Places: Beaver Ridge Family Campground

For the 4th of July, many of the REU biology students (including myself) decided to go camping for the long weekend. Leaving Friday afternoon, we ventured to the campground where I did some exploring in the evening. At around 9, we left to see some fireworks.

The next day was spent primarily in Potato Creek State Park (stay tuned for more posts), but there was a surprising variety of wildlife at this farm country campground. Birds were plentiful. Some of the species I spotted were cuckoos, song sparrows, American crows, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, yellow warblers, mourning doves, and gray catbirds, to name a few. The catbirds were particularly interesting, since they had a nest with young ones not far from where we had built a fire. I am always surprised by the simple insight of people who do not normally have an active interest in wildlife. One of the girls sitting around the fire noticed fairly quickly that the catbird sounded, well, like a cat. A young kitten, she specified, but a cat nonetheless. Of course, it suddenly became obvious to me that it did sound kind of like the mew of a cat, but I'd never really thought about it before that.

Mammals in the park were primarily noticed by sign alone. White-tailed deer and beavers, for example, left both tracks and chew marks (yes, dear leave "chew marks" when the bit the tops of tender plants). A rabbit in our site was affectionately dubbed "Paulo." Red squirrels scampered amid the pine trees near the trails. However, I think my favourite mammal encountered at Beaver Ridge were the coyotes. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, a coyote, somewhere far across the corn fields, began wailing at the hazy, moonlit sky. Not surprisingly, more joined in, yapping and howling for a minute or so. As they quieted down, only the green frogs "goinking" in the slough continued to communicate with one another. With coyotes and green frogs completing my outdoor experience for the day I drifted off to sleep.

Green frogs weren't the only amphibians encountered around the slough. I also heard the odd bullfrog. Around the edges of this slough in the evening, there were manny juvenile amphibians. Having metamorphosed from their tadpole form, wood frogs and American toads climbed the hills and spread out into the forest.
As for reptiles, I caught one eastern garter snake. However, it was a special moment. Once the snake calmed down, I was able to carry it over to the campsites and allow people to touch and hold the snake as they pleased. Thankfully the snake remained calm and it was much needed good publicity for a group of animals that have an unjust reputation.
There were plenty of harvestmen (arachnids) in the campground, some of which carried mites. The fireflies, unlike anything we get in the northwest, are truly magical. In forests at dusk, it is amazing to see the multitude of blinking lights. Amazing.

Of course, there were fireworks for the 4th of July. No the one above is not a horrible explosion amid a stupefied crowd. Wait... that's kind of what fireworks are. Beautiful, horrible explosions. It's actually quite difficult to get good photos of fireworks. All these were taken on manual and, with the exception of cropping, are unedited. I think they turned out pretty good. When I have access to the right resources, I'll put up the full stop-motion of the grand finale.

Sorry. Couldn't help but end on a natural note. The moon, even in its plain grey costume, seems to have a unique beauty that surpasses that of fireworks.