I haven't been able to post blogs because I have been pretty busy....busy good and busy not so good. Since my last post I have been jam packed with commitments, some planned and some completely unexpected. I have a lot to post about and I keep getting further behind.
I volunteered for the Black Swamp bird Observatory (BSBO) for the THE BIGGEST WEEK IN AMERICAN BIRDING in early May, guiding and driving participants to wide range of Northwest Ohio locations. It was a grueling schedule but hugely rewarding for both myself and for the participants. The week was beautifully orchestrated by BSBO and for the scale of the undertaking it went as smooth as a baby's behind. I tip my hat to the BSBO staff and volunteers who did a stellar job of showing America just how great community and great birding works together to provide unparalleled opportunities for visitors to have a great and memorable experience.
The week of intense birding ended abruptly when my daughter had a very serious horse riding incident that left her with a serious concussion and a broken foot, not to mention bruises and abrasions from being dragged along the Township road where the accident took place. The ramifications of her injuries on her Jockey career are still to be determined but she won't be competing this season. Her husband Pancho and I are filling in on the multitude of tasks that Amanda is so used to doing herself. Maintaining a farm operation can be very unforgiving and the beat goes on regardless of extenuating circumstances.
Lately I have been trying to get caught up on the transformation of the Half-fast Farm and the Trumbull County wildlife areas from spring to summer. I stayed home yesterday and spent the day listing all the birds that I could see on and from my property. The list ended at 42 species and could have been 50 if it were not so oppressively hot.
I am pleased to have nesting Blue-winged Warblers and probable nesting Black-billed Cuckoos and Chestnut-sided Warblers. It is a joy to be serenaded each day by Purple Martins, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks,\, & Red-winged Blackbirds. I can listen to Pileated Woodpeckers, Barred Owls, Tufted Titmice and Eastern Bluebirds from the surrounding woods. I enjoy a blend of grassland, woodland and "fly-by" marsh species and raptors.
Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area and Grand River Wildlife Area are showing their breeding diversity as summer approaches. Some birds are well ahead and others seem to be right on track. Flycatchers are beginning to sing: specifically Acadian , Eastern Wood Peewee and Willow Flycatchers. It will be interesting to watch the patchwork of farming, wetlands and forested areas in this region evolve the rest of this year.
Things seem to be settling down and now I have to work back into my commitment to explore "the middle of nowhere" and write about experiences that you too can enjoy. Life will always be life. I am reminded that it is nature that keeps me balanced. When living has ups and downs, it is nature that keeps me rooted. Birding and nature study has never failed me. It is a constant whenever there is chaos in life. Sharing my adventures will hopefully, encourage my blog readers to create their own escape in the middle of nowhere.
The middle of nowhere is as much a safe harbor as it is a place or an escape. Nature, birding and "the middle of nowhere" has been a significant friend my whole life and career and it will continue to serve me well for as long as it takes for me to meet my ultimate destiny.
GRAND CANYON NATIONALPARK !
.......and Reflections
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Birding in the middle of April in Norteast Ohio
My birding days start with the sweet sound of eastern Meadowlarks and the chatter of Purple Martins outside my half-fast farm window. I have to confess that my negligent posting is in large part due to exploring the areas that surround where I now live. It's all new. It is an opportunity to watch the area birding blossom as does the many habitats that I can easily access.
Spring is a marvelous time of change. Every day is a little different and that will only accelerate moving forward from April 12th. This is a great time where ever you live. But this northeast quadrant of Ohio is different from the any other places I have lived in some 60 plus years in Ohio. I can see, as the trees and vegetation begin to reveal their summer identities, that the "lake effect snow" reputation is but a reminder that this place wants very much to be much farther north than it actually is.
I will write more about this in future blogs. But for now lets just say that this region is reluctant to give up its glacial heritage. It is boggy. It sprouts Tamarack trees and stands of Yellow Poplars. This morning I listened to the piercing and echoing raucous call of a soaring Sandhill Crane. I had to pause and reflect that this is a call of the wild. A place can't be connected to a 22,000 year old past without clearly stating it's wildlife heritage. It is a "middle of nowhere" kind of place.
I started my April list with 75 species of birds that first day. Each day forth has been about that number. Today I had 78 species and that list is ever slightly changing as April migration moves forward. Waterfowl numbers are decreasing and songbird numbers are getting larger as spring marches into Trumbull County.
I have developed a birding route. I start at Mosquito Lake, meander through the nearly 7,000 acre Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area, cut through the Grand River Wildlife Area and finish the day at Swine Creek Reservation of the Geauga County Parks. This route provides access to forest, lake, upland grasslands, marshes and wetlands, and finally some northerly habitat at Swine Creek.
I had an interesting experience at a pond in the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Management Area that was a lesson to all birders. I find a lot of birds by what I see with my eyes. I often find more using my binoculars. This morning I was reminded of just how important a spotting scope can be.
