The warm months of July, August and September are the time of insects in abundance in the Middle Atlantic States. They've had time in the warmth of summer to develop and are most obvious when seeking mates, making fields, pastures and lawns more interesting. Following are brief accounts of some insect species that are most noticeable and interesting in this area.
Fireflies are at their peak of courting through the first half of July. Soon after sunset each evening, male fireflies climb vegetation and fly slowly while regularly flashing the cold light of their abdomens as they go. As darkness gathers, the multitudes of lightning bug flashes are enchanting across fields and lawns, and in the woods.
After dusk during July and later in the summer, thousands of small, brown moths are noticeable in car headlights along country roads. Those moths hid among roadside vegetation during the day, but became active when the sun goes down. They visit flowers to sip nectar through the night.
During this time a variety of dragonflies are common around impoundments, while bluet and black-winged damselflies are abundant over ponds and along smaller waterways, respectively.
The larvae of both dragonflies and damselflies live in the water as nymphs where they catch and eat small invertebrates on the gravelly or muddy beds of ponds and waterways. Dragonfly and damselfly larvae change to adults in summer, eat flying insects, mate and lay eggs back into their birth bodies of water.
A variety of bees, butterflies and other kinds of insects sip nectar from many different species of blossoms, and in greatest abundance during August and September. Those insects visit alfalfa and red clover blooms in fields, joe-pye weed and ironweed flowers in sunny wetlands, common milkweed, goldenrod and aster blossoms in fields and meadows, and the flowers of butterfly-bushes and summer sweet shrubs in suburban areas.
The males of tree crickets and other kinds of crickets, a variety of grasshoppers and a few species of katydids begin stridulating every evening late in July and continuing their mechanical sounds until heavy frost in October. These related insects make chirping, trilling or buzzing sounds by rubbing their wings, or wings and legs, together depending on the kind, to bring the genders of each species together for mating. They provide interesting outdoor entertainment for us each evening through late summer and into autumn. And each species can be identified by the noises it makes.
Male annual cicadas begin whining from the treetops sometime in August. They trill off and on all day, but are most persistent in the evenings.
Annual cicadas spend a year in the ground sucking sap from tree roots. Then over a few nights in August they emerge from the soil, leaving little, round holes in it, and climb vegetation and other objects. At some point they stop climbing, the back of their exoskeletons split and adult cicadas crawl out of those larval shells. Their wings pump out and by morning they are flying.
Male cicadas have horny flaps under their abdomens that make buzzing trills when they vibrate. That sound brings the genders together to mate, and they are another sound of late summer and fall.
Praying mantises get large and become mature in September. Up to six inches long, they look like monsters when in flight. They have eaten a variety of invertebrates since their hatching in the middle of May. And by October they are mating. Each fertilized female lays scores of eggs in a foamy mass she creates on a vegetation stem. The foam hardens and protects the embryos from weather and some predation.
Monarch butterflies migrate southwest to Mexico during September and October. Those migrants are the fourth generation of monarchs of the year.
In March, north-bound monarchs leave certain forests on mountains in central Mexico where they wintered. That generation travels north a couple hundred miles, mates, lays eggs on milkweeds, the caterpillars' only food, and dies. Two more generations of monarchs do the same after moving farther north. But when the fourth generation of monarchs matures as butterflies, they don't mate and lay eggs, but rather drift to Mexico for the northern winter, arriving at the same forests where their great grandparents wintered, even though the current southbound butterflies had never been there.
Yellow jackets become a nuisance during September. They are abundant then and they sense the approach of autumn, which probably makes them more eager than ever to get sugary food. So they join picnics and other sources of food, which people don't like.
Yellow jackets are wasps that have papery nests in the ground and entrances in the soil to those homes. Their relatives, the bald faced hornets, have paper constructions in trees and on buildings. The homes of each of those insects have papery cells in them where the larvae are raised. Adults of both kinds sip nectar from flowers, but feed insects they paralyzed to their larvae.
Late in fall, the fertilized queens of yellow jackets and bald-faced hornets drop out of their nests and burrow into the soil to live through the winter. All workers and drones of both species die, however.
Female box elder bugs form masses of themselves during warm afternoons in September and October, on tree trunks, stone walls, fence posts, buildings and other objects that could provide shelter for those bugs through winter.
Each of these bugs is dark with red markings, making them attractive. All summer they had suck sap from twigs of ash-leafed maples, also known as box elder trees. But starting in September, they stop feeding and look for places to spend the winter in comparative safety. Many people consider them to be a nuisance, but they are harmless. They don't eat anything all winter and they don't bite or sting. I guess it's just their great numbers that frighten some people.
Watch for these insects this summer and fall, or succeeding ones. They make the outdoors more interesting.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Nature at Home
Nature is everywhere, all the time, including on one's own lawn. Sometimes a lawn appears quiet as though nothing is living on it. But at other times, it is lively with small creatures.
Our small town lawn during the evening of August 23, 2014 was interesting to me as strolled through it. Several big carpenter bees were busily visiting the large rose-of Sharon flowers in our yard and a neighbor's. Their bodies were covered with the dusty pollen of those blooms as they buzzed from blossom to blossom, pollinating each flower they visited. During the coming winter, small, seed-eating birds will eat the seeds of those shrubs that will result from that fertilization.
A little later that same evening at home, I heard a few male annual cicadas whining shrilly in the trees. They flap horny plates under their abdomens to make that buzzing to draw females of their kind to them for mating. As I was hearing those cicadas, I was counting the number of empty cicada shells vegetation and other objects on our lawn and the neighbors' on both sides. I tallied a little over 30 of them, and saw a few round holes in the soil where they recently burrowed out of the ground.
A bit later that same evening at home, I saw a few chimney swifts careening across the overcast sky while chasing flying insects. Meanwhile, a group of post-breeding robins were flitting in and out of the trees in our neighborhood while seeking refuge in them for the night. I can could hear the robins chirping as they fluttered from tree to tree in their quest.
And when the swifts disappeared from the sky and the robins were finally settling down in a tree for the night, a few big brown bats and maybe a half dozen little brown bats (the former species is a bit larger than the other) fluttered and swooped over the neighborhood. The seemed to drop out of the trees where they would have spent the day relaxing, camouflaged against the bark. But now those several bats were flying erratically as they chased airborne insects across the sky, without collision with their fellows, or anything else. For the several minutes I watched the aerial ballets of those bats, they were quite entertaining. Then, as abruptly as they appeared, they were gone, having flown farther out to seek their flying insect prey.
Anyone can have similar experiences with nature on their lawn. Just get out and look, and have patience.
Our small town lawn during the evening of August 23, 2014 was interesting to me as strolled through it. Several big carpenter bees were busily visiting the large rose-of Sharon flowers in our yard and a neighbor's. Their bodies were covered with the dusty pollen of those blooms as they buzzed from blossom to blossom, pollinating each flower they visited. During the coming winter, small, seed-eating birds will eat the seeds of those shrubs that will result from that fertilization.
A little later that same evening at home, I heard a few male annual cicadas whining shrilly in the trees. They flap horny plates under their abdomens to make that buzzing to draw females of their kind to them for mating. As I was hearing those cicadas, I was counting the number of empty cicada shells vegetation and other objects on our lawn and the neighbors' on both sides. I tallied a little over 30 of them, and saw a few round holes in the soil where they recently burrowed out of the ground.
A bit later that same evening at home, I saw a few chimney swifts careening across the overcast sky while chasing flying insects. Meanwhile, a group of post-breeding robins were flitting in and out of the trees in our neighborhood while seeking refuge in them for the night. I can could hear the robins chirping as they fluttered from tree to tree in their quest.
