Hello Everybirdy,
What a spectacular week we have had in Auglaize/Mercer Counties!!
First of all, we (Ohio Division of Wildlife personnel and five of our
grandchildren, plus many others) banded several hundred Canada Geese around
Grand Lake St Marys! This is always and exciting time for us and our
grandkids. They all love getting p---ed on ;-) Well, maybe they don't
EXACTLY "love" it -- fun!!
Then, today, members of TriMoraine Audubon Society and friends joined Jim
McCormac to trek along the St Marys River Corridor. Jim identified this area
as his #3 Spot in OHIO!! And it is in MY BACKYARD!!!!
Oh, what wonders did we see!!
I know to note all the plants, will have me in tears because Jim speaks an
unknown language when identifying many of the plants (Miss Codington never
taught us those terms in Latin I & II) but to note a few - Please excuse me
if I have mis-named some - I hope I haven't made too many errors!
Squirreltail Barley
Eastern Cottonwood tree
Ravenfoot Sedge
Hops Sedge
Fox sedge
Halberd leaf (Rose Mallow) This is a RARE plant according to Jim
Pigeon Grape
Southern Blue Flag
Indian Hemp
Day Lilly (we called them Tiger Lillies when I was a kid)
Mild Water Pepper
Money Wort
Short's sedge
Mermaid weed
Lake Cress (Jim stated this is the ONLY reliable spot in Ohio to find this
plant)
Wild Petunia
Water Plantain
Swamp DOC
American Elm
Shaggy Bark Elm
Davis' Sedge
Swamp Oak
Gray sedge
Pineapple weed
Hairy fruited sedge
Straw sedge
Water Hemlock
Anemone
Leafy Blue Iris
St John's wort
And I didn't write all of them down!!
Now for some of the birds we noted:
Indigo Bunting
Warbling Vireo
Eastern Wood Pewee
White breasted Nuthatch
Redbellied woodpecker
Bluegray Gnatcatcher
Red headed woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Redwing blackbird
Dicksissel
Horned Lark
Great crested flycatcher
Northern Parula
Yellow billed cuckoo
Phoebe
Yellow throated vireo (carrying food!!)
Redbreasted grosbeak
Robin
Ruby throated hummingbird
Great blue heron
Northern Oriole
Killdeer
And my story doesn't end there!!
We also saw a River Otter, Looper worms, Lady bug larva, LARGE crayfish
"volcanoes"
Red Admiral caterpillars & chrysalis, and we watched a newly hatched RA
pumping his wings!!
Many dragon flies
and a Wolf spider with her egg sac
Oh, and a RWBB with four eggs.
Of course, I took many photos as did others, so we will have proof of what
we saw.
Tri-Moraine AS (with help from Audubon Ohio and others) is developing a
"project" for the SMR and hope to get
a "plan" but first, we must inventory the area. If anyone is interested in
assisting us with this project ---- YOU WILL BE MOST APPRECIATED!!
But please don't tell many people about this spot! If the secret gets out --
who knows who might come to see!!
Much of the land we trekked along is private, so please be respectful, if
you come.
Enjoy,
Jill Bowers
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