Black Rat Snake in our side yard...

Saturday afternoon Matty and I were walking in the side yard when we both saw a Black Rat snake alongside the rock path. He froze as soon as he saw us, and we watched him for a while. When I realized he was in frozen mode, I ran in to get the camera, hoping he would stay put for a few more minutes. He was in the same place when I returned, so I took a few photos. Eventually he figured out we weren't going to try to eat him or pick him up, so he slowly slithered away under a large bush...

A Black Rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) in our side yard. I'm glad this fellow is living here. I hope he comes out and says hi more often.

...as you can tell, our Black Rat snake isn't all that black! He has a beautiful pattern with copper, brown and yellow showing through. Unfortunately, this pattern sometimes gets him killed when uninformed homeowners confuse him with a venomous snake. The round pupil on the Black Rat snake lets you know he is nonvenomous. Venomous snakes have elliptical pupils. Having a Black Rat snake living close by is beneficial...

...someone is full and happy. I wonder what he ate...mouse, vole, chipmunk? If you look at the left, you can see the scales are close together, but in the middle prey has stretched out the skin, which separates the scales. 

...freezing in place is a good defense when you are camouflaged as well as our snake is. He blended in so perfectly, it would have been easy to walk right past him. Black Rat snakes are the largest snakes found in Ohio, and they are often found in suburban neighborhoods. You might have one in your yard and not even know it.

...with his head tipped up a little, you can see the rostral groove in his upper lip, which is the small hole the tongue protrudes through. In the next photo...you can see the tongue!

Snakes flick their tongues in and out of their mouths through the rostral groove without every having to open their mouths.

To learn more about the rostral groove and how snakes use their tongues and the Jacobson's Organ to smell, click here.

The pattern on a Black Rat snake, when visible, is distinct. The dark spots on the dorsal side lay across his back like saddles. 

Black Rat Snake slithering from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo. 

This video shows how beautiful and graceful a Black Rat snake is when it moves.

I wonder if this is the baby Black Rat snake we found in our basement last autumn and released into our back yard? He's not fully grown, so he might be...

p.s. This post is for my niece, Maria, my son, Matty, and my neighbor, Chet...all of whom love snakes. 

Northern Leopard Frog at the Spring Valley Freshwater Fen

It's easy to see where this Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens) got its name. It's covered in spots just like a leopard. I photographed the cute little frog two weeks ago at the Spring Valley Wildlife Area when Paul Krusling and I were there searching for Spotted Turtles. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had no luck finding the Spotted Turtles, but spotted frogs were a whole other story...

Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens) at Spring Valley Wildlife Area. This frog and several others were at the freshwater fen. 

I had never seen the small freshwater fen at Spring Valley. It's beautiful...hidden and off the beaten path, it was a haven for these little Northern Leopard Frogs.

Northern Leopard Frog hiding in the leaf litter in the freshwater fen at Spring Valley Wildlife Area.

...closeup of a Northern Leopard Frog's face.

Yellow-throated Vireo at Spring Valley Wildlife Area...

Last Tuesday I spent the day at Spring Valley Wildlife Area. It was beautiful and warm, and newly arrived spring migrants were singing in the bright sunshine. We were looking for Spotted Turtles, hoping one would pop its head out of the water and swim around, but unfortunately, none obliged. This sunny yellow Yellow-throated Vireo, however, put on a nice show...

Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons) singing along the Little Miami River at Spring Valley Wildlife Area.

Yellow-spectacled Vireo would have been a good name for this guy too... 

The gnatcatcher and the caterpillar...

While I sat in the grass watching a Red-shouldered Hawk's nest, this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher landed on a branch in a tree very close to me. I had been sitting still for a while, so maybe he didn't notice me, or maybe the promise of tasty crawly eats overrode the danger of a human with a camera...

This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was studying something on a branch above him. I knew whatever it was had to be important because the little bird had come in so close to me. I wondered what it was and imagined a fat and juicy caterpillar inching along unaware of its impending doom...

...sure enough, the male gnatcatcher snatched up the protein-rich larva right in front of me!  The instant I clicked the shutter, he glanced my way, warning me off the tasty treat with a birdy (but steely) stink eye... 

