Heavy-duty caterpillaring

A fine group of intellectually curious people convened in Adams County, Ohio over the weekend - our 6th annual get-together, ostensibly to search for caterpillars. And that we do, but as always the foray becomes a natural history free-for-all, and we find lots of other STUFF. Our base camp is John and Tina Howard's Ohio Star Retreat Center. Most of the group stays here, and we all converge on the place to have meals, and photograph temporarily detained caterpillar livestock. It's a great place to stay of you're in Adams County, especially if you are in pursuit of the region's abundant natural history.

The group changes form a bit each year, and we always have one or a few new people, but most of the caterpillar-hunters in this image have been to a few or all of these strange outings. It's a blast, with lots of nocturnal field work. The group is, from back row (L to R): Tom Patt, Sue Zacharias, Chris Zacharias, Ann Geise, Sally Miller, Frances Ganance, Chelsea Gottfried, John Howard, Randy Lakes (peeking over John's right shoulder), and Jason Larson. Front row (L to R): Kyle Bailey, Kim Banks, Colleen Sharkey, Gina Patt, your narrator, Molly Kenney, and Dan Kenney. Not pictured is Judy Ganance, who kindly took the photo. Laura Hughes, Mary Ann Barnett, and Kathy and Ned Keller also joined in for part of the excursion, but weren't there when we took this photo. Sorry if I'm missing anyone else.

I took a boatload of photos, but haven't processed many caterpillar images yet. More of those will hopefully follow, in a future post. This is a saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea, always a crowd-pleaser. Fun to look at, less amusing to the touch. This caterpillar packs a punch, possessing one of the most painful stings of any North American caterpillar.

This is the architecturally ornate larva of the comma butterfly, Polygonia comma. Our official larval scribe, Judy Ganance, recorded nearly 50 species of caterpillars seen by the group.

Now this is a treehopper we can all get behind! It's the keeled treehopper, Entylia carinata, an amazing thorn mimic.

This is a pretty cool little fly, if you ask me. It's a dusky-winged hoverfly, Ocyptamus fuscipennis. The larvae are predators of aphids.

Thanks to Laura Hughes for showing us this amazing spider on Friday night. It is the difoliate orbweaver, Acacesia hamata. This is the only member of the genus north of Mexico - apparently there are five or so species south of the U.S.

The handsomely marked female difoliate orbweaver creates an incredible web. The circular strands of the outer web are incredibly close together and there are a great many of them. Probably 75 strands can be seen in just this snippet of the web, which was much larger.

A jumping spider with a handsome trig, freshly seized. The little eight-legged tough wasn't about to give his cricket up, and squared off with me and my camera.

I would say this one is "cute", as spiders go. It's a bolas spider, Mastophora yeargani. Laura Hughes showed it to our group last Saturday night. She made a great find; this is the first confirmed state record. I think this species was only described in 2003, and its basic life history is not well understood. The spider is resting below a twig and staring at the camera; nearby is her egg case.

More photos and stories from this expedition may follow...

An epic Adams County (Ohio) foray

Anyone who has checked in with this blog on any sort of regular basis over the years (1,811 posts over nearly a decade, thus far!) has probably noticed two recurring names: Adams County, and John Howard.

Adams County, Ohio, is an Ohio River county lying between Cincinnati and Portsmouth. It is also one of the most biologically rich regions in the entire midwestern United States, which is why I've reported on finds from that area so often, and make so many trips there.

John Howard is a friend who has lived in Adams County for decades, a superb naturalist, and few if any know the natural history of Adams County and vicinity as well as he does. Flora or fauna, it doesn't matter - John knows hidden nooks and crannies and where to find the coolest of the cool like no one else.

Last year, John and his wife Tina set about constructing what would become the Ohio Star Retreat Center just outside West Union, the county seat of Adams County. The building can lodge up to a dozen or so people, and is perfectly set up for the study of natural history. And it's in close proximity to some of the richest habitats in this part of the world. Last weekend, John organized what will hopefully become the first of many Ohio Star-based natural history forays. I could not attend the entire weekend, but was able to tag along on Saturday. It was a great time full of interesting sightings. And that's without even leaving the grounds of the retreat. The first bird that I heard upon getting out of my vehicle was a blue grosbeak, then another one began singing on the other side of the property and eventually teed up on a nearby dead snag.