And when the swifts disappeared from the sky and the robins were finally settling down in a tree for the night, a few big brown bats and maybe a half dozen little brown bats (the former species is a bit larger than the other) fluttered and swooped over the neighborhood. The seemed to drop out of the trees where they would have spent the day relaxing, camouflaged against the bark. But now those several bats were flying erratically as they chased airborne insects across the sky, without collision with their fellows, or anything else. For the several minutes I watched the aerial ballets of those bats, they were quite entertaining. Then, as abruptly as they appeared, they were gone, having flown farther out to seek their flying insect prey.
Anyone can have similar experiences with nature on their lawn. Just get out and look, and have patience.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Mockingbird and Carolina Wren Similarities
Northern mockingbirds and Carolina wrens, though unrelated, have several characteristics in common, which reflects the habitat they share. Both species are from farther south in the United States, but have moved north in recent years, including to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the mockers mostly in the 1950's and the wrens around the 1980's. And each species is a permanent resident wherever they are, meaning they hatch, live and die in the same area. Both species nest in thickets in bottomland hedgerows and woodland edges, and older suburban areas with lots of shrubbery. Males of each kind, especially the wrens, sing most any time of year. Both species are attractive in camouflaged ways and both are aggressive in their daily habits, often letting their presence be known. Both have long tails they wag about as signals to others of their respective species. Both eat invertebrates during warmer months when those critters are available. And both species occasionally visit bird feeders to pick at the grain. Though at present they do not regularly consume seeds or grain, they may in the future, especially if their beaks thicken a bit to better handle that food.
But both of these species also have traits that set them apart. Mockers are gray with white wing patches that are noticeable when they fly or raise their wings as a communication while on the ground or a perch. Males of this species sometimes sing at night in summer. In winter, mockers mostly eat a variety of berries. They defend patches of berries from all comers, including starlings, cedar waxwings and American robins.
Female mockers build nurseries of twigs, rootlets and grass in impenetrable shrubbery. There young mockers are relatively safe from crows, cats, black rat snakes and other predators.
Mockingbirds are in the mimidae family, which includes gray catbirds and several types of thrashers. Mockers and catbirds imitate sounds they hear, including the songs of other kinds of birds. Sometimes we think we hear the songs of a few kinds of birds at once, only to discover later that we were listening to a mocker or catbird.
Carolina wrens have a warm-brown plumage with a white line of feathers over each eye. This species actively skulks on the ground under shrubbery and flits through bushes after invertebrate prey the year around. When snow is on the ground they scratch for invertebrates under fallen trees and limbs where the ground is still bare. And these wrens eat some berries in winter, as well.
Carolina wrens build nests in a variety of sheltered places, both natural and human-made. They often make twig cradles in stone walls and brush piles where their babies are relatively safe from predators except shrews and certain kinds of snakes.
The list of human-made structures where Carolina wrens hatch babies is long and interesting. They are only interested in sheltering their chicks, not if the cover is natural or not. They may build their nurseries under a deck, among stuff stored in tool sheds, or in clothes pin bags or a pocket on a wash line. A pair of them in our neighborhood one year reared offspring in a cooking grill left on a lawn. I discovered their nesting place by seeing the parents constantly going into the grill with insects and coming out with white fecal sacs from their youngsters.
Northern mockingbirds and Carolina wrens are interesting birds to have in a back yard. They are adaptable and have characteristics and songs that demand our attention.
But both of these species also have traits that set them apart. Mockers are gray with white wing patches that are noticeable when they fly or raise their wings as a communication while on the ground or a perch. Males of this species sometimes sing at night in summer. In winter, mockers mostly eat a variety of berries. They defend patches of berries from all comers, including starlings, cedar waxwings and American robins.
Female mockers build nurseries of twigs, rootlets and grass in impenetrable shrubbery. There young mockers are relatively safe from crows, cats, black rat snakes and other predators.
Mockingbirds are in the mimidae family, which includes gray catbirds and several types of thrashers. Mockers and catbirds imitate sounds they hear, including the songs of other kinds of birds. Sometimes we think we hear the songs of a few kinds of birds at once, only to discover later that we were listening to a mocker or catbird.
Carolina wrens have a warm-brown plumage with a white line of feathers over each eye. This species actively skulks on the ground under shrubbery and flits through bushes after invertebrate prey the year around. When snow is on the ground they scratch for invertebrates under fallen trees and limbs where the ground is still bare. And these wrens eat some berries in winter, as well.
Carolina wrens build nests in a variety of sheltered places, both natural and human-made. They often make twig cradles in stone walls and brush piles where their babies are relatively safe from predators except shrews and certain kinds of snakes.
The list of human-made structures where Carolina wrens hatch babies is long and interesting. They are only interested in sheltering their chicks, not if the cover is natural or not. They may build their nurseries under a deck, among stuff stored in tool sheds, or in clothes pin bags or a pocket on a wash line. A pair of them in our neighborhood one year reared offspring in a cooking grill left on a lawn. I discovered their nesting place by seeing the parents constantly going into the grill with insects and coming out with white fecal sacs from their youngsters.
Northern mockingbirds and Carolina wrens are interesting birds to have in a back yard. They are adaptable and have characteristics and songs that demand our attention.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Similar Moth Caterpillars
Caterpillars of the giant silkworm family of moths, being related to each other, are somewhat similar in appearance. They are large and mostly green for camouflage among the various kind of foliage they eat. And they have smooth skins with knobs or bumps for protection against would-be predators. They ingest a variety of vegetation, mostly tree leaves. But they don't all consume the same kinds of foliage, which lessens competition among them for food. They pupate in cocoons that are camouflaged in trees, on plants or on the ground. And they develop into large, attractive moths, including cecropia, promethea, polyphemus, imperial, luna and royal walnut moths that fly on summer nights, mostly in woodlands. None of those moths, or their larvae, are common, making them the more exciting when noticed.
Cecropia moth caterpillars average about four and a half inches long and have yellow knobs on their upper surfaces and pale-blue ones on their flanks. They eat the leaves of ash, birch, maple, wild cherry, apple and other kinds of trees. Each larvae spins a brown cocoon on a branch where it overwinters.
Promethea moth caterpillars are about three inches long and have two pairs of red knobs on the front of the upper surface of green skin and six rows if tiny, black bumps on the upper abdomen. The larvae of this species eats spicebush, wild cherry and sassafras foliage. The larvae also spin silken cocoons on plant stems.
Polyphemus larvae average three and a half inches and have yellow stripes on their flanks. Their foods include hickory, maple, sycamore and other kinds of tree leaves. And they spin tough cocoons on limbs. Those cocoons, however, fall with dead leaves late in autumn and are protected by hem on the ground through winter.
Imperial caterpillars have white hairs on top and black-bordered, yellow spots on their sides. They eat several kinds of deciduous and coniferous leaves. And they pupate in the ground.
Luna moth larvae have two rows of tiny, red dots on their flanks. Luna caterpillars consume the leaves of hickory, walnut, sweet gum, persimmon and other types of trees. And the larvae of this species create thin cocoons on the ground.
The caterpillars of royal walnut moths, or regal moths, are also called hickory horned devils because they can be frightening in appearance. They can be up to six inches long with four long, black-tipped, orange "horns" on the "back" just behind the head and three rows of black spines along the body from head to "tail". They eat the leaves of walnut, hickory, butternut and sumac trees. It pupates without a cocoon in the soil.
Watch for these large moths and their caterpillars this summer, or succeeding ones. They are intriguing to experience.
