard for almost every one. We put in 4.5 hours and walked much of the central 800 acres. It was very quiet this morning so I knew it would be difficult. The wind out of the northeast did not bode well.

Still there are other joys beyond a big list. With any beginning or occasional bird watchers the challenge can be to just find and get people on a bird. My first Indigo “bunny” of the year was very vocal but invisible in the top of a tree. We did get everyone great looks at Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes, Yellow-throated, Red-eyed, and Warbling Vireos, Eastern Wood Pewee, and Hooded Warbler. These species of the deep woods can often be very elusive. But because the diversity was low, we took the time to look hard and find each.

For me, being in the field with less skilled people tends to make me less sharp. I lose my edge and my skills are certainly not at a peak. I need time with excellent birders. People who are better than me at field I.D. They drag me up closer to their level. Birding is again like golf in this regard. To paraphrase Harvey Penick: No how bad you are at identifying birds, you will always find someone worse, and no matter how good you are you will always find someone better.

I guess I can officially declare this to be a year without nesting Phoebes here on the higher elevations. Although I hold no office in this regard, I can say they are gone from their usual haunts above 900 feet MSL. Given the site fidelity of this species, I wonder how long it will be before we have them in these locations again?

My yard this afternoon is a happier place. While mowing my lawn I find a Springtime Darner Dragonfly. The Bluebirds are most certainly sharing my house this spring as I saw Mr. chasing a Robin, and Mrs. emerging from the hole in the siding soon after. The Juncos are busy carrying nest materials. Lots of new flowers. Few I know. My mom was the botanist-horticulturist. Who knows what is here. Knowing my mom there could be some interesting stuff. Nothing exotic, but she had a “brown thumb” as she put it. Able to coax many difficult things to grow. A new yard bird too. Given where I live I can understand never having it before. Tree Swallow, high over the trees.

A little later, I am cooking on the patio. Everything is covered in the grill and I am just having a look and listen. I am enjoying the song of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Really appreciating the musicality of it, when a very odd thing happens. A Wood Thrush, lands on a low branch of a large maple near me. Perhaps 15 feet away. This in itself is odd, because I have never seen a Wood Thrush so close to the edge of the woods. Not here. Then something even stranger. The Wood Thrush throws itself at the trunk of the tree, then a second time, and a third. Each time making a noticeable impact. After each hit it perches on the branch and looks at me. I take a step closer and if flies off deeper into the woods. I have no idea what that was about. To me it looked like the bird was attempting to fly through the tree trunk. And what was it doing way up here by the house?

May 12, 2007 IMBD Hordes at Magee

2007-05-14T04:42:00.000-07:00

This is as bad as it gets on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh. My 2004 study showed that at peak usage between 800 and 900 were on the boardwalk. I would estimate around 800 today. This was the longest and heaviest knot I saw.

The temperature was cool and the birds were up high making viewing difficult, and mis-identification common.

Winds out of the north kept both variety and numbers down. Tuesday May 15, should be spectacular anywhere along the lake.

May 12, 2007

2007-05-14T04:40:00.000-07:00

We are fortunate here on the shores of Lake Erie to have some of the great birding spots in the entire world. Point Pelee, Lake Eire Metropark, Presque Isle, Mentor Headlands and the Magee Marsh wildlife area- Ottawa NWR complex. During spring and fall migration these areas offer fabulous birding.

We left for Magee-Ottawa at 5:30 am. Before getting into our vehicle it was great to hear so many Junco’s singing. 2 hours later we pulled into Magee. I am always thrilled and amazed at the sound one hears getting out of the car at the Boardwalk parking area in May. It is beautiful and unlike anything I hear elsewhere. A concentration of bird song unrivaled anywhere.

The winds are out of the north and the weather is cool. Yet just into the boardwalk we find a Blackburnian, a Nashville and a Magnolia. By the end of the day we will have tallied 23 species of Warblers and little else. The day was interesting but for me there was something missing.

I am a birder, not a bird watcher. The main difference between the 2 is that birders keep lists. Life lists, day lists, year lists, state lists, yard lists. Birders however, are not tickers. A ticker is someone who ticks off species. A ticker sees but often leaves the identification to someone else. They don’t always make the connection between seeing and identifying for themselves. A bird watcher does not care much about lists. They might keep a life list, but nothing else. They are there in part for the spectacle and not the sport. For a birder, while there is still joy in seeing every bird, once a species is on the list it is time lo look for something new. Once the possibilities of an area are exhausted it is time to move on to somewhere new. For a birder the maximum diversity holds the most fascination. What was missing for me today was the sport. It took us over 4 hours to walk the boardwalk up and back once. Part of the reason was the 800 or so people there, part of the reason was running into old friends, part of the problem was the nature of the day itself.

Magee now attracts a lot of people. Based upon my 2004 study, under favorable conditions about 1200 people visit the boardwalk on a May weekend day like this. For me this makes birding less fun and more difficult. The things I find most difficult are the lack of good information, and the inability to talk openly about birds. With so many people collecting warblers, one cannot mention a species without raising the question where? from expectant faces. So for instance, when I spotted a Blue-winged Warbler, unusual today, I didn’t say anything. I made a mental note, rather than calling the bird and having to get a hundred eyes on this individual. When someone called a Pine, a very good bird for Magee in May, and when we looked at the bird and saw a female Blackpoll, we just whispered among ourselves and moved on.

It is fun seeing people you have not seen for a while. More disconcerting is when someone knows you and you have absolutely no clue how or why.

But to see other birders you know and trust, the talk can be pure joy. Around 5:30 pm I was talking with Jenn Blumfield, about the report of a Connecticut Warbler, late in the day. She practically had me in stitches with her possible explanations for this sighting so late in the afternoon, and on an exceptionally early date based upon historical data. Why it was suddenly found after most people had left, on a day when there was little or no migratory movement by Warblers. Peterjohn confirms our observation: “The first migrants normally appear around May 15... Connecticuts are rare to uncommon along Lake Erie”

Another phenomena at Magee-Ottawa is the celebrity birder. These are authors, artists and marketers who have a degree of fame in birding circles. Some for their knowledge, some for their ability to communicate, others because they have done very well attaching their name to the work of others, and are very good at selling their product. I have no use for celebrity. To me are just other people. I may respect or admire the person’s work, but this is based upon the work itself, and not how much attention it has attracted or how good they are at promoting themselves. Unfortunately the bird world is not a pure meritocracy.

The funniest thing that happened was on the Ottawa driving tour. We could repeatedly hear an American Bittern. It sounded as if it was perhaps 15 -20 feet away but we could not see it. Eventually we spread out, and when we again heard the bird, and now all thought it was in a different place we realized we were in trouble. Some people were on a dike about 50 yards away. I asked them what they were looking at? American Bittern, they said pointing way out into the impoundment. The Bittern was actually about 80 yards away from where we were looking. Such is the nature of the Bittern’s “unka Unk” song.

What I find both amazing and encouraging about Magee is how quiet so many people can be. It is wonderful. Sure there are occasional loud voices, but people quickly catch themselves and again quiet down.

May 11, 2007

2007-05-14T04:39:00.000-07:00

There are three qualities all serious birders have. The first is optimism. It takes optimism to go out in the field not certain of what you will see. A birder needs optimism because without optimism why not just stay home? The second quality is integrity. A birder must be honest with themselves and with others. Like a golfer who is not honest about their score, a birder who has intentionally lied or stretched a report can never be trusted. The third is the willingness to get up early. Passerines or song birds are active in the morning and in general the morning is the best time to find them. A birder who likes to sleep in will not see as many birds, nor will they be able to make it to a desired field location until after the peak of activity is past.

