Nevada Raptors

When I was initially asked if I would be interested in going to Nevada for work to do raptor surveys, my first thought was "Ferruginous Hawk!" I have always wanted to see this large, snow white-breasted Buteo, but living east of the Mississippi River there is little chance for me to see one along my day-to-day routine. During my two weeks in the Sagebrush State, we had numerous Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) sightings, including one bird that was present in nearly the same location on our drive down Route 50/93/6 almost every day. Ferruginous Hawks can often be found on the ground or on low perches. The individuals that we saw were nearly all light morph birds; Ben Hess was lucky enough to see a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk during his time in Nevada the three weeks before I was there.


For the three weeks before I arrived in Nevada, Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) were seen in abundance on our site every day, as reported by Ben. During my two weeks, however, they were replaced by the smallest falcon in North America, American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). We did not see any Prairie Falcons, but instead saw four or five American Kestrels each day, primarily in the late afternoon hunting from high perches or hovering.


Another raptor that I expected to see plenty of in Nevada was Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). Unexpectedly, however, we did not see any Swainson's Hawks during the first half of my trip, but by the end of my trip we were seeing three to five each day. As with many of the other Buteos, there are light and dark morph Swainson's Hawks. The bird in the photograph below appears to be an adult of the intermediate phase.


Below is a photograph of what I believe to be an adult of the dark phase Swainson's Hawk. Note the dark face; the light and intermediate phases have white faces.


One of our highlights had to be seeing the juvenile Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) pictured below soaring over our site. These are enormous birds, reaching up to 30 inches long with a wingspan of over six feet. Juveniles usually show the characteristic white patches on the tail and wings.


I believe that the Golden Eagle below is also a juvenile, as I can still see the white tail patch. Note the small head in relation to the body, another characteristic of the Golden Eagle. The name of this species comes from the golden nape that is present on individuals of all ages and that can somewhat be seen in the photograph below. Also note the feathered legs on the bird in the photograph below.


Throughout much of the eastern United States, the "default" raptor that is seen along roadsides is the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis); this could not be said for the areas I saw in Nevada. Red-tailed Hawks that we see most commonly in Indiana are said to be the eastern subspecies (B. j. borealis). In Nevada, we most frequently saw the western subspecies (B. j. calurus).


Even within the western subspecies, there are light, dark, and intermediate phases. The bird in the photograph above is the light morph; the one in the photograph below is the dark morph. Thanks to Brian Wheeler for help with identifying this dark morph western Red-tailed Hawk. The dark morphs of all of these Buteos can be very difficult to identify, especially for someone not familiar with the western species in general.


Stay tuned, as I hope to post more photos from my trip to Nevada soon, if I can find the time.

Goodbye, Nevada

Goodbye, Nevada. You treated me well.


The American Avocets at Comins Lake were a wonderful send-off.


More photos and commentary from my recent trip to Nevada yet to come. I apologize that I have not had time to blog in the last couple of weeks.

That Time Of Year

As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent 2 April 2011 in Attica, Indiana botanizing with Bill Ringer. We first visited Fall Creek Gorge (aka The Potholes) (shown below), and then spent some time in similar habitat on property owned by Bill and some of his neighbors.


Our target for the day, as determined when I first met Bill at the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society (INPAWS) annual conference in November 2010, was Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale). Little did I know when we set up our excursion that fall day that I would have already had the opportunity to see this species in 2011 with Lee Casebere. Regardless, I met up with Bill last Saturday morning, and it was definitely worth the trip.


It didn't take long to find Snow Trillium (above), which was in bloom just outside of the parking area in a somewhat degraded calcareous upland forest. After seeing our first population of blooming Snow Trillium, we continued to hike, finding more and more Snow Trillium and discussing the other plants we were seeing along the way. Just like every other spring, I couldn't resist photographing the blooming spring wildflowers. I don't know what it is about them... my collection contains loads of photos of all of the plants included in this post, but every spring, I cannot resist the urge to photograph them again. Maybe it is the fact that these plants are adapted to bloom early enough in the year that the trees towering above them have not yet produced leaves, allowing enough sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. Maybe it is the glorious array of color produced almost instantaneously after the much anticipated build up as the days get longer and the ground temperature increases. Or maybe, just maybe, it is that wait itself that makes this suite of plants so alluring. If Harger's Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis var. hargeri) bloomed in April, would we not display the same exuberance that we do at the first signs of the burgundy blossoms of Bloody Butcher (Trillium recurvatum)? It's just that time of the year.


You've seen them before, and you'll most likely see them here again next year, but I simply cannot resist. Above is Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa), and below is Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica).


Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) blooms for a very short time, making it difficult to find that perfect plant to photograph. I can't say that I'd ever seen a plant at this stage, with the flowers still mostly closed but starting to open and with a pinkish tinge, somewhat reminiscent of a tulip (Tulipa sp.) flower.


The Bloodroot plants that I enjoy seeing the most, though, are those with open flowers and leaves that are still wrapped tightly around the stem, like the one below.


I had seen these wildflowers blooming already this year, but I had not yet seen the two species below.


Purple Cress (Cardamine douglassii, above) is sometimes confused with the more conservative Spring Cress (Cardamine bulbosa, not pictured), but the former has stems that are pubescent above, sepals that are usually deep purple at the tips, and petals that are often lavender (but sometimes white); the latter has stems that are hairless above, sepals that are usually green, and petals that are white). You can find Purple Cress in nearly any moist woods, regardless of how much disturbance has taken place. Regardless, each year, I take photos of this species the first several times I find it in flower.


And who can resist taking photos of flowering Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria, above)? This has to be one of the most interesting and attractive of the spring wildlfowers, does it not? Like many of the ephemerals, Dutchman's Breeches relies on insects for more than just pollination. In addition to the long-tongued bees that help this species to reproduce, ants play a very important role in seed dispersal of Dutchman's Breeches, as they find the sugary, fleshy seed appendages known as elaiasomes and take them back to their nest for a tasty feast. Unbeknownst to the ants, they are also spreading the seeds to new locations, giving rise to new populations of Dutchman's Breeches within the forest.

Finally, just a few more photos of Snow Trillium from last weekend, as my photographing obsession was taken to new heights with this species this spring (I took almost 100 photos of Snow Trillium at the three sites at which I saw it this year!).


The plant below was tiny, or my lens cap is enormous...


... and lastly, one of my favorite shots of Snow Trillium this year.

Flipping Rocks And Logs

During the past several weeks, I've done a lot of rock, log, and moss flipping looking for salamanders. Lee Casebere came up to northern Indiana on 13 March 2011 to search for early Four-toed Salamanders (Hemidactylium scutatum), and Scott Holaday and I joined him in this effort.


Unfortunately, no Four-toed Salamanders could be found... the photograph above is from September 2003 in Michigan. We knew that it was a bit early to find salamanders, but we were looking more for habitat than anything else. The habitat that we were searching for was vernal pool with mosses at the waterline. Four-toed Salamanders also are found in bogs, near springs, and in swamps in scattered areas throughout much of the eastern United States. Mosses, especially fern moss (Thuidium spp.) and sphagnum (Sphagnum spp.), are important for this species because females lay eggs within and underneath them to keep the eggs moist and to allow the newly hatched salamanders to drop into the water directly beneath. Four-toed Salamanders can be distinguished by the black-spotted white belly and the tail that is constricted at the point where it meets the body.

The following week, I joined Lee in southeast Indiana to search for Four-toed Salamanders and Two-lined Salamanders (Eurycea cirrigera).


Again, we struck out, sort of. We weren't able to find any Four-toed Salamanders or Two-lined Salamanders on this trip, but as you will see below, we did have a productive day, finding five other salamander species. The Two-lined Salamander pictured above was found in west-central Indiana on 2 April 2011. Lee had told me that they hang out under flat rocks in moving streams, and he was exactly right, as Bill Ringer and I found numerous individuals on our 2 April 2011 excursion. The wide, dark stripe down each side of the often yellowish body identify this species as a Two-lined Salamander. The range of this species in the United States includes nearly all of the states east of the Mississippi River. A Two-lined Salamander spends its first year as an entirely aquatic larva, so this species cannot survive in creeks that completely dry up late in the year.


On the other end of the spectrum is the Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), which is entirely terrestrial. The individual shown above was seen during my 13 March 2011 trip with Lee to southeastern Indiana. You would think that a species with "redback" in the common name could be identified by its red back, like the one shown above, but there is also a color morph that has a dark back and that looks very similar to the much less common Ravine Salamander (Plethodon richmondi). Redback Salamanders are known mostly from the northern states in the eastern half of the United States, but their range extends as far south as North Carolina along the East Coast. Redback Salamanders are found in forests and woodlands.


Northern Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus fuscus), shown above, are dark colored and somewhat nondescript. In Indiana, they are only known from the southeastern quarter of the state, but their range within the United States includes most states east of the Mississippi River, plus Arkansas and Louisiana. This species can be found in springs, creeks, and streams, and Lee and I found several under rocks in flowing water on 13 March 2011.