Cecropia moth caterpillars average about four and a half inches long and have yellow knobs on their upper surfaces and pale-blue ones on their flanks. They eat the leaves of ash, birch, maple, wild cherry, apple and other kinds of trees. Each larvae spins a brown cocoon on a branch where it overwinters.
Promethea moth caterpillars are about three inches long and have two pairs of red knobs on the front of the upper surface of green skin and six rows if tiny, black bumps on the upper abdomen. The larvae of this species eats spicebush, wild cherry and sassafras foliage. The larvae also spin silken cocoons on plant stems.
Polyphemus larvae average three and a half inches and have yellow stripes on their flanks. Their foods include hickory, maple, sycamore and other kinds of tree leaves. And they spin tough cocoons on limbs. Those cocoons, however, fall with dead leaves late in autumn and are protected by hem on the ground through winter.
Imperial caterpillars have white hairs on top and black-bordered, yellow spots on their sides. They eat several kinds of deciduous and coniferous leaves. And they pupate in the ground.
Luna moth larvae have two rows of tiny, red dots on their flanks. Luna caterpillars consume the leaves of hickory, walnut, sweet gum, persimmon and other types of trees. And the larvae of this species create thin cocoons on the ground.
The caterpillars of royal walnut moths, or regal moths, are also called hickory horned devils because they can be frightening in appearance. They can be up to six inches long with four long, black-tipped, orange "horns" on the "back" just behind the head and three rows of black spines along the body from head to "tail". They eat the leaves of walnut, hickory, butternut and sumac trees. It pupates without a cocoon in the soil.
Watch for these large moths and their caterpillars this summer, or succeeding ones. They are intriguing to experience.
Seeing Solstices and Equinoxes Differently
We know the solstices are on June 21 and December21, and the equinoxes are on March 21 and September 21. We say those dates start the seasons. But I say those dates are in the middle of each season.
December 21, the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, has the shortest amount of daylight of any day of the year. I think of December 21 as being New Year's Eve, biologically speaking, and December 22 as New Year's Day. The amount of daylight per day starts getting longer on the latter date. One biological year ends on December 21 and another begins on December 22.
And to me, December 21 is the middle of winter, which starts around November 7 and ends about February 7, a total of three winter months. In the Middle Atlantic States, certain hardy flowers, such as chickweeds, snow drops and winter aconites, begin to bloom and some bird species, including snow geese and tundra swans, start migrating north by the middle of February, which, to me, is already spring.
Spring, to me, starts during the second week in February when days have noticeably longer periods of daylight. Certain small, permanent resident birds, including tufted titmice, house finches and song sparrows, sing on nesting territories during warm afternoons now. And the progression of blooming flowers, migrating birds and developing leaves continues and accelerates until the second week in May, which, to me, is the end of the three months of spring and the beginning of summer.
By the second week of May in the Mid-Atlantic States, almost all birds have migrated north to their breeding territories, tree leaves are fully developed and nature is fully engaged in reproduction and growth for the year. And the amount of daylight continues to increase each succeeding day until June 21. But on June 22, the summer solstice and the middle of the biological year, the amount of daylight each succeeding day begins to decrease through to December 21, the winter solstice.
Summer each year ends in the second week of August, which is also the beginning of autumn. And September 21 is the middle of fall. Already several kinds of birds throughout North America, including swallows and shorebirds, are migrating south to escape the coming northern winter. Certain seeds, fruits and vegetables mature at this time.
Autumn ends in the second week of November, which also is the beginning of winter. Most deciduous trees have shed their leaves by now, south-bound birds are gone and winter visitors, including dark-eyed juncos, rough-legged hawks and a variety of duck species have arrived, and the weather is progressively colder. The daylight each succeeding day is still getting shorter, until December 22, the middle of winter and biological New Year's Day when daylight starts getting longer per day.
This has been a biological way of looking at the seasons. Try to look at them in a different way.
December 21, the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, has the shortest amount of daylight of any day of the year. I think of December 21 as being New Year's Eve, biologically speaking, and December 22 as New Year's Day. The amount of daylight per day starts getting longer on the latter date. One biological year ends on December 21 and another begins on December 22.
And to me, December 21 is the middle of winter, which starts around November 7 and ends about February 7, a total of three winter months. In the Middle Atlantic States, certain hardy flowers, such as chickweeds, snow drops and winter aconites, begin to bloom and some bird species, including snow geese and tundra swans, start migrating north by the middle of February, which, to me, is already spring.
Spring, to me, starts during the second week in February when days have noticeably longer periods of daylight. Certain small, permanent resident birds, including tufted titmice, house finches and song sparrows, sing on nesting territories during warm afternoons now. And the progression of blooming flowers, migrating birds and developing leaves continues and accelerates until the second week in May, which, to me, is the end of the three months of spring and the beginning of summer.
By the second week of May in the Mid-Atlantic States, almost all birds have migrated north to their breeding territories, tree leaves are fully developed and nature is fully engaged in reproduction and growth for the year. And the amount of daylight continues to increase each succeeding day until June 21. But on June 22, the summer solstice and the middle of the biological year, the amount of daylight each succeeding day begins to decrease through to December 21, the winter solstice.
Summer each year ends in the second week of August, which is also the beginning of autumn. And September 21 is the middle of fall. Already several kinds of birds throughout North America, including swallows and shorebirds, are migrating south to escape the coming northern winter. Certain seeds, fruits and vegetables mature at this time.
Autumn ends in the second week of November, which also is the beginning of winter. Most deciduous trees have shed their leaves by now, south-bound birds are gone and winter visitors, including dark-eyed juncos, rough-legged hawks and a variety of duck species have arrived, and the weather is progressively colder. The daylight each succeeding day is still getting shorter, until December 22, the middle of winter and biological New Year's Day when daylight starts getting longer per day.
This has been a biological way of looking at the seasons. Try to look at them in a different way.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Spacecraft Earth
The Earth is spinning east on its axis at 1040 miles per hour. It rotated about 520 miles in the time it took for me to type this piece on this blog. But we wouldn't suspect anything is happening, except the sun "travels" across the sky from east to west every day, causing day and night. Because it is so large, we don't feel the Earth's spinning.
At the same time, Earth is also moving around our star, the sun, at 66, 600 miles per hour. We couldn't acknowledge that either, except the sun gets "higher" and "lower" in the sky through each year because of the Earth's tipping on its axis, causing the seasons. Earth is attracted to the sun's mass (gravity)and would be drawn into it except for the speed in which this planet is traveling. Its speed tries to throw Earth into space and gone, but the sun's mass doesn't allow that.
The Milky Way, the galaxy we are in, including the arm of stars and solar systems our solar system is in, is revolving at 558,000 miles an hour. But through all that, we don't feel any activity
because the Earth, sun and our galaxy are all so massive.
We wouldn't know any of this is happening without the science called astronomy. We couldn't know the Earth spins on its axis and revolves around the sun without astronomy.
But what really impresses me is that our galaxy is hurtling, non-stop, through space at 666,000 miles an hour. And it will never return to the space it has come through. Just since my birth, I have traveled in our galaxy through space in one direction, at least 421,330,112,000 miles. That is mind-boggling. But what is more, our galaxy has been traveling rapidly through space for billions of year. This universe does seem endless. But we don't know that. And there could be an infinite number of universes beyond this one. We just don't know.
The Earth is moving in all four of the above ways at once. It's a wonder we aren't more dizzy than we are. But trying to imagine all that we do know or have thought possible about our universe is mind-boggling enough. Certainly there is a power infinitely greater than ourselves that created all we have experienced. Let that power maintain that creation.
