It's a crossbill winter!

Once a month, I'm a contributor on the "Birding is Fun!" blog. This was my November 25, 2012 post...
Here in Cincinnati (as in other midwestern cities) we're excited because crossbills have moved down from the north for a winter visit. Both Red and White-winged Crossbills are being reported daily at local cemeteries, so since Matty was off school the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we headed up to Miami Cemetery near Caesar Creek State Park in Waynesville, OH to see what we could see...

A White-winged Crossbill was waiting for us when we got out of the car! 

We didn't even have to look for the birds. As soon as we stepped out of the Jeep, three White-winged Crossbills flew in the huge Eastern Hemlock tree right next to us. Their chittery flight chatter gave them away, and we quickly focused in on them with binocs. This was a life bird for Matty, so he studied them carefully. "Wow! You really can see their crossed bills!" was the first thing out of his mouth. "I know...amazing" followed out of mine. We watched them in silence as they moved from cone to cone, separating the bracts and extracting the seeds with their tongues. "Wow..."

A White-winged Crossbill holds an eastern hemlock cone in its bill...

While we watched them, we tried to figure out how they were cracking open the cones to get to the seeds. We could see them working the bracts apart, but had no idea how they were using their crossed bills to do it. Later that night, I got a few of my bird books down to see if I could find out. The answer was easy to find and was in the first book I opened. Bernd Heinrich, in his book Winter World, offered an explanation. He wrote that a crossbill's upper bill is two centimeters long and crosses over a one-half centimeter shorter lower bill. To open a cone bract, the bird inserts a partially open bill into a bract, then closes its bill. When closed, the bill tips separate the bract laterally by about 3 millimeters, just enough for the bird to open its bill slightly and use its barbed tongue to dip in and grab the seed (Heinrich, Winter World, page 37).

White-winged Crossbill high in an Eastern Hemlock Tree. You can just make out his crossed bill in this photo. 

Eventually, Matty went off looking at tombstones and did a few rubbings to try to figure out dates and names on the oldest and most weathered stones,  and I did a quick sketchbook entry to record our day. We had been to Caesar Creek earlier for a picnic lunch and had seen lots of birds, but the White-winged Crossbills stole the show. In 2009, White-winged Crossbills showed up for a while in Cincinnati, and it was exciting too, but this year, the irruption is much bigger. I can't wait to see what else winter brings!

...sketchbook entry completed in the field. It was very warm that day...65 degrees F. 

To round out the post, I did a quick watercolor of one of the White-winged Crossbills we saw that day. I can't wait to get back out to see if more of these interesting birds are around. If you haven't done so already, you might want to pop over to the ABA Blog to read Nate Swick's post, "Help Monitor the Red Crossbill Invasion" (click here). You also might like Jim McCormac's post (click here) for a photo of a White-winged Crossbill's long tongue as it nabs a seed.

White-winged Crossbill in the Hemlock Tree
(watercolor sketch)

This part wasn't in my original "Birding is Fun!" post, but after reading Matty's field journal entry from that day, I thought I'd include it here...

Nov 21, 2012, Miami Cemetery (near Caesar Creek)
I had been thinking as I walked through the cemetery that everybody buried here had a story, but for most, the stories had been lost to time. I knew none of them, but I wanted to, so I set out to identify one of the most weathered and dilapidated gravestones I could find--the gravestone of someone who had been forgotten. I took a rubbing, and slowly a name started to show through, "Wife of Prof. J. W. Stewart." The gravestone next to the little weathered and unreadable gravestone was large and not nearly as weathered, "Prof. J. W. Stewart" stood out clearly. At least I knew a little bit more about the forgotten grave, but not a lot. I wondered what Prof. Stewart taught, so I did a quick search on my phone to see if there were any records out there, and amazingly a reprint of a newspaper article from July 25, 1907 from The Western Star of Lebanon, OH popped up. In the article, I was able to find out Prof. John W. Stewart was the first African American mayor of Harveysburg, and his wife was Virginia Singleton of Harveysburg! So the little weathered and forgotten gravestone belonged to Virginia. 

