Random photos with the same name

Here is a seemingly random collection of thirteen photos from the past five years.  The only thing these pictures have in common is their name IMG_0225.  Why?  Because its February 25th or if you prefer 02/25.  To see a similar random collection of photos here is a post celebrating IMG_0115 from January 15th of 2018.

The best thing about these photos is that they were all taken in locations open to the public - public gardens, nature preserves, local parks, state parks, national lakeshores, national monuments, and national parks.

Dow Gardens, Midland, Michigan (August 2018)

North Higgins Lake State Park, Michigan (July 2018)

Bundy Hill Preserve, near Remus, Michigan (June 2018)

Chipp-A-Waters Park, Mt. Pleasant, MI (November 2017)

Teddy Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota (July 2017)

Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming (July 2017)

Hall's Lake Natural Area, near Remus, Michigan (October 2016)

Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan (October 2015)

Lake Michigan seen from Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary, Manistee, Michigan (September 2015)

Peterson Natural Area, Stanwood, Michigan (August 2015)

The Garden Door, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (July 2015)

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan (September 2014)

Ludington, Michigan (August 2018)

Full Moon - February 2019

On Monday (18 February 2019) I led a nighttime hike at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Sylvan Solace Preserve.  The snowy woods was well-lit by a nearly full moon - at 98% visible the moon could be considered full.  This was my third full moon hike of the winter.  Altogether, about 50 people have joined me on the three hikes.  Monday's hike was attended by nine people.

Monday's full moon was the best we have seen this winter here in Mid-Michigan.  Not only was the sky clear (unlike December) and the temperature moderate (not like the 20 below windchill in January, but February's full moon could be considered a "supermoon".  A supermoon occurs because the moon's orbit around the earth is not a perfect circle.  Instead the orbit is more like an ellipse, resulting in times when the moon is closer to the earth than other times.  If the moon is near its closest point at the full moon stage, the moon is commonly referred to as a supermoon.

Although I didn't photograph the hike, I took several photos of the moon from the parking lot before the hike began.  This was my favorite image - it has been cropped down to a square shape.

I have one more night hike scheduled this winter at Sylvan Solace.  This final hike will take place on the next full moon.  This full moon just happens to coincide with the Vernal Equinox on March 20th.

A backyard visitor

We live in town in a residential area.  So imagine my surprise when I opened our back door one night last week to see this...

That's an Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) sitting in a large Honey Locust tree less than 25 feet from the house.  This species is common across the eastern United States and can be found anywhere mature trees exist including urban or suburban areas.

This owl was probably hanging out in our yard waiting for a mouse to show up under our bird feeders - it was facing directly toward the feeders. This is actually the first screech owl that I have ever seen in the wild.  It was pretty amazing to see (and photograph) one in my backyard.

To learn more about the Eastern Screech Owl check out this entry from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Tracks, scat, slides, and porcupine butts

It seems like the weather has kept me cooped up indoors all winter.  Over the past two weeks, local schools have been in session for a grand total of two days out of ten; on one of the days that they actually had school there was a weather delay.  I have already had to cancel or reschedule thirty-five school programs since the second week of January.  So imagine my excitement to have nice weather on Saturday (09 February) for a planned animal signs hike at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Hall's Lake Natural Area.  Sunny weather and a couple of inches of fresh snow!  What more could we ask for!

Hall's Lake is located on the far west side of Isabella County.  The three main preserves (Kabana, Neely, and Schaftenaar) that make up Hall's Lake Natural Area encompass 155 acres of woodland and wetland protect nearly one half of the shoreline of Hall's Lake from development.  This land serves as habitat for a wide variety of animal species.  I was fairly confident that we could find tracks (or other sign) for several common species such as white-tailed deer, coyote, squirrels, mice, and voles.  All of these tracks were present and easy to find.  We also discovered a set of tracks belonging to either a small American mink or a large long-tailed weasel - there is a little bit of overlap in track size so I was not 100% confident in assigning the tracks to one species.

The best tracks of the day were a surprise to me - they probably shouldn't be, but I rarely see them.  We found tracks from both the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) and bobcat (Lynx rufus) along the shore of Hall's Lake.  At first I had some difficulty identifying the tracks because both animals had traveled along the same path and their prints sometimes overlapped.  Also, snow had drifted into many of the tracks making it hard to see their features.  Finally, the tracks diverged in a sheltered area and I was able to see enough identifying features to make a positive identification.

This is a print from an otter - the important thing to note is that it has five widely spread toes.

Here is a set of all four otter feet as it bounded along in the snow - the otter was traveling from right to left in the picture.  We did notice several tail drags along this path, but I didn't photograph any of them.

Here is one of the bobcat tracks.  Note how this track has only four toes.  We also found several coyote tracks.  It's easy to tell the bobcat and coyote tracks apart; look for toenails.  If you see toenails the print belongs to a coyote - cats (such as bobcats) usually have their claws retracted and the nails rarely show up in their footprints.

In this picture you can easily see the spacing of the bobcat's tracks.  At one point I couldn't decide if some of the tracks belonged to a small bobcat or a large domestic cat.  The prints were in rough terrain and the stride was quite short, but here in the open on this trail the animal opened ups its gait.

We eventually discovered the tracks of not one, but two bobcats on site.  The two could be told apart  by the different size of their tracks.  Like most wild cat species, bobcats will not usually share a territory with another animal of the same sex.  Males normally have larger territories than females.  Either Hall's Lake Natural Area is on the boundary of two territories of same-sex animals or two animals of the opposite sex have territories that overlap.

