Ohio Birds and Biodiversity

Bright-eyed and bushy tailed, the Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is abundant throughout much of Ohio - certainly in central Ohio, where I made this shot. They are often amusing this time of year, as it's mating season. Soon after winter solstice, the lust to procreate and make more of their kind sets in. Amorous males set to chasing females, and this can put them at risk as their intense focus may cause them to lose track of their surroundings. Just as we notice these wild pursuits, sometimes involving several males hot on the furry heels of a female, so do others. Including formidable predators. I wonder if this is how the protagonist of this post picked off his victim, which apparently let down its guard in some way. But I did not see the actual kill, only the aftermath, of which a brief photo essay follows.

Last Wednesday, January 11, I was traipsing through Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, on the heels of a Merlin (Falco columbarius). I was with a photographer friend, and we had just finished a nice session with a cooperative Merlin on a dead snag. After it finally flew, we set out on foot to relocate it or another we had seen.The bird had bagged a Gray Squirrel and was engaged in preparing and eating its meal. From the looks of things, the raptor had been at its work for a while. Much of the mammal had been defurred already, but in this photo the head is mostly intact. In all, we were able to observe the hawk eating its meal for about a half-hour. At that point, I managed to fill my 128-gigabyte memory card. That's not hard when shooting in burst mode with a 45-megapixel camera and shooting video as well. I would have gone back to the vehicle for another card, but by then the rain was setting in, and it was time to leave.The red-tail with fresh squirrel meat. It came from the one of the rear legs, the remnants of which can be seen sticking up in front of the bird's left leg.The raptor starts in on the other hind leg. The de-meated other leg sticks up next to it. The back legs must be a delicacy as they are one of the first things this bird dined upon.At one point, the hawk went on point and was obviously watching something in the distance. I was sure it was another raptor but try as I might, I could not locate the object of its interest. This red-tail was in fairly thick cover in the lower boughs of a large maple and wasn't very conspicuous from most angles. Therefore, I would think it would have been difficult for it to have a good sightline to distant points. But raptors are nearly magical in their situational awareness and with vision far keener than any human, they don't miss much.

Our group, probably nearly 200 strong (and that wasn't everyone!), poses by the 313 year old white oak that is the oldest tree in Green Lawn Cemetery and was featured in my Dispatch column. We started here, to ensure that everyone got ample opportunity to commune with this spectacular plant.

As I neared the rendezvous point, I was stunned to see lines of cars everywhere and an enormous crowd of people. It was impossible to tally everyone, especially as Randy and I had the formidable task of gathering everyone into a cohesive group and shepherding them about. There may have been 250+ at the outset.

In spite of the crowd size, things worked out quite well and we enjoyed a nearly 2.5 hour foray through the cemetery, seeing many of the highlights.

Interesting wildlife, such as this striped skunk, even put in an appearance. At one point, a subadult bald eagle flew right over out large group, and at another point a young Cooper's hawk put on a show for everyone. Interspersed were lots of history highlights - Green Lawn is home to many famous individuals, including five governors, numerous Columbus luminaries, James Thurber, and many others. Dr. Bernard Master - a former cemetery board member and major world birder - was also along, and contributed great info about the cemetery's history and notable residents, such as Thomas Blakiston.

Thanks to everyone who attended. Maybe we can do it again next year!

Green Lawn Cemetery is a huge green splash of habitat embedded in a very urbanized landscape on the south side of Columbus, Ohio. At 360 acres, it is the second largest cemetery in the state, trailing only Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery in size. Long known as a legendary birding hotspot, Green Lawn boasts a massive bird list which includes many rarities: Ohio's first Mississippi Kite record, what was probably the first widely seen Swainson's Warbler, Harris's Sparrow, Kirtland's Warbler, and many others.

These all qualify as "good" birds. Don't you hate that G-word when applied to birds? I do, and fastidiously try to avoid its use when making a statement about the purported value of any bird. After all, every bird is a good bird, at least somewhere. Even worse is when someone says "I got" a bird. One time, I was standing along a road in Churchill, Manitoba when a van full of birders pulled up. The guide looked out, and said "what do you see?" I reported that I was watching a Northern Shrike, aka "Butcherbird" teed up and hunting. Shrikes are cooler than Elvis ever was. He reported the sighting to the contents of the bus, and I heard several "birders" say, almost in unison, "oh, we already 'got' that".

No, they didn't "get" the shrike. John James Audubon, Alexander Wilson, and other early ornithologists "got" birds when they blasted them from the trees with shotguns in the days of yore. Indeed, that vanful of birders would have done well to stumble out of that vehicle and spend a bit of time playing the role of birdwatchers.

Anyway, enough of that. Green Lawn is near and dear to me, and I've had a long relationship with the place. I've made hundreds of trips there over my life, and even before I had a driver's license, my parents or brother would take me there to look for birds. This eventually led to my serving for 14 years on the board of trustees, as we endeavored to manage the place as, essentially, an arboretum and nature preserve. Indeed, its formal name is Green Lawn Cemetery and Arboretum. The vast majority of Ohio's native tree species can be found, and many of the oaks are old-growth behemoths that are several hundred years old. Add in plenty of century old ornamental conifers and it's no mystery why Green Lawn Cemetery is attractive to birds.

