On the Hunt for Owl Pellets

I had spent the entire day in front of the computer--something I hate!  The sun was shining and temperature warm for a January day in Illinois; nature was calling me.  So I headed out with my dog for a walk in the woods.

The purpose of this walk, I told myself, was to look for owl pellets.  I know we have a nesting pair of Barred Owls and a pair of Great Horned Owls.



And I have found a Great Horned Owl pellet in the past. I just stumbled across it while walking through the woods.  I knew to look for the whitewash on the tree or leaves under the tree.

So on this day, when I finally came across some whitewash, I began to get excited.  And looking up from the whitewash, the tree looked perfect for a roosting owl.  In fact, I have hear our Barred Owl calling from this direction.  My anticipation was growing.




But, no luck.  So I continued on.  Pretty soon, I found myself lost in thought.  My day in front of the computer left me brain dead, but now, all of a sudden the ideas came flowing one after another.  I was planning my next teacher workshop in my head.  And I couldn't wait to get back to write them down.  (Note to self: take notebook on the next walk.)


Maybe it was the fresh air in my lungs that inspired the fresh ideas I was imagining.  Whatever it was, my short walk in the woods did not fill my original purpose of finding owl pellets, but it did so much more.  I am ready to begin work anew with fresh ideas and inspiration. 

Bird field guide app

I think I am the last person on the planet to get an ipad, but finally I bought one.  My main motivation was to enjoy some of the apps I have been hearing about.  But also, there is the fact that since my husband joined the 21st century (just recently), I have not been able to get on the computer we share..




One of the first apps I explored was an app for bird field identification called
ibird.  I only spent a few minutes with the free app to realize I need to spend the
money and download one that cost about the same as a field guide.

First, I tried the search feature and put in features I knew about owls from this area--particularly the great horned and barred.  When that came up with no matches (this is the frustrating part for any on line search for i.d. in my experience), I decided to see which owls were in the app.  It turns out that there were only 2 owls in this version--the barn and short earred; neither are that common in my area.

from wikimedia

 I decided that is the tactic--don't include the most common birds in the free version so the for sale version will sell.  That being said, I will probably buy the for sale version.  There are features that I really like, such as the audio, and can see that it would really be useful. 

Audio (and the information about the songs) was what I was looking for.  I have been hearing both great horned and barred owls every night at my home.  It seems the great horned are calling earlier in the evening followed by a break and then the calls of the barred (my favorite).  I was wondering if this were always the case and something that has been noted by others??

http://www.arkive.org/great-horned-owl/bubo-virginianus/

I can't wait to download the full version and start enjoying all that I can learn from the app.  Ahh, it's good to be living in the 21st century.

Mushroom Moments

My husband came into the house and said, "You've got to come see this!"  Apparently, the recent rain and hot weather, after months of drought, brought to life many mushrooms all over our property.  We did not have to go far to find them.  And they were of all shapes, sizes, and of several species (although I don't know how to identify them). If you can identify them, I'd love to hear from you.

 It is amazing how many there were....and they were everywhere!

 They were hiding under the grasses...and coming up in the middle of the road!

They were growing on dead logs and in the middle of the path through our woods.

See the small mushrooms in the center right.

Even live trees and fallen branches and freshly cut stumps were covered in the fungi of all kinds.

This sudden appearance of all these mushrooms must be a boon to wildlife as they try to find food after such a drought.

 
As my husband and I shared these moments hunting mushrooms, he kept pointing out more and more, asking me to take pictures of each one.  He was like a kid in a candy store--and became disappointed when I didn't take a picture of his mushroom find!  But I had already taken almost 100 pictures.

This was certainly an unusual mushroom explosion.  And, like my husband, I could not wait to share our find!  What an unusual year in nature it has been.

Hot tubbing Frogs and other Oddities

With cooler weather and increased aches and pains from half marathon training runs, I decided to start up my hot tub after the long summer hiatus.  Surprise, surprise!  When I went to uncover the tub, I found three of these fellows staring back at me....

It hurt me to displace them, especially when I saw the frog eggs swimming in the shallow rain water at the bottom of the tub.  But, soon they were hopping out of the tub--at about 2 feet with each hop.  It is amazing how they can move.  I have to say, they found the only wet spot within 100 miles I bet!

This hot dry summer has been hard on wildlife, but it has provide me with many new nature experiences.  Besides the hot tubbing frogs, I sat next to a pond yesterday and observed a hummingbird dart in and out of a cloud of insects, consuming as many as she could handle.  I knew hummingbirds also ate insects, but this bird was zeroing in on her prey with a vengeance.  The nectar producing flowers are long gone, but this bird was using the available resources to survive.

Earlier in the week, I was looking out my window at the base of a tree 20 feet away.  I saw a creature I thought to be a rather large wooly worm, but it was moving too quickly.  Upon closer observation, I saw that it was about 2 and a half inches long with short gray fur and barely visible tail--a shrew!  Probably a Least Shrew.  I have never seen one above ground before.  Obviously, he or she was forced above ground in search for food (or water) for survival.

