Great Plains Ladies' Tresses orchid (Spiranthes magnicamporum)...and a Great Egret...

I found this cool-looking orchid growing at East Harbor State Park near Lakeside, Ohio back in September when I was at the Midwest Birding Symposium. The long spikes of bright white flowers stood out and were striking against the surrounding greenery...

...tall spikes of Great Plains Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum) grew along a path by a small pond near Lake Erie. Further down the path, several more plants were scattered through a soggy field along a boardwalk. The bright, bright white of the spiraling flowers popped wherever it stood.

Originally I thought this was Nodding Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes cernua), but Andrew at The Natural Treasures of Ohio blog let me know it's Great Plains. Thanks, Andrew! Click here for a nice article to help you tell them apart. Apparently, Great Plains Ladies' Tresses are more fragrant than Nodding Ladies' Tresses. I don't remember them being fragrant, but we were looking for birds, and I had my long lens with me, so to photograph them, I couldn't get that close!

...adjacent to the tall, lanky and showy white orchid was a pond where an equally tall, lanky and showy white creature stood. The Great Egret, fishing in a sea of green, was the flower's perfect complement...

...spiraling upward in a double column, the flowers of the native Great Plains Ladies' Tresses form what looks like a braid and accounts for its common name.

Like all orchids, Great Plains Ladies' Tresses requires a specific species of fungus for normal growth and forms a symbiotic association between the root tissue and the fungus (click here for more information).

...love that frilly lacy ruffle!

...the egret continued to fish while I admired both him and the beautiful white flowers growing in a tight spiral.

I photographed this flower on September 17, 2011 while at the Midwest Birding Symposium.

Sanderlings on the shore of Lake Erie at the Midwest Birding Symposium

I am having fun and am loving it at the Midwest Birding Symposium!

...yesterday morning the two Robs--Rob Ripma (The Nutty Birder) and Rob Mortensen (Birding is Fun), Cack (Rob's mom), Lulu (Rob's friend), and Corky (a college professor I had back in 1980) convinced me to get up at 5:00 a.m. and head over to Magee Marsh with them to catch a few warblers. Yikes! This is what good birders do, but when it comes to daybreak, I'm a bad birder. 6:15 is about the earliest I can get up. All my family and friends know this--I'm a night owl and have been my entire life. When I started first grade, my mom had to give me a cup of coffee to get me out of bed and help me function. But........I can and will do anything for birds, so up I got...and for good measure I set my alarm for 4:55. It was a restless night for me. From 1:00 a.m. (when I went to bed) to 4:55 a.m. when I got up, I dreamt about having to bird in my P.J.s because I couldn't find any regular clothes. My P.J.s have ducks all over them, so I really shouldn't have worried. It would have been just fine to bird in them... :-)

We arrived at Magee early, and I'm totally sold on the merits of a 5:00 a.m. wake-up call. We saw lots of warblers, thrushes, and other birds. Before we left Magee to go back to the symposium, we walked over to Lake Erie to see what was there. Sweet little Sanderlings were foraging on the shore...

Sanderling (Calidris alba) in winter (basic) plumage.

I fell in love with the plumage on these sweet birds...pattern and color are breathtaking, and when you add in their wave-chasing antics, mesmerizing!

...a Sanderling foraging along the shore of Lake Erie at Magee Marsh.

...beautiful profile, beautiful colors, beautiful pattern...

Hey little fellow...I dig your feathers!

Video of Sanderlings in basic winter plumage preening along the Lake Erie shore at Magee Marsh.

p.s....I am going into training. I have two years to reset my clock. By the next symposium, 5:00 a.m. will be nothing!

Lake Erie...

I made it to Lakeside and have settled in, and I've already met four new birding friends! Right now everyone is out on the sunset birding cruise, but I sometimes get seasick, so I opted out. Instead, I'm sitting in the lobby of Hotel Lakeside putting together a video of Lake Erie--oh boy!

Lake Erie is definitely Great...it makes me think more of an ocean than a lake...

Lake Erie - Lakeside, OH from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

It really is a special environment here at the Midwest Birding Symposium. There are so many people around who all LOVE birds. Have you ever been talking to a non-birding friend about an amazing bird, only to notice his or her eyes are slowly starting to glaze over.........that never happens here! Everyone is always excited about the birds!

Midwest Birding Symposium...hope to see you in Lakeside, Ohio!

Later this month, I'm heading up to Lakeside, Ohio (half way between Toledo and Cleveland) for the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium! I went to the event two years ago and had a wonderful time. It was the first time I had ever been surrounded by hundreds of people who love birds! It was a totally unique experience. If you love birds, and you're close by, sign up...and look for me!

p.s. If you go to Lakeside, you'll see lots and lots of this gorgeous bird...

Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia) - Watercolor and Graphite Pencil Field Sketch.

I sketched this fellow out quickly near Marblehead Lighthouse at the last Midwest Birding Symposium (9-17-09). It was a gorgeous day and one Caspian Tern after another was flying by.

