Naturalist Journal

In the spirit of the box turtle study Piedmont Wildlife Center and its interns are conducting, we are making the Eastern Box Turtle our Species of the Month.

The land-dwelling Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) has four subspecies: the Eastern, Gulf Coast, Three-toed, and Florida.  They live in moist forested areas, but can also inhabit wet meadow, pastures, and floodplains.  People usually see them early in the day or after it rains.   During the hot summer, they go to swampy areas.

The Eastern eastern box turtle (T. c. carolina) is the only one found in North Carolina, so we will focus on this particular subspecies.  Its habitat ranges from south Maine down to Georgia and westward to Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee.

The Eastern eastern box turtle has a brightly marked carapace and four toes on its hind feet.  Like its subspecies confreres, they can be 10 to 21.6 mm in length.  The coloring and pattern of the carapace can vary.  The plastron tends to be as long as the carapace and can be any one of the following colors: tan to dark brown, yellow, orange, or olive.  It may also be without a pattern or with a pattern of dark blotches.

All T. carolina can close its lower shell tightly against its highly-domed and keeled carapace due to possessing a movable plastron hinge.  Males usually have red eyes and a depression in the rear part of the plastron.  Females have yellowish-brown eyes.

T. carolina nests from May to July and lays three to eight elliptical, thin-shelled eggs, which are about 35 mm long, in a flask-shaped cavity about 76 to 102 mm deep.  Although it does not always happen, hatchlings can overwinter in the nest.  Females have the ability to store sperm and can produce fertile eggs for several years after a single mating.  These turtles mature in five to seven years.

T. carolina is long-lived.  A few specimens were known to have lived more than 100 years.

Work Cited

“Eastern Box Turtle.” National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.  468-469.  Print.

Margaux Escutin

In mid- to late May, a blue-gray gnatcatcher swooped in on the red-tailed hawk when we set it on its perch outside the Piedmont Wildlife Center Cabin. In a truly David versus Goliath match, this tiny bird continued to attack, at times hitting the hawk on the head, perhaps in defense of a nest.  To see a video of the blue-gray gnatcatcher encountering the red-tailed hawk, click here.  This is why the blue-gray gnatcatcher is our species of the month.

The blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) is a tiny long-tailed bird with a long pale bill and wings that are more pointed compared to other gnatcatchers.  This particular bird is also the most widely spread gnatcatcher. These birds have a lot of white on their tails with a bit of black and bright white tertial edges.   Males are blue-gray above.  They are about 11 cm long.

This species can be divided into the western and eastern blue-gray gnatcatcher. The eastern blue-gray gnatcatcher has more white on its tail compared to its western counterpart.  The western birds tend to be drabber in color.  The eastern females are always grey, but the western birds are brown above.

In general, P. caerulea is found high in trees or in tall brush.  Eastern birds tend to nest in swampy woods, whereas the western birds nest in dry, dense brush, pinyon-junipers, or open woods.

The eastern blue-gray gnatcatcher call  tends to be less harsh and has more variations.  It has a thin song with a steady series of notes peppered with short bunches of high chips and slurs that sound like zeee zeeet zeet zill zill zwee zwee.  The western bird’s song is lower and sounds like a jeew jeew bidi bilf.

Bibliography

“Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.” Sibley, David. The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Knopf, 2000. 397. Print.

“Thrushes.” Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1983. 322. Print.

Margaux Escutin

These are notes from the Way of the Herbs Class held workshop held at Piedmont Wildlife Center on May 22, 2011.  For more information on PWC’s adult classes, click here.

Spring and Summer Wild Edibles

Featured Plants

• Elder

• Wild Grape

• Dock

• Oxeye Daisy

• Dog Fennel

• Ladys Thumb

• Lambs Quarters

• Greenbriar

• Dayflower

• Perilla

• Violets

 

Elder- Flowers and berries edible.  Make sure to cook berries before eating.  Makes jelly wine and syrup.  Green berries can be pickled.  Look for distinct white umbrella shaped flowers, grooves on stem and branches growing opposite from one another.