There were about ten of us, and John had a large van so that everyone could travel together. On Saturday, we visited a few spots and were inundated with interesting finds. I'd suggest, in addition to checking in with the center's main website, following the Facebook page for the Ohio Star Retreat Center. Anyone interested in natural history and photography would be well served by attending future outings. The retreat is also an ideal place to stay for those venturing to Adams County on their own.

Following are just a few of last Saturday's finds.

Ah yes, one of the world's most spectacular beetles, and apparently quite the rarity in Ohio. The big tangerine-colored bruiser is the amorpha borer, Megacyllene decora, and it has only been found in a few Ohio River counties in southwest Ohio near as I know. It was high on our list to see, but we never have great expectations when hunting this beetle due to its seeming scarcity. On this day, we found several at the very first stop.

A case of the nut not falling far from the tree, this amorpha borer rests atop the leaves of its host plant, false indigo, Amorpha fruticosa. Its larvae bore within the root tissues, and the adults only emerge for a brief period in late summer and fall. As is always the case, at least with the amorpha borer finds that I've been in on, we're literally on the bank of the Ohio River. This particular site, which was new to me, was a treasure trove of unusual flora and fauna.

A gorgeous black-legged meadow katydid, Orchelimum nigripes, poses for the camera. It is a female, as evidenced by the long scimitar-shaped ovipositor jutting from her posterior. The "singing insects" were much in evidence on this outing: katydids, coneheads, crickets, and at least a half-dozen species of cicadas.

Not all is rosy in the life of a meadow katydid. This female short-winged meadow katydid, Conocephalus brevipennis (I believe) was captured by a predatory wasp in the genus Tachytes. The wasp delivered a sting which injected a potent neurotoxin which quickly disabled the katydid. It is lugging the victim to a ground burrow where it will be entombed along with an egg. The wasp grub then will have a fresh supply of meat upon hatching.

We saw many interesting plants, which is a given down here. This is not a rarity but a somewhat overlooked yet beautiful member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), white lettuce, Prenanthes alba.

We are coming into peak caterpillar season, and we found them everywhere we went. This is a saddled prominent, Heterocampa guttivitta. It illustrates the remarkable camouflage so common in the caterpillar world. The shape of the cat merges well with the leaf edge, and dappled purplish spotting mirrors patches of necrotic leaf tissue so common on fall foliage.

John spotted this remarkable mimic, a flowerfly in the genus Spilomyia. From any distance it is an incredible match for a yellow jacket, and matching the appearance of these painful stingers provides a solid reason for would-be predators to give this thing a wide berth. The fly even holds its black forelegs out and forward to mimic the look of wasp antennae.

Here we have another saddled prominent caterpillar, but this one is not nearly as well off as the animal in the previous photo. It has been seized by a thread-waisted wasp, Ammophila nigricans, which provisions its burrows with caterpillars. It's the same old story: the wasp debilitates its victim by injecting a neurotoxin, then entombs it in a subterranean crypt. The wasp grub then eats the caterpillar.

We were fascinated to see two small flies tracking the wasp's movements like a shadow. They were tiny - a few millimeters - so getting a decent shot of them on the wing was not easy. They may be a species of tachinid fly, but I'm not sure. Anyway, there is no question that the flies aimed to parasitize the wasp. Most likely, once the wasp led them to its burrow and began dragging in the caterpillar, the flies would shoot in close and either fling eggs, or maybe even maggots, into the hole's entrance. Or they may go about it another way - see THIS AMAZING VIDEO by Mark Berman. Then the fly larvae would either feed on the wasp grub, or its caterpillar meal.

As you can see, we not only find lots of notable things and get exposed to lots of interesting photo ops on these forays. we also learn lots about natural history. If you're thinking of planning an Adams County excursion, you might check on with John at the Ohio Star Retreat Center page, or its Facebook page.

Photography Workshop: September 20-22!

A gorgeous Lake Erie sunrise pinkens the sky behind the historic Marblehead Lighthouse, one of the most picturesque signal towers on Lake Erie.

I made this image last September, during a photography workshop instructed by David FitzSimmons and myself. Our base of operations was the beautiful lakefront town of Lakeside, which is not even five minutes from this lighthouse.

The aforementioned Dave FitzSimmons, nearly kneeling in the surf creating silky wave images. This September 20-22, Dave and I will be back and doing the workshop again, this time joined by the inimitable Art Weber, founder of the National Center for Nature Photography. Dave, as some of you know, is the creator of the Curious Critters book series. All of the workshop details are RIGHT HERE.

