Field Station Exploration

Hiram College field station, Portage County, NE Ohio

The ground is snow-covered now and there's a Lake Effect Snow Warning here in NE Ohio. My last surviving Broad-winged Tree Cricket finally passed away in December but my ancient Black-legged Meadow Katydid is still singing occasionally in his spacious mesh butterfly cage in the dining room. (If you read my preceding post, "The Prodigal Katydid," this katydid was the featured character in the story.) He no longer climbs up high in his cage, but he has a very nice array of foods arranged along its floor.

Black-legged Meadow Katydid on 1-3-25. On the left is his grape half, on the right are hydration cubes, and seeds from his bulrush seed heads are on the floor of his cage.

Although we have the inevitable traveling crowd of House Sparrows here at the moment, I’m focusing on all the other birds in our natural backyard and at our feeders. Still, I deeply miss my summer and early autumn afternoons and nights in the meadows, marsh edges, and shrubby woodland borders that are over half a year away.

Summer feels so distant now.

During that past 15 years that I've studied singing insects throughout NE Ohio, I’ve spent more time in Geauga County than anywhere else in NE Ohio and have also done surveys in Lake, Summit, Stark, Lorain, Medina, and Cuyahoga Counties.

(Wikitravel.org)

I had visited three of the Portage County parks a number of years ago, but hadn't spent as much time in that county as I thought would be helpful to regionally connect Geauga to Portage to Summit.

But where would I be able to spend considerable time in this rural county?

Perhaps the 550-acre Hiram College Field Station in Portage County might be interested in my survey work. I didn’t know anyone there except their Education and Outreach Director, Mike Sustin, whom I’d previously met at other regional park districts. He cheerfully became my Hiram Field Station contact person. Field Station director Dr. Michael Benedict and the staff also welcomed me.

I couldn’t possibly explore the entire property in one summer and needed to target the areas that seemed most likely to have substantial numbers and diversity of singing insects. I also needed to consider what felt safe to explore during my typical nighttime forays.

There were shrubby meadows, woodlands and a large prairie within walking distance of where I parked my car. I would need to keep the trail options organized in my head, as it would be easy to become confused in the dark.

Fortunately, Wendy (my wife) accompanied me first by day, then on my initial night exploration as I learned the trails. I found some landmarks – the occasional signs, the hanging grapevine dangling above the trail, an opening in the tree canopy…

As you probably know by now, I am drawn to meadows and prairies. They are the most productive places to search for crickets and katydids, and I cherish the openness and all that sky above me – especially at night.

Park district land managers are turning former farm fields into meadows and even prairies of native grasses. Mike Sustin introduced me to Hils Vista, which is the prairie-in-progress at the Hiram Field Station. (It is named after professor of biology and former Field station director Matthew Hils. You can read more about the field station's Grassland Program here.)

The prairie was filled with big bluestem and other prairie grasses instead of the usual dense goldenrod meadows I love and know so well. It was gorgeous!

Who might I find there?

As I walked farther down the long hill, meadow vegetation like goldenrod, ironweed, and Joe-pye weed began to dominate closer the bottom of the trail near Silver Creek. Could I have both prairie grasses up higher on the hill and meadow vegetation farther down – and perhaps changes in the Orthopteran species along the extensive trail? Excellent!

July in NE Ohio is the time to look and listen for early katydids, with the first tree crickets joining them as the month progresses. The prairie grasses were perfect for the first Sword-bearing Coneheads in July.

Sword-bearing Coneheads at the Hiram Field Station

Lisa Rainsong · Sword-bearing Conehead at the Hiram Field Station 2024

I have been concerned in recent years about lower numbers than expected of Broad-winged Bush Katydids and even our previously abundant Curve-tailed Bush Katydids. Would I find them out here?

Yes! The Broad-winged Bush Katydids were right on time, followed shortly thereafter by the Curve-tailed Bush Katydids. The numbers weren't high, but I was very glad - and relieved - that they were present.

Broad-winged Bush Katydid male, Hils Vista

Curve-tailed Bush Katydid in the prairie grasses - not where I typically see them

NE Ohio’s widespread look-alike/sound-alike Black-horned Tree Crickets and Forbes’s Tree Crickets prefer goldenrod, but this was a large meadow filled with native prairie grasses. I'd look for them elsewhere on the property.

However, I often find Four-spotted Tree Crickets in tall grasses, and Hils Vista was apparently a very attractive habitat for them.

By the third week of July, I heard their songs scattered along the trails and saw them mating.

Four-spotted Tree Crickets mating (above) and a recently-mated female, Hils Vista.

Lisa Rainsong · Four - Spotted Tree Cricket and Sword - Bearing Conehead Hiram 7 - 31 - 24

Broad-winged Tree Crickets mature a little later, and they, too, were in the prairie grasses and forbs. This is not where I usually find them in my region; blackberry and goldenrod are where I expect to hear Broad-winged Tree Crickets, and they are typically very well hidden in the dense vegetation.

Broad-winged Tree Cricket singing

Lisa Rainsong · Broad-winged Tree Cricket singing in Hiram goldenrod

Lisa Rainsong · Broad-winged Tree Cricket singing in Hiram Goldenrod

The songs of the Broad-winged Tree Crickets were mixed with those of the Four-spotted Tree Crickets, and the pairing of these two distinct songs caught my attention. It sounded familiar, but not from the dense goldenrod/blackberry meadows and thickets of Geauga and Lake Counties where Broad-winged Tree Crickets are likely to be singing with Black-horned Tree Crickets in areas with shrubs or Forbes's Tree Crickets in the goldenrod.

Instead, the Broad-winged Tree Crickets and Four-spotted Tree Crickets had been singing together in a former agricultural field in Stark County and also in fields and edges in southern Ohio. Here, they were singing together in a Portage County prairie. Sometimes, songs define places for me rather than the other way around.

There were singers on the ground level as well.

Although easy to overlook, Fall Field Crickets and our three most common ground cricket species (Allard’s, Striped, and Carolina) were present almost everywhere.

Fall Field Cricket female. The males are the singers and the females lay the eggs.

Lisa Rainsong · Fall Field Cricket at Hiram Field Station 7-28-24

Tiny Spring Trigs in the meadow vegetation were followed by Say's Trigs and Handsome Trigs in meadows and shrubby edges

Say's Trig - only about 1/4" in size

Breakneck Creek Preserve, Portage County

Lisa Rainsong · Say's Trig

August brought the penetrating songs of another conehead species: the Round-tipped Conehead.

Round-tipped Coneheads, Hils Vista, Hiram field station

Round-tipped Coneheads can be green or brown.

The individual above was one of the brown Round-tipped Coneheads at the field station.

Lisa Rainsong · Round - Tipped Conehead2

I’ve documented Round-tipped Coneheads as they've moved north into my region from southern Ohio, and they are now are well-established all the way up to Lake Erie.

Round-tipped Coneheads mature in mid or even late August,and mid-August is when I began hearing adult males singing in the prairie grasses of Hils Vista.

But there are still more areas I haven’t even visited yet. Who knows which species will be singing there?

The Hiram Field Station has been a delightful discovery! I’d like to return there again this summer to see – and hear – if there are any additional species I might have missed or that simply were not present last year. In addition, this past summer was very dry, and I don’t know to what extent this may have affected last year's - and next year's - numbers and diversity.

There’s only one way to find out…

Lisa Rainsong · Narrow-winged Tree Cricket and others Hiram Field Station 8-5-24