And then, there are the penguins. Seventeen species of penguins exist worldwide; unforturnately, populations of most of these are declining. Lindsay watched a program on PBS last week about this goofy group of birds. From the program, Lindsay learned that penguins can survive and breed in areas that are often too cold for plant life. They usually are found in large colonies. Penguins can't fly, and are very clumsy on land, but they are agile divers and swimmers, using their wings as flippers. Their biggest enemy, aside from global climate change, seems to be seals and sea lions.
Botany... Birds... Butterflies... The jaunts and ramblings of Lindsay and Scott
28 March 2009
Zoo Birds
And then, there are the penguins. Seventeen species of penguins exist worldwide; unforturnately, populations of most of these are declining. Lindsay watched a program on PBS last week about this goofy group of birds. From the program, Lindsay learned that penguins can survive and breed in areas that are often too cold for plant life. They usually are found in large colonies. Penguins can't fly, and are very clumsy on land, but they are agile divers and swimmers, using their wings as flippers. Their biggest enemy, aside from global climate change, seems to be seals and sea lions.
24 March 2009
A Trip to Kaintuck Hollow
As soon as we got out of the car, I heard rustling of leaves and found a Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans v. blanchardi). In northern Indiana, cricket frogs have become pretty uncommon in the past quarter of a century; as you go farther south in the state, their metallic "gick-gick-gick" calls frequent the spring and summer air. The couple of times I have seen these inch-long frogs in the past, they have had an obvious green stripe down the center of their backs, like the one shown in my post here. Cricket frogs often have this colored stripe; sometimes it is red, yellow, or brown, but sometimes it is absent. You'll notice the warty texture to the skin, another helpful identification character. The feature to look for to obtain a positive ID, however, is the dark triangle between the eyes on the top of the head.
It wasn't long before I noticed another hop and commotion in the leaf litter, but this time the culprit was a russet-colored grasshopper. What a beautiful and well camouflaged creature! Thanks to Ted MacRae of Beetles in the Bush for identifying this as a Mischievous Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca damnifica).
A bit later, while we were botanizing in an oak-hickory woodland, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. After flipping over a few leaves, I found this approximately 1 inch long beetle. Thanks again to Ted MacRae for identifying this as a Ground Beetle (Carabus sylvosus).
21 March 2009
Missouri Botanical Garden Trip
While in the herbarium, Dana looked at the Zizia-Thaspium complex (and took care of Eli),
Special thanks to George and Kay Yatskievych and Mary McNamara for setting us up with excellent accomodations and workspace at the Garden.
On Friday afternoon, we left the Garden and drove to Salem, Missouri to spend the weekend with Justin, Dana, and Eli. We took a few botanizing trips, and I'll share results in future posts here and at Get Your Botany On!. On the way to Salem, we stopped to eat at a great barbeque restaurant in Cuba, Missouri...
08 March 2009
You Learn Something New Every Day
Gray Treefrogs
Hyla versicolor LeConte and Hyla chrysoscelis Cope
Identification: Frogs with enlarged discs at the tips of their toes and of highly variable color but with a bright yellow wash on the posterior and lower thighs and a light spot below the eye. Body length of adult frog is approximately 1 1/2 inches. The two species can be distinguished by voice, blood cell size, and chromosome count.
Description: Head wider than long, snout short and blunt; eye of moderate size with horizontally elliptical pupil.... There is usually a dark band from the snout through the eye to the shoulder adn a dark mid-dorsal spot that may cover most of the back or be broken into several spots. A rhomboidal silvery to light green spot below the eye is consistently present.... posterior surface of thighs and underside of tibiae with dark reticulum covered by chrome yellow to orange wash; belly white.
Now that I've written about these characteristics of gray treefrogs, I will probably remember them. But those facts that were new to me in the past that I haven't recorded may be gone from my ever-worsening memory until I hear them again. And this time, I think I will write them down.
Change You Can Believe In
- On Friday, while in a meeting in my office, I was distracted by the obnoxious but welcomed "kill-dee... kill-dee..." song of the Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), our earliest arriving shorebird; I observed several Killdeer while driving yesterday between North Liberty and LaPorte, Indiana.
