Bullfrogs and Dragonflies Hike at Wetlands Park

Today I co-led a hike with Bill Walker and Chuck Holliday at Wetlands West Park in Liberty Township. We had a nice turnout and it wasn't too hot - temps in the low 80s. To prepare for the hike, I spent last week reading about the subjects. Ralph and I actually walked around the pond last Saturday so I could see for myself what was there. We saw bullfrogs and greenfrogs. The bullfrogs are larger, 4-8 inches body length (not counting their legs) and green frogs are 2- 4 inches in length. Bullfrogs have large mouths and can swallow birds, chipmunks, fish, insects and other frogs. They are native to the eastern U.S., but have been introduced to Texas and California and are now considered invasive species - eating up all the native frogs and insects. Last week we saw a mallard grab a green frog and swallow it whole. Ralph managed to get a picture. It's a duck eat frog world!!!

Today on the hike we saw some interesting dragonflies and damselflies. Damselflies are not female dragonflies, like I thought. They are a separate group. They are smaller than dragonflies and when perching, they fold their wings together, whereas dragonflies, at rest, keep their two sets of wings spread out like an airplane. The prettiest dragonfly we saw (in my opinion) was the common whitetail. These guys fly so fast, up to 30 mph, that I couldn't get a picture. But I obtained some stock pictures off the internet.

The dragonfly reproductive cycle is interesting. The female dragonfly will dip her tail (abdomen) in the water and lay eggs. In a few days they hatch into nynphs.
Nymphs eat mosquito larva and other insects and live in the water about a year. They are about an inch long and their abdomen is divided into shelf like segments. When the time is right they crawl out of the water, shed their shell, and become dragonflies.


Another pretty dragonfly we saw today was the widow skimmer. This insect has saddlebag-like black sections on its body near its abdomen.
We also saw a blue dasher at rest.











Chuck brought his nets and managed to catch this blue dasher dragonfly, which we later released.

Bite Me

One of the hazards of gardening besides heat stroke, skin cancer, dirty fingernails, poison ivy, and getting pricked with rose thorns, is getting bitten by bugs.
I don’t know what kind of bug attacked me yesterday. But I have to tell you that jiggers, mosquitoes, wasps ─ insects of all kinds ─ are drawn to me like ants to a picnic. My husband, Ralph, says it because I don’t have enough alcohol in my blood. When we’re sitting on the patio at night Ralph never gets bitten, as long as he’s drinking his Wild Turkey bourbon.

My ‘bug attack’ happened while I was standing by the vegetable garden watering my tomatoes. A swarm of insects started buzzing around my face. (Maybe it was all the ‘moose’ I put in my hair that attracted them.) I waved my hand like I was trying to catch a bus but it didn’t have any effect. I took one step to my left, but they followed me. I sashayed a couple more steps and they still kept coming. Then a strike. OUCH!!! “Darn it,” I said, or something similar.

I’m not sure if this was a bite or a sting, but that insect got me right under my eye. Any higher and he would have been in my eyeball. I put down the hose and went inside to look at the damage in the bathroom mirror. A small red circle appeared on my bottom eyelid. That isn’t bad, I thought. No ice needed for this baby. I went back outside and kept on watering my vegetables.

But the circle began to grow. I could feel the weight of the swelling pushing against my eye. I went back into the house and looked in the mirror again. The bite now covered the entire bottom section of my eye. It kept spreading. The swelling, combined with the dark circles that I naturally have under my eyes, made me look like I had boxed with Ralph and lost.

About this time I needed a little drink to calm my nerves. I sipped some of my spouse’s favorite patio drink. Then I prepared to go to the drugstore to get some antihistamine. I didn’t want to waste time dawdling at the checkout counter explaining to Janet, the clerk, what happened to my eye. So I put on my super-sized sunglasses and hit the road.

Driving to the store I felt confident that no one would see my “shiner” with those sunglasses on. I quickly found the product I wanted and stepped in line. When my turn came, the first thing out of Janet’s mouth was “What happened to your eye?”
I started to answer and she said, “Have you been drinking?”
So much for trying to make a quick trip to the drugstore!

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Next time I’m in the garden I’ll do three things: 1. Wear insect repellent on my face 2. Skip the ‘moose’ in my hair 3. Have a little sip of Wild Turkey before I go outside ─ just in case the insect repellant doesn’t work!

How We Got 7 Nights in Dunedin, FL for Free

Ralph and I took our annual winter vacation to Florida this past February 20-27th. (I'm blogging about it late because I started OCVN training in March and was busy with that.) We flew to Tampa and then took a SuperShutle van ($24 a person) to our motel. No need to rent a car because Dunedin, a quaint Scotish town on the Gulf coast just north of Clearwater, has everything a tourist needs within walking distance. We hoofed it to all restaurants and shopping.