I stopped at a pond that is a regular stop on my route. I visually scanned the pond and saw little of interest. It is a complicated landscape with aquatic vegetation, emerging wet, grassy edges and a huge tangle of fallen trees and branches at one end. I scanned with binoculars and found little to add to what I had seen with my naked eye. A Wilson's Snipe flushed just a few feet in front of me, and had he not, I would never had known he was there. I got out my scope.
I started at on end of the pond and scanned the whole perimeter of the pond. I discovered a Wilson's Snipe in the grasses. Then I got to the wood debris pile and in flew a Lesser Yellowlegs. It landed near a resting Common Moorhen I had missed with binoculars. Where I saw no ducks before, I found a pair of American Wigeons, a pair of Wood Ducks, A pair of Hooded Mergansers and a Rusty Blackbird. I can never get a big head because I am constantly reminded that I still need all the tools available to me to get the most of my birding.
When I got to Swine Creek Reservation I was determined to find a Downy Woodpecker. This is a bird that evaded me for hours. I got out of my truck and pished and called the Screech-owl call and got a bunch of birds to respond but no Downy Woodpecker. As I got into my truck I saw the shadow of a bird flying above me. So I got out and sure enough it was a female Downy Woodpecker. I watched the bird long enough to see it was feeding on sap oozing from the freshly-drilled line of holes surgically created by a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The Downy flew off and I followed the bird to another tree. Low and behold, there was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drilling another series of holes in another tree. The Downy Woodpecker had become both The Sapsucker's and my best friend. It's good to have friends in high places!
I made another stop at some grasslands I've been scouting out, hoping to find a territorial Vesper Sparrow. The sparrow was not to be found. But as I scanned the grasses a flock of about 60 little birds with white outer tail feathers lifted from invisibility in the grasses to reveal themselves in flight. Vesper Sparrows have white outer tail feathers but these were clearly American Pipits.
People that don't share my passion for nature don't understand how I can spend my retirement chasing birds. They will never understand. I never leave the house without knowing that I will be surprised in some wonderful way. There is no greater world of discovery than the natural world. It is the serendipitous discoveries and the endless questions that need to be answered that seduce me into ever-seeking the middle of nowhere. The list is just an administrative function that closes the day. I can't wait to start tomorrows list.
Lets go birding and have some experiences that will make us humble and hungry.
Spring is a marvelous time of change. Every day is a little different and that will only accelerate moving forward from April 12th. This is a great time where ever you live. But this northeast quadrant of Ohio is different from the any other places I have lived in some 60 plus years in Ohio. I can see, as the trees and vegetation begin to reveal their summer identities, that the "lake effect snow" reputation is but a reminder that this place wants very much to be much farther north than it actually is.
I will write more about this in future blogs. But for now lets just say that this region is reluctant to give up its glacial heritage. It is boggy. It sprouts Tamarack trees and stands of Yellow Poplars. This morning I listened to the piercing and echoing raucous call of a soaring Sandhill Crane. I had to pause and reflect that this is a call of the wild. A place can't be connected to a 22,000 year old past without clearly stating it's wildlife heritage. It is a "middle of nowhere" kind of place.
I started my April list with 75 species of birds that first day. Each day forth has been about that number. Today I had 78 species and that list is ever slightly changing as April migration moves forward. Waterfowl numbers are decreasing and songbird numbers are getting larger as spring marches into Trumbull County.
I have developed a birding route. I start at Mosquito Lake, meander through the nearly 7,000 acre Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area, cut through the Grand River Wildlife Area and finish the day at Swine Creek Reservation of the Geauga County Parks. This route provides access to forest, lake, upland grasslands, marshes and wetlands, and finally some northerly habitat at Swine Creek.
I had an interesting experience at a pond in the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Management Area that was a lesson to all birders. I find a lot of birds by what I see with my eyes. I often find more using my binoculars. This morning I was reminded of just how important a spotting scope can be.
I stopped at a pond that is a regular stop on my route. I visually scanned the pond and saw little of interest. It is a complicated landscape with aquatic vegetation, emerging wet, grassy edges and a huge tangle of fallen trees and branches at one end. I scanned with binoculars and found little to add to what I had seen with my naked eye. A Wilson's Snipe flushed just a few feet in front of me, and had he not, I would never had known he was there. I got out my scope.
I started at on end of the pond and scanned the whole perimeter of the pond. I discovered a Wilson's Snipe in the grasses. Then I got to the wood debris pile and in flew a Lesser Yellowlegs. It landed near a resting Common Moorhen I had missed with binoculars. Where I saw no ducks before, I found a pair of American Wigeons, a pair of Wood Ducks, A pair of Hooded Mergansers and a Rusty Blackbird. I can never get a big head because I am constantly reminded that I still need all the tools available to me to get the most of my birding.