Tomorrow is International Migratory Bird Day. I will be going with my friends Dan and Carol to one of the great birding spots in the world. The boardwalk at Magee Marsh. I could see the same variety of birds here in Lake County, maybe more. But Magee is an Island of forest in a sea of wetland and water. It concentrates migrating birds and provides for spectacular viewing. It is a natural aviary, where on a good day you can see 28 or so warbler species and over 100 species total. On a great day you not only see a variety of species, but the numbers of individuals concentrated in that small area can be quite impressive.

Twenty years ago Magee Marsh was not on the radar of birders outside of Ohio. There was no boardwalk, and on a may weekend you might find 50 or so birders on the dirt trails. But those 50 people were dedicated, serious, and good birders. Today around1000 people visit the boardwalk on a weekend day in May. Of those less than 50 will be dedicated, serious, good birders. the kind of people you can really trust. In this case the others are not dishonest as just unskilled and inexperienced. They are there for the annual show. The chances I will get a new bird, a lifer or a state bird tomorrow are very low. more than 1 in 500. But one never knows Still one always has to be careful and honest about what one observes. The mental game of birding is that you begin to understand how rare rarities are. You start to try to talk yourself out of your own observation or you let someone else do it. Without a picture you only have your own skill as an observer and your own integrity. Otherwise the person you ultimately fool is yourself.

There was no time for much this evening. I am fixing breakfast for my friends in the morning. They will be here at 5 am and we will be on the road at 5:30. I needed to do some cooking tonight so I could get up at 4:30 and not 4. The green of the forest beckoned. The rapid musical songs of the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks try to draw me outside. The Hermit Thrush song says come see me, one last time before I move north. But I will get up early, fix breakfast and be on the road so we can be on the boardwalk by 7:30. Not especially early but not late either. It will be cool and partly cloudy if the foreguesst is to be believed. Still I know I will see birds tomorrow. My optimism makes the sacrifice of getting up an hour early worth it , no matter what we end up seeing.

May 10, 2007

2007-05-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

Another beauty day. What a string and what a lovely spring after the cold snap ended. Some days there is just too much to do and today is one of them. I wish I could hike but only had time to walk around the yard.

Mr. Piliated clucked at me as I walked around the back yard picking daffodils. He watched me for a while then went back to working on the maple. The ferns are large and almost fully extended from their coils. The lilacs are in full bloom. Bees are all over the flowers and their buzzing is the overwhelming sound as I take a cutting.

The feeders are getting a steady business. Especially male juncos and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Such a beautiful day. So lush and green. The leaves are out to the point where I can no longer see far into the woods. This has just happened today. The leaves sill have their yellow freshness. They are not the darker green of summer.

May 9, 2007

2007-05-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

Another cloudy day in Cleveland. I am being sarcastic of course. Even though it is technically cloudy the shadows are sharp and the sun is bright. There was little of note on my hike except a dragonfly along the ledges. An odd place for a dragonfly. I did not get a good look except to see it was small, around 2 inches and had a pattern on the segments of its’ abdomen. Not a darner because it did not have a pinched waist.

This morning I found a dead Chickadee on the walk near the feeder in front. Something had killed and eaten the little bird. It was not dismembered as a cat would do, and just the breast was consumed. I suspect the Shrew or a Weasel.

I left the carcass near the site as a warning for the other birds to take care.

May 8, 2007

2007-05-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

A lovely warm day. 81° and “partly cloudy”. The warm sun feels good. No change in flora since yesterday. Just more green. In the woods both Hermit and Wood Thrush. Above me a Piliated pecks a tree and makes a sound like a hatchet in the wood. They can take huge chunks out of good wood. Splinters 4 inches long. The Pilated looks at me then goes back to work on the tree. I must be just another local from his perspective. Nothing to worry about.

On the summit there are few people. Odd for such a beauty day. Hooded Warblers in 2 places. I had them on Saturday in Stebbin’s. Near the lookout “chureeep!” Great Crested Flycatcher, a bird who’s’ common name spelling, defies the convention. I hear a second from the lookout itself.

A hazy day. Downtown is barely discernable so visibility is just 18 miles. The lake and horizon are lost in the haze.

A Mallard in the pond below, but no geese. I wonder about the Sharpies. I have seen no sign of them for a week. Have they moved north or are they just being less visible because they are on their nest?

May 7, 2007

2007-05-09T04:23:00.000-07:00

Partly cloudy days here along the north coast can range from what the description implies, to days like today, where the only clouds are high and sparse. The sky is essentially blue and the sun blazes with full intensity. But there are clouds visible so it is chalked up as another cloudy day in Cleveland.

The day is warm and the leaves in the understory are 70% out. The canopy is only about 25% leading to an interesting brightness in the understory.

While my yard is full of birds, going though the wood the activity diminishes. I hear both Hermit and Wood Thrush. Interesting to be able to compare their songs in the field. Hermit Thrush is a rare nester in the area so it is good to be intimately familiar with this song.

From the lookout visibility is around 25 miles. The lake is a deep blue and the forest on the lake plain is increasingly green. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks sing in the trees below. The first Gray Tree Frog I have heard this year adds its’ odd trill.

I notice a yellow brown line in the air along the lake shore. The wind must be out of the east. The coal fired Eastlake power plant, is pumping out sulfur dioxide, mercury, and fine particulates, not to mention carbon dioxide. It is ugly and obvious.

For some reason we Americans are literally paranoid about things that have little chance of hurting us, but ignore things that will do us harm on a daily basis.

Liquid metallic Mercury, has very low dermal and oral toxicity. Yet we want evacuate school and call in the haz mat crews if someone breaks a mercury thermometer. However, the mercury vapor coming out of coal fired power plant is highly toxic. Those compounds are readily absorbed in the lungs.

Nuclear power is another example. Three Mile Island should have been cited as an example of the safety of nuclear power as implemented in the world outside the former Soviet Union. In the case of TMI, the worst possible catastrophe happened. A melt down of the core (partial meltdown, because it turns out total meltdown is difficult to achieve) Yet despite this worst possible scenario, no one died. No one was seriously injured. Think if we were to hold the airline industry to the same standard. What about the spent fuel? The best thing to do would be to recycle it. If we don’t want to do that, you can put it in my back yard. I don’t want all of it. To me the problem is keeping it concentrated. Disperse it, and many problems become minor, or manageable, or go away. I’ll take one fuel pellet every 10 years or so. Imbed it in a concrete brick and ill bury it in a marked location, right in my back yard. Am I worried about the radiation? No. I get more just being in the plume of a coal fired plant for an hour or so. This is because of the Radon gas in the coal. The Radon exposes me to more radiation than I would get from a few fuel pellets buried in my back yard for a decade.

May 6, 2007

2007-05-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

A cool sunny day. My walk at Holden was nice. No Phoebe in any of the historic locations. Bole woods had a good variety of Warblers. 15 in all. Having few leaves out makes it much easier to see the birds. Nothing exceptional, noteworthy or unexpected. It is interesting that we did not have any Juncos at the Arboretum. Here at home they are all over the yard.

It is fun to see the new arrivals each year. Like getting reacquainted with old friends.

The Holden Arboretum used to be a better birding location, but something changed in Corning Lake which is the body of water that feeds most of the other ponds. As a result of this change there are fewer ducks and waterfowl. Also the central gardens of the Arboretum have been tidied up. While a manicured garden may look pretty, it is a very low diversity environment. Birds like bugs and scrub. Places they can hide. They like untidy areas and there used to be more of these at Holden. At times the Arboretum has gone nuts clearing undergrowth and “non native” plants. The result may be pleasing to some, but the elimination of these habitats has resulted in the loss of certain birds. For instance, at one time Blue-winged Warbler was an expected nesting species. But all the honeysuckle was eliminated and now that species is largely absent except as a migrant.

On the other hand some areas of the arboretum away from the central garden are being allowed to go more natural. This should eventually provide better overall habitat.