Now to the savings part. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, which is located on the Pinellas bike trail, for free by redeeming my Prioity Club points. I use my Priority Club Visa credit card to charge all my purchases, even coffee at McDonalds. it all adds up. Each night at this Holiday Inn cost me 15,000 points. The Holiday Inn Express in Clearwater wanted 25,000 points for a free night (sometimes by opting to stay in smaller towns, you do better). By the time the ocean breezes called us south, we had enough points for seven free nights - the length of our vacation. What a bargain - these rooms usually go for $150 a night in winter.

I asked for a room on the first floor near the outdoor heated pool and jacuzzi. We felt rich, going from our room, through one door, out to what seemed like our own private patio.

Breakfast was included and it was so extensive we didn't get bored. They had cheese omelettes or scrambled eggs every day,bacon, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy, toast, bagels, English muffins, cinnamon rolls, hard boiled eggs, hot and cold cereals, bananas, juices, coffees and teas. Even Ralph was impressed. We only ate breakfast out one time - when we wanted pancakes.

To get to Calabresi Island, we took a taxi for $14. Calebresi is a nature preserve and has a beautiful hiking trail and beach where we actually found 3-4 inch shells. We made friends with another couple on the hike and they brought us back to our motel in their car.

Every afternoon after our day's activity we came back to the motel and had a cup of coffee or tea (which was available all day) in the "living room" as I called it - a lounge area with couches and chairs just off the dining room area. It was our little home away from home. All the employees were friendly, and one day when the jacuzzi was being serviced at the exact time Ralph wanted to use it, the manager felt bad and gave Ralph a coupon for 1000 free points. How nice is that!

We rented bicycles twice. One trip took us to Tarpon Springs where we feasted on Greek pastry for lunch. On the other trip we rode up the trail, across the causeway in the bike lane, and over to Honeymoon Island.

We pedaled on the Osprey trail and saw 12 fish hawks as well as a pair of eaglets in a nest. Another day we hiked around town. Our favorite restaurants were Cafe Alfresco for lunch and Bon Appetit, which was on the water at the harbor, for dinner. All in all a great vacation for a fraction of the cost.

10 - OCVN Week 10

May 5, our last class, arrived. We met at the Montgomery County OSU Extension office in Dayton, near the UD arena. The day was packed with presentations. Each team started out with 15-20 minutes. Julia and I ran into a snag when we prepared to do ours. Clare's computer wouldn't accept our later version of Powerpoint. When Julia uploaded the 2003 version, the program changed our background color and picture size. She came to the rescue and quickly selected a lighter background color and resized the pictures. Then we gave a stellar performance - the best ever. Our presentation was called "Invasion of the Habitat Snatchers." I spoke on callery pear and garlic mustard. Julia covered the European starling and American bullfrog, which is invasive in Texas.

One of my favorite presentations was by Sandy and her partner, talking on edible flowers. Each person in the room got a small container with a picture of a flower on it. You had to say whether it was edible or poisonous. If poisonous, when you opened it there was a jack-in-the-box type creature that made a nasty noise and popped out at you. If the flower was edible, there was a piece of candy inside. I think kids would like this game - us older ones did.

Several presentations ran long and we were soon off schedule. To allow time to do our course evaluations and still leave at 4 pm, Jen, one of our Wright State students, volunteered to be timekeeper. She held up a sign that let the speakers know when they had 5 minutes left. Then she held up a "Time's Up" sign when they reached the 15 minute mark. Several presentations got cut short or had their content shrunk. But we were able to get the gist of things.

While I won't miss the drive to the Dayton area each week, I will miss the instructors, Clare (our moderator), and my classmates. And I'll miss the hikes we took and the many things we learned.

As we filed out of the room for the last time, we were handed a 100 question, take home, multiple-choice test to complete by June 1. On that day we are having a get-together at a park somewhere on the east side of Dayton. The test can be mailed back to the office or given to Clare on that day. I'm looking forward to the gathering. Hopefully my husband, Ralph, will want to come with me.

This day marks the beginning of another chapter in my life. Once I am an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist, I will continue my quest to learn about nature and to give something back to the public - whether it be teaching a class, leading a hike, helping at a state or local park, etc. When I signed up for this program, I heard negative voices in my head - "You're too old... your bad knee will give out on the hikes...what if your heart acts up and you can't breath... they won't want you, you're a liability." Despite these negative voices, I let the courage of my 18-year old niece, who died from leukemia in 2009, inspire me. I decided to take a chance, and it worked. I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll leave you with these final thoughts...

10 - OCVN Week 9

This week we met at the Aullwood Audubon Nature Center in Englewood, OHio. To get there I took I-75 north to I-70 west to the Englewood exit. I turned north, then east and drove over the Englewood earthen dam. This was built after the 1913 flood to keep the city of Dayton and Englewood protected from future flood damage. Pretty awesome.

The Aullwood center is named after Maria Aull, who donated the land. The National Audubon Society owns the center. They charge a $4 admission but it is well worth it. There are miles of trails and also an organic farm that sells chicken and beef. Tom Hissong, the naturalist working there, presented a program on birds.
We learned about the structure of birds and the importance of birds. However, if you go hiking with me don't expect me to "Name That Bird." There are over 10,000 species.


