Listening in Nature

Thank you, Stanley Stine

Wendy and I met Stanley Stine many years ago when the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) had an ongoing series of walks at many of its preserves. Stanley was one of the naturalists who regularly led these hikes along with Judy Semroc and Larry Rosche. What a splendid team from which we could learn and delight in the natural world!

Where we really got to know Stanley was at Liberty Park in Twinsburg (Summit County) and the nearby Pond Brook restoration area. He was Twinsburg’s City Naturalist.

His Liberty Park office at the Stone House (built around 1836) was partially surrounded by a gorgeous wall of tall, native wildflowers he’d planted. The Twinsburg Garden Club later assisted with this fabulous undertaking as well.

The Stone House was also home to a large, secretive black rat snake he named "Sheila" and I was fortunate to get a few glimpses of her.

When I was beginning to do singing insects programs in the NE Ohio area, Stanley invited me to do an outdoor program at Liberty Park. I set up my materials at a perfect location: two huge stone blocks outside the Stone House at the edge of his glorious meadow.

one of my first singing insect programs

There were times when Stanley literally went way out of his way to assist Wendy and me. When I agreed to volunteer for a Cleveland Museum of Natural History breeding bird survey, Stanley suspected that I might have gotten in a little over my head because of the challenging terrain.

He was right. When Wendy and I made our first trip to the survey location, we learned while on the property that this survey would likely require our walking an uneven and steep forested terrain that was above our skill level. There were no trails, just a ravine and a cryptic map that was very difficult to follow. It was scary! In addition, the hordes of mosquitoes were so fierce and plentiful that my survey sheets were decorated with drops of my blood.

Lisa on location at the "Grand River Hellhole," as it was named by Stanley

After our initial survey adventure, Stanley drove up from Twinsburg to Ashtabula County to accompany us on each of the remaining weeks of that survey.

A much easier hike for us - and one we loved - was along Liberty Park’s Buttonbush trail. It’s a beautiful mix of woods, vernal pools (Stanley’s favorite part of the trail), and a dense goldenrod meadow (my favorite part). The three of us walked this trail together in every season, including winter.

The concert ensembles changed throughout the year, of course, and winter was much quieter. We continued our periodic buttonbush trail walks when weather allowed, as the three of us always found something interesting to see or hear.

In late winter one year, Stanley showed us a large “bee tree” close to the trail. I certainly did not expect a bee to emerge, fly toward me, and defecate on my jacket, however. Stanley explained why that might have happened, of course. If I remember correctly, wild honeybees may emerge in late winter to relieve themselves if the temperature isn’t too cold. My dark brown down field jacket must have appeared to be a reasonable destination.

Early spring brought large flocks of migrating Red-winged Blackbirds, and both wood frogs and spring peepers began calling throughout the vernal pools.

Stanley never walked past any vernal pool along the trail without investigating.

https://soundcloud.com/user-475605585/wood-frog-large-chorus-pond-1

Soon, the Brown Creeper’s high, delicate song returned to the woods along the trail where drifts of Spring Beauties covered the woodland floor.

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Huge numbers of Gray Treefrogs followed throughout the area in May.

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Many of our slow, exploratory hikes were at the Pond Brook Restoration Area as well as Liberty Park’s Buttonbush Trail.

Aerial view of Pond Brook (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

In winter, Stanley introduced us to frozen native rose hips as a snack. Wendy agreed that they were tasty (though I was unconvinced). We learned how to identify one of his favorite viburnums - "Crane's Bill Viburnum" - even in late fall.

There was always the possibility of surprises on our hikes…

(The partially flooded trail was not a problem, but we really did need to get across Pond Brook somehow…)

Across the stream, Stanley and I listened to a massive chorus of Leopard Frogs – more than I’d ever heard. These frogs can even sing underwater, as I heard for myself.

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I deeply cherish the many impromptu hikes Stanley, Wendy, and I did together over the years. Every walk was an exploration, always enhanced by Stanley’s wealth of knowledge. Each walk was also a get-together with a dear friend.