- Saturday and Sunday, the reverberating "kar-r-r-r-o-o-o" of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) could be heard nearly wherever you were. These huge birds were present in many of the corn fields I drove past, and I even observed the flamboyant mating dance while I passed at 55 mph.
Sandhill Cranes can also be seen soaring overhead throughout northern Indiana this time of year.
- While we have been seeing Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoenicius), Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolensis), and Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) since early February, they have seemingly exponentially multiplied in the past week. It is rare to be outside and not see Red-winged Blackbird males scouting out territories right now, though I don't think the majority of female Red-winged Blackbirds have made their arrival yet.
- Friday and Saturday afternoons, the "c-r-r-r-r-r-r-e-e-e-e-e-e-k" calls of Western Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris triseriata) echoed through wetlands and surrounding uplands. What a welcome and beautiful call!
- In LaPorte County on Saturday, I came across a very cold and nearly immobile Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) on the ground. I had never seen a representative of this species this early in the year.
- The silver maples (Acer saccharinum) in our yard have begun to bloom. Most people I talk to who aren't botanists are surprised that trees even have flowers. If you look closely this time of year, you will see the spreading yellow stamens and reddish pistils of these small clusters of flowers.
- Finally, yesterday at Kankakee Fen northwest of North Liberty, I saw skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) in bloom. This is our earliest blooming wildflower in this part of the world, as the plant is capable of producing heat (a process called thermogenesis) that allows it to thaw surrounding frozen ground and push its floral structures through to the surface, even if snow still covers the surrounding landscape. The flowers of this species are located on a spadix that is hidden within a splotchy maroon- or green-colored spathe.
If you're wondering why this plant is called skunk cabbage, try breaking a spathe or a leaf (which appears later in the year, as the flowers wither away). Your nose will quickly give you the answer. This "foetid" odor benefits the plant by attracting pollinators such as flies and bees.
The extended weather forecast shows colder temperatures and the potential for snow later this week... but, not to fear... spring will undoubtedly be here soon. During the unchartered and difficult times currently facing our nation and the world, no one yet knows if we will truly see the change promised us by our new leader. However, I can guarantee that if you look around outside, you will see the blossoming of a new and uplifting season.
04 March 2009
Do Not Try This At Home
01 March 2009
100 Yard Birds (And Counting)!
I had just poured a bowl of cereal and decided to look at our yard list to find out on what date we started seeing certain birds migrating through last year. Our yard list is kept on a small table under the window in the front of the house, where our feeders are located. I took a quick glance around the base of our platform feeder and immediately saw the raspberry colors of a male Purple Finch! Knowing that this was yard bird #100, I ran upstairs to wake Lindsay up so that she could join me in the thrill of reaching this milestone. She followed me back downstairs and we were able to watch this little finch for a few minutes, and compare it to a male House Finch that also showed up at our feeders.
Below is a complete list of our yard birds to date, in order by date observed. The dates in parentheses are the dates we initially saw or heard a given species. We've also added notes on which species were seen or heard on our property (with notes on nesting) versus those observed from our property. If you are interested in seeing pictures or paintings of any of these species, click on one of the links under the Bird Website Essentials heading to the right and search for the species of interest.