The Pavilion and Pier at Lakeside, Ohio, on Lake Erie

Lakeside was founded in 1873. The streets are lined with historic Victorian-style homes and buildings. The town is perched on Lake Erie and fabulous birding spots are all over, including Magee Marsh and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory!

...the boardwalk at Magee Marsh at sunset.

...a Green Heron hunting at sunset. He was just off the Magee Marsh boardwalk and the light was fading fast! Click here for more photos of this fellow.

Something new this year, you will find a booth at the back of Hoover Auditorium for the Carbon Offset Bird Project (COBP). COBP is an experimental program put together by birders to help offset all the fossil fuel we burn riding here and there searching out birds. The project is being launched this September at the Midwest Birding Symposium. I might be volunteering at the booth for an hour, so look me up! Click here for more information. The funds generated from this project will be used to purchase additional wetlands for Meadowbrook Marsh (click here for more info on Meadowbrook Marsh). You can also go to Cheryl Harner's blog, Weedpicker's Journal, for more information.

You can print and fill out the following form to help with the Meadowbrook Marsh Carbon Offset Bird Project:

Hope to see you in Lakeside, OH

at the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium!

Caspian Terns on the shores of Lake Erie

Birding at the Midwest Birding Symposium in Lakeside, Ohio.
One of the water birds I most enjoyed watching along the shores of Lake Erie was the Caspian Tern. I loved how they would skim over the water with their bills pointed down…always busy, always looking around, never content to just soar with their bills pointed forward looking out at the horizon. Often they would fly directly over me, and it would look like they were watching me, but I knew they weren’t. They were looking for fish, and when they found one, whoa…that soaring plunge headfirst into the water was always fascinating. The Caspian Terns were hard to photograph. They were always moving fast and flying high, so I painted one today for a closer look.

Watercolor of a Caspian Tern, Lake Erie

Caspian Tern from the Lakeside Pier

It doesn’t matter how high he flies,

that carrot bill stands out!

The Lakeside Pier is a great place to just sit and watch

the birds fly by. I saw my first Caspian Tern here.

For more birds from around the world, head over to

Have you heard? The federally endangered KIRTLAND'S WARBLER is at the Midwest Birding Symposium at East Harbor State Park!

"Run, don't walk, I tell you, to East Harbor State Park for

a glimpse of the federally endangered Kirtland's Warbler!"

"Was "Peanut" there? Did she get to see him?"

"She was there!!!! And almost got to see him.....

....three times!! But...she and three others were about

one inch too far behind a tree one time....on the wrong

side the other time...on the wrong side again...."

"But she'll see him today...same time, same place...we hope!"

More to come on this little fellow....and all the wonderful birders and bloggers I met while we searched for this incredible bird (I have photos of everyone)! I'm having such a neat, keen, super cool and groovy time up here. To be in the midst of so many birdy people is incredible!

P.S. A thanks goes out to the lovely Ring-billed Gulls on the Lakeside pier who shouted the news (Roy....thanks for helping me with the ID).

Lakeside, Ohio and the Midwest Birding Symposium...I made it!

This sign greets you as you walk out on the boardwalk of Lakeside, Ohio, a beautiful little town established in 1873 on the shores of Lake Erie. About half way between Toledo and Cleveland, the town is filled with historic places to stay. I wanted to stay at Hotel Lakeside, which in addition to being a National Historic Landmark built in 1875, is brimming with birders, but the joint was booked. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure I could make it to the symposium until last week, so when I called for a reservation, I found slim pickings. Luckily, an efficiency apartment in an equally old three-story house (with very impressive woodwork) became available...and I can see Hotel Lakeside from the back deck! I'm within walking distance to Hoover Auditorium and a block from Lake Erie, so it's all good.

Lake Erie at Marblehead Lighthouse...if I didn't

know better, I would think I was at the ocean.

...just beyond the Marblehead Lighthouse, the waves

were huge! Lake Erie is our shallowest Great Lake,

and can get rather choppy from what I hear...

I can't wait to meet lots of birders tomorrow and listen to all the wonderful speakers. It's so exciting! My mom and dad drove up behind me today and are staying with me tonight before moving on tomorrow. Rick and Matty...poor souls...will be spending a perfectly gorgeous day in Cincinnati in an ice rink where Matty will be playing hockey, so I'll be a solo birder. Although with all the birders around here, I'm sure I'll find someone to bird with. This evening I already met up with Heather, from Heather of the Hills, and her husband (remember my trip to Hocking Hills this summer where I visited with Heather?). I also briefly met Donald, from Donald the Birder, another Cincinnati birder!

Oh...Oh...a Lake Erie gull! Beautiful...

and flying right over my head!

Oh...Oh...a Lake Erie Cormorant! I saw lots of

these guys, and I love them. At one point a flock of

about 15 flew past...very fast...and very blurry.

Hopefully I'll find some nice birds to photograph tomorrow...or at least some nice birders talking about them!