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By Doug Horvath
| Monday, March 1, 2010, 01:48 PM
Written By Lisa McGurk
I was very happy this week to see a visitor to the Window on Wildlife at Germantown MetroPark Nature Center that I hadn’t seen since the fall, an Eastern Towhee. According to our bird chart, we should have been able to see Towhees through the winter, but I hadn’t seen one since September. Towhees are oversized sparrows that rummage in the undergrowth. According to allaboutbirds.org, these black and reddish brown birds are common victims of the Brown- headed Cowbird. The Cowbird lays its eggs in the Towhee nests. The Towhee ends up raising the Cowbird young to the neglect of her own (the Cowbird will often remove a Towhee egg from the nest which also decreases Towhee numbers).
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By Doug Horvath
| Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 10:50 AM
Written By Lisa McGurk
We had a maple syrup program at Germantown MetroPark Nature Center last week. The naturalist, Doug Horvath, not only discussed trees and the process of making maple syrup, but he also discussed Tufted Titmice. They fill the forest with their song this time of year so they are associated with maple syruping. I looked up some information on Tufted Titmice on allaboutbirds.org. They are little grey birds with large dark eyes and brushy crests on their heads. Their song sounds like “peter-peter-peter”. An interesting fact about them is that unlike many Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse pairs do not gather in large flocks outside of breeding season. Another interesting fact about them is that they hoard food in the winter. They will store many of the seeds that they get from feeders, usually in a stash within 130 ft of the feeder. Come to the Window on Wildlife on a weekend and watch the Tufted Titmice as they collect their seed. If you want to learn more about maple syruping, there are some programs coming up: Sat. Feb. 27: 9 AM-3:30 PM Maple Syrup Time at Possum Creek MetroPark; Sat. March 6: 2 PM-3:30 PM Maple Sugaring in Your Backyard at Germantown MetroPark; and Sun. March 14: noon- 5 PM Boil The Sugar Down at Carriage Hill MetroPark. You can check www.metroparks.org for more information on these programs.
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By Doug Horvath
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 04:19 PM
Written By Lisa McGurk
I enjoy watching the Window on Wildlife at Germantown Nature Center for many reasons. One of the things that makes it especially interesting is watching the duels that develop around the more popular feeders. We have a green feeder that is especially popular with the purple and house finches. I don’t know if it is just our birds, but I have noticed that the female purple finches seem bolder than the male purple finches. I have watched female purple finches chase off male house finches. Another entertaining duel that I saw was between a female hairy woodpecker and a male red-bellied woodpecker. They did a sort of dance around the tree where one of our suet feeders hangs. She then flew up to our suet feeder next to our window and I was able to get a really good look at her. Come out to the Nature Center on a weekend (we are open Friday noon to 5, Saturday 10 to 5 and Sunday noon to 5) to see these entertaining duels in person.
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By Doug Horvath
| Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 10:20 PM
Written by Christina Funk
Today as Joshua and I ate lunch at Englewood MetroPark with Sue, Five Rivers MetroParks’ North Naturalist, a flash of red atop a bird flying through the trees caught our eyes. Watching closely out the window at the trees across the road, we hoped this mysterious bird would give us another look. Sure enough, another flash of red along with wings that resemble a black cape and the bird landed on the side of a tree in perfect view. My excitement grew as I discovered it was a Pileated Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in Ohio. Suddenly, as we were about to continue our lunch, another Pileated flew through the trees. Sometimes landing on trees within in our view and sometimes disappearing onto the far side of the trees, the Pileated Woodpecker leaves a feeling of mystery as they are more rarely seen than the Hairy, Downy, or Red-bellied Woodpecker. I have talked with some who say that the Pileated visits their feeders all of the time, while others (like me) rarely get to see them. I always feel lucky when one graces me with its presence. Experiences like these remind me of how thankful I am for all of the people out there in the community who help researchers keep track of bird populations by watching and counting the birds they see in their neighborhoods. If you are one of those bird lovers who would like to help researchers, this weekend is your chance to join others in the 13th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count. From Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, you can help scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology learn more about how birds are faring in your neighborhood by submitting your list of the birds you see at www.birdcount.org. Happy birding and watch for the Pileated Woodpecker!