There are always connections, there is always significance to be found in the insignificant.                                   Matthew Riccetti.   

Click here for a link to the reprint of the newspaper article from The Western Star of Lebanon, OH from July 25, 1907 about Professor John W. Stewart, the first African American mayor of Harveysburg, OH.

Angel statue at Miami Cemetery in Waynesville, Ohio.

Canoeing Greenbo Lake State Park in Kentucky...with two little stinkpots...

Last weekend, Rick, Matty and I, my parents, and my brother, sister-in-law and niece headed southeast for an autumn adventure at Greenbo Lake State Park in Kentucky. Every year we take a fall trip together to relax, hike and create memories. I think we've been to just about every state park with a lodge in Kentucky now. Next year the kids go off to college (sniff), but we made a pact to keep our autumn adventures going. Wherever the kids end up, we are going to take one weekend every fall and go somewhere together. This year was another perfect trip. The weather was wonderful, the hiking fun, and lots of memories were added to the memory vault...

The kids canoeing on Greenbo Lake in Kentucky. The temps were crisp and the leaves were already showing gorgeous autumn color. Being in the woods with my family is my favorite thing! (Sprinkle in a few birds, and it's icing on the cake. A female Belted Kingfisher flew right in front of us and across the lake just minutes after I took this photo.)

(Rick's the perfect canoeing partner. He always picks up the slack when I pick up the camera instead of the paddle!) Hi Rick!

Greenbo Lake is amazingly clear! You can see fish at deep depths, and you can see all the way to the bottom at least 15-20 feet from the edge. Rick and I spent a lot of time just paddling around the edges looking at fish and seeing what was on the bottom. We even saw two Stinkpot turtles (Sternotherus Odoratus) swimming and walking around...

This little Stinkpot Turtle looks like she's in shallow water, but she's in water at least 8 feet deep. This photo shows just how clear Greenbo Lake is. I'm assuming this is a female stinkpot because of the short tail; males have longer tails. She was about 5-6 inches long and was covered in algae. 

Stinkpot Turtles are new for me. I'd never seen one in the wild. Stinkpots don't do a lot of basking in the sun on logs, so you usually only see them when they are moving around in the water, and water usually isn't this clear, so we were lucky to see them. The stinkpot's head is very large and triangular-shaped with an upward pointed snout that sort of resembles a snapping turtle, but it's clearly not a snapper because two noticeable yellow stripes run from the snout to the neck. The carapace is different too because it's smooth instead of spiky like a snapping turtle's. The yellow stripes on the head reminded me a bit of map turtles also, but the carapaces were too different. I was puzzled, so I sent the photos to turtle expert, Paul Krusling, who knew immediately what they were...stinkpots!   

Stinkpot turtles aren't fast swimmers. Their short little legs produce a swimming stride that could almost be described as "lumbering," but they do move along, and I was soon pleading, "don't swim away so fast, turtle. I can't ID you yet!!"

When we got home, I pulled out "Amphibians and Reptiles of Indiana," by Sherman Minton, and started reading about stinkpots, also called Common Musk turtles. Soon all the field marks started making sense. These turtles really are distinctive once you study them. A few more descriptive field marks made the ID obvious...an elongated carapace that is smooth and domed, webbing on the feet that goes all the way to the toenails, and weak swimming. They like slow-moving water with muddy bottoms, which definitely fits Greenbo. I also read Stinkpot turtles are nocturnal, so we were doubly lucky to spot them moving around on the lake's bottom in the afternoon! As the name implies, Stinkpots (or Common Musk) turtles get their nickname from their ability to secrete a stinky smelling defensive oil through their carapace when they are under duress.

Tall pines border a good part of the lake, and when you canoe close to the shore, that fragrant pine scent sweeps over you and causes you to linger. 

My parents, Joni and Jerry, taking a leisurely pontoon boat ride with Bill and Gail. 

