Ranger Steve’s Nature Niche

Dancing on Earth and Sky

At dusk the dancing begins in earnest. The  age-old mystery of mate attraction occurs in field and overhead. Most people never notice. That suits the woodcock perfectly. Its intent is to woo a mate and not to draw undue attention from other species. In the 1980’s and 90’s I led woodcock workshops at Howard Christensen Nature Center (HCNC).

Annually groups come to Ody Brook Sanctuary to observe the spring foot stomping, instrumental wing twittering, and vocal display. Just before dark I’ve heard what sounded like a wood frog call in the field and momentarily from that location a woodcock began peenting. I have not found others that have noticed this frog-like call. The woodcock is making the sound. I have pointed it out to people but I still have not seen it described in scientific literature. New discoveries await avid nature niche explorers.

The bird’s peenting is most notable. A peent is a nasal buzz-like sound repeated several times while the bird is on the ground before it takes aerial flight where it then circles high in the sky. The bird at height becomes a dot and often disappears in white atmospheric moisture. Soon a clicking sound starts and one knows the bird is descending toward Earth. It is necessary to keep a broad scan on the landscape to see where the bird returns at low angle for another round of ground peenting and aerial flight.

The first week of May, a class of 20 master naturalists came to observe. We entered the dancing grounds at 9 p.m. and waited. After five minutes, the first woodcock flew low overhead and landed 100 feet from us. Peenting began and we watched several rounds of the dance. Twice a bird flew and landed within twenty feet of us. We all played statue. It was getting dark so only our silhouettes revealed our presence. The bird made several repeated quiet hick-up sounds (the frog-like sound mentioned above). I suspect it wondered what these new inanimate objects were at the edge of its dance floor. It departed to land elsewhere in the field.

Twice on return from high sky circling, it flew low on a landing approach and made a guttural gurgle before aborting landing. I think it saw us. Perhaps it left from fear or maybe just caution. After landing at greater distance, it peented before it taking flight again. As darkness increased, the woodcock was on the ground longer and peented more times before taking flight. On this night two woodcocks were active in the shrubby field opening.

Twice it landed close to us where we watched it take a few steps and peent. Sometimes it remained almost stationary stomping its short legs and turned in circles. When facing away from us, the peent sounded soft but when it faced our direction the sound magnified. The beak of a woodcock is nearly as long at the bird and gives it a strange appearance. It feeds in mud along streams, flood plains and swamps where it probes with its long beak for invertebrates. Its body is plump robin sized. They often nest on the ground in young aspen forests.

Visit the Howard Christensen Nature Center to view a century old bird display of two American Woodcocks. Frank Rackett mounted bird specimens between 1876 and 1936. Please become a member of HCNC to help support nature education programming and then participate in activities.

Natural history questions or topic suggestions can be directed to Ranger Steve (Mueller) at the odybrook@chartermi.net Ody Brook, 13010 Northland Dr, Cedar Springs, MI 49319-8433.

616-696-1753

Written for CS Post, Vol. 26 No. 19 – May 9, 2013.

Submitted May 5, 2013

YMCA HCNC Day Camps and Clinics 2013

Howard Christensen Nature Center Newsletter

Ranger Steve’s Nature Niche

Frog Season

The long winter wait is over. Up from the mud thousands of frogs are making an appearance. They broadcast for a few weeks and then seem to disappear. Those of us that cling to youth activities of getting wet and muddy will be able to enjoy slippery slimy amphibians until October.

Frogs live unique lives in places that intrigue many of us. Part of their life is spent ‘fishlike’. They breathe with gills and swim with tails. Then an awkward transition from youth to adulthood begins. Stubby legs grow and the tail withers. Lungs develop and gills disappear. The tadpole frogs eat algae bacteria and organic matter but change to a carnivore diet with age.

I have not searched my 34 journal volumes thoroughly for beginning dates for the annual spring chorus. My impression is the wood frogs begin singing before other frogs. As soon as ice begins to melt by the shore of vernal pools and temperature reaches about 40 F, the wood frogs start singing. Soon after western chorus frogs and spring peepers sing.

