GOLD NAME: Randy Langhenry
LOCATION: Gainesville, Georgia
AWARD DATE: June 1, 2009

ANIMALS

  1. Human – Homo sapiens
  2. Jack Russell Terrier - Canis familiaris
  3. Coyote - Canis latrans
  4. Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes
  5. Domestic Cat – Felis catus
  6. Gelbvieh Cattle – Bos primigenius
  7. White-tailed Deer - Odocoileus virginianus
  8. Eastern Cottontail - Sylvilagus floridanus
  9. Raccoon - Procyon lotor
  10. Opossum - Didephis virgininanus
  11. Groundhog (Woodchuck) – Marmota monax
  12. Beaver – Castor Canadensis
  13. Eastern Gray Squirrel – Sciurus carolinensis
  14. Eastern Chipmunk - Tamias striatus
  15. Least Weasel - Mustela nivalis
  16. Meadow Vole - Microtus pennsylvanicus
  17. Brown Rat – Rattus norvegicus
  18. House Mouse – Mus musculus
  1. Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus
  2. Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
  3. Osprey – Pandion haliaetus
  4. Red-tailed Hawk – Buteo jamaicensis
  5. American Kestrel – Falco sparverius
  6. Common Buzzard - Buteo buteo
  7. American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
  8. Chuck-will’s-widow – Caprimulgus carolinensis
  9. Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus
  10. Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens
  11. Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo
  12. Little Blue Heron – Egretta caerulea
  13. Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias
  14. European Starling – Sturnus vulgaris
  15. Common Grackle – Quiscalus quiscula
  16. Brown-headed Cowbird – Molothrus ater
  17. Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata
  18. Junco - Junco hyemalis caniceps
  19. Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis
  20. Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura
  21. Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica
  22. Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum
  23. Rufous-sided Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus
  24. Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea
  25. Indigo Bunting – Passerina cyanea
  26. Ruby-throated Hummingbird – Archilochus colubris
  27. Brown Thrasher – Toxostoma rufum
  28. American Robin – Turdus migratorius
  29. Orchard Oriole – Icterus spurius
  30. Northern Cardinal – Cardinalis cardinalis
  31. Northern Mockingbird – Mimus polyglottos
  32. Gray Catbird – Dumetella carolinensis
  33. Carolina Wren – Thryothorus ludovicianus
  34. House Sparrow – Passer domesticus
  35. Chipping Sparrow – Spizella passerina
  36. American Goldfinch – Carduelis tristis
  1. Flathead Catfish - Pylodictis olivaris
  2. Smallmouth Bass - Micropterus dolomieui
  3. Largemouth Bass – Micropterus salmoides
  4. Bluegill - Lepomis macrochirus

 

  1. Six-lined Racerunner - Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
  2. Fence Lizard - Sceloporus undulates
  3. Red Back Salamander – Plethodon cinereus
  4. Corn Snake - Elaphe guttata
  5. Black Racer - Coluber constrictor
  6. Common Garter Snake – Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
  7. Southern Ringneck Snake – Diadophis p. punctatus
  8. American Green Tree Frog – Hyla cinerea
  9. American Bullfrog – Rana catesbeiana
  10. American Toad - Bufo americanus
  11. Eastern Box Turtle - Terrapene carolina
  12. Common Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina
  1. Red Imported Fire Ant - Solenopsis invicta
  2. Black Carpenter Ant – Camponotus pennsylvanicus
  3. Little Black Ant – Monomorium minimum
  4. Cow Killer – Dasymutilla ssp.
  5. American Cockroach – Periplaneta americana
  6. Earwig – Forficulina auricularia
  7. Annual Cicada – Tibicen linnei
  8. Honeybee – Apis cerana
  9. Bumblebee – Bombus terrestis
  10. Carpenter Bee – Xylocopa tabaniformis
  11. B lack and Yellow Mud Dauber - Sceliphron caementarium
  12. Nine-spotted Ladybug – Coccinellidae ssp.
  13. Firefly – Lampyridae ssp.
  14. Walkingstick – Phasmatodea ssp.
  15. Field Cricket – Gryllus assimilis
  16. Mosquito – Culicidae longiareolata
  17. Dog Flea – Ctenocephalides felis
  18. Harvest Mite (Chigger) – Trombidium holosericeum
  19. Japanese Beetle – Popillia japonica
  20. Banded Wooly Bear – Pyrrharctia isabella
  1. Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus philenor
  2. Tiger Swallowtail - Papilio glaucas
  3. Black Swallowtail - Papilio polyxenes
  4. Zebra Swallowtail - Eurytides Marcellus
  5. Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus
  6. Red Spotted Purple - Limenitis arthemis astyanax
  7. Painted Lady - Vanessa cardui
  8. Luna Moth - Actias luna
  9. Imperial Moth - Eacles imperialis
  10. Isabella Tiger Moth - Pyrrharctia Isabella (see Banded Wooly Bear above)
  1. Brownish-grey Fishing Spider - Dolomedes tenebrosus
  2. Scorpion – Vejovis carolinianus
  3. Wood tick – Dermacentor variabilis

