Leave a comment Posted on August 30, 2024August 30, 2024 Uncategorized

Rippling lines

*Bob’s special breakfast: Hilty sweetcorn*

There isn’t much opportunity to travel for us. Someone (someones, ideally) must be on hand who can carry 5-gallon buckets in winter when the water hose is detached and who can suggest to a 700-pound, heat-prostrated pig that she shouldn’t block the paddock gate but rather get up and plunk herself in the cool mud wallow. Someone(s) must know the various bird and mammal personalities well enough to convince them to go in at night and how to distribute breakfast the next morning so that everyone gets enough. It takes a small village, one that doesn’t have a whole lot of residents.

Occasionally, we are able to be away; two of us together. Just a few nights ‘away ‘abroad’ are enough to remind us why we choose to live here in the middle of braying, crowing, wallowing, and leaf whispers. It’s good to return to this place where the cricket frogs still sing in Spring and screech owls screech and make guttural whoops in Fall. They do that last thing, you know. It took us the longest time to figure out that the same little owl with the high-pitched warble also growls.

Last Friday, we piled stuff in the car and drove to visit family and an art festival in Chicago. Chicago seems a world away from our one-lane rural road, but it’s only slightly longer than a trip across the width of Ohio. Our route through Indiana featured 3 hours of very dry corn fields before Gary, IN brought us to the Skyway bridge to Illinois (complete with a troll on either side to pay.) The Democratic National Convention had ended the night before, but that traffic was joined by incoming patrons of 2 art festivals (including ours), a world music fest and a tattoo extravaganza. After two hours of Friday evening on I-94, we dipped our sweaty fingers and toes in cool, clear Lake Michigan at Millard Park.

Millard Park, as well as other Chicago-area parks, bike paths, and train right-of-ways are undergoing habitat restoration. There are signs informing pedestrians that the Wingstem, Cup Plant, Joe Pye and Iron Weed planted along the paths are part of a concentrated effort to restore the natural balance of the region. The gardens surrounding mansions and bungalows are planted with riots of native purples, magentas and golds rather than specimen cultivars mulched to the stem as is commonly done in Northwest Ohio. The deep roots of those native plants are part of an effort to restore health to soil and to filter impurities from Lake Michigan’s watershed. The lake itself entertains, bathes, and quenches the people, animals, birds, and insects that live there. Deep in the ravine road to Millard Park, orange and yellow touch-me-not Jewelweed camouflages multimillion-dollar home drainage systems.

The same plants live on The Quarry Farm. Goldfinches burst from the riot of color planted along Chicago Transit Authority’s Purple Line just as they do next to Red Fox Cabin. Jewelweed pods pop from a dragonfly’s touch along Cranberry Run. The more Jewelweed the better. Its natural astringent powers stop the itch of poison ivy that it grows alongside.

Many of us Midwest/Easterners also experience the late summer emergence of cicadas. A couple of weeks ago, My Steven worried that he hadn’t heard them much recently. Two broods emerged in Illinois this year, including in Chicago. This is the first time these two specific broods have co-emerged since 1803. The first brood thrummed above the streets and sidewalks in June. They suffered from over-active libidos when Massospora cicadina—a puppeteer fungus that rivals the post-apocalyptic mushroom heads featured in “The Last of Us”—replaced about a third of each insect’s body, including the parts that fuel reproduction. Currently, the city is being serenaded by the second brood. On the ride home, I heard a news report about these cicadas’ eggs are being invaded by Oak Leaf Itch Mite populations. The mites are always around. They normally invade other insect eggs housed in the galls on oak leaves. But the mites are having Chicago field days this summer. They feast on the eggs of some trillion Brood XII and Brood XIX cicadas. The frenzied mites fall from the trees and keep munching. Tasty humans are advised to wear long sleeves rather than spray.

