The Bio Observer

Like the rest of the country I have been mostly working from home. But part of working at a botanical garden is watering plants, so we’ve been put on a rotation of watering plants and working on any other necessary items that need to be attended to. Because our natural areas trails have remained open they need to be periodically checked for fallen trees, erosion, or other things that may cause safety issues. Thursday was my day to check trails. I hadn't been out on the property much lately so I was excited to see what was going on. After crossing the creek I was greeted by the calls of Chorus Frogs in the nearby wetland. These small frogs are among the first to be out calling for mates. I slowly knelt down near the wetland when I heard one calling near me, it soon however ceased calling. Scanning the edge of the water and anything sticking out of the water, I could not find it. I moved on down the trail and as soon as the frogs of that wetland faded out of earshot, the frogs

You don’t know exactly when the ‘Big Night’ is going to be, but it seems you can get a good idea a few days before it might happen. It’s supposed to be a night in March, potentially April, when the temperature is relatively warm, the humidity is high, and its raining. Last year, from what I gathered, there wasn’t a ‘Big Night’ or if there was, I definitely missed it and I didn’t hear about it. If you are wondering what the ‘Big Night’ is, that’s understandable, I didn’t know there was a name for it until last summer. It’s when the perfect conditions of weather I described above drives Salamanders to their breeding ponds. This is usually the best time to see many of the Mole Salamanders (Family Ambystoma) that spend much of their time underground and out of view.  I was determined to get the right day this year and with the warm weather we had been having I was getting ready for it to be any night. I normally check the forecast pretty frequently, but knowing that the ’Big Night’ coul

Two weeks ago Murphy flipped a board and under it was spring. By that, I mean a board was flipped and under it were two Red-backed Salamanders . I wasn’t present for this moment, but when I saw the picture I was as excited as if I had been there. To be honest I was jealous so the next two days I went out to a forest in my home town to do my own flipping. The first day out was stupid, really. It was chilly, it was late afternoon and looked like it might end up snowing or raining on me. But in my mind I had to get out there; salamanders MAY be out and I did not want to miss a single one. Just before entering the woods I turned as a strong wind blew around me and saw that ominous clouds were heading right towards me. I went into the forest anyways and began flipping logs that were manageable. Flip after flip turned up nothing, I grew frustrated and antsy wanting desperately to see something. The clouds rolled in and it began sprinkling. ”Okay,” I said to myself, “I can handle a little

If you opened this post thinking that I am about to tell a story of a young turtle asking it's parents about where baby turtles come from, you were purposely mislead. Gotcha! But don't go! I will address baby turtles, along with frogs, salamanders and even snakes! This post actually is more about the habitats of many of these creatures: wetlands. Well actually it's not just about wetlands, its more about the areas surrounding wetlands known as upland habitat. Since 1979, the state of Michigan has recognized that wetlands needed protection. The Geomare-Anderson Wetlands Protection Act was instituted due to the realization that wetlands often connect to larger bodies of water, can flow from county to county, provide wildlife habitat and more. Good job Michigan! Wow. Great, the wetlands have been protected for forty years, all the salamanders, turtles, frogs and snakes are safe; we can all rest easy. Phew! Eh.... Not quite. In terms of wildlife protection, this law reco

Everyone loves a good tree. You know what I mean when I say a good tree; it reaches towards the sun to an incredible height, its spreading branches cast a cool shade for you in the late summer. That's a good tree. Now imagine that tree has a large dead branch or maybe its hollowed out, with half of the tree being dead. Hell, just imagine that there is barely a tree left; it's just a handful of branches and the bark is sloughing off. Is the tree just as good now? Did you cringe when I described this dead tree? Most people are probably thinking, "this tree is bad and honestly, it's ugly." The next steps to be taken by most people would be to get rid of this tree. What if you didn't cut the tree down? What if I told you that the aesthetically displeasing toothpick is actually an important piece of an ecosystem? These shells of trees are referred to as snags and most people discredit them as merely an ugly part of nature and potentially a hazard. But withou