When I got to Swine Creek Reservation I was determined to find a Downy Woodpecker. This is a bird that evaded me for hours. I got out of my truck and pished and called the Screech-owl call and got a bunch of birds to respond but no Downy Woodpecker. As I got into my truck I saw the shadow of a bird flying above me. So I got out and sure enough it was a female Downy Woodpecker. I watched the bird long enough to see it was feeding on sap oozing from the freshly-drilled line of holes surgically created by a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The Downy flew off and I followed the bird to another tree. Low and behold, there was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drilling another series of holes in another tree. The Downy Woodpecker had become both The Sapsucker's and my best friend. It's good to have friends in high places!
I made another stop at some grasslands I've been scouting out, hoping to find a territorial Vesper Sparrow. The sparrow was not to be found. But as I scanned the grasses a flock of about 60 little birds with white outer tail feathers lifted from invisibility in the grasses to reveal themselves in flight. Vesper Sparrows have white outer tail feathers but these were clearly American Pipits.
People that don't share my passion for nature don't understand how I can spend my retirement chasing birds. They will never understand. I never leave the house without knowing that I will be surprised in some wonderful way. There is no greater world of discovery than the natural world. It is the serendipitous discoveries and the endless questions that need to be answered that seduce me into ever-seeking the middle of nowhere. The list is just an administrative function that closes the day. I can't wait to start tomorrows list.
Lets go birding and have some experiences that will make us humble and hungry.
Friday, March 9, 2012
March: Birding with Great Expectations
On March 24th I am offering a birding field trip that kicks off a series of birding opportunities for the rest of 2012. Early spring birding is always a bit of a slippery slope. The weather is generally improving with tantalizing warm, sunny days and the advent of early spring migrants. But there is a harsh reality to cabin fever birding.
The birds are not on the "Oh, the weather is beautiful, lets migrate" schedule. That is, usually. The birds are on a mission for breeding that is stimulated by the ever lengthening of daylight in their temperate breeding area. The other factor that can accelerate or slow down migration and breeding is food supply.
The migration of songbirds and most all birds is a mirror image of the progression of emerging flora and the awakening of insects, other macro invertebrates and micro invertebrates. So while the weather in March can be ever so delightful, the birding will only develop as spring develops. And the movement of spring northward is dictated by the astronomical forces that are precision in nature.
With that said and understanding the axiom regarding "spring" migration south to north, and the dependence birds and life has on the progression, March can vary by days and perhaps as much as a couple of weeks, either way depending on weather and variances in climate. So lets talk about March 24, 2012.
For all practical purposes northern Ohio has not had much of a winter. The weather has been unseasonably warm and in a roller coaster warm/cold pattern almost throughout December, January, and February. So this year's Cabin Fever Birding will likely be interesting at the very least. I look forward to this trip "with great expectations". But I have to wonder. March can pull very cruel tricks on enthusiastic birders.
The end of March provides an opportunity to see birds that are transitioning from winter to spring. There will be familiar winter waterfowl remaining like Scoters, Mergansers and Loons and Grebes. There will be a lot of migrating waterfowl and specifically "dabbling" ducks that wintered both here and farther south. This is a great time, if conditions are right, to find a variety of migrating raptors. There will be some lingering songbirds such as Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, and perhaps Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs. But songbirds are dependent on the emergence of insects and that will be forthcoming in April and May. Shorebirds may be on the move but likely in small numbers and spread out among virtually ice-free marshes in our area.
So here is the plan. It will be whatever it will be. The only way to make the day a success is to survey the best and most diverse areas and whatever is around we will have a chance to see.
This will be my 42nd March of birding and experience tells me there will be plenty to see even if it falls short of birder's expectations.
The itinerary may change depending upon what is moving in the days leading up to our field trip, but the areas we will visit will be both along the Lake Erie shoreline and adjacent inland sites. The trip will start out traveling west. We will visit, locations near Huron. From there we will access the southern side of Sandusky Bay including Medusa Marsh, Willow Point, Pickerel Creek and surrounding areas.
We will either travel southeast to inland, Oberlin and Wellington reservoirs, or east along Route 2 to Mill Hollow and/or Sandy Ridge Reservation. Either route brings us close to where we started in the morning and provides other opportunities to add more species to our early spring list.
I have done this many times and I know it can be very good and it could also be not so good. If this itinerary doesn't produce birds that meet our expectations than it is likely that an alternate route would not been very productive either. The reason I provide trips every month is that doing so give participants a realistic survey of birds and birding conditions for a whole year. In the end, taking these same field trips can be pretty predictable, and always with some variations.
As I write, I wonder though, what this coming March 24th will produce. I am beginning to sense changes in the last recent years that bird patterns may be changing. These subtle changes might reflect more obvious and documented changes in their natural world. Violent and untimely weather and disruption of the water cycle globally may be impacting migration in some way. Bird migration is a unilateral and global phenomenon. It is an epic and integral part of our living planet. I wonder if when our planet experiences changes such as these, all life indirectly experiences the consequences.
