Mothapalooza Update

Hello naturalists! Mothapalooza was great, and the staff had the opportunity to learn a lot about our native moth species! Here are some photos taken by the staff over the 3 day period of the event:

Sycamore Tussock Caterpillar

Small Eyed Sphinx

Regal Moth

Tersa Sphinx

Imperial Moth

Laurel Sphinx

Huckleberry Sphinx

Harris's Three Spot

Hercules Beetle

Carolina Sphinx

Beautiful Wood Nymph

Mothapalooza

Hello fellow naturalists! The nature center will be closed this Thursday, August 4th, through Monday, August 8th. The entirety of the staff will be at Shawnee State Park, In Scioto County for Mothapalooza! Mothapalooza is a yearly event where naturalists of all kinds join together to learn about and experience the wonder of moths. The weekend is made up of field trips, talks by leading experts, and break-out sessions meant to educate about the more than 3,000 estimated species of moths that reside in Ohio alone. This is an amazing amount of diversity, when you consider that Ohio is only known to have about 140 species of butterflies! Here is a list of some moths that we might expect to see on our trip to Shawnee:

Rosy Maple Moth. Image by  Bill Hubick

Cecropia moth. photo source

Luna moth. Source: Alan Cressler

Brownsnakes

Perhaps the most overlooked of our native snakes is the Brownsnake (Storeria dekayi dekayi) Ohio is home to a mix of both Northern Brownsnakes (DeKay’s Snake) And Midland Brownsnakes. These subspecies both have two rows of dark spots running down their backs. These subspecies can interbreed, creating an intergrade species. The docile snakes never bite when picked up, their only real defense is to use their musk glands to create a foul scent when first captured. These secretive snakes are commonly found under stones, logs, and boards. As Brownsnakes only grow to be about 8”-12”, they feed mostly on snails, slugs, worms, and soft bodied insects.

A juvenile Brownsnake that was brought into the nature center yesterday.

Perseid Meteor Shower

On August 12-13th, the Perseid Meteor Shower will be making an appearance in our skies! This year the event should be especially impressive, as we are expecting "outbursts", meaning that the meteors will be seen at double the normal rates. Make sure you don't miss out on this popular celestial event, it only happens once a year! Call 419-884-3764 for more details.

Credit: Ruslan Merzlyakov/RMS Photography

Magnificent Moths!

Many interesting moths can be found at the nature center. A moth enthusiast may be able to identify a wide array of species on the property. A mothing sheet (a plain white bedsheet) and a light go a long way in attracting moths later at night! Check out how it's done this Saturday at 9:30pm at Gorman!

A male Black-waved Flannel Moth (Lagoa crispata)

Hemlock Falls

Good morning nature lovers! Yesterday the staff of Gorman made a trip out to Hemlock Falls, another portion of land that is taken care of by the Richland County Parks District. There we worked on invasive removal (garlic mustard, dame's rocket, and lesser celandine) and learned more about the rare plants that can be found at the falls! While we did get several bags worth of plant materials, the concentration of invasive species was much less than we had expected. This is very uplifting to see as it is truly a beautiful place to behold, and definitely has plenty of biodiversity worth protecting! If you'd like to visit Hemlock Falls, please contact both the Gorman Nature Center (419) 884-3764, as well as the Mohican Outdoor School (419) 938-6671 to let them know to unlock the gate and allow you to park at the entrance of the falls.There is also now a spur that connects with the Clearfork Valley Trail that allows for visitation. Just remember, PLEASE STAY ON THE TRAILS! There are plenty of rare plants on the property that should not be disturbed!

The top of Hemlock Falls

Polyphemus moth found on the property

The very beginning of the trail

The interns and director of Gorman learn about the amazing rock structures at Hemlock Falls

Pollinator Friendly Practices

Happy pollinator festival everyone! Today is the first day of our 2nd Annual Pollinator Festival. Stop by to learn more about how you can help out your native pollinators and grow awesome gardens with native plants! We currently have Ohio native plants for sale courtesy of Gale Martin from Natives in Harmony, as well as displays from ODNR, Wild Ones, and the Richland Area Beekeepers Association. Stop by today until 5 or tomorrow from 10-5 for more information and nature walks! 

Image Source: https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_2/NWRS/Zone_2/Bosque_del_Apache/Sections/Cosa/sign_pollinators.jpg

A Day at the Lake

Yesterday, the staff and interns at Gorman had the privilege of spending time with Dr. Kristin Stanford of Stone Laboratories on South Bass Island. We started the day catching Lake Erie watersnakes and fox snakes on Scheeff East Point Preserve. We collected a total of 9 watersnakes and 2 foxsnakes, and accompanied Dr. Stanford and her intern to the Laboratories where we watched the tagging and measuring process. We then traveled to the Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center where we learned about their programs and work that they have done on the islands, as well as getting some volunteer work in on their trails! The rest of the day was spent working on additonal trails on the island, doing some good work!

