"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
A bird of the west, the Long-billed Curlew was quite a treat for Steve and I and a rare bird to be found at Quivira NWR. Imagine our surprise and pleasure at finding two!
Long-billed Curlew
As usual, habitat destruction via modern agriculture and livestock has severely diminished the numbers of this species. Will we ever again see the numbers that Audubon once observed? In describing the flocks of thousands he was able to observe, Audubon in The Birds of America wrote the following:
“They flew directly towards their place of rest, called the Bird Banks, and were seen to alight without performing any of the evolutions which they exhibit when at their feeding places, for they had not been disturbed that season. But when we followed them to the Bird Banks, which were sandy islands of small extent, the moment they saw us the congregating flocks, probably amounting to several thousand individuals all standing close together, rose at once, performed a few evolutions in perfect silence, and realighted as if one accord on the extreme margins of the sandbank close to tremendous breakers. It was now dark, and we left the place, although some flocks were still arriving.”
And now for something completely different… I have been working on the following video off and on for most of the summer. I’ll post it up here, and will speak a little about it and share some stills and other photos below. I would love to hear any thoughts you might like to share.
Working on this video has been educational in more ways than one. All the footage used was taken with the GoPro Hero 3 (gifted to me by my lovely and generous wife, Sarah. Thank you!). Although capable of tremendous quality, there are challenges and many things to learn when making this type of video. Although I improved with a little practice, a few problems are still apparent in the final cuts. There is a back available for the GoPro that allows you to see what is being filmed in real time. However, this piece cuts the already limited battery life by a lot, and I do not own one. This resulted in the fish being partially or fully cut out of the frame more often than desirable. I partially corrected this problem by finding some prescription swim goggles (quite cheap!), snorkel and swim shoes. This combination allowed me to get in the water and behind the camera. After a little practice, filming the different species in such a way as to not intimidate them became easier.
Another issue that I had is obvious at different parts of the film – early stage hypothermia. Although these clips were made on some of the hottest days of the summer, these spring-fed streams cooled me down so much that I could not control my limbs from shaking. I am considering investing in a wet suit to avoid this in the future.
This activity helped start me on knowing Missouri’s fishes a bit better. I had never given much thought, but so many species have to be in-hand in order to get a proper identification (at least by me).
Long-eared Sunfish
The Long-eared Sunfish were incredibly brilliant. When filmed in less than three feet of water under direct sunlight, the colors dazzled.
Smallmouth Bass
The Smallmouth Bass were quite common, slowly patrolling the pools that were their private hunting grounds.
Hogsucker
The bottom feeding Hogsucker were one of my favorites. Quite colorful and contrastingly patterned, they could still disappear easily on the sun-dappled stream bottoms.
Green Sunfish
The Green Sunfish were one of the most common and surely the least shy stars of the film. Quite often they would inspect the camera and our skin with their mouths.
Minnow
Even with field guides I find it impossible to name some of the minnows. These guys were surprisingly large. I think they may be a shiner species, but am unsure.
Red Horse
There were many large Red Horse species found in deeper stretches of the streams.
Spotted Bass
This was the only Spotted Bass individual we were to come across.
Darter
Greenside or Johnny Darter? I just can’t say.
Yellow Bullhead
The star of the film? I think so…
Wood Duck Drake
The out-of-water footage was taken via canoe along the upper stretches of the Jack’s Fork River. A terrific trip we had, back in May, where the weather was fine and the birds were plentiful. Getting to know the underwater vertebrates really helps to appreciate the roles many of the birds play along an Ozark stream and how all the members of this intertwined ecosystem make their respective livings. This Wood Duck drake posed for a short time towards the end of the day.
Osprey
Finding an Osprey is a telltale sign that there is a quality fish community below our seats.
Broad-winged Hawk
The high-pitch sound of the Broad-winged Hawk almost always precedes a look. This was no exception.
Green Heron
Green Heron know where the fish are to be found as well.
Spotted Sandpiper
Typically, if you spot a shorebird along an Ozark stream bank, it will be the Spotted Sandpiper. Look for the indicative bobbing of the tail as it makes its way along the rocky shores.
Common Map Turtles
Common Map Turtles were found anywhere they could get a surface on which to bask. They were so keen on heating themselves up that we were allowed to float by at pretty close distances before they took the plunge back into the water. These guys will feed on the invertebrates such as mollusks and arthropods as well as any fish they are able to catch.
Bald Eagle
Finally, it just isn’t a trip out to any significant Missouri waterway without finding a Bald Eagle or two.
