Ode to the Uh-Uh Bird

Photo by Howard Eskin
Audobon Arkansas/Arkansas
Game and Fish

I never actually sought out birds until about two-and-a-half years ago. To that point,  I saw only the predictable variety of cardinals, blue jays, sparrows and the occassional woodpecker. But while shopping for a house in October 2008, standing on the back deck of a beautiful, nature-wrapped home in Kanis Village, I spied something new: a round little black and gray bird with a long beak and a white belly, hopping head-first down the trunk of a white oak tree.

The bird looked up in my direction from his topsy-turvy perch and said, "Uh-uh." "Uh-uh." And that's how I met the white-breasted nuthatch. I called my wife and said, "I'm standing on the deck of my new home." If the view out the back window and the surrounding woods weren't enough, that gregarious bird had sealed the deal for me. Upon first introduction, the bird would get within 10 feet of me without flinching. I still see a family of nuthatches in my yard today, and they have become my favorite bird for their friendly attitude and loud nasal call.

The most charming thing about this bird is his habit of "hatching" nuts. The nuthatch primarily eats insects that he finds in the bark of trees, but will also eat small nuts and acorns, wedging those nuts into a fissure in the tree and concealing them with a bit of moss, lichen or snow. Later, the nuthatch will come back and hammer the seed with his powerful beak, "hatching" the nut from its shell.

You usually find the white-breasted nuthatch in mature deciduous (trees that drop their leaves) forests, and mostly at the edge of the woods. That's the exact habitat we provide here at lovely Kanis Village, as the neighborhood is encircled by woods.

It's fun to watch the bird move at crazy angles to the trunk, hopping along upside-down, then craining its neck upward to look around for predators. Whenever you see the white-breasted nuthatch foraging for food, you typically see his constant companions, the Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse and various woodpeckers. These birds have developed the culture of foraging together for mutual protection. By personality, they do not interfere with each other much, though the white-breasted nuthatch does protect its territory from others of its species.

For a really nice site about the white-breasted nuthatch, check out the Cornell ornithology lab's page at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/id

Here you can hear the the bird's loud, nasal call and find a lot more info. The "uh-uh" thing is something they do while hopping around feeding. Terribly cute. If you see one in your back yard, just sit out on your deck and watch it for a spell. You will be completely charmed.

Arkansas Birding Resources



Courtesy of Wild Birds Unlimited, the amazing bird and wildlife shop in Little Rock's Heights neighborhood, I thought I would provide this list of Arkansas resources for bird watchers, bird lovers and "birders."


 I was in the shop Saturday getting my usual huge bag of "No Mess Blend" bird seed -- along with some dried worms and no-melt hot pepper suet -- when we struck up a conversation about my blog and the owners suggested that my readers might enjoy these organizations and their websites.

I am personally a member of a couple or these groups. Check out the links to see if they might offer something for the bird lover in your family. In a couple of cases, I have offered an update to an old web address that does not work anymore.

Audubon Arkansas -- conservation, field trips, education
Little Rock Audubon Center (see website fof local chapter contact information)
4500 Springer Blvd.
Little Rock, AR 72206
501-244-2229
(Note from JH: This is an environmental organization that is involved in some of the major issues of the day, such as protecting the Lake Maumelle watershed. Their site has a really good bird directory on it, which Game and Fish links to on its page.)
http://www.ar.audubon.org/

Audubon Society of Central Arkansas -- conservation, field trips, education, rare bird sightings
PO Box 6213
Sherwood, AR 72124
501-821-4097
http://www.ascabird.org/

Arkansas Audubon Society -- conservation, education, online discussion forum
PO Box 313
Pangburn, AR 72121
http://www.arbirds.org/

The Nature Conservancy -- conservation, education
601 N. University
Little Rock, AR 72205
(JH note: This org has purchased a lot of land -- or coordinated its purchase, in order to set aside area for wetlands and wildlife.)
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/arkansas/index.htm

