Fowler’s Toad

Posted on September 20, 2015 by tspuckler

This toad looks similar to the American Toad, though it is slightly smaller and has several subtle distinguishing features. The easiest way to identify it is that it has three or more warts within each dark spot on its back.

I have almost always found this amphibian in sandy habitats, such as woodlands, meadows, prairies, sand dunes and lake shores. It prefers areas with loose soil that it can easily burrow into. Its skin is warty and bumpy. Toads have two kidney-shaped, raised parotid glands just behind their eyes that contain toxins. This is how these relatively slow-moving creatures prevent themselves from being eaten by predators.

Toads have big appetites and are considered to be beneficial to man, as they use their long tongues to snap up insects and other invertebrates. Fowler’s Toads are solitary, except when they congregate in shallow pools to breed in the spring. Their call is not as melodious as the trill of the American Toad; the Fowler Toad’s song sounds more like a buzzy quack.

I find this amphibian more often in other states than in my home state of Ohio, and I always enjoys coming across it in the wild.

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Pickerelweed

Posted on September 12, 2015 by tspuckler

Pickerelweed is an aquatic plant which grows to about two feet tall. It can be found growing shallow freshwater, such as marshes, pond edges, lakes, and streamsides. The leaves of this plant are large and heart-shaped, growing up to 10 inches long.

This plant is most often recognized by its beautiful flowers. Pickerelweed has large spikes with clusters of violet-blue flowers. Each flower is small, less than half an inch wide. It has a small yellow spot on one petal.

The nectar from their flowers attracts many insects, including bees and butterflies. Pickerelweed blooms mainly in late Summer and early Autumn. Bees and other insects pollinate the flowers. After a flower has been pollinated, it dies and a fruit grows.

The each fruit contains a seed. The seeds serve as a food source for ducks and muskrats. The leaves of this plant are eaten by Muskrat, White-tailed Deer and waterfowl.

The parts of the plant that are underwater provide habitat for tiny water creatures. Pickerel Weed is utilized by humans too, as a landscaping plant in water gardens.

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Fantail Darter

Posted on September 5, 2015 by tspuckler

Fantail darters have a long, slender body shape with a rounded tail. They have a straight-forward pointing mouth and pointed snout. Unlike some other Ohio darters, they have no bright colors on their body, only shades of brown.

These fish Fantail darters are well distributed throughout Ohio. They are most abundant in medium to small streams in the range of 20-40 feet wide. They are found in slower riffles or pools under flat slabs of rock. I often see them in Chippewa Creek in Brecksville Reservation.

The Darter Family has the second largest number of species of freshwater fishes in North America (only the minnow family has more species). Currently there are about 165 species of darters known and all reside in North America.

Fantail Darters are rather tolerant of pollution and turbid muddy waters and are usually the last darter species to disappear from badly polluted streams. Depending on the size of the specific darter, they can eat anything from tiny insects to larger insects and larva.

Darters usually rest on the bottom. When disturbed, they dart away quickly to a hiding place, which accounts for their common name.

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Liverwort

Posted on August 29, 2015 by tspuckler

Although hardly noticed by most of us, Liverwort is fascinating. In terms of the evolution of life on Earth, this plant type is old. About 400,000,000 years old. They existed a long, long time before more advanced plants such as flowering plants, ferns and mosses appeared on the planet.

They still utilize their primative features to this day. Instead of bearing regular roots, they have simple, one-celled appendages known as rhizoids. There is no vascular system, a characteristic of modern plants, to transport water, nutrients and other materials.

Liverworts are usually found in damp places. I often see them on the sides of rocks in woodland waterways. A number of species are aquatic; they grow on the water’s surface like mini Lily Pads.

Like the mosses, liverwort leaves are only one cell layer thick. These cells are usually isodiametric, meaning, the cell is as long as it is wide.

Liverworts got their name because long ago the people who named them felt that the curious arrangement of cells on the surface of some Liverworts was similar to the cell arrangement in actual livers taken from animals.

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Spiny Softshell

Posted on August 22, 2015 by tspuckler

This is an odd turtle, not only does it have a relatively soft shell, it also looks like a pancake and has a snorkel-like nose. I have occasionally seen them basking on the banks of the Cuyahoga River as well as some other rivers.

These reptiles have leathery shells and lack the bony plates that other hard-shelled turtles have. Spiny Softshells are essentially river turtles that prefer relatively shallow water with a sand or soft mud bottom.

They are very wary and will often dive into the water at the slightest hint of danger. Another common habit they have is to settle on the bottom of a riverbed and flip sand and mud up onto its back, completely burying itself. Usually it lies just deep enough for its long, pointed snout to reach the surface for air.

They have a mostly carnivorous diet consisting of frogs, tadpoles, fish, worms, aquatic insects, mollusks and their favorite food – crayfish. Though they prefer animal foods, spiny softshells have also been known to eat plants.

Along the front of the upper shell of some softshells are spines (or more often, bumps). This rough texture is what distinguishes the “spiny” species from the similar Smooth Softshell Turtle.

Females of this species can get up around 18 inches in shell length, while males are about half that size. The flattened shell allows this turtle to be able to speed through the water faster than most aquatic species. Although I don’t come across them very often, I always enjoy encountering these reptile oddities in the field.

