Wahkeena Nature Preserve

Winter...we don't need no stinkin' winter!

2012-02-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

Well, what a real turn a round from last year when we had the winter that would not end. This year it can not seems to stay. The last two days have felt more like late March, early April. In fact, snowdrops are in bloom, today along with periwinkle and the first true native wildflower shunk cabbage, which has been in bloom for a while. Also saw a little green frog hop into one of the small spring fed ponds. No sign of typically early amphibians like wood frogs or spotted salamanders yet as they have not been fooled by this early warm spell. (I just looked out the window and a deer is staring right at me!) I have heard that some men stare at goats, but what happens when you stare at deer???? She has a satisfied look. No doubt because she just laped up all the bird seed from the ground feeder. Also saw a muskrat puttering across the big pond a few moments ago....could not tell if he/she was in love yet. Stay tuned for more of "As the Natural World Turns"

TS

It passed!

2011-11-11T15:19:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who voted 'yes' for the parks levy! Stay tuned for more updates!

Did you know?

2011-10-30T12:06:00.001-04:00

Wahkeena Nature Preserve has been part of the Fairfield County community for over 50 years. A 150 acre preserve for birds and other wildlife, Wahkeena is a peaceful place to get away from the stresses of our modern life. For over 30 years, Wahkeena has been a leader in providing quality environmental education to schools and the public. Continually staffed with knowledgeable and friendly naturalists, Wahkeena is the place to go to learn about the natural world.

As everyone knows, the last few years have been financially trying times. And that is no exception for the Ohio Historical Society (OHS), the private, non-profit organization that currently operates Wahkeena. The Society has had to find local partners to help manage their 58 sites across the state. Currently, only two sites, including Wahkeena, do not have a local partner. On November 8, 2011, the Fairfield County Parks will be asking for a .4 mil levy to continue operation and to develop the park system to its full potential. Passage of the levy would allow OHS to partner with the County Parks, ensuring the continued operation of Wahkeena. Without this partnership the future of the preserve and the ability to offer programs is uncertain. So whether you are one of the many thousands, who as a school child visited Wahkeena for a day of exploration and fun, a teacher who values a rewarding experience for your class, or a family or individual that appreciates the wonders of the natural world and the preservation the rich heritage of Fairfield County, please consider a YES vote for the Parks in November.

Autumn at Wahkeena

2011-10-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

For your enjoyment...

Fungus Among-us? You're a fun-guy!

2011-10-13T14:47:00.001-04:00

Everybody knows these bad puns about fungi, but did you know that the fall season is the best time to see it?

Most folks seem to know about morels (or just 'mushrooms' as many people say), and consequently think that spring is the best time. A quick aside here: if you come out in the spring and ask me if we have any mushrooms, I will always play dumb on that one! "We have lots of different species of mushrooms," will be my reply. I know that folks are asking specifically about morels. As always though, we tend to answer the exact question you ask. For example, Q: "Do you what flower this is?" A: "Yes." If you want to know what the flower is called, you have to ask just that! :)

Anyway, as I said fall is a great time for fungus. We have moderate temperatures and just the right amount of moisture. It is said that there are as many colors of fungus as there are wildflowers! Wow! I've been collecting photos of some of the fungus from around here for the past couple of weeks, and while I don't have a huge variety of colors, it is still impressive to see how many different kinds I found.

As for ID, fungus is difficult. I will not even be attempting to put names to any of these pics. Sometimes one even needs to see that spore print the mushroom makes to ID down to species.

Before we get on with the pictures, I'll leave you with a common fungus saying...
"There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters!"

Final Flowers

2011-10-01T14:35:00.000-04:00

Fall is the time when we focus on the changing leaves and all the beautiful colors that are revealed as the trees stop making their own food. But for a little while longer, we can still enjoy some very hardy and equally beautiful fall flowers.

Asters are the biggest category of fall flowers and there are so many! They can be hard to identify, but there are a few that are fairly easy. The one pictured above is New England Aster. It has large purple blooms and a clasping leaf. The color in my picture here is a little washed out. Asters are one of the most important fall flowers for insects who eat and collect pollan and nectar. On warm sunny afternoons these plants can literally be swarming with pollinators!

Turtlehead is a wetland plant that well, looks like a turtle's head! This one is Pink Turtlehead, and we also have White Turtlehead. Bumblebees have to crawl far down into the flower to access the nectar reward, while at the same time moving the pollen from plant to plant ensuring cross fertilization.

This is one of my favorite fall flowers. It's called Nodding Bur Marigold. I love its bright golden color and its sunflower like bloom. This is another wetland plant which can be seen around the ponds and in the boardwalk area.

Jewelweed or Impatients also can have yellow flowers. These trumpet shaped flowers are an important source of nectar for hummingbirds migrating to the south. They can become a little "weedy" in a garden setting, but if you have a place to let them grow, wait until a frost or freeze to remove them from your landscape. They have an important job to do!

Lastly, Goldenrod is the true workhorse of all the fall flowers, but unfortunaly gets a bad rap. Because of fall hayfever symptoms coming on strong at the same time the goldenrod blooms, this misunderstood flower gets all the blame. If a plant has bright, colorful, and/or large flowers it needs insects to pollinate it. That's why the flowers are noticable. The plant is advertising to insects to come and check it out. The pollan grains from insect pollinated plants are smooth, and somewhat sticky. The pollan grains that make you sneeze are covered in sharp hooks and spikes. This is becuase they come from plants that are wind pollinated. These pollan grains are blown about by the wind and they need those hooks to grab on to other plants. Wind pollinated plants do not have showy flowers because they don't need to advertise. Your sniffles and sneezes are caused by ragweed, a very unassuming looking plant.

Before you look up at the colorful leaves...

look down at some really gorgeous flowers!

Oh, one more thing....the picture above is POISON IVY!

Is the Orchid Season Done?

2011-09-25T10:39:00.000-04:00

Our last orchid of the season is in bloom now. This is Late Coralroot Corallorhiza odontorhiza. This very nice specimen I photographed on the way up to the prairie. (That's on the non-public side of the preserve.)

There are several coralroot orchids and they get their name from having roots that look like coral. Out of all the orchids we have at Wahkeena I think this one would be the hardest to appreciate. It is only a few inches tall, and the flowers are so tiny. However, it's a neat plant. This is a saprophyte. That means that is does not make its own food. It gets its nutrients from the decaying plant matter in the soil. There are about a dozen in bloom along the shelter trail and several in the parking lot area. The former being a little more advanced with their blooms. Just let us know when you sign in if you want to see them, we can direct you to their locales!

