Scat identification. We live on heavy wooded area, and found 2"x2" scat found on our deck within our fenced back yard. Thank you.

It’s hard to say without a photo. However, I would suspect a raccoon or maybe an opossum left the scat on your deck!

-Chief Naturalist John Kolar

Is this Partridge Berry?
Thompson Ledges
I'm better at IDs in the field and this is the new FB cover photo for that park.

Yes, you are correct! This is partridgeberry, also known as twinberry.

-Chief Naturalist John Kolar

Will the forest be cleaned of debris/fallen trees and branches in Russell Uplands Preserve?

The only debris/fallen trees and branches typically removed in any of our parks are those along trails and developed areas.

-Chief Naturalist John Kolar

What bird is on the symbol for the park district?

The bird on Geauga Park District’s logo is the Red-headed Woodpecker. Thanks for asking!

-Denise Wolfe, Naturalist

I am stressing about baby robin nest I had in privacy shrub by my deck. Mama had 4 hatchings and I could see them each day from window.

Yesterday, two of them fledged from the nest and it was so loud in the back yard (loved it). Anyway- I was outside briefly and I totally messed up and startled the two that were still in the nest. They jumped out! One made it out of the shrub and the other was hanging around it in for awhile. I gently put it back in nest and saw (from my window) that it left shortly after I placed it back. I was upset that they prematurely left because of me.

When I checked later in the day- none of them were on the ground by the shrub, unable to fly.

My Q is- do they all tend to fledge around the same time? I know a couple of them hatched a day later than the others, and if I hadn’t startled them, they may have stayed in nest another day and developed stronger wings??

No need to stress out about the situation with the young robins. Young birds will frequently jump out of nests too early for all kinds of reasons.

The adults will still care for them until they are able to fly. The adults will continue to feed the young for days to even several weeks after the young have fledged.

You can frequently see young birds that are all puffed out and actually look larger than their adult begging them for food. It’s very fun to watch.

-Denise Wolfe, Naturalist

Which park/trail would be best to view spring wildflowers?

Oh my. There are lots of trails and parks to see wildflowers!

Headwaters Park’s  Eagle Loop and Buckeye trails are really good.

Swine Creek Reservation’s Valley Trail is good.

Big Creek Park’s Wildflower Trail is good.

The Rookery’s Interurban Trail is good, too.

Certainly there are even more than I have mentioned. Have fun on your search for them!

-Denise Wolfe, Naturalist

I'd like to identify this plant that is growing in my yard. I've looked online and in my wildflower field guide, but nothing matches exactly. The closest match I've seen are Virginia Bluebells.

This plant is commonly know as lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis. It is native to Europe and is a commonly grown garden plant.

Here is the Wikipedia link explaining more about the history of this plant.

-Denise Wolfe, Naturalist

I have two female bluebirds sitting on one nest. There are six eggs. What is going to happen?

I imagine that there is a male bluebird somewhere or they wouldn’t have laid eggs. I don’t think that it is unusual to see two female bluebirds sitting on the box. If they are in the box together that would be unusual. My suggestion is to check the box every five days. Don’t check on cold or rainy days. The bluebird eggs will hatch in 14 days. If the weather is colder, kind of like this week with up and down temperatures, it could take more than 14 days. Hopefully the eggs will hatch!

-Denise Wolfe, Naturalist

Yesterday (4-24-21) at Big Creek Park at the covered observation shelter on the Deep Woods Trail, I saw what appears to be the beginnings of an eagle nest. The stack of branches had to be put there because there are some hemlock branches and no other way for them to get there. Is that indeed what it is? And has it been abandoned because of foot traffic from people so close to it?

Today, on CSI: The Forest…

When we first spotted the collection of hemlock branches stuffed into the beech tree that you’d reported, our first thoughts were also, “That looks like a giant, incomplete nest.”

(Honestly, we spent about five minutes trying to puzzle out what might have constructed an incomplete nest this size.)

Then, we noticed the recently fallen hemlock tree next to it.

Put together, it sure looks like this large hemlock tree fell over from higher uphill, struck the beech tree in question, then slid down the side of it.  Along the way, it left a twisted mass of broken hemlock branches jammed into a bent, broken limb of the beech tree.

This resulted in something that looks like a giant, incomplete nest, but which seems to be the residue of a tree-vs-tree collision!

Thanks for sharing this fun puzzle!

-Naturalists Chris Mentrek & Trevor Wearstler

Hello! Can you tell me what type of bird these feathers came from? I found them on 5/7 in the parking lot of The Rookery. The quills are thick and heavy, and the feathers are bendy and floppy. The shortest one is 5" and the longest one is 8-1/4". The colors are tan, dark brown and iridescent dark green. Thanks for your help!

Thanks so much for sending the pictures of the feathers.  Those are rooster feathers. Unfortunately, it appears that six or so roosters and hens were abandoned at The Rookery last week. Between park staff and K9 Sniper, all of them were captured (not an easy task). Thus, all the feathers.

All of the fowl were given a new home after The Great Rookery Rooster Round-up…a happy ending!

-Naturalist Linda Gilbert