Indigo Bunting blue...

...do you even remember what that color looks like?

An Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) in a sea of summer lushness. 

Summer colors—jewel tones of emerald green and lapis lazuli are easily forgotten in the gray and white desert of winter. I'm not trying to hurry winter along. I love snow, and we've had a lot of it this winter, which has been exciting, but seeing the saturated greens of summer has me thinking of what's to come...

Indigo Buntings return to our area and start claiming territory in fields and woodland edges in April. Not too far off...

Matty and I saw this Indigo Bunting on an early evening walk at Shawnee State Park in southwestern Ohio last summer. It was warm and insects and birds were singing all around us. We had spent the day volunteering with Jenny Richards, the incredibly enthusiastic and knowledgable naturalist at the park. After dinner we walked down the long drive that leads from the main road up to the lodge. This Indigo Bunting was singing in the trees at the woodland edge just off the road. He was singing so sweetly we had to stay and watch and listen.

...for a preview of the sounds of spring and summer, click here for a video by Lang Elliott (Music of Nature videos) of an Indigo Bunting singing! I've listened to it 4 times. It sounds so good...

That bumblebee is the bomb!

"Bombus impatiens" that is. This furry little "bombus" or bumble bee was buzzing around a stand of purple coneflowers in the meadow at Shawnee State Park...

A fuzzy, round bumble bee hovers over its next nectar source, a vibrant purple coneflower. The bumble's loud buzzing was persistent...and one of the wonderful sounds of summer.

I don't know a lot about bumble bees, so that evening I got out my "Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America" to see what species this bumble was. From the photo and description, I'm deducing Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens). Bombus impatiens' field marks include a thorax covered in yellow pile (or fuzz) with a small bald spot on top, and an abdomen with only the first segment covered in yellow pile...

In this photo, it looks like just the first segment of the bee's abdomen is covered in the yellow fuzz, which identifies it as a Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens). If the second segment was also covered in the yellow fuzz, it would be an American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus).  The Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) is one of the most common bumble bees in our area and in the eastern United States. 

A pollen basket (or "corbicula") is a smooth surface on the hind leg of a female bumble bee or honey bee. Males do not have pollen baskets. Bumble bees and honey bees use pollen baskets to carry pollen back to the nest. Click here for an earlier post that explains how pollen baskets work. Click here for other ways to tell female and male bumble bees apart. Another difference between a male and female bumble bee is the stinger. Females have them, males don't. Unlike honey bees, who die after stinging because they have a barbed stinger that is left in the victim, bumble bees can sting more than once because their stinger is smooth. Click here for more info on a bumble bee's stinger.

...let's zoom in a bit to look at the ocelli (three primitive eyes) on the top of his head. These eyes help the bumble bee see ultraviolet light, and are also used for stability while flying by helping the bee detect the horizon. To read more about ocelli, click here. To see the ocelli on a grasshopper (from an older post), click here. 

Bumble bees have long tongues encased in a hard sheath. The tongue is reddish, and the tip is hairy and feathery. This modification helps the bumble bee lap up nectar. It is not a sucking tube like a butterfly's proboscis. (Source: "The Natural History of Bumblebees, a Sourcebook for Investigations," by Carol A. Kearns and James D. Thomson, pg 30.) For a close-up photo of the feathery tongue, click here.

Bees in the late summer sun 

Drone their song 

Of yellow moons 

Trimming black velvet, 

Droning, droning a sleepysong.

                    --Carl Sandburg

The yellow pile looks as soft as a bunny's fur, but the fuzzy "hairs" are actually finely branched setae. The branching helps pollen stick to the hairs, which function more like our skin in that they contain sensors that let the bee feel wind speed and direction, or detect chemicals. For more on bumblebee hair, click here. For a quick overview of the differences between mammalian hair (keratin) and insect "hair" or setae (chitin), click here. 