So, is that it for orchids until the spring? I think not! Fall and winter are the best times to scope out locations for next year's orchid hunts! Several orchids like Puttyroot and Cranefly only have leaves during these two seasons. This is the time to note their locations and likely blooms because when they are in flower, they are hard to spot! also, many orchids are still sporting their flower stalks and seed pods. Again, this makes it easier to find them the next year when there are so many other plants competing for your attention.

Tree Carnage

2011-08-17T15:39:00.000-04:00

Well, another month has flown by. I can't say I walked the trails much. Partly because it has just been too darned hot, and partly because I was on vacation! This week is really nice though, yes? I did take a stroll this past weekend and aside from gnats flying near my eyeballs, all was well. Does that happen to anyone else? The thing I noticed the most on my walk was how worn out the woods looked. This happens every late summer. Most all of the leaves from last fall have been recycled into the earth, the tree leaves are that dark, glossy green of August, and much of the plant growth on the forest floor has died back giving the woods a very open look. All too soon, we'll be able to see the cliff face again from the trail.
On my walk I encountered a few colorful things. I even thought to take pictures! Here they are:

Now you may be wondering why the title of this post is "Tree Carnage." Well, yet another big oak has come down. This one made a pretty big mess as it was a "double" tree, and one side fell to the right and the other to the left.

It's a little hard to see, but the brown in the middle of the picture is the ground under the split. I'm standing on the trunk of one of the fallen trees and the other is away to the top and left of the photo. These guys were in the red oak group. I won't say for sure the species. Here you can see the pointed lobes on the leaf indicating that it is in the red oak group, and some immature acorns.

The one side of the tree came down onto the shelter trail and took with it a maple and tulip tree. In this picture the trail is on the left hand side.

Here is the same tree that went down but shown looking from the base of the tree towards the top.

The other side of the oak that came down involved beeches, sourwood, tulip, birch, and a cherry. The cherry held out for a little while, then split in half!

This oak came down on the Casa Burro, and as you can see here, Tom had his work cut out for him to open the trail back up. (no pun intended!)

This fall made quite the opening in the forest canopy as you can see. It will be fun to watch what plants take advantage of the new found sunlight!

Rhodys!

2011-07-08T14:24:00.004-04:00

The Rhododendrons are blooming! The ones arching across the Shelter Trail are looking very beautiful. They are easy to see, and this weekend will be the perfect time to see them. We even have a guided walk on Sunday at 1:00pm. Check them out before they're done...

Procrastination is my middle name...

2011-07-01T11:23:00.013-04:00

Combine that with lots of other stuff happening, and you get a whole month that has flown by without a posting! So sorry! To make up for it here are a bunch of pictures from the last month or so with little tidbits to go with.

This was a great moment. It was a good lesson too, as I had heard a strange sound earlier that day, but paid absolutely no attention to it. I believe this fawn had been hanging around here pretty much all day while mom was out and about browsing. This little guy would bleat every now and then and that's how I finally noticed him on my way out at the end of the day. Yesterday I saw two fawns with two does. That would account for all the munching that has been going on with our plantings.

Finally we dried out from the wet, wet spring. The boardwalk area water level was very low, making a great place to see animal tracks. Here are mallard tracks, but I also saw raccoon and turtle tracks.

The wet spring made for wonderful conditions for fungus.

The leafcutter bees were out in full force last month. The small patch of young redbuds seemed to be a favorite gathering site. These bees build a series of cells out of cut pieces of leaves, usually in rotting wood. In each cell, the bee packs it with pollen, lays and egg, and seals it all up. When the egg hatches, the larva has all the food it needs to develop into an adult.

A relic or descendant from Carmen...

It was slow to warm and the sun was shy, but we at last started to see the odonates!

There has been SO much excitement and drama with this years batch of Cecropia moths, it may be necessary for that to be its own posting.

Ahh, the month of green and white, with a few colors here and there.

Insects are animals too, and I think there are often much more interesting to observe! They are more colorful, and easier to see. Most of the living things we think of when we think of animals end up being nocturnal so we can't see them as readily.

I'm having a great crop at my house this year. I've already made a pie, yum!

The butterfly nectar garden is starting to bloom. Once this starts to happen, there's never a dull moment out there.

We had some orchid excitement last week. I struck out on the Casa Burro trail with the intent of walking the trails to see what was going on, and the check for downed limbs/trees. However, I got to a point along the trail where I gazed uphill and thought, "hmm... I've never explored that area over there. It looks interesting." and before I knew it I was off-trail just poking around. Then very unexpectedly, I saw an orchid! Naturally I did not have my Newcomb's with me, but I did have my phone, so I called Tom back down at the Nature Center. I persuaded him to come up and he quickly identified it as Ragged Fringed Orchis. I think it is so beautiful! We looked and looked, but could only find the one. BUT... while looking Tom found several plants of the Green Adder's Mouth Orchid. Then we found some more, and then some more! We believe there are upwards of two dozen plants in this area! As you can see from the picture of the Green Adder's Mouth, it is not quite in bloom yet. The really cool thing about these two orchids is that although they are both already recorded on our plant list, we haven't see either in a couple of decades.

Yea for nature!

Blogging Troubles

2011-06-02T10:12:00.002-04:00

The previous post may have Saturday's date, but I wasn't able to get it published until just now. Clearly I've been having some trouble with the site, but I think I've figured it out now. I'll try and get back on track, and get you all up to speed this afternoon.

Orchid Fever

2011-05-28T10:36:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I tried multiple times yesterday to post this and it would go. Delays, delays, but you should still be able to catch this guy next week. Here is what I originally wrote:

Twayblade Orchid is in full, beautiful bloom this weekend! Sorry about the late post, but it's also Cecropia moth mating time. I'm hoping to get some pics posted later this week.

Back to the orchid... we have two very nice blooms right along the trail. One is along the Casa Burro and the other is along the Shelter trail. So a couple of great options to see this one.

Also of note, the past couple of days there have been a couple of species of fly catchers calling profusely. The Great Crested and the Acadian. Oh, and the Cuckoos have been making their presence known too.

Yea Nature!

Orchids!

2011-05-19T16:16:00.002-04:00

Puttyroot is now in bloom!

For a limited time only, you can see three orchids in one trip! Check out the Showy Orchis, Pink Lady's Slipper, and Puttyroot with one jaunt around the Casa Burro Trail.

See you this weekend!

Pink Lady's Slipper!

2011-05-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

What an exciting week it's been so far. This warmer weather has finally brought out some really cool insects. I've also noticed lots of galls on different plants, and it's been great frog and turtle weather! My school groups the past two days have seen tons of Green and Bull frogs. We have another population of toads singing today. They are over by the hawk and owl.

For me there has been a very exciting event that happened just today. A Luna moth eclosed from his cocoon!