A juvenile Herring Gull poses in early morning sunlight, in between working on its scaly meal. Had the bird only turned its head about 10-15 degrees my way, the photo would be that much better.

The great thing about a photography workshop at Lakeside is the sheer diversity of subjects within a stone's throw of base camp. After the group finished shooting a glorious sunrise at East Harbor State Park, we turned our lens to this cooperative gull.

Fringed Gentian flowers appear to be spun from cobalt silk. The frayed petal edges lend a nice touch. Just 15 minutes from Lakeside is one of Ohio's finest remnant prairies, and it has plenty of these gentians and many more botanical subjects. The gentians, especially, are great fun to photograph but require good technique for quality images.

Growing with the gentians is this, the Riddell's Goldenrod, one of our rarest goldenrods and a true prairie species. It is one of about 100 species of vascular plants discovered and described to science from Ohio.

In addition to learning lots about photography, and getting much practice on a wide array of subjects, we'll also learn lots about natural history.

It's not just flora and fauna, though - Lake Erie abounds with all manner of manmade subjects, such as this massive lake freighter. It is the John D. Leitch, which was launched in 1967, and refitted in 2001. When it left the docks in 2002, it was the largest self-loading freighter on the Great Lakes. I made this image from the pier at Lakeside; the freighter was taking on limestone from the Lafarge quarrying operation not far to the east.

Here's last year's group, wrapping up a good session with lots of photos made, of scores of subjects.

Another sunrise, this one from the beach at East Harbor State Park.

Please sign on if you are interested in advancing your photography skills, and getting exposed to some really cool subjects that you might not otherwise see. Between Art, Dave, and myself, I'm sure you'll learn plenty of new tricks.

All the details are RIGHT HERE. More on Lakeside can be FOUND HERE.

Huron, on Lake Erie, is a bird-watcher's paradise

Huron, on Lake Erie, is a bird-watcher's paradise

COLUMBUS DISPATCH
December 6, 2015

NATURE
Jim McCormac

HURON, Ohio — I recently traveled to the Lake Erie town of Huron, population 7,000. Huron, which was voted one of “America’s Coolest Small Towns” for 2015 by Budget Travel magazine, is the epicenter of Erie County bird-watching.

Our second-smallest county is probably best-known as the birthplace of Thomas Alva Edison and the home of Cedar Point. It also hosts a remarkable suite of Lake Erie bird-watching hot spots.

Bookending Huron is Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve and Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve. Three miles downstream on the Huron River is another state nature preserve, DuPont Marsh.

My destination was yet another hot spot, the municipal pier at the confluence of the Huron River and Lake Erie in the middle of town. The half-mile-long pier’s terminus puts observers in a fantastic location to spot birds.

November and December brings the most birds to Huron. The concentrations of red-breasted mergansers can be staggering. One-day estimates of these fish-eating ducks can range into the tens of thousands. Massive flocks resemble storm clouds scudding over Lake Erie.

The mergansers are joined by thousands of gulls, most notably Bonaparte’s gulls. They’re there for the fish, too. Lake Erie’s abundant fishery accounts for most of late fall and early winter’s avian bounty. Emerald shiners and gizzard shad probably form the bulk of the food base.

My fellow observers and I noted hundreds of common loons near the river mouth. They were accompanied by hundreds of horned grebes, another diving fish eater.

Birders love to find rare birds, and Huron has an amazing track record. At least three first state records have been found, and lesser rarities are almost to be expected on a good day.

My trip was successful on the rarity front. Best was a Pacific loon found by Robert Hershberger, an Amish optics vendor and ace birder. The first recorded sighting of the bird in Ohio was in this same spot in 1985, and only a handful have been reported since.

We saw three jaegers, which are Arctic-nesting gull-like birds that pirate fish from other birds. Both white-winged and black scoters landed nearby, offering good looks. Sometimes dozens or even hundreds of these sea ducks can be seen here. At day’s end, I found an eared grebe in the river. Only a few turn up in Ohio each year.

In terms of sheer spectacle, the red-breasted mergansers stole the show. At one point, a feed swarm numbering over 10,000 birds stretched for perhaps a quarter-mile just offshore. Many other flocks, large and small, continually passed by in the distance.

Lake Erie is an incredibly rich biological hot spot, and the birds bear this out. I hope we can do a better job of caring for it.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blog spot.com.

