And now for something completely different... light-painting!

A friend of mine has recently become fascinated with various forms of photographic light-painting, and after seeing some of her work, I asked for tutelage. That led to several hours of practice in an improvised darkroom last Monday, and I became hooked. We returned this morning for more attempts, and honed some interesting techniques.

While these sorts of images don't have much to do with the natural history fare that I usually post here, they do help my growth as a photographer. I love shooting nearly every imaginable subject and style, at least those that I have thus far crossed paths with. I think experimentation out of one's bread & butter imagery ultimately helps with thinking out of the box, and will lead to overall better photos no matter the subject.

Anyway, following are some of these recent light-painting creations. 

Tufted Titmouse - A Chickadee Ally

Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a member of the Paridae family along with chickadees.  North American has 4 species of titmice and 7 of chickadees.  The Tufted Titmouse is uncommon here but usually one or a few appear every year.  One was seen on the Mactaquac Christmas Count on January 5 and one was seen at a feeder in Fredericton on January 8, just this week.  

The Tufted Titmouse is North America's most widespread titmouse.  It frequents urban and suburban habitats with lots of cover (trees, shrubs) and it readily uses feeders and nest boxes.   It feeds on insects, spiders, snails, berries, acorns and seeds.  It can often be seen searching for food on the ground in leaf litter.

Tufted Titmouse [Internet Photo]

The Tufted Titmouse, at 16 cm/ 6.3" in length, is larger than the Black-capped Chickadee.  At first glance one notices its light gray colour, its tuft,  and its long tail.  It has a small black patch on its forehead and a white belly with rusty or orange flanks.  Its bright eye and perky attitude make it stand out at your feeder. It is very vocal and those people who go south for the winter would recognize its 'peter peter peter'.  On cold, snowy days like we are having in New Brunswick right now, that would be a welcome sound!

We are not included in the normal range of this species.  Its range includes the eastern half of the US from the Great Lakes south to Texas and Florida.  It covers New England up to southern Maine.  So, occasionally a few over-shoot their range and end up here.  It would be nice if they were to become permanently resident here.  The first confirmed report was in  November, 1982, in Fredericton.  This species is non-migratory.  Those that end up here are undoubtedly young that have dispersed from the home territory.  There has not been a breeding record from here.  

An interesting fact about the Tufted Titmouse is that in Cherokee legend, they are regarded as messengers (iBirdPro).  That is not surprising, given their cheery song.  How nice it would be if we had a bigger population which could cheer us on towards spring with their 'peter peter peter'.

Beat the Winter Blues

With Puzzles and Games for your Pet

By Suzanne Denk, Animal Enrichment Specialist, Animal Friends

With the chilly winter weather upon us, you and your pets may be feeling the winter blues. But, you can help your four-legged family members beat cabin fever with some daily activities that put their minds to work! Providing your pets with opportunities to use their brains in new ways that engage their senses, reduce stress, redirect extra energy or relieve boredom can add to the quality of their lives by keeping them engaged with the world around them.

You may have seen dogs enjoying puzzle feeders and toys before. There is a wide variety of puzzle feeder toys available in stores for pets. While many are labeled for dogs, cats and rabbits can use the very same ones!

Everyday items that you find around the house can also be turned into enrichment activity puzzles for your pet. Hide a treat in a ball pit, an egg carton, a cereal box, a muffin tin, a paper towel roll or even in the box that Amazon or Chewy delivered. The possibilities are endless!

You can also scatter multiple boxes, plastic cereal bowls or yogurt containers around the room to be searched – there just might be a yummy treat or a new toy inside! If your pet is breezing through their puzzles a little too fast, try hiding the toy for them to rediscover or wrap it in a towel or blanket.

By offering your pet a new activity each day, you can help them keep the winter blues away. It is so important to give your pets the opportunity to use their senses in ways that are fun, new and exciting. Remember, as Dr. Seuss said, “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”

To learn more about fun ways to enrich your pet’s days during the winter months, click here.

Northern mockingbird defends multiflora rose bush!