Dr. Stanford holds a watersnake as Sarah checks its body for tags

Freshly mulched Jane Coates Trail, courtesy of Gorman Nature Center!

The view of Lake Erie from the dock at one of South Bass' future parks!

The Eastern Screech Owl

The most common owl in Ohio is the Eastern Screech Owl, Megascops asio, which occurs through all of Ohio and inhabits the eastern section of the US.

 Its optimum habitat is an area with scattered large trees with open woodlots interspersed with fields or pastures with a stream nearby. But, so long as there are sufficient trees the Eastern Screech Owl will live in most places. The suburban owls actually do better than their rural relatives due to increase in prey and a decrease in predators. The bird needs trees and will not survive without them, but will quickly recolonize an area once trees are replanted.

            The Eastern Screech Owl is the smallest owl that is likely to be seen in Ohio. With a length of eight and a half inches and a wing span of twenty inches it weighs in at just six ounces. The owl has ear tufts that are prominent if raised or will have a round headed look if lowered. There are two primary color morphs in the Eastern Screech Owl, a red (also called rufous) morph that is more common in southern Ohio and a grey morph that is more common in the northern portions of Ohio.

The grey morph is about seventy to ninety percent of the population of Eastern Screech Owls in northwestern Ohio.

There is also a much rarer brown morph that only makes up a small portion of the population in Ohio.

The Eastern Screech Owl is primarily nocturnal, meaning active at night, but may occasionally hunt at dawn, dusk, or even during the day. They will sit on trees and branches and wait for prey to pass by below to drop down on to. They can catch insects or bats on the wing, or snag fish and other swimming prey using their talons. When they move from perch to perch the owl will drop down before flying back up to another perch, forming a U-shaped pattern.

            The most common songs of the Eastern Screech owl is its monotonic trill or a descending whinny but it will also include barks, hoots, chuckles, rasps, and screeches along with a clacking sound by snapping the bill mandibles together. A good collection of the sounds an Eastern Screech Owl can make can be found at the Cornell University's ornithology website.

        The Eastern Screech Owl has a breeding population listed at around 900,000 with 95% of this within the US. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Eastern Screech Owl at the conservation status of Least Concern (LC) and is in no current conservation danger but the North American Breeding Bird Survey estimate that the numbers may be declining by as much as 1% per year in the US.

         The Eastern Screech Owl is not a very picky eater and will eat a great variety of prey. This includes mammals ranging from mice and rats to squirrels and rabbits as well as many kinds of invertebrates. The owls will also prey on small birds and some larger birds and may even occasionally prey on bats and other screech owls.

        The owl will not build a nest of its own but instead nest in holes, such as those formed by broken branches or opened by wood peckers, fungus, rot, or squirrels. The owl will also accept nest boxes or other available resources (mailboxes, crates, etc.).

Nest heights can vary greatly, from just above the ground to over sixty feet high.

Egg-laying commences mid-March and is usually four white or off-white eggs. These eggs are incubated for about a month and the young leave the nest around four weeks after hatching.

            Some spotting tips to find Eastern Screech Owls would be to look for the owl pellets that will be found around the nests or commonly used roost, these pellets are the indigestible parts of prey such as the bones and fur. Areas frequented by the owls will also be stained by the whitewash, excrement, and will be another recognizable sign of a favored spot of the owls.

Smaller birds may also give away the position of the owls, as they may mob the roosting owl in large groups alerting other birds of the predator’s presence and trying to drive off the owl. These mobbing birds will give off agitated cries to the surroundings of the owl. But the easiest way to “see” if the owl is in your area would be to go out on a quiet night and listening for vocalizations, which can carry for very long distances.

Resources:

            wildlife.ohiodnr.gov

            allaboutdirds.org/guide/Eastern_Screech-Owl/id

            animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/eastern-screech-owl/

Picture resources;

            Eastern Screech Owl: http://flickriver.com/groups/1351214@n24/pool/

Screech Owl North American range: https://www.barnowlbox.com/screech-owl-biology/

            Nesting Grey and Red Morph: http://www.cleveland.com/neobirding/index.ssf/2010/03/post_16.html

            Red and Grey morph on branch (site mistakenly lists as Asio Otus, Long-Eared Owl, instead of Megascops Asio): http://www.wildlifesouth.com/Featured/2011/Eastern_Screech_Owl.html

            Tree with whitewash: http://letspaintnature.com/tag/how-to-find-owl-pellets/