At the same time, Earth is also moving around our star, the sun, at 66, 600 miles per hour. We couldn't acknowledge that either, except the sun gets "higher" and "lower" in the sky through each year because of the Earth's tipping on its axis, causing the seasons. Earth is attracted to the sun's mass (gravity)and would be drawn into it except for the speed in which this planet is traveling. Its speed tries to throw Earth into space and gone, but the sun's mass doesn't allow that.
The Milky Way, the galaxy we are in, including the arm of stars and solar systems our solar system is in, is revolving at 558,000 miles an hour. But through all that, we don't feel any activity
because the Earth, sun and our galaxy are all so massive.
We wouldn't know any of this is happening without the science called astronomy. We couldn't know the Earth spins on its axis and revolves around the sun without astronomy.
But what really impresses me is that our galaxy is hurtling, non-stop, through space at 666,000 miles an hour. And it will never return to the space it has come through. Just since my birth, I have traveled in our galaxy through space in one direction, at least 421,330,112,000 miles. That is mind-boggling. But what is more, our galaxy has been traveling rapidly through space for billions of year. This universe does seem endless. But we don't know that. And there could be an infinite number of universes beyond this one. We just don't know.
The Earth is moving in all four of the above ways at once. It's a wonder we aren't more dizzy than we are. But trying to imagine all that we do know or have thought possible about our universe is mind-boggling enough. Certainly there is a power infinitely greater than ourselves that created all we have experienced. Let that power maintain that creation.
Climax of Summer
The climax of summer is noticeable in many ways in Lancaster County farmland during late July and into early August. There is a feeling of peace and relaxation across the landscape that wasn't there earlier in summer when birds and other creatures were busily raising young and plants were vigorously growing. Now nature is content, having brought another generation of plants and animals to maturity. Now there is a feeling of rest, a catching of breath, before the bustling preparation for the coming winter.
The climax of summer is fulfilled with mature vegetation, many roadside flowers of several kinds, butterflies, stridulating insects and gatherings of post-breeding birds and their young prior to their migrations. And it is bountiful with the maturity of crops, orchard fruits and garden vegetables.
Roadside bouquets of wild flowers are lovely at this time of year. And each patch of blooms is different in size and species make-up. The blue of chicory blossoms, white of Queen-Anne's-lace, yellow of butter-and-eggs and pink of red clover, bouncing bet and common milkweed flowers are some of the most common colors along country roads.
A variety of bees, colorful butterflies and other kinds of insects sip nectar from roadside blossoms, adding to the beauties of those blooms. Several each of cabbage white, yellow sulphur, meadow fritillary and monarch butterflies, plus other kinds of butterflies flutter among those roadside flowers.
By late July, males of a variety of grasshoppers, tree crickets and katydids begin rubbing their wings, or legs and wings, together to make trilling, chirping or chanting noises to attract females of their respective kinds to them for mating. Most of these related species begin stridulating at dusk and continue into the night. The sounds they create are much a part of summer's climax.
Interestingly, grasshoppers, tree crickets and katydids live in different niches, which lessens competition among them for space and food. Grasshoppers dwell in tall grass in fields and along roadsides. Tree crickets live in shrubbery and katydids are residents of tree tops, mostly in woods. All species of this family of insects graze on vegetation in their respective niches.
Male annual cicadas begin buzzing and whining from tree tops at this time of year. Annual cicadas spend a year as grubs in the ground sucking on tree sap. Then, one night late in July, each grub emerges from the ground, climbs an object above the soil, crawls out of its exoskeleton and flies off at daybreak. When the temperature warms, each male begins to vibrate plates on his abdomen that creates the buzzing that brings females to him for mating.
Late in July and into August, several kinds of post-breeding birds join into flocks of their respective types in croplands in preparation of winter's arrival. Congregations of barn swallows and tree swallows are now noticed on roadside wires where they rest between feeding forays on flying insects. Those swallow flocks get larger and larger and finally drift south for the winter. Groups of purple grackles get larger and larger in cut hay fields where they eat invertebrates and seeds, then abruptly disappear when those birds wander south. Scores and scores of mourning doves collect in harvested grain and hay fields where they feed on seeds and waste grain. Scores of killdeer plovers, a kind of inland shorebirds, and horned larks, which are open country birds about the size of sparrows, also gather on harvested grain and hay fields, and tobacco fields to eat invertebrates. Killdeer and lark pairs nested on bare ground in cropland earlier in the year.
And, perhaps most excitingly, a variety of sandpipers pass through Lancaster County farmland on their way to their wintering territories at this time. Least sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers and lesser yellowlegs are the sandpiper species most common in this area's cropland during late July into August. The first two kinds of sandpipers nest on the Arctic tundra while the yellowlegs raise young around lakes in Canada's forests. Here, as migrants, they stop to rest, and feed on invertebrates, along the muddy edges of farm ponds, streams and flooded fields and pastures. Eventually, they, too, push farther south for the winter.
The climax of summer is a beautiful, bountiful time of year. It is a good time to be outdoors.
The climax of summer is fulfilled with mature vegetation, many roadside flowers of several kinds, butterflies, stridulating insects and gatherings of post-breeding birds and their young prior to their migrations. And it is bountiful with the maturity of crops, orchard fruits and garden vegetables.
Roadside bouquets of wild flowers are lovely at this time of year. And each patch of blooms is different in size and species make-up. The blue of chicory blossoms, white of Queen-Anne's-lace, yellow of butter-and-eggs and pink of red clover, bouncing bet and common milkweed flowers are some of the most common colors along country roads.
A variety of bees, colorful butterflies and other kinds of insects sip nectar from roadside blossoms, adding to the beauties of those blooms. Several each of cabbage white, yellow sulphur, meadow fritillary and monarch butterflies, plus other kinds of butterflies flutter among those roadside flowers.
By late July, males of a variety of grasshoppers, tree crickets and katydids begin rubbing their wings, or legs and wings, together to make trilling, chirping or chanting noises to attract females of their respective kinds to them for mating. Most of these related species begin stridulating at dusk and continue into the night. The sounds they create are much a part of summer's climax.
Interestingly, grasshoppers, tree crickets and katydids live in different niches, which lessens competition among them for space and food. Grasshoppers dwell in tall grass in fields and along roadsides. Tree crickets live in shrubbery and katydids are residents of tree tops, mostly in woods. All species of this family of insects graze on vegetation in their respective niches.
Male annual cicadas begin buzzing and whining from tree tops at this time of year. Annual cicadas spend a year as grubs in the ground sucking on tree sap. Then, one night late in July, each grub emerges from the ground, climbs an object above the soil, crawls out of its exoskeleton and flies off at daybreak. When the temperature warms, each male begins to vibrate plates on his abdomen that creates the buzzing that brings females to him for mating.
Late in July and into August, several kinds of post-breeding birds join into flocks of their respective types in croplands in preparation of winter's arrival. Congregations of barn swallows and tree swallows are now noticed on roadside wires where they rest between feeding forays on flying insects. Those swallow flocks get larger and larger and finally drift south for the winter. Groups of purple grackles get larger and larger in cut hay fields where they eat invertebrates and seeds, then abruptly disappear when those birds wander south. Scores and scores of mourning doves collect in harvested grain and hay fields where they feed on seeds and waste grain. Scores of killdeer plovers, a kind of inland shorebirds, and horned larks, which are open country birds about the size of sparrows, also gather on harvested grain and hay fields, and tobacco fields to eat invertebrates. Killdeer and lark pairs nested on bare ground in cropland earlier in the year.
