Birding for the Faint of Heart

Things have been busy rapping up the last weeks of my internship, but I wanted to update everyone on my life list status. Since my last post on birdwatching, I've got ten new species. Unfortunately, many of my pictures from my field notes are not ready to be posted but in the near future, I hope to offer a more complete picture of my time spent in Indiana. Until then, here are the new birds for the list:

Unfortunately, we've all seen this picture before. I should have new

pictures for posts coming in the near future.

132: Wild Turkey - I rather enjoyed encountering these strange birds. The first time I saw them was about eight years ago or more near Yellowstone National Park. A few of them were in the distance as we drove past an opening in a forest by the highway. It was a fleeting glimpse. This summer, I saw several more on the side of the railway tracks from South Bend to Chicago. Most recently, one was seen at Indiana Dunes State Park on the 27th of July. Walking down a closed boardwalk (due to flooding) I heard something rustling in the brush along the edge of the swamp. I crouched for a closer look and determined that some creature with a bushy face was crawling out from under a pine tree. Its rear end emerged and a long curved tail spun around. Of course, I'd been looking at it backwards--the tail was its neck and head. They are strange but beautiful birds.

133: Red-headed Woodpecker - On a suburban road near the Tippecanoe River. Startlingly brilliant.

134: Tree Swallow - Also at the Tippecanoe, swooping low over the water, often juveniles, either practicing flight, playing games, or catching insects. Undoubtedly the adults were after mayflies or the like.

135: Black-billed Cuckoo - Skulking around the lakes at Notre Dame. Cuckoos have always struck me as very exotic, as I mentioned in a post when I saw the yellow-billed species.

136: Tufted Titmouse - Also at the Notre Dame lakes, these birds were much larger than I expected.

137: Rose-breasted grosbeak - My final trip to Potato Creek State Park turned up three new species for my list, including this one, seen at a bird feeder outside the nature center.

138: Eastern Phoebe - Seen hunting invertebrates above the trail in Potato Creek's forest canopy.

139: White-eyed Vireo - A family of these birds was seen off of one of the trails at Potato Creek State Park.

140: American Black Duck - Undoubtedly, many of the "mallards" at Notre Dame are actually American black ducks, I only just noticed them now.

141: Snowy Egret - I thought it was a great egret at first but, on closer inspection, it was certainly too small for that.

Places: Shatto Ditch, Indiana

June 24^th, 2014 – Shatto Ditch

You may have seen some of these photos in an earlier post about a specific trip I made back in June. Although you can't see the water in this early July photograph, the grass of the Two Stage Ditch is hard at work.

Above, the Shatto Ditch rushes through

buffer strip between two corn fields.

Bellow, the Two Stage system is more

obvious, with a defined dip into the

artificial flood plain.

A red pickup truck pulled off the farm road onto the grass on the buffer strip of a cornfield. The doors swing open and three stream ecologists deposit themselves into the tall grass and make their way to the back of the truck. It’s old hat now; I’ve made this trip several times and everyone drops into his or her perspective roles. Once we’ve got our hip waders on, our trio pulls out a bucket, pH meter, conductivity meter, SOND software meter, and a few other pieces of equipment.

Our purpose today is to monitor nutrient levels in the Shatto Ditch system of Indiana. The Shatto Ditch is special; it flows directly off the farmer’s fields and into the Tippecanoe River. The Tippecanoe, consequently, finishes its run at the Great Lakes—an important area for the fishing industry in both the United States and Canada. Whenever a farmer enriches his field with manure or fertilizers, the excess nutrients finds its way into the tile drains of the field. It is a system designed to keep the natural waters of the floodplain in the ditches. It works remarkably well and, where once was marshland, now grows agricultural bliss. Unfortunately, all that excess nutrients drains right into the Shatto Ditch and, subsequently, into the Tippecanoe River. Once the nutrients arrive at the Great Lakes, it accumulates at the mouth of the river. Spurred on by the bonanza, algae bloom excessively. Soon, alga grows on alga and the heterotrophs cannot keep up with the astounding rate of dead algae deposition. The amount of decay makes it impossible for fish and other ecologically important species to live. It creates a dead zone.