Last fall I found two mature caterpillars and they eventually spun their cocoons. Now this one appears to be a male due to the very large antenna. (He uses these to smell his mate, even if she is far away.) I have one more cocoon that I'm really hoping will be a female. (That way I can get eggs and raise the caterpillars.)

The other exciting thing happening here is a pair of Summer Tanagers visiting at the feeders! They are more visible on cooler mornings, and you can see them so closely through the windows! If I recall, I put up a picture of the male last year, but now I have pictures of both the male and female. Aren't they just awesome!?

Also, we have two of our favorite flowers now in bloom. The Pink Lady's Slipper and the Flame Azalea! Sadly, there are only a few blooms of the orchid this year, but there are a few next to the trail which will provide for some good photo ops.

Here are a few more flowers in bloom:

Indian Cucumber Root
Aniseroot
Sweet Cicely
Canada Mayflower
Pinxter Azalea
Pennywort

Water, Water, Everywhere...

2011-05-05T15:39:00.002-04:00

It was really nice to be out in the sunshine today. I took some time to check on what's in bloom, and listened to the myriad of birds singing. The Showy Orchis is still looking great, and is all over the Casa Burro Trail. There are lots of plants that can be seen from the trail. I took this pic of the Dwarf Crested Iris the other day. These guys don't last very long, but there are still a few buds on other plants.

Without further ado...

Dwarf Crested Iris
Mountain Azalea
Creeping Phlox
Solomon's Seal
Canada Violet
Firepink
Three-lobed Violet
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Mayapple
Geranium
Black Jetbead
Calycanthus
Swamp Buttercup

Time flies...

2011-04-28T15:10:00.003-04:00

As per usual, spring is getting ahead of me! I have a few more blooms to share with you, but there are probably a few more. I haven't had time to walk the trails yet this week.

There are a lot more birds back too. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Wood Thrushes, and Catbirds just to name a few.

Gotta run, but here are the rest of the flowers I know of!

Violet Wood Sorrel
Bluets
Foam Flower
Pink Azalea (cultivated)
Indian Strawberry

Cute, part II

2011-04-23T14:10:00.006-04:00

These are the best I could get so far. I had to take these through the Nature Center window!

A couple additions to the flower list are Squirrel Corn, Greek Valerian, Wild Ginger, and Flowering Dogwood.

The Showy Orchis is just starting to bloom today. There are several nice plants along the Casa Burro trail. We can give you the specifics on where to look when you come out.

There are multiple species of butterflies out and about now and the warblers and other migrants are returning. Here is a short list of what has been seen/heard so far:

Rough-winged Swallow
Brown Thrasher
Yellow-throated Vireo
Prothonotary Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Hooded Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird

Ridiculously Cute

2011-04-20T10:11:00.002-04:00

That is what our spring intern declared when we got our first glimpse of the brand new goose babies! There are seven of them this year, and I will post a photo as soon as I can get a good one.
Everyday there are new flowers in bloom! Here are the latest...

Wild Blue Phlox
Forget-me-not
Dog Violet
Cream Violet
Redbud
Long-spur Violet
Spring Cress

A few more blooms

2011-04-14T12:56:00.004-04:00

Here are some more flowers you can see when you come out!

Pussy Toes

Marsh Marigold

Trout Lily (just one, ask us about it)

Large-flowered Trillium

Celendine Poppy

Golden Ragwort Spring Cress (okay, I haven't actually seen it yet, but I'm sure it will bloom by this weekend.)

Large-flowered Bellwort

It's really finally here...

2011-04-06T17:18:00.009-04:00

I think it's here to stay too! It's been a rough one this winter, but I'm so excited to post the first "current blooms" list. More on that later, but first I wanted to share with you a couple of pics from my walk to get the list.

We often get asked if we have any waterfalls at Wahkeena. The answer is yes! They're just really really small! When we have good rains like we have had recently, the spring fed streams run a little harder. So I snapped a picture of one of the tiny waterfalls.

Another uplifting thing to see in spring are the early butterflies. Mourning Cloaks and Question Marks are two of the earliest. You can see the former on a warm day in later winter sometimes. Today I almost stepped on one who was resting in the middle of the trail. I took this picture of him after I had disturbed him. Can you see why I didn't see him the first time?

Well, on to the list! Many of these are cultivated flowers, but this early in the spring they are just as welcome as the native ones! For those of you who are new to the blog, these flowers can all be seen around the Nature Center or from the trails. A couple of these that I have listed I only found one or two today, but with the sustained warm weather more will follow quickly.

Bloodroot - Vinca - Daffodil - Grape Hyacinth - Forsythia - Speedwell - Small Flowered Bittercress - Coltsfoot - Spicebush - Rue Anemone - Cut-Leaved Toothwort - Yellow Violet - Blue Cohosh - Spring Beauty - Hepatica - Confederate Violet

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful.."

2011-03-30T14:07:00.006-04:00

Can you believe this weather? This is the view from outside the office window, right now.

I do have to admit though, the snow has made for some great birding at the feeders today. We've seen all the regulars plus Fox Sparrow, Pine Siskens, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and well, the goose.

The forecast is looking better for this weekend!

Scheduling Update

2011-03-18T13:10:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've finally updated my calendar, and now you can see our upcoming programs at the bottom of the page. So far I've only planned our guided walks. If there are any other types of programs you would like to see us have, let me know!

The beast has been unleashed!

2011-03-06T12:29:00.004-05:00

I said this to Tom the other day when it looked like there might be some salamander activity that night. For me at my house, "the beast" - I mean spring - got loose last weekend. I live in Hocking County and although I'm only a half and hour away from Wahkeena, I'm a little warmer and sunnier than the preserve. So, sometimes spring stuff happens here first. Last weekend with the previous big rain storm, my pond hosted a big salamander blowout. I had Jeffersons and Spotteds as well as a few red-spotted newts who made an appearance. Spring peepers began the pilgrimage to the pond as well. I think there were as many on the house as there were in the pond! Since that day (and night), there has been no stopping this first wave of springtime excitement. Every night since, the peepers have been peeping. Chickadees and Song Sparrows have been singing their love songs, and some Bluebirds have been checking out the bluebird box. But today, to me at least, proves that there really is no stopping it once it gets started. Today, I'm listening to some spring peepers - albeit peeping slowly - and looking at a fresh coating of SNOW.

Spring Progesses

2011-02-27T15:13:00.003-05:00

I everyone, this is Tom posting a nature update.
On this last day of February 2011. the temperatures at near 60 degrees. The Canada geese are back and acting territorially, six wood duck and two mallards also on the pond today. And a noisy kingfisher is happy that most of the ice covering the pond is melting away. On a quick walk around the pond, I saw perhaps a dozen painted turtles basking on sunny logs. In the warmer shallow waters, at the begining of the boardwalk, I saw a red spotted newt. And green frogs were active in the small ponds fed by the large rock spring. So spring is inching it's way closer and closer. I was surprised that there were no wood frogs calling today.....but it won't be long now.