The amphibian above just screams "if you eat me, you will pay." This is the eft stage of the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), and like many other things in nature that are brightly red or orange colored, the Eastern Newt is highly toxic. In fact, the skin of both the eft and adult stage of this species contains one of the most lethal toxins known to man, tetrodotoxin. The concentration of this chemical is much greater in the eft stage than in the adult stage. The Eastern Newt has three life stages... the aquatic larval stage, the entirely terrestrial eft stage, and the aquatic adult stage. Eastern Newts are found in forests with nearly permanent pools that accomodate all three life stages; they are known from most of the eastern half of the United States (to as far west as Texas).


The fourth species that Lee and I saw on 13 March 2011 was the Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum), shown above and below. As the common name implies, the skin of this species has a marbled appearance. This species is found in forests, including floodplains, flatwoods, and uplands. It is known from southern New England to Texas but has a primarily southern distribution. This is likely due in part to the fact that, unlike many other salamanders, Marbled Salamanders breed in the fall and overwinter as larvae. This gives them a competitive advantage and allows the larvae to feed on larvae of other salamanders in the spring. However, a species that overwinters in the larval stage is not well adapted to harsh northern winters.


This one sure looks happy, doesn't it?


Finally, one of the most attractive salamanders in my opinion is the Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), shown above. There is no question about where the common name of this species came from! Like many of the other species in this post, Spotted Salamanders are known from much of the eastern half of the United States, to as far west as Texas. Its habitat requirement is forest with ponds, such as flatwoods. According to Minton (2001), "When injured or roughly handled, these salamanders exude a white fluid from skin glands, particularly those on the tail. Upon touching some to my tongue, I noticed an astringent taste followed by slight tingling and numbness." Can't say that I would have tried tasting the exuded fluid had I seen it.

Minton, S.A. Jr. 2001. Amphibians and Reptiles of Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Academy of Science.

Fear Not, Northerners!

Although the calendar indicates that winter has officially ended, the weather in northern Indiana during the past few days hasn't felt very spring-like... and it doesn't appear that the temperature will increase much in the next week or so. Believe it or not, though, the spring wildflowers are preparing to do their thing. There has been an increase in wildflower posts on the blogs that I follow from southern Indiana, southern Ohio, and Missouri in the past couple of weeks, indicating that the spring flora is maturing in those areas. Unable to wait, I headed out in the field both of the past two weekends to see what I could find. On March 13 in Culver, Indiana, Lee Casebere, Scott Holaday, and I saw the spathe and spadix inflorescences of Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus, below), our earliest flowering native plant in this part of the state.


There wasn't anything else in bloom in these northern Indiana woods, so the next weekend (March 19) Lee and I drove to southeastern Indiana, primarily in search of Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale), by far our smallest, cutest, and earliest flowering trillium.


We weren't disappointed! After just 30 minutes or so of taking photographs of Snow Trillium, I told Lee that it was already worth the 4 hour drive to the site from my house.


A few of the plants, like the one below, had lightly pink-tinged petals.


Snow Trillium wasn't the only plant in flower in these woods. The diminutive and inconspicuous Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa, below) was also in bloom.


Another early season bloomer, Sharplobe Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis var. acuta, below) was also in flower. However, we had to wait until later in the day to see the inside of the flowers, as they close up at night.


Finding these species in flower was not unexpected in southern Indiana in mid-March, but the next few surprised me. A few plants of Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis, below) had started to open.


Another plant that I hadn't expected to see in flower so early in the year was Virginia Springbeauty (Claytonia virginica, below). I can't find much information about the pubescence of the species, but one source that I found said that the stem and leaves are supposed to be glabrous. The plant in the photograph below is distinctly pubescent.


Although not yet in flower, Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica, below) already had visible flower buds.


Finally, although it won't be in flower until much later in the year, we saw several plants of Crippled Cranefly (Tipularia discolor, below), an orchid that is found more easily in winter (when the leaves are present) than when the nearly invisible flowers are present (and leaves are absent) later in the year.


Note the green, wrinkled top surface of the leaf (above) and the strongly purlish undersurface (below). This orchid is much more common in the southern half of Indiana than it is in the northern part of the state, so I never tire of seeing it.


So, for those of you north of here that still have snow on the ground, and for those at this latitude who are itching to get out and see plants blooming, hopefully this gives you some hope that shortly after we get past this cold stretch, the forests will be exploding with color.

You "Mink" my day!

I always knew when I entered my marriage that there would be times that I would have to "compromise" and do things that I was less than eager to do. This week I was pushed to the limit but in return made a young environmentalist's dreams come true. The day started as any other day until I received the following phone call.

