Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has four distinct seasons. And each season has a wild plant and animal that I think are the most conspicuous forms of life through that season.
Coniferous trees and Canada geese are the most distinctive living beings through winter. The conifers are most visible in winter when deciduous trees are devoid of leaves. Lancaster County has a few native, wild conifers, including red junipers, eastern hemlocks and white pines, but most evergreens in this county have been planted in the suburbs, towns and farm yards. Conifers are commonly planted on lawns because of their handsome shapes and their being forever green, providing that color of life through winter. They stand out as an icon of winter in this area.
Conifers also have other beauties. They have decorative cones that have a seed under each scale that is food for squirrels, mice and wintering birds, including chickadees, pine siskins and crossbills.
Evergreens also provide windbreaks in winter for owls, hawks, crows, doves and several kinds of smaller birds. And at least a few species of birds, such as great horned owls, red-tailed and Cooper's hawks, American crows, blue jays, mourning doves and others, nest in the sheltering embraces of coniferous trees' needled boughs.
The abundant Canada geese are big, noisy and gather into large flocks during winter, making them the most conspicuous of wildlife in this county. They are noticeable in the air, on rye and harvested corn fields where they feed, and on waterways and impoundments where they rest between feeding forays. Their flocks in the air, with each goose honking boisterously, is exciting and inspiring to experience. And those gatherings are enjoyable to see feeding in the fields or loafing on water.
Fields of rye and the great, north-bound migrations of snow geese and tundra swans that land on those fields to feed are icons of spring in Lancaster County. Smaller numbers of snow geese and tundra swans might winter here, but many thousands more of each species enter this county some time during the latter part of February. Both these species of migrant waterfowl rest on the Susquehanna River and the larger impoundments locally, particularly the lake at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, and consume blades of rye and waste corn in harvested corn fields. The snow geese fly out to the feeding fields in great, noisy flocks, but the swans do so in much smaller lines and V's. Each species swirls over a field to check for danger, then drift down into the wind like thousands of white parachutes, covering the field as if snow fell only on that one.
Sometime in March, depending on the weather, the snow geese and tundra swans continue north to their breeding territories in the Arctic tundra. And all the excitement they generated here goes with them.
White clover and fireflies take the stage on lawns and in pastures and fields during summer in Lancaster County. The adaptable clover plants begin to bloom toward the end of May and continue flowering in abundance through summer and into autumn. Whole lawns appear white with multitudes of white clover flowers. Clover is resilient, producing more white blossoms after each mowing, which provides fresh nectar for bees and other kinds of insects through summer.
White clover is originally from Europe, as are honey bees that frequent clover flowers to sip their sugary nectar. Enzymes in the bees' stomachs change flower nectar to honey, which is stored in waxy cells for winter use by the bees. But a lot of clover honey is extracted from bee hives to be consumed by us humans.
The flashing of male fireflies is noticed in abundance in lawns, fields and woods from mid-June through much of July, with a peak of abundance early in July. Those flashing insects of the beetle family create intriguing, beautiful spectacles of themselves in the grass and on shrubs and trees on summer nights as if they are great gatherings of tiny fairies with lanterns.
Soon after sunset, male fireflies crawl up grass stems, launch into the air and fly slowly. Every few seconds they flash their cold, abdominal lights while abruptly flying upward to stretch out the light into a J shape to allow the flightless females of their kind to see it better and glow back so the males can find them for mating.
In autumn, the greatest shows are those of colored leaves and migrating birds of many species. When deciduous plants sense the shortening of daylight and dropping average temperatures each succeeding day in fall, they shut off the water supply to their leaves, causing them to die. As the foliage dies, their green chlorophyll fades and the other colors in the leaves become visible to us. And what a show those colored leaves produce! Red is in the leaves of black gums, sumacs, red maples, Virginia creepers, pokeweeds and other plants. Sugar maple foliage turns orange. And the leaves of poison ivy land sassafras trees turn to orange, red and yellow on the same plants.
Colored leaves reach their peak of color around October 20 in Lancaster County. Then most of them fall from their twig moorings and cover the ground with their crunchy beauties. And those carpets of leaves shelter ground-hugging plants and small creatures from the cold winds of winter.
Eventually those leaves decay, enriching the soil for the growth of future vegetation.
Many species of birds migrate through Lancaster County on their way south for the winter, including swallows, hawks, several types of small, woodland birds, Canada geese and others. Tree swallows from farther north and local barn swallows gather into large flocks to drift south as they catch and eat flying insects on the way. Often they line up on roadside wires where they rest between feeding forays where they are more noticeable to us.
Many kinds of raptors soar south over this county in fall, including bald eagles, groups of broad-winged hawks, ospreys, peregrine falcons and golden eagles, in that order of migration time from mid-August to late November. Most of them are generally visible in the middle of the morning each rain-free day.
The numerous species of woodland birds migrate mostly at night. But they can be heard calling from above on quiet nights and they can be spotted flying before the full moon with the aid of a scope or powerful pair of binoculars. Any small bird with ears, that is spotted before the moon, is a bat.
Flocks of Canada geese that nested in Canada come through here in October on their way to the Chesapeake Bay region where they will spend the winter. It's exciting to hear, then see their V-shaped formations speeding south high in a clear, October sky.
Get out each season to experience these icons. They are all readily available to enjoy.
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