Spring Has Sprung

2011-02-18T09:33:00.003-05:00

Skunk Cabbage

Hi nature lovers, this is Tom.... finally posting on the blog! The last few days have been a welcome relief from the long cold winter. Although we are still in that transitional period from winter to spring.....things are moving in the right direction (if you like spring time!) The first true wildflower of the new year is in bloom and goes by the lovely name of Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus (compound fruit) (fetid =foul smelling). The first cultivated flower, Snow Drops, with small white bell-like flowers hanging down, bloomed just today. This is the beginning of a flower explosion that will continue through May.

And while winter birds like Pine Siskins, Juncos and White-throated sparrows are still around, that too will be changing. A Yellow-rumped warbler was at the feeder today and the Song sparrows are singing on habitat. Red-shouldered hawks have been soaring ahead making their distinctive fast, piercing call. I think this has excited our education Red-tailed hawk as she has begun nesting preparations. This summer marks the 20th year of her residency here at Wahkeena and for many of those years her has laid eggs in the spring. (No, none have ever hatch....if you don't know why....visit the preserve to find out!

The honey bees have also become active, cleaning the hive and getting drinks of water from the edge of the pond as the ice is slowing receding.

We are also approaching the time of year when the amphibian population wakes up. Within the next several weeks, when temps and moisture are right, wood frogs and spotted salamanders along with other species will make their way to breeding ground, vernal ponds, wetlands, etc. Stay tuned for more information on this topic.

Animal Signs

2010-10-23T12:12:00.013-04:00

One of the activities we do with our school groups is a Discovery Hike. We never know what we'll see because nature is forever changing and each group of kids is different. One of the things I stress with my groups is that we may not actually see deer, foxes, rabbits, and all the other big furry animals they think they will see, but we can still know that they have been around. The fall season is a great time for this. There are even some animal signs that you can't see until this time of year.

Everybody knows about tracks of course,

and some people will remember to look for scat (poop). Fur and/or feathers are good finds too.

Sometimes you can see where someone had dinner.

This caterpillar has been parasitized and now is dead, but I know that there were wasps here. Some wasps will lay their eggs inside a living caterpillar where the larva will eat the caterpillar's insides. Then they come out of the caterpillar (see the holes) and pupate on the dying creature. (Ever seen a big green caterpillar on your tomato plants with white things stuck to it?) Finally, the adult wasps emerge and the cycle starts over again.

Fall is a great time to see where our feathered friends' made their nests.

You can also see white-tailed deer rubs and scrapes this time of year. Male deer (bucks) are responsible for these tale-tell marks. Rubs are made when bucks rub their antlers against trees to help shed the velvet. Contrary to popular belief, it is not to "sharpen" their antlers. Scrapes are where the buck has used his front feet to scrape away the leaves and other debris from the forest floor. Scent is left from his feet, and he also may urinate near by. This is one way he communicates with other deer.

Other neat animal signs you can see in the fall are beaver scent mounds. Like the scrapes, beavers leave their scent to communicate with others of their kind. It's a very strong scent and even us humans with our puny sense of smell can catch a whiff.

Even after all the cool ways to see signs of animals, sometimes its nice to see the real deal.

Lovely Fall

2010-10-09T09:53:00.008-04:00

Have you noticed? We're really starting to get some nice color out there. And I don't mean just us at Wahkeena. I really enjoy my drives to and from work this time of year. There are a few spots I pass by that are really gorgeous! Here at the preserve, there is a spectacular maple at the start of the boardwalk. The dogwoods are a burgundy red color, and there are still lots of different colored asters in bloom. Oh, and although not everyone will appreciate this, the poison ivy is one the prettiest things out in the woods right now.

So, here are some pictures from around the preserve of fall colors. These are NOT from this year, nor are they indicative of this particular time in October. I just want to share with you what you might see as the fall season progresses.

Enjoy!

Back to Business

2010-10-03T12:21:00.003-04:00

Finally! It seems that our technology woes are over. (I say with crossed fingers.) We've got a new computer, our Internet is working, and hopefully things will continue to work properly. I don't have much to report today, but I do have a couple of nice pictures from this past week when it was nice and foggy out.

Look for posts on Wednesdays or Thursdays again, and hope to see you out here!

Bat's in our Belfry

2010-09-15T09:59:00.003-04:00

A quick reminder that we have a GREAT program coming up on Saturday, all about BATS! We have a guest speaker coming in from the Wayne National Forest, Katrina Schultes, to tell us everything we've ever wanted to know and more. I love talking to her about bats not only because she is so knowledgeable, but because she is so passionate about them. She makes bat stuff so fun! If any of you are regular attendees to the Wildlife Diversity Conference each March in Columbus, you may have heard her speak a couple years ago on red bats.

So the fun starts at 6:00pm this Saturday, September 18th at the Nature Center. We do need to have an idea of who is coming out, so please call or email us to register for the program. The phone number is 800-297-1883. You can email us at wahkeena@att.net. Just make sure you put "bat program" in the subject line.

See you Saturday!

Coral in the Woods?

2010-08-22T16:06:00.003-04:00

We've got another orchid in bloom for all you orchid connoisseurs out there. Tom found Late Coral Root today. It has just popped up, and only has one open bloom so far. And since this is at the end of the day on Sunday, and we're not open again until Wednesday, there should be plenty of bloom time left to get a peek at it.

For those of you not familiar with out native orchids, many of them are very small. Like lay down on the ground to see it small. Such is the case with this one. But I think these guys are worth the effort.

It's been super crazy around here, and I haven't forgot about you! I'm hoping next week I can get a post up about our very cool Catalpa caterpillars that were here.

Can you find the Rainbow?

2010-08-01T14:43:00.004-04:00

It's been a couple of weeks since we last chatted, but you'll have to forgive me as I was on vacation. I'm going to cut right to the chase here. There are a ba-zillion butterflies out there and tons of summer wildflowers in bloom. You can find all the colors of the rainbow in a very short amount of time. Following is a list of the butterflies I've observed and the flowers currently in bloom. Some of the flowers may be repeats from before, but I wanted to give you a thorough list of what you can see when you come out.

Also, please note we have some great programs coming up this weekend! See the bottom of the blog page for times and descriptions.

Butterflies

Spicebush Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Frittilary spp.

various Skippers

Silver Spotted Skipper

Red Admiral

Pearl Crescent

Red-spotted Purple

Question Mark

Comma

Summer Azure?

