DATE: TUESDAY, NOV. 20^th, 2007

PROGRAM: “The Search for Lost Habitats”

SPEAKER: Perry K. Peskin

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

PLACE: Willoughby Public Library

Local author and nature photographer Perry K. Peskin joins us as our featured speaker, presenting a slide program excerpted from his book, The Search for Lost Habitats: 30 Years of Exploring for Rare and Endangered Plants – Book I

His travels have produced thousands of color photographs of notable plants. Some habitats were more widespread before European settlement, agriculture and development. Others, like railroad prairies, are the result of human disturbance, producing what appear to be wastelands, but which actually nourish a distinctive flora. Perhaps most important of all is …..Lost Habitats’ conservation message: saving rare habitats will save rare plants.

Peskin grew up in a small Appalachian town, where he fell in love with the mountains and ample wild areas near his home. In high school, he toyed with the ideas of becoming a park naturalist and a farmer. He eventually moved to a career in writing and became a high school English teacher although his teaching certificate also listed biology. Peskin has called Northeast Ohio home for over 50 years and has been immersed in its diverse and captivating natural beauty. Peskin, a volunteer botanist, has been active in organizations involved in preserving the environment and has been able to explore first-hand, and in some cases report on environmentally fragile habitats.

After the slide presentation, you will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of ….. Lost Habitats.

DATE: TUESDAY, JAN. 15^th, 2008

PROGRAM: "Hawks and Owls of the

Eastern U.S "

SPEAKER: Gary Meszaros

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

PLACE: PENITENTIARY GLEN

It used to be, in days long ago (like the 70's or 80’s!!), that Birding (and it was called 'Birdwatching' then!!) was an activity that took place mostly in the Spring and consisted of mostly looking for Perching (or 'Passerine') birds that were migrating through the parks and wild places (and there were a lot more of those 'wild places' left in those 'old days’!!). Of course there were a few folks who looked for Ducks earlier in the Spring; and even a few guys who were looking for Shorebirds in the late Summer and early Fall, but those guys were kind of rare.

And as for Hawk or Owl Watching, hardly anyone did that at all. Seeing a Hawk or Owl was always a serendipitous thing --- if you saw a Hawk (usually a Red Tail Hawk around here) or heard an Owl (usually a Screech Owl, Barred Owl, or Great Horned Owl), it certainly was not an every day thing and you certainly didn't plan for it at all. And if you actually SAW an Owl, that was a very lucky thing, maybe only happening one or twice a year.

But, even then, our Speaker this month, GARY MESZAROS, was actively going out and looking for Hawks and Owls, as well as all the other Birds. He did that in order to take their pictures! These kinds of Birds have very good eyesight and are not easy to sneak up on and take a photograph of them. But he has been doing just that for many years and has gotten very good at it and has taken some very nice photographs. Pictures you‘ve probably seen in the many books and magazine that his photos have appeared in.

Gary, a retired Art Teacher, is well known throughout Ohio as one of the finest photographers in the whole state. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources certainly thinks so, as they have often used his photographs on their posters and in their brochures! This month, he is here with us to show us a number of those very special pictures and tell us the stories on how he got those pictures. So join us in January for a fun and informative evening!

DIRECTIONS TO PENETENTIARY GLEN: from the Lakeland College Exit of I-90 (SR 306//I-90); pass the college and GO SOUTH on SR 306 and down the hill; STOP at the Stop Light at the bottom; TURN LEFT (East) for ¼ mile to next Stop Light; then RIGHT (South) on Kirtland-Chardon Road; DRIVE UP the Hill and EAST for 3 miles “PG” is on your right!

DIRECTIONS to Willoughby library: The Willoughby Public Library is located at 30 Public Square in historic downtown Willoughby. Free parking is available in the rear of the building as well as in the municipal parking lot across the square.

NOTE: There is no meeting in December! Why not take part in our Xmas Bird Count instead?

ACTIVITIES

NOVEMBER ACTIVITY

DATE: SUNDAY, NOV. 18^th, 2007

ACTIVITY: Lake Watch

TIME: 9:30 a.m.