Bumble bees are so big, round and fat it seems improbable they could fly with their delicate wings, but they do!  Here this Bombus impatiens hovers over a purple coneflower. She soon lit on the orange spikes to lap nectar, one of her main food sources. Bumble bees eat pollen and drink nectar. They have no other food source.

South winds jostle them--
Bumblebees come--
Hover--hesitate--
Drink, and are gone--
--Emily Dickinson

Buck Moth caterpillar (Hemileuca maia) - another “stinging” hair caterpillar!

Back in July when Matty and I were at Shawnee State Park, I was sitting under a huge oak tree watching a snake move through the grass. I leaned back, propping myself up on my arms, and glanced back by my hand. About a half inch from my little finger was a caterpillar decorated with what looked like spiky white snowflakes. I quickly moved my hand out of his path. We learned years ago what can happen when you touch fuzzy wuzzy cool looking caterpillars--ouch (click here for a post about the fuzzy yellow American Dagger Moth Caterpillar)! Since then, any unidentified caterpillar is labeled “stranger danger” and is hands off until identified. Jenny had a field guide in the nature center and quickly discovered what he was...a Buck Moth Caterpillar (Hemileuca maia). Good thing I moved my hand. Just like our friend the American Dagger Moth, the Buck Moth is covered in hollow hairs/spines that are attached to poison glands. Simply brushing against one of those hairs is enough to break the hair and have its contents spill directly into your skin. The toxins in the venom can cause painful red welts and even vomiting.

Buck Moth Caterpillar (Hemileuca maia)

You can just look at all these bells and whistles and tell this guy packs a punch--a purpley-black body covered in yellow dots, spiky white and yellow barbs, a maroonish, dark red head...and to top that off, red and black multi-branched spines (that look like really sharp thorns)!

...one of the kids lifted this prickly guy on a stick to take him to the edge of the lawn at the nature center. We didn't want him to get squished...and we didn't want him to unintentionally leave any of those barbs in someone's skin!

...check out those dark spikes...makes me think of tiny locust tree thorns. (I only had my big lens with me. I wish I had had my macro so I could have gotten a close-up of those barbs. You can find a nice close-up here, though.)

...the red abdominal prolegs add to this guy's snappy attire!

When I saw this caterpillar in June, he was probably looking for a place to burrow into the ground to transform into a pupae. The pupal stage lasts through summer and according to the Ohio State University Entomology fact sheet (found here), Buck Moth adults emerge about now and will fly through Indian summer in October. Their name, "Buck" Moth, derives from the fact their flying season is the same time as the rutting season of the whitetail deer.

Buck Moth Caterpillars are very famous in New Orleans...

Buck Moth Caterpillars are relatively rare in our town, but apparently they are well know in the Big Easy, where the mass dropping of Buck Moth Caterpillars from Live Oak trees onto unsuspecting victims below is an annual right of passage! The story is here and here and here!

Duct tape to the rescue!

I read this quick fix on lots of sites: to remove the broken spines from your skin, apply and repeatedly strip duct tape (or Scotch tape) over the affected area. Once the venom is in, though, there's not much you can do. Ice helps and many sites recommend a paste of baking soda and water (here).

The colors of summer...

...one of our most graceful and beautiful summer butterflies, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, will continue to fly in our town for a little longer this year spreading her summer colors and tricking me into thinking the warm, sunny days of summer will never end, but today is Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, and by the end of September, our pretty yellow and black butterfly will have vanished from sight, taking summer and all its colors along with her...

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

...with bright yellow wings the same color as the flower she's nectaring from, this female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a picture of summer. I'll miss her this winter when all is grey...

Male and female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails have yellow wings with black tiger stripes. They also have blue and orange scales on their wings, but females have significantly more blue scaling (as shown above) than males who have only four small blue circles on their hindwing ("Butterflies of Ohio," by Jaret C. Daniels). Females also have a dimorphic dark form..

Dark-form females are mostly black with markings that mimic toxic and foul-tasting Pipevine Swallowtails. Mimicry provides protection from predators.