Not long ago, I led a group of 20 or so natural resources students from Ohio State University around the cemetery. I had high hopes for two especially noteworthy species (noteworthy, not "good"), and we struck gold. Plundering the cones of a Norway Spruce was a trio of White-winged Crossbills, including one bright pink male. Later, after the students had departed, Steve Rose and I wandered back and were treated to the sight of this female on the ground, slaking her thirst. She blends well with the leaves.

I think that the students appreciated this mighty little hunter more than they did the crossbills. Merlins have become a wintertime fixture at Green Lawn for at least six years now, and I hoped that we might catch up to one on this day. Sure enough, a sharp-eyed student spotted one of the birds high on a snag. I was able to set my scope up, and everyone could leisurely admire the barrel-chested avian warrior. The Merlin, being a Merlin, cared not a whit for us lower life forms on the ground far below, and generally ignored its fawning admirers.

Both the crossbills and Merlin (or Merlins) are undoubtedly still in residence. From here on out, as migration picks up steam, there'll be an ever increasing cast of migrant birds cycling through Green Lawn Cemetery. If you've not been there, make a visit and check the place out. More information about the cemetery can be found on the Ohio Ornithological Society's website, HERE.

Ben Gelber, NBC4 meteorologist (L) and Buzz the camera man bask in the presence of a very extroverted female Merlin in Columbus, Ohio's Green Lawn Cemetery. The bird is perched in the gnarled boughs of a Kentucky coffee tree, only 30 feet above Buzz's camera.

NBC4 and Ben are great about airing short natural history segments, and I've worked with Ben on several of these episodes. After our last shoot, I suggested going after this Merlin and seeing if we could manage any footage of her. Ounce for ounce, this particular Merlin must be one of the world's most fearless birds. She's been in residence at Green Lawn all winter, and has been seen by hundreds of people. You can walk right under her perch, and she'll not even bother to give you a glance.

We managed to work some other sights into the shoot, including this massive bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa. About 90% of all of Ohio's native trees can be found in Green Lawn, which is also considered an arboretum. This oak is my favorite of all of the giant trees in the cemetery, of which there are many. It's got a gargantuan pillar of a trunk, and anastomoses into an elegant snarl of branches that form a canopy the size of a large building. Green Lawn was founded in 1848; this tree is considerably older.

Gelber provides a size scale to the monstrous bur oak.

But back to our primary quarry, the Merlin, seen here giving your blogger a haughty stare. When Ben, Buzz and I arrived at the scene, no Merlins were in evidence (as many as three - one female and two males - frequent the cemetery). They have a favored section of the cemetery, and more often than not can be found loafing on conspicuous treetop snags. Of course, when you really want 'em, they're nowhere to be found. So we launched into another story, but I was quite disappointed that we couldn't produce one of the exciting little falcons.

I was in mid-sentence, bloviating about something, when I saw the Merlin torpedoing through the trees. Yes! She shot to the top of her lofty sycamore snag, and Buzz whipped the camera around and locked her in. Beautiful, now we had our story and the subject was cooperating, albeit at a distance.

To our astonishment, Mrs. Merlin suddenly dropped from her perch and came sailing right at us. As if in slow motion, she flutter-glided a mere 20 feet over our heads, and swooped up onto a branch only 30 feet away. She was clearly checking us out; I could see her cocking her head sideways to better scope us out as she soared overhead. Once on the branch, she cast a few more disdainful looks our way, then set about grooming herself. This was just too cool - FAR better than I could have hoped for! Buzz got some great footage of her in flight, and once she was perched on the nearby branch he was frame-filling her.

Our fearless little Prima Donna poses for the camera. She was still there when we left. It may be that she is an attention-hound, saw the camera and the newsman, and knew a limelight opportunity when she saw one. More likely, she is starting to feel territorial. Merlins have overwintered in Green Lawn Cemetery for about five years now, and for the last two or three winters there has also been an adult male present. I think it's just a matter of time before they nest in the cemetery, and this girl may have been a bit feistier than normal because she is plotting out a household somewhere nearby.

John Pogacnik documented the first modern nesting of Merlin in Ohio in 2009, in Lake County. The following year, Danielle McCament found a nest in the middle of the city of Mt. Vernon, in Knox County. I think Green Lawn will soon be added to the registry of Merlin nesting sites.

If you'd like to read a bit more about these interesting little falcons, HERE is a brief general interest article I wrote about them a few years back. For today's NBC4 video of today's Merlin adventure, CLICK HERE.

Thanks to Ben Gelber and NBC4 for their efforts to bring natural history to a wide audience. And major props to this Diva of a falconiform. I hope her TV appearance nets some new nature enthusiasts.