PLACE: Presque Isle State Park

Meet at the Nature Center parking lot.

This month we will be exploring Presque Isle State Park in Erie PA in hopes of finding various waterfowl such as loons, grebes, swans and many species of ducks. With a little luck we may spot scoters, Snow geese and with MORE luck a Brant. Besides overlooking the bays and lake we will search out some land birds in many of the trails that are available in this pristine area.

If the "weather gods" are with us, this should be one of our best trips this season. Dress for the weather, bring a scope if you have one and lets enjoy the day.

We will carpool, so if you want a ride or can drive please RSVP to Jim McConnor at 440-257-2507 by Nov.14th so we can co-ordinate the trip. It takes about 1hour 45 minutes, as it is 86 miles. If you need directions please call Jim. In case of very inclement weather (meaning lots of snow), this trip may be cancelled, so call Jim if it looks questionable.

DECEMBER ACTIVITY

DATE: SUNDAY, DEC. 22^nd, 2007 ACTIVITY: MENTOR XMAS BIRD COUNT

TIME: all day!

PLACE: Lake County, Ohio

The date for our Christmas Bird Count will be on the ‘normal’ day we always try to have it: the “4^th Saturday in December”. This year, that’s the 22^nd and two days before Christmas Eve. So most of us won’t be in full Christmas mode yet and will be ready and able to bird all day Saturday. At least we hope so.

Christmas Bird Counts have been an Audubon tradition since 1900, when some Birdwatchers in Massachusetts and a few other states decided to count birds on that day rather than shoot them.

But Blackbrook and the folks in Lake County have only been doing the Christmas Count since the 1940’s, and not even every year. But since the late sixties, Blackbrook has regularly gone out in the field for both fun and counting. This year, our chapter will do it once again; why don’t you come with us?

If you’d like to join one of the happy (but usually cold) groups that are going out in the fields and forest to count birds, call Anders at (440) 257-7611 OR e-mail him at deneb59@hotmail.com !! Even if you’d like to help for a few hours or all day!

Or if you would like to help, but would rather stay home, why not become one of our “FEEDER COUNTERS”? These folks spend a few minutes a day to count the birds at their Bird Feeders and later report the results at the phone number OR the e-mail ’address’ above. We can use as many Feeder Counters as we can get!! Christmas Birds Counts can be fun for everyone!

JANUARY ACTIVITY

DATE: Sunday January 20th 2008

ACTIVITY: Geauga County Amish Areas

TIME: 9:00 A.M.

PLACE: Meet at Best Lake parking lot

This year our annual trek to Geauga County will be one month earlier than in years past with hopes that Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs will be more abundant. Of course we will be watching for Rough-legged Hawks and other wintering raptors. Last years results, although acceptable, were not as we had hoped, so possibly going a little earlier will bring more sightings. We will carpool from Best Lake, which is just south of Chardon on the right-hand side of Ohio Route 44. So dress for the weather, scopes are very helpful, and lets have fun.

If you need more info please call Jim McConnor at 440-257-2507.

A Holiday Gift Idea

Do you have someone on your holiday gift list who is difficult to buy for? Is this person interested in nature? Then why not consider getting them a membership in Friends of Blackbrook. We will put them on our mailing list and send them the Hushwing Herald four times a year to keep them abreast of all the great activities that Blackbrook has planned. What’s even better is that you and they will know that you are helping Blackbrook continue to provide opportunities for people to learn about and enjoy nature. And of course, Blackbrook is a 501(c)3 organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Friends of Blackbrook Audubon

Name ____________________________

Address __________________________

_________________________________

City ___________ State ___ Zip _______

Amount of Donation: ___ $20 ____ $30

___ $40 ____ Other

Please make checks payable to: Blackbrook Audubon Society and mail to: James McConnor 5758 Beech Dr. Mentor on the Lake, OH 44060

Or call (440) 257-2507 for more information on the benefits associated with each kind of membership.