Whether the birding on our late March field trip exceeds or falls short of our "great expectations", it will be a great way to engage the coming season that is like no other on the Lake Erie north coast. We won't answer any great global issues but we will have fun and enjoy early spring in the places that make our area so special. Join us or create your own adventure and get out to the middle of nowhere, where the action really is.
The birds are not on the "Oh, the weather is beautiful, lets migrate" schedule. That is, usually. The birds are on a mission for breeding that is stimulated by the ever lengthening of daylight in their temperate breeding area. The other factor that can accelerate or slow down migration and breeding is food supply.
The migration of songbirds and most all birds is a mirror image of the progression of emerging flora and the awakening of insects, other macro invertebrates and micro invertebrates. So while the weather in March can be ever so delightful, the birding will only develop as spring develops. And the movement of spring northward is dictated by the astronomical forces that are precision in nature.
With that said and understanding the axiom regarding "spring" migration south to north, and the dependence birds and life has on the progression, March can vary by days and perhaps as much as a couple of weeks, either way depending on weather and variances in climate. So lets talk about March 24, 2012.
For all practical purposes northern Ohio has not had much of a winter. The weather has been unseasonably warm and in a roller coaster warm/cold pattern almost throughout December, January, and February. So this year's Cabin Fever Birding will likely be interesting at the very least. I look forward to this trip "with great expectations". But I have to wonder. March can pull very cruel tricks on enthusiastic birders.
The end of March provides an opportunity to see birds that are transitioning from winter to spring. There will be familiar winter waterfowl remaining like Scoters, Mergansers and Loons and Grebes. There will be a lot of migrating waterfowl and specifically "dabbling" ducks that wintered both here and farther south. This is a great time, if conditions are right, to find a variety of migrating raptors. There will be some lingering songbirds such as Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, and perhaps Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs. But songbirds are dependent on the emergence of insects and that will be forthcoming in April and May. Shorebirds may be on the move but likely in small numbers and spread out among virtually ice-free marshes in our area.
So here is the plan. It will be whatever it will be. The only way to make the day a success is to survey the best and most diverse areas and whatever is around we will have a chance to see.
This will be my 42nd March of birding and experience tells me there will be plenty to see even if it falls short of birder's expectations.
The itinerary may change depending upon what is moving in the days leading up to our field trip, but the areas we will visit will be both along the Lake Erie shoreline and adjacent inland sites. The trip will start out traveling west. We will visit, locations near Huron. From there we will access the southern side of Sandusky Bay including Medusa Marsh, Willow Point, Pickerel Creek and surrounding areas.
We will either travel southeast to inland, Oberlin and Wellington reservoirs, or east along Route 2 to Mill Hollow and/or Sandy Ridge Reservation. Either route brings us close to where we started in the morning and provides other opportunities to add more species to our early spring list.
I have done this many times and I know it can be very good and it could also be not so good. If this itinerary doesn't produce birds that meet our expectations than it is likely that an alternate route would not been very productive either. The reason I provide trips every month is that doing so give participants a realistic survey of birds and birding conditions for a whole year. In the end, taking these same field trips can be pretty predictable, and always with some variations.
As I write, I wonder though, what this coming March 24th will produce. I am beginning to sense changes in the last recent years that bird patterns may be changing. These subtle changes might reflect more obvious and documented changes in their natural world. Violent and untimely weather and disruption of the water cycle globally may be impacting migration in some way. Bird migration is a unilateral and global phenomenon. It is an epic and integral part of our living planet. I wonder if when our planet experiences changes such as these, all life indirectly experiences the consequences.
Whether the birding on our late March field trip exceeds or falls short of our "great expectations", it will be a great way to engage the coming season that is like no other on the Lake Erie north coast. We won't answer any great global issues but we will have fun and enjoy early spring in the places that make our area so special. Join us or create your own adventure and get out to the middle of nowhere, where the action really is.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Beginning a New Chapter
For someone that has a lot to say, I have disappeared from my blog for over 2 months. If you've been looking for something from the middle of nowhere I apologize for not delivering. The fact is that I have been experiencing a transition into a new chapter in my life. I have moved away from the city to a wonderful 14 acre farm in Trumbull County, Ohio. It is a change of pace and a change in scenery. It is, in many ways, "in the middle of glorious nowhere".
My guess is the best way to kill even the best blog is to talk about one's self. I certainly don't intend to clutter cyber space with gibberish about me but I think my negligent blogging deserves at least some explanation.
January was a strange month. It was a combination of packing, moving and a birding challenge. Moving Larry is no simple matter. That I am never at a loss for words is challenged only by I unlimited collections of bird books, field records and natural history artifacts. Moving for me is perhaps comparable to the building of the Egyptian Pyramids (no ego there!!!).
