Three Turtles at Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve

Northern spiny softshell, northern map turtle, and a midland painted turtle bask in blue hole of the Little Miami River.

Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle - Wordless Wednesday

Olentangy River, Columbus, June 5, 2011

Northern Map Turtle, Graptemys geographica

Olentangy River, Columbus, June 5, 2011

So if you know me, or read this blog, you probably know that turtles are pretty much up there at the top of my list as far as animals go.  I've been a turtle nut for as long as I can possibly remember, and I've peppered turtle posts throughout the years at this blog.  I just can't help myself, I suppose, I'm a sucker for a nice turtle.

This past Sunday afternoon I photographed this common map turtle.  Or I thought it was a common map turtle.  I even named my photo for this post "common_map_turtle_olentangy".  I always do a little cursory research before I post something, and my search for common map turtle turned up a wiki article for "Northern Map Turtle".  Northern Map Turtle?  What the heck is that?  Well- it turns out that there is a committee that produces a list of standard common and scientific names for North American Herps north of Mexico.

In their latest publication the committee changed the name from "common map turtle" to "northern map turtle".  Why?  They give this reasoning- "We have changed the name from Common Map Turtle because of the possibility that the word “common” might be misinterpreted to imply abundance rather than to the fact that it has a broad range."

There you go- broad range, not necessarily common.  Therefore, we have the Northern Map Turtle.  That name is going to take me some time to get used to.

-Tom

Eastern Box Turtle

Whew, what a week, is it really over? This week the field season for my day job began in earnest.  When you're working with birds, you've to go be on their schedule.  I set my alarm this week anywhere from 2:45 to 4:00 a.m. depending where I needed to be to count grassland birds.  Needless to say, adjusting to this new schedule is not easy, but I think I'm in the swing of things now. 

This morning on my way to a field site, I encountered this male eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina) just as you see it.  I quickly jumped out of the car to photograph this amazing creature with my trusty Iphone 4.  Although this gravel road gets little traffic, I still moved him to the other side where he was headed.  I don't think there's a better way to start a field day than with a box turtle.

Tom

How Many Painted Turtles...and the answer is......

7!

One morning, I counted 24 midland painted turtles in the pond at the education area at work.  They are quite successful, to say the least, and to get seven in one shot was not difficult.  To get all 24 in the same frame would been a little more difficult, but now that I think about it, it might have made for a very interesting panoramic photograph. Thanks for playing.

Tom

How Many Painted Turtles......

Do YOU see?

The answer is......7!  Take a look at this post for the answer.  

Tom

The Midland Painted Turtle

Chrysemys picta marginata, March 19th, Columbus Ohio

This is the creature of my childhood.  It is perhaps the species that sparked my obsession with nature and natural history.  I have my grandfather to thank for this affliction- he took me to the Seiberling Naturerealm, a Summit County Metropark in northeast Ohio, when I was pretty young, and I just didn't want to stop watching the painted turtles swim around the small pond.  Ever since, I have been absolutely fascinated by turtles.  At my office complex, we are fortunate to have a small wetland education area.  This wetland area is brimming with painted turtles, and today, I counted no less than eleven creatures sunning themselves on the dead cattail stems.

Tom

Metro Parks Challenge #3 Battelle Darby

A curious goldfinch greets us along the trail

If you live in Ohio, or quite possibly if you really like aquatic ecosystems and live in another state, you may have heard of the "The Darby". This gem of an ecosystem lies just outside Columbus and drains the Darby Plains, once home to a great expanse of natural tall grass prairie, and now home to some of Ohio's richest agricultural land.

Even so, the Big and Little Darby Creeks are still amazingly rich in biodiversity- if I were at work I could tell you exactly how many rare species live in these streams, but safe to say it is dozens. The streams were designated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as State Scenic Rivers back in 1984 and recognized as national scenic rivers in 1994. I have to say that these two creeks are the biological gems of central Ohio, and I just simply need to visit these areas more often.

Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park is where to go to see the Big Darby, and even some of Little Darby, as the two streams reach their confluence in this Metro Park.
The streams are quite unassuming. But underneath their surfaces is a rich diversity of beautifully colored fish and freshwater mussels with bizarre life histories.

So what better place to introduce Weston to a world class ecosystem AND complete our third Metro Parks Hike for the year? Here he is in the backback- If you remember back to our Sharon Woods hike, we forgot the sun shade- but not this time.
However- We DID forget his bib! How fun it was to watch Mom get food all over the place. Murphy's law was certainly in place this day- forget the bib and he'll be sure to be extra messy with his baby barley cereal.

On our way along the trail, we encountered things like cutleaf coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata.
And in higher drier meadows we saw one of the cudweed species in the genus Pseudognaphalium.

And we also got to introduce Weston to map turtles. This female was basking on a rock in a large pool created just downstream from the confluence of the Darby Creeks. She was absolutely huge, probably 10 inches long- dwarfing her male counterparts at the other end of the rock.

As we returned north through the most mature woods along the trail, I happened to spot the plant pictured above. Weird, I thought to myself, I've never seen this. I thought it might be an orchid. A quick e-mail to my colleague Rick Gardner after we returned home and he confirmed that my suspicion was indeed correct. He identified this as the autumn coralroot, Corallorhiza odontorhiza. Some plant species produce flowers that never open and are self fertilized- botanists call these cleistogamous flowers. Autumn coralroot can produce both types of flowers, so it is possible that these flowers will open eventually, or it is possible that they will remain closed and self fertilize.

Megan, Weston, and I had great fun at Battelle Darby Creek Metropark. We parked at the Cedar Ridge area and followed the Indian Ridge trail south to the Indian Ridge Picnic area and back. Here's an aerial view of the day's adventure.


View Metroparks Challenge in a larger map


Tom

Columbus Welcomes the Grange Insurance Audubon Center

Let's flash back a few years. I'm a brand new graduate student at Miami University- in the Institute of Environmental Sciences- with big dreams of making a difference in the environmental field. Our teachers packed a bunch of us newbie students into fifteen passenger vans and we set out on a three day adventure around southwest and central Ohio- the goal? To see as many environmental type things we could- ranging from wildlife sanctuaries-to chemical plants- to landfills.

But one of the coolest places we visited was the Aullwood Audubon Center & Farm in Dayton- what an awesome place. Now THAT is a nature center, my nature loving friends. If you haven't been there, go. But what does this have to do with Columbus and the here and now?

I remember our guide, way back in 2001, telling us how there was a downtown nature center be planned for the City of Columbus. What a cool idea, I thought to myself- as a young and aspiring environmental professional, I thought, that would be a great place to work.

Well, it has been about eight years since I first heard about the center, and well, I just couldn't wait around that long to find a job. But, last weekend, I did have an opportunity to participate in the opening weekend of Columbus' newest nature destination- The Grange Insurance Audubon Center.


I received an e-mail out of the blue from Victoria, an educator at the Center, asking me if I wanted to display some of my photographs that appeared here at The Ohio Nature Blog. After a few e-mails, this eventually morphed into me agreeing to present "a photo workshop". After a bit of thinking, I said sure, I could do that, and I eventually came up with the title "eight tips for better nature photography" which I'll share here in time.

I hope the patrons who had gathered at the center enjoyed my talk- we had a nice conservation about photography, and I really enjoy being able to share my view of the world with others, this time, in a face-to-face situation.

But let's get back to the center. It is situated on the Whittier Peninsula, in a reclaimed industrial area just south of Columbus (i added a Google map that shows you what the area recently to look like, scroll down to the end of the post).

The old industrial land that surrounds the center is now Scioto Audubon Metropark. This land is a work in progress, as you'll see below.


The building is really quite cool. It is quite an example of eco-engineering. Take for example storm water management. See those strange looking rusty-red downspots? They bring water off the roof, underneath the large sidewalk, and then into the rain garden/swale on the left. This system eventually works itself down into a little pond, which is already frequented by twelve spotted skimmers.




