Sunday, May 13, 2007

Animals from Tar Hollow

Tar hollow was very birdy, and we were constantly hearing ovenbirds, woodthrush, hooded warblers, and scarlet tanagers. The male scarlet tanager makes a very distinctive call which can not be mistaken for any other bird. "Chick Bur" "Chick Bur". Megan and I saw a striking male in brush about 30-40 feet away, unfortunately I was not quick enough with the camera to capture it. However, towards the end of our hike, we heard another male chick burring away overhead, we saw some movement, and luckily, the male alighted above us and stayed long enough for me to grab Megan's camera from her fanny pack. The bird was high up in the tree, but here is what I managed to produce using some sharpening in Google's Picassa software.

 



Next up we have the northern dusky salamander. Megan and I came to the first stream crossing on our hike and I noticed several small, flat pieces of sandstone in the water and leaf litter that looked perfect for salamanders. Sure enough, I overturned a few rocks and the little creatures seemed to wiggle out from everywhere. I saw a southern-two lined salamander and this northern dusky. Quite a nice portrait, if I do say so myself!
 
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