Looking at some of my data, I noted the wood, chorus, and spring peepers began singing on the same date. When it was different the wood frog sang first except for one year when the chorus frog sang first.

The wood frogs sound like a bunch of ducks quacking. Chorus frogs make a sound similar to that from a rubbing a thumb across the teeth of comb. Spring peepers simply repeat a single peep. Thousands of peepers are deafening. If you approach a small pond, singing frogs quiet. Sit and wait a few minutes and one will start. Others quickly follow. Soon your ears will physically hurt from the massive volume. Cup your hands behind your ears if you dare. The volume will be more than you can tolerate for long. Then cup your hands in reverse in front of your ears. It is amazing how much the sound is reduced.

Gray tree frogs make a trilling sound but not until temperatures are a bit warmer. The first three species are anxious to call mates when temperatures are about 40 F.

As spring progresses other frogs join the singing and wood frogs are the first to cease singing. Leopard and Pickerel frog populations seem to be declining rapidly. When temperatures are about 70 F, Green frogs join the songfest. American toads are about the last to start but continue well into summer. If lucky, you might hear the croak of a bullfrog. The green frog sounds like someone plucking a guitar or banjo string. The bullfrog sound resembles a bull or cow bellow. The American toad has a most distinctive trill call that seems to continue endlessly. It may only last 30 seconds but that is a long call.

Those mentioned are the most encountered frogs in our area. To help them survive, protect small wet pools that last only through spring to early summer. This is where most frogs reproduce. Fish are not present to eat the eggs and young in temporary pools that only last several weeks. Some larger frogs like green and bullfrogs require permanent water because the young take two years to grow up.

Many frogs head to the woods and gardens for the summer. American toads dig holes in my garden and under some rocks. At night they find it to be a great restaurant. Avoid insecticides in the garden because they kill amphibians and other desirable wildlife. Gray tree frogs tuck themselves into the vinyl siding corners during the day and come out to eat insects at night. We love their reverberating trill during the night.

Michigan DNR requests help documenting the occurrence and abundance of frogs. This is the 18th year of the annual statewide Frog and Toad Survey. Those interested in helping survey are asked to contact SargentL@michigan.gov or 517-373-9418, and to leave your name and address.

Natural history questions or topic suggestions can be directed to Ranger Steve (Mueller) at the odybrook@chartermi.net Ody Brook, 13010 Northland Dr, Cedar Springs, MI 49319-8433.

616-696-1753

Written for CS Post, Vol. 26 No. 16 – April 18, 2013.

Submitted April 8 2013

Howard Christensen Nature Center

(616) 675-3158

 cperski@lilyfrogpad.com

Wild Wednesdays ‘Rain or Shine‘

 Creepy-Crawly Insects  July 31, 2013 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

“Trees & Plants” August 15,2012 -  10:00 AM – 2:00  PM

Discover what it takes to make an organic garden.  What you can grow in Michigan and what is good eating in nature.  Children will find native plants that are edible and part of the animals buffet dinner daily/nightly.  Children will make their own garden pots and take home to watch their plants grow with instructions from one of our Naturalist.  Children will also learn to identify poisonous plants.

“Nature Art/Crafts” August 21, 2013 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Nature Art/Crafts: Calling all children artist and children nature lovers.  Nature has inspired many of famous artists – is your child next?  Spend the day creating art pieces and crafts finding great art in the outdoors.  Creating ‘works of art’ that reflect what each child has seen, with paint, leaves, and more! Age: Children 5– 15 years old Dress for the outdoors

$8 per child per day or $20.00 for all four classes prepaid. (Parents always welcomed and encouraged to come along free of charge). Please bring a snack and drink each day for child 

Grant Writing Intern Needed

HCNC is looking for a grant-writing college intern. We promise lots of hands-on experience.  If you or someone you know might be interested please contact Cindy Perski at cperski@lilysfrogpad.com or 616-675-3158.