I am going to cut my grass for the first time this year today. I wish my neighbors would not apply fertilizers, weed killers or pesticides. These wash into the watershed, and create all sorts of associated problems. The likelihood of my voice winning over the advertising of the yard chemical industry are zilch. There is no money to be made not selling yard chemicals.

Personally I would like to have at least one section of my yard as a prairie. Tall grasses and forbs. Full of bugs and birds.

Late afternoon brings a new yard bird. Yellow-throated Warbler. Yard bird number 98. Not bad given the habitat. Of course my yard list covers all of Gildersleeve Mountain, but I don’t think there are more than 5 species I have not actually seen from my yard.

May 5, 2007

2007-05-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

The Barred Owls were talking it up last night. Quite far away though. This morning I heard my first Wood Thrush of the year. It was doing the dripdripdripdrip call in the back yard. I had my first walk of the year in Stebbin’s Gulch today. It started later in the hope of finding more dragonflies and perhaps attracting more people. The dragonfly strategy worked but not the people one. Only 4 people were signed up for the walk.

I was warned the gulch was slippery. Boy was it ever. I have been doing walks in the gulch since 1973 and cannot recall it ever being that slick. The usual rule is it is slippery in the areas that look dry and good footing can be found where it is wet. This is because the running water keeps the plants from getting slimy as they do when they start to dry. Today was a paradigm shift. The dry offered better footing. Still I slipped and fell inadvertently while stalking a dragon with a net. Going up the Berea sandstone falls I lost my footing and it was like a waterslide. Fun actually. But I had to get a group up the falls. We ended up using gravel and dirt. Putting little bits of it down where we were going to step. What an adventure.

Many changes in the gulch since last year. It is one of the few places where you can see the forces of erosion working from year to year. This winter and spring has made a lot of changes. Fewer trees to scramble over. They have been washed out. Rocks moved. It is very interesting to think how much this place has changed in my lifetime..

The birds were pretty good. Winter Wren singing in several places. We also had a good look in one location. The Winter Wren has the prettiest song of any of its tribe. A drawn out musical trill. We also had Blackburnian, Canada, Hooded, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Nashville Warblers. Great looks at Louisiana Waterthrush, Blue-Headed Vireo, Dark-eyed Junco, and a Phoebe! Yippie! of course the Gulch is lower so the Phoebes may be OK at that elevation.

Nice wildflowers including Red Trillium, and Broad-Leaved toothwort(?)

The only two dragons were Common Green Darner , and Gray Petaltail. I failed miserably at catching either. Larry would laugh. I am out of practice.

As I write Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Goldfinches on the feeder. A male Black and White Warbler works the maple outside my window. A beautiful afternoon.

May 5, 2007 Morning Light

2007-05-07T04:17:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to capture the beauty of the forest with a camera. I have tried many times with little success. This image seems to work pretty well.

It is from the second level of the house, across the creek and north along the rising slope.

May 4, 2007

2007-05-07T04:16:00.000-07:00

Another day that is just beauty. What a wonderful string of lovely days. Yet I have not been able to enjoy them. Work and the realities of daily living intervene. Going shopping, preparing to have friends over, all take time. There is only so much daylight and no one has unlimited energy.

Bird activity is at a lull. No movement, no activity at the feeders as I write. I wonder why? There is no singing either. It is silent except for the sounds of human activity. I suspect a cat. Earlier I saw a flat faced, tom, orange, tabby, with the ears of a feral fighter. When I stared at him he beat a quick retreat.

When I go out front there is only a Brown-headed Cowbird high in a Oak in the next yard. The House Finches see me come out and stir from the spruces. Along the side of the house the Bluebirds serenade. In back it is very still. Then a few White-throated Sparrows venture out. A Red-bellied Woodpecker calls. Some quick movement to one of the feeders.

No sign of the cat. If I see it again I will get out the trap and take it to the humane society.

While I love all life, I have no qualms about removing exotics from the environment. The introduced species, plant or animal do tremendous harm when they are able to adapt to a new environment.

In North America, 3 introduced bird species have wreaked havoc. The House Sparrow, European Starling, and Mute Swan. For some reason House Sparrows are in decline here, away from the more urban environment. Starlings are also not doing as well. Perhaps the native species are adapting to their presence after more than 100 years. Perhaps the natives are learning to compete and strike back. We are not so fortunate with Mute Swans. They are increasing alarmingly and driving native waterfowl out.

Cats are another matter. Both feral and domestic cats outside kill countless birds each year.

May 3, 2007

2007-05-07T04:15:00.001-07:00

Another beauty spring day. I feel as if I am repeating myself. No time today. Appointment after work and then other obligations do not allow me enough time to do anything other than walk around the yard.

The Daffodils are beautiful. There are so many different varieties. I think the varieties are due to hybridization. There must be at least 10 different types.

The Bluebirds are nesting iin the hole in the siding. At least for now. That is where they hang out. The Bluebird boxes are empty. I will have to watch for a Wren going into one of the boxes. The location the Bluebirds have chosen is between two boxes. If a House Wren chooses one of the boxes it will be trouble because the Bluebirds will be too close to the House Wren and the wren will not tolerate them. This means I will have to make two of the other boxes unusable . I would like to see a Chickadees in one but that may not happen now.

May 2, 2007

2007-05-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

This morning before leaving I went out and had a listen. The usual cast, with the addition of the Hermit Thrush and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

After work partly cloudy and low 60’s. The clouds are high stratus. Climbing to the summit I can really feel the additional 10 pounds I put in my pack earlier in the week. An incremental increase in the green, most noticeable on the forest floor. It is very clear. Visibility is better than 50 miles as the power plant at Avon is obvious with detail visible.

On the summit I saw my first dragonfly of the season. A large teneral of some sort. I could not get a good look as it moved though the sun and shadows near the lookout.

May 1, 2007

2007-05-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

Around mid day an email announcing a Piping Plover on the beach at Headlands. That is a good bird so I will try for it after work even though I have seen it before in the region.

At the lake, the temperature drops rapidly and the wind picks up as I work though the dunes and closer to the water. It is getting increasingly cloudy, a front is coming through. The bird is not where it was reported. I wander toward the light house, and check the harbor for ducks. A few divers out aways. I’ll give the Plover one more try. Walking back to where it was seen. There is rain over the lake and the northeast wind is making mare’s tails. Curving almost 90 degrees before it reaches the water. I see Anders and Don. Of course Anders has already seen the bird. He sent the email. We spend about half an hour looking but no bird. Coming back though the dunes a Wilson’s Snipe flushes but quickly settles again. It is really quite cold.

At home after dinner I am visiting with a friend when a Warbler hits the window in the living room. Not a hard hit, just enough to get my attention. I can tell it was a warbler by the tail as it flies into the corner by the garage. We go outside to investigate. Sure enough a lovely female Black and White Warbler is clinging to the sandstone facade. She looks tired. The front has probably knocked her down. I catch her. Really just a matter of walking up to her and gently putting my fingers around her. She protests for a second but is quickly calm. The warmth of my hand probably feels good. She closes her eyes and dozes.

I had made fried rice for dinner so we retrieve a little scrambled egg from the rice in the hope the Warbler might eat it. I stoke her breast and belly and she does the relaxed on her back thing, so typical of small passerines in the hand.

She has no interest in the egg, nor in leaving the warmth of my hand. She clings to my finger. I finally manage to get her to move into an arborvitae.

A storm is brewing. The sky is swirling. Interesting patterns of round holes in the clouds and wind shear moving clouds in opposite directions. There is thunder and lightning, just a few drops of rain. 15 minutes later the front passes and things calm down. I took pictures of the sky but not the bird. I guess making sure the bird is OK precludes any interest I might have in getting a picture.

May 1, 2007 Brewing Storm

2007-05-03T04:10:00.000-07:00

As a front passed through the swirling sky was fascinating. This hole in the clouds looks like a fractal. It reminds me of the Mandelbrot set.