FROM the DESK of the PRESIDENT

by Nancy Dilgren

angydy@earthlink.net

This has been a busy fall for Blackbrook. On September 30th, we had a table at the Wildlife Festival at Penitentiary Glen. Our table was located close to the one occupied by The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. They had brought along some of their avian ambassadors including a bald eagle; so many people were attracted to the area, stopping to talk to us after they visited with the raptors. Mary Ann’s dog Wendy accompanied her and she encouraged others to stop at our table.

This year Holden Arboretum changed the focus of their beer tasting – Nature’s Brew – to include several ecological organizations. Blackbrook was one of the groups invited to attend and we (Mary Ann, Becky and I along with a couple helpers) spent a pleasant evening listening to the music, eating food and talking to some of the attendees. Admittedly beer took center stage, but we did have several interested persons visit the table.

If you remember, in the last issue we mentioned Green Energy Ohio’s Solar Tours. I had taken the East of Cleveland tour last year, so this year I thought it would be interesting to try one of the Metro tours and chose the one that went to the West Side. We started at the Great Lakes Science Center and learned about their solar array and wind turbine. Next it was on to Jacobs Field to visit their Solar Pavilion. We dodged the crews cleaning up after the previous night’s playoff game and then climbed the four long flights of stairs to the upper level where the solar panels are located. Right now these panels only produce a very small amount of the total electricity needed at Jacobs Field, but if they prove successful, the Indians plan on adding more green energy in the future.

The next stop was Cleveland Fire Station 20. Since firefighting tends to be a dirty job and clean up requires a lot of hot water, their efforts are directed towards preheating the water that goes into the hot water tanks. Less energy is then needed to finish raising the temperature to the desired level. The solar coils are located on the roof. Since this was a quite warm – make that hot – day, the asphalt roof was a bit uncomfortable. At least there was only one flight of stairs involved and our lunch followed.

After lunch, it was on to EcoVillage to see some green private residences. The homeowner who had planned to show his house was unable to be there, so we only got to see the outsides of the houses. After that it was on to the Cleveland Environmental Center. We toured some of the offices located here and learned how the building had been remodeled into a green structure. Then it was up a few more flights of stairs (we certainly had a good workout by the end of the day!) so we could visit the green roof (the same idea as that used at West Woods) and also see their solar panels.

Our next stop was at Great Lakes Brewing Company. We were able to tour the brewing facilities where our guide explained how they make their beer as well as pointing out all the energy saving features. Much of their light comes from windows and skylights, motion detectors turn off lights as soon as people leave the rooms and recycled paper is used for labels and boxes. They even have a couple vehicles that burn the used oil from the fryers in the kitchens. And yes, anyone who wanted was able to sample the beer.

The final stop was out at Edgewater Park to view the intake crib where they hope to erect some test turbines to evaluate the possibility of a wind farm on Lake Erie. It would be the first wind farm on fresh water in the world. I questioned whether they had considered what effect this would have on birds flying over the lake. The answer was that the slower turbine speeds are not particular harmful to birds. This may be true, but I think it is something that Blackbrook and others who care about birds will need to keep their eye on.

I hope many of you have had a chance to get out and enjoy nature this fall and spend some time with the colorful foliage and migrating birds. And please join us for our biweekly IBA walks at Big Creek, the field trip to Presque Isle in November and Christmas Bird Count in December.

Audubon Adventures

in Local Classrooms

Update from Rebecca Thompson.

In September of 2007 with donations from Bird-a-thon and Cleveland Indian Raffle Tickets, Blackbrook distributed Audubon Adventures to 116 classrooms plus 1 Nature Center. AUDUBON ADVENTURES is an environmental education curriculum for children in grades 3 to 5. Each classroom curriculum contains four sets of newsletters and a teacher workbook which contain hands-on classroom activities. Each classroom kit costs $50.00

It’s not too late! If you are interested in donating or want to support a specific classroom please contact Blackbrook. See contact information on the back of this newsletter.

FUN FACT: While it appears owls can turn their heads completely around, they can actually only complete 3/4 of a circle. A headache for us humans any way you measure it!

Owl Basics: Give a Hoot

From National Audubon sources.