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission -- wildlife management, conservation, education
Education and Outreach
2 Natural Resources drive
Little Rock, AR 72205
501-225-8544
(JH note: Game and Fish has a wonderful program called Wings over Arkansas that helps new bird enthusiasts track what birds they have seen and earn certificates and pins for different levels of bird-spotting achievement. Here I list the website for Wings over Arkansas program.)
http://www.agfc.com/education/Pages/EducationProgramsWOA.aspx

Arkansas State Parks -- conservation, field trips, education, recreation
(JH note: Many of the state parks offer bird walks and educational sessions about birds)
http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/

Arkansas Outdoor Photographers Club -- photography, education
http://www.arkphoto.org/

Arkansas Birder -- Photography, education
http://arkansasbirder.net/

If you have other important bird resources that are based in Arkansas, let me know and I will consider posting them here. -- JH

Update: Photos of the Young Frogs



Macro of Bronze Frog in my pond. Fuzzy due to digital zoom.







Take a look at the yellow stripe/black spots on his lip.



This one is a male. You can start to see the outlines of his large tympanum in the "ear" area. Later, that thing will be quite exaggerated in size.



He is probably thinking, "who left those black things on my lily pad?"



Bronzing Backyard Frogs



Adult male Bronze Frog (not the babies I have in my pond)

 Well, that was blatantly misleading. Of course we are not taking frogs out of nature and plating them with metal. But I've got to get you into this blog, and headlines are good bait.

This post is actually about a new and interesting species we didn't know we had out at Haman Farmopolis: the Bronze Frog. In a recent post, "Toad Whisperer," I mentioned that we had a bunch of tads in the pond out back that had recently morphed into some kind of unidentifiable frog/toad. A few days ago I identified the newcomer as a Bronze Frog. I was not aware of this type of frog, but it turns out that the species is common across the southeast U.S.

Last summer, I thought I had a Northern Green Frog in the pond because it was big and made the classic "loose banjo string" call. The problem was that I was out there looking at it by flashlight at night, the only time the frog would announce his presence. Actually, it must have been a male Bronze Frog. It also must have banjoed up a starry-eyed, music-loving female to produce the adorable froggies that I have today. It's easy to misidentify these guys because they are subspecies of the same animal, and have the same banjo call. Green frogs are distributed both as Bronze Frog to the south, and Northern Green Frog, to the north of a certain line. On the south side, they have this unusual bronze color. To the north, they are remarkably green. In either case, they are often mistaken for bullfrogs because of their large size. Take a look at the species distribution map, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Species distribution of Rana clamitans (Wikipedia)

The thing I find most fascinating is that according to this particular map, I live at the exact intersection of bronze and green: In Little Rock, Ark., smack in the middle of the state. If you look at Arkansas on the map, you will see that the dark blue portion -- the range of the Bronze Frog, roughly follows the bottom edge of the Ozark Plateau and the Ouachita Mountains through the state. As you rise into the hills -- and into the Ozark Plateau --  it's Northern Green Frog territory. Below that, bronze. So, I have a shot in Little Rock at seeing both subspecies.

(A quick sidebar: Arkansas is broken into six main natural divisions: Ozarks, Arkansas River Valley, Ouachitas, Coastal Plain, Mississippi Alluvial Plain and Crowley's Ridge. Little Rock sits right at the three-way intersection of the Ouachitas, the Missippii Alluvial Plain add the Coastal Plain. If you go just a few minutes north or west, you are solidly in the Ouachitas. A little bit southwest, and you are greeted by the Coastal Plain. A tad to the east, hello alluvial plain. For a brilliant read on the subject of Arkansas' fascinating natural divisions, see "The Natural Divisons of Arkansas," by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. It is a classroom guide written by Thomas L. Foti.)

The literature says that the Bronze Frog is shy by nature. That must happen later in life, because I have experienced the joy of watching these little guys sunning themselves on my lily pads and jumping into the water if I get within five feet. I stand back about 10 feet and watch them through binoculars. As they grow, typically the adults spread out to areas away from their birth pools. As they age, they also start using the famous call which has given the species the nickname "Banjo Frog." The latin name for the Bronze Frog is Rana clamitans clamitans. Rana is the Latin word for "frog." Clamitan means "noisy" a nod to the impressive, attention-getting call of the male.