*A beneficial, art-enthusiastic Red-lipped Green Lacewing (larva)*

But spray they do. As we shaded under American Hackberry trees at the Bucktown Arts Fest, a citronella candle burned in the park oval. A juvenile Grackle hopped in and out of artists’ tents, dismembering and eating cicadas every few feet. He hopped over to the candle, tried to perch on the rim and, shrieking, scurried under an awning. He was chased back out. The chaser sprayed a stream of DEET up and down their thighs, complaining of insect bites. A dead Assassin Beetle larva—a beneficial insect—fell from the air onto my watercolor paper.

We drove through our front gate on 7L on Monday evening. Our bellies were still full of deep-dish Chicago pizza and 7-layer halva. It was hot and sticky and cicadas were singing in the nature preserve. Quinn screamed and wagged her tail. Steve collected tufts of shed fox fur that she left in her wake and we remembered why it’s good to get away and come home again.

Leave a comment Posted on June 27, 2024 Milestones, Quarterly newsletter

so much sky

I was going to title this post, “Eclipse”.

“Eclipse” was the headline online and in print before and after April 8, 2024. The total solar eclipse that occurs when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscures the bright light of the Sun was going to be either A) the end of the world as we know it, with hoards of outsiders streaming across Ohio to rob us all of our lives and livelihood. Or B) this natural phenomenon that occurs every 18 months or so somewhere in the world was going to be a great big ol’ treat, right here.

The actual title is offered in gratitude for something that brought a whole bunch of people together—in peace—for four awe-inspiring minutes. The total solar eclipse of 2024 brought people from across the United States to the gardens, creek bank and pasture of The Quarry Farm on April 8. People from Ohio, New Hampshire, Michigan, Indiana, North and South Carolina, and Virginia chose to view the phenomenon from the comfort of camp chairs, alongside the farm animal sanctuary residents, or hiking in the nature preserve.

One gentleman arrived after totality. He had driven here from Eugene, Oregon but heavy traffic held him at a Maumee River crossing. He pulled over to watch then drove south to Road 7L where he walked the trails and sampled eclipse baked goods in the summer kitchen bakery. I didn’t speak with him but others did. I wonder if he will make the trek down under for the next totality.

Board member Martha Erchenbrecher observed the behavior of Bruce the Turkey and K the Canada Goose during the eclipse. K took notice, bobbing his head in surprise. Bruce stayed still. Her observations were shared with the Solar Eclipse Safari Team of North Carolina State University and Arizona State University. We all noticed that both wild and domestic animals fell silent during totality. The farm animals headed for the barns but went back for more visitor attention at the fenceline.

As for me, I didn’t decide ahead of time where I would watch. A couple of hours before, I listened to an interview with a retired astrophysicist known as “Mr. Eclipse”. He has traveled far and wide to see the sun eclipsed completely and partially. He advised that, when the day and time of an eclipse arrives, one shouldn’t think too much about who you ought to be with or how you should view (other than to be safe about it.) One should just be in the moment. So as the moon began to block the sun from view, I found a pair of eclipse glasses that one of the hikers had dropped on the path to the prairie. I parked myself on a quarried boulder beside the quarry wetland. I could hear cheering from up in the gardens and Red Fox Cabin. The sound didn’t budge two turtles that were perched on a log, but the smaller of the two dove under when the astronomical curtain fell.

Leave a comment Posted on April 1, 2024 Public Events, Quarterly newsletter, Uncategorized

Total eclipse is just one week away

Chris Brown’s 7th Grade Science students from Glandorf Elementary visited The Quarry Farm on March 15 to demonstrate how to safely view the April 8 total solar eclipse and to make a solar eclipse viewer from a cereal box, as well as one made out of a paper towel roll. Videos of the students are posted to The Quarry Farm YouTube Channel and Facebook page. The videos, recipes and posters were also designed by the students and those are shared on Facebook. The farm animal sanctuary residents provided video commentary.

Debbie Leiber, Deb Weston and David Seitz have been working hard to keep the trails clear, what with all of the high winds dropping branches from treetops. They have been harvesting bush honeysuckle trunks which are made into hiking sticks throughout the year. The Quarry Farm is part of Toledo’s Imagination Station Ambassador program. As such, we were provided with lesson plans, solar eclipse glasses and photo-sensitive beads that will change color during totality. Those beads will be available for registered participants to string on the handles of hiking sticks during our April 8 “Total Eclipse on the Prairie” program.