Wild Grape- Fruit and Leaf edible.  Leaf is best if harvested in spring or early summer when still light green. Look for woody vines with wide, toothy leaves.

Broad leafed Dock – All parts edible.  Provides a source of wild cooked greens year round. Root is usually considered too bitter to be palatable but can be tasty if cooked properly.  Seeds can be roasted and ground into flour or eaten as is. Dock helps to make iron more accessible in the body.  Good source of vitamin A. Look for crinkly leaves in a rosette with wavy margins.

Oxeye daisy- All parts edible.  Add to salads. Pickle the buds and flowers.  Look for large daisy-like flower and elongated toothed leaves with a slightly nutty flavor.

Dog Fennel- All parts edible.  Use as a trail nibble or flavoring for soups and salads.  Look for tall, feathery field plant with distinct fennel odor when the leaves are crushed.

Lambs Quarters –One of our most nutritious wild edibles.  Very high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Calcium.  All parts edible.  Leaves excellent dried and ground into a vegetable flour, eaten raw or cooked like spinach.  Seeds can also be ground into flour. According to Linda Runion, a handful of lambs quarters seed has more protein than a steak.  Look for whitish coating under leaves.

Violets— Mild and tasty wild green,  great for salads, pesto and cooked greens. Commonly found in yards and fields. All parts edible raw or cooked.  Leaves high in Vitamin A and Vitamin K.  Flowers can be made into jelly when boiled with pectin, sugar and lemon juice. Look for heart shaped leaves with a network of small veins.

Plantain— All parts edible, raw and cooked.  Greens are great for salads, pesto, cooked greens and soups. Seeds have a gentle laxative effect.  Seeds can be used alone or as sprouts. Look for oval leaves with five prominent veins.

Dayflower—All parts edible, raw or cooked.  Use in salads, stir fry, soups, pestos. Look for papery sheath around stem axils

Ladys Thumb—Flowers and leaves edible raw or cooked.  Common yard plant. Look for dark chevron shape on leaves.

Greenbriar- Tender new growth edible.  Eat raw or steam like asparagus.  Look for wide, heartshaped leaves on green thorny vine.

Perilla- Use like basil.  Eat raw, add to salads or pestos.  In Japan, the leaves are also eaten fried in tempura batter.  Look for square stems and opposite, crinkly leaves with a distinct minty-basil odor when crushed.

Nutrition information comes from The USDA nutrition facts and from theEssential Wild Food Survival Guide by Linda Runion

Recipes

 

Sarahs Wildflower “Marmalade”

• 1 cup finely chopped edible flowers such as redbuds, violets, wisteria, rose, honeysuckle, etc.
• 1 whole orange including peel deseeded and diced
• Honey

Mix chopped flowers and orange.  Put in a jar and add enough honey to cover ingredients.  Stir well.  Keeps in fridge for one to two months.  Can also be frozen for long term storage.

 

Wild Greens Spanikopita

The Spanokopita recipe is inspired by Rosemary Gladstar and John Gallager

• 1 gallon, packed fresh wild greens or 4 cups cooked wild greens  (nettles, dock, plantain, violets, etc.)
• 1 lb. feta cheese
• 4 cloves garlic or wild onion, minced
• Tbsp olive oil
• 1 box fillo leaves
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups olive oil

Cook greens in small amount of water until very tender.  Drain and let cool. Mix the greens with feta cheese, olive oil and minced garlic. This is your filling. Carefully place three to five sheets of filo dough on a cookie sheet.  Brush olive oil between each layer.  Spread the filling on top and then cover with ten more sheets of filo dough, brushing oil between each layer.  Cover the final layer with olive oil, then bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Euell Gibbons Elder Flower fritters (can also be used for daylilies or other edible flowers)

• Elder flowers
• Oil for frying

Batter ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk

Mix a batter of all the above ingredients, then dip the elder flowers into the batter and deep fry until golden brown. As an added treat, Euell Gibbons recommends dipping these fritters in orange juice and rolling in sugar.

Recommended Books

• Petersons Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants—Highly recommended!

• Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by Steve Brill

• Essential Wild Food Survival Guide by Linda Runion

• The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook by Steve Brill

• Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons

Two months ago, the sound of rustling and chirping was heard outside the windowpane at the Piedmont Wildlife Center cabin where an air conditioning unit is housed.  Upon further investigation, we discovered that a Carolina wren had built its nest there, which is why we have chosen the Carolina wren to be our species of the month.

The Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a stocky bird with a large yet narrow head and short, slender bill with bright red-brown plumage.  They have short, rounded wings.  Compared to other wrens, the Carolina wren is more slender.  Their long tails are flicked up expressively and sideways.  They live in the eastern half of the United States.

These active and secretive birds creep through vegetation, foraging for insects and fruit.  Their flight appears quick and erratic.  Carolina wrens are cavity nesters and can be found in dense bushy habitats.

Their voices are extremely varied and can depend on region.  Their song can be a rolling chant of various phrases, which includes but extends beyond pidaro pidaro pidaro or TWEE pudo TWEE pudo TWEEP.  Sometimes a long buzzing chatter accompanies a song.  Compared to other wrens, its calls are richer.  Carolina wrens can make a whiny zhwee zhwee zhwee, a descending musical trill or a low dip or didip.

Works Cited

Sibley, David A. “Carolina Wren.” The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 384-85. Print.

These are notes from the Way of the Herbs Class held workshop held at Piedmont Wildlife Center on May 8, 2011.  For more information on PWC’s adult classes, click here.

Information in the workshop is presented for educational purposes only! It’s not intended to diagnose or treat specific illness.

Some Common Piedmont Wild plants and their uses

Growing in a ditch, yard or abandoned field near you!

Elder- Antiviral.  Berries strongly antioxidant and high in iron.  Excellent for the prevention and treatment of common colds and flus. Promotes perspiration and helps to break a fever.  Prevents viruses from entering the respiratory system. Tones mucous membranes of nose and throat reducing hay fever and allergies if taken before hay fever season.  Helps with arthritis by promoting elimination of wastes in joints.

Cleavers- The most powerful lymphatic diuretic.  Cleavers helps to drain swollen lymph nodes.  It is the most preferred lymphatic for long term use.  Cleavers may help treat cancerous growths, tumors and other serious lymphatic conditions.  Also helpful for psoriasis and other dry skin conditions

Chickweed- Cools inflammatory conditions internally and externally. Assists with dissolving cysts. Soothes irritation. Speeds fat metabolism.  Promotes vitamin and mineral absorption during digestion.  Used topically for eczema, pink eye, dry, itchy skin conditions.

Yarrow-External use: Antiseptic, Astringent,  mild local anesthetic, Exceptionally good at wound healing and cleaning.  Inernal use Boosts circulation, promotes perspiration, pain relief.  Also lowers blood pressure and helps treat UTI.

Dandelion-The leaves are a diuretic that lowers blood pressure and treats edema.  The root is a liver tonic.  It helps lower harmful cholesterol levels, balances blood sugar levels, and helps to treat hypoglycemia and diabetes. Dandelion promotes healthy digestion and treats chronic skin conditions.  It assists fat metabolism and helps the liver and kidneys to improve in efficient elimination of wastes.  An herbal “vitamin pill” that improves general vitality. Filled with vitamins and minerals. Digestive bitter and mild antidepressant. Assists the body in a gentle detox.

Pine- Extremely high in vitamin C.  Needle tea is helpful for cold and flu prevention and treatment.  Sap is antibacterial.  It s excellent applied externally for wound healing.  Pollen is used as a male tonic due to high levels of testosterone.

Plantain- Leaf promotes rapid wound healing and stops bleeding.  Seeds are a bulk laxative that can treat constipation, diarrhea, IBS, and other digestive disorders

Passionflower – Strong sedative and tension reliever.  Helps to reduce internal mental chatter. May be helpful for relieving emotional dependency. Excellent for anxiety and relaxation.