According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website (East Texas has a pretty good range of Banjo Frogs) the bronze frog grows up to 2 to 4 inches. The frog is distinguished by a by a bronze or brownish body, white belly with dark, irregular blotches, and a bright green upper lip and nose. The babies in my pond have a sort of stripy yellow and dark lip.

Males can have yellowish throats. Banjo Frogs are smooth-skinned, as are all true frogs. They have long hind legs with webbed toes. Most interestingly, a  fold of skin, called a lateral line, begins behind the eye and runs two-thirds the length of body. This lateral line is quite distinguishing, and can help you identify the frog. The tympanum, or ear disc, is quite exaggerated in males, making them look kind of freakish.

"Their diet includes small frogs, worms, insects, and other small invertebrates," says Texas Parks and Wildlife. "Birds, fish, and small carnivores (meat eaters) prey on the bronze frog. It reaches sexual maturity in the first full summer after metamorphosis. Breeding season begins in early spring and lasts through the summer. Females lay 2,000 to 4,000 eggs in small masses attached to underwater vegetation. Eggs are 1.5 mm when laid, but grow to 6 mm as cells divide."

Personally, I found the eggs of the Banjo Frog this spring when I was clearning up in the pond. I had experimented with a solar-powered floating fountain  that was disguised as a fake water plant. When I turned the fountain over to see if it needed to be unclogged, I found a mass of clear jelly eggs. Inside each egg I could see a little dark spot -- the tadpole in waiting. Frankly, I was just waiting it out to see what came from the eggs. Now we know. 

The eggs incubate over one to two weeks and the tadpoles are green with small, dark spots. They can grow to 1.5 inches, which is why I thought I might have Bull Frogs in my pond. The species lives seven to 10 years, and spend most of their lives as nocturnal, solitary hunter, remaining under logs and in crevices most of the time.

I am most proud of this: The moist, permeable skin of the Banjo Frog -- and all other frog specieiss -- makes it highly sensitive to polution. So if you see it, the water quality is pretty good. Go pond!

What in the World is a Master Naturalist?

I'm so glad you asked. To my way of thinking, a master naturalist is a person who is endlessly curious about the natural world and interested in sharing that curiosity with others.

I stumbled upon the Arkansas Master Naturalist program about 18 months ago on a family trip to Pinnacle Mountain State Park when I saw one of the group's pamphlets. I learned that the organization's purpose was to enhance and promote nature through a highly educated force of ardent volunteers.

To become an Arkansas Master Naturalist you must acquire at least  40 hours of education during one of the annual January-to-May training periods.  Classes are typically held in two sessions each Saturday, and there are plenty of courses to pick from. You could probably rack up closer to 55 hours if you wanted to. Upon completing the 40 hours you will receive your Arkansas Master Naturalist pin. The mission is then to complete at least 40 hours of nature-related volunteer work in the public interest during the June to May period. If you make that goal, you attain the title of Certified Arkansas Master Naturalist.

There are chapters of the organization now in central Arkansas, the Arkansas River Valley, Northwest Arkansas and North-Central Arkansas. It is an independent, non-political, non-profit organization and I am on its board of directors. For a better understanding of the group and all that we do, go to http://home.arkansasmasternaturalists.org/

The group is packed with diverse and interesting people. Just in my immediate circle, I know a semi-retired Methodist minister, geologist, retired pharmaceutical company manager, professor of physics, lifelong caregiver and research psychiatrist. Long-term members are community-driven people, good-natured and fun to be around. Once you have your naturalist title you can pretty much engage in any type of volunteer work you like. Some of my colleagues like to group together on workdays, where have made tremendous strides in trail-building at places like Burns Park and Pinnacle Mountain State Park. Others, like me, are often drawn to things we can do on our own, like trail-intepreter gigs, or wildlife-habitat creation.

Here's my advice to you, though, if you are considering doing this: Don't get involved  if you just want the education. There are plenty of books you can read if this is what you are after. Instead, join if you want to learn a ton and then put that knowledge and passion to work to help preserve, protect and promote the natural resources of Arkansas. You will find an organization that needs your passion, time and expertise.