The blue scaling on dark-form females is prominent...

...and you can often see a "tiger stripe" showing through the black.

The abdomen on dark-form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails is solid black on top with small yellow and black stripes underneath. This plain abdomen is an easy way to distinguish female dark-form Tiger Swallowtails from Pipevine Swallowtails (the butterfly they are mimicking), because the Pipevines have a blue abdomen with spots (click here for an earlier post on a Pipevine Swallowtail to see its abdomen and read about its toxicity).

The abdomen on yellow females and males is yellow with black stripes.

Click here for an earlier post on Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies with information on butterfly wings and scales. I photographed these little ladies on 7/16/10 at Shawnee State Park in eastern Ohio.

Have a Happy Labor Day!

Buy a piece of history...and support the Ohio State Parks!

Antique Virginia slate roof tiles are for sale at Hocking Hills State Park and Shawnee State Park!

While walking deep in the hollows of Hocking Hills State Park, a park employee stumbled across a large stack of abandoned Virginia slate roof tiles. The tiles, apparently intended for the roof of a large barn, were never used and lay undetected in the woods for over a hundred years! Park officials have rescued hundreds of them with the idea of offering these “pieces of history” to the public to help raise money for the parks.

These historic artifacts are ideal for painters and crafters. Artists literally have a blank slate to work with! Painted slate roof tiles can be hung inside for a rustic look or outside in gardens or on a porch. Welcome signs, house address markers, garden signs, flowers, birds, or woodland scenes all look beautiful on these historic tiles. It’s getting harder and harder to find antique slate roof tiles. Don’t pass up this opportunity to own a piece of history and help out the Ohio State Parks!

...this is a broken slate roof tile I used this summer during a free workshop at Shawnee State Park to demonstrate how to paint birds on slate and rocks. The tiles for sale are huge...more than twice this size, but you can see the lovely patina they've acquired over the past 100 years. Also included with the tiles are eight bird templates adapted from a few of my paintings. You can use the templates to get you started, or create your own designs. You'll find these two Hooded Warblers in the pack, as well as an Eastern Bluebird, an American Goldfinch on a sunflower, male and female Northern Cardinals, a Carolina Chickadee, and an American Bald Eagle.

Tiles are $24.99 and are for sale at:

Shawnee State Park and at the camping store

Hocking Hills State Park at the gift shop

Buy a piece of history...

and support the Ohio State Parks!

An Eastern Hognose Snake with all his antics...

Eastern Hognose Snakes (Heterodon platyrhinos) are the drama kings and queens of the snake world----they are blustery and filled with air (literally), put on a great act, and work very hard to convince you they’re dangerous…

Yikes! If that doesn't convince you there's danger lurking in the grass, I don't know what will, but it's all an act. Eastern Hognose snakes are harmless to humans. If you look in that gaping maw (and how can you not?) you'll see there are no fangs to deliver venom. There are teeth in the back (rear fangs), but they are mainly used to puncture inflated toads (their favorite food) and hold them in place (toads will sometimes inflate their bodies when captured to try to keep from being swallowed, but a hognose takes care of that minor problem in short order!).

When I was looking at the above photo, it dawned on me that I saw no tongue. Where on earth was it? Then I noticed the sheath on the bottom jaw...ahhh haaaa! A snake's tongue is encased in a sheath in the lower jaw when it is retracted. Since a snake's tongue is so integral to its survival, it only makes sense it would have evolved with a sheath to protect the tongue from injury.

When alarmed, an Eastern Hognose Snake will flatten out its head and neck to form a cobra-like hood. Here you can see he's just starting to produce the flaring hood, which is one of his tricks to try to convince you he's venomous and dangerous. Venomous snakes have triangular-shaped heads, while non-venoums snakes have more oval-shaped heads, but if you look at his eye you can see it's all a ruse. He has oval-shaped pupils, which means he is non-venomous. Venomous snakes have elliptical-shaped pupils.