Nettles- Exceptionally high in minerals, helps treat Anemia.  Ardrenal tonic.  Promotes healthy skin, nails and hair.  Long term use helps treat eczema and other skin conditions.  Root helps treat the symptoms of prostate problems. Formic acid may relieve arthritic pain.  Encourages the flow of mothers’ milk. Helps speed recovery from surgery and childbirth.

Lemon Balm – (may be found in the wild where escaped from cultivation) Anti depressant, Antiviral.  Treats cold sores and herpes, migranes and tension headaches, Anxiety and depression mixed with stressed stomach pain, Panic Attacks,  ADHD.  Avoid excessive use if on thyroid medication. Generally safe for children.

Herbal Preparations

• Infused Oil
• Salve
• Tincture
• Lineament
• Glycerite
• Infusion
• Decoction
• Compress
• Poultice
• Syrup

Books

• Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by Steve Brill
• Family Herbal by Rosemary Gladstar
• Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra
• Healing Wise by Susan Weed

Websites

§  Piedmont Plant Lore –a website maintained by Piedmont Wildlife Center.  http://plantlore.wordpress.com/

§  Herbmentor.com – online community for herbal medicine students with some free content and some paid content.  Free podcasts featuring interviews with some of the country’s top herbal medicine practitioners, edible plant teachers, and others.

§  What a Relief – Amanda McQuade’s simple videos on making home based herbal medicines.  http://www.veria.com/what-a-relief.html

§  Southwest School of Botanical Medicine –online database of modern and premodern herbal knowledge.  Very comprehensive.   Most information indexed by latin name. http://www.swsbm.com/HOMEPAGE/HomePage.html

While Piedmont Wildlife Center’s Naturalist Guild members went out on their first walk, they noticed an arboreal nest in a tree with a trunk no thicker than an inch-and- a-half.  Looking at the nest’s structure and how much weight it could support, one of the possible animals that could make its home there is the golden mouse, which is why it is our species of the month.

The Golden Mouse (Ochrotomys nuttalli) is a mouse with golden upperparts and creamy-colored underparts and feet.  The brightness of its coat can vary from subspecies to subspecies.  Its coat is very soft and hairs are very fine.  It is found in the southeastern United States.  Its range covers Virginia and West Virginia to the north, Florida to the south, and Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana in the west.  The golden mouse is a medium-sized mouse with a length from 140 to 190 mm; a width from 67 to 97 mm; and a weight as low as 18 g and as high as 27 g.  Although docile, the golden mouse is rarely found in or near human habitation.  The golden mouse uses densely forested lowlands and floodplain communities, often including honeysuckle, greenbrier, or other vines.

Source: Kays, Roland W. Southeastern Peromyscus. in Mammals of North America, Princeton:Princeton University Press. 2002.

Margaux Escutin

These are notes from the Edible Plants workshop held at Piedmont Wildlife Center on March 27, 2011.  For more information on PWC’s adult classes, click here.

Featured Plants:

• Chickweed
• Wild Onions
• Redbud
• Dandelion
• Spearmint
• Sassafrass
• Dock
• Plantain
• Violet
• Johnny Jump-Ups
• Creasy Greens
• Pine
• Wood Sorrel
• Cleavers
• Pokeweed

Before you go foraging wild edible plants on your own, know these 2 deadly plants:

• Poison Hemlock Conium maculatum L.
• Water Hemlock Cicuta maculata L.

Recipes:

• Katie Rose Levin’s Favorite Salad

• any tender, tasty greens
• chopped wild onions
• blue cheese
• walnuts
• dried cranberries
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar

• Wild Quiche

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup grated Swiss or Cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp butter
• 1-1/2 cup warm milk
• pinch of pepper and nutmeg
• Slightly cooked greens (dock, pokeweed, etc.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg.
2. Spread cheese, then slightly cooked greens on the bottom of the pie pan.
3. Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper, then pour into pan.
4. Sprinkle with nutmeg and butter.
5. Bake 35 minutes until outside is set, but inside jiggles.
6. Let stand 10-15 minutes.