Canoeing on Greenbo Lake in Kentucky from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

A very short iPhone video of our autumn afternoon out on Greenbo Lake.

Canoe race on Greenbo Lake in Kentucky from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

...another short iPhone video of canoeing on Greenbo Lake in Kentucky...this time, a short race.

If you live in Cincinnati or Mason, Greenbo Lake State Park is only about 2 hours and 45 minutes away and is a very easy drive. We enjoyed hiking on the deserted trails and basically had the lake to ourselves. We had a lot of fun, and the food in the lodge was good too (especially the cherry pie!).

The eagle's nest at Spring Valley Wildlife Area...

Sunday Matty and I drove up to the Spring Valley Wildlife Area, a beautiful wetland just past Waynesville, OH (about 35 minutes from our house). We wanted to hike out through the corn fields and windbreaks that border the wetland to check out what we hope is an eagle's nest. Before we set out on that hike, though, we took some time to study the marsh and look for birds on the lake. I went to the east and photographed some asters, and when I came back to the car, I found Matty writing in his journal...

Matty writing down a few of his observations in his field journal (south parking lot, Spring Valley Wildlife Area).

...nothing is sacred when you have a mom with a camera.

Journal entry from August 8, 2012 (by Matty Riccetti)
Spring Valley Wildlife Area 

"It is an interesting day at Spring Valley marsh. The trees are beginning to blush red and orange in the cool air of the approaching winter, and the birds are finding nests (roosts/places) among the leaves to barricade themselves from the autumn frosts; however, the marsh looks the same. The lily pads still polka dot the surface, and frogs still hop in the water as I draw closer. The marsh refuses to alter its appearance for the coming season; the landscape thus is both picturesque and confusing. Although the marsh still clings to its summer ways, it is still indescribably beautiful the way it picks up the autumn hues from the trees. Seasons change, but the beauty and depth of the marsh does not."

...birders from all over our area head to Spring Valley to see marsh species and wonderful displays of ducks. It's one of the best marshes in southwest Ohio. This summer I saw Marsh Wrens around the boardwalk, and I've seen Sora and Virginia Rails there many times. 

...another reason I love Spring Valley--it's on the Little Miami bike trail! After viewing the lake and marsh, we walked to the bike trail. The eagle's nest is located about a mile south of the south parking lot. Hop on the trail at the parking lot and go left. When you see the cornfields, follow the windbreaks down to the river. The nest is visible from the trail in a huge sycamore. It's on the other side of the river. We saw it from the trail this summer, and now that the leaves have fallen a bit, it stands out even more. 

An eagle's nest on the Little Miami river at Spring Valley! 

Earlier this summer, we saw this nest from a distance. It was much bigger than any Red-tailed Hawk's nest we had ever seen, and it was located where a park attendant said an eagle couple had nested this spring, so I'm 90% sure it's an eagle's nest. I can't wait to check it out this coming February or March to confirm. The nest looked big from a distance, but up close, it was huge! It's actually located on the other side of the Little Miami river from the trail, so you're still not that close, which is good, because the eagles can remain undisturbed. It looked a lot like the eagle's nest I saw up close in Florida (click here and here for those photos.)

Matty sketching out the eagle's nest (or at least what we think is an eagle's nest) across the river...

After viewing the eagle's nest, Matty and I headed back up the trail to the old beaver's pond. We were looking for the Red-headed Woodpeckers that liver there. Red-headed Woodpeckers are rare in our neck of the woods, but there is a population at Spring Valley, and we were hoping one or two would be about. We saw male and female Downy Woodpeckers, a few Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and we heard a Pileated, but no Red-headed Woodpeckers. It was getting late and the temp was dropping quickly, so we took the cut-off back to the lake, and when we emerged from the woods we heard something....and to our left, a Red-headed Woodpecker flew up from the ground and over the trees. His tell-tale white back feathers were flashing in the low light. Pretty cool...