There was thunder and lightning but just a few drops of rain.

April 30, 2007

2007-05-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

Another beauty day. 2 in a row here is nothing short of a gift. I can see the clouds coming in from the west from the look out. It is very clear. Visibility over 30 miles.The forest out to the lake is noticeably green. The lake reflects blue sky and white clouds. An ore boat heads west almost on the horizon. A Yellow-rumped Warbler hangs around in a tree at the edge of the ledges. A Turkey Vulture turns soars in big circles out a quarter mile away.

Coming back through the woods I hear a Hermit Thrush. I do not see anything . Too much noise. Lawn mowers, blaring music, barking dogs. We are such a noisy species.

In my yard a Piliated swoops over and lands on a tree 10 yards away. In a moment it flies to the base of another tree next to my patio, still just as close to me. It is Mrs. Piliated. She begins to strip bark from the tree then pecks at the punky wood, finding good things to eat. Mr. Piliated flies in and lands on the same tree. He hangs around for a minute or so then heads back into the woods. Mrs. is intent on eating. Not paying attention to me. I move slowly and quietly. My arms crossed on my chest, not looking directly at the bird. Soon, I halve the distance. 15 feet then 10. Still she pays me no heed. The neighbor women are having a huge fight. Lots of yelling and swearing and threats of calling the police. Mr. Piliated begins calling from the distance. A rising: “kack-kack-kack-kack-kack-kack” repeated several times. She moves up the tree but still does not see me as any sort of threat. I am not. My mind is quiet. I am so close I can see her tongue flick into the holes, pulling out food. Now I am 7 feet away and sitting on a chair. She continues to feed. I watch for a while not thinking, just enjoying being so close to this usually wary bird.

I wonder about the time, I have things to do. The spell is broken my mind no longer quiet. She sees me and climbs high in the tree. I withdraw and quietly go inside. I look out the window she flies off in the direction of the male.

April 29, 2007

2007-04-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

In the wee hours I got up to check the front feeder. My deterrent did not work as the Raccoon was on it. I see it is a small animal, and it clings to the pole, using its’ forearms to keep the tilt mechanism open while it sticks its tongue into the opening to get the seed. So much for the red pepper.

The Raccoon does not notice me. I have not turned on any lights. It has a sense something is not right because it turns around and looks occasionally. Either it cannot see me or does not care. I am less than 2 feet away and this animal is practically oblivious. Quietly I open the window. I get a few more glances. I think it smells me, but is still basically ignoring me as I make small stealthy moves. From less than a foot away I yell a sharp GET! in the Raccoons ear. OK, so now I’ve scared the bejesus out of it, and it drops, runs in a couple of circles and takes off about as fast as a Raccoon can go.

In the morning I take the habanero and bacon grease concoction from the bottom of the pole, where it was untouched, and slather it onto the upper pole where the Raccoon clings. We will see if that works.

It is another beauty spring day. Clear and in the high 60s Several new arrivals during my walk at the Arboretum. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Blue-headed Vireo,Yellow Warbler. No Phoebe in any of the usual places. We had 2 shorebirds other than Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs. The Arboretum does not offer particularly good shorebird habitat, so both were a surprise although not all that unusual at the Arboretum. 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks went over almost in formation. Behaving like migrants not locals. While Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are now obvious in my yard, just 2.8 miles away we did not see and only heard one during the entire walk.

Everyone got very nice looks at a Piliated Woodpecker. For some people a Piliated is not a bird they get to study very often. Inevitably the question of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, came up. I know a bit about science. It is a wonderful tool. In science it is difficult to conclusively prove anything based upon observation alone. Unless one can create a repeatable experiment, conclusions about negatives are difficult indeed.

From my perspective, the question and problem of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is less one of evidence than ego and reputation. Plus the debasement of scientific principals in the service of those vices. A number of ornithologists have their names on books and papers that declare the Ivory-billed Woodpecker to be extinct. From their shallow perspective the worst thing that could happen would to be wrong rather than for anyone to gather conclusive evidence to the contrary.

On the other hand there is a evidence the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has survived. numerous sight records by competent observers, even a photograph, and now the audio and video recordings.

Those with the vested interest in the Ivory-bill not having survived say the sight records are mistaken identity, the photo is a fake, the audio is really gunshots, and the video is a Piliated Woodpecker.

If one of the basic tenants of non experimental science is you cannot prove an negative, why are these people so intent on refuting every bit of evidence?

I would speculate that if you handed one of the skeptics a fresh specimen, still warm and bloody, they would declare you had just handed them the last Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

To me it seems like they are stretching way too far. In the case of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker there is no conclusive test that can be devised to prove the negative. So instead these people resort to attacking every bit if evidence for the positive. Again: Why?

I do not know if there still are Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. To me there is evidence to suggest there are, but it is not absolutely conclusive. I do know this: Birds that do not want to be found are tough if not impossible to find. The Piliated Woodpecker, though fairly common and very large is somewhat shy and reclusive in the northern woods. Casual and unobservant bird watchers do not see them often, and for a skilled observer the chance to study this species in detail without a hide is rare. They are very good at staying on the opposite side of the tree from the watcher. I have had far better luck photographing small fast moving warblers than the Piliated. A rare and wary bird would be difficult or almost impossible to find indeed, especially if it has adapted to changes in the environment and no longer obeys the previous rules.

Science is not infallible. Technique and observation sometimes change theory. Clovis first, our lack of a theory of smell, the change in attitudes toward animal behavior and intelligence, are all examples of our human fallibility in spite of using our best tool.

April 28, 2007 pictures

2007-04-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

April 28, 2007

2007-04-30T04:23:00.000-07:00

I did not go to the lake. It is cool and wet. 44° here, probably warmer along the lake, but raining on and off. In the cloudy early light, I see a lot of movement on the ground. White-throated Sparrows. My first of the season. 18 by a quick count Some the very bright morph and others the more subdued.

I went out to walk around and listen. Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Juncos, Chickadees, Bluebirds, Robins, the Piliated, Downy and Red Bellied. The Nuthatch going “digit digit” and the White-throated Sparrows “toooo we we wee”

I never really got the attachment of English language phrases to bird songs. The White-throated Sparrow supposedly goes: “poor Sam Peabody Peabody”. That is a real stretch for me, as are most of these attempts at Anglicizing bird songs.

Still notable by its’ absence, the Phoebe. Since seeing the single individual a week ago, no further sign. I really fear the cold snap may have devastated their population here on the higher elevations.

As I write, I spy a black, white, and rose red. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, another first for the season. Soon Mrs. Rose-breasted Grosbeak is on the feeder. Studying me as she eats. Mr., joins her. She is physically bigger than he by about 10%. He is not eating, just hanging out with her. Now that they are here, the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks will be common visitors to the feeders until they leave in September

Back a ways, a Gray Squirrel is higher in a tree than they usually venture. A Blue Jay dives straight down on the Squirrel. The Blue Jay must have a nest up there.

From the same direction a Chickadee making a sortie to a feeder. It comes in from a good 100 yards out, in a fast, shallow, dive. Not stopping, through the branches, right onto the feeder.

Who needs television when you have a show like this?

I was cleaning up by the back door and found two more feathers from the Sharp-shinned Hawk. P1 and P2 so the Sharpie lost the first 3 primaries of the right wing in its’ run on the feeder.

The feeder in front is empty. No seed. My earlier effort to deter the Raccoon was unsuccessful. A Chickadee sees me as I walk by. It lets me know the feeder is empty in the usual way. Banging the window then flying to the feeder. OK, I will try plan B. Before I refill the feeder I spread habanero chili sauce inside the feeder where the Raccoon will get it on its’ little hand. I mix red pepper into the sunflower seed. The birds don’t seem to be effected by the picante' capsicum. I know the Raccoon will react to the pepper like a bear. Some ground habanero mixed with bacon grease bait the bottom of the pole and will complete the deterrent.