Scott: Hey Lindsay, I need a favor... There is a dead animal next to your parents house that I think is a mink. I need you to go and take pictures of it so I know for sure what it is.
Lindsay: You want me to take pictures of a dead animal?
Scott: Well yeah!

Fast forward to a short time later. I have taken a few photos and called Scott with a description of our fallen friend. He confirms it is a mink. Hooray, mission accomplished.


Ring, Ring.. it's Scott again.
Scott: Hey Lindsay, I need a favor. I talked to Jeremy (Scott's co-worker who is a bat and other mammal biologist) and he wants the mink. Can you go and get it and put it in a Kroger bag?
Lindsay: You must be (enter explicit word) kidding me. You want me to go and get a dead animal from the side of the road?
Scott: Well yeah!
Lindsay: You are pushing it! How am I going to pick it up because I surely am not touching a dead animal?
Scott: Put on gloves!
Lindsay: You're crazy, it's gonna be all squishy.
Scott: Don't be a baby, just go get it.
Lindsay: I'll try to pick it up with a shovel but you owe me sooooo big!

When Scott returned home that day I had just gotten over my dry-heaving episode that went along with shoveling the mink into a large plastic storage bin. We put our friend in the car and headed out to meet up with Jeremy and his wife at a beer tasting. Upon arrival, we gave Jeremy the mink. I have never witnessed such enthusiasm (well not since Scott got his vasculum for Christmas). He immediately pulled the mink out of the bag and began checking it out. The mink appeared to have died from "natural causes" so it was in really good shape. Jeremy continued to smile from ear to ear and just kept repeating how much we made his day.

In order to capture the pure joy of the occasion we have attached a picture of Jeremy with the actual mink.

This photo totally made all of my efforts worthwhile! But Scott still owes me big time!

To See The Forest And The Trees

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Michigan to do a forest and Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) habitat assessment. Below are some photos of trees that are potential summer roost trees for this Federally Endangered species.


With a high percentage of exfoliating bark, Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) is the poster child for Indiana Bat roost trees.


Live or dead/dying trees with peeling bark are considered potential habitat for Indiana Bat. In addition to Shagbark Hickory and other hickories (Carya spp.), oaks (Quercus spp.), maples (Acer spp.), Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), and ashes (Fraxinus spp.) are the most common Indiana Bat summer roost trees. The White Oak (Quercus alba) shown above was greater than 3 feet in diameter at breast height (DBH), had peeling bark and hollow branches, and was located in a landscape position that would allow for roosting bats to access a clutter-free creek corridor. Aside from the fairly dense subcanopy in the immediate vicinity, this tree would make a good bat roost.


The White Oaks shown above and below are also potential Indiana Bat roost trees. All three of these were enormous, old, open-grown trees.


Overall at this site, we saw more than 40 trees greater than 25 inches DBH that were potential Indiana Bat roost trees. In addition, bat foraging habitat and connectivity were present, so it is likely that the next step will be for our bat biologist to set up mist nets and try to capture bats to see exactly what species are present.

Birding Life List

Recently Scott downloaded a birding life list in Microsoft Excel format for us to keep track of and record all of the birds that we have seen on our various trips. Over the past several weeks we have been entering in the name of the birds we've seen, where we saw them, and the dates they were seen. We finally finished the list and were surprised to know we have a life list of 509 different bird species. That's not too bad but we were even more suprised when we realized that half of the birds on our life list were obtained during the 12 day trip we took to Costa Rica in 2007 for our 5 year anniversary. Going through the list has really made me excited for the fact that we will be returning to Costa Rica in June for a family vacation. I thought I would share a few of my favorite bird photos from the trip we took.

Montezuma Oropendolas feeding at Volcano Arenal. Arenal had a large feeding station and we could sit on our balcony or sit in the restaurant and see multiple different types of birds.

It was amazing luck to have spotted this White-whiskered Puffbird. It was very well hidden sitting not too far from it's mate at Carara National Forest.

One of my favorite birds was this Boat-billed Heron. We spotted him while taking a boat tour from Mawamba Lodge in Tortuguero.

Also on the boat tour we saw this Northern Jacana. If you look really close in the upper left of this photo you can also see a Bare-fronted Tiger Heron.

Great Curassow roaming the grounds of La Selva Organization for Tropical Studies.

The hummingbird on the left is a Green-crowned Brilliant and the hummingbird on the right is a Green Violet-ear. We saw multiple different species of hummingbirds feeding here at the park in Monteverde Cloud Forest.

A close up of the Bare-fronted Tiger Heron.

Hopefully our upcoming trip will provide us with even more birds to add to the life list and of course share with everyone on the blog.