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Red-necked Grebe update
Photo: Phil Fry.This bird was on Kaiser Lake in Champaign County today, and was yet another county record in the ongoing invasion.Red-necked Grebes are normally a rare sight in Ohio, or anywhere else...
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Neotropic Cormorant: One to watch for
Photo:Hans Hillewaert/Wiki CommonsThe Neotropic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasiliensis, is one to watch for in Ohio. I believe we could be considered well overdue for an appearance by this diminutive...
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Darters and avian rarities
I saw a lot of our great state of Ohio this weekend (as etched out by the red line). On Saturday, I visited one of my favorite places, the vast Edge of Appalachia Preserve in Adams County. I was...
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Scissor-tailed Flycatcher!
Golf courses are not normal hangouts for me, and they're seldom birding destinations. That wasn't the case yesterday. After a busy morning capturing and photographing fish with some ace ichthyologists...
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Earth Day program!
The spectacular vista from Buzzard's Roost Rock in the Edge of Appalachia Preserve, Adams County, Ohio.Next Tuesday, April 22nd, is Earth Day. This annual celebration to promote our environment and its...
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A fine kettle of fish!
Little Darby Creek, in southwestern Franklin County, Ohio. The Little Darby, and its sibling stream the Big Darby, are among the most aquatically diverse streams in the Midwest. The riffle pictured...
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Magee Marsh's legendary boardwalk
This mile long elevated wooden boardwalk is one of the most famous trails in North America. Winding through a 30-acre patch of swamp forest and wetland at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, it is a destination...
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A fine kettle of fish, Pt. II
This rainbow darter, Etheostoma caeruleum, is aptly named and would look right at home in a tropical fish tank.Not long ago, I wrote an account of a recent excursion to Little Darby Creek, which can be...
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Barred owlets
Last Monday, I got an email from my editor at the Columbus Dispatch, Cindy Decker, telling me of some special residents of her neighborhood. As she lives along a well-wooded ravine only fifteen minutes...
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The "Fly-whal"
;Photo: John HowardPerhaps you've seen what appear to be tiny, excessively fuzzy hummingbirds tapping flower nectar this spring. These hummer wannabes hover in front of dandelions, spring-beautys and...
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New River Birding and Nature Festival
Our crew scours a reverting clearcut high on a West Virginia mountainside this morning. Beautiful looks at Chestnut-sided and Hooded warblers at this very spot. Scores of other birds on this trip,...
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Bear scat
Our group poses by the famous Honeycomb Rocks, high in the Monongahela National Forest, last Thursday. Bill Thompson, Rachel Davis, Mark Garland and myself led a trip to Cranberry Glades and vicinity...
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A cricket new to Ohio
The weekend before last saw the Ohio Ornithological Society descend upon Shawnee State Forest for their 10th annual conference. A portion of the 150 attendees poses on the steps of the Shawnee Lodge,...
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Rock Wren, in Ohio!
Time & Optics, Ohio's most legendary vendor of optics. Many of us know the proprietor, Robert Hershberger, and I'll bet that more than a few people reading this have made the visit to Holmes County...
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Magee Marsh Bird Trail
Your narrator (L) poses with friends Steve and Marian Moeckel, Marian's sister Barbara, and Jim Berry under the new archway at the entrance to the world famous Magee Marsh Wildlife Area"Bird Trail".We...
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Moth that mimics a spider!
As is nearly always the case, I have a bounty of blog material; more than I can ever get to. But I must interrupt the irregularly scheduled programming to bring you something that is indescribably...
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Colorful camouflage: Rosy Maple Moth
A Rosy Maple Moth, Dryocampa rubicunda, glares menacingly at the camera. Well, it's looking as menacing as one can look when clad in hues of pink and yellow. These small silkworm moths are among the...
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Butterfly workshop - July 12!
A patch of butterfly-weed attracts a lepidopteran blizzard of Eastern Swallowtails, Great Spangled Fritillaries, and Spicebush Swallowtails. Mid-summer is a great time to find lots of butterflies, of...
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Bittern and Porcupine
A Porcupine warily eyes your blogger. I'm up in beautiful Presque Isle County, Michigan, and these prickly beasts are quite common here. I encountered the animal in the photo on my first night, as it...
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Some scenes from northern Michigan
A beaver-assisted wetland in Presque Isle County, Michigan. Such wetlands are full of biodiversity, and quite common in this region.I've been in northern Michigan for nearly ten days, most of it spent...
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