It is with deep sadden that we at Wahkeena Nature Preserve acknowledge the passing of a truly GREAT naturalist and FRIEND, Dennis Profant. Dennis was an instructor at Hocking College in the School of Natural Resources.

1956 – 2015

I echo the sentiments that Jim McCormac so eloquently posted in his blog. Not only was Dennis the consummate teacher, but also a life long learner. There was always something that Dennis wanted to learn more about. And although his knowledge was vast, he understood that there was always more to the mysteries of the natural world around us. Dennis had a great sense of humor as well and we would often share a pun or two or three whenever we met. He was one of the people I always made a point to see on my visits to the college. I knew I would glean some new morsel of natural history with each visit. Over the years, Dennis made multiple visits to Wahkeena to learn more about ferns, photograph a new orchid and especially to observe and collect moths. Some of my most treasured memories with Dennis were when we would take a break from the moth sheets and enjoy some hand- crafted wine on the back porch. Simple put, Dennis was a really great guy. Fortunately he will live on in the form of all the students he has mentored over the last 25+ years, including many Wahkeena interns.  And for me, he will live on in the Tulip Tree silkmoth, the Rosy Maple moth, his beloved slug moths and everyone of those dag gone little brown ones, to which he would always say, ” Oh that’s such and such.”

Be at peace my friend. And thanks for sharing the journey. You will be greatly missed, but never forgotten!

Well, here we are at the end of the third week is April and things are really stating to happen now. The first tree has leaved out. Pictured above, the Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus octandra) is the first of our native trees to reveal their leaves. The flower will come a little later.

Below the first native tree to flower is Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), now in bloom near the nature center and a common understory tree on the sandstone ridge tops.

The Redbud and Flowering Dogwood are both getting close to being in full bloom. But it is the spring wildflowers that are really growing rapidly. (A list of blooming flowers can be found at the top of this page.) Below is one of the early bloomer- Bloodroot (Sanquinaria canadensis)
This delicate flower does not last very long and the petal are easily displaced. The common name came from the orange-red fluid in the root and stem of the place.

Typical Bloodroot

A not so typical double flowered Bloodroot is shown below. The genealogy of this particular plant is as follows. The original plant was growing in the garden of Jane Klein in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Jane was a long time, active member of the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs (OAGC). Carmen H. Warner, founder of Wahkeena, was also an active OAGC member. A number of years ago, Jane brought a start of the Bloodroot in a small container to an OACG Board meeting. It was raffled off for $1 a chance as a fund-raiser. Recent OAGC Part President, Mary Lee Minor won the raffle and the little start has grown and lived happily on the north side of her house in Bucyrus, Ohio. A couple of year ago, when Mary Lee was President, she gifted Wahkeena with a start of the same double Bloodroot. And I am glad to say that it too lives happily on the north side of the nature center and is thriving along with Trilliums, Bellwort, Soloman’s Seals and Wild Geraniums.

It really is quite an attention grabbing plant.

Double Bloodroot Flower Closeup This Sunday marks the start of our spring wildflower walks. A schedule of all programs can be found on this site as well as posted regularly on Facebook. The warblers are also appearing in increasing numbers each day. On Thursday we saw a good number of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets just outside of the nature center. And on Wednesday we watched a Wild turkey fly about 100 yards from tree to tree. Yes, wild turkeys can fly. Everyday bring new sights to behold, so get out there and become one with nature. Posted by Tom

And so the skies split open and the rains poured from the heavens and not even the dams of the beaver could contain them. And back in the woods along the trail, the small stream was flowing rapidly, zigzagging its way over the sandstone bed.

Rushing its way towards Moose Head Falls…

so named by a visiting garden club who thought the decaying stump nearby resembled a moose’s head…..can you see it??

The rains have made for a soggy landscape. But water is a good thing, especially when it highlights a bowl and doily spider’s web as in the photo below.

Closeup of Spicebush flower Every plant is coated with the tears of the clouds and maybe some human tears too! The foliage below is garlic mustard, a highly invasive plant that can crowd out native vegetation.

When I bent down to pull it, I discovered something lurking beneath the lush green garlic mustard leaves. In the photo below, the arrow is pointing to a young Mayapple that was completely covered by the alien plant.

Close up of Blue Cohosh flower with of course water droplets. So as the water soaks into the woodland soil and the temperature continue to raise, the parade of wildflowers will quickly explode, capturing the sun’s energy, to bloom and set seeds before the forest canopy emerges and blots out the light. The every changing world of Wahkeena is at full throttle. Posted by Tom With “arrow” assistance by Nora

 As the saying goes….April showers, bring May flowers….but first they bring April flowers, like the ones below.

Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae) a cultivated bulb like the Snowdrops, are early bloomers that sometimes also have to deal with late snow falls.