Eastern-tailed Blue

Wildflowers

Snowball Hydrangea (cultivated)

Joe-pye Weed

Ironweed

Rose Mallow

Dodder

Cup Plant

Rosinweed

Whorled Rosinweed

Thin-leaved Coneflower

Purple Coneflower

Brown-eyed Susan

Orange Coneflower

Sweet-scented Water Lily

Red Bee Balm

Monkey Flower

Obedient Plant

Mad Dog Skullcap

Water Horehound

Verbena (blue and white)

Swamp Milkweed

Wingstem

White Snakeroot

Orange Jewelweed

Pokeweed

Indian Tobacco

Tick Trefoil

Buttonbush

Goldenrod sp.

Flat-topped Aster

Cardinal Flower

Great Blue Lobellia

Bidens spp.

Rattlesnakes!

2010-07-09T10:01:00.003-04:00

There are rattlesnakes out there....Downy Rattlesnake Plantain that is! Yep, our next orchid has just started to bloom. There are many flower stalks out there this year, but we have an especially nice "forest" of flower stalks marked along the Shelter Trail. Like many of our native orchids this one is a "get up close and personal" kind of flower. Overall though, this particular plant is very attractive.

Also of note is the buzzing, humming, and fluttering activity taking place at the bee balm in the butterfly garden. Here is a pic of one of the visitors.

Don't forget the next fern walk is this Sunday at 1:00pm!

A broken record...

2010-06-25T15:22:00.003-04:00

I've said it before, and will say it again. In fact, I'm saying right now. You just never know what you will see out here.

I just took a quick call from my husband. I went outside to get a better signal and sat down in the shade in the front yard. As we were talking, I see a deer walk out of the wetland area near the bench at the top of the driveway. Wow! She is beautiful! She stops near the culvert area on the driveway, but something is still moving. I look very hard at this deer and say to my husband, I think there is a fawn there too! In fact, I think it is a very small fawn and it appears to by nursing! Wow again! I have never seen this before! It reminded my of a little lamb - the tail wagging in happiness, the head butting in impatience. This went on only for a few minutes then the doe started to walk off. Then everything became clear. Not just one tiny fawn, but two.

I have the best job in the whole world.

Sizzleing Summertime

2010-06-24T15:10:00.007-04:00

Boy, it's been hot, hasn't it? So hot it just makes you want to stay in the air conditioning, right? I really can't blame you. I like to stay in the cool nature center, and one can often find Tom in the even cooler basement! Many of the animals we like to see at the preserve cannot be seen when it is this hot. Turtles, snakes, and frogs are staying in the water to keep cool. Many of our feathered friends are done nesting and are pretty quiet.

There are a few animals that LOVE the hot weather. They are particularly colorful and engaging too. Dragonflies and damselflies are the most active during the hottest part of the day, and we cannot forget the butterflies.

The best place right now to observe all of these animals is the boardwalk. The button bush has just begun to bloom, and it is one of the best butterfly attracting plants that I have come across. Also on the boardwalk trail are tons of dragonflies and damselflies.

Adjacent to the boardwalk trail is the wet meadow. Although the best is yet to come (in terms of flowers) it is still an interesting place. Just the other day I observed a Monarch Butterfly laying eggs on some Swamp Milkweed.

It's a little early this year, but our native Rhododendron is blooming now. This is not a blow-out year, but there are many very nice clusters of blossoms.

Here is my list of current bloomers:

Lizard's Tail

Trumpet Creeper

Swamp Rose

Monkey Flower

Swamp Milkweed

Button bush

Enchanter's Nightshade

Great Laural Rhododendron

Red and Pink Bee Balm

Rosinweed

Purple Coneflower (just starting)

Guided Programs

2010-06-17T13:56:00.003-04:00

A quick word on our guided walks and other programs. At the very bottom of the page you'll see a list of upcoming programs. I have this set up so the next 8 programs will be listed. There are a couple of errors with this, and I have no idea why they are occurring or how to fix it. So here is the info you need to know.

1. All of our Discovery Walks start at 1:00pm. They usually last an hour and a half to two hours.

2. The upcoming Reptile Workshop starts at 11:00am and goes until 3:00pm. For this program you can bring a sack lunch with you.

3. "Nature's Bug Zappers", a program all about bats, is in the evening from 6:00pm until 8:00pm.

4. Our programs are in 2010 and 2011, not 3910 and 3911. (obviously)

As always if you have any questions, you can call us!

Confirmation

2010-06-11T15:51:00.003-04:00

It has been confirmed! Our newly found fern species is..........Botryichium matricariifolium! It looks like the accepted common name is matricary grapefern. Here are some pics. By the way, it is not very big only a few inches tall.

A Nature Walk

2010-06-10T10:34:00.006-04:00

Sometimes you just want to hike. Go fast. Just be outside. There are other times when you have to force yourself to slow down and look at what's around you. That's what I did yesterday. I hadn't been out on the trails in a while and I wanted to to see what what going on. Sometimes we get in the mindset that not much in happening in the woods in the summer. I think that is just because the plants are so dominant. We can't see the forest for the trees sort of speak. The lesson is no matter what season, the slower you go and the more focused you are, the more you will see!

I ended up seeing and hearing a lot more than I thought I would by doing just that. I waited until the rain had stopped and set out. The birds had the same idea - they were everywhere and loud too! Lots of Wood Thrushes and Red-eyed Vireos. I also heard the Black and White Warbler, Wood Pee-wees, and Ovenbirds.

The main flower in bloom right now is Ghost Pipe. And I mean there are gobs of it everywhere! Really, everywhere. There was a spot along the Cassa Burro Trail where the ground was literally dotted with white! Actually, for a plant that is just white, it looked really awesome yesterday. When I was walking, everything was so dark and misty and green. The pure white color really stood out.

All this rain we've had has brought out a lot of interesting mushrooms too. I saw puffballs and some coral fungus among others. Fungus is a world I have yet to delve into.

I found a snail, spiders, and of course the ever present deer flies. There are a couple of places along the trails where there are newer canopy openings, and on sunny days they are great places to see dragonflies like the Gray Petaltail.

Speaking of dragonflies, the next couple of days will be great for seeing those guys. Nice and warm and lots of sunshine will bring them out. Already today I've seen a bunch, and even had the Swamp Darner land on me! Ebony Jewelwing damselflies are a real treat to see along the trail.

Oh, a few more things in bloom:
Orange Butterflyweed
Purple Milkweed
Poke Milkweed
Lizard's Tail

"Blooms" Update

2010-06-03T14:01:00.003-04:00

Thanks to a phone call and a curious visitor, I realized there were quite a few things in bloom that may prove interesting to you. Although we are still in that "green and white" period, there is a splash of color here and there.

