Earth Day 2012

I started birding because of my crazy Zoology teacher.  It was in 10th grade that I made the fateful decision to take this course, a sort of next step to my Biology class I'd taken the year before.  I wanted to be a Vet and the more science I took the better.  In Biology, we'd had a lot of fun dissecting things, goofing off with the animals kept in the lab (reptiles) and scaring people with these same reptiles...you know fun stuff.  I expected more of the same in Zoology.

                                                    

I ended up with the less stuffy teacher.  He was a lot of fun, a little crazy, there wasn't much structure in the class except somehow during all the dissecting we learned things like phylum and species and how to put paper hats on Ascaris worms and diaper ,cats.  Science was fun because our teacher, despite his best efforts to make it boring, couldn't.  He loved it too and allowed us to explore, ask questions, discover.  The other class was much more structured and was taught by a very strict guy. Not that they didn't learn but we got the impression that there was no high jinx or cat diapering going on in his class.

 

In the spring, we all looked forward to two very special field trips, both were supposed to expose us to the scientific observation of the avian species. Extra credit points were up for grabs aside from the very real opportunity to get credit for playing outside for 2 Saturdays. That was what I expected...instead I found it exciting when I found a Scarlet Tanager in a tree down by Sugar Creek singing in a tree.  It was like a giant scavenger hunt with the one finding the most birds the winner. Most people just walked the trails, some guys took risks and ended up sliding down muddy cliffs and are 40 years later still be ribbed about it, others were stuck with the serious teacher and had to look for birds all day.  My group found ourselves doing a little of wandering and exploring and looking for birds.  That was the foundation which my love for birding was built upon. Wandering around, observing, exploring nature in its glory.

So, today, I have a life list which I relish adding to. I lust for high powered, expensive binoculars and have my eye on the new Crosley birding book and a book on feathers.  I keep my naturalist's bag ready in my car at all times loaded with my Sibley's guide, wildflower book and bug jars.  In fact, I think this class actually was the beginning of my life as an official nature watcher. I had always been curious but never knew that I could actually write, observe and keep track of what I saw and that this lifelong obsession would then lead to deep knowledge and understanding about how life itself works.  So, on this Earth Day 2012...get out, ask questions and have fun!  Nature is addicting. lets love it and do what needs to be done to save it!

Spring is Sprung

 I heard a Woodcock's call twice this week, once at Tallmadge Meadows MetroPark as I was pulling out of the parking lot and then again as I pulled the mail from my mailbox.  Barely, I heard the "peeent" from across the field that for me hallmarks the beginning of spring.  Some people count the skunks lined up dead on the side of the road as spring's beginning, for other's its the first crocus. I know spring has arrived when I first hear that plaintive "peent" coming from across the field. 

Woodcock's Field

Each of the past 2 springs at dusk, I'd walk to the end of the driveway starting in mid-April through mid-May and listen to that call, night after night for hours that one lone Woodcock would send his mating call into the air hoping to attract a lovely female.  Why he picked that field I have no idea.  Living at the edge of a highly used golf course, sitting next to the party tent, in my mind, is not a good place to set up housekeeping.  But non-the-less that is where his instincts drew him and he has stayed there.  I have no reason to believe that he has been successful there raising a family yet I have hope because he keeps coming back.  The cool thing about nature is that if something doesn't work, it will send an animal seeking a better situation.  There is none of this craziness of doing the same thing over and over again in hopes that the results will change.

And in my yard there are other signs of spring.  The Magnolia tree, crocus, daffodils, hyacinth AND even the Azalea bush are blooming.  Tiny, green Hosta buds are peeking out through their leaf mulch months quicker and I have no time to pull out the old stems and pull off the mulch.  Generally, in between the rain and cold, in a normal Ohio March, I have lots of time to do yard chores S-L-O-W-L-Y and get my winter drugged body up and running, so to speak.  This year, in one day I had to pull millions of those irritating white-flowered Bittercress weeds before they go to seed and send their billions of seeds into the air spreading more weed pulling misery for me.  Also, that day, I planted lettuce, peas, arugula, spinach and radish seeds.  Which meant I got to play in the dirt!!  Although, the surrounding yard was a waterlogged swamp, all but one of the raised beds were workable.  That initial foray into my spring garden is a time for celebration.  It means like the Woodcock that spring is here. 

Possible Swamp Sparrow

Wednesday, I spent the day birding with a friend.  Traveling south about an hour to flooded field area which has been set aside as a permanent wetlands area for migrating waterfowl on this beautiful, sunny, 80 degreed day was my first opportunity to bird in a long time.  I was carrying my camera, tripod and borrowed, better binoculars.  Still they were not enough to identify any of the hundreds of birds floating amongst the abandoned corn stalks at Funk Bottoms.  My camera worked well at capturing images of floating ducks, revealing the magnitude of life which depends upon the beautiful spot for either a stopover snack or as their yearly nesting area.  I found when I downloaded them at home that I'd gotten a clear picture of a Northern Pintail duck and mate which was a "'life bird" for me.  Also, we bagged a Swamp Sparrow. I can't wait to blow up a few more to see if I can identify others. 



Toad Singing His Love Song!



Despite our collective lack of preparedness for this realllly early spring, Mother Nature moves us irrevocably forward into a new season bringing new life and the hope that renewal brings.  I am grabbing onto this energy and moving forward into the unknown with Ben-Gay and heating pad firmly in hand!

Happy Spring, everyone!