Raccoons are undesirables around the house in this area. They are potentially rabid and the state division of wildlife has been spreading vaccine packets for several years in Lake County. Raccoons do not have an agreeable demeanor to begin with. They are aggressive and quickly learn to associate humans as a source of food.

As I am putting out the bacon grease mixture, a small, gray furred, animal with a pointed nose darts out to grab a seed. A Short tailed Shrew. Common but seldom seen. Shrews are fast moving and vicious. They will kill and eat animals larger than they are. Humans are a bit out of their league though, so I am not worried.

Once the rain stops I take a walk. I have not seen the Red-tailed Hawks for a while, so I decided to go look at their nest. It is along an area that was selectively cut in 2006. The logging left most of the Beech trees and any trees under 12 inches in diameter. This area should be interesting over the next few years as the new growth springs up in the new sunny areas. I am surprised to see the large areas of grass. I find a pile of sugaring buckets. The loggers must have put all they found here. Not one is serviceable. Perhaps none were, or perhaps the loggers took the ones still in good shape.

The reason I have not seen the Red-tails is because they have abandoned their nest. In the cut area I find Hermit Thrush, Northern Flicker, and Tufted Titmouse. A Titmouse flies to a branch above me and does the feed me, fluttering of wings. I wonder if this bird recognizes me?

The Red-tail calls to the north and flies a big low semi circle staying about 200 yards away. It lands in a tree to the south. Maybe they have a new nest? I search about 30 acres but have no luck locating it.

In the course of my search I disturb 6 White-tailed Deer who were loafing in the area. They don’t like having to get up and snort with displeasure.

Climbing to the summit of Gildersleeve Mountain I find white trillium in bloom. ferns are uncurling in the ledges. There are quite a few people so little bird activity. By the time I reach the look out the forecasted clearing is beginning. I can see shadows and the sun works through the clouds. Visibility is about 15 miles. Downtown is visible but only as a silhouette through the haze.

The Sharpie comes soaring by. There is wind out of the northwest creating ridge lift. A Great Blue Heron flies southwest about half a mile away.

With the clearing skies the temperature is rising rapidly. in the 2 and 1/2 hours I was outside the temperature has risen 10 °. An interesting day. While the lake might have offered more variety, there was plenty here to keep me occupied

April 27, 2007

2007-04-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

Cool cloudy and light rain. I don’t have time to do anything except a quick tour around the yard and a little jaunt into the woods. Little change since yesterday. I continue to be amazed at how many birds are in the back yard, versus anywhere else around. At any moment there are 25 to 30 birds in the half acre of the back yard. They change over about every 15 minutes. Goldfinches, then Chickadees, Titmice and Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers in pairs and threes. Red-bellied Woodpeckers too. Cardinals and Juncos are heard often but seen less. Song and Chipping Sparrows stay low. House Finches are sticking to the Spruce trees in the front.

When I was a boy I found great entertainment in watching the feeder. Watching the turn over has always been interesting. To do that you need to recognize individuals. In “Kingbird Highway” Kenn Kauffman often talks about birding an area to a point of seeing the same individuals again and again. A discerning person can learn to recognize individual birds, and watching the turn over is a matter of learning to recognize individuals. This way you notice when one mixed flock move in and another moves on. The Chickadees who were here ten minutes ago are not the same ones who are here now. Sometimes you can tell by differences in feathers, the shape of the tail, the line of the cap or bib. Sometimes by the company they keep. One flock has a several Nuthatches, another has a pair of House Finches.

Birds must be very visual and spatial thinkers. Their world is more 3 dimensional than ours, in they make more use of the vertical axis than we humans do. I wonder how they use the 4th dimension. Their perception of time. We humans seem to put a lot of our awareness into that dimension. I wonder how bird use it?

April 26,2007

2007-04-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for work this morning I heard a bird hit the window in the library, Before I can investigate another hit! It is my habit to investigate any time I hear a bird hit a window. I will attempt to save any injured bird, or study any specimen. As I said earlier I have yet to find a dead bird since I quit being fastidious about cleaning my windows. I look out the large dining room window, then open one of the side windows to look at the ground below the library. Looking left I see the Barred Owl in the tree about 30 feet away. So, that is what the guys are upset about. They don’t like having an Owl in the yard now that it is getting light. It doesn’t matter that the Barred Owl does not make a habit of dining on birds. Frogs, snakes, small mammals, are its’ preference, although given the opportunity it will not ignore a feathered meal. The Owl looks at me for a moment, gives a low ”Who who ouw ho”, and flies off.

Heavy rain today but it warmed up considerably. 61° when I started my after work walk. Everything is soaked and there are large puddles everywhere. The creek is running fast and leopard frogs hop in as I cross the bridge.

The woods are completely different. No longer gray and brown there is an even spackle of light green everywhere. The leaves are working their way out of the buds. New herbaceous plants are poking through the dead leaves on the forest floor. Solomon’s Seal, Solomon’s Plume, Jack in the Pulpit, and Trillium are the ones I recognize.

I have the summit to myself today. It is cloudy, and the air is still heavy from the rain. What a difference being here by myself makes. Chickadees are calling “fee bee” A pair of Piliateds are clucking to each other on the other side of the summit.

From the lookout I can barely see the horizon. Visibility is just over 25 miles. It is clearing over downtown Cleveland to the west., but directly to the north it is hazy and still quite dark.

Here the Piliateds I have been listening to are close by. They are in the Hemlocks and Maples along the north west ledges. They fly from tree to tree, on some business I don’t understand. They stick to a small area, perhaps 50 yards across. Clucking back and fourth but not getting close to each other. I am able to observe this from fairly close, only about 20 yards away. They seem oblivious to my presence.

A little bit along, about 10 feet up in a tree, next to the trail, Mrs. Sharpie! I did not notice her until I was almost past her. We look at each other without making eye contact. If I make eye contact she will take off. But by looking with my peripheral vision, not quite right at her, I can study her in detail. She is studying me in the same manner, not looking right at me. We are ignoring each other while intently aware of each other. A paradox if there ever was one. I have no idea how long we gaze. A minute, maybe 2. Then she suddenly takes off and flies into the deep woods. I realize why. A young girl’s voice and the murmur of adults. They are climbing to the summit. I am no longer the only human here.

Back in my yard I see my pervious prognostication of the demise of the Daffodil bloom is premature. With the warm and wet, new flowers are everywhere.

There is a woodpecker hole, in the siding below a kitchen window. I did not patch this in the fall because the Bluebirds were using the cavity as a communal roost. Mrs. Bluebird flies out this hole as I approach the house. I wonder if they will nest there instead of one of the 2 boxes I provide? I guess I had better not repair the hole. I don’t mind sharing my house with Bluebirds.

Tomorrow will probably be a good day along the lake. I have to work, but Ray, Jerry, and Jim are sure to find good birds. This weather pattern will bring in lots of new migrants. If the same pattern holds I will go there Saturday morning. Probably to hear: "you should have been here yesterday". Oh well.

April 25, 2007

2007-04-26T04:08:00.000-07:00

Rainy and chiily. Only 48 degrees. Still it looks like spring. The amount of new green is very noticable in just one day. The trees are turning green at their tips as the buds and leaves begin to pop. The daffodils are close to the end of bloom. Few of their flowers are in good shape. Many are wilted and drooping in the cold and wet.

The birds are really going at the feeders. The maple outside my window has more than 10 bright yellow Goldfinches flecked in the branch. They move on and the Chickadees come in. Moving fast. Not staging. Waiting a way out then diving in from on high. Opening their wings at intevals to adjust their trajectory and put on the brakes. They grab a seed and are gone.