Fortunately, ecologists at the University of Notre Dame are looking for solutions. One possible solution that we are testing today is the Two Stage Ditch System. To attempt to remove the excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorous, from Shatto Ditch, we have constructed an artificial floodplain about 10 meters wide. It is well planted with grasses and other plants that are naturally competitive for nutrients. The hope is that these Two Stage Ditches will make a difference and limit the amount of nutrients before it reaches the Tippecanoe.

Another possibility is cover crop planting. Some farmers have complied to planting their fields with competitive grasses to help absorb some of the excess nutrients. Right now, it seems like the best solution is a combination of methods.

Here, the Shatto Ditch is measured for discharge, the rate at which water is flowing at a given depth. It is usually measured every 5 or 10 cm and the width of the ditch or stream is also recorded. In this case, a culvert offers a good gradient for this procedure. In front of the tape measure, an ecologist uses a Flo-Mate to make the readings.

Brittany Hanrahan (background) and
Martha Dee (foreground) are the two
Shatto experts at Notre Dame. It has
been a lot of fun working with them.

A conductivity meter is used to monitor

both the temperature and the

conductivity of the tile drain jutting

from the bank.

We took samples at about two-dozen sites, from both tile drains and the ditch itself. By comparing samples taken in the typical Shatto Ditch with those taken at a Two Stage and tile drains from fields implementing the cover crop system with those that do not, the differences will be considered to determine the effectiveness of the innovative plan.

Brittany and I at Shatto.

Turtles are my weakness. They

distract me from my work and I am

helpless to resist.

Sometimes fluctuations in water level, such as flooding after a storm, or other chemical changes caused by fertilizing or watering activities of farmers can give the impression that there are unnatural changes in stream nutrient levels. To watch for this, a variety of other conditions in the stream are also monitored. The pH is usually fairly high as an indicator of high nutrients. Conductivity (the ability of the stream to carry an electrical current) is also fairly high but rises when storms wash debris into the stream. 

The amount and rate of water flowing (discharge) is monitored at tile drains by measuring volume with time. In Shatto Ditch, the width is measured and flow and depth are measured at 5 to 10-centimeter increments with a Flo-Mate, a battery-operated meter, to determine discharge. Temperature is also taken which rises when water flows off sunbaked fields. In addition to all these manually taken samples, SONDs, software-operated water meters are replaced bi-weekly. They collect data 24-7 and can be taken back to the lab measuring any fluctuations in pH, temperature, conductivity, and nearly any other water quality that could be a significant indicator of changes.

I was very impressed by the orange sides of this common garter snake caught at Shatto. There must be a few of them out there because I also saw a red-winged blackbird fly off with one of these snakes. There isn't a lot of wildlife out at Shatto but I've seen leopard frogs, bullfrogs, green frogs, and gray treefrogs among amphibians. Birds include cranes, herons, red-tailed hawks, red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, mallards, crows, and other songbirds.

All these measurements and samples will be analyzed back in the lab for significant correlations. When the day is done, we strip off our waders, sweaty and wet from leaks in the boots, and climb into the truck. Once everyone is in, we drive for the nearest Steak N’ Shake. It’s a Tank Lab tradition: ice cream for the way home. 

Places: Beaver Ridge Family Campground

For the 4th of July, many of the REU biology students (including myself) decided to go camping for the long weekend. Leaving Friday afternoon, we ventured to the campground where I did some exploring in the evening. At around 9, we left to see some fireworks.

The next day was spent primarily in Potato Creek State Park (stay tuned for more posts), but there was a surprising variety of wildlife at this farm country campground. Birds were plentiful. Some of the species I spotted were cuckoos, song sparrows, American crows, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, yellow warblers, mourning doves, and gray catbirds, to name a few. The catbirds were particularly interesting, since they had a nest with young ones not far from where we had built a fire. I am always surprised by the simple insight of people who do not normally have an active interest in wildlife. One of the girls sitting around the fire noticed fairly quickly that the catbird sounded, well, like a cat. A young kitten, she specified, but a cat nonetheless. Of course, it suddenly became obvious to me that it did sound kind of like the mew of a cat, but I'd never really thought about it before that.