Yesterday marked the date of the Hocking Hills Christmas Bird Count (CBC), and as for the past many years, I was there. It was my fifth and final CBC of the season, which is about an annual average for me. For what it's worth, I've done nearly 130 CBC's in total. That's a lot of bird counts, but I started when I was pre-driver's license kid. Still have a ways to go to catch the all-time Ohio CBC record holder, which is Ernie Limes, who participated in a remarkable 246!! counts. If I stick to my current pace, it would take about 24 years to surpass Ernie's record. Hmmm, we shall see, but it is certainly possible.

Anyway, enough of trivial record-setting braggadocio, and on to something interesting as pertains to yesterday's CBC...

A Google Earth snap of a remote section of Hocking County. This spot is in my assigned section of the Hocking Hills CBC, and I check it every year. The red circle outlines two robust multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) shrubs. Upon pulling into that entrance lane just right of the circle, I met the protagonist of this blog piece.

My helper this year was Kim Smith, from the northerly land of Toledo. It was her first time in the Hocking Hills region, and I think she was enthralled with the forests, meadows, and rolling to rough hills of this country. Not to mention the overall birdiness of the region. You can check her blog out RIGHT HERE.

A northern mockingbird rules over the thorny shrubs from a sprig arching high over his fruit-laden plants. He scarcely blinked when we pulled in next to him. Mockingbirds are hardly shrinking violets, and the animal was not particularly bothered by our arrival.

The mockingbird jumped to this nearby rusting gate at one point, the better to eye the new arrivals. However, he was far more interested in a nearby large pack of eastern bluebirds. A dozen or more of the gorgeous open-country thrushes were feeding nearby, but the bluebirds also indicated interest in the mockingbird's rose-hip rich rose shrubs. The mimic was having none of that, and occasionally tore after the "gentle" little thrushes, making it clear who ruled this rosy roost. Bluebirds, avid frugivores that they are, would relish the chance to plunder the mockingbird's larder. Good luck to them with that - a mockingbird is about ten times more aggressive and hostile than even the meanest bluebird. Our Mimus polyglottos easily kept the bluebirds at bay, even outnumbered as he was.

When not fending off interlopers, the mockingbird entered the thorny depths of the large rose bushes and picked off rose hips. The small fruit are nutritious and keep well over winter. Many fruit-eating birds relish them.

Multiflora rose, as you are probably aware, is not native to North America. It is indigenous to eastern Asia, but was introduced and naturalized in North America long ago. It apparently first arrived in the 1860's for use as an ornamental. By the 1930's, its use as an erosion control plant and wildlife resource was widely encouraged. Forewarnings regarding the rose's invasive nature were being sounded by the 1960's, but various governmental agencies and other organizations pushed the plant's alleged virtues well past that time.

There is certainly far less multiflora rose around these days - at least in Ohio - and there are several reasons for its decline. The upshot is that less multiflora rose is a good thing for outcompeted native plants and habitats, and no one should miss it. But as is often the case, even thorns have their roses, and a positive of this plant is that certain bird species do benefit from its fruit and dense cover. Mockingbirds and wintering white-crowned sparrows are two notables, and whenever I come across multiflora rose hedges in winter, I can usually expect to find some interesting birds.

The American Three-toed Woodpecker

Our Rarest Woodpecker

American Thrree-toed Woodpecker [C Melanson Photo]

The American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis) is our rarest woodpecker.  The individual shown above was recently reported from Miscou Island.  This species is rare enough that we get sightings only once every few years.  Given that its preferred habitat is coniferous forest with dead and dying trees and that it prefers northerly areas often of high elevation, people would not encounter this species as often as species that prefer more southerly habitats.  In the past there have been reports from Mount Carleton Provincial Park.  I remember a sighting from the late 1950s from the Fredericton area and I saw one at Kingsley, NB in October, 1970.

The American Three-toed Woodpecker is a 'Picoides' woodpecker, a genus it shares with the Black-backed Woodpecker, the Downy Woodpecker and the Hairy Woodpecker in this area.  There are other Picoides species but they do not occur here.  Sharing the same genus usually means that this species shares anatomical structure, behaviour and habitats with others of its genus.  The American Three-toed Woodpecker is shaped like the species mentioned above and shares similar life histories.  However, it more closely resembles the Black-backed Woodpecker which is also a three-toed woodpecker.