A female Downy Woodpecker peaks from a hole in a dead tree at the beaver pond. She was in and out of the hole several times. We were hoping for close-ups of a Red-headed Woodpecker, but this little Downy was so sweet, we were just as happy. A male Downy was two dead trees down. He was fluffed up against the chill...and just as sweet.

Painting birds and other wildlife on rocks and slate...

Matty and I are home from our Shawnee adventures. We had so much fun and can't believe the time is already over. We did a lot of work this year including handling the snakes at the nature center and helping kids and adults get over their fears of them like we did last year, but we added a few new things in too! Jenny knows I love to paint birds, and she knows Matty is an artist too, so she wondered if we could put on a painting workshop to teach kids and adults how to paint wildlife on rocks and slate tiles. "Of course we can do it," I said (even though I'd never done anything like that before and had no idea what to do), but after doing a little research and putting together templates from my bird paintings, Matty and I came up with a workshop we thought would be fun. I'm so glad we did it because everyone had a fantastic time and created beautiful and wonderful artwork! When I asked Matty what he wanted to say about the workshop, he said without thinking, "It was like we were all a big family." I guess a mutual love of the earth and all its wild creatures creates a quick connection among nature people, because it really was like we were one big family of artists painting nature!

...young nature artists use acrylic paints to create beautiful nature art on rocks.

Matty helps by answering questions, getting paints, changing water...and just laughing with the kids.

...wherever you looked, birds, snakes, salamanders, turtles, and frogs were coming to life under the skilled hands of young nature artists! (If you look closely, you can see the gentleman on the right has created a beautiful Northern Cardinal. Unfortunately because of the angle of the rock, we can't see the colorful Common Yellowthroat the gentleman on the left created...)

...everybody joined in to create beautiful art in nature!

...some artists preferred free-form expressionism...

...while others went for realism.

(I see a happy little Chiggy coming to life here!)

...it was thrilling to watch everyone focus and really get into their art. The variety of styles and subjects was amazing...

...big kids joined in too!

(You should have seen the stones after these two lovely ladies were finished. They were gorgeous!)

...even Jenny's mom attended and created a beautiful Hooded Warbler!

...towards the end of the workshop, Matty sat down and painted a stone too. He created a beautiful frog.

If you're in the area, be sure to check out Jenny's calendar of events. She always has something scheduled at the nature center, and if you live in Cincinnati, Shawnee is only two hours away. The lodge is lovely, and escaping into the forest feels like you've gone worlds away. If your child is at all interested in herpetology, you need to visit Jenny at the nature center. She is the most hands-on naturalist I've ever met. She has an unsurpassed talent for awakening a love of nature in children. You will be amazed at how much your child will learn from just a few minutes with Jenny...

p.s. Matty and I will be volunteering for a week next year at Shawnee too, and we're going to put on the free workshop again. Maybe we will see you there. I'll be sure to post the date next summer.

...also...painting on rocks is really fun! We used really smooth rocks, and I loved the way the creamy acrylics would glide over the surface. I painted a Hooded Warbler on one side of the rock and then flipped it to paint a Northern Cardinal on the other side. I'll write more on that later...

The ghostly, silvery-white moonbow at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky…

Every autumn Rick, Matty and I, and my brother, sister-in-law and niece take a weekend trip together. This year, we decided to visit Cumberland Falls, KY to try to catch a glimpse of the elusive, misty, magical moonbow—and we could not have picked a better time! We arrived at the lodge Friday evening to a packed house. Not a spot remained in the parking lot, and we had to search out a place in the auxiliary parking lot up the hill by the cabins. People were everywhere and a heightened sense of anticipation filled the air. Lunar lovers had come in record numbers to witness Mother Nature’s spectacle because conditions were predicted to be just right for a moonbow (also called a lunar rainbow)…and to add to the nighttime excitement, Halloween was just a week away!

The moonbow at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky!

