Black and White Warbler at Magee Marsh...photos, sketch, and a painting

A female Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia) was very thorough in her inspection of this weathered and half-dead tree. She systematically nabbed insects right and left from the nooks, crannies, and crevices of the bark (and I don't think she left any bits of the lichen unturned either :-)...

This beautiful female Black and White warbler foraged for several minutes right in front of me,
letting me marvel at her beauty and industriousness. (These photos go all the way back to May of this year when I was at the Biggest Week in American Birding.)

This post is for my parents, Joni and Jer, my cousin, Curg, and my Aunt Diane. They all traveled up to Maumee Bay State Park this weekend to look for ducks up on Lake Erie. Everyone was in need of Big Water, and Lake Erie, which is only 4 hours away, was the cure. I was supposed to go with them, but work got in the way. Magee Marsh is only 20 minutes from Maumee, so I told them to be sure to stop by the boardwalk. They did...on Nov 5, but it was closed for duck hunting (Nov 5 - Dec 1). So they didn't get to see the beauty of the boardwalk, but I'm going to lure them back up this May when all the warblers are there. That's the best time to go anyway, so I thought I'd post a small taste of what's to come this spring for them! I saw this Black and White Warbler on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh on May 5, 2012. She was just one of hundreds of warblers flitting through the trees that morning...

It was slightly overcast that morning, but the gray light only helped emphasize her beauty!

The wet bark on the trees and the overcast skies above showcased the bright green of the lichens.

...no crevice, hole or crack escapes this little female's attention! 

Always nuthatch-like in their movements, Black and White Warblers can crawl up and down and around on a tree...

You can tell this is a female because she has a gray cheek. Males have black cheeks.

...sketches of the Black and White warbler I photographed that day. 
I drew this page in my sketchbook that evening from photos I took that day.

...a quick watercolor sketch of the female Black and White Warbler 
(painted from one of the sketchbook drawings).

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Visit Ohio's natural treasures...and win a car!

The Nature Conservancy of Ohio and Honda of America Mfg., Inc. have teamed up for a summer challenge and sweepstakes called the NATURAL TREASURES of OHIO. The Nature Conservancy and Honda developed the challenge to showcase 30 of Ohio's most beautiful and wild natural areas. Every time you visit one of the sites on the map below and take a photo of yourself with the designated landmark, you can enter to win a Honda Insight Hybrid (or one of five $500.00 REI gift cards)...

The Nature Conservancy's Natural Treasures of Ohio Sweepstakes takes place from May 22 - August 8, 2012. 
Visit just one of these sites to enter to win the car...or visit all 30 sites for 30 chances to win!

From the map, you can see there are several sites located close to Cincinnati. Mt. Airy Forest and Ault Park are actually in Cincinnati, so they are minutes away...and a great place to start! Just 45 minutes northeast of the city is Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs. It is gorgeous and offers wonderful hiking through limestone and dolomite gorges. If you drive west for about an hour, you'll find the Edge of Appalachia Preserve in West Union. Edge of Appalachia consists of 16,000 acres of forests, prairies, streams, and waterfalls, and is considered one of the most biologically diverse areas in the midwest. These are great day trips and give you a glimpse of the natural treasures of Ohio!

Since 1958 The Nature Conservancy has helped protect more than 55,000 acres of the most vital freshwater and forest habitats in Ohio. Josh Knights, the executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Ohio, wants to protect more and said the following...

"Natural Treasures of Ohio highlights the diversity of the Buckeye State's extraordinary natural areas, showing families that experiencing nature is closer and easier than you think. We believe that if Ohioans discover and come to know these areas, they'll be inspired to help us protect them."

Check out The Nature Conservancy's summer challenge, and then head out to the trails. You can learn about Ohio's natural history, see beautiful birds and gorgeous scenery, and have fun...and maybe win a car! Click here to learn how to enter and upload a photo of yourself with the designated landmark. Last day to enter is August 8, 2012. You must be an Ohio resident to participate.

I'm already making plans to visit several of the sites. I'll visit all the parks close to Cincinnati, but I also want to head over to Clear Creek Metro Park, Ash Cave at Hocking Hills State Park, and Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve. I visited all three parks three years ago and was amazed at the the gorgeous scenery and the wonderful birds. I've never been to Darby Creek, and I think I'd like to see it too... Wherever you go, you'll see beautiful birds and other wildlife. Here's a tiny sampler...

Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
I photographed this warbler up at Magee Marsh on Lake Erie, but you can find them all over Ohio. I see them regularly on the Little Miami River in the spring and summer, but the place I've seen the most in one day is the Clear Creek Metropark. I saw 14 in two hours--this cute little Black and White Warbler is part of the reason I want to head back to Clear Creek this summer.

Blanding's Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)
If you live in Cincinnati, you're not likely to see this type of turtle any time soon (if ever--I've never seen one around our town). Blanding's Turtles stick to the northern counties along Lake Erie, so if you head up to Magee Marsh on Lake Erie, your chances of seeing one skyrocket! I saw this turtle on the same log every day I walked the boardwalk at Magee Marsh this spring. His bright yellow neck stood out like a beacon.  

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
You'll find these little dynamos in Ohio wherever you find large trees. They chatter and scold almost nonstop along the Little Miami Trail in spring and summer, and I love hearing and watching them. When autumn starts creeping, they head back south to the tropics for the winter, and I always miss hearing their whiny complaints. These birds are fun. If you make squeaky sounds by "pishing," they will come in for a closer look. If you look closely at this fellow, you can see he has spider silk in his bill. Males help build the nest. Blue Gray Gnatcatchers use spider silk to adhere lichens to their nests...like little shingles! I watched a couple building a nest two years ago in Ault Park.  

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
Around Cincinnati, I hear these birds along the Little Miami River a lot during spring migration, and I see them every now and then at the Cincinnati Nature Center in winter, but in the heat of summer, most are on their nesting grounds far north, so why do I have a photo of a Hermit Thrush in summer in Ohio? Because you can find them in the deep, cool, hemlock gorges in Hocking Hills and Clear Creek Metropark. Three years ago, one flew right in front of me at Ash Cave in Hocking Hills and started to sing! I was amazed I actually got to see one of the few nesting Hermit Thrushes in our state (and up close too). I also heard them at Clear Creek in July when it was about 92 degrees...another reason to return...it's cool in the hemlock gorges!

Black and White Warblers at Fort Ancient

...in addition to the Yellow-rumped Warblers (from this post), two Black and White Warblers were foraging in the pine grove. Poor things, they never seem to be able to decide if they are warblers or nuthatches...

A Black and White Warbler assumes his typical downward-walking nuthatch posture.

I see Black and White Warblers along the Little Miami by the Powder Factory all summer, and I've seen a few at Fort Ancient too, so this fellow may have been a summer resident getting ready to depart or a migrant stopping by to refuel on his trip south.

Click here for an interesting map (Figure 2) showing the travels of a group of migrating Black and White Warblers. Apparently, Black and Whites are slow migrators, taking 50 days to reach their breeding grounds at the rate of about 20 miles per day.

...the Black and White Warblers made pretty peeping sounds as they searched out caterpillars and other bugs. I always enjoy seeing them, and especially now. This might be the last encounter I have with one until next spring when they return or migrate through.

Paintings 25, 28 and 29 - Studies of a Female Black and White Warbler

I love Black and White Warblers and see and hear them a lot on the Little Miami Trail. They haven't arrived yet, though, but I keep watching for them. These studies are from a bird I saw at Clear Creek Metropark in Hocking Hills (southeastern Ohio) last July. I hope to go back there this summer. I loved my time there and saw so many cool birds, moths, and butterflies.

These paintings are part of the 100 Paintings in a Year Challenge.

Female Black and White Warbler exhibiting her nuthatch-like behavior at Clear Creek Metro Park in Hocking Hills

Birding Hocking Hills in Southeastern Ohio
…continued from yesterday’s post on the Common Yellowthroat.
After hitting the mother load of Common Yellowthroats yesterday I had to go back to Clear Creek Metro Park again today to see if I’d luck out again. I started from the Creekside Meadows parking lot and took the trail to the right. I really hadn’t walked too far in when I saw a Black and White Warbler creeping up and down a tree. Yesterday, I caught sight of a Black and White Warbler briefly while I was watching Common Yellowthroats, but I wasn’t able to photograph her, so I was really happy to see her again today.

A female Black and White Warbler creeps down a tree. Black 

and White Warblers are known for their nuthatch-like behavior. 