Mammals in the park were primarily noticed by sign alone. White-tailed deer and beavers, for example, left both tracks and chew marks (yes, dear leave "chew marks" when the bit the tops of tender plants). A rabbit in our site was affectionately dubbed "Paulo." Red squirrels scampered amid the pine trees near the trails. However, I think my favourite mammal encountered at Beaver Ridge were the coyotes. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, a coyote, somewhere far across the corn fields, began wailing at the hazy, moonlit sky. Not surprisingly, more joined in, yapping and howling for a minute or so. As they quieted down, only the green frogs "goinking" in the slough continued to communicate with one another. With coyotes and green frogs completing my outdoor experience for the day I drifted off to sleep.

Green frogs weren't the only amphibians encountered around the slough. I also heard the odd bullfrog. Around the edges of this slough in the evening, there were manny juvenile amphibians. Having metamorphosed from their tadpole form, wood frogs and American toads climbed the hills and spread out into the forest.
As for reptiles, I caught one eastern garter snake. However, it was a special moment. Once the snake calmed down, I was able to carry it over to the campsites and allow people to touch and hold the snake as they pleased. Thankfully the snake remained calm and it was much needed good publicity for a group of animals that have an unjust reputation.
There were plenty of harvestmen (arachnids) in the campground, some of which carried mites. The fireflies, unlike anything we get in the northwest, are truly magical. In forests at dusk, it is amazing to see the multitude of blinking lights. Amazing.

Of course, there were fireworks for the 4th of July. No the one above is not a horrible explosion amid a stupefied crowd. Wait... that's kind of what fireworks are. Beautiful, horrible explosions. It's actually quite difficult to get good photos of fireworks. All these were taken on manual and, with the exception of cropping, are unedited. I think they turned out pretty good. When I have access to the right resources, I'll put up the full stop-motion of the grand finale.

Sorry. Couldn't help but end on a natural note. The moon, even in its plain grey costume, seems to have a unique beauty that surpasses that of fireworks.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Brown-headed Cowbird

Do you notice anything wrong with this picture? I was walking to dinner yesterday (June 17th, 2014) on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana when I happened upon this fascinating scene. A chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) bounced up to a chirping, young icterid (blackbird family). As the young bird increased its excited begging, the sparrow dropped a morsel down its throat. Of course, by then I knew exactly what was going on. The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a parasite!
A female brown-headed cowbird can lay over 30 eggs a spring but most of these will never develop. While many eggs are rejected by the host birds, other young cowbirds are left to die after they hatch as the victim parents discover the truth about their youngster. Cowbirds don't always pick the right nest, either. If the host bird is a fruit eater, the baby cowbird can't get the protein it needs to develop and survive. Yes, life is hard as a cowbird. To help with this, cowbirds make life very difficult for bird families that won't "adopt" their babies. If an egg or young cowbird is rejected from a nest, the cowbird parent will terrorize the nest, often killing the natural young inside or destroying the nest altogether. In the case I photographed above, it appears as if the only surviving youngster in the family was the cowbird.
The bird gets its name from its previous way of life in the midwest and great plains; following the great herds of bison (Bison bison). Although the bison herds are largely dissipated, the cowbird has found living in suburban areas suitable. You've got to respect a bird that has adapted to a lifestyle among the causers of the disappearance of its previous way of life.
I had to wait about 15 minutes under the tree before the sparrow returned once again to feed the cowbird chick and I was able to get this photo. Although many people work against cowbirds to try to eradicate them, I appreciate the cowbird's way of life as a natural part of a cursed world. It's just like predation: it's not pretty, but it is a natural part of life (and death). And besides, the thinning of the species actually increases the amount of parasitism that takes place because cowbirds do not desert as many parasitized nests when populations are low (see reference below).

Reference:

Hall, Ackert. 2008. “Cowbird Removals Unexpectedly Increase Productivity.” Ecological Applications. 18(2):537–48. Retrieved June 18, 2014 from http://www.k-state.edu/bsanderc/2008ecolappl.pdf

Species: Common Map Turtle

Graptemys geographica

I am amazed at the diversity of turtle species in Indiana. In just three weeks, I've seen over seven species from softshell turtles, snappers, and musk turtles to painted turtles, sliders, and map turtles. In particular, a small common map turtle (now called the northern map turtle more regularly) caught my eye.

I've seen map turtles before. In fact, I own a pet Mississippi map turtle. And I've seen them in the wild before as well. When I was in Kentucky canoeing about four or five years ago I spotted a few of them basking on the logs of a river near Mammoth Cave National Park. I didn't have my camera with me for that trip but I did last Wednesday when I was out taking soil, water, and gas samples from the Tippecanoe River.