So what significance does 'three-toed' have?  Most woodpeckers are four-toed.  That manifests itself usually with two toes facing forward and two backward.  One can easily see this as the bird moves up the tree trunk, clinging by the claws on its toes and propped up by its stiff tail.  In the three-toed woodpeckers, they show two toes facing forward and one out to the side or behind.  So they move up or down the tree trunk by clinging with the two front toes, somewhat with the side or back-facing toe and propped up with the stiff tail.  In the photo below notice the three toes.

American Three-toed Woodpecker [C Melanson Photo]

The American Three-toed Woodpecker is just a bit smaller than the Hairy Woodpecker with a length of 22 cm/ 8.75".  The biggest difference (other than the three toes) between the three-toed woodpeckers and the other Picoides woodpeckers is the presence of yellow on the crown.  All the others show red.  The male American Three-toed Woodpecker has a yellow patch on the top of the head as shown in the photos above.  This is also present in the young birds, both male and female.  The adult female shows plain black on the head or it may be speckled with a small amount of white.  

Identifying the American Three-toed Woodpecker is relatively easy.  It looks dark in colour on quick view.  You then have to look closely to distinguish it from the Black-backed Woodpecker which has a solid black back.  The American Three-toed has horizontal black and white stripes on its back.  Sometimes these are hidden if you are viewing the bird from the side.  So, look closely.  The Black-backed is slightly larger but that does not help much in telling them apart.

Besides the white stripes on the back, the American Three-toed has mostly black on the back except for some white barring on the primary wing feathers.  The underparts are white with black barring on the sides.  The tail is black with white outer-tail feathers.  On a quick view the female could be mistaken for a Hairy Woodpecker.  

American Three-toed Woodpeckers are North America's most northerly breeding woodpecker.  Their range covers a vast area from northern Labrador, across northern Ontario and the Prairie Provinces to norther Alaska and Yukon.  In the west they range southward in the mountains to New Mexico and Arizona.  Their Canadian southern boundary is close to the 49th parallel to southern Quebec, northern NB and Newfoundland.  They are non-migratory.  However there can be movement southward in severe winters or in dwindling food supplies.  Their population is thought to be stable.

They are normally sparsely located throughout their range.  They are sometimes found in higher densities in areas with many dead trees.  This can be after a forest fire and that undoubtedly is what has attracted this bird to Miscou Island.   There was a small forest fire there in recent years.  

The American Three-toed Woodpecker nests in a cavity about 12 m/ 45 feet up in a dead tree, usually a conifer or a poplar.  Incubation takes about 12 to 14 days and is carried out by both the male and female.  They feed on larvae of tree-dwelling insects, spiders, and some berries.  They also will eat bark cambium.  

In 2003 the 'Three-toed Woodpecker' was split into the American Three-toed Woodpecker and the Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker.  These two species are nearly identical in appearance but they differ in voice and mitochondrial DNA (iBirdPro).  We are not likely to see its Eurasian cousin but it is interesting to know that its close relative is successful in Europe.  

It is interesting to speculate what the spruce budworm spraying program and clearcutting have done to the presence of this species in NB.  Feeding on tree-dwelling insects in dead trees is a vital part of the ecology of the forest.

Native plants, animals thrive at Dawes Arboretum

An ancient tractor overlooks a wintry landscape at Dawes Arboretum/Jim McCormac

Columbus Dispatch

December 30, 2018

NATURE

Jim McCormac

Native plants, animals thrive at Dawes Arboretum

The night of April 18, 1775, was pivotal to America’s independence. That evening, three horsemen rode a breakneck mission to alert colonial minutemen of the approach of British troops. William Dawes was one of these riders, along with Samuel Prescott. Their roles were overshadowed historically by the third rider, Paul Revere.

Forewarned, Americans were ready, and open battle erupted the following day. The brutal American Revolutionary War eventually claimed the lives of perhaps 70,000 patriots but ultimately won America its emancipation from Great Britain.

One of Dawes’ great grandsons was Rufus Dawes, who became a Civil War hero and Ohio Congressman. Noble blood spawns great men, and one of Rufus’ sons was Beman Gates Dawes, born in 1870 in Marietta.

Beman went on to become a leading industrialist and two-term Ohio congressman. Eventually putting down roots in Central Ohio, in 1917 Dawes and his wife Bertie purchased a 140-acre farm just south of Newark which they branded “Daweswood.”