March 1 was a bit chilly starting out, but a good day to work in the woods, according to David Seitz. He posed here next to one of the mammoth, invasive bush honeysuckle shrubs that he has been removing from the nature preserve for five years and counting. He does a brushcutter sweep periodically to keep fast-growing seedlings from filling back in. This gives native wildflowers and trees a chance to grow in their place. Dave has also cut scores of wild grapevine and poison ivy that pull down and siphon energy from the native trees.

Leave a comment Posted on March 8, 2024 Educational Ambassadors, podcast

Taking the crooked path

In one county to the east, toads and spring peepers sing in wetlands, warmed in the urban heat island. They are quiet here on The Quarry Farm. There is no hint of green as you look over the lowland treetops. Spring wildflowers have better sense than Golden-crowned Kinglet that conceal themselves as much as possible in bare treetops, calling their thin, high-pitched call to anyone that arrived a tad too early.

It was chilly enough for coats for the March 2 hike. We followed White-tailed Deer, Eastern Fox and Gray Squirrel and Wild Turkey tracks in the nature preserve. A Great Blue Heron left a nearly complete fish skeleton for us to find on the south bank of the quarry wetland. The birds were quiet, for the most part. Two days later, I counted 16 avian species in the short walk between the farm animal sanctuary and the pavilion. The temperature hit 74 degrees F. This weather is crazy. Today, the toads, salamanders and spring peepers remain burrowed deep under the quarry and oxbow water and forest floor leaf matter in anticipation of a weekend of rain and wet snow.

As the weather changes its mind, the wild and domestic animals here do not change theirs. Two weeks ago, our beloved, elderly Sophie, the best porcine educational ambassador ever, died. As always, the animals gathered around the grave until the ground was smoothed over. Donkeys Lucy and Silky had to be whispered to and hugged. Everyone slowly wandered away. Two weeks later, everyone is love-struck and besotted; infatuated and obsessed. Spring will be here officially on March 21. Spring twitterpation is now. The fostered re-wilding Canada Geese call to the wild ones on Cranberry Run. The goats bark and huff, bumping foreheads across the paddock. Patches, Pockets, Gerald, Mr. Fabulous, Caramel, Sydney and Chicken Ricky crow their rooster hearts out when American Woodcocks hurtle through the evening sky. Tom turkeys Edgar and Bernard strut their impressive stuff while turkey hen Souix does her best to avoid them. There is whole lot of “Get off my lawn!” happening this season.

During Winter’s coldest, the chickens warm their feet by riding around on the donkeys, pigs, and goats. I’m sure the feathered spot of warmth is soothing on the mammals’ backs. In the midst of Spring chest-thumping and display, two individuals share a daily lesson of tolerance and respect. Tom Turkey Bruce has always been unsteady on his feet. he came here a few years ago after being dumped in a park. He was found spinning in circles, unable to walk more than a few steps due to probable fattening in close confinement. Canada Goose “K” (named for the tag around his left ankle) prefers the company of Bruce to the rest of the Canada geese. K keeps an eye on Bruce, making sure the two are never far apart. In the evening, K will match steps with Bruce as he makes he slow way into the barn. On Monday, Steve watched the two approach the door. Bruce waivered when he got to the steps. As he turned away from the enclosure, K reached out and gently prodded Bruce into the building before hopping in behind him.

Tim Jasinski, Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist for the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, was interviewed recently for the podcast Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue to Release. His focus was on Canada geese. Among other things, he talked about some of their behaviors that often make them a target of human aggression. Rather than try to understand the reason for why Canada geese do what they do, we drive them away or worse. But if a stranger walks up to your child and picks them up, wouldn’t you fight bill and flapping wing to stop them?

Three weeks from now, 31.6 percent of the global human population will celebrate a man who made the ultimate sacrifice for all. We observe the time leading up to the observance by meditating on written word, coloring eggs and eating fish on Fridays, all the while arguing—warring—about who should be even our most distant neighbor. What if we share the fish, and not just on Fridays?