On top of the moving, I felt compelled to attempt to see 100 or more species of birds in Ohio in January. This is, for those of you unfamiliar with Ohio...or birding....or both, a significant challenge. The first 90 species were steady and relatively easy. The last 10 were frustrating, difficult, challenging, expensive and time consuming. It cost me a whole day and about $100 to find a Pine Siskin and a Baltimore Oriole. Birding is not as much fun at $50 per bird! To make matters worse, I missed about 6 species of birds that were reported at specific locations and NOT THERE!
February was a lot better. I spent a lot of time arranging my new home which is the upstairs of an Amish built home that my daughter and her husband purchased for their horses and agricultural interests and endeavors. I did some local birding and exploring, as our home is very close to Grand River Wildlife Area, Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area and Mosquito Lake and State Park. I also took a wonderful group of birders to Trinidad and Tobago for nearly 2 weeks and I will be blogging more about that place and it's natural treasures in soon to come blogs.
The bottom line is that for those of us that work hard for 40 to 50 years and then make a switch to retirement, it is a tricky transformation. Retirement can be difficult and even lethal to some folk. It must be like falling off a cliff for those that can't make the change. The secret lies in staying active and engaged without the structure of a job. Standing face to face with the opportunity to do whatever you want and not knowing what it is that you want to do can be very daunting.
I think I have it all figured out. I don't miss my working career. I like knowing that I can dedicate my time to me and the things that are important to me. The Middle of Nowhere is a great place to retire. It may sound like "the Twilight Zone" to some but it is a great place and a great pace to really challenge the senses including "smelling the roses".
I'm going to be busy now that I have turned the page to a new chapter in my life. I am volunteering my time and birding skills. I am guiding birding field trips that will enrich participants and provide a small income that will help offset the activities that I thrive on. It isn't a grand plan or an elaborate strategic plan or any plan at all. I am doing what I have advised people to do all my life....."follow your heart".
My heart is in "the middle of nowhere", where there is always adventure, exploration, and discovery. I now have a beautiful home base that has a "middle of nowhere" flavor. My neighbors are Amish. They drive horse and buggies. They till the land with big Belgian draft horses. They burn gas lamps. My road is frequented by pick up trucks and the enchanting cadence of horse drawn vehicles. I am greeted with smiles and neighbors that are independent but community minded.
That is more than I intended to portray in this blog and I look forward to sharing with you some compelling reasons why Trinidad and Tobago is a great destination for tropical birding and tropical "middle of nowhere".
My guess is the best way to kill even the best blog is to talk about one's self. I certainly don't intend to clutter cyber space with gibberish about me but I think my negligent blogging deserves at least some explanation.
January was a strange month. It was a combination of packing, moving and a birding challenge. Moving Larry is no simple matter. That I am never at a loss for words is challenged only by I unlimited collections of bird books, field records and natural history artifacts. Moving for me is perhaps comparable to the building of the Egyptian Pyramids (no ego there!!!).
On top of the moving, I felt compelled to attempt to see 100 or more species of birds in Ohio in January. This is, for those of you unfamiliar with Ohio...or birding....or both, a significant challenge. The first 90 species were steady and relatively easy. The last 10 were frustrating, difficult, challenging, expensive and time consuming. It cost me a whole day and about $100 to find a Pine Siskin and a Baltimore Oriole. Birding is not as much fun at $50 per bird! To make matters worse, I missed about 6 species of birds that were reported at specific locations and NOT THERE!
February was a lot better. I spent a lot of time arranging my new home which is the upstairs of an Amish built home that my daughter and her husband purchased for their horses and agricultural interests and endeavors. I did some local birding and exploring, as our home is very close to Grand River Wildlife Area, Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area and Mosquito Lake and State Park. I also took a wonderful group of birders to Trinidad and Tobago for nearly 2 weeks and I will be blogging more about that place and it's natural treasures in soon to come blogs.
The bottom line is that for those of us that work hard for 40 to 50 years and then make a switch to retirement, it is a tricky transformation. Retirement can be difficult and even lethal to some folk. It must be like falling off a cliff for those that can't make the change. The secret lies in staying active and engaged without the structure of a job. Standing face to face with the opportunity to do whatever you want and not knowing what it is that you want to do can be very daunting.
I think I have it all figured out. I don't miss my working career. I like knowing that I can dedicate my time to me and the things that are important to me. The Middle of Nowhere is a great place to retire. It may sound like "the Twilight Zone" to some but it is a great place and a great pace to really challenge the senses including "smelling the roses".
I'm going to be busy now that I have turned the page to a new chapter in my life. I am volunteering my time and birding skills. I am guiding birding field trips that will enrich participants and provide a small income that will help offset the activities that I thrive on. It isn't a grand plan or an elaborate strategic plan or any plan at all. I am doing what I have advised people to do all my life....."follow your heart".