April 24, 2007

2007-04-26T04:03:00.000-07:00

How can any spring day be anything but glorious? Especially here, were winter can be long and hard. 61° and a beautiful clear azure sky. After crossing the creek I scare up some Hermit Thrushes. They forage on the ground, but when disturbed they will fly up to a branch 2 to 6 feet off the forest floor, sitting still. If you approach too close they fly off.

More wild flowers in bloom. Additional dog-tooth violets, blue bells. Purple and yellow violets. New may apples are coming up too.

Lots of people on the trail. The parking area was full, with more cars parking along the turn around. Everyone is friendly and smiling. A day like today does that. Our normally reserved Great Lakes demeanor takes a break and everyone smiles, says hello and may even offer another a word or two. For someone from this part of the country encountering someone they don’t know, then get the word hi out of their throat is pushing the limit of customary behavior, to say hello and offer another word is astoundingly outgoing. I guess a beauty spring day will do that to people.

Visibility was about 30 miles with a little haze. Details not visible in the distance. Some thin clouds over the lake reflect as a sliver line.

In the seep fed ponds of the old quarry, some Canada Geese. Not noisy like those in more public places. Just 2, each in separate ponds. A Junco sings its’ tinkerbell song down below. Such a pretty sound.

Coming back through the woods, I disturb the Hermit Thrushes in the same place. 4 this time, all within a 25 yard circle. I am close to home so I grabbed my camera and went back to try to get a picture of a Hermit Thrush. Now they are being shy. Back in my yard a Chickadee wants to have its’ picture taken so I oblige.

April 23, 2007

2007-04-26T04:02:00.000-07:00

Warm but thrunderstorms after I got home kept me inside. Closer to the lake leaves are beginning to show. Here on the higher elevation the buds are starting to show. With the thunderstorm the bird activity is low.

April 22, 2007

2007-04-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

Earth Day, and a beautiful day it is. The high was 81° and the sky was clear all day. a beautiful warm day.

I wore a coat and tie for my bird walk at the Arboretum this morning. To honor the old bird walk leaders from back in the 1930’s and 40’s when such attire was the norm.

The walk was very good. 16 participants. More than I have had in a while. A very nice Northern Goshawk flew over and everyone got a nice look. I could not believe it. I kept trying to make it into a Sharp-shinned Hawk, because it was a heavy bodied accipiter, but it was too big and not flying right. Heavy powerful wing beats. Then there was the pale gray chest, the black cap and the supercillium! the first time I have seen that on a Gos. What a great bird. My second spring sighting at the Arboretum in the past 4 years. None the less this is an an extremely rare bird. This is only the 9th I have seen in Lake County in all my years of looking at birds. This species has never been photographed in the Cleveland Region. But neither had Golden Eagle until I got a picture in December of 2000. Someday I’ll have a camera handy when I spot a Gos. It took more than 15 years to get a picture of a Golden Eagle. It was fun to discuss that sighting with some of the participants because they wondered why the bird was not Broad-wing or Red-Shouldered? Good questions because a Gos can look a lot like a buteo. What a great bird!

Later in the walk I made a really stupid call. Around Corning lake a bird popped up out of the alder thicket on the edge of the lake. It had a wingspan of about 14 -16 inches light brown with dark wing tips. I could see a long beak and it was trailing its’ legs behind it as it climbed and flew north. I called it a Least Bittern because of the color, size, and dark wing tips. I put it down on the list as such. Well I got home and saw the early record for this species is April 29. I started to think about what I saw. I drew a picture then consulted a field guide. Well, It might have been a juvenile Least Bittern had it been July through October. But an adult Least Bittern would have had a dark pattern on its’ back this bird did not have. Probably a Rail. My experience with flying rails is the same as most birders, almost zero. What was it? I have no idea at this point. What a dumb mistake. At least I recognize and admit it was a mistake. Everyone makes them, but it is amazing how many people wont admit it.

The rest of the walk was productive. We rescued a Song Sparrow from the “Observation Blind”. I heard the distinctive tapping of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Beech knoll and we were able to follow the sound and find the bird. A pair of Hermit Thrushes gave everyone great looks after we pointed them out. Everyone got a lesson on separating Pine Warbler from Chipping Sparrow by voice in the Ponderosa Pine plantings. We first picked them out by sound then followed their songs to actually find them. Pine Warblers are such a pretty yellow green.

I was hoping for 50 species but we ended up with 45. Notably absent were Cedar Waxwing, Dark-eyed Junco, White-Throated Sparrow, and Towhee. Had my friend Roger been able to get a Red-headed Woodpecker for us, we would have maxed the picaformes. But no luck there.

Back at home the Juncos were everywhere in the yard. Up on the summit another beautiful clear day, but little change form yesterday and very few birds in the woods. Lots of people walking so no sign of the Barred Owl.

April 21, 2007

2007-04-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

Another beauty day. My first Chipping Sparrow of the season. The trees and plants are not showing much progress but I found my first blooming Dog-tooth violets. Gorgeous yellow flowers.

Up on the summit of Gildersleeve, the May Apples seem to be recovering, but there is little evidence of budding or leaves anywhere in the woods. Looking out the lake is a pretty blue. It is clear and I can see well beyond downtown. A female Sharpie wings over, a Robin in her talons, she drops into the forest to the northeast. I might watch that area from a rock further along to see if I can actually see the nest.

Coming home I scare up a bird taking a bath in the creek. It pops into a tree and wags its’ tail. The Phoebe! Good. I was listening for it this morning.

In the house I hear a huge helicopter coming. I go out front and a CH-47 comes right over, low. The heavy rapid thumping scares everything. The Bluebird dives into the arborvitae, the Juncos scatter into the low shrubs. As the helo passes and things get quite, the birds come back out.

April 20, 2007

2007-04-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

Beauty again. Sunny clear high 60s. No sign of the Phoebe returning. I hope the ones already here during the cold snap did not all die. Only time will tell. It will be interesting to see if I find Phoebes anywhere over the next week. The Juncos are all over the place. They diminished a bit in the cold, but now they are again the predominant species in the yard. A walk kicks up flashing white outer tail feathers everywhere.

The Raccoon has been getting into the front feeder. It is wired shut, but It is almost empty and the signs of the Raccoon are obvious. One of my solar powered walk lights broken, the feeder spun around and the lid nearly bent. I can see it is possible for it to get a hand and arm into the gap to scoop out seed. I refilled the feeder but wired it tighter and added a C-clamp, grease under the lid completes the discouragement.

I wanted to walk but I ran out of gas today. After eating dinner I felt better, more energetic, but I had started on things around the house. Tomorrow I’ll spend most of the day outside. I have been itching for this weather and need to take advantage of it.

April 19, 2007

2007-04-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunny day. Too bad errands and social obligations prevent me from spending time outside. Lots of bird activity around the feeders but nothing unusual. The Fox Sparrows have undoubtedly moved on. The cold spring has retarded the budding and leaves. Some years the leaves are fully out by Earth Day, just a few days away. This year the trees barely have visible buds.

April 18, 2007

2007-04-18T04:21:00.000-07:00

A noisy night! I woke up around 2 am to the sound of the Barred Owl. Very close. I get up, not turning on any lights. Looking out the window I can see its’ silhouette in the tree against the sky. It flies off. I go back to bed but not back to sleep. Thump!... thump, thump, on the outside back of the house. Flying Squirrels! Things that go bump in the night. Then the sound of a feeder tilting closed. My it is a quiet night. I get up, again not turning on any lights. On a feeder, 2 Southern Flying Squirrels. They are quite small, just bigger than a Chipmunk. I can see their large dark eyes. Their combined weight enough to tilt the mechanism. One drops off and the other is able to get at the seed. Given the number of thumps there must be 4 or 5 individuals. These are seldom seen very nocturnal little critters. Kent and I were just talking about them Sunday after the bird walk. He did a survey of them in Lake County and found them to be surprisingly abundant. Back to sleep.