Bobcats often mark their territory by urinating or defecating in places where other Bobcats (and other predators such as coyote or red fox) will notice it.  Just like a domestic cat, this Bobcat kicked up the snow after leaving its mark.  Fox and coyote (and my dog) exhibit the same kind of behavior.

The bobcat scent station was only the second coolest thing we found during the hike.  My favorite can be seen in the two pictures below - an otter slide!  With short legs and a body shaped like a sausage, sometimes the easiest way for an otter to move (especially downhill) is to slide on its belly.

Checking out the otter slide

Slide!

There was one more stop we had to make.  Hall's Lake Natural Area has a well-known porcupine den tree.  In all the times I've ever been to Hall's Lake, I've never seen more of the porcupine than its rear end hanging out of a hole in the tree.  Last year during a hike at Hall's lake we found a second porcupine high up in an Eastern White Pine, but no such luck today.  So on to the den tree...

Normally, when I see the porcupine it's tucked up in the top of that hole.

Believe it or not, this is actually the best view that I have ever had of this porcupine.  This individual porcupine seems to be almost completely nocturnal.  It comes out of this den tree at night and travels to a nearby stand of pine trees where it feed before returning to the den to sleep away the day.

All in all, I'd declare this a very successful animal sign hike, filled with tracks, scat, slides, and porcupine butts! 

Native Specie Profile - White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

 
One of the most widespread birds in the United States is the White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis).  This species is found in portions of every state except Alaska and Hawaii.  It also ranges north into southern Canada and south through much of central Mexico.  Never found far from trees, the White-breasted Nuthatch prefers wooded habitats, especially deciduous forests.  It is also frequently found in parks, yards, and suburban areas with mature trees.  Three other Nuthatch species can be found in the United States, but of the three only the Red-breasted Nuthatch (S. canadensis) is also found in mid-Michigan.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is a small bird.  An adult White-breasted Nuthatch measures about 5 - 5.5 inches (13 - 14 cm) from beak to tail, with a an 8 - 10.5 inch (20 -27 cm) wingspan.  They weigh between 0.6 and 1.1 ounces (18 - 30 grams) or about as much as 3 to 5 quarters.

This species has a blue-grey back and wings, accented with black, and a white breast and belly.  The outer feathers of its tail are white, but only noticed when tail feathers are fanned.  Another interesting feature that you don't always notice is the patch chestnut colored feathers on its belly and flank.  Males and females can be identified by the color of their "cap".  Males have a black cap and females grey as seen in the photos below.  The nuthatch's beak is strong and straight or slightly upturned. 

Although White-breasted Nuthatches have a strong beak they rarely excavate their own nest holes.  Instead they will use abandoned woodpecker holes or natural cavities in trees.  This species will use artificial nest boxes; I have had a pair nest a few feet away from a window in a nest box that I had placed.  Their nest consists of a cup made of fine grasses, shredded bark, feathers, and other soft materials.

Female White-breasted Nuthatch - not grey cap and elongated rear toe (hallux)

White-breasted Nuthatches are omnivores.  They consume a composed mostly of insects, insect larvae, and other invertebrates such as spiders, but will also readily eat seeds and nuts.  They visit feeders readily and consume both seeds (especially sunflower seeds and peanuts) and suet.  In the wild, White-breasted Nuthatches often forage in mixed flocks with other nuthatches, chickadees, titmice, and small woodpeckers.

Female White-breasted Nuthatch - Its unique downward foraging method allows it to find food other birds overlook 

Nuthatches have a unique foraging strategy that is not employed by other birds in mid-Michigan; they can walk head down on a tree trunk.  Many birds such as woodpeckers and Brown Creepers (Certhia americana) forage by climbing up a trunk poking their bees into cracks and crevices in the bark.  It is thought that the nuthatches method allows them to find food that has been overlooked by these species.

Why can nuthatches climb face-down, but other birds can't?  It has to do with their toes.  Nuthatches have four toes on each foot; three face forward and one faces backwards.  This backward facing toe is known as the hallux.  On nuthatches the hallux is elongated and has a strong curved nail.  The three forward facing toes, although shorter, also have strong curved nails.  This combination allows the nuthatch to grip in such a way as to allow it to walk facedown on a tree trunk.  It is our only native bird that is capable of such motion.

Male White-breasted Nuthatch - note black cap.

White-breasted Nuthatches are usually found in pairs.  A male and female will remain together year-round and aggressively chase other nuthatches out of their territory.  The male and female shown in the two pictures directly above were photographed a few feet from each other on the same tree.

Basic Information

White-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta carolinensis

Size: 5.0 - 5.5" long

         8.0 - 10.5" wingspan

Habitat: woodlands, woodland edges, parks, suburban areas

Eats: insects, insect larvae, spiders, seeds, nuts

Nest: in natural cavities in trees, abandoned woodpecker nests; a cup made of grass, shredded bark, feathers, other soft materials; will nest in artificial nest boxes

Windchill (and the perils of writing a blog longterm)

I've been writing this blog since January 2013.  In that time I have created more than eleven hundred individual posts.  It's often a challenge thinking of something new to write about...

Today I thought I'd sit down and write something about windchill - a measure of how wind changes the perception of air temperature and its impact on exposed skin..

Many of the schools in Michigan were closed four or five days last week.  Two cancellations were due to snow and two more were because of extremely low windchill - on Friday some schools closed because of a combination of windchill and road conditions.

Surely I haven't already written anything about windchill!

Have I?

It appears that I have... in February 2015

Wind Chill - What is it and why is it important?