There are 130 different kinds of owls found all over the world. They hunt in varied habitats, from the snow-covered regions near the North Pole to deep forests near the tropics. You may also see them along highways or perched in a tree in a city park.

Owls and people have lived close together for a long time. Owls appear in cave paintings and in the myths of many languages. Yet humans have always had mixed feelings about them. We like owls because their faces remind us of human faces and we say they look "wise." However, there are still some people who are afraid of owls. The lives of these night hunters seem mysterious and their calls may terrify listeners who can't identify them.

Not only are owls great to look at, but they actually help humans. Researchers collected pellets of barn owls, analyzed them and kept records for many months. Results from this study showed that the barn owls ate small rodents of all kinds. Two parent owls and their six owlets ate 1,000 mice, shrews and rats during a three-month period! And everyone knows how fast rodents reproduce; just imagine if we didn't have owls around to keep rodent numbers in check! Studies like this prove the helpful role that owls play in nature.

Owls That Can Use Your Help

I. Quote about Geology in Ohio:

By Anders Fjeldstad

“ ...geology is a subject that is all-encompassing. It is behind much of what we do [ in Ohio ]. Just as it underlies the development of Ohio’s industrial and geographic growth, it also defines its scenery [ as well as which plants can grow in the different parts of the state ! ] . The flat plains of northwestern Ohio owe their makeup to the ice sheets that covered the region and to waves and currents that washed the shores of Lake Erie’s predecessors. The Lake Erie coast attracts people to its pleasant views and numerous recreational opportunities. Its shape and composition are dependent on wave and current action, but the lake is not very old geologically speaking [ it’s only about 5,000 years old ! ]. The Ohio River defines Ohio’s southern boundary; surprisingly, it’s a relatively recent addition to Ohio too. The hills of eastern and southeastern Ohio --- some of the oldest landscape in the state --- represent areas the glaciers and glacial lakes left relatively untouched. Streams produce their rugged beauty. Anyone who has been to Hocking Hills State Park or other scenic areas within the uplands has witnessed its natural beauty composed of rock shelters, high cliffs, and waterfalls. Ohio has many great park systems ranging from its only national park, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, to a wonderful series of state, county, township, and municipal parks. Most owe their redeeming features to geology. ”

--- MARK CAMP --- in his excellent new ( well, 2006 ) book, “Roadside Geology of Ohio” which explains all about Ohio’s bedrock (hundreds of millions of years old) and the glacial soils on top of the bedrock (less than 2 million to only thousands of years old); what’s interesting about Ohio is there is a very long gap between the bedrock and the glacial soils; there is simply no rock record or remnants for all of the Mesozoic Era (think of the 150 million year reign of the Dinosaurs!) as well as for most of the Cenozoic Era (think of the rise of the Mammals in the last 60 million years).

So, in Ohio, we have very old bedrock and very young (geologically speaking ) loose soils. Both of these have combined to influence what we do here in Ohio (farming, mining, steel making, and the huge sand, grave, and ceramic industries) as well as where we live here in Ohio (with most of us living along the Lake or the major river systems).

This book, published in 2006 by Mountain Press, takes us throughout the state and shows all the various geological points of interest. After reading this book, you too can get in the car and follow along physically! What a great book!

II. Ohio Flint:

When we think of Ohio, Minerals don‘t normally come to mind. But Ohio‘s Minerals (those being the naturally occurring solids made of Elements or compounds of Elements and, in turn, make up the various types of rocks that can be found in Ohio) are an aspect of its geology and its economy and, in Ohio, are all found in sediments and sedimentary rocks. You probably don’t realize that Ohio leads the nation in the production of Limestone and Dolomite, and is second in the production of clays (to make bricks, pottery, roof tiles and drain tiles). The more famous iron, petroleum, natural gas, and coal --- well, Ohio is farther down the list in their production.

