Wildflowers Lead to Pollinators and Eastern Towhees

While tentatively identifying the beautiful white and lavender wildflowers blooming nearby each May, I had the bonus of seeing my first two skippers of the season feeding off their nectar--the hobomok skipper and the silver-spotted skipper.

Skippers are close relatives of butterflies. 

I also kicked up many probable moths in the undergrowth as I walked into a vacant lot near our yard to get a closer look at the wildflowers.

And, while sitting on my  back deck trying to identify the wildflowers with a field guide, I was treated to the sight of three very sociable eastern towhees, two males and a female, I think. 

I'm not experienced at plant identification and the best possibility I could come up with is "Dame's Rocket", which I've never heard of before.  I used to think these wildflowers were some type of phlox.

I'll be checking with knowledgeable neighbors on these flowers which are everywhere in our area.

(For a little longer blog on this, go to my website:  www.doncomis.simplesite.com)

The lavender mystery wildlflower. (Photo by Don Comis)

The white mystery wildflower.  (Photo by Don Comis)

One of at least three not-very-shy eastern towhees in our yard.  This one is definitely a male.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Adult female eastern towhee.  (Photo by Don Comis)

From Junk to Urban Treasure: Event #5

I drove about an hour and fifteen minutes along back roads to see the Mission Oaks Gardens in Zanesville, Ohio, where Bert Hendley created the gardens in a unique form of urban renewal.

Bert and Susan Hendley started by renovating a Mission Revival-style home at the top of the gardens.  From there, Bert went on to starting a woodland garden in a ravine behind the house, inspired by the white oaks already there.  You can see where the name of the Gardens came from.

Then Bert began asking neighbors if he could plant gardens in their yards.  He carted away 55 wheelbarrow loads of tires, refrigerators and other items dumped in a junkyard to make room for a 1 1/2 acre conifer garden.

He then started buying properties and converting them to gardens.

Today, the gardens, more than 5 acres, belong to the Muskingum Valley Park District, while operated by the non-profit Mission Oaks Foundation.

The stately gardens blend right into the neighborhood of homes where children play and adults work on cars in their garages.  It is a unique marriage of neighborhood and gardens.

The Revival Mission style home was built in 1925.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Bert Hendley (right) begins a tour of his dream-come-true:  Mission Oaks Gardens in Zanesville, Ohio.  Owl Creek Conservancy trustee Richard Stallard listens (far right).  Photo by Don Comis.

On the Trail of Two Wetlands: Event #4

On May 10, I toured the Galbraith Farm with farmer Dan Galbraith and four others, a year after he donated an agricultural conservation easement for the 210-acre farm to the Owl Creek Conservancy to keep the land in farming forever.

Howard Gratz, and Owl Creek Conservancy trustee and avid birdwatcher, led the tour, accompanied by Richard Stallard, a geneticist and Conservancy trustee.  Galbraith enjoyed the tour as much as the rest of us, seeing the diverse plants and abundant wildlife, including birds and toads.

The tour focused on two wetlands on the farm.  Stallard said that the main reason the farm was chosen for the easement was the need for these wetlands to filter out soil and possible attached pollutants before reaching nearby Knox Lake.  Two creeks run through these wetlands and drain into the lake.  Gratz added that Ohio had already lost 90 percent of its wetlands, having drained them for farming and other development.  Besides filtering out pollutants, wetlands reduce flooding potential and provide habitat for wildlife and plant diversity.

Gratz identified many plants for us as well as many birds by sound, including three types of warblers and a rose-breasted grosbeak, which he said are particularly plentiful this year.   Many of the plants were indicators of wetlands, such as marsh marigold and skunk cabbage.  We also saw jewelweed, nettles, common milkweed, horsetails, willow, elderberries, angelica, spring beauty, yellow violets, white violets, wild blue phlox, ferns, ramps, Dutchman’s breeches, wild geranium, false Solomon’s seal, and meadow rue.

A wooded area connecting the two wetlands had an airy feeling and consisted of numerous trees, including black cherry, sycamore, ash, and oak.

The tour of the Galbraith Farm was the fourth event in the “13^th Annual Explore Knox Nature” series, which began with the Earth Day festival at Kenyon College on April 6.   There will be one or two events every month through December.  The next event will be at 2 p.m. on May 25, at the Mission Oak Gardens in Zanesville, where I’m told we’ll meet another amazing man, who did his own urban renewal project by turning his neighborhood from littered lots to wondrous public gardens.

For more information on the “Explore Knox Nature” series and the Conservancy, go to:  www.owlcreekconservancy.org.

One of three American toads that delighted us on tour.  (Photo by Don Comis)

This toad charmed us.  (Photo by Don Comis)

We were treated to a great display of marsh marigolds in a wetland on the Galbraith Farm.  (Photo by Don Comis)

On the Hardwoods Trail--Ramser Arboretum, Event 3

Here's the article I promised on my trip to the Ramser Arboretum--it's late due to computer problems.  It was quite a thrill to find out that I, as a member of the general public, have more land to explore nearby--680 acres to be exact. 

It's all because one man, Russell Ramser, planted 150,000 native Ohio hardwood trees on 265 of those acres, creating what has since his death become a public preserve that provides a wonderful habitat for birds and other wildlife.  It is listed as a birding hotspot on e-bird (www.ebird.org). 