My heart is in "the middle of nowhere", where there is always adventure, exploration, and discovery. I now have a beautiful home base that has a "middle of nowhere" flavor. My neighbors are Amish. They drive horse and buggies. They till the land with big Belgian draft horses. They burn gas lamps. My road is frequented by pick up trucks and the enchanting cadence of horse drawn vehicles. I am greeted with smiles and neighbors that are independent but community minded.
That is more than I intended to portray in this blog and I look forward to sharing with you some compelling reasons why Trinidad and Tobago is a great destination for tropical birding and tropical "middle of nowhere".
Friday, December 23, 2011
Insight into an African Lion
Experiences often provide revelations and sometimes challenge us by raising questions. I am a huge advocate of the “experience” because I know what a powerful instrument it is to learning and developing the human spirit.
As I look back on my wonderful life I can point directly to many personal experiences which really have fueled my career, my passion for natural history and my lifestyle. I am not alone. I believe the same could be said by many of us and, indeed, many of those I most admire have grown from experiences and especially from those special ones.
Elberta Fleming, founder of the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center in Bay Village, Ohio and an iconic educator, summed up the power of the experience better than anyone. She proclaimed that the second most powerful experience was a discovery. The only better experience was a serendipitous experience. She defined the most powerful learning experience to be “a wonderful, unexpected discovery”.
Not all our experiences are wonderful but I am happy to report that the number of my wonderful experiences far outweigh the bad ones. Investing my time and energy in nature and birding ensures that the scale continues to tip in a favorable and enriching way.
In 2004 I was preparing to take a group to Kenya, East Africa on a Lake Erie Nature & Science Center ecotour. I decided to organize a mini tour to the Cleveland Zoo for the 15 participants. The idea was to try to find as many animals in the Zoo collections that we would likely encounter once we got Kenya.
I visited the Zoo on a sunny, warm late spring day to prepare for our planned African scavenger hunt. As I roamed the superb zoo collections I was drawn to the lion exhibit. The outdoor exhibit is a large, well designed landscape that has a plexiglass observation area with a knee wall. Here, zoo visitors can watch the African Lions clearly, and safely for all parties involved.
There was a small crowd of families with small children looking at the lions. The children were being children; pointing, yelling and jumping around with delight. A male lion was lounging among some rocks some distance from the viewing area. But a female was right up against and facing the plexiglass exhibit.
Despite the commotion on the viewer’s side of the exhibit, the female lion was motionless as if concentrating on something. The families moved on and after waiting my turn, I walked up to the glass to get my good look at the impressive cat. The cat had not yet moved a muscle. What could be so captivating?
As I watched the lion I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my eye exactly where the lion was staring. Much to my surprise, standing still on the inside knee wall ledge of the exhibit was a newly fledged American Robin with speckled breast and all. I actually didn’t immediately think about the lion but rather the robin.
My wildlife rehabilitation experience kicked in and my reaction was to get the Robin out of harm’s way. The robin was at even greater risk, in a perfect position to encounter some human that would likely react in some inappropriate if not ill intended way. I was shocked that the group before had not seen the robin but they were so caught up in their close encounter with the lion that they never saw the bird at arm’s distance.
I reached slowly down and gently placed my finger behind and close to the robin’s feet and gently nudged the bird’s feet and it hopped up and perched on my index finger (baby birds have yet to learn to fear life’s dangers when they are recently fledged from the nest). About this time I remembered that the Lion was staring at the Robin. All in one motion I gently and slowly lifted the bird and watched the lion’s reaction.
As I lifted the robin the lion’s eyes stayed glued to the robin and she lifted her head with intense concentration. I lifted the bird farther up to the top of the 8 foot fence that surrounds the lion enclosure. The robin hopped off my finger onto the fence.
The lion continued to stare with head lifted at the robin on the fence. Then, the robin, oblivious to any danger, dropped harmlessly off the fence away from the viewing area and lion enclosure, away from the lion’s sudden death intentions. As soon as the robin disappeared over the fence the lion relaxed, looked about and slowly walked to where the male lion was sleeping and joined the siesta.
I think what I witnessed was the African Lion “game face”. I will never question the lion’s rightful position as “King of the Jungle”. The lion is a powerful and masterful predator. They command the respect of all creatures that share their place in the vast grasslands of Africa. The African Lion is dangerous, powerful and deadly. What I learned was that the lion commands so much respect because it is patient, focused, and determined.
We spent several days on Kenya’s Massi Mara and we got to watch and photograph many lions and a whole host of other animals of the Serengeti Plain. Our guides prepared us for the experience, telling us in no uncertain terms that we were to stay in the Land Rovers at all times. To leave the vehicles was extremely dangerous at any number of levels and the probability of losing one’s life was likely.
Lion’s, we were told, would kill a human in their grasslands. They wouldn’t eat you, but kill you to remove what the lion perceives as a threat and intruder. But not to worry, there would be a whole host of other critters standing by to consume your corps.