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House Finch

Posted on August 15, 2015 by tspuckler

This was originally a species of western United States and Mexico. In 1940 a small number of House Finches, which at the time were kept as caged pets, were released on Long Island, New York.

The birds spread westward and were first recorded in Ohio in 1964. By the mid 1980s they had colonized the entire Buckeye State and by the early 1990s they occupied all of the eastern United States. They eventually reached their original western population.

Adult males vary in color from orange-yellow to bright red. They derive their color from the pigments that are obtained from their diet of seeds, flowers and fruit. Females and immature birds are brownish and lack the bright colors of adult males.

Studies indicate that the most brightly colored males are more successful at attracting mates than their duller counterparts.

These days House Finches are particularly abundant in suburban areas. These small songbirds are often seen at birdfeeders. Though not native to Ohio, most people don’t seem to mind these adaptable, colorful and cheery-voiced creatures.

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Wild Leek

Posted on August 8, 2015 by tspuckler

Walking along Chippewa Creek in Brecksville Reservation, I noticed an unusual looking flower – Wild Leek. The flowers form in sphere-shaped clusters.

Its preference is dappled sunlight during the Spring when the leaves develop, while during the summer considerable shade is tolerated as the leaves have withered away. .

The presence of this species is a sign that the original flora of a woodlands is still in intact. Its flowers attract various kinds of bees, including masked bees, honeybees, bumblebees and mason bees.

This woodland wildflower is somewhat unusual because its foliage has withered away by the time the flowers bloom. Both the foliage and flowers are attractive; the latter help to brighten the gloomy corners of woodlands during the summer.

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Ravine Salamander

Posted on August 2, 2015 by tspuckler

This amphibian can easily be mistaken for the “leadback” phase of a Redback Salamander. It has short limbs and is somewhat worm-like in appearance and movement.

The background color is brownish black to black and flecked with a varying amount of fine silvery white to golden specks. This is Ohio’s most slender salamander. One-half of this animal’s total length is made up of its tail.

Ravine Salamanders reside in forests and are often found on the slopes of valleys and ravines where it lives among the leaf litter, hiding under logs, stones or stumps. Unlike many amphibians, this creature completely terrestrial, laying eggs on land. The eggs hatch as tiny juveniles.

During Spring and Fall they can be found on the surface under leaf litter and other debris, but they burrow into the ground or retreat into deep, moist crevices to avoid the warmer temperatures of Summer.

Adult Ravine Salamanders are 3–4½ inches in total length. They are found in eastern Kentucky, Ohio, southern West Virginia, western Virginia, northwestern North Carolina and northeastern Tennessee.

This is a species of amphibian is in the “lungless salamander” family, which contains many species. Like other members of its genus, Ravine Salamanders lack lungs and conduct respiration through their skin and lining of their mouths. For this reason they need damp conditions in order to function.

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Puffballs

Posted on July 25, 2015 by tspuckler

A Puffball is a type of mushroom that looks like a ball when it matures. Once mature, it splits open, or a perforation develops on surface of the ball, through which the spores escape. Some sort of disturbance is needed to cause the spores to eject, like raindrops landing on the Puffball, wind, or an animal brushing up against it.

These mushrooms differ widely in size and texture, from tiny species that grow in clusters on wood, to large, terrestrial species growing in fairy rings in meadows. Earthstar Puffballs have layer of fruit body tissue that splits open in a star-like manner.

Puffballs follow the same life cycle but look different than the typical mushroom with which you might be familiar. When sliced open, puffballs contain only flesh or, if they have matured, spore dust.

Some types of these mushrooms have tradtionally been used for medicine as well as food. Not to mention that they perform the important feat of breaking down once-living matter to release carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other matter back into the soil and atmosphere.

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Sowbug Killer

Posted on July 18, 2015 by tspuckler

Even for someone who likes “creepy crawlies” this spider, also known as a Woodlouse Hunter, isn’t particularly attractive. This spider’s favorite meal is the sowbug, also known as pill bug, wood louse, or roly poly, depending on where you live. They are easy to identify as they typically have a red head and legs and ivory abdomen. Females are almost twice as large as males.

This spider is an active hunter, but it does have a lair. Inside its hideout, the remains of previous meals can often be found. The Sowbug Killer not form webs to catch its food. Instead, it finds a prey item and uses its giant jaws to stab it in an ambush attack. Though scary looking, spider is not aggressive, and its venom isn’t particularly potent.

I tend to find them under rocks, flower pots and logs – all places where sowbugs regularly occur. They are equally at home in urban, suburban and rural areas as are their favorite prey item (sow bugs). Sowbug Killers don’t mind living close to humans and are found mainly in urban gardens, fields and parks.

They take about 18 months to mature and then may survive an additional year or two. Aside from looking a freeakishly spooky, this creature goes about doing exactly what it’s name implies – killing sowbugs.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Fowler’s Toad

Pickerelweed

Fantail Darter

Liverwort

Spiny Softshell

House Finch

Wild Leek

Ravine Salamander

Puffballs

Sowbug Killer