...here you can see the fully formed cobra-like hood. It's pretty convincing!

...from behind the look is just as dramatic...

...and from straight on...ack! That is one dangerous-looking snake. His head screams triangle and his little triangular-shaped snout (the hognose namesake) only adds to his fierceness. Of course, once again, his round pupils give away the fact that he's nonvenomous and harmless...

...and if all that blustering doesn't scare you away, the hognose then does the next best thing. He plays dead, flipping over on his back and lolling out his tongue!

...yes, he actually lolls out his tongue, which is a clever touch because he really does look quite dead! If you want an encore performance, just flip him over. He will immediately flop onto his back again...and loll out that tongue as well!

Matty and I watched this grand performance on 6/29/2011 at Shawnee State Park in Ohio when we were volunteering with Jenny Richards, the park's amazing naturalist. You learn and get to see so much when you volunteer in the parks!

Note: The hognose snake has another method of defense. It will inflate its body with air by expanding its lung like a balloon (most snakes have only one functioning lung that extends most of the length of its body). It then lets the air out emitting a loud hissing sound. I couldn't capture this with the camera... This behavior accounts for many of its common names of "puff adder, blow snake, and hissing viper" (common name source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources A-Z Species Guide).

Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffinis)

When I saw this furry little hummingbird lookalike fly up to a milkweed blossom, I at first thought he was a Hummingbird Clearing Moth (Hemaris thysbe), but when he turned sideways, I could see he was wearing a little black mask and black gloves, making him a Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffnis)...

A Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffinis) nectars on Common Milkweed.

The little black mask on his face and the black gloves on his legs give him away as a Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffinis). The other Hummingbird moth, a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe), has no mask and has lighter colored legs. Click here for a previous post on Hemaris thysbe.

While nectaring, hummingbird moths stabilize their hovering by placing their front legs on the blossom.

...such a furry little body! He looks more like a tiny flying mouse than a moth. I'm surprised he doesn't have the nickname Hummingbird Mouse...since "flying mouse" (Die Fledermaus, Bat) is already taken!

Hummingbird moths start with maroon-colored wings, but after their first flight, the scales start to drop off, creating the "clear wings" for which they are named.

This Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth was nectaring at Shawnee State Park just outside the nature center in the butterfly garden.

...the yellow bands on the inside of his abdomen cause some to worry his is a very large bumble bee, but don't worry, the Snowberry Clearwing has no stinger. He just likes to drink nectar...

Hooded Warblers at Shawnee

If you want to see Hooded Warblers, go to Shawnee State Park. They are easy to spot, and you don't have to go far from the lodge to see them. A lovely mile-long loop hiking trail called Lampblack Nature Trail is located right off the lodge parking lot. Every time I've walked it I've seen Hooded Warblers and Ovenbirds. This year I also saw Cerulean Warblers (I know...Cerulean Warblers! More to come on the Ceruleans...), plus Kentucky Warblers and Scarlet Tanagers...Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Wood Thrushes...you get the picture. Here are a few of the Hooded Warblers we saw along the way (not my best photos ever, but they show the beautiful color of the bird)...

...the black hood around the Hooded Warbler's bright yellow face is truly a remarkable sight, but when you add in their huge black eyes, the look is breathtaking! If you can't get enough of Hooded Warblers, walk the Lampblack Trail near the lodge--you're almost guaranteed to see one...or two...or three...

...the deep shadows of the forest understory coupled with a rainy morning made it difficult to photograph these feathered rays of sunshine, but even through the gloom and fuzzy images, you can get a feel for that special shade of yellow they bring to the world. (Those huge black eyes melt my heart every time I see them!)

...here you can get a glimpse of the flashy white of the underside of his tail...

...shortly after I took this photo, we watched three Hooded Warblers chase each other through the branches like they were playing Hooded Warbler games! It was an unusual sight...

...I painted Hooded Warblers on an antique 100-year old slate tile later in the day.

