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April 2015

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From:
rob thorn <[log in to unmask]>
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rob thorn <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 11 Apr 2015 19:20:17 -0400
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I spent much of the day down in the southern portions of Shawnee State Forest, looking for early birds, blooms, & butterflies with the Butterfly Observers Groups of the Ohio Lepidopterists.  The lower portions of the Scioto River Valley are flooded, but nearly all of the roads in Shawnee appear to be open.  Wildflowers here don't seem too far ahead of central Ohio, and we only saw sporadic patches of flowers in the drier uplands and ridges where we spent much of our time.  Birds heard or seen included:

Turkey Vultures - plenty, especially around steep overlooks
Pileated Woodpeckers - heard in 2 spots
Blue-headed Vireo - heard 1, at Picnic Point
Blue-GrayGnatcatchers - many, one of the few common migrants
Brown Thrashers - only 2, both along the lower reaches of roads, down in the creek bottoms
Pine Warblers - singing in many locations
Yellow-throated Warblers - widespread along stream bottoms
Yellow-rumped Warblers - not many, with only a few small groups
Black-throated green Warbler - 1 singing near Panorama Point
Black&White Warblers - singing birds at 5-6 different locations
PrairieWarbler - 1 singing bird along a dry ridge near Forest Rd 2
Louisiana Waterthrushes - several singing along creeks 9Pond Run, Pond Lick Run)
Chipping Sparrows - singing birds at many locations, especially in lower areas
White-throated Sparrows - only a few small flocks in scrubby areas

Butterflies were quite co-operative, and we found 15 species, highlighted by 6 Lycaenids: Gray Hairstreak, White-M Hairstreak, Spring Azures (numerous), Henry's Elfins (abundant), Brown Elfins (1 patch), and Pine Elfin (1).  Also common were Tiger Swallowtails and Falcate Orange-tips, as well as several species of Dusky-wing Skippers.

The downside to the day, as my byline suggests, were the abundant clearcuts in the forest.  If you have memories of the forested rolling hills of Ohio's "Little Smokies", you might want to stay away from most parts of the State Forest, as the cutting has been intense.  I'm surprised that clearcuts have been the method of choice, given how disruptive they are to forest regeneration.  I'm even more surprised that many of these cuts have been on high, steep slopes -- where regrowth will be very slow -- and there has been no effort whatsoever to replant.  Even out in Western U.S. forests, where the slopes are often less steep and the rain more gentle, replanting is the norm, if for nothing else than to provide a block to erosion.  The current appearance of parts of Shawnee harkens back to the 1920s-1930s, when irresponsible 'cut & run' logging of private lands first pulled the state into the forestry business as it bought & replanted the butchered slopes.  How sad & ironic that our stewardship seems to have come full circle.

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