The center itself looks towards the city and towards the mighty Scioto (pronounced Sy-O-tah), on the banks of which our capital city was founded. The river was muddier than my grandfather's cream filled coffee on this day from recent rains, although the turtles were out in full force- both map turtles, painted turtles and the non-native red-eared sliders.


My only surprise with the Audubon center was its lack of exhibits. Aullwood, in my recollection, was full of live animals and just all sorts of really cool nature "flair". Perhaps the Grange Center is just ramping up- but I'd like to see more nature things in the building itself. I'm sure this will happen with time.


We're quite lucky to have a world class nature center building here in the heart of Ohio. If you are able, visit often, and watch it, and the native plants sown around the center, grow. I should add a caveat- If the geese don't eat them all first.

Tom


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A Long Journey, but it's All Roses Now.

On an early morning outing on my day off at the Whetsone Park of Roses, a real gem of Columbus, I encountered this beautiful shelled creature. I went to photograph the rose garden for my microstock photography venture, but came back with a decidedly more interesting image. That is, if, you just happen to love turtles, and well, I just happen to love turtles.

This is a three-toed box turtle, a subspecies of the eastern box turtle. This girl's bland olive shell and only a small little bit of orange on the side of its face tipped me off right away that she released here in Columbus, and was enjoying her time at the park. A quick look at her only hind leg (the right one was completely missing) and my initial ID was confirmed- three long toes with sharp fingernails- and a perfectly flat lower shell and small tail meant she was a she.

I happened to talk to a few Columbus Recreation and Parks employees, and they said they encounter box turtles frequently, but they thought they were the native subspecies. Now my interest is really piqued. Surely, the turtle that I found was released by an unwilling pet owner. The three-toed subspecies is the one supplied in the pet industry here in Ohio, although I've not seen wild caught ones offered for sale in a while. This turtle was probably hatched somewhere in the Southern U.S. in the wild, caught by a dealer, sold to a pet wholesaler, who then sold it to a pet store, who then sold it to a pet owner who eventually got bored and released the turtle back into "the wild". Now that is a story that I should expand upon. Now she's able to cruise the woods, lawns, and rose gardens of Columbus' Whetsone Park.





Tom

Map Turtles of Columbus

Zoo, that is. Some of you know that I'm taking a Photoshop for photographers class this quarter through Columbus State Community College. Here's one of the images that I put together for my final project. Megan looked at this, and said, "Those three turtles were not all in the same cage." Yep, she's right. My goal here wasn't to make it look like all three are resting on the same river bank, rather, I just wanted to have them blend in. The class has been pretty fun, and I've learned a ton. It got to be pretty tedious at times, but I really enjoyed the final project.

The Columbus zoo has a great collection of turtles in its reptile building, including several tanks of rare southern U.S. map turtles.

Tom

Count the Baby Turtles

My co-worker, Steve Harvey, preserve manager of Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve, sent me this photo of hatchling snapping turtles on the beach at one of Ohio's most famous natural areas. How many turtles do you see? Clicking on image will reveal the turtles at full resolution. Summer is winding down, and hatchling turtles are a sure sign that fall will soon be in the air.

Tom

My Thoughts on the Turtle Quiz

And here are my two cents on the turtle quiz. There are three species pictured in this photo. The large softshell turtle is a eastern spiny softshell, Apalone spinifera spinifera. Although this photo does not show its characteristic spines, I did see them through binoculars when this massive female was turned to the bank. We do have smooth softshells in Ohio like Jason mentioned, but they are in the bigger river systems further south.

The second species in the quiz is the red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans considered a non-native species in the Olentangy. There were believed to be a few disjunct northern populations along old oxbow ponds of the Scioto river south of Columbus near Circleville. However, I consider anything in the Olentangy to be either individuals that are released pets, or, perhaps these turtles are breeding in the wild now. I've never come across a baby red-eared slider in the wild, or a nesting female, but I am very much curious to know if this species is breeding in Ohio. In many parts of the world, and even out west, this species is considered a nasty invasive. They may be becoming invasive here in Ohio and only time will tell.