Venus's Looking-Glass

Sundrops

Smooth Penstemon

Green Dragon

Sweet-scented Water Lily

Mock Orange

Elderberry

Deptford Pink

Just for fun, here's a pic of Lake Odonata in the summer.

It never rains, but pours...

2010-05-30T13:48:00.004-04:00

I know it's been a while since the last post, but for some time, there wasn't really anything happening. It got pretty wet and rainy, and I couldn't think of anything remotely exciting to tell you about! But, then the sun came back out and the temperatures warmed up again, and now there is lots to tell. Here goes...

Our next native orchid is in bloom right now, the Lily-leaved Twayblade Orchid. This one is my personal favorites out of all the orchids that I have had the privilege to see. The flower is so unlike anything else that I know, and I also really like the transparent purple color of the lower lip. I think this orchid looks like a flower that could be used as an alien plant on Star Trek! We've discovered a new fern species! We're still not sure which species it is, but I can tell you that it is one of the moonworts (Botrychium). It is so tiny! At first we only saw one, but then as we broadened our gaze there were many plants in this particular area. I have pictures but I'll have to post them later as they are on my personal camera and not the work camera.

Speaking of plants, the Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium) is blooming. This plant is in the Arum family which includes Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Skunk Cabbage. There are several nice big plants in the shade garden at the back of the nature center. Green Dragon can be found throughout Ohio.

For those of you who have been out before, you know we have the observation bee hive in the nature center and an outside hive. For the past couple of years we have not had been in the outside hive. A few weeks ago we noticed some activity around the hive and we speculated that the inside bees were robbing the outside hive. Just last week we finally found some time to suit up and open up the outside hive. It turns out that a new colony of bees had moved in. There was lots of nice brood comb and many bees. Tom went out a couple days later and replaced part of the hive that had been invaded by mice and cleaned up the vegetation around the hive. I'm looking forward to going back out there to see their progress.

I'll have some pics soon!

More Blooms and a Special Bird

2010-05-14T09:17:00.004-04:00

Although we are coming to the end of the colorful spring wildflowers and moving into the month of green and white (June), there are still many beautiful flowers to see. I'm a touch behind on the list, but here it is...

Flame Azalea
Yellow Iris
Sweet Cicely
Wild Anise
Indian Cucumber Root
Common Cinquefoil
Unknown species of Day Lilly
Ohio Spiderwort
Maple-leaf Viburnum
Highbush Cranberry (cultivated)
Soloman's Plume
Two-lined Cynthia
Rattlesnake Weed
Hawkweed spp.
Arrowwood Viburnum
Rubus spp.
Fleabane

Also we have some exciting news on the bird front. A Summer Tanager is here! He has been visiting his reflection in the windows near the feeders, just like the Yellow-throated Warbler. What a treat to see this bird so up close without binoculars!

International Migratory Bird Weekend

2010-05-12T09:36:00.002-04:00

Last weekend was International Mirgratory Bird Weekend. Here is a list of the birds we heard and saw on our bird walk and throughout the day.

Mallards
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Wood Pewee
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Wood Thrush
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Black and White Warbler
Northern Parula
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Common Grackle
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
American Goldfinch
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow

Orchids, Rumors, Minks, and Snapper John

2010-04-23T11:25:00.005-04:00

I think this post will exemplify the randomness that we here at Wahkeena experience on a weekly basis. No complaints, it makes life very interesting!

Orchids:
The long awaited time is here, the first of several orchids are in bloom. The Showy Orchis is in full bloom and can be seen along the Cassa Burro Trail. There are two spots to view the Pink Lady's Slipper from the trail, and those flowers are in various stages of development. They range from tight green buds to flowers that haven't quite gotten their color yet. Off trail, on the ridge top, there are PLS in full bloom - but they get quite a bit more sunlight up there. So, there should be plenty of opportunities for viewing the orchids.

Other flowers that are now in bloom are:
Pink Azalea
Mountain Azalea
Foam Flower
Canada Mayflower
Soloman's Seal
Violet Wood Sorrel
Fire Pink
Dwarf Crested Iris
Mayapple

Rumors:
A lot of what we do here at the Nature Center for visitors is myth busting about animals. We often hear common but very false rumors, usually regarding bears and snakes. There other day though, we heard a new one. The rumor was that "they" were releasing cougars around the Toledo area to eat coyotes. First we asked, who is "they". As with most rumors of this kind the "they" always remains a mystery. Anyway, after discussing the various reasons why this rumor didn't make sense (wrong habitat, wrong food source, too many people around, etc.) we called a contact at ODNR Division of Wildlife. We confirmed that this rumor is 100% false.

Minks:
Over the past few years it seems as if every intern had the exciting event of seeing a mink. It has been frustrating for me because I want to see one too! Our intern this spring of course saw a mink. Then he saw it again! I felt doomed to never get to see one. Well, finally my luck changed. Tom and I were returning from an errand and our intern flags us down. "The mink is out!" he exclaims, and he had the good sense to have grabbed the camera. So, I finally got to see the mink, and it put on quite a show for us. It kept running back and forth across the driveway. We got quite close to it too, as you can see by the pictures.

Snapper John:
Our intern this spring is way into reptiles. He knows way more that you would ever want to know about snakes, lizards, and turtles. He seems to have a special place in his heart for Snapping Turtles. We have been seeing a couple of very large snappers in the big pond. One day, John and I see one and before I know what's happening, John's shoes and socks are on the trail and he's wading into the pond to get the snapper! He was successful, as you can see, and the turtle was really quite large. The shell measured 15 inches by 16 inches and she weighed about 15 pounds!

Where are the April Showers?

2010-04-15T14:55:00.002-04:00

Well, it doesn't seem to matter too much, because there are more flowers in bloom to report.
Here they are:
Large-flowered Trillium
Wild Blue Phlox
Forget-me-nots
Greek Valerian
Spring Cress
Dog Violet
Dogwood
Crabapple (white and pink)
Sweet Woodruff
Swamp Buttercup
Northern White Violet
Creeping Phlox

Blooms and Birds

2010-04-08T09:19:00.004-04:00

This warm weather has made the wildflowers explode. Some things are pretty early. We haven't had much of a chance to do any serious birding, but I've included what we know of so far.

Blooms:
Bloodroot
Common Blue Violet
Yellow Violet
Celendine Poppy
Confederate Violet
Spring Beauties
Dutchman's Breeches
Squirrel Corn
Redbud
Serviceberry
Rue Anemone
Hepatica
Virginia Bluebells
Twin Leaf (done)
Bishop's Cap
Toad Trillium
Large-flowered Bellwort
Cut-leaved Toothwort
Marsh Marigold
Yellow Trout Lilly
Long-spur Violet
Pale Violet
Pussy Toes
Jack-in-the-Pulpit (not actually blooming, but up)
Mayapple (same as the Jacks)
Blue Cohosh
Golden Ragwort
Three-lobed Violet

Birds - I'm only listing returning birds, not year-round residents.
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-throated green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Pine Warbler

Spring is springing!