Tom told us some facts about the cowbird - the so called "lazy" Mom who lays her eggs in other birds' nests. It turns out when the bison still roamed the wild west, the cowbird followed the herd, eating the insect larvae in buffalo patties. But it takes time for a female bird to build a nest, lay eggs, incubate them and hatch the babies. The bison, the cowbirds main food source, wouldn't stay in one place very long. So the female cowbird deposited her eggs in other birds' nests and was content to let these females raise her young so she could move on with the herd. Pretty ingenious, if you ask me. Consider it the first birdy "daycare."


Tom took us on a hike and we saw a yellow throated vireo (which made a sound like E -8), a blue grey gnatcatcher (spee,spee, spee), a Carolina wren (teakettle teakettle teakettle), bluebird (my very first sighting), and a Northern Parula warbler (the smallest of all the warblers.) It was certainly exciting for me to see something besides a robin, cardinal, and tufted titmouse.


In the afternoon we had a Powerpoint presentation on insects. Then another hike, which I missed because I had to leave early. Next week is our last class. Time really does fly. Speaking of flying, the spring migration of birds is underway. I never really paid attention to this phenomenon before. But now that I know better, I plan to be at Birdathon in Shawnee Lookout Park and Spring Grove Cemetery on May 8. We expect to see many different kinds of warblers. (I'll use the hours toward my 40 hours of volunteer service I must do this year.) Then on May 15 I'll be working at the Queen City Bird Festival in Hueston Woods State Park. Another fun event. Till next week, go to the woods and check out some birds!

10 - OCVN Week 8

AWESOME!!! That's the only word I can use to describe week eight's OCVN class at the Germantown Metroparks Nature Center. Bob Henn, author of Wildflowers of Ohio, spoke to us in the morning. He gave us each a lily and we pulled off the petals and sepals - yes, three of those petals were really sepals. Then we learned about sex - the reproductive system of flowers. We examined the pistil which is made up of the ovary, the style and the "sticky" stigma on the top. The stigma receives the pollen so you want something that the pollen will adhere to. Bob was great at giving us ways to remember all the terminology.

After learning about flower parts Bob showed us some pictures of wildflowers. Then we took a hike outside.
He actually dug up a bloodroot and cut into the root to show us how "red" it is and where the flower gets its name. We also found a deer carcass and we examined this, playing CSI. Bob autographed copies of his book.

After lunch, Doug, the naturalist working there, spoke to us about fossils. Then we took a hike and went down to the riverbed. The creek was full of fossils. I found a horned coral and a brachiopod (clamlike structure) that was fully intact. Many of the rocks only contained the bottom shell of the clam imprinted into the rock. So I felt lucky to have a complete one.

Doug also told us about all the teaching aids available at Germantown Nature Center. These nature kits (on insects, butterflies, mammals, trees, etc) are free (with a small deposit) and can be used with grade school kids of all ages. It's good to know where to find teaching aids.


Doug was great at showing us how to build rapport with a group. When our day was almost finished he asked us to stand in a circle and say one thing that we really liked about the day. I said I liked seeing the red striped salamander that Nina found in the creek. Some people were grateful for the beautiful day and Doug, our teacher. I went home with many happy memories.

10- OCVN Week 7

This week we met at John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs at the lodge. Greg Schumacher, ODNR geologist, presented a powerpoint show, talking to us about the glaciers that formed Ohio (other than the south east which is unglaciated). We learned words like karst, sedementary, Tennessee glacier period, moraines, kettle lakes, glacial till, etc.

One interesting activity we did outside involved a yardstick (with line markings across it) and a plastic dinosaur. Greg explained that the ice age in Ohio was relatively recent, a mere 16,000 years ago, which was represented by lines near the end of the yardstick. The other end of the yardstick represented 3 million years ago. Carrying his plastic dinosaur, Greg walked 20 steps into the past, set the dinousaur down, and said this spot represents the age of the dinosaurs, the jurassic period. It was a cool way to get kids to realize how long ago the dinosaurs actually lived.
Greg then presented each of us naturalists in training with a kit of different rocks and minerals, which will come in handy if we ever lead a geology program. These kits are free for groups from ODNR, put together by the inmates at the Ohio Correctional Institution.

After lunch we learned how to read a topographic map. We took a hike and explored some rock formations (slumps) in the park.

Then we crossed a bridge over the Little Miami River and hiked up into a small gorge.

We saw trillium, trout lily, water leaves, and many other wildflowers along the way. It was tough getting up the last few feet of the climb. But I made it. After taking some pictures we headed back down. We crossed the bridge and took another trail, more flat and along the river, back into the parking lot. There were many red cedars in the picnic area. This park is perhaps the most beautiful park we have been in so far. I would like to return one day, bring my bike, ride on the bike trail in Yellow Springs, then hike/lunch in the park. A wonderful adventure to dream about!