Leave a comment Posted on January 10, 2024January 10, 2024 Educational Ambassadors, Quarterly newsletter

Just ask

Lavender was one of several victims of a chain farm store’s new retail chick display system. Rather than an open-air enclosure system, this new system took up less retail floor space by stacking the live products in an enclosed space. The stack was a high-rise; a chick skyscraper with no open windows to vent the ammonia produced by heated chick feces. We saw one little chick beating its beak on the upper layer’s window. All the other chicks on that level were dead. The chicks on lower levels were dead or slowly dying. We were given permission to help clear the dead and purchase the living for $1. The farm store reverted to the one air system at all of their locations, at least in Northwest Ohio.

Three of the chicks that came to the farm animal sanctuary survived. Sidney, a Silkie Rooster, and Speckles, a calico Bantam hen, are tight buddies. Lavender, so-named for her muted violet-and-pearl plumage, keeps her own counsel. She is what is referred to as a “fancy”, with swirls of feathers booting her little feet. She flits in and out of the standard flock of hens and roosters, dodging under their feet for breakfast. This system works well for her in summer and fall. In wet spring and soupy winter mud and slush, her feathered boots cake and weight her down. Breeders are not known for their practicality.

Last year, her fancy footwear became so clogged that we had to soak them in warm water, trim her foot feathers and keep her indoors to allow her to eat and sleep in dry warmth. Once she recovered, we reintroduced her to the flock and she wanted nothing to do with humans beyond feeding time. Last week, Steve saw her hiding from one of the younger roosters. Lavender hopped up to Steve and chattered. She allowed herself to be picked up. Steve saw that her foot feathers were boggy. He took her inside, soaked her feet, trimmed and dried her feathers and set her outside. She hopped away to rejoin the flock and is not currently seeking human interaction other than at mealtime.

Click on the cover above to download your copy of The Quarry Farm Winter 2024 newsletter.

Leave a comment Posted on October 7, 2023 Public Events, Uncategorized

2023 Photo Finish

The 8th Annual Quarry Farm 5K crossed the starting line on the first truly chilly, windy day of autumn 2023. Two days ago it was hot and dry. Good running and walking weather blew in overnight, dropping temperatures at least 20 degrees and changing leaf color.

Runners and walkers headed into strong westerly gusts then unzipped their jackets and sweatshirts at the halfway point to float with the wind to the finish. Phil Buell came in first for men, with his son Adam on his heels. Susie Ricker was the first woman 5Ker. Casey Walker was the first walker. An anonymous mini Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle won the children’s division.

Deb Weston and her camera captured the morning. Much-needed rain has settled in for the afternoon, making this a good time to curl up with hot tea, a blanket and a bunch of fall fundraiser photos.

1 Comment Posted on October 6, 2023 Public Events

Avian Selfie

When someone refers to you as ‘bird-brained’, or you feel like laying the description on someone else, consider that Birder Deb discovered this excellent self-portrait while walking the nature preserve trails today. She and Birder David hiked this morning to see what birds are migrating through or settling in ahead of next Saturday, October 14 and the October Big Day event.

“We had 5 warbler species today, all around the perimeter of the prairie,” she shared. “Common Yellowthroat, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-throated Green and at least 15 Yellow-rumped. Saw more sparrows today. White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp, Song, Lincoln’s and Field Sparrow. One Yellow-bellied Sapsucker followed us around the prairie.”

A total of 38 species—pretty good for October. Join us next Saturday at 9 a.m. with your best walking shoes.

Leave a comment Posted on August 24, 2023August 24, 2023 Conservation Farm

There’s a hole in the bucket

Twin sycamore trees stand tall on the west ridge above the quarry wetland. They have since the quarry was not yet a wetland, before channelization of Cranberry Run led to sediment-loads of eroded streambank and field being deposited steadily into its bed. The twins are two trees that grew together into what is known as a multi-trunk tree. As the trees got larger the trunks fused together (called grafting) and looked more like a tree with low branch structures. If you were to cut these down they would show multiple sets of growth rings, confirming separate trees.

