Learning About Wild Indigo Duskywings...May and June, 2015.

Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae)  Wingspan 1.3 - 1.7 inches (3.3 - 4.3 cm)

It helps that we usually have lots of pairs of eyes looking for butterflies.  We never know who will be looking in the right place at the right moment.  If it had not been for Jackie, we might not have seen this butterfly.

Brukner Nature Center's Butterfly Transit group is fortunate, too,  to have many photographers among its members.  One of the best ways to identify butterflies is by photograph.  We don't have to capture the butterflies which can be difficult and we don't traumatize the the butterflies.

This is a little butterfly that I would never have attempted to identify before becoming a member of this group.  I am still not confident I could ID it if I were by myself.  There are many little brownish butterflies.  By looking in field guides, it is possible to compare the tiny differences among the various similar butterflies.

I also found several good sources of information on the Internet.  One is

www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species

From this source I learned that Columbine Duskywing (Erynnis lucilius) , and Persious Duskywing(Erynnis persius)  are similar to the Indigo Dusky Wing.

I checked in Butterflies of Ohio, Field Guide, by Jaret C. Daniels and learned that neither the Columbine or the Persious is found in this part of Ohio.  So there is identification by process of elimination.

But each one of the brownish butterflies have identifying characteristics if the searcher knows what to look for.  As the name indicates, the larva of this butterfly likes Wild Indigo and a wide variety of plants in the bean family.  Another host is Crown Vetch which is often planted along highways.  Because of the Crown Vetch the Indigo Dusky Wing is doing well and expanding its territory.

In May we found a tiny larva on a Wild Indigo planted along the side of the Brukner Interpretive Center.  It is well camouflaged by being green.  Notice its black head.

In June, we found a larger larva on the same plant.

June 6, 2015... Never Expected to See This at Charleston Falls...An American Columbo

Jeanne and I were looking for flowers on our morning walk at Charleston Falls and not finding many.  It's past the ephemeral flowers season and not yet the showy prairie flowers season.

But then we found this on the prairie.

Photo by Tom Persing

The plant that came to my mind was American Columbo ( Frasera caroliniensis)  but I had never seen one at Charleston Falls and didn't expect to see one.  The only one I had ever seen was years ago on a high ridge in a wooded area at Brukner Nature Center.  I didn't have a wildflower book with me so I wasn't about to name it.

Back home, I looked in three wildflower field guides and found American Columbo or Monument Plant  in the third one, Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. There was no mistaking the identification.  The size was right and the leaf arrangement was right.  It is found in open woods and meadows, the two places where I had seen it.

Now that I knew the name, I looked it up on the Internet.  There were good photos of the flowers which are distinctive.

I persuaded Tom to come see the plant the next day.

Photo by Tom Persing

Photo by Tom Persing

The heavily fringed lumps in the middle of each petal are called nectar pads.  I have never seen another flower with these pads.

I called a friend who I knew was interested in wildflowers.  She said she had seen American Columbo on farmland in the area.  Another flower lover told me she knew people who had it on property in Adams County. A third friend says that it blooms some years at Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm.  

Maybe American Columbo isn't as rare as I thought it was.  Still, the sighting was exciting to me.

One of the reasons I have seen it only  twice is that it lives as a rosette of leaves for five to fifteen years or more before finally flowering. According to one Internet source, it may live as a rosette for as many as thirty years before sending up its three to eight foot stalk.

Sources seem convinced that after it blooms, it dies.  So any flowering American Columbo that shows up in that same vicinity years down the road is a "new" plant.

Tom took this photo to show the height.

Photo by Tom Persing

An interesting note on one website was that American Columbos in the same area tend to bloom in the same year.  The supposition is that it must have exactly the right conditions to bloom and that if all of the plants bloom the same year there is a better chance that they will cross-pollinate.

This photo shows the thick red stem of the plant. When Tom and I returned the next day, the stem had turned a deeper red, almost magenta, but that color didn't show up well in the photos we took.

Photo by Pauline Persing

Detective Work on the Brukner Butterfly Transit Monitoring Trail

There are not many butterfly transit monitoring sites in Ohio. It would be great if people in each of our eighty-eight counties would set up transits. A transit is a route that butterfly lovers follow weekly.  They count the butterflies within fifteen feet of them.  The fifteen feet can be in the air or in any direction or on the ground.

Butterflies are a good indicator of habitat.  If plants are destroyed, butterflies disappear because each species has particular plant needs.  Many people know that Monarch butterflies require milkweeds but may not realize that other butterflies require hackberry trees or violets or nettles.

On Saturday, May 9,  Jackie spotted this butterfly on a redbud tree.  

Our consensus was that the butterfly was that the butterfly was an elfin.  There are several elfins in Ohio.

This is a second photo of the same butterfly.  It looks as though the butterfly is ovipositing (laying an egg).  Henry's Elfins  lay their eggs on redbud trees.   

Ruth has sent the photo to the experts for an opinion.  Butterfly photos are an important means of identification.

This butterfly is not showy or large.  But all butterflies are important.

Whether you live in Ohio or somewhere else in the world, you can do a bit for our earth by taking a walk each week during butterfly season and noting the butterflies you see.

On Saturday, May 30, Jackie found further confirmation that Henry"s Elfins are at Brukner.  On a redbud leaf she found its caterpillar.

