Water Life

On this hot, humid morning I took a slow stroll through Inniswood Metro Garden--much too hot for a brisk walk! Summer has turned the corner toward fall...the cicadas are singing (actually they started early this year, well before the 4th of July, but now they're in full voice), the bees and horseflies are buzzing, and many of the woodland critters are looking for some relief from the heat. Last time I was here the water in the frog pond was very high, with dozens of tadpoles zipping around and the bullfrogs singing. Today the pond has shrunk and the water plants have taken over...although, as you can see, the frogs are still around. Proof that they can be very hard to see: I didn't even notice this frog while I was snapping this photo! Imagine my surprise when I opened it on my desktop and there he was, staring at me with his beady amphibian eye.

The frog pond here has beautiful lotuses. This one was a good three feet above the water, even taller than the lotus leaves that all turn with the sun, like sunflowers.

The water is very attractive to insects, also. I saw an amazing assortment of dragon- and damselflies. The most striking was an iridescent blue damselfly with velvety black wings, but that one was quicker than my camera. This guy spent several minutes landing on this leaf, taking off, then circling right back to the same leaf. Another of the same type was doing the same thing a few leaves away.

The pond in the Children's Garden was by far the best for critter hunting. We aren't the only ones looking for a way to keep cool! Standing on the footbridge, I noticed something wrapped around the branches of a small black willow on the edge on the pond...a piece of cloth? On closer inspection, it turned out to be a rather large snake, a black rat snake judging by its color and size. He looked very comfortable there in the shade.

Across the bridge there were a few lily pads in the middle of the pond, where another snake was chillin' in the water. Had he had an umbrella drink (and a hand to hold it!), he'd have looked very much like a human floating around the pool on an air mattress.

And more frogs, of course, including one moose-sized bullfrog waiting for something yummy to zip by. One of his friends was enjoying the small waterfall nearby. By the time I walked all around the pond with my camera I was wishing I could climb into the water myself. Hopefully this afternoon's thunderstorms will bring some relief from the sultry weather.

A Mystery Beetle Identified

An obnoxiously hot and humid week in central Ohio, with temps in the 90s, so not much outdoor walking this week. However, I finally had a chance to do some Web research and identify a beetle I photographed at Highbanks in May!

I spotted this guy on the railing around an observation deck where I sometimes see deer. An intense iridescent green, he really popped out against the weathered wood of the railing. I probably spent ten minutes trying to get some photos of him that were actually in focus...my camera is pretty leisurely about autofocusing (Note to self: Manual focus on next camera.), and this guy was fast. Each time I'd start to push the shutter button, off he'd go down the railing with me trailing behind.

At any rate, I did finally manage to get some shots that were at least focused enough to be identifiable. This handsome gentleman (I'm assuming gentleman here; could be a female) is a six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata). These guys are common in woodland areas in this part of the country, and often hunt along woodland paths. None of my photos show his mouth parts, but he sported a pretty impressive set of mandibles, used for capturing and eating other insects and arthropods, particularly ants. They're speedy because they often hunt on foot, though they also capture prey while on the wing. It's probably a good thing I didn't try catching him (which I often do when I want to look at an insect closely), because tiger beetles are capable of inflicting a pretty healthy bite when they feel threatened.

A cold front moved through the area today, which should drop temperatures a bit this weekend. Hopefully more posts later!

Just When You Thought It Was Safe...

Last weekend I was walking the Dripping Rock trail at Highbanks when I encountered Walter, one of the park volunteers, looking up into the trees. "Hey," he said, "Wanna see something really cool?" He pointed up into a large beech tree next to the path, with a large broken-off limb extending over the trail. And there...was a snake. My apologies for the not-quite-sharp photo, but I had to post a portrait of the black rat snake who had been lounging in this tree for several days when I saw it. Judging from the loops visible on top of the branch, this is a pretty good-sized snake.  

Just for the record, black rat snakes are beneficial to humans and eat small rodents and bugs. They're wonderful to have in a garden and totally harmless to humans. And despite Walter's tongue-in-cheek warnings to passing hikers, they don't watch for people with straw (or white) hats and drop out of trees onto their heads.

On Undomesticated Trees and Summer Fruits

While wandering around Wyman Woods on a Friday evening, I noticed that there are a number of black walnut trees growing there. Black walnuts are interesting trees, with dark, beautiful wood and an unusual trait: their roots secrete a toxic substance called juglone into the soil around them, which prevents many types of plants from growing near the tree. Ask any gardener who's tried to grow tomatoes anywhere near a black walnut tree: it won't work. Black walnuts are not commonly used in landscaping plans; they're not particular shapely, they cause problems with other plants around them, and they drop extremely hard nuts with green husks that, when broken open, stain hands, concrete, clothing and anything else they touch a startling shade of purple-black. I think of black walnuts as sort of undomesticated trees, as opposed to the perfectly shaped hybrids usually found in city parks. Black walnuts are already bearing fruit in late June. The Wyman Woods squirrels will eat well this winter.

Many of the trees at Wyman Woods are in fruit now. Along with the usual crabapples and redbuds (this is a city park, after all), I spotted some other less common park trees. One is the hackberry, which actually is sold at nurseries as a landscape tree but unfortunately doesn't seem to be used much here in central Ohio. Hackberries have really textural corky bark, a very attractive shape, and are excellent shade trees. They also bear nearly-black berries that birds love, and aren't particularly messy when they fall (if the birds miss any).

The other very undomesticated tree at Wyman Woods is the catalpa. There are several scattered around the park, much to my delight. My grandparents had an enormous catalpa tree, which my grandpa called an "Indian cigar" tree. That was for their long, thin seed pods, which do look a little like a long, thin cigar. (Note: They taste terrible. I advise not using them to pretend you're smoking a cigar. Fortunately, of course, I would never have done anything so stupid as a child.) People who like neat, groomed lawns don't like catalpas for those seed pods, but I love them. They have large, beautiful heart-shaped leaves and spectacular blooms in the spring...and they remind me of my grandpa. The catalpas are in fruit now, too.

And lest the more usual park trees should be forgotten, the redbuds are loaded with seeds now, also...this one appears to have many more seeds than leaves.

Crows

Last night I had a half hour to kill before going to my monthly meditation group, so I wandered around Wyman Woods, a small park in Grandview Heights. As I was driving in, I noticed a group of crows scavenging under the trees next to the road. I love crows, so of course I had to try to get some photos of this bunch.

Crows are extremely intelligent birds, totally unimpressed by humans with cameras. This wary group, seven in all, lit out for the trees before I got within good camera range. The best I could do was catch a couple of them as they sat high above my head, probably snickering to themselves.

Crows are usually found in pairs or groups, and sometimes a group will help raise young communally. I suspect there was a nest nearby, as there was one particular tree that most of this bunch headed for when I tried to get close, and I could hear very soft little crow sounds coming from that direction. They were also fond of lining up on the roof of a building behind the treeline and watching me trying to take their pictures.

For those who are interested in crows and their kin, Candace Savage has written two really fascinating books. The first encompasses the entire Corvus family, and is titled Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays. The other, which is one of my favorite books ever, centers only on crows and ravens. Check it out: Crows: Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World.