Ranger Steve’s Nature Niche

Owls

Night is not just a time for sleep. If you are an unlucky insomniac like I sometimes am, get up and listen outdoors. One night I was about to go bed just after midnight when our dog began barking. No one was in the drive but I then I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting.

Usually I cannot hear owls from inside the house. This one was close. As quietly as I could, I opened the front window a couple inches to hear the repeated whoo whoo, whoo whoo. It was pleasantly loud and clear. Typically in January we start hearing the Great Horned Owls conversing just after midnight and again about 5:30 a.m.

The female often stands in the trees between the house and the road. Her voice is deeper than the males. He stands about a quarter mile west of the highway. I have not found their nest. My dog and I were on a walk at dusk when a Great Horned owl flew toward us. As soon it as it saw us, it diverged into the woods. I suspect it heard us and came to investigate what was for breakfast (evening is breakfast time for the owls). It had recently stirred from a day’s rest and was no doubt hungry.

The Great Horned Owl is the largest in our area. The next largest is the Barred Owl and it inhabits low wetland forests compared to the more upland forest of its larger relative. His call is “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you alllllll”. It has a southern droll at the end of second repeat phrase. Usually I hear it in the big woods on my neighbor’s property but have not found its tree cavity nest.

Crows occasionally find an owl during its daytime rest and gather to noisily mob the predator. When I hear a raucous murder of crows, I expect a mob has formed to harass a resting owl or hawk. As long as the owl is stationary, it is fine. When it flies, the mob pursues and tries to peck the bird’s back and head from above and behind.

This week Karen found blood on the snow with rabbit fur but no mammal footprints. An owl had swooped in and successful captured a meal. I thank the owl for helping save my young trees. The rabbits kill many of trees by chewing the bark during the winter. The trees are then unable to send spring sap upward and the trees die. Tree and fruit farmers appreciate the free labor from owls and hawks that help reduce agriculture losses.

A third resident species is the Eastern Screech Owl with two color phases. The most common in our area is the gray phase and the other is red phase. They can be siblings much like we can have red and brown haired children. We frequently observe this small 6 to 8 inch tall owl looking at us from a cavity nest box we installed. Its soft voice is a trilling sound. I can imitate it by putting the tip of my tongue against the front roof of my mouth and blowing out. As my tongue vibrates on and off the roof of my mouth, a trilling sound imitates the owl’s call well.

All three owls are common but secretive. They lay eggs during the winter with young ready to fly about the time mammal young abundantly leave their nests. The newly fledged owls help guard our vegetable garden, trees, and reduce the number of rodents coming into the home. We are fortunate our yard is a suitable nature niche for them. Poison rodent baits often to do not rapidly kill mice but they later kill owls that eat poisoned mice. Snap traps are an environmentally safer and friendly choice.

Natural history questions or topic suggestions can be directed to Ranger Steve (Mueller) at the odybrook@chartermi.net Ody Brook, 13010 Northland Dr, Cedar Springs, MI 49319-8433.

616-696-1753

Written for CS Post, Vol. 26 No. 14 April 4, 2013.

Submitted  28 March 2013

Breakfast for two 

Posted on 22 March 2013. Tags: David Marin, Mueller,

David Marin, of Nelson Township, has been waiting a long time to get this photo. He finally got his chance last Thursday, March 14, at 9:45 a.m.

“On rare occasions, the notoriously camera-shy and nervous pileated woodpeckers come to the suet at my feeders,” explained Marin. “This morning, I was able to capture a photo of both male and female at the same time, something I’ve been hoping and trying to get an opportunity to do for decades.” Marin lives about three miles east of Cedar Springs.

According to Ranger Steve Mueller, although the birds look similar, you can definitely tell one is male and one is female. “The male (lower bird) has red on forehead to bill and the female does not (her red stays on top of her head). The male has a red mustache (dark strip from base of bill) and the female has a black mustache,” he said.