My volunteer work has mostly centered around wildlife habitat and helping out the good folks at the Pinnacle visitor's center. With two other master naturalists, I helped build some bluebird house kits and then organized the assemply of those houses by third- and fourth-grade kids at Don Roberts Elementary School in Little Rock. They kids then painted the boxes, and my wife and I hung them up in carefully selected locales around the campus. Every week to 10 days I monitored the boxes to see what was nesting, and in the end. about 5 bluebird nests were built in the boxes.

I have also spent a lot of time at Pinnacle doing such things as helping to clean the alligator and turtle enclosures, leading tours of the Kingfisher Trail and wading through water with kids looking for crawdads. All good fun.

This year I hope to expand what I am doing with wildlife habitat by creating nesting boxes for wood ducks, screech owls, bats, mason bees, bluebirds and the like. I also have a goal of creating a frog-and-toad presentation for elementary kids.

If you are interested in the organization, message me or hit the website. Classes start in January. It would be a treat to see you involved. But if you would like to support the organization financially I can probably give you a few ideas.

Toad Whisperer

I've been hanging out near my small pond lately -- it's not even as big as a VW Beetle. Right now, there are 10 are 12 of an unknown species of frog or toad hopping around in there, moving along the lily pads. They like basking in the sun, and just left tadpole stage in the last few weeks. They were very big tadpoles -- thought they might turn out to be bullfrogs. Got a close-up look this morning and could not identify them yet based on the info I had. They have an interesting streak of yellow and black splots under their chin.

Anyway, they got me thinking about the first pond I ever dug, at a different house: the old place in Hillcrest. If you don't know Little Rock, Hillcrest is an old, very woodsy neighborhood that is kind of overgrown, and, in places, there are some open ditches. For most people, open ditches are ugly. For toads, they are a 1970s water bed and a suitcase of Falstaff.

At our spot on G Street we could hear a lot of croaking at night, especially after heavy periods of rain. One spring, probably about 9-10 years ago, I decided to build a small pond in the backyard and create a stone patio around it. I was not prepared for how hard it would be to dig more than three feet down. It was a project. The process I used was about like what I did out here in my new digs at Kanis Village.

How to Dig a Pond
1. Dig a hole with stairsteps getting more shallow toward the edges.
2. Remove rocks, roots and other sharp things.
3. Put a layer of something over the soil to create a cushion between the rubber liner that was to come and the pebbles and stuff below it. I used newspaper circulars -- tons of them. Created many layers and then moistened them, creating a cushion that hugged the pond bottom.
4. Lay down a flexible pond liner from a home store over the pond hole and push it down as much as possible.
5. Do not trim the liner!!!! Instead, fill the thing with water. The water is so heavy it pushes the liner deeper into the hole and its ledges, until they are snug together. That uses up more of the liner.
6. Check to see if you need to bolster any low places in the pond edge.
7. Now, trim the liner to within about a foot or so of the pond edge.
8. Install rocks over the lip of the liner to disguise it and naturalize the project.
9. Put water plants down in the pond and rest them on the ledges, or down in the center deep section.
10. Finish up the liner trimming and make it look like the pond has always been there.
11. DO NOT PUT ANY FISH IN AT THIS POINT!
12. Purchase some floating plants -- I recommend water lettuce. Don't use water hyacinth. It is an invasive and I think it might actually be illegal.
13. When the floating plans begin to put on new growth, now you can probably put some goldfish -- something small and inexpensive -- down in the pond.

Ok, back to the point. I put this pond together on a warm April day or two. On the night I finished, I filled it with water and put a pond light down in the water (ground-fault interrupter circuit, please). I then heard, for the first time, toads croaking through the bedroom window, right out there near the pond. I looked out there and two toads were, um, conjoined, and hanging on for dear life to one of the plants. I could not believe it.

They knew the water was there and just went for it. They next day, there was a long, transparent tube of toad eggs wrapped around the plant in several circles. Soon there were tadpoles, and more toads, and more toads, and more.