- Barn Swallow (5/8/2007) - nesting on property, including on front porch
- Field Sparrow (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- Song Sparrow (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- Red-winged Blackbird (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- Yellow Warbler (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- Common Yellowthroat (5/8/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- White-throated Sparrow (5/8/2007) - on property
- American Robin (5/8/2007) - on property
- Northern Cardinal (5/8/2007) - on property
- Ring-necked Pheasant (5/8/2007) - heard from property
- Mourning Dove (5/8/2007) - on property
- Canada Goose (5/8/2007) - flyover; also in wetland at park seen from property
- Mallard (5/8/2007) - on property in small pond
- House Wren (5/9/2007) - nesting on property
- Great Blue Heron (5/9/2007) - on property around small pond
- Gray Catbird (5/9/2007) - on property
- Eastern Bluebird (5/9/2007) - on property
- American Goldfinch (5/9/2007) - on property
- American Crow (5/9/2007) - on property
- Killdeer (5/9/2007) - flyover
- Red-bellied Woodpecker (5/9/2007) - on property
- European Starling (5/9/2007) - nesting on property
- Chipping Sparrow (5/9/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- Double-crested Cormorant (5/9/2007) - seen from property flying over park
- House Sparrow (5/9/2007) - on property, likely nesting
- House Finch (5/9/2007) - on property
- Red-tailed Hawk (5/10-13/2007) - on property
- Eastern Phoebe (5/10-13/2007) - on property, maybe nesting
- Osprey (5/10-13/2007) - flyover
- Warbling Vireo (5/10-13/2007) - heard from property
- Turkey Vulture (5/10-13/2007) - flyover
- Willow Flycatcher (5/18/2007) - on property, maybe nesting
- Blue Jay (5/18/2007) - on property
- Sandhill Crane (5/18/2007) - flyover
- Eastern Wood-Pewee (5/18/2007) - heard from property
- Cedar Waxwing (5/18/2007) - on property
- Rock Pigeon (5/18/2007) - nesting on property
- Brown-headed Cowbird (5/18/2007) - on property
- Tennessee Warbler (5/21/2007) - heard from property
- Yellow-breasted Chat (5/24/2007) - on property
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird (5/24/2007) - on property
- Great Egret (5/27/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Red-eyed Vireo (5/27/2007) - heard from property
- Baltimore Oriole (5/28/2007) - on property, maybe nesting
- Common Grackle (5/28/2007) - on property
- Indigo Bunting (5/28/2007) - on property
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo (5/28/2007) - on property
- Downy Woodpecker (5/28/2007) - on property
- Green Heron (6/2/2007) - on property, maybe nesting around pond
- Black-billed Cuckoo (6/2/2007) - on property
- White-eyed Vireo (6/2/2007) - on property
- Tufted Titmouse (6/2/2007) - on property
- Yellow-throated Vireo (6/10/2007) - heard from property
- Wood Duck (6/11/2007) - on property around pond
- Red-headed Woodpecker (6/11/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Tree Swallow (6/11/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- White-breasted Nuthatch (6/11/2007) - on property
- Wood Thrush (6/11/2007) - heard from property
- Brown Thrasher (6/15/2007) - on property
- Eastern Kingbird (6/15/2007) - on property
- Wild Turkey (6/17/2007) - heard from property
- Cooper's Hawk (8/19/2007) - on property
- Eastern Screech Owl (8/28/2007) - on property
- Red-breasted Nuthatch (9/9/2007) - on property
- Northern Flicker (10/7/2007) - on property
- Yellow-rumped Warbler (10/14/2007) - on property
- White-crowned Sparrow (10/14/2007) - on property
- Dark-eyed Junco (10/14/2007) - on property
- Mute Swan (10/23/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Black-capped Chickadee (10/24/2007) - on property
- Ring-necked Duck (10/28/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- American Tree Sparrow (11/14/2007) - on property
- Northern Shoveler (11/17/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Bufflehead (11/17/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Red-shouldered Hawk (11/17/2007) - heard from property
- Pine Siskin (11/18/2007) - on property
- Common Redpoll (11/18/2007) - on property
- Gadwall (11/24/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- American Coot (11/24/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- American Wigeon (11/24/2007) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Northern Shrike (11/24/2007) - on property
- Hairy Woodpecker (11/25/2007) - on property
- Northern Harrier (12/8/2007) - seen from property
- Rough-legged Hawk (12/23/2007) - on property
- Great Horned Owl (1/28/2008) - heard from property
- American Kestrel (2/9/2008) - on property
- American Woodcock (3/13/2008) - on property, maybe nesting
- Ring-billed Gull (3/13/2008) - flyover
- Hooded Merganser (3/16/2008) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Pied-billed Grebe (4/1/2008) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Rusty Blackbird (4/8/2008) - on property
- Eastern Towhee (4/13/2008) - on property
- Golden-crowned Kinglet (4/15/2008) - on property
- Lesser Scaup (4/15/2008) - seen from property in wetland at park
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak (4/30/2008) - on property
- Orchard Oriole (5/7/2008) - on property, maybe nesting
- Barred Owl (10/10/2008) - heard from property
- Belted Kingfisher (11/6/2008) - on property around pond
- Snow Bunting (12/21/2008) - on property
- Purple Finch (3/1/2008) - on property