When you see the moonbow with the naked eye, it appears ghostly, almost like a silvery-white apparition, but when you capture it with the camera, all the colors of the optical spectrum appear rich and deep. To shoot a moonbow, you need to open up the shutter and use a tripod. Rick shot this photograph using an aperture of f/5, a shutter speed of 25 seconds, and an ISO of 800. If you use a flash, nothing appears because the light washes the silvery-white arc away. It was pitch dark when we took this photo at 9:38 p.m., but with the delayed shutter speed, the moonlight is enough to bring everything to life. I love the deep blue of the sky and the tiny stars winking through!

Moonbows are not common and don’t happen every evening or even every month. Things have to be “just right.” The most important requirement is a full moon—or a nearly full moon. Two days before or after work very well, which was good for us because Friday night was the night before the full moon. Next in line is a perfectly clear sky—no clouds, no haze, and even no airplane vapor trails! Complete darkness must follow. City lights kill the ghostly apparition and are the reason the lovely moonbow reported in years past at Niagara Falls was extinguished. Without water, the shy silvery arc can’t be coaxed out to play either, so a slight breeze is needed to stir the mist churned up by the falls and keep it hovering in front of you. With the water vapor suspended before you, the final requirement is that the moon hangs low in the sky behind you. It's a wonder you ever get to see a moonbow at all!

When everything comes together, a full moonbow stretches from the falls to hundreds of feet down the river. The moonbow appeared around 9:00 and was still shining bright around 11:00 when we left. There were at least 300 people there when we arrived, but the crowds thinned out a bit as the evening progressed. To get these photos, we walked down to the lower level, which was an adventure in itself considering it was pitch dark and we didn't have flashlights (the second night we did). It was so fun sliding our hands across the rocks and along the rails to help us get down the huge steps to the lower level. We made a few friends along the way because everyone is so happy and excited. You can't go wrong when you're out dancing in the moonlight!

Just a quick FYI... When they say conditions have to be "just right," they mean it! The next night was the full moon, so it should have been even better, but it wasn't. The moonbow was meager at best...a wispy tiny little arc trying its hardest to flicker into a blaze, but it just couldn't. The problem was a hazy cloud cover, then the clouds went away, but an airplane's vapor trail moved into place...and on top of that, the breeze was still and no mist filled the air in front of us. Friday night it was almost like a constant fine rain, but the air was dry Saturday night. Now and then, the silvery arc would appear in bits near the base of the falls, but it never reached the amazing intensity of the night before. I'm so happy we were there Friday night!! Really, everything does need to be in perfect alignment...

"When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars"
…this is the dawning of the moonbow in the Cumberlands…sort of ;-)

When we woke Saturday morn the sun was streaming across the sky, and the temps were autumn cool--everything was "just right" for hiking, so we set off for Eagle Falls on Trail 9.

...finally a family portrait! I always forget to get in the picture. You can't really tell, but Cumberland Falls (often called "the Niagara of the south") is in the background.

...the Eagle Falls trail is fun and has lots of surprises along the way. Here the group marches on while I lag behind to photograph something -- a flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets was foraging in the hemlock trees along the gorge. There were so many of them, and their sweet little voices were singing out all over the forest. On our way back, Rick and I paused to watch and listen, but they never did come within camera range.

...you can never go wrong with sculptural rocks...

Matty and I behind Eagle Falls. What a blast climbing on all the rocks to get there. Thank goodness I lift weights and do yoga. I don't think I would have been able to get back there if I didn't! Eagle Falls is such a pretty fall, and it seems to appear out of nowhere.

...if there is a hole that can be climbed into, Matty will find it.

...the beautiful Cumberland River from the balcony at the lodge. It was very hard to leave and come home on Sunday. We had such a fab time...I did not want to come home!

p.s. There aren't a lot of waterfalls where you can find a regularly occurring moonbow. Victoria Falls near Zimbabwe is known for its moonbow, and I read during snowmelt, a moonbow can appear at Yosemite Falls every now and then too.

Who can resist an Oreo? (or...oh no, another snake post...)