April 17, 2007

2007-04-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

Partly cloudy, 53° quiet. As I crossed the creek I startled a Piliated Woodpecker. My walk around the summit was quiet, not many people or anything else. No birds or squirrels. From the lookout the lake was light gray and the horizon distinct. Downtown was silhouetted in the afternoon light. A Red-tailed Hawk soared on the ridge lift created by the light wind out of the north. No new plants poking out, the daffodils are beginning to perk up in the warmth.

Coming home I didn’t notice much activity in the yard. More jetsam in the creek from the one house upstream. I wonder if someone actually tried to use the boogie board in the 3 foot wide creek? I think I should put a wire fence across the stream near the property line just to keep the trash from washing down?

In the back yard I was moving quietly and surprise the birds at the feeders when they see me. They don’t usually scatter like that. I just came up too fast and quiet. Sorry.

April 16, 2007

2007-04-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

Windy and in the 40s. Alternating clouds and clear. Whatever the weather forecast it was wrong. It usually is here. You cannot trust a forecast more than 4 hours in advance. There is a nor’easter off the Atlantic coast. It is the source of our wind, but we were not supposed to have as much sun as we had today.

The wind is howling up in the trees and the birds are hunkered down. Occasionally one will dart across the yard or to the feeder.

Being a good observer requires a certain amount of skepticism of your own observations. You can’t always believe what you think you see. A case in point just now. Something flew across the yard about 15 feet high. It was off white and the flight was slow. Like a butterfly, but very straight and direct. It flew cross wind. I have no idea what it was. A lucisitic bird, a piece of paper, a bird carrying nesting material. I have no idea. I went out to look for whatever it was. No sign. Those are the things that get your attention sometimes. You continue to look and eventually you may discover what is was you observed.

April 15, 2007

2007-04-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

More snow. about 4 inches, 33° and overcast. The weather is what it is, and there is no sense in complaining about it. Today was the first of the spring bird walks at the Arboretum. I was running a little late. I like to get there at least 15 minutes before the start to open the gate and I wasn’t going to be that early today. I was just 10 minutes early and sure enough, there were people waiting, wondering if the walk was going to be canceled. These walks have been going on for 76 years. I don’t think they have ever been canceled.

It was actually remarkable. Practically the first bird we saw was a Fox Sparrow. Then among some Gulls flying over, Ring-billed Gulls but I noticed a large white-winged gull among them. A Glaucous Gull! very unusual away from the lake and a new bird for the Arboretum list. Around Blueberry Pond, American Tree Sparrows and then we heard a long tseeee. Like a Kinglet but too long in duration. I pished and out popped a male Purple Finch. Beautiful.

As we were starting our loop of Corning Lake, Kent, an acquaintance of many years caught up with us and told us about two Sandhill Cranes near the overflow parking area. Our walk around Corning was more brisk in anticipation of seeing these large birds. A Common Loon in breeding plumage, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and American Kestrel were highlights along the way, but then to the parking lot. There they were, feeding in the snow covered grass. Only the second time I have seen Sandhill Crane, at Holden.

The walk ended with only 33 species but two remarkable species in that total. Not bad for a cold snowy morning.

April 14, 2007

2007-04-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

A morning walk around the summit shows the cold snap has stopped spring dead in its’ tracks. There are still patches of snow in the shadows. It was clear early but by the time I went out, a high overcast had moved in and the sun is just a yellow circle through the clouds. Many half emerged May Apples were obviously damaged, frozen and wilted. The Dog tooth Violets are no farther along than they were 10 days ago. Lots of new branches on the ground in the woods. The after effect of the cold and high winds.

Along the ledges only the Woodpeckers were active. Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied. A Piliated drummed in the distance. The Barred Owl sat still close to the trunk of a large oak, 40 feet up but only just off the path. There are many large tall trees on the summit. Trees around 200 years old.

Half a mile along, on the other side of the ridge, I can hear some hikers where I had been 10 minutes earlier. The Barred Owl comes sailing low through the woods across the path in front of me and into a deep tangle about 50 yards into the woods on the other side. I try to lure it out with a soft “who cooks for you”, imitation of its’ call. It looks but wont budge.

People don’t realize how noisy and disturbing they are. We tend to shout over the noise of our machines and have forgotten how to turn down the volume. From my observation it is our voices that disturb wildlife, not our presence. If one is quite both in voice and mind, you can walk though the woods without causing much of a disturbance. Human voices, at what we now consider normal conversational level, will carry more than half a mile on a calm day. Away from our machines we need only talk in whispers.

It was remarkably clear and calm in spite of the overcast. The lake was light gray reflecting the sky. The horizon was well defined and I could see detail on the skyscrapers downtown 18 miles away. I could hear the whistles of trains as they moved through Willoughby and Mentor.

The Crows were moving off the summit to the lower ground to the northwest. A long time ago I noticed that corvids, Crows, Jays, Magpies, Ravens, have an interesting way of flying. Their wings sort of flop through the air. Seeing that alone is often enough to enable an identification at a distance.

As I was coming down off the summit, a Red Squirrel scampered by, causing a black morph Gray Squirrel to jump and get well clear. The Red Squirrel is nick named ”rocket squirrel” because they are so fast. The smallest of the tree squirrel clan in these woods they are aggressive. Males will chase down other male squirrels regardless of species, biting their testicles. The Gray Squirrel is wise to be wary. While on the subject of squirrels I have yet to see the Chipmunk. Still hibernating.

Along the creek I found a shovel. A little rusty but otherwise in good shape. Almost new too, because the labels are still intact. The shovel was in my yard but I know where it came from. I have a neighbor who has no respect for anyone or anything. His wife , neighbors, his yard, his tools. I am not surprised to find this shovel. Nor will I be surprised when his kids or his wife, needing to do some digging, will knock at my door asking to borrow an appropriate implement. To me this is just another piece of their trash in my yard. No different from a pop bottle, juice box, ball, or shopping bag. That it has value to me means I will keep it , clean off the rust and use it, rather than just throwing it away as I would with their other trash.

Approaching my back yard I find it amazing the increase in the level of bird activity. My house is on the edge. The edge of the unbroken forest and fragmented sub urban woodland. That is not everything . The bird activity in my yard exceeds my neighbors. I am the only one with feeders, bird houses and the crucial underbrush the birds use for cover.

Outside the back door, a feather! Exciting because it is not an ordinary feather. About 4 inches long, worn, slate gray with a black band just proximal of the light gray tip. Pointed and slightly curved. A primary flight feather of a Sharpie. P3 or P4 from the right wing. Upstairs there is a large dropping on the window below the suet feeder. What happened? The story is here even though I didn’t see it happen. The Sharpie made a run at someone on the suet. Came in from the west at an angle where the incidence was highly reflective, was a little late in aborting the run, cut loose a dropping and brushed its’ wing against the glass as it turned. The feather was already old and came out as a result of the contact. The shape of the feather causes it to fall straight like an arrow with just a slight spiral.

The feeders are very busy. Goldfinches are predominant right now. An occasional Chickadee and Titmouse too. A lingering Fox Sparrow earlier this morning. The Juncos are sticking to the ground. On the trees the Gray Squirrels are sniffing along the branches. They are feeding on something. They will find it and chew through the outer bark to get it. The gray bark of the Sugar Maples is scarred light orange where they have chewed. Nothing low enough that I can investigate.

The Fox Squirrel has been noticeably absent from the back but conspicuous in the front. I just found out why. The Pyracanth (sp?) has grown to a point where its branches support the Squirrel at the feeder thus avoiding the tilting mechanism. I grab the pruning lopers and trim back the shrub. The Fox Squirrel can find a meal somewhere else. While out in front I take a moment to look at the Red Bud. The beginnings of the buds look bad. Brown and dry. Maybe another victim of the cold? I hope not, I will miss the magenta of its’ bloom.