And, perhaps most excitingly, a variety of sandpipers pass through Lancaster County farmland on their way to their wintering territories at this time. Least sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers and lesser yellowlegs are the sandpiper species most common in this area's cropland during late July into August. The first two kinds of sandpipers nest on the Arctic tundra while the yellowlegs raise young around lakes in Canada's forests. Here, as migrants, they stop to rest, and feed on invertebrates, along the muddy edges of farm ponds, streams and flooded fields and pastures. Eventually, they, too, push farther south for the winter.
The climax of summer is a beautiful, bountiful time of year. It is a good time to be outdoors.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Roadside Life in August
For an hour one afternoon in mid-August, I walked about 100 yards along both sides of a farmland road to see what life was along it. The day was beautiful with clear skies and a cool breeze. Although those roadsides had been mowed earlier in the summer, there was much plant and animal life along that country road because the vegetation grew back. Certainly there was a greater diversity of adaptable life along those two-foot-deep strips of vegetation between the blacktop and the cornfields that bordered them on the other side than in the adjacent fields.
A few score migrant barn swallows and tree swallows lined the wires along the road. Some of them flew over the fields at times to catch and eat flying insects. I saw a male eastern bluebird perched on a wire near the swallows. He was watching for insects to eat in the vegetation below. And I noticed an American kestrel on a wire down the road a bit. It was searching for mice and larger insects along the roadside.
A variety of plants competed for sunlight and rainfall along both sides of that country road. Foxtail grass, wire grass and a grass I call wheat grass were loaded with seeds that field mice and small birds, including horned larks and sparrows will eat through winter. Two kinds of tall weeds, lamb's quarters and red root, were also loaded with seeds that mice and birds will consume in winter.
Several kinds of flowering plants were still blooming along that rural road. They included common milkweeds and red clovers with pink blooms, chicory with some blue blossoms still open, white flowers on Queen-Anne's-lace and bindweeds, yellow blooms on butter-and-eggs and deep blue on alfalfa. All those plants blooming together make beautiful flower bouquets along the roads, as long as the vegetation is not mowed off.
Hoverflies, a few kinds of butterflies and a type of bees visited the lovely flowers of red clovers and milkweeds to sip sugary nectar. The butterflies included silver-spotted skippers, meadow fritillaries, cabbage whites, yellow sulphurs and two monarchs. The monarchs might also have been at the milkweeds to lay eggs on them because monarch larvae only eat milkweed leaves. The bees were female bumble bees. A few small, brown moths flushed from the vegetation as I walked by, but they probably won't sip nectar until dark.
Field crickets and a variety of grasshoppers were common along those strips of vegetation. The
crickets and American, differential, red-legged, spur-throated, meadow and shield-backed
grasshoppers jumped away from me as I walked by them. The crickets and grasshoppers ingest the grass and other plants along the road and they will lay eggs in the soil there before October.
I saw a few other kinds of insects along that road, including two praying mantises, and three kinds of beetles. The mantises were there to catch and eat grasshoppers and other insects. Japanese beetles were eating the flower heads of red clover and the leaves of other plants. Lady bug beetles were there to prey on tiny insects, particularly aphids. And dogbane beetles were eating the leaves of dogbane plants, a milkweed relative. Dogbane beetles are iridescent green and orange, making them quite attractive.
Many country roadsides are intriguing with adaptable plant and animal life. That 200 yard stretch I walked on both sides of a rural road one afternoon in August is an example of what can be experienced. The reader can try it, probably with inspiring results.
A few score migrant barn swallows and tree swallows lined the wires along the road. Some of them flew over the fields at times to catch and eat flying insects. I saw a male eastern bluebird perched on a wire near the swallows. He was watching for insects to eat in the vegetation below. And I noticed an American kestrel on a wire down the road a bit. It was searching for mice and larger insects along the roadside.
A variety of plants competed for sunlight and rainfall along both sides of that country road. Foxtail grass, wire grass and a grass I call wheat grass were loaded with seeds that field mice and small birds, including horned larks and sparrows will eat through winter. Two kinds of tall weeds, lamb's quarters and red root, were also loaded with seeds that mice and birds will consume in winter.
Several kinds of flowering plants were still blooming along that rural road. They included common milkweeds and red clovers with pink blooms, chicory with some blue blossoms still open, white flowers on Queen-Anne's-lace and bindweeds, yellow blooms on butter-and-eggs and deep blue on alfalfa. All those plants blooming together make beautiful flower bouquets along the roads, as long as the vegetation is not mowed off.
Hoverflies, a few kinds of butterflies and a type of bees visited the lovely flowers of red clovers and milkweeds to sip sugary nectar. The butterflies included silver-spotted skippers, meadow fritillaries, cabbage whites, yellow sulphurs and two monarchs. The monarchs might also have been at the milkweeds to lay eggs on them because monarch larvae only eat milkweed leaves. The bees were female bumble bees. A few small, brown moths flushed from the vegetation as I walked by, but they probably won't sip nectar until dark.
Field crickets and a variety of grasshoppers were common along those strips of vegetation. The
crickets and American, differential, red-legged, spur-throated, meadow and shield-backed
grasshoppers jumped away from me as I walked by them. The crickets and grasshoppers ingest the grass and other plants along the road and they will lay eggs in the soil there before October.
I saw a few other kinds of insects along that road, including two praying mantises, and three kinds of beetles. The mantises were there to catch and eat grasshoppers and other insects. Japanese beetles were eating the flower heads of red clover and the leaves of other plants. Lady bug beetles were there to prey on tiny insects, particularly aphids. And dogbane beetles were eating the leaves of dogbane plants, a milkweed relative. Dogbane beetles are iridescent green and orange, making them quite attractive.
Many country roadsides are intriguing with adaptable plant and animal life. That 200 yard stretch I walked on both sides of a rural road one afternoon in August is an example of what can be experienced. The reader can try it, probably with inspiring results.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Local, Colorful Fringillidae in Summer
Fringillidae are a family of small birds that includes sparrows, finches, grosbeaks and other species. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a small variety of colorful fringillidae that commonly breed in this area, including American goldfinches, house finches, indigo buntings, northern cardinals, blue grosbeaks and rufous-sided towhees. The males of these species have striking plumages and lovely songs. Females and young, however, are feathered more somberly for camouflage. All these species consume varieties of seeds and invertebrates during summer. And they all have thick beaks for cracking seeds to get the nutrition inside.
Male goldfinches are yellow with black wings and tails and a jaunty, black cap set low on the forehead. Females and young are olive with darker wings and tails. The males resemble their mates during winter. Happily for many people, goldfinches come to feeders the year around where they can be admired.
Goldfinches are also attractive among the pink flowers of thistle plants as they eat thistle seeds in overgrown meadows and along roadsides. They make the fluffy parachutes of the seeds float away on the breeze as they ingest the seeds.
Goldfinches nest in July when thistles go to seed. They use the fluff to line their dainty nests they build in the forks of young trees, often on lawns. They also feed their young in the nest a porridge of pre-digested thistle seeds.
Male house finches are gray and streaked, but also have pink feathers on their heads, backs and chests. They also sing lovely songs by February each year, giving people hope that spring is on its way. Female house finches and young of the year are gray and streaked without the pink for camouflage.
House finches are originally from the American west, but were brought east as cage birds for sale. Some of them were released or escaped captivity, found each other in cities and towns and reared young. Today they are common throughout the eastern United States.
House finches nest in sheltering evergreen trees that were planted on lawns, and in sheltered places on buildings. And these lovely little birds with the beautiful songs come to feeders through the year where their beauties are enjoyed.