100-year old Virginia slate tiles found in the woods!

...a naturalist found a stash of 100-year old antique Virginia Slate tiles deep in the woods of Hocking Hills. This is one of the tiles. If you're an artist, and you're interested in painting on these antique slate tiles, you can buy them at the camp store in Shawnee. The tiles will be available for purchase in Hocking Hills too, but I don't know if they are for sale yet. I think the slates will be priced at $25.00 each as a fundraiser. You can call the Shawnee camp store at 740-858-4561 for more information. When I get more info on the slates being available at Hocking Hills, I'll post it.

It's easy to paint on slate!

I had never painted on slate, so I was surprised at how fun and easy it was. You don't have to put a lot prep work into the slates either...just clean the slate and let it dry...then use a towel to scrub off any loose flakes...then paint on it with acrylics. After the paint dries, seal it with a spray sealant. I painted a couple slates with Hooded Warblers and one with a male and female Northern Cardinal to be used around the park. The yellows and reds really pop against the smooth, gray stone. So if you want to give it a try, drop by the camp store to purchase one, or give them a call.

Painting birds and other wildlife on rocks and slate...

Matty and I are home from our Shawnee adventures. We had so much fun and can't believe the time is already over. We did a lot of work this year including handling the snakes at the nature center and helping kids and adults get over their fears of them like we did last year, but we added a few new things in too! Jenny knows I love to paint birds, and she knows Matty is an artist too, so she wondered if we could put on a painting workshop to teach kids and adults how to paint wildlife on rocks and slate tiles. "Of course we can do it," I said (even though I'd never done anything like that before and had no idea what to do), but after doing a little research and putting together templates from my bird paintings, Matty and I came up with a workshop we thought would be fun. I'm so glad we did it because everyone had a fantastic time and created beautiful and wonderful artwork! When I asked Matty what he wanted to say about the workshop, he said without thinking, "It was like we were all a big family." I guess a mutual love of the earth and all its wild creatures creates a quick connection among nature people, because it really was like we were one big family of artists painting nature!

...young nature artists use acrylic paints to create beautiful nature art on rocks.

Matty helps by answering questions, getting paints, changing water...and just laughing with the kids.

...wherever you looked, birds, snakes, salamanders, turtles, and frogs were coming to life under the skilled hands of young nature artists! (If you look closely, you can see the gentleman on the right has created a beautiful Northern Cardinal. Unfortunately because of the angle of the rock, we can't see the colorful Common Yellowthroat the gentleman on the left created...)

...everybody joined in to create beautiful art in nature!

...some artists preferred free-form expressionism...

...while others went for realism.

(I see a happy little Chiggy coming to life here!)

...it was thrilling to watch everyone focus and really get into their art. The variety of styles and subjects was amazing...

...big kids joined in too!

(You should have seen the stones after these two lovely ladies were finished. They were gorgeous!)

...even Jenny's mom attended and created a beautiful Hooded Warbler!

...towards the end of the workshop, Matty sat down and painted a stone too. He created a beautiful frog.

If you're in the area, be sure to check out Jenny's calendar of events. She always has something scheduled at the nature center, and if you live in Cincinnati, Shawnee is only two hours away. The lodge is lovely, and escaping into the forest feels like you've gone worlds away. If your child is at all interested in herpetology, you need to visit Jenny at the nature center. She is the most hands-on naturalist I've ever met. She has an unsurpassed talent for awakening a love of nature in children. You will be amazed at how much your child will learn from just a few minutes with Jenny...

p.s. Matty and I will be volunteering for a week next year at Shawnee too, and we're going to put on the free workshop again. Maybe we will see you there. I'll be sure to post the date next summer.

...also...painting on rocks is really fun! We used really smooth rocks, and I loved the way the creamy acrylics would glide over the surface. I painted a Hooded Warbler on one side of the rock and then flipped it to paint a Northern Cardinal on the other side. I'll write more on that later...