Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

 This will be short post this week, as I have been working on a renovation project at the Fairfield County Historical Parks office and have not seen much of the preserve this week, And I spent much of today moving snow! As I write this we are at seven inches and counting. And this following a week of brutally cool weather and record lows.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our AMAZING support group – the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs and the OAGC Foundation. This statewide group has supported the educational programs and site improvements at Wahkeena for more than 50 years! One of the longest support projects is the winter feeding of the song birds.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

American goldfinch

In Part 5 the picture below appeared.

A harbinger of spring ?

Look just below the top point for the opening. A cultivated flower planted by Carmen Warner, who create Wahkeena, is also trying to bloom. And most certainly would be in bloom if the temperature had not plummeted again. Snowdrops This flower is aptly named as it often blooms when snow is still present. It has also been an interesting week for bird sightings. This past Monday I saw a pair of bald eagles about two miles north of the preserve along the Hocking River. Later that day, as I was going down the driveway at Wahkeena, two red-tailed hawks flew right over me! On Wednesday I saw two pairs of black vultures (each pair in a different location) that were feasting on road kill. And speaking of road kill….it’s skunk mating season. Posted by Tom

Well the winter roll-a-coaster has taken us to February. The picture below mirrors the winter – some places frozen, some places thawed. While the pond is still frozen solid, the lawn in front of the nature center has only a trace of snow, due to a couple of bright sunny days.

The next series of pictures are of some animal tracks found seen around the nature center pictured above.

Coyote prints

This coyote had wandered all over the place- up and down the driveway, across the pond, through the boardwalk area- no doubt looking for a tasty rodent or whatever else it could find.

Which way do I go?

The ground around the nature center is peppered with all manner of little bird tracks. I don’t know if the picture above does it justice, but it looks like a birdie stampede in all directions!

The curious tracks below were seen in front of the nature center. These were a real mystery at first. They were fairly close to the edge of the pond, so I thought…muskrat tail?  But that does not work as the pond is completely frozen.

Mystery Tracks As I searched a little more, I found the track pictured below.

Ah ha! What I was seeing was a partial track that was created by the snow, thaw, snow that’s been going on lately. I believe that mystery tracks are those of a white-tailed deer. Old tracks that had partial melted were later cover by new snow, thus creating the crescent shaped mystery tracks.

Typical Deer Tracks

I am remained of an old TV commercial that said, ” You can’t fool Mother Nature”. By sometimes Mother Nature can sure fool you!!

Posted by Tom

Wahkeena Trail Head

This winter continues to be an up and down affair. Cold and snow, thaw, cold and snow….But still we have not had the fridge temperatures of last year. Earlier in the week, as the snow on Lake Odonata was melting, I found the telltale tracks in the picture below.

A harbinger of spring??? You can take a guess as to whom the tracks belong.  I am not going to reveal it at this time, but I will surely be talking more about the “who done it” in February. Just two days later the preserve was transformed from gray and slushy to a veil of white.

A view looking back to smokehouse and cabin Hemlocks at beginning of Casa Burro Trail  The last thing I do in the evening each day is feed our resident Barred owl. This education animal is kept by special permit and is non-releasable due to permanent injuries. Barred Owl Some times I have to calm the owl down by doing a little imitation of her call – “who cooks for you“. Two times this week. when I did the imitation call, I was answered by a wild Barred owl! To which the captive owl responded with a “whooooooowa.” The wild call sounded like it was coming from the pine forest a short distance northeast of the nature center. Barred owls typically nest in late February,early March.  Owls usually become more vocal as they approach the beginning of their breeding season. FYI, the Great Horned owls are most likely already on the nest or will be very soon. It may seem odd that these birds nest so early. But it is all timed so that by the time the chicks hatch, the weather will have warmed enough for food populations (like mice and voles) to be active again. Sounds like more snow is on the way, but hang in there, Spring is closer than you may think. Posted by Tom Postscript: Five minutes after posting this entry, as I was walking out the door, an unprovoked Barred owl called from across the lawn, very near the nature center! Always exciting to hear the call of the wild!!!

Things are still pretty quiet around the preserve, but the fun thing about nature is that it is always changing so you never know what you are going to discover on a given day. Yesterday turned out to be a day of curiosities. The picture below is the first mystery.

Scattered feathers The mystery. What kind of bird was it and what happened? A closer look at the feathers and zooming in to the large feather in the picture below revealed part of the mystery.

Gray feather with white tip The feathers are those of a mourning dove. This dove was probably “recycled” by a hawk or owl,  I have seen this scenario before and once actually witnessed a copper’s hawk devour a cardinal, leaving a scatter pile of feathers. Later in the day, as Nora and I were checking the route for a future hike. we came across the usual tree below.

Spiral-shaped tree trunk The clue to what caused this curiosity can be seen just above the spiral section. It is a small light colored piece of an old vine ( probably honeysuckle), While the vine was alive and growing, it constricted the normal growth of the tree as the vine wound its way up the tree to get sunlight. The vine has since died leaving behind the twisted looking tree. Sometimes  you just come across simple things like the snail shell below that was resting on a rich green carpet of moss. “Gastropodis gonus” Up near the base of the sandstone cliffs we found  the American beech pictured below. There was something odd about the bark. Beech tree- note left and right sides A close up examination revealed the picture below. Only the side of the tree facing the cliff was abnormally rippled while the rest of the bark was smooth as one would expect see on beeches. While still somewhat of a mystery, this curiosity may be caused by some hormonal problem within the tree. And finally, below is a clump of walking fern, Asplenium rhizophyllum, growing off the side of a large moss-coverd sandstone boulder. Rhizophyllum roughly translates to mean “root leaves” and refers to its unusual habit of spreading. The tips of the frond will root themselves and another plant will grow. Walking fern is more commonly found growth on limestone and rarely on sandstone like is found at Wahkeena- so a good find.