Gems are a certain, special type of Mineral. And Ohio is unique in the fact that we have but a single gemstone occurring in the state. Ah, but what an exceptional gem! And that gem is FLINT! Ohio has two types of Flint: one is called the Upper Mercer Flint and is found in outcrops in Hocking, Perry, and Coshocton Counties. It’s a more normal looking Flint being blackish or grayish and sometimes dark bluish.

Arrow head 012 Right

Arrow head 022 Right The more renowned “Ohio Flint” is called Vanport Flint and it is both highly colorful (being a colorful mixture of browns and tans and reds and greens as well as other colors!!) and of exceptionally high quality (it’s extremely hard and very durable). This special Flint is found in the 8 mile long, ¹/₂ mile or so wide, and east-to-west running Flint Ridge. And Flint Ridge itself is found in eastern Ohio about halfway between Columbus and Zanesville and a few miles north of I-70. Here, all along Flint Ridge, there are hundreds of pits and quarries made by American Indians, who dug up this special Flint to make their axes and knives, scrapers and cutters, as well as arrowheads and spear points. The Native Americans also traded these Flint tools far and wide and these Flint artifacts are found all over the eastern United States. And when the early pioneers moved in, they too dug up this Flint to use, but they used it in their flintlock rifles and to start fires as well as to make burrstones to grind grain and sharpen steel tools. Nowadays, people still use this Flint, but now they make jewelry from it --- rings & necklaces, pins & bracelets, and yes, the ubiquitous bolo tie! It’s both beautiful and very durable.

As for Flint Ridge, in 1933, the Ohio Historical Society purchased some of the land hereabouts for preservation and established the “Flint Ridge Sate Memorial” on a 535 acre section. In 1968, they built a Museum over one of the larger Indian pits. You can visit this Museum and see some of the other outdoor pits (but you can’t pick up any of the Flint!) if you get off I-70 at Exit #141 at Brownsville and drive about 5 miles north on Route 668. The Museum is open during the summer on Wednesdays through Sundays. And in September and October, it’s open on weekends.

Arrow head 023 Right To far for you to drive? If you see me [Anders] at the November meeting, I’ll have a few pieces of Flint in my pockets for you to peruse; but not to take, remember, Flint’s a valuable gem!!

Looking for those great spots to go birding in Ohio?

[Ed-Here are some recommendations from Anders taken from an e-mail response to a fellow birder passing through Ohio.]

(1) Just Google up "OHIO HOTSPOTS" (at camacdonald.com) and this will give you a nice short list with a number of links for places to bird in Ohio;

(2) OR Google up the "OHIO ORNITHILOGICAL SOCIETY" (at ohiobirds.org) and check out their "Ohio Birding Site Guide" for places to bird in Ohio;

(3) OR Google up the "KIRTLAND BIRD CLUB" (at kirtlandbirdclub.org), enter the site, click on "Links" near the bottom left of the front page for a number of local places to bird in and around Cleveland;

(4) There is no "Birding Trail" for Ohio like there is for many states; you sort of have to plan your own route and make your own; so #1 will give you the few sites in Ohio that you 'must visit' !!

A Quote to ponder:

I believe a leaf of grass is no less
than the journey-work of the stars

--Walt Whitman

BLACKBROOK AUDUBON SOCIETY

PO Box 1306

Mentor, OH 44060-1306

Nancy Dilgren - President

Bruce Roberts - Editor

Some flighty humor:

1) Why are there two doors on a chicken coupe? If it had four doors it would be a chicken sedan!

2) A man was driving along a freeway when he noticed a chicken running alongside his car. He was amazed to see the chicken keeping up with him, as he was doing 50 mph. He accelerated to 60, and the chicken stayed right next to him. He sped up to 75 mph, and the chicken passed him. The man noticed that the chicken had three legs. So he followed the chicken down a road and ended up at a farm. He got out of his car and saw that all the chickens had three legs. He asked the farmer, "What's up with these chickens?" The farmer said "Well, everybody likes chicken legs, so I bred a three-legged bird. I'm going to be a millionaire." The man asked him how they tasted. The farmer said, "Don't know, haven't caught one yet."

UPCOMING EVENTS

Owl Basics: Give a Hoot

Bruce Roberts - Editor