Gulls, doing interesting things

UPDATE: Note below that I lamented the too nice weather during my trip last Wednesday. Well, the weather changed big time the following day, and a few Cave Swallows, a Red Phalarope, and two Franklin's Gulls were found at this very spot yesterday. Then, 22 Franklin's Gulls were in about the exact spot where I photographed the Lesser Black-backed Gull this morning. Bad weather means good birding along Lake Erie.

I visited one of my favorite Lake Erie haunts yesterday, Huron, Ohio and its famed municipal pier. This is stop #46 on the Lake Erie Birding Trail, and one of the lake's true birding hotspots. I've been coming here for many, many years, and have seen lots of great birds from this pier.

My hope was for bad weather, and my plan was to perch by the lighthouse at the pier's end and conduct a "sea watch". Rough weather in November can produce lots of scoters, big numbers of gulls, and perhaps jaegers or other rarities such as Red Phalarope. Alas, the weather was too nice - calm seas and very Indian Summerish, with temps ultimately hitting 60F. Nonetheless, I trundled out the 6/10th mile long pier to the end, with much gear in hand, to see what might happen.

Not much was going on at the lighthouse, which wasn't surprising. The lake was flat and waveless, and skies were blue. Well, at least the light was great for making photographs, so that's what I did. This juvenile Bonaparte's Gull was making a regular loop around the lighthouse, so I committed him/her to pixels. On a cold blustery day in November or December, the Huron River and adjacent Lake Erie can swarm with many thousands of these small gulls, and big concentrations often have rarities like Little Gull in their ranks.

There is a small peaty beach just a stone's throw west of the pier at its juncture with the mainland, and I was pleased to find this beautiful Lesser Black-backed Gull there on my return. I was able to make a wonderful series of images of the bird. I wrote a thumbnail sketch of its status in North America and Ohio a few years back; RIGHT HERE.

The early morning light offered near-perfect illumination of the several hundred gulls that roosted on the beach and nearshore waters. Given the unlikelihood of rarities due to the nice weather, I settled in to watch the gulls for a while, and secure some images.

Shooting sitting gulls isn't exactly difficult. They're pretty big, and usually relatively unwary. Thus, to avoid gull shots that look like 10,000 other gull shots, I like to try and catch them doing something interesting. If you wait and watch long enough, they will.

An adult Herring Gull, sporting the dappled browns of its winter plumage, drops its pink landing gear.

Flying gulls are a few notches up the difficulty scale from perched gulls, but still not too tough to pull off. They are often predictable in their flight patterns, and depending on the wind, frequently fly with a rather languid manner. However, capturing good images of certain of their aerial hijinks can be hard.

An adult Ring-billed Gull drops to the water.

Much of one's success with shooting flying birds, gulls or otherwise, depends on how the camera is set up, and the type of lens that is used. A fast shutter speed is essential, obviously. I shot this image and those that follow at 1/2000 of a second, give or take.

A Ring-billed Gull jumps from the water, creating mini waterspouts. The Ring-bill is by far the most common gull in Ohio, in most places at most seasons. As winter sets in on Lake Erie, their numbers will often be matched or bested by Herring Gulls. But on this day, the Ring-billed Gulls were the dominant gull. I've got scads of images of them, but the lighting and overall setup in this spot was too good to pass up.

One interesting gull habit that you may have noticed is their tendency to execute a brief rather violent shimmy soon after take off from water. This hard shake blasts the water from the plumage, and in the process the gull's contortions take on some interesting appearances. I spent quite a bit of time and effort trying to freeze the birds in mid shimmy-shake. It isn't as easy as it might seem. In spite of having a pretty good idea that a recently launched bird might do this, it's still a bit tough to track it smoothly with the camera, and freeze the action. This Ring-billed Gull is in the midst of some interesting water-shedding gyrations.

This image was made at 1/2500, and it still didn't totally freeze the violent wing thrusts of this Ring-billed Gull as it shook fiercely in midair. Notice the turbulence buffeting its primary (outermost) flight feathers.

This is what I was really trying for, and the vast majority of my efforts failed. This one, though, is a keeper. When the gulls do their shimmy shake, they often briefly invert their head and it looks like they are flying upside down. This whole shake and shudder stunt lasts only a second or two, and the bird will only be in this head down position for a fraction of a second.

Watching birds' behavior, even very common species, can sometimes reveal interesting opportunities to make out of the ordinary photographs.