Walking Fern- note the long tips So as you can see, even during the January thaw, there are curiosities and mysteries to unravel in the winter woods. Posted by Tom

Drilling hole on Lake Odonata

Ice depth 6 inches

Along the edge of the dam, a dead shingle oak is being excavated by a Pileated woodpecker, Ohio’s largest woodpecker and a common bird at Wahkeena.

Pileated woodpecker hole at base of tree

A closer look inside the hole shows the reason for the tree’s death and why the woodpecker chiseled out the hole. Wood munching insects has already feasted on the trees interior. Can you say food web?

A look inside the hole.

Posted by Tom w/pond photo credits to Nora.
 Stay Tuned………………

Posted by Tom

Hello to all the Wahkeena blog followers out there in cyberville. Today marks the start of a new blog feature that will appear under the title- “A Day in the Life”. I will attempt to take you through a year in the life of Wahkeena Nature Preserve. This will not be a daily diary, but more of a weekly journal. I will share observations and happenings as they unfolded. Thus we begin………………

Today is January 2, 2015. It’s been a beautiful sunny day with reasonably mild temperatures. I spotted two wildflowers in bloom today, The ever present yellow dandelion and the purple pinwheel-shaped myrtle- also know as periwinkle or vinca. Both are non-natives that were introduced long ago and are now a common sight in the landscape. No sign of the first true native wildflower- skunk cabbage. The woods was very peaceful today with only the ever present chattering of the gray squirrels- which seem to be everywhere- including seven at the bird feeder! The pond is finally completely frozen, locking the beavers in their lodge for the time being. I can hear the trees breathing a sigh a relief!

Frozen Lake Odonata with beaver lodge at rear left I also found this wildlife sign near the nature center. Can you guess what it is? Well, that’s it for now, but stay tuned. And try to get outside and enjoy something natural!

Old Guest Cabin

What a different a week makes! The hills and valleys of Wahkeena are now blanketed with 5 inches of powdery snow and the temperatures dancing above and below 0 degrees. The dark green foliage to the left of the cabin in the picture above is native rhododendron, Rhododendron maximum. Rhododendron has an interesting way of dealing with the extreme cold temperatures. As the temperature drops the leaves curl tighter and tighter. Think about what we humans do when we get cold- wrapping our arms around our body in an effort to reduce our surface area and retain more heat. (Interesting scientific fact- there really is no such thing as “cold” only an absence of heat!) Because they are evergreen plants, the rhododendrons are reducing the surface area of their leaves in an attempt to limit loss of water. (It’s hard to drink more water when it’s frozen in the ground!)

Curled rhododendron leaves w/flower bud While checking out the rhododendrons, I also noticed some ice formations by the enclosed spring in the sandstone rocks near the old guest cabin. Icicles on overhanging sandstone Interesting birds at the feeders include a female Eastern Towhees and Yellow-bellied sapsucker and just moments ago an Eastern cottontail rabbit came to fill its belly…….sorry birdies!

The Wahkeena Version

As our holiday gift to you, below is our rendition of the traditional ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’ written about the happenings here at Wahkeena. 

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,

Photo of the lodge, circa 1950

the only creature that was stirring outside was a mouse

The Owl looked down from his tree with delight,

 for later he hoped the mouse he would bite.

Our resident Barred Owl, blind in one eye

The Beavers were nestled all snug in their lodge,

Beaver lodge

 for they’d chewed down the forest and left only some logs.

And Tom by his wood stove, and Nora with her cats had just settled down for a long winters nap.

Keena does not like his picture being taken

When out in the meadow there arose such a clatter,

 for the coyotes were howling and the other animals scattered.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave a luster of midday to the objects below,

And what to our wondering eyes did appear,

 but our director, Dave Fey, being chased by some deer!

“Hey Dave! Whatcha’ doing?” Tom called with a fright.

“Do you know that it’s cold and in the middle of the night?” 

Tom Shisler

Dave merrily whistled and shouted in glee “Now on to see Nora, then Kelly and Dan!

Then Larry and Keena and on to Japan!”

Tom shook his head and turned from the scene,

wondering if tomorrow he would remember what he’d seen.

Now all became quiet with a new blanket of snow,
that shelters the plants and animals below,

The bees dreamed of flowers, the beavers of trees,

 and some of the birds dreamed only of seeds.

And the little mouse in the woods, the one in plain sight,

Had a Merry Christmas, for the owl had found a vole to his right.

Dr. Frank and Carmen Warner

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night! 

-Tom and Nora

The Old Farmer’s Almanac, an entertaining booklet which predicts the climate for the coming year, has forecast a colder than normal winter for Ohio. In contrast, many ‘traditional’ methods of predicting the weather have determined… Well, they have not determined much of anything, but they are still fun to read! 

 

Find Yourself a Dead Goose

For this method, acquire the breastbone of a (previously) dead goose, good luck. The length of the breastbone indicates the duration of the coming winter, while the color reveals the harshness. A white bone prophesies a mild season, while a darker one foresees cold temperatures and lots of snow. 

If it is early in the winter season, and you cannot find yourself a goose. Instead, watch them fly south. The sooner the geese leave an area, the harsher the winter. If plenty of geese are still “obtainable” in late November, spare a goose because the winter will be a peaceful one.