Map turtles tend to be more carnivorous than other species of emydids ("pond" turtles). The females in particular have very robust and powerful jaws for crushing mollusks and crustaceans. The family they belong to, the more typical looking turtles, the Emydidae, are commonly called "pond turtles." But this name is misleading in the case of map turtles. Maps are riverine species. The seem to require the fresh, flowing water supplied by their river habitat and actually get on very poorly if this system can't be imitated in captivity.

I can't look at any baby turtle without cooing all over it. Aren't they just the cutest little things you've ever seen? The picture was taken on June 11th, 2014.

Species: Common Musk Turtle

Sternotherus odoratus

July 7th, 2014. The first wild musk turtle I have every held.

I first started thinking about this turtle way back in the early 2000s as a teenager. I was trying to single-handedly determine all the original created kinds (an arduous task) and I started with my favourites, the reptiles. I became troubled with the Kinosternidae (mud and musk turtles) and Chelydridae (snapping turtles) in particular because the former seemed to be miniature versions of the larger, with slightly more of an emydid (pond turtle) look. The question was, were they the same created kind or different. I emailed entomologist Mr. Gordon Wilson and veterinarian Dr. Jean Lightner about the dilemma because they were involved in a baraminology study group at the time. Mr. Wilson seemed to be leaning toward the idea of two different created kinds. I am still undecided to this day, although it seems that most creationists continue to lean toward the idea of separate holobaramins (created kinds).

This week, I was reminded of these distant thoughts. Morning of June 7th, a Saturday, I was walking redundantly around the lakes on Notre Dame's campus when I noticed a small turtle in the grass at the lakeshore. I moved to make a capture but stopped. What was she doing way out here? Of course! Closer inspection revealed that her hindquarters were lowered in a shallow depression. Under there was a hole, carved out by here hind legs for the deposition of eggs. Not willing to miss a magic moment, I sat down on the grass a ways off and waited. She huffed and wheezed, apparently expending a significant amount of energy expelling the eggs from her 5 inches or so of length. It was a half hour later the her rear started to move; burying her eggs.
Common musk turtles are not particularly common, unfortunately. Nest survival rates are incredibly low with only about 15% of nests going undiscovered by predators. Among hatchlings, few of those make it to adulthood. In parts of the US the musk turtle is considered a threatened species and it is considered endangered in Canada. The female I found was fully grown, but quite small compared to other turtle species. She certainly looked delicate and vulnerable laying her eggs in an open weedy area like the one she had chosen. Maybe the heavy human traffic, who were largely oblivious to the turtles presence, keep predators off most of the time.

When she had finished and started moving back to the water I carefully picked her up and inspected her closely. She seemed a little tired. I set her back down on the bank where she rested a moment before sliding back into the water. I turned my attention to the nest. She had done a pretty good job of covering the eggs, but had left on small, white egg sticking out of the top. I know painted turtles typically go to great lengths to make sure their eggs are concealed. Perhaps she wasn't comfortable with me watching her. The nest was fairly well hidden simply because of its location down in the weeds, but I obligingly covered the single exposed egg anyways. An extra help the little turtles can have at life would be appreciated, I figure. I'll be back in Canada when they hatch around 100 days after laying.

Birding Update: Now 131 Species!

Yellow-throated vireos are gorgeous, eh?

Amazing that this, of all years, would be the one I chose to do a little Big Year. Without birding as my primary purpose I've dodged back and forth from the two farthest corners of the continent. From the Pacific northwest to the southeast and back. Well, now my pursuit of biology as a career has brought me to the midwest, under the Great Lake Michigan. My list is rising rapidly and I have a good feeling about making it to 150. Maybe I should raise the bar to 200, eh?

Bird 123: Sandhill Crane on May 28th
Although this bird was only seen for a fleeting moment as it flew over a farmers field on a tile drain water sampling trip for my ecology internship, it made a great impression. It seemed to be suffering under the constant and determined harassment of a blackbird. Why a blackbird would have any reason to give a gentle crane a hard time I haven't any idea. I only very rarely see cranes in the wild, and they always seem to be high in the sky flying in formation. I love they way they fly with their necks outstretched. Very unlike herons and egrets which fly with and S-curve in their necks.