So, while these may be hard times for the plants and animals, this summer has provided opportunities to observe some interesting animals that might not normally be seen.  I wonder what new experiences  next week will bring.

Bats Entertainment

It seems crazy, I know, but watching bats is one of my favorite summer time activities.  I just sit outside in the evening, shortly before dark, and they appear, gliding and maneuvering with great skill above me.  I like to sit still and see how close they will come.  Of course, that depends on how many insects are around me.  A single bat can eat 3000 insects in one night.

                                               image: Jessica Nelson/Nat'l Sci Foundation

I watch the aerial displays and observe that there is more than one species flying overhead.  One emerges early and is larger with slower, erratic flight.  It seems to circle the small opening in the woods on a regular flight path.  Another seems smaller with faster wingbeats but frequent glides.  It also arrives early to the opening.  The first could be a Red Bat, Lasiurus borealis.  I have seen them hanging from the eaves during the fall.  The other is possibly the Silver-haired Bat, Lasionycteris noctivagans.  Our cat has captured one of those in the past.

It is difficult to identify flying bats without a bat detector, a device that would convert the ultrasonic sounds made by bats to a frequency humans can detect.  According to several sources, the Red Bat makes sounds in the 39-50 kHz range, while the Silver-haired Bat has a range of 26-38 kHz.

Still, just watching the aerial antics is entertaining.  I have seen bats fly toward an insect, only to have the insect drop suddenly out of the flight path.  Interactions between 2 bats flying in the same area are also fun to observe.  Sometimes, if I listen carefully, I can hear a chattering sound that bats sometimes make while flying.

 .

 I can't wait for my granddaughter to visit so I can show her "bat watching" just as we have had fun together watching the birds.





 I have some of my favorite children's books for bats ready to read to her also.
 And I'm sure, the bats will be here, too, performing their nightly feats of aerial agility.

Colorado fires and other mishaps

Colorado fires and other mishaps...or how I spent my summer vacation.

We had planned our trip to Colorado several months in advance, but as the time approached we watched with concern as the fires burned in that state.  Our first destination was through Poudre Canyon to StateForestStatePark, just northwest of Rocky Mountain National Park.  We arrived just as the road was reopened and saw the firefighters mopping up the area.  We saw the charred trees everywhere--evened a house burnt to the ground!  But there were lots of spared homes and grateful people--grateful for the hero firefighters who saved their lives, homes, and possessions.

At the campground, the next mishap was observed--the effects of the bark beetle damage to pine trees.  In some areas, I would estimate that 60-70% of the trees were dead and standing.  In the campground, of course, these dead trees had to be cut due to the danger they presented to campers.  But still, the view (picture above) was spectacular.

Each dawn and dusk we heard an owl hooting--one we had never heard before.  It turns out that it was a Boreal Owl (normally found further north)--or rather, two of them.  The hooting was distinctive and continued for a prolonged amount of time.  We never did see this beautiful bird, but I will not forget the sound it makes.

Colorado, like many places in the US is coming off of a dry winter--as evidenced by the lack of snow left on some of the peaks, low water in the snow fed ponds, and dry areas along the trails.

However, we found some icy cold streams with beautiful views--just the thing to soak tired feet after a 10 mile trek!

And we even found a small pile of snow on one of our trails.

Our last mishap (or you could call it an adventure) was our climb up Mt. Bierstadt, a 14'er just west of Denver.  Now, to a flatlander like myself, 3 miles does not seem far, especially since I have run several half marathons (13.1 miles).  So I admit, I was not mentally prepared for the task at hand.  We did have food, water, extra clothing, rain gear, etc. but what we didn't have was enough time before the eventual rain.  Yes, during our time in Colorado, the rainy season began.

The trail started with a descent through the willow bog (a special place of beauty and special natural community).  So the first mile through the bog results in little elevation gain.  All of the close to 2800 feet elevation gain occurs in the last two miles.  That is a grueling steady assent.  I now realized that I was not mentally prepared for the task.  As the day became more and more cloudy,  we decided to enjoy the scenery at 13,000 feet--until the cold temps and wind caused us to shiver and seek lower ground.

As we were nearing the bottom, we heard the helicopter overhead and realized there was a mountain rescue underway.  Apparently someone had fallen and broken a leg.  Apparently these kinds of mishaps--hypothermia, altitude sickness, broken bones--are frequent occurrences in this wilderness (according to Forest Service personnel).  One tiny mishap can have huge consequences in this environment.

We left, enjoying the peak from the road this time, and recounting the lessons learned during this summer vacation of mishaps.

1. Firefighters deserve our gratitude and support for putting their lives on the line every day.
2. Good can come from bad--the beetles can destroy trees but can also enhance the view of the mts.
3. Icy cold water can offset the ravages of plantar fasciitis.
4. Both mental and physical preparedness are necessary in wilderness conditions.
5. A mishap can be a cherished memory--it is all in how you look at it.