(You can tell this is a female because she 

has a grey cheek, males have a black cheek.)

Female Black and White Warblers build their nests on the 

ground near the base of a tree, usually well hidden by leaves. 

Maybe that's why she's always walking down trees ;-)

I love Black and White Warblers. I find them regularly on the Little Miami Bike Trail, but I’ve never been able to photograph one, so you can imagine what I was feeling when this Black and White female decided to glean insects off the bark right in front of me!

This little female spent more time going down the tree than up! 

She was very thorough as she worked over the bark and 

really resembled a White-breasted Nuthatch while she worked!

...don't stick your head in that hole, Mrs. Black and White 

Warbler. It might get stuck, and that would not be good! 

I had other luck in the park today as well, but I didn’t see a Cerulean Warbler. They are supposed to be everywhere in this part of Ohio, but the naturalist said in the past couple of days they haven't been singing as much as they did earlier in the season. I did hear a Cerulean Warbler sing four times in the huge Sycamore trees by Clear Creek, but I didn’t see him, so I can’t include him in my count (also...I’ve never heard his call in person—just on CD, so I can't be sure, but it sounded just like the CD!) I did, however, see and hear a Worm-eating Warbler, which is another lifer for me! I had taken the Hemlock Trail to the other side of the road away from the meadows and Clear Creek. This trail wound through the bottom of a Hemlock-forested ravine and hugged a small brook. The temps were significantly cooler and the breeze felt so good sweeping through. While standing on a tiny bridge that crossed over the slow-moving brook, I noticed an area where leaves had caught on branches from a fallen tree, isolating part of the brook and making it a perfect place for a small bird to get a drink, so I decided to watch a bit. As soon as I looked through the binocs I saw movement and there he was! He didn’t stay around long, though. The entire time I was walking in the ravine, a Hooded Warbler was singing...very loudly! Yesterday I got one brief look at his beautiful eyes and face, but today I heard him over and over, and recorded him on my iPhone. I don't know how to get that file to my computer yet. I'll have to do that when I get home. 

p.s. Worm-eating Warblers, like Black and White Warblers, also nest on the ground.

The Little Miami Bike Trail and Red-eyed Vireos

When Matty got home from school today, we decided to head over to the Little Miami River to see if we could catch any spring migrants. The weather was warm (mid 80s) and the sun was shining. The weather report said today would be the last of the summer-like warmth and the rains were moving in, so we thought we had better get out to bird while the getting was good! As soon as we hit the trail, we found Blue-gray Gnatcatchers all around us singing, chatting, scolding and basically being cute, but soon our attention was diverted by the song of a Red-eyed Vireo. Matty used the bird's non-stop singing to hone in on its location and then watched for movement. He seemed to have a sixth sense for Red-eyes today, logging four sightings by the end of the walk. We also saw a Black and White Warbler, a Prothonotary Warbler, a Black-throated Green Warbler (another of Matty's finds found through his "bird" sense), a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Hummingbird, and two Northern Rough-winged Swallows (Life Birds for us), plus all the usual woodland suspects, including a Pileated Woodpecker...and three deer!

The two lone Northern Rough-winged Swallows 

were playing just beyond Matty. They chased each 

other and were feeding low over the water, much 

too fast and small to be photographed.

As we watched the swallows, two Canada Geese came honking in, flying wing to wing down the corridor and seeming to announce to all the woodland creatures that, "We have arrived, so please, everyone, look at us. We are here, and we are loud. Yes, we are important. Again, we say, look at us!" It was fun to watch them fly past us at eye level, honking and so close that we could almost feel the breeze from their wings as they flapped past.

"Mabel" and "Floyd" on the wing continued 

to honk all the way up the river...

Matty spotted the second Red-eye from the river bank shortly after the clatter and ruckus of the geese faded away, so we climbed up the hill to get closer and actually got a fairly decent shot.

Look at that lovely red eye...

...and it's red on the other side too!

...yes, you are a gorgeous bird with a very pretty song!

We were starting to get hungry, so we headed for home. As we walked along, we heard the unmistakeable crunch, crunch, crunch of leaves and sticks underfoot and started looking for deer. There were three, and they didn't seem to mind us, so we stayed and watched for a while until they decided to move on.

See you later little deer!