Bird 124: Black-crowned Night-heron on May 29th

I think if I was a female yellow-throated
vireo, I'd be all over this guy.
He's a beauty!

I'll be honest; I didn't expect to see this bird so far north. Last time I saw night-herons it was in a hot muggy Texas swamp. He did seem a little out of place; at a suburban lake putting up with a lot of human foot traffic and noise from some kind of giant generator on the lakeshore of the University of Notre Dame. When I entered this bird into my list on eBird, they notified me it was a rare bird for that area, but I double-checked my pictures and there can be no doubt that it is a black-crowned night-heron.

Bird 125: Chipping Sparrow on May 29th
This is one of those birds you hear a lot about from different people and I kind of thought I would see one long before now. There were a couple under a young hardwood of some kind on the lawn of one of the academic building's on Notre Dame's campus near the lakes. It's about time I saw a sparrow besides the introduced house sparrows which are all over campus.

Bird 126: Chimney Swift on May 30th
Another American classic. I have seen several of these darting around the campus skies.

Bird 127: White-breasted Nuthatch on May 30th
I kind of thought that this bird was already on my list somewhere, but there is no record of it in eBird so I must just be remembering last year. Nuthatches are some of my favourite birds; they bounce around tree trunks and limbs with no regard for gravity. I don't think it matters to them which side is up.

Bird 128: Yellow-throated Vireo on May 30th
Another one nailed at the lakes on campus at Notre Dame. First time EVER that I've been able to identify a vireo positively to the species. I'm getting better at this.

Bird 129: Orchard Oriole on May 30th
Actually, eBird doesn't know it, but I saw this bird about four minutes before the vireo, so they should really swap numbers. Anyways, it was a pretty rough looking young male of its species. Kind of frazzled and obsessed with preening.  Just like a teenager.

Wood ducks are always a pleasant find and there must be
3 or 4 pairs of them living on the lakes at Notre Dame.

Bird 130: American Woodcock on June 1st
Flushed out of the bush Sunday evening when I went looking for deer off trail in Potato Creek State Park. One deer. The woodcock might have been a bonus but I am fascinated by these woodland sandpipers and, if I'd known it was there in the first place, I would have sneaked more lightly to perhaps see some behaviour of this shy bird.

Bird 131: Yellow Warbler on June 1st
I didn't even realize that this was a new bird for my list. I've seen yellow warblers before and I figured they were already on my list. However, this was the first time this year I'd seen one, eBird informed me. I'm happy about that because it puts me over 130. Now I have to get to 150. Things have been to good to let down my search. I have a haunch that I will make it to 200 if I'm aggressive.

Stream Ecology Field Work

As an intern at University of Notre Dame, I am privileged to opportunities I only dreamed were possible. Last Wednesday on the 28th, I lived out one of these dreams as a field ecologist, monitoring the water quality of streams and ditches throughout the farmland west of South Bend, Indiana. Enjoy the pictures.

The area around our was itself composed primarily of cornfields (and one particularly notable chicken house with giant fans on its external blowing chicken poop and flies all over our faces). Some of the streams running through these agricultural fields have been restructured. In the photo on the left, you are looking at the shelves that have been dug out and planted with grass. This mimics a more natural stream bank and the grasses help absorb some of the excess nutrients and pollutants that run off the field's tile drains.
On the right is a picture of the ecologists I was working with. Closest, a conductivity meter is used to determine the conductivity and temperature of the water exiting the tile drains. Conductivity of the water is an indicator of the water's purity. Bellow, a Flowmate is used to record the discharge of the stream. By recording the depth and velocity of the water every 5 or 10 cm, the discharge of the stream as a whole is calculated.

Yes, as far as I can tell, all ecologists are wonderful people. Not to mention they apparently like to wear matching uniforms. I'm looking forward to the next field trip when I'm invited along.
Below is the evidence that I still become distracted when wildlife presents itself. This was a baby snapping turtle that I instantly fell in love with. There were a couple different species of frog, including leopard frogs, living in the streams that provided mild distractions. More intriguing were the small swimming mammals which I believe to be moles. Besides the baby snapping turtle a box turtle was found near a forest edge at the farthest reaches of one of our streams. Beautiful animal.