Seriously, on any given night there could be 15 toads out there. And all of them would be singing at the same time. Later, after becoming an Arkansas Master Naturalist and nerding out on things like the Herps of Arkansas website, I figured out that they were Fowler's Toads. They make a sound like "Roaaaarrrrrrrrk!" They will call back and forth with that song, with slight variations in pitch and tone. I want you to hear this song right now. So click on http://www.herpsofarkansas.com/wiki/uploads/Frog/AnaxyrusFowleri/DS300037.mp3

Imagine 15 of those? This went on through all of the spring, and just about all of the summer. In summer, we were the only water in town. Every toad in a square-mile area seemed to know our place. In early to mid springs, I would see literally hundreds of small toads hopping around the yard. I could barely step without nudging one. On February when I started my gardening, I would dig one up -- alive.

This went on for years. I kept a nature journal of the Hillcrest home, and I recorded the first time I would hear a toad on the pond each year. About four years later, I noticed that the toads were late by about 10 days. I was...concerned? So, that night about 10 o'clock, I went out, and, to the best of my ability, did the toad mating call. I sort of surprised myself. "Damn, I'm good at this," I thought. "If this job doesn't work out I could always-"

No time for that nonsense. From 30 feet away, my plaintiff call was answered. "Roaaarrrrrrrk!" I called back, and my love song was reciprocated as the toad hopped a few feet closer. Again, with feeling, and now the toad was steadily moving in. And again. And again. And now another toad is coming, and now, they two of them are presumably forging a love connection. And here comes a third. It's an embarrassment of croaking riches.

Many nights, I would sit out and sing to the toads. I doubt the neighbors ever divined that one of the toads went about 190 pounds and six feet, wartless, clean-shaven and smelling of Safari and citronella.

A year or so later, we had a theater cast party themed completely around the toads. We made party posters with little toads. I highlighted my calling skills. Predictably and sadly, no one was impressed.

When I left that house, I left that little pond behind, but I knew there would be other toads, other ponds. When I built my new pond at Kanis Village, my ex-wife was kind enough to let me dig up some iris from the yard to use around my little body of water. She moved a couple of years later, and, in an act of treason, the people who bought the house filled in the pond.

***

Honestly, the old pond was kind of a pain. It had a waterfall and a pump, and a light under the water. The electrical stuff would short out during heavy rains somehow, and the pump would go out once a year. At the new house, I went simple: no pump, no light, no waterfall. This one would be a pure frog pond. A little algae, some lilly pads, some native plants, and the azaleas I transplanted from the front yard.

The simple approach has been marvelous. Last year, among other critters, I hosted a green frog -- a big green sucker with a call like a loose banjo string: http://www.herpsofarkansas.com/wiki/uploads/Frog/LithobatesClamitans/DS300036.mp3

This year, the so-far-unknown frog/toads are not yet telling me their calls.

A few nights ago, off in the distance, I heard the lonely call of the Fowler's Toad. Something stirred within me. I looked back at my family in the living room, and across the yard to my neighbor's deck. Ah, heck.  "Roaaarrrrrk!" I called back. "Roaaaaarrrrrrrrkkkkk!!"  Not this time. Too many trees between us. Safe travels, I thought. Perhaps another pond and time.

Welcome to Arkansas Nature Boy

Ever sat out in your back yard at night wondering what kind of frog was making that noise? Followed a bumblebee to its nest? Dug up a native plant to put by your homemade pond? Built a trail for the kids? Or even dreamed of doing these kinds of things? This blog is for you.

I'm creating a place to go for information about providing habitat for wildlife, nature education for adults and children, preservation of our natural heritage, and education about organic gardening. There will be brief posts about bugs, plants, frogs or birds I have found, articles about pond-making, composting, gardening on a slope, etc.

 If you would like to see something about how to build a certain bird house, or want me to help you identify a critter, bring it on. Tell me about the kinds of nature topics you want to learn about; I'll share what I know and we will learn the rest together. I'd be especially grateful if my Arkansas Master Naturalist colleagues would contribute ideas or articles.

My plan is for Nature Boy to be a great one-stop resource for nature information, and eventually, a platform from which I can promote nature appreciation at elementary schools. Yes, wait til you see my Nature Boy costume. :-)