And it is always exciting to see the fungus above known as Devil’s Urn. Here it is in its early stage and has not fully opened yet. When it does split open it resembles a black urn or cauldron. (More on this one in a later post.)

What the !*#?% is going on! Wednesday saw day time temperatures in the high 60’s and today the high was 35 degrees … and some snow flurries. What another crazy week in the life of Wahkeena.

Early in the week, I got a notice from good friend and nature enthusiast Roger Grossenbacher that the Hazelnuts were in bloom. So I went out to take a look and sure enough there they were.

American Hazelnut

The flowers of the Hazelnut (Corylus americana) the extremely tiny and one cannot be blamed for overlooking them. But these ruby gems are a real treat and a surprising dash of color in an otherwise drab woodland. These flowers are so tiny that you may be wondering what type of creature pollinates them. The answer is none! They are wind pollinated.

Catkin of Hazelnut The catkins or male flowers of the Hazelnut are a golden yellow in contrast to the ruby red female flowers. When they open fully, little clouds of pollen can be seen exiting the catkins.  If successfully pollinated the female flower will produce a nut in the fall. Hazelnuts are also known as filberts. And they are the stuff that Nutella is made from! On Wednesday night we had an amphibian program and although the rains exited earlier in the day and we did not see a mass migration of Spotted salamanders, we did have a good night. Six species of amphibians were seen by 30 visitors to Wahkeena. There were some Spotted Salamanders and we also saw quite a few Red-spotted Newts and larval Long-tailed Salamanders. The Wood Frogs were very noisy, as were the Peepers. We caught several pairs of Spring Peepers in amplexus. Amplexus is when the male frog grabs the female and rides “piggy back” so he can fertilize the eggs as the female releases them.  We also saw two of the beavers swimming in the pond and heard and saw a Barred owl fly over our heads. So it was a good night,  By contrast, today was deathly quiet because of the return of cold temperatures. Except for the honking of Canada geese of course! And when we are not building bridges to unite humans with nature, we are actually building bridges. As in foot bridges like the one below.

Today I was able to replace two bridges on the Shelter Trail and also spend some time with visitors all the way from Spain! The Black Rat Snake very much enjoyed the warmth the visitors transferred to the snake as Mom and Dad and the two boys took turns holding him.

Adios amigos !

Just in case anyone is out there listening…..we believe that tomorrow (Wednesday March 25) will be the big night for Spotted Salamanders to mass migrate to the breeding pools. Wahkeena will reopen at 7:30 PM until 11 PM for anyone who would like to join us. Bring a flashlight and rain gear.

Wahkeena is now singing with the sounds of spring. The Spring Peepers are peeping, the Wood Frogs are clucking, and the Eastern Phoebes have announced their return, reciting their name: “fee-be”, “fee-be”. The Barred Owls are unusually noisy now. The lone owl who has been courting our captive owl has now been joined by other wild owls. And the “who cooks for you” calls are coming from all directions and can be heard throughout the daylight hours as well as all night. The Red-shouldered Hawks are likewise screaming their call. And a male has been visiting our captive Red-shouldered’s enclosure. Love is definitely in the air… on the land and also in the water!

Wood Frog Egg Mass

Here is a picture of an egg mass deposited by one Wood Frog. Notice how the eggs are clustered together like a bunch of grapes. Wood Frogs like to lay their egg masses in vernal pools and other shallow water areas that are devoid of large predators like fish.

Spotted Salamanders also seek out the same type of breeding areas as the Wood Frogs. But you won’t hear salamanders as they make no mating call. Some “early birds” have already mated and laid eggs, but it looks like this Wednesday night is likely to be the major migration event when the bulk of the Spotted Salamander population will be moving to the breeding pools.

Spotted Salamander Egg Mass

 Noticed that the salamander egg mass above has a smoother envelope encasing the embryos as opposed to the bubbly nature of the Wood Frog egg mass. Note too that the salamander embryos are larger.

In contrast, not much has happened with the plants. The catkins (male flowers) on the alders are slowly opening and some of the large trees are showing hints of flower color high in their tops. But no new wildflowers yet. We did see numerous rosettes of Garlic Mustard leaves on our hike yesterday, but that is one wildflower that we would rather NOT see!

Common Alder Catkins Wood Ducks and Mallards have returned and there was also a pair of Blue-winged Teals on the pond yesterday. And Great Blue Heron today. Beautiful warm day yesterday…beautiful cold day today…ah Spring! P.S. Finally! I found a new blooming wildflower today. It was tightly closed this morning, but is now open all over the lawn in front of the nature center. This tiny flower is aptly named Small-flowered Bitter Cress Posted by Tom With special thanks to semi-professional hand model, Nora Steele. Please Note: We do have a new feature on the blog, at the top of the page you will notice a ‘Bird Sightings’ and ‘Wildflower Bloom List.’ We will update these throughout the season as more species return to the preserve!