Indigo buntings are migrant small birds that nest in thickets in hedgerows and woodland edges in farmland in the eastern United States. Breeding males have deep-blue plumages, but their mates and offspring are brown to blend into their surroundings.
Male indigos utter lovely songs from tree tops. Their notes are twice repeated in series of notes that identify them. Indigos often sing during hot afternoons when all other birds are silent.
Most people are familiar with northern cardinals because they are common birds on lawns. The permanent resident cardinals traditionally nest in thickets, but have adapted to shrubbery on lawns. The males are bright red with a red crest and a black bib under the beak. Females and young are gray with red in their wings and tails. Adult females also have crests.
Male cardinals sing from the tips of trees early in spring, including in city peoples' back yards. Females build nests in shrubbery and often raise two broods a summer, with help from their mates. Young of the year have dark bills, unlike the pink ones of their parents.
Blue grosbeak males are dark blue with two tan bars on each wing. Their mates and the young of the year are brown with tan bars on their wings. These grosbeaks nest in thickets of hedgerows in farmland and often are neighbors to indigo buntings. Male blue grosbeaks sing pretty, warbling songs that identify them. This species, like the indigos, retreat to Central America ahead of the approaching winter.
Rufous-sided towhees are large sparrows. Males are black on top, have rufous sides and white bellies. Females and young are brown on top and have fainter rufous.
Towhees nest in the tangles of woodland edges where they are seldom seen. But the males sing a distinctive song that, with our imagination, sounds like "drink-your-teeeeea". Most towhees migrate farther south for the winter, but a few stay north where they live in thickets or lawn shrubbery and eat seeds from plants and at feeders.
These are delightful small birds in plumage and songs that are a joy to experience. And they can be spotted right at home and in nearby farmland.
Male goldfinches are yellow with black wings and tails and a jaunty, black cap set low on the forehead. Females and young are olive with darker wings and tails. The males resemble their mates during winter. Happily for many people, goldfinches come to feeders the year around where they can be admired.
Goldfinches are also attractive among the pink flowers of thistle plants as they eat thistle seeds in overgrown meadows and along roadsides. They make the fluffy parachutes of the seeds float away on the breeze as they ingest the seeds.
Goldfinches nest in July when thistles go to seed. They use the fluff to line their dainty nests they build in the forks of young trees, often on lawns. They also feed their young in the nest a porridge of pre-digested thistle seeds.
Male house finches are gray and streaked, but also have pink feathers on their heads, backs and chests. They also sing lovely songs by February each year, giving people hope that spring is on its way. Female house finches and young of the year are gray and streaked without the pink for camouflage.
House finches are originally from the American west, but were brought east as cage birds for sale. Some of them were released or escaped captivity, found each other in cities and towns and reared young. Today they are common throughout the eastern United States.
House finches nest in sheltering evergreen trees that were planted on lawns, and in sheltered places on buildings. And these lovely little birds with the beautiful songs come to feeders through the year where their beauties are enjoyed.
Indigo buntings are migrant small birds that nest in thickets in hedgerows and woodland edges in farmland in the eastern United States. Breeding males have deep-blue plumages, but their mates and offspring are brown to blend into their surroundings.
Male indigos utter lovely songs from tree tops. Their notes are twice repeated in series of notes that identify them. Indigos often sing during hot afternoons when all other birds are silent.
Most people are familiar with northern cardinals because they are common birds on lawns. The permanent resident cardinals traditionally nest in thickets, but have adapted to shrubbery on lawns. The males are bright red with a red crest and a black bib under the beak. Females and young are gray with red in their wings and tails. Adult females also have crests.
Male cardinals sing from the tips of trees early in spring, including in city peoples' back yards. Females build nests in shrubbery and often raise two broods a summer, with help from their mates. Young of the year have dark bills, unlike the pink ones of their parents.
Blue grosbeak males are dark blue with two tan bars on each wing. Their mates and the young of the year are brown with tan bars on their wings. These grosbeaks nest in thickets of hedgerows in farmland and often are neighbors to indigo buntings. Male blue grosbeaks sing pretty, warbling songs that identify them. This species, like the indigos, retreat to Central America ahead of the approaching winter.
Rufous-sided towhees are large sparrows. Males are black on top, have rufous sides and white bellies. Females and young are brown on top and have fainter rufous.
Towhees nest in the tangles of woodland edges where they are seldom seen. But the males sing a distinctive song that, with our imagination, sounds like "drink-your-teeeeea". Most towhees migrate farther south for the winter, but a few stay north where they live in thickets or lawn shrubbery and eat seeds from plants and at feeders.
These are delightful small birds in plumage and songs that are a joy to experience. And they can be spotted right at home and in nearby farmland.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Farmland Butterflies
Several kinds of butterflies live in Lancaster County farmland as caterpillars and adults because both those stages of their life cycles get food in that human-made habitat. These butterfly species are common because of the abundance of their foods. Each type of caterpillar has a specific food or foods, but all the adults visit alfalfa and red clover flowers in hay fields, and various blossoms along country roads during July into early October.
Monarch butterflies are one of the more famous of butterflies because of their annual migrations. Monarchs have large, orange wings with dark streaking. The third generation of female monarchs of each year lay eggs singularly on various kinds of milkweed plants in meadows and along rural roadsides in the local area. And it's the fourth generation that makes that miraculous trip to certain forests in Mexico to spend the winter in comparative warmth.
Silver-spotted skipper larvae feed on soybean leaves in this county. Those caterpillars have fake, orange "eyes" on their brown heads that, presumably, scare away would-be predators. Skippers are so-named for their quick, erratic flight. The silver-spotted species is mostly brown with a white spot on each front wing.
Least skippers are small, yellow butterflies commonly living low among vegetation along country roads. Their caterpillars consume grass, which is abundant along those roads, and the adults visit chicory, clover and other blooms along those byways.
The larvae of cabbage white butterflies, which are originally from Europe, eat members of the mustard family, including species of wild mustards in fields. Cabbage whites are those abundant, little, white butterflies we see in red clover and alfalfa hay fields and in flower gardens, particularly toward the end of summer.
Yellow sulphur butterflies are also from Europe. Their caterpillars feed on clover leaves and the foliage of other kinds of legumes. Yellow sulphurs join cabbage white butterflies, in abundance, among alfalfa and red clover blooms in hay fields close to the end of summer. Thousands of individuals of both kinds, flitting from flower to flower, make those hay fields quite lively and lovely. Whole fields seem to flutter.
Pearl crescent butterflies are a small, orange and brown-mottled species that are seen most commonly among aster blossoms late in summer and into autumn. As larvae, they feed on aster stems and leaves, pupate in the asters and emerge as adults.
American painted ladies are beautifully colored and patterned butterflies. They have brown, pink and pale blue in their wings. Their caterpillars ingest the leaves of thistles and burdocks, which are common in fields and along country roads.
Watch for these butterflies and their immature forms on the mentioned plants in farmland. They make that human-made habitat the more interesting.
Monarch butterflies are one of the more famous of butterflies because of their annual migrations. Monarchs have large, orange wings with dark streaking. The third generation of female monarchs of each year lay eggs singularly on various kinds of milkweed plants in meadows and along rural roadsides in the local area. And it's the fourth generation that makes that miraculous trip to certain forests in Mexico to spend the winter in comparative warmth.
Silver-spotted skipper larvae feed on soybean leaves in this county. Those caterpillars have fake, orange "eyes" on their brown heads that, presumably, scare away would-be predators. Skippers are so-named for their quick, erratic flight. The silver-spotted species is mostly brown with a white spot on each front wing.
Least skippers are small, yellow butterflies commonly living low among vegetation along country roads. Their caterpillars consume grass, which is abundant along those roads, and the adults visit chicory, clover and other blooms along those byways.
