As the field season winds down, I want to thank our amazing student researchers and technicians for all their hard work and dedication this summer, topped off with great attitudes and humor. Big round of applause for these individuals and their contributions to wetlands research and conservation. I wish you all the best as you complete degrees, defend theses, and move on to other field jobs! #fieldworkfriday #winouspointsfinest
Hopefully you're not stuck inside on a gorgeous day like today, but if you are, check out this interesting article on the Inaccessible Island Rail! Not a species we have here (We're lucky enough to have Virginia Rails, Soras and King Rails!) but still a fascinating species! And undeniably cute.
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/inaccessible-island-rails-history
How Did the World's Smallest Flightless Bird Get to Inaccessible Island?
The first scientists to describe the animal thought it might have walked.Happy Fieldwork Friday, all! Ready for the weekend after a very successful week banding mallards for the ODNR and swabbing for Avian Influenza for an OSU grad project. Grateful for the help of past intern Trey and current intern Trevor! Photo credit to Brendan.
Glad to have the help of our wonderful junior biologist assistant this evening to release some banded wood ducks! He was very excited to help and I'm glad he was there to show me how to properly release ducks 🙂
Photo credit to Trevor Bentley
We love educating students about the work we do here at Winous Point, and today at Day on the Wild Side, we got the opportunity to do just that! We've started our summer banding of wood ducks, and caught some of these scruffy looking dudes in their summer plumage. The picture on the left is of a hatch year (juvenile) male, and the photo on the right is an after-hatch year (adult) male. In their summer plumage, males and females can look very similar, so we look for a straight white line along the secondaries to indicate if its a male. Females will have a distinct "tear-drop" shape in the white. Hopefully we will catch a hen here soon (They are most likely still with their broods at this stage) but for now, enjoy these handsome drakes! The kids enjoyed learning about how to identify these ducks and some biology, as well as the importance of banding birds for monitoring populations and managing wetlands.
It was a long, hot day in the field, but I wouldn't forget posting about one of my favorite days of the year...World Snake Day! Snakes such as the northern water snake (Nerodia spp) pictured here play an important role in the ecosystems they are a part of. In a wetland ecosystem, these guys eat frogs, fish and crayfish, and in turn become food for other wildlife such as herons, eagles and raccoons. They can be seen sunning themselves on logs and rocks in the marsh, and when they feel threatened, release a stinky musk to deter any would-be predators. While not the cuddliest of creatures, they play a crucial role in the health of the environment and deserve our respect..even if it comes with some distance! #Worldsnakeday #nerodia #forgoodnesssakesdontkillsnakes
We had some internet and website issues here yesterday, so here's some Wood Duck Wednesday photos a day late! We had a curious wood duck (Aix sponsa) brood exploring and eating near one of our rail walk-in traps. The water level had risen quite a bit in that unit and provided great food and cover for them. The other group seemed pretty excited to have discovered our corn pile! We are baiting with the intention of putting in a swim-in trap to catch and put migratory bands on wood ducks and mallards this summer.
I scream, you scream, we all scream because we're common tern chicks and that is just what we do! Our Cedar Point colony is thriving with a whole crop of chicks, including this new baby who came into the world today. What a wonderful Wetlands Wednesday this has turned out to be 🙂
It's Trail Cam Tuesday! Help caption our photo of this curious Trumpeter swan 🙂
Remember those smooth, white eggs in the cattail bowl from last week? Well, this is them now! These Least Bitterns (Ixobrychus exilis) are considered one of the most secretive of the regularly breeding marsh birds in Ohio! They hide in dense emergent marshes, particularly where there are thick cattail stands, and typically eat aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, and fish. They are a threatened species in the state, so it is especially wonderful to find evidence of them breeding and using the marshes at Winous Point!