Boch Hollow, East Trailhead

On May 23rd Joan and I returned to Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve, this time at the East Trailhead,

to tread the paths we hadn't taken on our first visit. A short gravel path led towards the woods.

Within ten minutes we saw this pair of flycatchers, variety undetermined (they're hard to tell apart except by song).

Shortly thereafter we entered the woodlands.

Due to the heavy rains since last time, the paths had more frequent and larger muddy spots. Once Joan and I got a little water over the top of our boots crossing a creek, but nothing serious. Just muddy boots.

Most birds were, as usual, unwilling to pose. This is a murky shot of a female rose-breasted grosbeak.

After descending the first ridge and crossing a small creek we arrived at the cemetery. Many stones and blocks were unreadable; this, the largest, came closest. The first photo captures its natural colors under leaf-filtered light. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

I played with the contrast, edge detection, and other filters of the GIMP -- Gnu Image Manipulation Program -- and some portions were more legible, some still not.

A wonderful solo slump block, far from any companion formation.

More fire pinks, threatened with future obscurity by higher greenery than ten days ago.

Wonderful closeup of a showy orchis, now in full bloom.

 A wood thrush.

Charming, diminutive long-spurred violet.

From the non-photosynthetic kingdom, a shelf fungus flourishing on a fallen log.

The unusual looking plant is the hairy/large-leaf waterleaf, but it's not blooming yet.

When the trail paralleled another low-lying area I spotted some movement almost on the ground. It was a bald-faced hornet! (The species is actually a yellowjacket wasp, not a true hornet.)

These eusocial beasties nest higher up in paper colonies, but this one was going round and around one of the thorns of a bush, less than a foot off the ground. We still haven't puzzled out what it was up to, unless it's chewing wood to expand the nest.

But the biggest treat by far came at the end of the hike. On the same trail we had entered by four hours before, a luna moth was snoozing on a trunk off the trail by bare inches. You must click on this one!

Joan and I count ourselves very fortunate as this large moth is nocturnally active and is in its adult stage, as here, for only 7 to 10 days. This one showed no signs of wear and tear, and must be quite young. We hope no-one, nor their dog, disturbed it the rest of the day.

Sidebar:
A disheartening behavior we commonly saw in these state nature preserves is people bringing their dogs. Pets are not allowed in the preserves, and the signs at the trailhead make this clear. The most charitable interpretation I can make is that they arrived without any knowledge of the rules, and then had a choice: go home, or break the rules. (I wouldn't condone leaving a dog in the car.) But most, I surmise, feel that their pets are so well behaved that it's OK. It is not. There are plenty of other parks where pets are welcome.

Boch Hollow, North Trailhead

Our next two local hikes, welcome chances for fresh air, exercise, and being surrounded by nature, took place at Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve.

The first outing was on May 13th. We intended to park at the West trailhead, but it had been obliterated by road construction: retaining walls, bulldozers, rollers. Joan drove back and over to the North trailhead, where we were the second car to arrive. The path south was an old road, from the time before the property was donated to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The first leg of our visit was now towards the West trailhead as far as possible. Almost immediately we were treated to a scarlet tanager, a gloriously colored species we never see at home, and which usually favors being higher in the canopy.

The trail to the west left the roadway and began a gentle climb.

Along the way to the top of the next ridge, and then down the far side, we stopped constantly for flowers. Starting with bluets,

greek valerian/jacob's ladder,

wild blue phlox,

fire pink, whose deeply saturated red blew out the camera,

the orchid "showy orchis," buds not yet opened,

and wood sorrel.

Descending towards the West trailhead, we passed one of the several ponds in the preserve, another remnant of when the land was private property.

Joan and I reached the small creek beyond which the parking area abutting Route 664 was the site of heavy construction. The West trailhead is over there somewhere.

We turned around and began the climb out. Traveling a route in the opposite direction always results in new sights, such as this squaw root, a parasitic plant that feeds on the roots of oak and beech trees.

Our steps were retraced and we continued east, by passing picnickers in the grass, and took the path by the largest pond.

The birds we saw were not as easily photographed as the flowers, especially the warblers and gnat-catchers. The early scarlet tanager was an exception. Here's a photo, in the shade, of a Swainson's Thrush.

They were only migrating through, and therefore did not sing for us, unlike the melodious wood thrushes.

The trails are well maintained.

In the central part of the preserve there were deep ravines and sandstone rock formations, some an overhang,

and some impressive looming faces on the trail.