As of this morning, little effort need be made to see these growth rings. Earlier this spring, the southern twin was twisted in a swirling night storm, breaking the trunk about five feet from its ground base. The top fell east, laying down to span Cranberry Run with the tip of its crown in the quarry. David Seitz engineered the crown removal and left the remains of “Moby Dick” on the slope for wildlife shelter and visitor commentary. In the early hours of today, the northern-most edge of a large, powerful storm system blew in, tossing silver-sided cottonwood limbs and leaves, refilling Cranberry Run and felling the northern twin in the opposite direction over Road 7L. There is no help for that but disassembly and removal.

Baltimore Orioles nested in the canopy of the twin trees. Raccoons wintered in the hollows of the southern trunk and Eastern Fox Squirrels scolded from the branches above. Artists photographed and painted portraits of the twins for their distinctive bark and silhouette. They were majestic by daylight and ghostly in moonlight.

The southern twin—the bigger of the two—is sporting a thick crown of new green branches. Its roots are viable. There is, however, a hole in the view and heart of this place, for now. Just last weekend, 2023 ACE Day participants from Ohio Northern University volunteered here, sealing picnic tables and pulling bagfuls of amur honeysuckle to make way for native plants and trees. We’re thinking that one tree will be an American Sycamore, one strong single-trunk, on the slope above the creek.

Ohio Northern ACE Day participants made way for more native trees (like a strong single-trunk American Sycamore) and plants on August 19, removing amur honeysuckle by the bagful. They also sealed chairs and picnic table in the pavilion—the better to enjoy the sounds and sights.

Leave a comment Posted on July 5, 2023 Public Events

Spring into Summer

The Spring field trip season was hopping with onsite visitors and road trips to offsite presentations. Matt Hanneman, Cubmaster for the Glandorf Cub Scout Pack 229, brought his troop to earn their hiking badge on April 11. Recent flooding resulted in sightings of displaced shrews and hungry Great Horned Owl calls. Continental Elementary School third grade students arrived on May 12, most for the first time. They traveled by yellow bus across Putnam County at the urging of Charlene Finch. Charlene and her Continental Junior Gardeners were some of our first visitors after The Quarry Farm became official. We took The Quarry Farm on the road on May 15, or at least a snapshot thereof. Miller City-New Cleveland School rounded out their elementary program year with the theme “School is Wild” and we visited, along with Estella the Virginia Opossum and Amur honeysuckle hiking sticks finished by Deb Weston for each teacher.

The May 20 Spring Migration Bird Hike resulted in 44 species observed in the nature preserve, including the addition of a Mourning Warbler to our eBird.org list of species. The days leading up to the hike were full of song, although the early spring foliage gave the birds plenty of places to hide. It’s a good thing that David Smith speaks bird. David and Deb Weston recorded 56 species the day before the hike. Eleven were migrating warblers.

For the first time we shared space with Into the Wild LGBTQIA+ at the Findlay Pride Resource Fair on June 3. We removed invasive honeysuckle the day before and used all 50 trunks to make hiking sticks there at Riverside Park.

Putnam County Educational Service Center scheduled a summer camp geared toward Grades 5–8 here on June 6. Campers made hiking sticks and discussed aquatic insect adaptations before wading into Cranberry Run and the quarry to look for the insects, fish, mollusks and crustaceans that live there.

On June 17, the pavilion was set for a tea-tasting led by Kathleen Heeter. Her presentation included a rich, flavorful history of tea and tea culture. Participants tasted four curated loose leaf teas, each paired with a selection of freshly baked items from Kathleen’s menu. Attendees also shared a display of their own tea pots and tea cups.

Last fall, Cub Scout Pack 324 conducted their annual cake auction at Findlay Zion United Methodist Church. They donated the proceeds from the auction to support the work that we do here. On June 28, over a dozen pack members hiked The Quarry Farm trails to earn a badge and visited the farm animal sanctuary residents.