• Maria Rowan’s Frittata

• wild onion, bulbs and leaves
• 5 eggs (depends on the amount you want to make)
• wild greens (violets, chickweed, pokeweed, plantain, etc.)
• Feta cheese

1. Saute onion bulbs in butter, then add onion tops and other greens.
2. Put in baking dish.
3. Beat eggs and pour over greens.
4. Add crumbled Feta on top.
5. Bake 30 minutes at 350 deg.

Resources:

• Kim Calhoun, 919-967-1783 (google AbunDance Healing Arts Sanctuary)
• Wild Will Endres, 919-732-9785 (google Will’s Wild Herbs)
• Suki Roth, bruki@peoplepc.com, 336-376-0727 (google Herb Haven)
• Forager’s Potlucks, samover87@gmail.com, moria.brass@duke.edu

Recommended Books:

• Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons
• Peterson’s Field Guide to Edible Plants
• Nature’s Garden: Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer
• Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants

A group of students learning how to track animals were gathered in front of the Intern Cabin at Piedmont Wildlife Center when they heard the rough trill of the Upland Chorus Frog.  Because that was the first frog call of the spring, the Upland Chorus Frog is our Species of the Month.

The Upland Chorus Frog (Pseudacris feriarum) aka. Southeastern Chorus Frog is found in the greater Piedmont region that runs north to south along the eastern seaboard. The range extends westward out to Texas. Upland Chorus Frogs are often heard but rarely seen.  These nocturnal creatures burrow into the banks of ponds and ditches; however, people occasionally see them forage in the daylight from time to time.

The Upland Chorus Frog can range in size from ¾-of-an-inch to 1 1/2 inch.  They have rough, warty skin and are light tan or gray with three stripes or rows of spots down their backs.  A prominent stripe runs from the snout, through the eye, and down the groin.

The Upland Chorus Frog lives in wet or moist grassy meadows, ponds, and sinkholes and in damp leaf litter in the woodlands.  The frog’s call sounds like a ratchet.  Males call from floating vegetation or small hillocks of particularly grassy, or grass-like plant growth near water.

You can hear the Upland Chorus Frog around vernal pools in the forest during the early spring months throughout our region.

Resources

Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. “Frogs and Toads.” In Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. 413.

Conant, Roger, and Joseph Collins. “Toads and Frogs.” In Reptiles and Amphibians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991. 328.

Davidson College. “Southern Chorus Frog – North Carolina.” Biology @ Davidson. http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/herpcons/herps_of_nc/anurans/psenig/pse_nig.html (accessed February 18, 2011).

These are notes from an Earth Arts workshop held on November 21, 2010 at Piedmont Wildlife Center.

For more information on Piedmont Wildlife Center’s classes on natural history, survival skills and aboriginal studies, visit our Adult Programs page.

Cordage Materials

Strong Fibers

• Dogbane stem
• Milkweed stem
• Yucca leaf
• Stinging Nettles stem
• Wisteria bark
• Pawpaw bark
• Hickory bark
• Linden tree bark
• Mulberry bark
• Elm bark
• Pine roots

Weaker Fibers

• Poplar inner bark
• Red Cedar outer bark
• Cattails
• Maple bark
• Grasses

Paints

Pigments

• Red—Red Ochre (paint rocks), madder*, blood root*
• Orange—Paint rocks, Osage Orange tree roots*
• Yellow—Yellow Ochre (paint rocks), Limonite, Urine, Yellow  root*
• Green—Dried plant powders, Blue Green Algae, Green Ochre
• Blue –- Woad*, Wild Indigo*, Oregon Grape Berries*
• Purple – Pokeweed Berries*
• Brown—Fire roasted red ochre
• Black—Charcoal, charred bone, lamp soot, coal
• White—Bird droppings, natural sea chalk, limestone, kaolin clay

*these items are dyes, not pigments.  To use them as pigments, a powder must be added and then precipitated out of the solution.

Binders—thickening binders that contain protein or fat provide a more lasting bond than water

• Oil
• Animal Fat
• Blood
• Urine
• Egg Whites
• Hide Glue
• Plant resins and sap

 

Resources
Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills, Edited by David Wescott

Primitive Technology II:  Ancestral Skills, edited by David Wescott

Colors of Art Website– http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/