If the Cleveland Zoo lioness was that interested in a young robin, I could easily imagine what a great target I would make on the Mara. This is an experience that transcends the National Geographic Special. Having witnessed what I had on a warm, sunny afternoon in the safety of the zoo gave me a wonderful insight into the African Lion. More importantly it is a lesson that applies to all wildlife.
It is most important that we study wild things and limit our encounters to non invasive ones, not because of obvious danger but out of our utmost respect.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
A Holiday Gift Via The U.S Postal Service
Our family Christmas celebration is always early. It is actually my “extended” family Christmas with in-laws, the kids I raised, grandchildren, and a menagerie of pets of various sizes and personalities. It is festive and chaotic. There are too many people in a confined space with presents, wrappings, children, dogs, and cats scattered about. We have too much food, more than enough alcoholic drinks and lively conversations that are rarely remembered the next day. It is a fun event that once a year is sufficient.
It would be difficult to calculate how many people out there could care less about “The Middle of Nowhere”. A survey of my family interest in birding and natural history would reveal that about one in ten million people would have any interest in, or any understanding of the Middle of Nowhere, or anything I might write about the subject.
It is because of this fact that I write this blog. By just getting the subject out there might just attract a few souls to a wonderful world under appreciated by so many. But family “get-togethers” are always a reminder to me that even my family doesn’t understand who I am or appreciate the things that have consumed my life and career.
I’m not at all feeling sorry for myself but more so for them. I’m working on my grandchildren but I have such a small influence on their lives. Perhaps by some miracle, my efforts will result in a fledgling naturalist or birder.
Yesterday I got a letter in the mail from Phil Nye. Phil is from Bay Village, Ohio and I have known him for the over 25 years I have lived in northeast Ohio. He now lives in Naples, Florida and we have stayed in touch over the years. His mail included a picture of Phil with his sons and their wives, a short Holiday salutation and a National Audubon news letter from Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It was a welcome correspondence for sure and a contrast to my recent family experience.
I am very proud to have had two successful careers. I had a very productive career in a natural resource field and another in my passion for birding. This has in large part been possible because I have had mentors and have surrounded myself with people much more talented than myself. Phil Nye is one of those people that made me better and enriched my passion for birding and natural history education.
Phil has been a Volunteer at National Audubon Society Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary & Blair Audubon Center for 15 years. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of the premier nature preserves in North America and a model for preserves around the world. The importance of this sanctuary has grown evident in the 15 years since Phil dedicated his time and talent to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
Naples, Florida and the Florida Gulf Coast have exploded in population, development and conservation issues throughout the last 30 years. Naples is a very affluent community that continues to steadily sprawl out to, and around the Audubon Sanctuary that was once a significant distance from the populated coastal areas. Most people would be surprised to know that a major conservation and safety issue for this suburban community is the invasion of wildlife, primarily Black Bears and Florida Panthers.
It is not hard to imagine how important it has become that the community has this tenured Audubon Sanctuary in their community to help guide the difficult task of bridging the needs of the community with the needs of Florida’s wild natural resources and valued endangered wildlife. The whole world is watching as classic human/wildlife clashes endure around the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The bottom line is that Florida’s natural history preservation or demise is of major significance to all America and beyond.
The newsletter sent with Phil’s Christmas salutation was much appreciated. Phil Nye loves Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. He knows as much about its natural history as anyone. There are few volunteer jobs Phil hasn’t done. His hands-on attitude is driven by his desire to learn and his love of the Sanctuary ecosystem…top to bottom….above and below. Phil gets ecology.
Aside from Phil’s eagerness to serve in any volunteer duties, engaging visitors, educating them and answering their questions, as-well-as representing Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the National Audubon Society is his greatest strength. Phil attended many of my bird excursions while I was at the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center including local, regional, and even international trips. His enthusiasm and birding skills were always value added to our groups and he helped me grow as a trip leader and a birder.
Not surprisingly, Phil is featured in the Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary 2011 Annual Update. Phil has been awarded the prestigious honor of 2011 Volunteer of the Year. I am glad that the Audubon staff and fellow volunteers recognize his value to the Sanctuary and the Audubon Society mission. They couldn’t pick any better person to help the Sanctuary meet the challenges they will face in coming years. His words are powerful because he is a citizen volunteer and people respect what he does and what he says.
Congratulations to Phil Nye for all he has done to make one of America’s most famous sanctuaries an even greater value to the thousands of visitors that come there to explore, to learn, and to be enriched. Thanks, Phil for enriching my life and making me better.
And as for that family thing……Well, I guess they are a left-handed inspiration as well. They affirm my passion for the Middle of Nowhere and they remind me that the alternative isn’t very attractive, at least to me.