It's official...Banana Slugs String Band Day in Troy, Ohio...May 14, 2015

Mayor Beamish, in the red cap,  presented the official proclamation.  The slugs,  Doug Dirt, Marine Mark, Solar Steve and Airy Larry have been coming to the Miami County Parks for eighteen years to share their Environmentally based songs with children.

Thousands of children, wearing costumes they have made, have come to the Hug the Earth Festival every spring and performed with the band.

Gaia Gary joins the group on their Ohio trips. He has been coming for eighteen years also.  One year he did a remarkable job drumming with his broken arm in a sling.

Thanks, Banana Slugs and Gary.  It's been great fun these past eighteen years.  Hope to see you again next spring.

Magee Marsh, Metzger Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Spring Bird Migration

Early this month, May 4, 5, and 6, Tom and I made our annual pilgrimage to Lake Erie to see the warblers stopping there before most of them flew across the lake to their nesting grounds in Canada.

We don't get up early like the truly dedicated birders do who are out at the stopping areas shortly after daylight.  Nor do we continue searching for special species till dark.  But we thoroughly enjoy seeing the birds we find as we casually bird.  My favorite activity is finding a "show-off" bird and watching it for ten or fifteen minutes.

We arrived after lunch on May 4 and birded for three hours on the Magee Marsh Boardwalk.  There was not a huge crowd.  We birded from the van in the parking lot until the light rain stopped.

Photograhers had cameras set up near the entrance platform.  A Scarlet Tanager male and female were having a flirting session.  Here is the male, stopped for the moment and a photographer taking advantage of the situation.

This was a great year for seeing Scarlet Tanagers.  Usually we only see them high in the trees.  This year we saw them flitting among lower branches along the fringes of the woods.

On May sixth Tom and I decided to see what birds were at Metzger Marsh. At the turnaround at the lake edge Tom took this photo.

Below are a few other photos from the trip.

Cape May Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Common Terns

Ruddy Ducks

A Short Walk at Charleston Falls, May 17, 2015

The Black Locust trees at Charleston Falls (and throughout the Miami Valley) are in full bloom.  They were the first thing I  noticed when Tom dropped me off in the parking lot.  He said he'd be back after he bought a decaf coffee at a McDonald's about fifteen minutes away.

The day was overcast but I decided to be optimistic.  I left my water resistant jacket in the van and wore my lightweight hoodie.

Black Locust bloom...(Robinia pseudo-acacia)

After taking this photo, I glanced down and saw this.

A Yellow Goatsbeard (Tragopogon pratensis)

They remind me of a dandelion because of their color.  Their "fruit" is a bit like that of a dandelion but much bigger and with a more intricate pattern.  The insect reminds me of a bee but it might be a fly.  There are bee mimics in the fly family.

(June7, 2015  Here is the seedhead taken by Tom.)

I headed down the trail to the falls.  Now and then I felt a drop or two of rain.  I probably should have worn that jacket.

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens)

The Jack-in-the-pulpits were still looking fresh but the Mayapple flowers were fading.  Some had dropped their petals.  I probably will see the fruits (green apples) forming next Saturday.

False Solomon's Seal (also called Wild Spikenard or Showy Solomon's Seal)  Smilacina racemosa)

I was pleased to see this patch of False Solomon's Seal.  One of these flowers blooming by itself does not attract walkers but a patch of them is noticeable.

Close up of flowers

I decided to walk down into the ravine because flowers often bloom there before they bloom on the higher ridges.  The sound of the water pouring over the ledge was soft and calming.  I stopped to enjoy it.

Suddenly I was in a deluge.  I backtracked quickly, hoping Tom was back from his coffee run.  

I stopped long enough to get this photo at the top of the trail. The little spots are raindrops.

I am thankful I now have an Olympus Tough camera.  Among its admirable qualities is being waterproof to 33 feet beneath the water.

Five minutes later I was halfway to the parking lot and the rain had slowed, enough to get this photo of a Waterleaf.  I'll have to come back when the flower is out to identify it more precisely.

Waterleaf (Hydropphyllum)

The flower buds are still in a tight ball.
.

As I knelt down looking at the Waterleaf, I noticed these stems among the Wild Leek or Ramps

 (Allium tricoccum) leaves.  Are they the stems for the Wild Leek Flowers that bloom when the leaves have disappeared???

Burrowing Owls in Cape Coral, Florida, February 27, 2015

Tom and I had already spent most of the day walking at Corkscrew Swamp and we were tired.  But neither of us had ever seen a burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and since we were close to Coral Gables, we decided to look.  We had been told that the burrows were marked with the white pipes which was a help.

Burrowing owls are classified as a species of special concern by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.  The burrows, owls and their eggs are protected from harassment and/or disturbance by state law.  The owls are also protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Tom and I debated about whether the owls lived in other animals' burrows or dug their own.  According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the birds generally dig their own burrows in sandy soil.

The owls hunt during the day as well as at dusk and dawn.  We arrived at the Coral Gables library about 3:30 and watched as we sat in our van in the parking  lot.  No owls. We drove around the block and saw other PVC pipes but no owls. So we went back to our parking place at the library.  Finally at 6:30, just as the sun was going down we decided to take one last tour of the PVC pipes.  This time we were fortunate.

The owl is about the size of Tom's fist.

Tom took 3 photos from the van, then we left the owls to their evening hunt.  But we will have this special birding memory forever.