Sandhill cranes

Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, September 30, 2019.  There were about forty sandhill cranes in this field when I got there.  After a few minutes most of them flew off.   This is a view from the crane observation deck overlooking the Goose Pasture Viewing Area.

Link to sandhill cranes fall migration:

Link to sandhill cranes:

These two sandhill cranes were seen at Prophetstown State Park, October 5, 2019.  This near a prairie burned area.

Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly

Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly (Cupido comyntas) perched on a smartweed (Persicaria sp.).  Faint orange spots at the bottom of the hindwing.  Warren County, August 21, 2019.

According to Belth's Butterflies of Indiana, the Eastern Tailed-Blue is "The most frequently encountered blue butterfly in Indiana."

Link to Cupido comyntas:

Pearl Crescent

Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos).  Warren County, August 21, 2019.

According to Belth's Butterflies of Indiana, the Pearl Crescent is "abundant statewide in virtually any open habitat where asters grow."

Link to Phyciodes tharos:

Fowler's toad

Fowler's toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) at Kankakee Sands Nature Preserve, on the trail that goes up the sand hill next to the bison viewing parking lot.  Lots of these little toads were hopping around here.  Newton County.  Photo taken August 14, 2019.

Link to Fowler's toad:

Link to Fowler's toad:

Cottonweed

Cottonweed (Froelichia floridana) at Kankakee Sands Nature Preserve, Newton County.  This is on the sand hill next to the bison viewing parking lot.  Photo taken August 14, 2019.

Link to Froelichia floridana:

Link to Froelichia floridana:

Barn swallow nest

Barn swallow nest, under the eaves of the nature center building at Versailles State Park, Ripley County, August 8, 2019.

There were several more active nests at this building.  Barn swallows were seen flying around here, flying to and from these nests.

Link to Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica):

Link to Versailles State Park:

Wabash River, August 3, 2019.

A nice view of the Wabash from the pedestrian bridge at Lafayette, looking upstream.  Photo taken August 3, 2019.

Link to Wabash River levels:

Cedar waxwings were perched on tree branches on the right side of the river and flew out over the water hawking for insects, then returning to the branches.

Link to hawking in birds:

Link to video of cedar waxwings hawking:

A huge school of hundreds of carp were seen just looking down on the river from this vantage point.  Carp were big, each about 2 ft. long, floating close to the river surface.  

Disonycha flea beetle

Flea beetle, Disonycha sp.  Photo taken earlier this year, May 22, 2019, downtown Lafayette.

Link to Disonycha:

Link to flea beetles:

Cicada killer wasp

A cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus) catches a cicada.  Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, August 5, 2019.

Link to Sphecius speciosus:

Meadow beauty

Meadow beauty (Rhexia virginica) on Trail 8, Sand Hill Nature Preserve, at Tippecanoe River State Park, Pulaski County.  Photo taken July 27, 2019.

Link to Tippecanoe River State Park:

A close-up view of the previous photo, showing the curious flower structure of Rhexia virginica.

Rhexia virginica, at Fisher Oak Savanna Nature Preserve, Newton County.  Photo taken August 2, 2019.

Link to Fisher Oak Savanna:


Link to Rhexia virginica:

Link to Rhexia virginica:

Rhexia is the only genus in the Melastomataceae plant family native to Indiana.  Most species of Melastomataceae are in tropical parts of the world.  Besides Rhexia virginica, the even less common Rhexia mariana is found in the southern part of Indiana.

Link to Melastomataceae:

Bluebird

A bluebird (Sialia sialis) sits in the setting sun at Tippecanoe River State Park.  Photo taken July 27, 2019.

Link to previous post on Sialia sialis:

The catbird seat

A catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) sits in its catbird seat.  The catbird cares nothing of baseball but will spend its time where it is most comfortable, and that is hidden away under dense cover of vegetation.  Despite usually being hidden from view, we often hear the mewling of the catbird as we walk through the woods.  

This is near the bank of the Tippecanoe River, at Tippecanoe River State Park, July 27, 2019.

Link to catbird:

The Wikipedia article on catbird seat falls short of explaining how our language comes from the observation and knowledge of nature.  Any child growing up in rural America before the age of television would play in the woods and know where the catbird sits.

Link to Wikipedia article on catbird seat:

Bullfrog

A bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) sits and waits in the marsh at Tippecanoe River State Park.  Photo taken July 27, 2019.

Link to bullfrog:

Link to bullfrog:

Link to Tippecanoe River State Park:

Six-lined racerunner

Six-lined racerunner (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus) at Kankakee Sands Nature Preserve, Newton County.

This was on the trail on the sand hill by the bison viewing parking lot.  Several lizards were running about near this trail.  

Photo taken July 21, 2019. 

Link to Cnemidophorus sexlineatus:

Link to Cnemidophorus sexlineatus:

Heal-all and plantain

Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris var. lanceolata) and plantain (Plantago rugelii) along the northern section of the bicycle trail at Ft. Benjamin Harrison State Park, Marion County.  Heal-all is quite common for some distance along this trail here.  Photo taken July 11, 2019.

Link to previous post on Prunella vulgaris:

Link to Plantago rugelii:

Link to Ft. Harrison State Park:

Cliff swallows

A colony of cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrronota) nesting on the underside of the bridge just south of the pedestrian bridge at Lafayette.  The nests are made of mud and are placed at the top of the vertical surface seen in the photo.  This is the first time I have seen cliff swallows nesting in this area.