This warm season, including this spring at Quivira, I finally took some time to get to know the Swallows a little better, not only in visual description, but in song, behavior and flight. Other than their beauty, I find the Barn Swallows to be the most gracefully designed and beautiful fliers of their kind. With their long, forked tail and sleek and slender wings, I am sure they could beat any other swallow in a dogfight. It’s a simple pleasure to watch them swoop down, mere inches above a field to catch an insect on the wing, to then see them rise a few hundred feet while banking and rolling. Their varied and constant chatter ranks among my favorites as well.
Cliff Swallow
Pete Dunne most appropriately describes the Cliff Swallow as a “…husky crop-tailed Barn Swallow wearing a miner’s lamp.” Another gorgeous swallow, this species is very communal and will often nest in the hundreds or thousands together, making gourd-shaped nests out of mud. The image below shows a few birds collecting mud on the banks of a stream that runs through Quivira.
The mimicry that insects exhibit can be astounding. Walking around Shaw Nature Reserve this summer, I noticed quite a fresh and disgusting looking bird dropping on a small bush near the trail. Something made me take a closer glance and I discovered it wasn’t a poop at all, but a caterpillar. The caterpillar was an early instar of the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly (Family Papilionidae). These caterpillars feed on member of the citrus family, the Rutacea, and this individual was found on a small hop bush. Youngsters like this one will most often be found directly on the surface of a leaf (as poops are most likely to be found), while older stages are likely to be found on leaf petioles or slender branches. In citrus production areas of the south, these guys have the nickname “Orange Dogs” due to their dietary needs. They can be considered a pest in such situations. Unfortunately, I forgot that, if harassed these guys will evert a pair of bright red structures called osmeterium. The function of these organs appears to be defensive in multiple ways. Often brightly colored, they can look quite like the forked tongue of a snake, and go along with other morphological adaptations in some members of the swallowtails in making them appear like a snake. In addition, numerous chemical compounds can be released with the osmeterium that have been shown to repel ants and other potential insect predators.
Giant Swallowtail
Moving from bird droppings to the droppings of a caterpillar we come to this fascinating creature that is most often found on raspberry bushes. A member of the diverse family of beetles – the Chrysomelidae, this Warty Leaf Beetle (Pacybrachis nigricornis), will tuck in its appendages and drop, looking exactly like a caterpillar’s droppings, or “frass” (anyone remember the action figures from the 80s, the Rock Lords?).
Warty Leaf Beetle
-OZB
References
Marshall, S.A. 2006. Insects Their Natural History and Diversity. Firefly Books Ltd.
Evans, A.V. 2014. Beetles of Eastern North America. Princetone University Press.
Damman, H. 1986. The osmeterial glands of the swallowtail butterfly Eurytides Marcellus as a defense against natural enemies. Ecol.Entomol. 11: 261-265.
Tonight I am sharing a few miscellaneous shorebirds. First up to bat is a shorebird that isn’t much of a shorebird at all – the Upland Sandpiper. So named due to its preference for higher and drier habitat, the Upland Sandpiper can be found in fields and meadows. Look for it on a typically elevated perch and find it by its haunting song.
Red-necked Phalarope
With a ratio of what must have been close to 1000:1, the Wilson’s Phalarope greatly outnumbers any other Phalarope. However, Steve and I were still able to find and ID a couple of Red-necked Phalarope in winter plumage, as pictured above.
Black-necked Stilt
A true wetland favorite, the Black-necked Stilt is as pleasing to watch for its behavior as it is a piece of natural art.
Willet
As stout and cute as a Bulldog puppy, Willets are always a site for sore eyes.
Willet
On our last evening and during our very few hours of decent, golden hour light Steve and watched a number of Willets and Avocets feeding in the shallows near the road.
Earlier this spring I watched with anticipation as a pair of Flickers inspected a potential nest cavity in a wood lot where I work. I watched over several mornings as they came and went and made a ruckus. Here, the male admires the view from the front door.
Northern Flicker – Female
The female is pictured above, inspecting the potential nest sight.
No Thanks!
But alas, for whatever reason, the pair decided this wasn’t the spot for them this year. Ah well.
Tonight we have a couple of native bees photographed this summer at Shaw’s Nature Reserve. I may very well be incorrect, but I believe the bee pictured above is a Mining bee in the family Andrenidae. I would love to know how much pollen is taken away in a season by these guys.
Sweat Bee
The final two photos show a sweat bee (Halactidae). These are quite challenging to photograph, but worth the effort.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 