2010-04-03T15:37:00.008-04:00

What a treat it has been having all this warm weather! Things are greening up and popping out every which way you look. Bloodroot has been out for over a week now, and there are Cut-leaved Toothwort blooms out on the Cassa Burro trail. Spring Beauties are out of course, and there should be Rue Anemone in bloom soon. All the daffodils we have are really looking good. There is also another cultivated bulb called Glory of the Snow in bloom. It has got to be one of my favorites.

Turtles have been out sunning themselves, and today we have been hearing toads trilling! There are lots of salamander egg masses in the frog ponds, and the wood frog egg masses have already hatched! The Louisiana Waterthrush is back. There will be more to come, but so far I've only heard the one.

Just in case the warm weather has melted away your winter memories, here is a picture of where we were just a few short weeks ago!

Great News!

2010-04-01T14:45:00.005-04:00

We have really wonderful news to tell you about. Our admission fee has been lowered to $5.00! So tell your family and friends!

Mistakes and Mysteries

2010-02-28T20:14:00.003-05:00

Ack! I know that the previous post said the off-trail hike was in April. That was not right! It's in March of course, spring starts in March. I have fixed that. Also, I am aware that the calendar is not at the bottom of the blog anymore. I don't know what has happened. And, I can't figure out how to put it back, but I am working on it. I don't have my paper calendar in front of me at the moment, but I will get the dates of the walks and such written out in the next post. If you need to know before than, just call.

Here is a tid-bit that may help the spring fever. I was coming home from my folk's place in Delaware county today. I was coming off the Lancaster by-pass and there are a couple of grassy areas around that confluence. It is well known to some of us that live and work around there that there is a Red-tail hawk who hunts these grassy areas. Well, today instead of one hawk there were two! Better than that, one swooped down in front of me (while driving) and appeared to try and lock talons with another who was already on the ground! Possible mating stuff going on? It such a shame that there wasn't a safe way to get stopped to watch what happened next.

Ah well, the signs of spring are out there if you look closely! Happy March everyone!

Calendar Update

2010-02-21T11:52:00.005-05:00

Have you been wishing for spring to get here? I know I am looking forward to it a lot more than in years past. Maybe this will help or maybe it will just make things worse, I don't know! I hope it helps! I've posted the Spring Schedule on the calendar. We have plenty of opportunities for wildflower walks and of course a fern "frolic". (don't worry, no one actually has to frolic!)

We also have a new program to offer you! As some of you know, we did not have any winter off-trail hike this year. (and even if we had scheduled them, the snow probably would have prevented them from actually happening.) So, we are going to have a SPRING off-trail hike! Better yet, it's on the Vernal Equinox so we call all celebrate the official start of the season! So mark your calendar for March 20th at 1:00pm. Don't forget to call and sign up for the hike because there are limited spaces available. Also, if you haven't been out to the preserve before and/or on one of our off-trail hikes, you need to know the terrain is very steep and rugged. It is important that you be in good physical condition and wear appropriate shoes.

Tom and I are looking forward to seeing everyone this spring! Don't be a stranger!

Lunch Time

2009-08-29T12:02:00.015-04:00

When I take lunch here at the preserve, I try to eat outside. My favorite place to eat is on the bench by the front porch. Most of the time I take a book from our library to read - something nerdy - like the little Golden Guide to non-flowering plants. Usually though, I don't get any reading done. Here's why.

From where I sit, I can see a good chunk of real estate. Directly in front of me is the butterfly nectar garden. It contains a host of wonderful plants. Right now, there are Thin-leaved Coneflower, Ironweed, Purple Coneflower, New England Aster, White Snakeroot, and Jewelweed in bloom. Surrounding me there are more Purple Coneflowers, as well as Orange Coneflower and a big beautiful Prairie Dock. These colorful flowers attract more insects than I can count. Mostly pollinators, but others too, hoping to snag a meal from an unsuspecting bee, bug, or beetle. I think my favorite pollinator is our native Bumblebees. They are fun to watch and very tolerant of a giant human face right next to them. Butterflies make appearances too, of course, and everything from tiny little skippers to big swallowtails can be seen. Sometimes, the always fascinating hummingbird moth will stop by for a drink. One of the clear-wing moths, this insect mimics a hummingbird. It hovers by the flower while using its proboscis to drink nectar. Completing the throng of wildlife at the flowers is the actual, iridescent Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Now is a great time to see them because of all the Jewelweed in bloom. Sometimes when I am out there, one will give me "the eyeball." If this has ever happened to you, then you know what I'm talking about.

If I direct my gaze a little further afield, I can see the edge of the pond. A very interesting place, being an area that transitions from water to land. Emerging from the water is Lizard's tail, a plant with a plume of fragrant flowers that blooms in July. Mixed in is Boneset, Swamp Mallow, more Jewelweed, Great Blue Lobelia, Dodder, and a host of sedges and grasses. Where we keep the edge mowed, the Water lily leaves come right up to the edge of the water. Lots of damselflies can be found in this jungle, along with their big cousins the dragonflies. Quietly hiding among the plants I often flush out Wood Ducks and Green Herons.

Looking even farther out, the pond becomes an expanse of green Water lily leaves. Dragonflies are hunting for insects above the water, and Swallows and Phoebes are too. The Pseudo-Island becomes a refuge for the recently disturbed waterfowl.

Even further my eyes come to rest of the far side of the pond. This edge looks cool and shady, and sometimes - like today - I can see a Great Blue Heron hunting for his lunch.

So, while I munch away, I'm not really looking at my carefully selected book. There is just too much going on right in front of me.

Reason #843 why I love this place!

2009-05-24T11:21:00.009-04:00

Tom and I took a hike off trail the other day specifically to see if there were Black Vulture chicks yet. The hike turned into an adventure as things are wont to do here. We started off well enough, climbing up via "mouse motel" to the top of the ridge. I really like the ridge tops. It constantly amazes me the plants that can grow in the thin dry soil up there. Right away we saw a large area of white wash. We knew that an owl had probably been there. I poked around for pellets, but didn't find any. A little further down the trail, further exploration by Tom revealed a very large population of Pink lady's slipper! There were so many in bloom! We counted almost two dozen, plus many other plants that were not going to flower.