PLANTS

  1. Eastern White Pine – Pinus strobus
  2. Southern Red Oak - Quercus falcate
  3. American Sweetgum – Liquidambar styraciflua
  4. Yellow Poplar - Liriodendron tulipifera
  5. Flowering Dogwood – Cornus florida
  6. Southern Magnolia – Magnolia grandiflora
  7. American Beech – Fagus grandifolia
  8. Common Juniper – Juniperus communis
  9. Leatherleaf Mohonia – Mahonia bealei
  10. Azalea – Rhododendron Tsutsuji
  11. Grape – Vitis labrusca
  12. Poison Ivy – Toxicodendron radicans
  13. Poison Oak – Toxicodendron pubescens
  1. Japanese Honeysuckle – Lonicera japonica
  2. White Clover - Trifolium repens
  3. Ground Ivy - Glechoma hederacea
  4. Narcissus (Daffodil) – Narcissus moschatus
  5. Tulip – Tulipa gesneriana.
  6. Honeysuckle – Lonicera ssp.
  7. Common Blackberry – Rubus fruitcosus
  8. Kudzu – Pueraria lobata
  9. Common Dandelion – Taraxacum officinale
  10. Wild Onion –Allium vineale
  11. Apple Mint – Mentha suaveolens
  12. Tall Thistle – Cirsium altissimum

REMARKS ON THE FIVE SPECIES
OF MOST INTEREST TO RANDY:

My five favorite organisms I identified include the great horned owl, the cedar waxwing, the fence lizard, the coyote, and the Luna moth.

I’ve discovered several Luna moths by my front porch light over the years, and their beauty always stuns me. The light green color, long tails, and large size make them instantly recognizable. I had always thought butterflies were much more beautiful than “dull” moths, but the Luna moth changed that belief.

Coyotes appeared on our property only a few years ago. At first they were only heard at night, their haunting howl scary at first, but quickly becoming soothing and anxiously anticipated. Unfortunately, since we live in the middle of a cattle ranch, the coyotes pose a threat to the newborn calves and pet dogs and cats on the property. The coyotes are mostly nocturnal, but we have seen them a few times crossing the fields during the early morning hours, once even stalking baby calves.

While we have lots of fence lizards, I still get a kick out of seeing them scurry across the porch or driveway. They can make much more noise than their size suggests when they get into dry leaves, and they often startle me when I least expect them. A few years ago while my children, Greta and Read, were younger, we caught one fence lizard and kept it in a terrarium for a couple months so we could observe it more closely. My children and I would go out in the field and catch crickets and grasshoppers to feed the fence lizard. Watching them gulp down the crickets taught us lessons about the natural food chain. We decided to release out “pet” lizard after a few months because we decided he would be happier back in the “wild.”

The cedar waxwing is a beautiful bird. I look forward to seeing them return to our house every year. We have a bunch of leatherleaf bushes around our house, and they produce huge numbers of berries every spring. For at least the past 10 years, when the berries reach their peak, the cedar waxwings appear. It is our harbinger of spring. The waxwings arrive every year within a two-week period, always between May 3 and May 15. The waxwings arrive and strip the bushes of their berries in about a week’s time. Once the berries are gone, so are the waxwings.

My favorite organism on my list is the great horned owl. We don’t see them very often, but we hear them frequently. To get a glimpse of a great horned owl, we have to go out at night with a strong flashlight and catch them in the trees around our house. I’ve been surprised by the fact that they will sit in the tall pines right next to our house, and in fact we have caught them sitting in the trees with our flashlight beam from the windows of our bedroom. I don’t like to bother them at night while they are hunting, but I love to listen to them hoot. I often lie awake at night listening to one calling, “who-who-whowhowho-whoo-whoo,” and a second great horned owl responding with the same call from some distance away.

RANDY'S ESSAY:

I share the property with one other house and family, about 50 cattle, pet dogs and cats, and an unknown number of other living organisms. I set out to identify as many of those other organisms as I could. I know I’ve hardly scratched the surface with the attached list, but I’m going to keep it going. For more than 20 years, since my children were born, I have kept a nature journal. I’ve mostly noted birds and mammals we have observed around the house and on our travels. For this list, I’ve limited my selections to those organisms observed on our property.

Most of the organisms on my list live on our property throughout the year. Obviously, many of the birds come and go as the seasons change, but many are here year-round. Some organisms listed have just been visitors to our home, such as the Bald Eagle and Osprey. We have a large pond on our property, and Lake Lanier, one of the largest lakes in the South, also adjoins our land. We have seen Bald Eagles in the pines next to our house a number of times, but they don’t stay around. The Osprey actually lived and fished at our pond for several weeks a few years ago. It was a treat to watch.

I think I have identified most of the mammals on our property, but I could be surprised as I was by the least weasel my dogs treed one day. Our ranch is mostly open pastureland, but we do have quite a few trees right around our house. I know there are some trees I still have to identify. Most of the fish in the pond are listed, but I know there are more I can add. There are many birds listed, but there are clearly many more here that I haven’t identified. I probably haven’t even touched the other categories. I know the property is home to insects probably to numerous for me to count and identify.

When I decided to take the Backyard Naturalist challenge, I also challenged my daughter, Greta, to make her own list. She is a student at the University of Georgia, but was living in an apartment at the time. She was having difficulty finding time to work on her list, and living in an apartment made it more challenging to observe nature. Greta has since moved to a cabin in the country and has started, in earnest, her Backyard NaturaList. Look for her submission before the end of the summer. By the way, she works for the U.S. Forest Service and specializes in earthworms, so I expect her list to be quite different from mine.
I’ve enjoyed the challenge and look forward to sending my 200-count list to you in the future. Thanks!