This post was written by:

cspoststaff – Cedar Springs Post Newspaper.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. Rachel Carson

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility. Rachel Carson

Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Rachel Carson

The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship. Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? – No time to stand beneath the boughs, And stare as long as sheep and cows: No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass: No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night: No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance: No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began? A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. W. H. Davies

Every Day is a good day to snowshoe in February!

You and your loved ones can enjoy snowshoeing together on our scenic trails with or without a snowshoe guide – build a team and join the festive fun –

snow permitting

Weekends 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM or for extended hours call for pre-registration

(616) 675-3158 HCNC or cell phone (616) 325-4554

Weekdays 9:00 – 4:00 PM

$3.75/person without guide

$4.75 (per person) with tour guide -  requires preregistration

Have a Snowshoe Party for your Scouts, Birthday’s, Girls Day Out, How about your first date (romantic and memorable), Fitness Team, and so much more

Fitness Benefits of Snowshoeing

Did you know that you could burn more calories snowshoeing than you can walking, running or cross-country skiing at the same pace? For health and fitness benefits, snowshoeing is great for you. It provides a cardio workout while also building strength, agility, balance and endurance. The best part is, you get to do it all in the beautiful outdoors!

Snowshoeing is the best bang-for-your-buck, fat-burning workout in winter.

It’s an exceptional way to achieve cardiovascular fitness, expend energy and reduce your chance of heart disease; plus it’s low cost, easily mastered and fun.

Snowshoers can burn between 420-1000 calories per hour. Snowshoeing is an effective, low impact, and safe form of exercise to change body composition. It burns up to twice the number of calories as walking at the same speed.

Snowshoers can vary the intensity of their workout, burning fewer calories by taking an easy walk on flat packed terrain, or getting a more intense workout (more than 1,000 calories burned per hour) with an activity like snowshoeing in powder on hilly terrain at a pace of three miles per hour.

Snowshoeing utilizes major muscle groups which, when combined with a higher metabolic rate in cold weather and the added resistance of moving through snow, results in a high-energy activity.

If you are interested in an instructor demonstration – no problem!  We’d be happy to show you proper snowshoe techniques!

The Nature Center also rents our snowshoes to other business, groups, etc., to take off of our premises, so no need to buy!  $4.00 a pair. We have approximately 250 pairs.  Sizes range from small to X-large, wooden shoes or durable plastic shoes.

Tips & Techniques – Getting Started

Snowshoeing is the easiest of winter sports to learn – if you know how to walk, you know how to snowshoe. There really is no learning curve from beginner to expert with your snowshoes, just a scale of where you want to go Still, if you’ve never tried snowshoeing there are a couple small adjustments. Here are a few useful tips for getting started snowshoeing:

1. Check the weather and dress appropriately for the outdoors (water-proof or resistant footwear, layering for cold or snow, etc).
2. Start your snowshoe walk or hike somewhere familiar to you, like a local trail or park. Try an out-and-back hike and judge your fitness level honestly – snowshoeing should take a little more effort than a similar distance hike.
3. At the start of your snowshoe trip, set up your bindings for all-day comfort. You’ll want them snug for control over your snowshoe while walking, but without pressure points that will make snowshoeing uncomfortable.
4. Take a few minutes at the start of your hike to get used to the feeling of walking with snowshoes. Even with today’s compact, athletic shapes, your snowshoes will have a wider footprint than just a pair of shoes. A quick adjustment to a wider stance will allow a smooth gait without stepping on your own snowshoe.
5. Remember to pick your feet up higher if you need to turn sharply or back up, to keep the snowshoe tail from sticking in the snow.
6. Have fun! There are no rules in snowshoeing, except to enjoy the outdoors!

With a few minutes of practice, you’ll already be an expert snowshoer. What next? Use the resources here on Snowshoes.com to find snowshoe events, trails, and other snowshoers to explore further into winter.