Back in November we did another good winter hike in an area that was completely new to us. This was the 1300-acre Earl H. Barnhart Buzzards Roost Nature Preserve in Ross County near Chillicothe. This hike was particularly interesting to me since I went to high school in Chillicothe and had no idea that this natural area was so close. That, of course, was a very long time ago and it was private property then but I've remained unfamiliar with it until just a few weeks ago.
The Paint Creek Gorge is at the heart of this preserve, and the surrounding cliffs are quite dramatic:
Here is a view of Paint Creek in the valley below:
We hiked two trails at the preserve, starting with the South Point Lookout trail. It took us by an abandoned cabin; I loved playing in an old cabin in the woods behind our house when I was a child in Pennsylvania so I always take note of structures like this:
The area is known for its spring wildflowers, which of course were long gone by the time we visited. We saw hints of what is to come, though, including leaves of the cranefly orchid
and the puttyroot orchid.
Here is a spot where a buck scraped the ground to indicate its territory:
After lunch we went back to the preserve and did its other hike, the Hoggard Trail. We were fortunate to be accompanied by Joe Letsche, who is the naturalist at Buzzard's Roost. He is also a herpetologist and quite knowledgeable about animal tracks so it was great fun to hear what he had to say. We hiked back to a small pool that in the past has hosted marbled salamanders, one of the most attractive of Ohio's amphibians.
Readers might remember a post about several of Ohio's salamanders in early April. Those animals tend to do their courtship, mating and egg laying in the very early spring, in what are called vernal pools. These pools dry in the summer and fit the salamanders' needs because they don't support fish that would prey on their young.
Black with intricate white markings, the marbled salamander is an exception to that pattern. These animals breed in the fall, generally not in, but near vernal pools. The eggs are laid in a spot that will soon be inundated and the larvae overwinter in the pond and become adults in the spring. Meanwhile, after breeding the adults find shelter for the winter, generally in an old mouse burrow or other protected place.
So on our hike, we arrived at the woodland pool
and Joe used a net to explore the leaf litter in the pool to see if he could find any salamander larvae. It didn't take long! Clearly this was a very active marbled salamander breeding location. Here is one of the larvae, which was about an inch long:
This salamander is uncommon and its populations are widely scattered throughout the state. Most people, even those who spend a lot of time outdoors, have never seen it so it was great fun to get to see even its larval form.
Joe spent some time looking for any adults that might still be hanging around the pool, but didn't find any.
For more information about Buzzard's Roost and photos of it during the summer, check out the TrekOhio post here.
Bill and I just got back from a great road trip to Florida, where it was 86 degrees each day and we saw some beautiful butterflies and plants that were new to us (more about that in a future post!). Now it is back to reality here in Ohio, where December has been unusually cold and snowy. I am not a huge fan of winter weather but I do enjoy hiking when the leaves are off the trees and various topographic features are visible.
Today was the warmest day in quite a while here and we ventured out to Slate Run Metro Park, a 1700 acre property near Canal Winchester. It turns out that it really should be called Shale Run, because there is no slate, a metamorphic rock, within the park or nearby. We hiked about 7 or 8 miles and despite some icy patches it was a fun day.
Here is a view of Slate Run:
Upon closer inspection we could see delicate layers of ice on the surface of the water:
Looking even closer, the ice formations were really beautiful:
Many animal tracks were quite obvious in the snow. These were made by a deer, and it was probably a buck since they are known to drag their feet when they walk:
A raccoon had sauntered across the path at one point:
A squirrel sat down in the middle of the trail:
Here a rabbit hopped across the path:
Approaching a deck that overlooks the park's wetlands, I was stunned to see an enormous Osage Orange tree at the side of the trail, the biggest one I've ever seen. A sign stated that it is over 90 years old, and that the state record tree is 250 years old and is located in Hamilton County. I'd really like to see that but in the meantime here is the Slate Run giant:
The park has a large wetland area visible from the overlook. Sandhill cranes can sometimes be seen in the wetland, as well as a wide variety of waterfowl and other birds. We didn't see much activity there today, since the wetlands were mostly frozen.
In addition to wetlands, the park has many habitats including woods, a small lake and grasslands. The photo below shows a field with poverty grass and woods in the background. Poverty grass gets its name from its ability to grow in impoverished soil.
The park also features a covered bridge that was built in 1885 and moved from its original location, reassembled and re-roofed here at Slate Run:
By the end of our hike, much of the snow had melted. All in all it was a delightful day and great exercise!
As I've mentioned previously, we were definitely not the only people looking at birds, butterflies and other wildlife in the Rio Grande Valley in early November. We ran into some of the same people over and over at different places and enjoyed helping each other with sightings and identification. One pair of travelers mentioned that they were interested in moths, and were staying at a small inn that had security lights that attracted lots of different species. That sounded interesting so for our last night in the valley we booked a room there, which turned out to be a lovely place that suited us perfectly.
After we arrived, we walked into the courtyard and were chatting with the owner when I saw and felt a large dark shape fly by and brush against my cheek. A nearby guest said "There's a bat!" but I knew what it was--the unmistakable Black Witch (Ascalapha odorata)!
This huge moth has a wingspan of nearly 7 inches and is native to the tropics but tends to migrate north starting in late spring. It occasionally reaches Ohio, and once we were in Ontario when there was a Black Witch sighting. There is all sorts of creepy folklore about this insect, but for us it was definitely a good omen and we had a delightful evening. We had a picnic dinner in the courtyard at dusk, and were treated to quite a show as a variety of moths were attracted to this gorgeous, extremely fragrant Rangoon Creeper Vine:
First came this Pink-spotted Hawkmoth (Agrius cingulata):
Check out the proboscis on this Five-spotted Hawkmoth (Manduca quinquemaculatus):
Here is another, much more delicate moth, the Four-spotted Palpita (Palpita quadristigmalis), that was attracted to the vine's flowers:
The next morning we got up early and went out into the parking lot to check out the moth action at the security light, and saw two Black Witches and many other moths. The owner said that they were actually rather sparse that day, but it didn't look sparse to us!
Here is a closer look:
And here are just a few of the individuals that were attracted to the light:
From left to right they are the Pink-spotted Hawkmoth, the Salt Marsh Moth (Estigmene acrea), and the Melonworm Moth (Diaphania hyalinata). (Thanks to Bugguide.com for the ID help!)
Soon we watched a beautiful sunrise
and then it was time to head toward Corpus Christi and then home, after a thoroughly satisfying vacation.