Here is a video of a male map turtle attempting to court female red-eared sliders (woops, wrong species) and other female map turtles that I captured early this spring. The female red-eared slider wants none of the action from the male map turtle, so she climbs up on a rock to bask in the sunlight. The male then swims over to a female map turtle, and they face each other under water, beginning their courtship:





And the third species is the common map turtle, Graptemys geographica. A turtle of rivers, I have seen them in the Olentangy, Big Darby Creek, and the Grand River in northeast Ohio. They are extremely wary and are not easily approachable. Binoculars or even a spotting scope is the best way to observe them. Best of luck searching for turtles this summer, they really are quite fascinating creatures.

Tom

Turtle Mania! How Many Species in this Photo?

Expecting warbler mania? Well, this past weekend was the major fallout for warblers in Columbus. I've been hearing buzzing and warbles here and there in the evenings, but Sunday morning was awesome for warblers. It was also awesome for turtles! I literally saw dozens basking along the banks. Here's a little turtle quiz. There are three species pictured here. The question. Which species are in the photo, how many of each species are there, and which ones are which species? This post is partially inspired by Mary at faith, fabric, and photos who asked me to ID some turtles on her blog! If you don't know the names, can you separate the three species? And can you see how huge these things are? The mallard duck is in the photo for a size reference. Have fun, I love turtles, I hope you do to.

Hints: This photo was taken this past Sunday on the Olentangy River behind our house here in Columbus, Ohio, which is a relatively small tributary to the Scioto. I've posted the photo at full resolution, clicking on the photo will allow you to view much more detail in the image.

 

What is Your Favorite Animal?

I absolutely love turtles, and have since I was very young. I have two very early memories- watching painted turtles with my grandfather at the Seiberling Naturerealm in Akron, Ohio, and of my first pet turtle, which my parents found crossing the street in Silver Lake, Ohio. Fortunately, the midland painted turtle, Chrysemys picta marginata is a hardy species and can be seen in almost any slow moving body of water in Ohio. Our retention ponds and wildlife area at our office supports a healthy, reproducing population. The little guy above is about the size of a 50 cent piece! And about keeping them for pets- I don't recommend it- even though they aren't rare, they are still fall under the Division of Wildlife guidelines-you must register any native pet reptile or amphibian with the DOW.



There are several age classes on the campus, and the ponds seem to be filled with more and more turtles each year. I wonder how they got here? Did an employee release a few and the population has exploded?


There are even big, old turtles, such as this one floating in the water. As they age, the coloration dulls.



Painted turtles shed the outer covering of their scutes, which is made out of a finger nail like substance. You can see the outer covering of the shell peeling away. Shedding the very top layer of the shell each year also helps them get rid of any algae or other gunk that may be growing on their shells. This turtle's scute covering seems to be flaking away rather than peeling away in one piece.

So there you go, since I have such fond memories of painted turtles, and I'm a turtle fanatic in general (I recently started a turtle and tortoise video blog), I'm going to have to say they are my favorite species on the planet. What is yours?

Tom

Red Eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans

I haven't been alive long enough to remember the grass green, quarter sized turtles that used to be sold at "five and dime stores." Larger juvenile and adult sizes of these turtles are still sold today at pet shops. Over the years, thousands if not millions have been released into the wild, and almost everywhere I go, I see a red eared slider. In Ohio, it is thought that we may have had some northern populations disjunct from its typical native North American range in the Mississippi River system, but now, you can see them in many lakes and rivers across the state. Other countries, and some states, like California, consider them an invasive species. I've not read anything that suggests they are reproducing in Ohio, or if they are outcompeting native species for food and basking spots, but they are definitely present here in central Ohio.

I was inspired to do this writeup after seeing a dozen or so sliders in Manhattan's Morningside park, then this past Saturday, I observed and photographed a large individual in the Olentangy River. Then on Sunday, Megan I saw another slider at Slate Run Metropark.

Manhattan is a long way away from the Mississippi drainage, but this pond at Morningside Park was full of red eared sliders

A loner.

Stacked up on a log

Looking for handout?

Why are people worried about this turtle in other countries? Well, they can outcompete native species for both food and basking spots. Here we have a native common map turtle and the red-eared slider in the Olentangy from this past Saturday.