Stanley and Wendy walking at Frohring Meadows in Geauga County

Wendy is a printmaker, and our Pond Brook hikes gave her a splendid concept for new works. She would use maps and images to create the experience of the Pond Brook restoration area. She and Stanley studied restoration area maps together as she worked out the beginnings of her plan.

This is what she created.

Wendy’s monoprint and artist book, Restoration Area

The three of us even made a trip outside NE Ohio together to Stanley’s “homeland,” as I called it, in SW Ohio. He was very pleased to be able to show us a Shumard's Oak, but his primary goal was to show us a Pumpkin Ash. He was, of course, successful.

Ascending to the top of an old borrow pit, Stanley pointed out the numerous Prairie Warblers singing. Wendy and I were delighted to hear them, as these are not expected birds in NE Ohio.

https://soundcloud.com/user-475605585/prairie-warbler-dayton3?

The meadow we visited was filled with Swamp Cicadas flying low above the vegetation, hunting for insect prey. We have Swamp Cicadas in NE Ohio, too, but nowhere close to the numbers we saw in SW Ohio. It was such a rewarding, enjoyable trip!

I have one more story to share that feels very important to me.

I'd already been learning all the bird songs I encountered in my region and had begun to teach classes on birdsong identification. Being a professional musician and a music theory professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, I knew how to identify what I heard and how to teach people to listen.

In addition to birdsong, there were more songs to listen to and learn in the natural world. However, I had no way to identify what else I was hearing, especially the crickets and katydids on warm summer evenings. There was no "answer key."

But Stanley had recently come across a book with an accompanying CD that would be a profoundly helpful. It was The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger - a guide to identifying crickets and katydids by their songs. It had a CD that matched up the songs with photos, range maps, and descriptions - everything I would need to know!

I was excited about this opportunity to learn who I was hearing and teach others about the summer evening insect percussion ensemble. I purchased a copy immediately.

One of my two well-worn copies

Stanley also told me that Wil Hershberger was going to be at the Midwest Native Plant Conference in the Dayton area later that summer. He said I should attend the conference and meet Wil.

That's exactly what Wendy and I did. Those of you who know me know that I've been doing singing insect surveys as well as giving programs and teaching classes on crickets and katydids ever since.

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Stanley eventually retired and moved back to SW Ohio. We missed him greatly.

I incorporated what I’d learned from him into my own teaching. I still occasionally walk the Buttonbush Trail, and Wendy joins me when she can. We always think of Stanley when we hear Rusty Blackbirds - a bird that he loved and one we'd occasionally hear at Buttonbush either singly or in a migrating flock.

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Wendy with her watercolors at Pond Brook

Before he retired and relocated, Stanley had been a welcome presence in the Twinsburg schools in addition to his work at the Stone House. We knew he had been in Patty Spring's 5th and 6th grade classes and that the school's proximity to Twinsburg's Center Valley Park facilitated Patty and Stanley getting the kids out in nature - even to nearby vernal pools. Stanley was ever the welcoming and encouraging educator.

When we learned last year that Stanley was living with a lengthy illness, Patty Spring went down to SW Ohio to pick him up and take him to the Midwest Native Plant Society’s Spring Safari in the southern tip of Ohio. Wendy and I were so thankful for her kindness in making that possible for him.

At the Spring Safari, Stanley attended a birdsong listening walk I led, and later watched Wendy teach her field sketching class. He then joined me where I was sitting during Wendy's class. Stanley sat together and quietly talked for a little while.

That was the last time we saw him.

Stanley passed away on 1/26/2026.

This is the colophon (final page) of Wendy's Restoration Area artist book

These are my field recordings that illustrate with sound some of the places we went and the bird and amphibian songs we heard. Unfortunately, SoundCloud and Google are not interacting well at the moment, Here's the best workaround I can offer at the moment:

Highlight a recording, put it in your search bar, click on it there, and you should be able to play each one. They are also included in the relevant places of the blog post text. The same process should apply there as well: highlight the recording you want to hear, put it in your search bar, and click on it there. SoundCloud should (in theory) come to the rescue.