Movement on the ground in the back. A Chipmunk! I watch it through the spotting scope. So cute! Big dark eyes, little feet. Coat tinted gray from lack of fresh food. Very wary, moving slow, just waking up from its’ long winter’s nap.

April 13, 2007

2007-04-16T06:51:00.002-07:00

Oh Sunny Day! Too bad I had to work, but it is better than the alternative Errands after work kept me from doing much outside. The daffodils are starting to perk up but the forsythia flowers have had it. They are brown from freezing

They guys are moving fast. Hitting the feeders one at a time. I wonder if the Coop has been ambushing them? I walked around the house after I got home No sign, but a Cooper’s Hawk is a master of stealth and surprise. Waiting out of view for the moment to come flashing through and pick someone off.

I remember the first time I saw a Sharpie, take a bird. It was interesting because the tactic one I have not seen repeated. I was around 10 or 12 years old, and my mom and I were watching the Juncos in the back yard. We saw what looked like a ball of leaves or cardboard come tumbling through the yard, only when it grabbed a Junco and flew off did we realize it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Deception and stealth. The way of the accipiter.

Nature is red of tooth and claw. The hawks have to make a living too.

April 12, 2007

2007-04-16T06:51:00.001-07:00

Another cold gray rainy day. The snow is nearly gone with just patches on the grass and in the woods. The grass is greening but the daffodils, now uncovered, are drooping, still wilted from the cold. Back in the woods the world is still brown white and shades of gray. Snow is predicted for tonight but without accumulation.

I haven’t seen the Phoebe for a few days. I have not had a lot of time to look, but I decided to check the holly, arborvitae , and juniper in frond of the house where it liked to hang out incase it was claimed by the cold. No Phoebe. Just a Chickadee tail feather. Worn and probably the result of molt. The Chickadees, didn’t like my poking around. Their dee dees were quick. But I think 3 dees indicate a threat while 2 just indicate annoyance. They sometimes land on my head when I am filling the feeder so I doubt I am perceived as a threat. I still wonder about the Phoebe, maybe it decided survival was more important than territory and headed for warmer weather.

No sign of the Fox Sparrows either. It is getting to be time for them to move on. A pair of Tufted Titmice were mating on the feeder. It seems their hormone cycle is unaffected by the weather.

The deep snow and the rain plus dark skies have kept me inside the last several days. I am itching to get out.

Suddenly the guys are gone. No movement whatsoever in the yard. I go out to investigate. There is no sound except the wind. No movement, everyone is hiding and quiet. The bushes that are usually filled with birds waiting to stage to feeders are empty. I go around the back of the house and a Coop (Cooper’s Hawk) flushes from a beech tree. A Nuthatch is the first to sound the all clear. A Cardinal then joins in. A Morning Dove flies over and the House Finches begin moving in the spruces in front. The sky is getting darker because of the clouds. The evening is early today. I have to turn on the light. An hour earlier than when it is sunny. In the distance to the north, over the lower elevations I can see the sky is lighter. If there were leaves on the trees I would not be able to see so far.

April 11, 2007

2007-04-16T06:50:00.001-07:00

Rain and temperatures in the 40’s. Patches of grass are starting to show on the lawn. I have not had much time to look outside . The wind is howling high in the trees. I can see it is really blowing hard up high but lower the branches of the spruces are barely moving.

I like to say the trees fight in the cold wind. They compete for light in the canopy and only come together at their crowns. The wind bangs the branches together. A tree with stronger branches may break those of one less strong.

When the wind howls the noise is in great contrast to when It is still. It sounds like the brakes of a train. A constant whoooooooooooooooo. Mid frequency. The wind chimes add an occasional note. When the wind picks up it is like a distant jet engine. White noise over the howl. A strong wind comes whipping through. The birds dive for cover and the smaller branches swirl in an unpredictable path.

Cold gray skies, high wind and rain. Our unofficial slogan here in the Cleveland region: “You have to be tough”

April 10, 2007

2007-04-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Sunny and 45. The snow continues to melt, but no open patches of grass yet. Listening to the radio Julie Zicafoos is on the radio being interviewed about how the cold is effecting the birds. It is encouraging to hear her say she doesn’t know. Also interesting to hear of Tree Swallows and Martens in Wisconsin. While there amy be a few back here they are not very visible on the high elevations. Down at the lake there may be more. In Southern Ohio the Bluebirds are already sitting on eggs. Here they have yet to choose a nest site.

I wonder how the Phoebe is doing? I got a quick view of it yesterday as it dashed through the shrubs. The Fox Sparrows are around for yet another day.

The deep snow has precluded any walking outside. I have been threatening to get some snow shoes. They would have been nice yesterday afternoon. Today a walk would require my high boots as the seeps in the wood would be wet and muddy.

Outdoor footwear is an interesting subject. In this part of the world, people who spend a lot of time in the field prefer high rubber boots. The kind that have a shank in the sole and good treads. The kind people who finish concrete wear. They seem to work well as we have a lot of mud and water. Along the lake or in the woods or in the river valleys. A couple of pairs of heavy socks and you are OK. They don’t breath so wearing them all day for several days in a row is not advisable. I get a rash on my legs when I do. But for a few hours to half a day in the field they offer the best compromise of waterproof, good traction and good support. They are not expensive either. I have had the pair I use for more than 10 years. They could use some roughing of the treads for better traction but are otherwise in great shape. They work in snow, mud, running water, rock or any combination there of. They are not great at anything except keeping your feet dry. With a couple of layers of socks warm too. But that is the most important thing around here. Nothing will drive you inside on a cold spring day faster than cold wet feet.

Talking about outerwear, I got some spam from a very well known outfitter today. Pushing a spring sale on rain gear. As with boots breath ability is an oversold feature. I have expensive rain gear with a breathable “waterproof” layer. It is OK in light rain or for a little while in heavy rain, but lousy for being out in the rain all day. It simply does not keep you dry no matter what the claim. I’ve spent way too much money on this sort of gear, only to be disappointed in really wet conditions. I have found the cheaper, non breathable rain gear works best. It really keeps you dry. The stuff I use is low tech nylon backed PVC. Rather than being breathable it has baffles and vents. It works great.

I propose the following test before accepting new rain gear. Dress in cotton tee shirt and cotton trousers, cotton socks. Why cotton? Because it is the worst when wet. When cotton is wet you know it. Put on your waterproof shoes, and rain gear. Get in the shower and set the temperature so it is just above full cold. Stay there for an hour. If you are still dry after an hour, you are probably going to be OK. If you can stand it, stay in there another hour. If you are still dry after two hours, then your really will be fine. Two hours seems like a sever test, but think about being in the field. Two hours is nothing. If the rain is heavy you want to stay dry.

Since I am on the subject I want to complain about the impossibility of head wear that works well for birding in the rain. The hood on good rain gear keeps your head dry but you can’t hear the birds. For me, someone who listens and hears birds, usually before I see them, that is lousy. I have yet to find a suitable rain hat. One that really works and channels the water someplace other than down my neck. If I could get a good rain hat I wouldn’t need a hood. But then with the hood down it catches the rain. You can’t seem to win. It would not be too hard to design really good rain gear for people who spend a lot of time outdoors in the field. Maybe I should look for the stuff commercial fishermen wear. Can you still buy a nor’easter hat?

Binoculars in the rain are problematic. They fog up no matter what. I once toyed with a design for a battery operated anti fog system for binoculars. It was too complicated and cumbersome. If someone could develop glass suitable for binoculars that could be heated to stay fog free in the rain, they could sell a pair to every serious birder. We would not care if the optics were inferior to our regular glass, in the wet they would be superior to fogged lenses.