I got my first clear view of a warbler--a black-throated green warbler--on that May 4 tour, leading me to later identify a yellow warbler at bird baths in my yard!  I also had numerous plants identified for me for the first time, including many early spring plants like white trillium and yellow and longspur violets.

I saw my first Tiger Swallowtail butterfly of the season there and Arboretum director Chris Bowman pointed out  a rose-breasted grosbeak and female scarlet tanager.  And we saw the nest of a blue-gray gnatcatcher.

The Arboretum is next to the Village of Jelloway, about 10 miles from I live.

The Arboretum visit was the third event in the "Explore the Nature of Knox County" series.   The series has an event or two every month, through December.  It began with the Earth Day festival at Kenyon College.

The fourth event was a tour of the "Galbraith Wetlands" near Fredericktown.  Dan Galbraith granted the Owl Creek Conservancy a conservation easement on his two wetlands in perpetuity.  This prevents farming on the wetlands, allowing the wetlands to perform their ecological function of filtering out sediment and other pollutants, while reducing flooding and providing wildlife habitat. 

The next event will be on May 25, at the Mission Oak Gardens in Zanesville, at 2 p.m.  It is the only event that is outside Knox County.

At the Galbraith Wetlands I learned that "Mission Oak is as fascinating as this property [Galbraith's Farm], in its own way."   Burt, the man who created Mission Oak Gardens, volunteered to plant gardens for his neighbors and cleared hundreds of loads of trash from vacant lots which he later bought.   In the process of a one-man volunteer urban renewal, the landowner created an expanse of beautiful gardens for the public.

So, one thing I've gained from the series so far is how much individuals like Russell, Dan, and Burt can do for the environment and the world by following their passions.

A Trail of Three Wetlands

I had quite a weekend attending the first two of 13 events scheduled for this year's 13th Annual “Explore the Nature of Knox County" program. 

On Saturday, I went to the "Trail of Three Wetlands" at the Brown Family Environmental Center and learned more about the vernal pool I had been monitoring for salamander and other amphibian breeding migrations.  Tour leader Siobhan Fennessy, co-director of the Brown Center and a Kenyon biology professor, showed us the eggs of spotted salamanders laid on rocks underwater, proof there had been a spotted salamander migration that I missed.  She said there is concern that vernal pools are on the decline because of tree cutting and other land management changes, which could be very harmful to amphibians, especially salamanders.

She also said concerned landowners can create vernal pools by excavating in the right locations.

The other two wetlands were a skunk cabbage seep fed by the downhill flow of groundwater and a wet meadow that was restored by fencing out cattle.

Sunday's event was at the Ramser Arboretum, a nature preserve about 10 miles from Apple Valley and open to the public.  I'll write about that later this week, along with a related preserve on Proper Road, even closer to Apple Valley.

For a complete schedule of events and directions, go to the Owl Creek Conservancy's website (http://owlcreekconservancy.org) and click on "Upcoming Events".

Siobhan Fennessy (center, in green jacket) at the "Skunk Cabbage Seep", the first stop on the "Trail of Three Wetlands".  (Photo by Don Comis)

Skunk Cabbage Seep Wetland.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Siobhan Fennessy shows a Mayapple plant after group leaves the first stop.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Second Wetland:  Vernal Pool.  (Photo by Don Comis)

The white dots on the two rocks are eggs laid by spotted salamanders in the vernal pool at the Brown Center.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Last stop:  Wet Meadow Wetland. (Photo by Don Comis)

Kenyon biology professor Siobhan Fennessy explains that the restored wet meadow looked like the green pasture on the other side of the fence, 10 years ago.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Five "New" Moths Include a Winter Flyer

Maybe the most interesting thing I learned this spring with my hobby of photographing moths by porch light is that one of the five new moths I photographed flies from September to May, including taking breaks from hibernation by flying in the winter.

The moth at my light is the three-spotted sallow.  The sallow moths include many of our winter-flying moths.  Jim McCormac describes his encounter with them in his car lights this past winter on his blog (http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2014/03/winter-moths.html).

I get the moth photographs identified at www.butterfliesandmoths.org and then read a bit about them in the comprehensive "A Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America".

Since I started this moth photography last year, I've added 24 moths to the listings for Knox County, Ohio, on the "butterflies and moths" website.  I'm off to a head start this year, having added 5 of those moths since around April 20.    If and when I get the time and find the photographs, I'll create a slideshow on my website (www.donaldcomis.blogspot.com) of each of the moths I add.  For now here are my five latest finds, with a little information on each:

The three-spotted sallow (Eupsilia tristigmata) moth ends his flying days this month, being one of the many sallow moths that fly at times in the winter.  (Photo by Don Comis)

The only plants in my yard the caterpillar of the sharp-angled carpet (Euphyia intermediate) moth has an appetite for is impatiens.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Caterpillars of the Canadian melanolophia (Melanolophia canadaria ) moth would like to nibble at my oak and maple leaves.  (Photo by Don Comis)

While the distinct Quaker (Achatia distincta) moth's caterpillar might munch a bit on my flowering crabapple tree, the adult moth may help cross pollinate it with my apple trees.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Caterpillars of the red-banded leafroller moth (Argyrotaenia velutinana) because they are the most serious pests of apple trees--but, again, the flying moths may cross-pollinate my apple trees!  (Photo by Don Comis)