We continued along the ridge top looking for the crack to drop down in to look for those Black
Vulture chicks. Once we found it and made out approach, a large Black Vulture flew out of the crack and landed near by in a tree. A good sign! Tom dropped down first, and peered into the recess, "Eggs!," he said. I gave him the camera, and came down too. There is no nest, just the eggs laid on the sandy soil. There was a foul odor back by the eggs, sure to get worse once those chicks hatch. We exited the crack, and walked along the cliff face a ways and sat down to see the adult vulture return. (Both the male and the female vulture incubates the eggs.) It returned, and we decided to check on the Great Horned Owl nest.

That was way easier said than done! Instead of making our way back to the ridge top and then dropping down again, we cut across - no, we pushed our way through the bottom, then up again to the cliff where the owl nest was. During this trek we got up close and personal with witch hazel, spice bush, jack-in-the-pulpit, wild ginger, ferns, poison ivy, jewlweed, greenbrier, multiflora rose, rubus, and unfortunately, lots and lots of garlic mustard.

Anyway, at the nest site it was clear that the owl babies were fledged and long gone. Left behind was nature's version of a CSI episode! Bones, feathers, and fur were littered all along the ground, cliff and in the nest. We were able to identify feathers from a bluejay, crow, flicker, and brown thrasher.

By this time it was getting very hungry out, so we made for the nature center. Back up to the ridge top, down via "mouse motel", and out to the trail along the old logging road which is now a mere deer trail. But, we were in for another surprise. A nice patch of four-leaved milkweed was growing right beside the trail. Although we have this species recorded for Wahkeena, we didn't know it grew in this location.

One last surprise awaited us right by the spring. For whatever reason, I spied a nice Showy orchis, in bloom, right next to the trail. For those of you who have walked the Cassa Burro trail searching for this orchid, you know how hard it can be to find it. So many times have we tried to explain to visitors where to see a particular clump, and can't take them personally because it's too far away, and the whole time there has been one seconds away from the nature center!! Arrhhggg! :)

So ended that adventure for the day. The really cool thing is, stuff like this happens all the time in nature, you just have to slow down and watch for it!

Orchids and Azaleas

2009-05-09T10:44:00.006-04:00

If you've been waiting to come out to the preserve to see orchids or azaleas, now is the time! Currently, Pink lady's slipper is in bloom. There are several flowers easily accessed by the study pond, and the first portion of the Cassa Burro trail. There are full blooms now and others that will be coming along a little later. The Showy orchis may be on its way out, but still to come are Puttyroot, and Twayblade.

There are three different azaleas flowering now, including Mountain azalea and Pinxter. If you haven't seen our native Flame azalea before, you're missing out! This species is endangered in Ohio, and is one of the most beautiful flowers you'll ever see. It should begin to bloom this week.

Tomorrow and next weekend are the last of the spring wildflower hikes. There is alot to see, and we have lots of "fun facts" to enlighten you with.

Also tomorrow is our International Migratory Bird Weekend bird hike. I think the official name is Wahkeena Warblers and Wildflowers, or something like that! We'll be meeting in the parking lot and the cost is only $3 per person, and as usual OHS members are free! I'll post a list of new birds we see, tomorrow. This year should be nice; last year it poured down rain almost the whole time.

April showers brought LOTS of flowers!

2009-04-26T11:34:00.006-04:00

Spring is definitely in full swing now. There are tons of wildflowers in bloom, too many to list here, although I will mention a few. Showy orchis is just beginning to bloom. I know today is Sunday, and we will be closed for the next two days, as usual, but you will be able to see it all next week for sure. This year seems to be a great year for Jack-in-the-pulpits. They seem to be popping up everywhere! Also, the Wild geranium is beginning to show its flowers.

This morning Tom and I did some birding. There are so many birds back now, it's crazy! I got my first look at a Yellow-throated warbler - so beautiful! One of the Scarlet tanagers also let me look at him. I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at that bird! So here is the list of new birds that we have seen/heard since I posted the last list:

Yellow-throated warbler

Black-throated green warbler

Black and white warbler

Hooded warbler

Green Heron

Solitary sandpipers

American Bittern

White-eyed vireo

Scarlet tanager

Rose-breasted grosbeak

Blue-gray gnatcatcher

Gray catbird

Chipping sparrow

and various other birds yet to be identified!

Also, the Pine siskens are still here as well as at least one red-breasted nuthatch. And, the goslings are out and about now.

Happy birding!

Blink and you miss it!

2009-04-16T09:54:00.003-04:00

I think the next couple of days are going to be one of those times in the spring when it seems like you've blinked, and everything has changed. The warm sun following the rainy days we've had is going to make stuff pop like gangbusters I think! We've already seen more flowers in bloom like the Long-spur violet and Twin leaf. The Crab apple on the terrace is ready to go, and it will be beautiful. We've got Wildflower walks this weekend - on both days - and you can check the calendar at the bottom of this page for more details.

I wanted to go ahead and put up a list of birds we've seen/heard so far. Here it is:
Barred owl
Red-shouldered hawk
Ruby crowned kinglet
Winter wren
Yellow-rumped warbler
Wood thrush
Wood ducks
Red-breasted nuthatch
Pine sisken
Pine warbler
White-throated sparrow
Red-eyed vireo
and all the other "normal" birds like cardinals, titmice, chickadees, towhees, etc.

I have no doubt that after this weekend, we'll have more to add to the list!

One last note about the Barred owls. If you come out, there is a good chance of seeing or hearing them. They have been consistently seen and heard in the Shelter trail area of the preserve. Yesterday, Tom and I had our best look at what was probably the male, and we did not have binoculars!

See you this weekend!

Welcome to Wahkeena

2009-04-11T09:51:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the Wahkeena blog! I meant to have the first post before opening weekend (April 4, 5), but time flies when you're having fun! And we have a lot of fun here at Wahkeena. Sometimes too much fun!

Spring is in full swing. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and trees are leafing out, and frogs have been clucking, snoring, and peeping. Bloodroot has been blooming since last week, and the Cut-leaved toothwort is everywhere. The patch of Marsh marigold is in bloom as well as Squirrel corn and Dutchman's breeches, and I can't forget the Rue anemone. As I'm sitting here writing this I can hear the Louisana waterthrush singing. He's our fist warbler to come back for the breeding season. Lots of Pine siskins are still visiting our feeders, and the Pheobes are building their nests. The race is on between trees leafing out, and warblers coming back! Cherry and Buckeye trees are well on their way. Oh, and the Serviceberries are in full bloom with the Redbuds to follow next. All the Woodfrog eggs have hatched and you can see tiny little tadpoles in the frog ponds. You can also see the Spotted salamander egg masses in the frog ponds.

Things are changing all the time around here, and there is always something new to see. We see things that we've never seen before on a regular basis. I hope that you'll come out and see something new too!