Volunteering at Shawnee State Park in Southeastern Ohio

...continued from Piglet, the Hog-nosed Snake post.

...I know, I know...another snake, but look at him! He's Oreo, a California Kingsnake, and he's beautiful. I think Oreo was requested more than any other snake at the nature center. All the kids loved him and wanted to hold him (and the parents too, even moms...). With California in his name, it's obvious Oreo is not native to Ohio, but you can find Black Kingsnakes in Ohio. If you go back to the first Shawnee post I did, you'll find photos of Mr. King, a native Black Kingsnake. Although super friendly and gentle with humans, we had to keep the kingsnakes away from the other snakes because kingsnakes love to eat other snakes, and no snake seemed to be too big for dinner. I'll have to check with Jenny, but I think she said poor Pumpkin (the Corn Snake) had his whole head swallowed by Mr. King. Thank goodness someone was there to pull Pumpkin's head out! Kingsnakes will even eat venomous snakes. Apparently, Kingsnakes are immune to venom from Ohio's three native poisonous snakes (Timber Rattler, Northern Copperhead, and Eastern Massasauga).

It's easy to see how Oreo got his name...

...although he could have been named after a cookie simply because he's so sweet!

...the kingsnake's scales are beautiful. I learned in an art history course I took eons ago that early artists mimicked snake scales and patterns in their art and the designs may have lead to the development of mosaics. I can certainly see the connection here!

Matty shows a small child how to hold a snake using open hands.

Matty learned an open-handed technique was a great way to get hesitant kids accustomed to the larger snakes. The kids were less fearful with open hands and soon grew to love the snakes. If you have children who love snakes (or are afraid of them), go to Shawnee and visit with Jenny at the nature center. Kids really respond to her. I saw so many timid children overcome their fears and learn to appreciate another part of nature after visiting with Jenny and all the critters at the nature center.

...Oreo hangs down from Matty's neck as he talks to one of the visitors.

...Oreo rests around Matty's neck, peeping out from behind.

...see you later, Oreo! We miss you...

Piglet, the Western Hog-nosed Snake

Volunteering at Shawnee State Park in Southeastern Ohio

...continued from Pumpkin, the Corn Snake, post.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I had never heard of an Eastern or Western Hog-nosed Snake before I came nose to snout with one at Jenny's Nature Center, and if I'm telling the truth, I should also mention that when I first picked little Piglet up, I was a tiny bit...unnerved. That little up-turned snout looked dangerous to me, but within seconds of holding him, I was hooked. He was so gentle and cute...and sweet! After all, how could anything named "Piglet" be scary?

How can I have lived almost 50 years in Ohio and never have heard of or seen this beautiful snake? I knew so little about our native snakes before volunteering at Shawnee State Park. The knowledge I gained was invaluable. Thanks, Jenny!!

Piglet was playing in the rain with Matty when I took these shots. His little Piglet snout looked especially cute sprinkled with raindrops, but it has a function too. He uses it to dig in sandy soils, sweeping his head back and forth.

...beautiful markings, but the pattern scared some of the parents who thought he might be an Eastern Massasauga (poisonous). A lot of people had never heard of a hognose, but soon overcame their fear when they saw how docile and harmless Piglet was.

...the longer you look at this guy the cuter he becomes. It's amazing what a week with these critters can do for you.

Piglet rests in Matty's hand.

...all the kids who came into the Nature Center ended up falling for Piglet! Here a little boy gently holds Piglet who gives us a nice profile shot!

Hog-nosed Snakes actually have fangs (or large teeth) in the rear of their mouths, and their saliva is slightly toxic to their prey but harmless to humans. Piglet was so friendly, we didn't get to see the act a hognose puts on when he feels threatened. A hognose will rear up, flatten its head, inflate its body and hiss...and if that doesn't scare his enemy away, he might just flop over and play dead like an opossum. Either way, it would be quite a sight to see...

...for a post on a native Eastern Hognose Snake and his "playing dead" antics, click here.