Yum...fresh caterpillar...

...hmmmm...is that another?

...it definitely was, and within seconds, he jumped to the next branch over and nabbed another unsuspecting caterpillar. 

How do you tell a male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher from a female? 
Just look for "eyebrows." During the breeding season when males are in their alternate breeding plumage, you'll see a thick, black line above their eyes:

Male Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in breeding plumage sport dark eyebrows! 

Red-shouldered Hawks on nest along the Little Miami River...

I took the afternoon off work today and headed to the Little Miami River. It's been so long since I've spent an afternoon looking for birds, and I loved it. The spring migrants are moving in, and I could hear their new birdsong filling the river corridor. I saw lots and lots of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and heard and saw my first Northern Parula and Indigo Bunting of the season, but seeing a male and female Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) on their nest was the highlight....

A male Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) on a nest. He flew in to relieve the larger female (hidden from view).

This nest is located on the Little Miami River and bike trail about a half mile from the abandoned Peter's Cartridge factory. I saw it last year, but construction was only half-hearted and the hawks never occupied it, but earlier this year, when snow was still on the trail, I noticed the nest was slowly being beefed up, and today I saw why...mama and papa have settled in!

...eventually the larger female Red-shouldered Hawk starts to pop up. It's time for her to fly out.

...there she is. You can see how much larger she is.

...stretching her wings.

...right after this shot, she flew out of the nest to an adjacent tree. Then she took off. I can't wait to see the babies after the eggs hatch. Let's hope the couple is successful. 

Sweet Swamp Sparrow at Spring Valley Nature Area...

Before we went to the Little Miami trail to look for the eagle's nest (click here for that post), Rick and I spent some time on the boardwalk at Spring Valley hoping to catch a glimpse of the Virginia Rails. We heard two rails calling close to the observation deck, but they stayed hidden in the cattails. That was okay, though, because while we waited patiently for the rails to peek out, a very pretty Swamp Sparrow caught our eye as he waded in and out of the shallow water around the observation deck...  

A male Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) wading into the water looking for something to eat. 

True to their names, Swamp Sparrows really like water. This fellow acted more like a shorebird wading through the water than a sparrow.  

A Swamp Sparrow from behind is pretty. I like his droopy wings and rusty colors.

A Swamp Sparrow perches on dead cattail stalks. He was singing his lovely song from this perch. He's probably migrating through, though, not setting up a territory. Swamp Sparrows breed in Ohio, but much further north. 

It was really nice to just sit on the observation deck in the warm sun and listen to the Red-winged Blackbirds singing all through the marsh. Beautiful Blue-winged Teal flew over regularly, and an Osprey took to the wing flying by low. Painted Turtles were everywhere basking on logs, and we could hear frogs and toads from the marsh edges...

Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) on a submerged log soak up a bit of sun.

...it was hard to leave the boardwalk. I loved lazing the time away in the warm sun just watching and listening to the birds. If that log were bigger I would have crawled out there and joined the turtles!

An American Bald Eagle on a nest along the Little Miami River...

Last October, Matty and I spent some time up at the Spring Valley Wildlife Area photographing what we thought might be an eagle's nest (click here for that post). Today Rick and I drove up to see if it was...and it was!

Okay...squint, step back and look carefully. Yes, it's there...a white head and a dark body. Finally, I've seen an American Bald Eagle on the Little Miami River. The quality of the photo is poor, but I was over 500 yards away shooting from the bike trail, and then I cropped the image to an inch of its life to try to make out the eagle. 

View of the eagle's nest from the bike trail. The nest is bigger now than it was this October, and there's no mistaking an eagle is in residence. When you look through binocs or the spotting scope, you can clearly see the bird, but through a 400mm lens, the eagle is nothing more than a bump on a blob!

This huge sycamore hugs the Little Miami River. Canoeists floating down the river are in for a treat if they look up! From the bike trail, it's a different story. However, just hang out at Spring Valley for a while, and you'll see the adults flying overhead or even grabbing a fish from the water. Rick and I spoke with a fisherman at the lake, and he said he's seen an eagle several times swooping down to catch a fish. What a sight!