Here is a wider view of the same scene, as seen from the pedestrian bridge.  Photos taken July 7, 2019.

Link to cliff swallows:

Sand cress and prickly pear cactus

Sand cress (Arabidopsis lyrata) and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa) in sand along Trail 3 of Indiana Dunes State Park.  The grass in the picture is probably marram grass (Ammophila breviligulata).

A closer look at the flower of sand cress. 

Marram grass (Ammophila breviligulata).  Roots stabilizing the sand near the lakeshore.  Just east of the public beach at the State Park.  

Photos taken June 14, 2019.

Link to Arabidopsis lyrata:

Link to previous post on prickly pear cactus:

Link to Ammophila breviligulata:

Link to Ammophila breviligulata:

Link to map of Indiana Dunes State Park:

Puccoon at Indiana Dunes State Park

Puccoon (Lithospermum sp.) in sand at Indiana Dunes State Park, Porter County.  Probably Lithospermum croceum.  According to Wilhelm & Rericha's Flora of the Chicago Region, p. 682-683, this sand habitat indicates Lithospermum croceum rather than Lithospermum canescens.  "L. croceum [is found where there is] a dry single-grained sandy soil (Entisol)"

Photo taken June 14, 2019.

Link to previous post on Lithospermum canescens:

Silver-spotted skipper on Leonurus cardiaca

Silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus) on motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).  Along the Wabash River trail at Lafayette.  Photo taken July 6, 2019.

Link to Epargyreus clarus:

Link to previous post on Epargyreus clarus:

Link to previous post on Leonurus cardiaca:

Teucrium canadense

Germander (Teucrium canadense), along the Wabash River trail at Lafayette.

A closer look at the flowers.  Photo taken July 6, 2019.

Link to Teucrium canadense:

Link to Teucrium canadense:

Link to Teucrium canadense:

Mock Orange

Mock orange (Philadelphus sp.) growing along the trail along the canal at Delphi's Canal Park.
Growing wild, possibly spread here from a nearby garden.  Probably Philadelphus coronarius.  Photo taken June 12, 2019.

Link to Philadelphus coronarius:

Moneywort

Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) flowering along the canal at Canal Park in Delphi, Carroll County.  Photo taken June 12, 2019.

Link to previous post on Lysimachia nummularia:

Link to Lysimachia nummularia:

Link to Canal Park:

Black vulture

This black vulture (Coragyps atratus) landed on this dead tree and then spread its wings to gather some sunshine.  It held its wings in this sunning position for several minutes while I got some photographs.

The top of this tree was a perfect spot for this bird to get some sunshine,  It was a single barkless trunk about twenty feet high.  This was at Lake Monroe in Monroe County, near North Fork of Salt Creek.  Photos taken June 5, 2019.

Black vultures have been reported curiously damaging cars at Monroe Lake, here is a link:

Link to Coragyps atratus:

Black Rat Snake

Found this black rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus) crawling across the overlook deck of Trail 2 at Prophetstown State Park.

A closer view of the traces of this mature snake's scale pattern left over from its earlier juvenile period.

Photos taken May 27, 2019.

Link to Wikipedia page on Pantherophis obsoletus:

Williamsport Falls -- Potholes -- Big Pine Creek, January 31, 2019

Williamsport Falls, noon, January 31, 2019.  There had been two previous nights of about -16 degree Fahrenheit temperatures.  The falls were starting to ice up.  In previous cold winters I have seen it as one huge icicle from the top of the falls to the bottom, so this is not as big as it could have been.  You can see a mound of ice at the bottom about a third as high as the falls.  Also notice the new icicles that have formed underneath the sandstone.  These are from water seepage out of the more porous bedrock (I think it is shale).  Below a short video of the same scene.

After visiting Williamsport  Falls I went to the Potholes, here is a scene from there.  To the lower left the trail, normally solid sandstone, was a sheet of ice, so I didn't attempt to get across to the stairs to go any farther.

The view of Big Pine Creek at Twin Bridges, looking upstream.

All photos taken January 31, 2019.

Ice floes on the Wabash River at Lafayette, January 2019

Ice floes on the Wabash River, January 30, 2019.  There had been two previous nights of temperatures reaching a low of about -15 degrees Fahrenheit, I thought that would have been enough to form an ice jam on the river but the ice was still riding the river.  It will jam up when it gets really cold but I guess the river having been at flood stage only a few days ago, still was high enough to keep the ice floating.  A fair pastime in Lafayette is to stand on the pedestrian bridge watching the ice floes smash into the bridge abutment.  If you look at the first photo you can see my shadow showing where I am standing.  This is the best place to stand watching the ice floes.  The short video was filmed from this spot.

Extreme water flow at Williamsport Falls

I went to Williamsport Falls hoping to see some ice formations due to about 2 or 3 days previously of about 10 degree F weather.  In the immediate 24 hours before I got there, there had been a warming trend and heavy rains.  Any ice formations that may have been there were melted away and I was surprised to see so much flow that a second waterfall had appeared alongside the regular one.  Never seen this before.  Photo taken January 23, 2019.

Here is a short video of the same scene:

Here is a view from the top of the falls.  During the normal low flow of this stream, potholes are visible in the sandstone bedrock here.

Edit 1/28/2019:  Photos were taken about 10:30 am, January 23, 2019.