COMMON SCENTS

(apologies for the poor focus)

Our male piebald Eastern Fox Squirrel is back with us for the beginning of the new year and is always a welcome sight. I stopped for a few minutes and watched what he doing and realized that food was not high on his priority list even though he would have been wise to consume some calories before the next cold wave hits the area.  Female Fox Squirrels come into estrus from mid December to early January which changes the priority of the area males during this time of the year. Males communicate their presence by marking the tree branches of their territory with urine and the scent produced by the scent glands near their nose. This squirrel marked several branches by grasping the branch with front feet and rubbing his nose on the branches of about 3 different trees.

The piebald was also checking the branches for the scent of other males and females and has found a deposit

of squirrel scat he is sniffing to determine what other squirrels are in the area. 

Giant Leopard Moth

Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar (Hypercompe scribonia).   This black, bristly, 2 1/2"caterpillar is a member of the Wooly Bear family of caterpillars and shows red bands under the bristles when it rolls up into a ball when disturbed.  The adult moth from this caterpillar is white with black spots, has a 3" wingspan, and is nocturnal so it is seldom seen.  More common in the eastern and southern United States this caterpillar was hiking on a trail at the ACRES LAND TRUST Dustin Nature Preserve in Allen County, Indiana.  After being removed from the trail it was last seen, curled in a tight ball showing it's bright stripes.

The Wrath of Grapes

Each fall a bird feeding frenzy begins, in my back yard, coinciding with the ripening of wild grapes on the numerous vines clinging to the trees.  Todays activity was intensified buy the approach of a cold front that made a consumption of calories necessary in the coming days for our feathered friends. Cedar Waxwings joined the American Robins in a tussle for the purple prizes.

 

 

It's never wise to walk beneath the trees at these times of mass grape feeding due to the digestive tract of the birds being at maximum throughput.

 

 

Waxwings are very good at standing on their heads to reach every possible grape.

 

 

Butter Butts and Buzzards

Members of Indiana's Stockbridge Audubon Society participate in "The Big Sit" bird count at Fox Island County Park Sunday, October 13, 2013.  35 species were identified including Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, and Bald Eagle.


Yellow-rumped Warbler ("Butter Butt")
Setophaga coronate

Turkey Vulture ("Buzzard")

Cathartes aura

 

Fungi - Plant or Animal

Gem Studded fungi

Each spring many Fox Island Co. Park visitors appear, in the woods, to hunt for the elusive Morel, a member of the Ascomycetes Group of fungi.  At the end of each summer park visitors are treated to a display of fungi in many other forms, some edible, some not.  While traditionally fungi have been classified as plants, they did not contain chlorophyll necessary for the process of photosynthesis. Fungi are like plants in that they cannot move about but are similar to animals in their source of nutrition.  While green plants are "producers", fungi are "consumers" and get their nutrition from dead or living organisms.



Giant Puff Ball
 

 Fungi also do not have cellulose as the main component of their cell walls, as do plants, but a substance called "chitin" which is also the main component of insect exoskeletons.  Fungi cells also are not distinct individual units but rather incomplete or missing making the cytoplasm continuous throughout the organism.  In the forest fungi play a major role in the decomposition and recycling of plant material. 

 

Turkey Tail Fungi

Were it not for fungi the forest floor would be piled high with downed trees and leaves

 

Photos: Fox Island Co. Park, Upper/Lower Dune Trails

Allen County, Indiana 

 

 

 

 

 

Robber Fly

Female Promachus hinei (Robber Fly)

A member of the family Asilidae, Robber Flies are widely distributed worldwide.  Also called "Bee Killers", these predators help maintain a healthy balance of insects in their habitat.  Asilidae capture their prey in flight using legs covered with barbs and injecting a neurotoxin and enzymes which immobilize and dissolve the insides of their victims.

Photo taken at Fox Island Co. Park Marsh Observation Deck Oct. 1, 2013.

Got Nectar?

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are feeding heavily right now, adding weight for their flight south.  Ruby Throated hummers weigh less than a nickel and 1/2 of their weight is in the pectoral muscles of their breasts which are the muscles needed for flight.  While Hummingbirds frequent backyard feeders they prefer natural sucrose and small insects. It takes them about 20 minutes to digest the sucrose and they are 97% efficient at converting the sucrose to energy. Hummingbirds do not suck nectar through their beaks but lick the nectar with their raspy tongues.  Males begin the migration a few days before the females in order to establish their territories in the wintering and breeding sites.

Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird feeding in Jewelweed
9/15/13