The farm served the Dawes’ interest in horticulture, and they began acquiring and growing plants from far and wide. In 1929 they created a foundation to oversee the farm’s transformation into an official arboretum, and Dawes Arboretum was born.

Today, the arboretum has mushroomed to nearly 2,000 acres, and hosts 270,000 visitors annually. They come to see a botanical wonderland filled with some 17,000 specimen plants.

While ornamental gardens and stunning horticultural specimens are part of Dawes’ allure, the conservation of native flora is a major part of the mission. Much of the property is wild woodlands, meadows and wetlands populated with indigenous plants.

The emphasis on conservation of native landscapes has created a de facto wildlife refuge. Well over 500 species of native plants enrich the grounds – nearly one-third of the state’s total flora. Native plants are the building blocks that grow animals, and to date, 203 bird species have been documented – nearly half of all species ever seen in Ohio.

Thirty-seven mammals have been recorded, 15 reptile species and 23 amphibians, 44 kinds of dragonflies, and staggering numbers of butterflies and moths.

I made a visit to Dawes Arboretum last week, and their world class holly garden was my destination. At this season, the hollies are bedecked with showy scarlet drupes, which are irresistible to fruit-eating birds. The eastern bluebird in the accompanying photo and scores of his comrades were plundering these hollies.

Birders have long been drawn to Dawes. Some major rarities have surfaced here, including a black-throated gray warbler found by Scott Albaugh on April 17, 2002. It was one of few Ohio records. More recently, a Harris’s sparrow was found. This species has the distinction of being one of three species that breed only in Canada, and it’s an unusual stray this far to the east.

More important than avian vagrants are local nesters, and Dawes supports dozens of breeding birds. Crow-sized pileated woodpeckers are common, as are barred owls, red-tailed hawks, and numerous songbirds. The restored Dutch Fork wetlands have hosted nesting sora and Virginia rails. Birds are always a conspicuous part of the Dawes landscape.

Dawes Arboretum is one of the most important biological hotspots in Central Ohio, and it’s a beautiful place that’s steeped in history. For more information, visit: https://dawesarb.org/

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

2019: A New Year is Here

Starting the year with an explosion of colour!

The fairy on the Christmas tree spreads her magic over my home.

This charming globe and Christmas decoration

contains a personalized message:

'Joyeux Noël Maman'

(Happy Christmas Mummy)

from my daughter this year.

In the deliciously calm days after Christmas,

I love to create a corner of comfort for myself.

The Christmas garland is still on the wall,

Two beautiful cards from my children sit on the little table.

A new crochet project has been started,

that's always so exciting.

A new book and a cup of Rooibos tea!

What a perfect way to spend the first day of the new year!

A new candle, from my son, was lit for the first time on Christmas Day.

It's a warm and welcoming flickering flame which I can see from my couch.

Pretty dried flowers have been incorporated into the candle's shell which are protected

from the flame.

My December Amaryllis plant is still blooming beautifully and is giving me

so much pleasure.

I love taking macro shots of the wonderful details.

This sweet arrangement came home with me when out shopping.

I love the little clock decoration to celebrate the New Year

and the pale pink hyacinth opens a little more each day!

There have been brisk walks every day.

I captured this early sunset from the little park very near where I live.

I love this setting sun which reminds me of the return of the light

and how our days are slowly getting longer

by about a minute each day.

These beautiful bare trees, taken in my neighbourhood, charm me

with the simplicity and beauty of their shapes against a pastel sky.

I love the nest too!

I chose this photo to make for my January blog header.

A tiny crystal snowflake hanging in front of my window,

reminds me that winter is still here and perhaps we shall see some snow very soon!

The natural lighting of pale lilac tells me also that spring will come soon enough

and all the flowers are merely preparing their apparition for warmer days.

It is so easy to lose sight and forget a previous blog header,

so I would like to add the December one here

as a reminder of the days when the warming glow of candles is so welcome and nurturing!

I hope that you are enjoying this first day of the New Year!

I wish you good health and contentment and much gratitude for all those things

that we are fortunate enough to enjoy.

Simple things like a roof over our head, a comfortable bed and a heated home.