The second week of March brought some long awaited weather changes….50+ degree days and SUN!
On Monday, the snowdrops were peeking through the snow again and by Thursday the snow was finally gone and the flowers officially in bloom.  These cultivated bulbs are a legacy of the late Carmen H. Warner and it’s always good to see them each year, as it usually means we have turned the corner from winter to spring.

Snowdrops happy to see the sun on Thursday

The skunk cabbage did not fare quite as well as the snowdrops. In the photo below, you can see that the tips of the spathe have been damaged by the 6-8″ of snow and ice that covered them since they appeared a month ago. Between the two spathes you can see the new emerging leaves.

Frosty Cabbage

The animal activity has also picked up this week. About 20 Canada geese flew in on Wednesday. Must to the dismay of the pair that want to nest here. The goose wars have begun! Honking, hissing, flapping and much posturing has made for a noisy scene.

Hey, where’s the water?? The pair below beginning the defense of their breeding ground. Notice the low neck position of the one on lower left….not a friendly sign.

Get off my pond! And on Thursday the little guy below was seen hanging out on the window screen on the south side of the nature center.

Little Brown Bat  And even though it is raining now at 8:50 PM and the temperature is 47 degrees, no sighting of amphibians yet. The breeding ponds are still locked with a thick layer of ice.  But I would expect that sometime during the next two weeks or so, the wood frogs, spring peepers and spotted salamanders will make their appearance.  And the spring wildflowers will not be far behind. Posted by Tom

When last we met it was snowing…and then came the thaw.

The picture above is looking upstream of the small pond northeast of the nature center. There was still thick ice, but the warm temperature and rains had melted the snow covering. Notice the dark drown in the background. This is mud and silt being washed over the surface of the ice. The picture was take on Monday. By Wednesday, the same shot looked like the picture below.

Six inches of wet snow fell on top of slush. All of which then fused together when the temperature plunged again. By Friday, bright sun began the melting process…again. And with predicted temperatures raising above freezing this coming week, it will all be gone by next weekend.

Through it all life goes on. Back in Part 4, I showed a picture of some mourning dove features and speculated on the culprit. Well, this past week as I was walking around the nature center, a sharp-shinned hawk flew right over my head and landed on a branch near our resident red-shouldered hawk’s enclosure. Later on the opposite side of the nature center near the bird feeding area, I discovered a another pile of dove feathers. Can you say “food chain”? Bird seed, dove, hawk.

The extreme weather has been tough on all of us-humans and wildlife. And everywhere I go, I hear the same thing – “I am done with winter!”  Fear not. Lurking below the snow are lots of spring wildflowers and amphibians biding their time.

Wahkeena will reopen for the 2015 season on Wednesday, March 18,  Wed.- Sun. 8 AM- 4:30 Pm

It’s Not All Fun And Games

Often times over the years, visitors will make a comment like, ” Wow, this must be the greatest job.” or something to that effect. Well, there are many aspects to being a naturalist here at Wahkeena. Doing fun educational programs and helping increase visitors’ understanding of Ohio’s natural history is only a part of the job. There are quite a few “other duties as required.” One of these is the never ending control of invasive plant species, like garlic mustard and winged euonymus. Winged euonymus is also known as wahoo or burning bush. Autumn is often the best time to attack euonymus as it turns a pastel pink color, making it easy to locate in the woodlands.  The name burning bush refers to cultivated varieties that turn red in the fall.

However there can be unexpected benefits to pulling out thousands of invasive plants that are occupying space that would otherwise be filled by more valuable native species. Back in October, while pulling euonymus, I came across some interesting discoveries:

This is the last fern to appear each year in the autumn, cut-leaf grape fern, Botrichium dissectum.

Below is a more dissected form of cut-leaf grape fern. Notice the bronze color that occurs once frost has affected the plant.

Several of our native orchids produce new leaves in the autumn to take advantage of the increase in sunlight energy available, due to the falling leaves on deciduous trees. The food energy manufactured in the orchid leaves is then stored in the root system. By the time these flowers bloom in spring and summer the leaves have almost always totally disintegrated. All of the plant’s energy is now directed to supporting the flower (if one is produced) and the subsequent seeds.

The two orchids at Wahkeena that preform this appearing and disappearing act are shown below.

Cranefly Orchid

Cranefly Orchid – underside of leaf

Puttyoot, Aplectrum hyemale, has a much larger leaf with obvious white, parallel veins. Puttyroot usually blooms mid to later part of May.

Puttyroot

This next orchid, Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens, is evergreen, but really stands out in the autumn/winter woods. It is a summer bloomer as well. 

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain

So even if you are out in the woods pulling invasives, nature will reward you with a few surprises!

Posted by Tom