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By Doug Horvath
| Sunday, February 7, 2010, 01:40 PM
Written By Lisa McGurk
We have had a great number of Purple Finches visiting us at our Window on Wildlife lately. The highest number that we have counted at one time for Project Feeder Watch was nine (that was a couple weeks ago). We have Project Feeder Watch every other Friday (12:30 to 2:30) and Saturday (10:30 to 12:30) where we count birds and send the numbers to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (see ebird.org for more information). The next one will be on Friday February 12th at 12:30. Stop by the Germantown Nature Center’s Window on Wildlife and help us count the birds!
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By Doug Horvath
| Monday, February 1, 2010, 03:33 PM
Written By Lisa McGurk
We have been getting a cute little visitor to the Germantown Nature Center’s Window on Wildlife. It is taking me a while to learn the differences between sparrows, but my co-worker helped identify him as an American Tree Sparrow. American Tree Sparrows are small brown and white songbirds with a dark dot on a mostly white chest. I found some interesting information on them on allaboutbirds.org.
They eat nearly all animal matter in the summer, but eat only seeds and plant matter in the winter. According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Tree Sparrows breed across a large expanse of northern Canada and Alaska. Another interesting fact about them is that they seem to prefer to look for predators out of their left eyes, while Dark-eyed Juncos seem to prefer their right eyes.
You can find more information on www.allaboutbirds.org. Come to the Window on Wildlife to test your “Sparrow Identification” skills.
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By Joshua York
| Thursday, January 28, 2010, 04:16 PM
Blog by Katy Malcolm
A Northern Harrier was seen flying over Possum Creek MetroPark esterday (Wed.) morning. They are a common Winter Resident within the Dayton area, but few people know of their existence. The main diet of the Harrier are voles, but insects, reptiles, and amphibians can also be taken. Their flight pattern is similar to most birds of prey- wing beats with frequent glides. They can be found searching for prey over open fields.
Come join MetroParks for a day-long field trip to Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area near Kenton, Ohio. One there, we will travel around the preserve, searching for Saw-whet owls, Rough-legged Hawks,Bald Eagles and other birds of prey. If you are interested in this adventure, go to metroparks.org and register. There is a fee and space is limited! All registrants must be over 14 years of age. Stay tuned for the species list some time next week.
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By Doug Horvath
| Monday, January 25, 2010, 02:57 PM
Written By Lisa McGurk
The recent thaw in our temperatures brought up a discussion at the Nature Center about Winter Stoneflies. The rise of temperatures above the freezing mark sometimes brings the odd sight of insects flying around in winter. Winter Stoneflies are some that you might see when that happens. They are used as a measure of the cleanliness of streams. As Twin Creek is the second cleanest stream in Ohio, we have our fair share of Winter Stoneflies at Germantown MetroPark. You can link to a very interesting video on the efforts to keep Twin Creek clean on the Germantown Nature Center website: http://www.metroparks.org/Parks/Germantown/NatureCenter.aspx.
I found a brochure on Winter Stoneflies from Ohio Division of Wildlife and discovered that stoneflies are a very ancient order of insects. They have an incomplete life cycle that include the egg, nymph and adult stages. They do not undergo a pupal metamorphosis. Winter Stonefly nymphs leave the water during the winter and early spring and emerge from the water as adults. The next time I walk along a frozen streambed, I will keep an eye out for these long and thin flies.
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By Joshua York
| Friday, January 22, 2010, 04:27 PM
Three Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) were seen over a number of days at Huffman MetroPark. Other sightings have also been recorded at the following website: http://www.dayton.net/audubon/rba011410.htm as the site indicates, this is the first record for this area. The three swans found in Ohio are the Trumpeter Swan, Tundra Swan, and the non-native Mute Swan. Note the differences in the following pictures so you will be the next to spot these magnificent birds!
Mute Swan
Tundra Swan: Note the yellow on the sides of the bill.
Trumpeter Swan
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By Beth Burke
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 02:54 PM
Each year scientist and researchers take a count of the Monarchs overwintering in Mexico. This year the count of butterflies shows the lowest number on record. There are several factors that contribute to these low numbers. For monarch in our area the cool rainy summer kept numbers low. Butterflies in Minnesota had drought conditions to deal with and Monarchs in Texas had extreme heat and dry conditions. All of these things will keep populations low. Read more about this winters count at Monarchwatch.org click the box at the top for blog.
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