The larvae of cabbage white butterflies, which are originally from Europe, eat members of the mustard family, including species of wild mustards in fields. Cabbage whites are those abundant, little, white butterflies we see in red clover and alfalfa hay fields and in flower gardens, particularly toward the end of summer.
Yellow sulphur butterflies are also from Europe. Their caterpillars feed on clover leaves and the foliage of other kinds of legumes. Yellow sulphurs join cabbage white butterflies, in abundance, among alfalfa and red clover blooms in hay fields close to the end of summer. Thousands of individuals of both kinds, flitting from flower to flower, make those hay fields quite lively and lovely. Whole fields seem to flutter.
Pearl crescent butterflies are a small, orange and brown-mottled species that are seen most commonly among aster blossoms late in summer and into autumn. As larvae, they feed on aster stems and leaves, pupate in the asters and emerge as adults.
American painted ladies are beautifully colored and patterned butterflies. They have brown, pink and pale blue in their wings. Their caterpillars ingest the leaves of thistles and burdocks, which are common in fields and along country roads.
Watch for these butterflies and their immature forms on the mentioned plants in farmland. They make that human-made habitat the more interesting.
Dace and Killifish
When I was a boy living in the Rohrerstown area of Lancaster County, we guys would catch minnows in nets from local brooks. Of course we did that in summer and I noticed that some of those small, lean fish had orange on them. They were pretty and fascinating, and my introduction to local minnow-like fish in local streams and brooks of clear, running water. I later learned those fish were breeding male black-nosed dace.
Black-nosed dace and banded killifish are small, (up to two inches long) streamlined fish that live in the more pristine brooks and streams in the Mid-Atlantic States, as elsewhere in North America. They are lean to cope with water currents. They easily swim into currents with seemingly little effort as they watch for invertebrate food to float by. They are brown on top for camouflage above brown waterway bottoms. In fact, they are so well camouflaged that their shadows on waterway bottoms are often more visible than the fish themselves. Many times I am first aware of their presence because of their shadows.
Each of these minnow-like species form pure schools of scores of themselves in the usually clear water of brooks and streams. The dace generally congregate in "holes" of deeper water in brooks with gravelly bottoms while the killifish are more likely to inhabit shallow, slower-moving streams with muddy bottoms. By using different niches, these fish species reduce competition for space and food.
Each of these fish species has beauties. The dace have a black line on each flank from their mouths to the base of their tails. And in summer, male dace have orange fins and an orange stripe, along with the dark one, on each side: Their breeding colors. Killifish have several vertical, pale-blue stripes that are especially noticeable in summer, the breeding season of both these species. And the beauties of these fish are emphasized by the clear, flowing water they live in.
Dace and killifish are part of food chains in the waterways they inhabit. They eat small invertebrates at all levels of water, and are, themselves, food for trout, water snakes, belted kingfishers, a small variety of herons and egrets and other predatory creatures.
These minnow-like fish spawn in slow sections of shallow water along waterway edges. The dace eggs hatch among stones on the bottom of the waterways, while those of killifish hatch among aquatic vegetation in stream shallows. Schools of the young, growing fish feed on tiny invertebrates in those shallows.
When along a brook or stream, watch for schools of these minnow-like fish, and their shadows, in their refreshing habitats. They are small, but lovely fish well worth experiencing.
Black-nosed dace and banded killifish are small, (up to two inches long) streamlined fish that live in the more pristine brooks and streams in the Mid-Atlantic States, as elsewhere in North America. They are lean to cope with water currents. They easily swim into currents with seemingly little effort as they watch for invertebrate food to float by. They are brown on top for camouflage above brown waterway bottoms. In fact, they are so well camouflaged that their shadows on waterway bottoms are often more visible than the fish themselves. Many times I am first aware of their presence because of their shadows.
Each of these minnow-like species form pure schools of scores of themselves in the usually clear water of brooks and streams. The dace generally congregate in "holes" of deeper water in brooks with gravelly bottoms while the killifish are more likely to inhabit shallow, slower-moving streams with muddy bottoms. By using different niches, these fish species reduce competition for space and food.
Each of these fish species has beauties. The dace have a black line on each flank from their mouths to the base of their tails. And in summer, male dace have orange fins and an orange stripe, along with the dark one, on each side: Their breeding colors. Killifish have several vertical, pale-blue stripes that are especially noticeable in summer, the breeding season of both these species. And the beauties of these fish are emphasized by the clear, flowing water they live in.
Dace and killifish are part of food chains in the waterways they inhabit. They eat small invertebrates at all levels of water, and are, themselves, food for trout, water snakes, belted kingfishers, a small variety of herons and egrets and other predatory creatures.
These minnow-like fish spawn in slow sections of shallow water along waterway edges. The dace eggs hatch among stones on the bottom of the waterways, while those of killifish hatch among aquatic vegetation in stream shallows. Schools of the young, growing fish feed on tiny invertebrates in those shallows.
When along a brook or stream, watch for schools of these minnow-like fish, and their shadows, in their refreshing habitats. They are small, but lovely fish well worth experiencing.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Cattails and Phragmites
Cattails and phragmites are picturesque wetland plants that flourish wherever the soil is at least damp most of the time. They also do well as emergents in shallow water. Dense stands of these two plants can cover acres of moist or wet soil or are no larger than an average dining room table. They grow and spread rapidly on the edges of inland ponds, and in marshes and roadside ditches where water collects. Cattails can be up to six feet tall and phragmites can grow to twelve feet. Both species have long, grass-like leaves above the water, roots that run through the mud in every direction for some distances and send up green shoots of leafy plants at regular intervals, and decorative seed heads. Those seed heads are most picturesque in winter on the still upright, but dead and dried vegetation above the mud. These plants and their leaves wave delightfully in the wind, which adds to their beauties. The wind also disperses the seeds of these wetland plants, which is why they are scattered abundantly across North America, including here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Cattails are native to North America, and are scattered across much of this planet. This plant is most noted for its dark-brown, hotdog-like seed heads on top of tall stems. Those seed heads are most picturesque during autumn and winter, and are unique in the plant world, making them the more attractive. And when male red-winged blackbirds, with their black feathering and red shoulder patches, cling to cattail seed heads to sing in early spring, the beauty of the seed heads is complete.
Phragmites, also called common reed, is a perennial grass originally from Eurasia. The several phragmites seed plumes on top of each seed stalk appear fluffy and decorative before the low-slanting, winter sunlight. Phragmites is most abundant along sea coasts, but lives inland as well, including in roadside ditches, where they are most notable.
Stands of cattails and phragmites provide shelter and food through the year for several kinds of wildlife. Muskrats eat the roots and shoots of cattails and pile cattail stems they cut off with their teeth in the middle of shallow ponds and marshes. They live in the dry upper parts of those cattail stem heaps.
Red-winged blackbird and marsh wren females build cradles of cattail leaves on cattail stems several inches above the normal water level. There the eggs and young of these marsh species are less vulnerable to predators.
Mallard ducks lay clutches of eggs on drier ground under these marsh plants. That vegetation conceals the hens on their nests and the resulting ducklings.
Raccoons and white-tailed deer are sheltered in the larger stands of these wetland plants. Those mammals can roam about looking for food during the day without being spotted, until they step out of those thick stands of vegetation.
Late in summer and into early fall, flocks of ducks, including migrant blue-winged teal and wood ducks, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, tree swallows and other kinds of birds shelter overnight in larger stands of cattails and phragmites before they migrate farther south for the winter. The human observer can watch the birds coming into those dense beds of vegetation at dusk until they
retire south.