Phil Nye is a reminder to all of us that the “Middle of Nowhere” is places that start in the heart.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The power of birding and chance encounters
This is a story that started in the spring of 1989 and came full circle on this 2011 Thanksgiving holiday. It began at a spring 1989 bird watching class I was teaching at the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center. As the Center’s new Executive Director I decided my contribution to the Center’s education program would be to provide a series of programs for birders of all ages. One program in that series turned out to be a truly serendipitous and unusual experience for me and the participants.
I came to the Center early that evening to set up for my class and was distracted by an unfamiliar sound. I could hear a steady, high- pitched series of squeaks, which I thought might be an errant bearing in some mechanical equipment. It was not; but the sound persisted. I had to find the origin knowing my hypothesis was incorrect.
I realized the sound was coming from our exterior, live-animal exhibits located behind the Center. Upon further investigation, I could see the resident male Barn Owl at the bottom of his cage stomping his feet and simultaneously belting out the constant shriek. It was quite comical and something I had never heard or seen before.
As I pondered what was going on, I saw a white flash out of the corner of my eye. It was a wild Barn Owl. About this time participants began to arrive for the class. Much to my delight, two of my participants were Father and son. Dad and ten-year-old, Nicholas finally found their instructor peering into the animal exhibits from the windows of a classroom. The Taylors began to watch the drama unfolding at the Center.
Mr. Taylor was a private investigator and offered to go to his car and get his night vision camera to document the captive male Barn Owl that had a attracted what we surmised was a wild female Barn Owl. Mr. Taylor started filming and to my astonishment anther wild Barn Owl appeared in addition to the first. Mr. Taylor documented the foot stomping, the squeaking and the antics of what now appeared to be three very frustrated but excited Barn Owls.
Let me put this event in perspective. In 1989 there were 18 known pairs of wild Barn Owls in Ohio. There were likely 40 birds in the whole State. A caged Barn Owl just attracted 2 wild Barn Owls right before our eyes. That’s 5% of all of Ohio’s wild Barn Owl population. Furthermore, the wild birds were migrating to the limited extent this species does. The wooded Reservation where the Center is located is anything but the open grassland areas these birds call home. The only reasons wild barn Owls were here was because the birds were on the move and attracted by the caged bird.
The whole event was saved for posterity, shared with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the memory forever etched in the mind’s all that witnessed this chance encounter. It was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity and an event unlikely to ever be repeated.
I lost track of the participants of that birding course over the years but I have shared this story thousands of times in several different teaching contexts over the last 22 years. Barn Owls are beautiful, interesting and endangered in Ohio. Their ecological history in Ohio is a fine example of how Ohio has changed over the last 200 years.
When the first Europeans entered the Ohio region there were no Barn Owls. It was said that a squirrel could get on a tree on the Ohio River and never touch the ground until it reached Lake Erie. It was contiguous, mature, hardwood forest. When the Europeans settled in Ohio they cleared massive amounts of forest for agriculture. The open landscape and explosion of mouse populations foraging on the spoils of poor harvesting techniques attracted Barn Owls in sustainable numbers.
In the 1950’s when agricultural harvesting reduced wasted grain and fence rows were removed for barbed wire fences, mouse populations plummeted. As the mice decreased in numbers so did their nocturnal predator, the Barn Owl. The 18 pair in Ohio in 1989 lived in balance with available mouse populations in the agricultural counties of the state. In short, Barn Owls flourished because of man’s influence and declined from the same as well.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend I went birding at Rocky River Park just a few miles east of the Nature Center I retired from after 21 years. When I arrived there was a gentleman scanning the Lake with binoculars. I did the same. Eventually we struck up a conversation. This fellow was from New Jersey was home for the holidays to see his family. We talked about birds and Lake Erie and birds and the New Jersey shore and eventually both of us moved on. He was going to spend time with family and I was, of course, off to yet another birding spot.
The next morning I started my birding day at Rocky River Park since it is about 2 miles from where I live. Not too long after I got there the gentleman from New Jersey arrived and joined me and other birders. We were talking and he probingly asked me what I did for a living when I was working. I told him, among other things, that I retired as the Director of the nature Center.
He stepped back and said “I saw a Barn Owl at the Center with my Dad……” I almost flipped out because I knew before he could finish his thought that this man I had met was Nick, the 10 year old boy that took my birding class with his private investigator father.
Nick Taylor is a Senior Environmental Scientist for a private New Jersey company. He is an avid birder that has difficulty fitting this avocation into his busy schedule. After all these years and the course of two very different lives, our trails crossed once again just a few miles from the place where, on one magical night, we all had another chance encounter of the natural kind.
Turkey and dressing aside, Thanksgiving really is a time to reflect and count our blessings. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for chance encounters. I am reminded that the things we do today can and will be relevant 22 years forward.
New Years is quickly approaching and I hope you resolve to spend more time exploring “the middle of nowhere”……..where chance encounters are created and memories abound for many years to come.
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