And here is yet another slider from Slate Run Metropark, just south of Columbus. I'm guessing this one was "dumped" into this small pond, just off the parking lot, by someone that just didn't want the hassle of keeping a pet turtle. The giveaway is its shell. When turtles are raised in the wild, their shells grow very smoothly and don't have any "pyramiding" on their shell. Look closely at this turtle's shell, and you can see how each scute (section of the shell) is raised somewhat.



I guess the point here is to really think hard before you consider purchasing a red eared slider as a pet. There are plenty out there to adopt, and please, don't release these animals into the wild. They are now considered an invasive species in Europe, Asia, and Australia!

Aldabra Tortoise

It wasn't too cold for the Aldabra tortoises at the Columbus Zoo this past Sunday.

Although these huge turtles are fairly common at zoos and reptile parks, they are increasingly being bred for private ownership. Can you imagine having a 200 pound rock that is almost impossible to move and eats and you know whats like a small horse? I can't imagine owning one of these great beasts, but the going price for farmed specimens from the Seychelles is about $2500.

I'll stick to watching them at the zoo. They are extremely interesting creatures. I've never met anyone that didn't like turtles and tortoises.

 

Morningside Park

Yesterday morning, Megan and I did a bit of naturalizng in Morningside Park, just northwest of Central Park in Manhattan. Suprisingly the pond there was full of red-eared sliders, which I'm sure were at one time pets that have been dumped. We saw about fifty turtles. This one was particularly brave, basking about five feet from the sidewalk



There were even dragonflies here, right in the middle of the city. We saw dozens of green darners, possibly a wandering glider, and this familiar bluet.


Tom

Morning on the Olentangy

I woke up this morning, walked through Kenney Park, and headed to the Olentangy River. The moon was still high in the sky.



But a look back over my shoulder and the sun was coming up, and these back lit foxtails were covered with dew.



On to the river, with the tripod along, in hopes of getting some close-ups of great blue herons. None were around, so I took pictures of river, running smooth and clear.



Here's a closeup. I used a long shutter speed to smooth out the water. It makes the rocks and the leaves pressed up against them really pop.



There are constant reminders that I haven't escaped the city. One of those is the presence of long discarded items in the river. I'm not sure what this rusting, circular metal shaped object was, but this sycamore leaf had nestled up against it.



A look downstream, the river headed towards Old Beechwold and Clintonville. State Route 315 runs just to the right of the trees on the right bank.



Up until this point, things were fairly quiet, animal wise. I hadn't seen the great blue herons I had been looking for, but just after this picture, two found me. I heard the loud gawking KRYANKKK! and thought I was about to get attacked, turned around, and saw two herons swooping away from me. It looks like they wanted to do a little fishing where I was, and didn't see me until they were just about to land. I managed to fire a shot when they made the quick decision not to land where I was and head downstream.



After scanning downstream, I noticed another creature had taken notice of me.



This young white tailed deer went on its merry way after I realized that I was just a human. The deer along the river are wicked tame. (Thanks to Mainers for the word "Wicked").



There are about 30-40 resident mallard ducks on the Olentangy right now. Just in the past few weeks, the males have gone from raggedy juveniles to green headed adults. The mallards congregate and feed in the riffles of the stream.



Dragonflies and damselflies have really slowed down with the cool weather. I only saw American rubyspots this morning.



Last night Megan and I walked down to the southern end of the park, which abuts Old Beechwold. There is a large pool with several nice turtle basking spots. I decided this morning to head down to that area to see if I could get some shots of turtles. Sure enough, two common map turtles were basking on a rock in the middle of the river. These turtles are extremely wary. If the see you, they fall off into the water in a second, disappearing in the murky pool. The silver maple hid me from them, allowing me to get a semi-decent shot.



The sun was getting higher in the sky, the light quickly brightening, and my stomach starting to let me have it for not eating breakfast. On the way back, I saw yet another Silver-spotted skipper, this time nectaring on an Aster.



And that was my morning.

Tom