Joan and I returned to the North trailhead and our car after a bit more than four hours. We spent too much time looking to set a blistering pace, but enjoyed every minute. Visiting the eastern portion of the preserve, starting at the East trailhead, would wait for another day.

Critters of Flora-Quest 2012

Flora-Quest, at Shawnee State Park in Ohio, is held during the first weekend in May. This year I accompanied Joan to this event for the second time. Although the theme is flora, a lot of birding goes on as well. For me, the unexpected creature encounters were the highlight of this weekend, and the flowers, although wonderful, were secondary. This trend began early without my realizing it when we saw a bald eagle perched on a tree on our drive down, on flat floodplain land close to the Ohio River.

The gathering point for this nature-lover's event is the lodge at Shawnee. Events begin with dinner and speakers Friday night.

I set the alarm for early on Saturday morning in case the weather, which had been overnight rain, allowed Bob Scott Placier to attempt a bird-banding. Dubious because of the wet conditions, we nevertheless went to the patio and found Bob ready to go. Ten or so of us followed Bob to his nets, where he found one ovenbird. At the patio our captive was measured, weighed, banded, and then photographed by his many admirers before release.

It was still damp when the day's expeditions were ready to depart, but the lighter sky promised imminent relief.

The trip Joan and I had chosen was to the Spring Glen Private Reserve, and led by Paul Knoop and Steve McKee. One creature adventure began right away, where the water-filled ruts of an old farm road had become a vernal pool: there were double strands of frog eggs, and then this fellow was discovered.

Shortly thereafter we left the road for the woods. I was not yet in a picture-taker's frame of mind, and skipped many floral photo opportunities, but when Paul captured an eastern fence lizard, the camera came out quickly.

This individual was a male, and we could see the iridescent blue patches on his throat.

We returned to the van for lunch, and then began an afternoon loop. Our keen-eyed guides pointed out a six-spotted tiger beetle briefly resting on a log.

Just ten minutes later we found someone truly special ... a yearling eastern box turtle!

The eastern box turtle population is suffering from collection for the pet trade, especially for export from the United States, and from habitat fragmentation. They are listed in the CITES Appendix II category, meaning that they aren't threatened yet, but will be if current trends continue.

Twenty minutes later we encountered another young box turtle; our guides estimated this one as three years old.

It was turning into a box turtle day. Next we found a full-size one. Notice that the ridges on his top plates have been smoothed away ... he's an older gent.

We didn't know how old until we picked him up to examine the ventral plate, which is one way to determine gender. (There's a depression in males.)

Wait a minute, what's that carving?

It looks like "FT 41." Someone carved his or her initials on this turtle in 1941, and he had to be large enough for carving into then, meaning that our friend is about 80 years old. This longevity is plausible; they are known to live to 100 years. 

Passing another pool we heard a big "plop." A frog had jumped into the pool and let the silt settle on his back, rendering him almost invisible. But our guide Paul spotted him and with great agility grabbed the frog, a northern green frog.

This specimen is a male -- the tympanum, or "ear drum", is larger than the eye, and it has a yellow throat.

About half an hour later, we came across yet another box turtle. The growth ridges on the edges of each plate of the shell are still prominent, so this one is much younger than the octogenarian. By the end we would see a total of five box turtles on this walk.

As the afternoon wore on we entered an area with weathered limestone boulders. The alkaline environment of the limestone provides a habitat for many ferns, columbine, and solomon's seal. Here Paul stands next to one such rock.

My sole floral photo for this first day of the Quest is this solomon's seal growing from that rock.

Sunday, a half-day, was much more floral. We boarded vans and our guides took us on a tour of Saturday's best finds. (Not all vans went to the same location at the same time, of course.) My first picture of the day was the lucky chance of seeing a predatory fly on the side of the trail enjoying a late breakfast.

I learned about twice-cut, or twice-pinnate, ferns on this walk, but didn't take any photos. On our second and third stops, I made up for it. First, we pulled over to admire fire-pinks.

They were all over the sunny side of this road.

Some folks will go to any length (or height) to get a good look or photo.

The next stop filled the remainder of the morning. One of our first finds was a "fairy wand" or "devil's bite," and there would be more of them.

Mountain laurel was blooming in profusion.

Everyone was oohing over the pink lady slippers to be found here.

In spots there were clusters of them.

There were even some yellows!

Then it was time for lunch back at the lodge, and the drive home. I had begun the weekend with the expectation that I wouldn't have enough interesting photos for a blog entry, but I was wrong!