The beauties and uses of cattails and phragmites are many. We can enjoy their beauties and some species of wildlife use them for food and cover. Look for them on pond edges and in marshes and roadside ditches.
Cattails are native to North America, and are scattered across much of this planet. This plant is most noted for its dark-brown, hotdog-like seed heads on top of tall stems. Those seed heads are most picturesque during autumn and winter, and are unique in the plant world, making them the more attractive. And when male red-winged blackbirds, with their black feathering and red shoulder patches, cling to cattail seed heads to sing in early spring, the beauty of the seed heads is complete.
Phragmites, also called common reed, is a perennial grass originally from Eurasia. The several phragmites seed plumes on top of each seed stalk appear fluffy and decorative before the low-slanting, winter sunlight. Phragmites is most abundant along sea coasts, but lives inland as well, including in roadside ditches, where they are most notable.
Stands of cattails and phragmites provide shelter and food through the year for several kinds of wildlife. Muskrats eat the roots and shoots of cattails and pile cattail stems they cut off with their teeth in the middle of shallow ponds and marshes. They live in the dry upper parts of those cattail stem heaps.
Red-winged blackbird and marsh wren females build cradles of cattail leaves on cattail stems several inches above the normal water level. There the eggs and young of these marsh species are less vulnerable to predators.
Mallard ducks lay clutches of eggs on drier ground under these marsh plants. That vegetation conceals the hens on their nests and the resulting ducklings.
Raccoons and white-tailed deer are sheltered in the larger stands of these wetland plants. Those mammals can roam about looking for food during the day without being spotted, until they step out of those thick stands of vegetation.
Late in summer and into early fall, flocks of ducks, including migrant blue-winged teal and wood ducks, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, tree swallows and other kinds of birds shelter overnight in larger stands of cattails and phragmites before they migrate farther south for the winter. The human observer can watch the birds coming into those dense beds of vegetation at dusk until they
retire south.
The beauties and uses of cattails and phragmites are many. We can enjoy their beauties and some species of wildlife use them for food and cover. Look for them on pond edges and in marshes and roadside ditches.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Flooded Meadows and Fields in Spring and Fall
A variety of swallows and shorebirds migrate through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania every spring and fall. Several individual migrants of both families of birds feed on invertebrates in and just over flooded meadows and fields during those times.
Heavy or prolonged rain fills parts of those open, human-made habitats, forcing invertebrates out of the soil to avoid drowning. Those tiny critters become food for migrant swallows and shorebirds.
I drove by a large rain puddle in a farmland pasture one morning early in May. A few kinds of shorebirds, including several each of lesser yellowlegs, least sandpipers and killdeer plovers, a greater yellowleg, and a few each of pectoral sandpipers and solitary sandpipers were wading in the shallow water or walking along its muddy edge. The sandpipers and yellowlegs were probing into the mud under water while the killdeer picked up prey from the surface of the water and mud, thus reducing competition for food a bit.
A pair of mallard ducks were shoveling up inundated plants, roots and all, from the water. And a male red-winged blackbird ate invertebrates from the mud, vegetation and water.
But what struck me the most about that drowned meadow was that I never saw so many barn swallows and tree swallows zipping back and forth over one temporary puddle in a pasture or field as I saw at this one. I could see the orange bellies of the barn swallows as they flew and the white ones of the tree swallows as both species coursed swiftly, abruptly turning this way and that without collision with their fellows.
Those scores of swallows, careening rapidly just over the water to catch the apparent abundance of flying insects, were entertaining the several minutes I was there watching them go about their business. Each swallow repeatedly dashed over that meadow pool, swung out and around and back over the water again, snaring prey as it flew.
I continued to watch the swallows feeding until most peeled away, probably with full stomachs, to perch somewhere and rest and digest. The shorebirds, however, continued to feed as I left.
This county received heavy rain during the end of July and a temporary pond formed in a depression in a meadow that is purposefully flooded in winter by farm people for ice skating. I drove by that puddle early in August and saw a variety of birds taking advantage of that temporary, quarter-acre body of water.
Several Canada geese, a hen mallard and three ducklings and a small flock of starlings were at this pool. The geese were eating flooded grass while the ducklings and starlings ingested invertebrates.
Meanwhile, several each of southbound barn swallows, tree swallows, bank swallows and purple martins, which are another kind of swallow, swooped low over the water to catch flying insects, again being quite entertaining. And several migrant lesser yellowlegs, and a few each of southbound least sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers and killdeer, and a solitary sandpiper probed in the mud to seize invertebrate food. Interestingly, the starlings were poking their beaks into the mud like the shorebirds to get invertebrates.
The most intriguing part of these birds feeding on invertebrates trying to escape high water is that they were doing so on human-made, seemingly barren habitats. Creatures that adapt to how we change the environment have a future. And, of course, the swallows and shorebirds were not competing for food which allowed both groups to get ample food on those built environments. The beauties and intrigues of nature are everywhere on Earth.
Heavy or prolonged rain fills parts of those open, human-made habitats, forcing invertebrates out of the soil to avoid drowning. Those tiny critters become food for migrant swallows and shorebirds.
I drove by a large rain puddle in a farmland pasture one morning early in May. A few kinds of shorebirds, including several each of lesser yellowlegs, least sandpipers and killdeer plovers, a greater yellowleg, and a few each of pectoral sandpipers and solitary sandpipers were wading in the shallow water or walking along its muddy edge. The sandpipers and yellowlegs were probing into the mud under water while the killdeer picked up prey from the surface of the water and mud, thus reducing competition for food a bit.
A pair of mallard ducks were shoveling up inundated plants, roots and all, from the water. And a male red-winged blackbird ate invertebrates from the mud, vegetation and water.
But what struck me the most about that drowned meadow was that I never saw so many barn swallows and tree swallows zipping back and forth over one temporary puddle in a pasture or field as I saw at this one. I could see the orange bellies of the barn swallows as they flew and the white ones of the tree swallows as both species coursed swiftly, abruptly turning this way and that without collision with their fellows.
Those scores of swallows, careening rapidly just over the water to catch the apparent abundance of flying insects, were entertaining the several minutes I was there watching them go about their business. Each swallow repeatedly dashed over that meadow pool, swung out and around and back over the water again, snaring prey as it flew.
I continued to watch the swallows feeding until most peeled away, probably with full stomachs, to perch somewhere and rest and digest. The shorebirds, however, continued to feed as I left.
This county received heavy rain during the end of July and a temporary pond formed in a depression in a meadow that is purposefully flooded in winter by farm people for ice skating. I drove by that puddle early in August and saw a variety of birds taking advantage of that temporary, quarter-acre body of water.
Several Canada geese, a hen mallard and three ducklings and a small flock of starlings were at this pool. The geese were eating flooded grass while the ducklings and starlings ingested invertebrates.
Meanwhile, several each of southbound barn swallows, tree swallows, bank swallows and purple martins, which are another kind of swallow, swooped low over the water to catch flying insects, again being quite entertaining. And several migrant lesser yellowlegs, and a few each of southbound least sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers and killdeer, and a solitary sandpiper probed in the mud to seize invertebrate food. Interestingly, the starlings were poking their beaks into the mud like the shorebirds to get invertebrates.
The most intriguing part of these birds feeding on invertebrates trying to escape high water is that they were doing so on human-made, seemingly barren habitats. Creatures that adapt to how we change the environment have a future. And, of course, the swallows and shorebirds were not competing for food which allowed both groups to get ample food on those built environments. The beauties and intrigues of nature are everywhere on Earth.
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