Birds Nesting in our Neighborhood

     Every summer, for the last 27 years, several kinds of adaptable and common birds nested in our neighborhood of many trees and bushes in New Holland, Pennsylvania.  I estimate I can see about six acres of suburban area lawns from our house, which I call our neighborhood.  At least eight kinds of birds raise young every summer close to home, while several other species have occasionally reared offspring in my home neighborhood.  I can hear the songs or calls of all these birds at some time in spring and summer.  The eight regulars are mourning doves, American robins, northern cardinals, gray catbirds, purple grackles, house sparrows, song sparrows, house wrens and Carolina wrens. 
     Only one or two pairs of each species nests in this neighborhood because each habitat has limited food and shelter.  Several different kinds of birds nest here because each species occupies a slightly different niche, which reduces competition among them for space and food. 
     The doves build flimsy grass nests on needled boughs of our Norway spruce trees.  But they often use the abandoned cradles of robins as well.  Actually, they are better off hatching their two young in a brood in a robin's nursery because that bird's nest doesn't fall apart during strong wind.
     Parent doves feed their young a mixture of pre-digested seeds and throat mucus.  The doves commute to nearby fields or a bird feeder to ingest the seeds.
     Every year one or two pairs of robins hatch babies in mud and grass nurseries in trees or shrubbery in our neighborhood.  We see the adults fighting along boundary lines between territories and running and stopping on short-grass lawns in search of earthworms and other invertebrates to feed themselves and their young.
     Cardinals and catbirds hatch young in twig cradles in impenetrable bushes.  Males of these species sing much of the time from exposed perches, and both species are seen a lot on our lawn gathering invertebrates to feed their young. 
     Every spring, a small colony of purple grackles raises young in mud and grass nurseries in half-grown spruce trees that provide ample shelter to the eggs and young.  Because the grackles are fairly large, one can see them shuttling food to their young, and carrying white excrement away from their nests to reduce clues to their cradles so predators are less likely to find the youngsters.
     House sparrows build grass cradles in any shelter they find in buildings and other human-made objects.  They shuttle invertebrates and seeds to their young in their protected nests.
     A pair of song sparrows hatch babies in shrubbery in my neighborhood.  I can hear the male singing from mid-February until well into summer.  The parents feed invertebrates to their young. 
     Both house wrens and Carolina wrens raise young in our neighborhood and feed them a variety of smaller invertebrates.  We often hear the songs of the males of both species.  A pair of house wrens hatch offspring in one of a few wren houses we have in our yard.  But the Carolinas produce young in odd places, such as brush piles, rock piles, tree cavities or in sheds.  One year a pair of Carolinas hatched young in a neighbor's outdoor grill!
      xAs mentioned above, several other kinds of birds hatch offspring here, but not regularly.  I occasionally see a downy woodpecker or two any time of the year in my home area.  And once I found a hole in a tree that a female downy went into to feed her young a variety of invertebrates.  Apparently, there are enough trees here to satisfy downy woodpeckers.  Because of abandoned woodpecker holes and wren boxes around the neighborhood, we always have a few Carolina chickadees in my home area.  And a couple of times we have had them rearing young in wren boxes in our yard.
     One year we had a pair of tufted titmice hatch youngsters in a bluebird box I erected on a back tree.  Chickadees and titmice are cousins that prefer living in woodlands, but will make do with suburbs with lots of trees.  Both species feed on invertebrates the year around.
      Blue jays are in this neighborhood the year around, but they don't always nest in it.  But some years a pair will build a cradle in a Norway spruce tree in our back yard.  Once in a while, I will see a recently fledged young jay on our lawn.  But one recent year, I saw a pair of blue jays courting during a warm April afternoon.  The male was catching insects of some kind and feeding them to his mate.  A few weeks later I accidentally saw their nest in a eight-foot-tall red juniper tree that I planted in our back yard.  Later I saw them feeding their youngsters in that nest.
     I think some summers a pair of chipping sparrows nest in a young arborvitae tree in a neighbor's lawn.  I hear the male trilling and occasionally see them, but I never saw their nursery, though I suspected it was in an arborvitae.
     One year a hen mallard hatched a brood of 12 ducklings under a bush in our yard.  There is a pond a few hundred yards down the street and I imagine she walked her brood that far to get to water so her young could feed on aquatic plants and animals.
     House finches, starlings and chimney swifts build nurseries on structures in our neighborhood upon occasion.  The house finches usually build on top of porch lights or the supports of awnings.  Starlings will build grassy cradles in any protective crevice they can squeeze in to.  And swifts build twig cradles down the inside of chimneys. including one or two pairs in our neighborhood.
     Swifts snap off tiny twigs from trees while they are in flight.  They glue each twig to the sheer wall inside the chimney, using their saliva as glue, to make a platform on which each hen lays three to four eggs.  To these birds, chimneys are more hollow, broken-off trees they traditionally raised young in.  Swifts fly all day on narrow, swept-back wings to seine the sky of flying insects.
     At least once, a pair of screech owls have raised four young in a tree hollow in our neighborhood.  One evening early in June that year, The four young screechers were lined up on our front porch railing, waiting to be fed.  They were an interesting sight until they flew away, one at a time, to more secluded perches in nearby trees. 
   American crows, red-tailed hawks, Cooper's hawks and great horned owls have all nested at one time or another in the tree tops of our neighborhood.  These species are predatory, even the crows to some extent.  Crows will raid other birds' nests to eat the eggs or young in them.  They also kill fledgling robins and grackles, and baby cottontail rabbits.  Red-tails prey heavily on gray squirrels, but will take most any prey they can handle.  Cooper's specialize in catching birds, such as doves, grackles, starlings and other kinds.
     Any suburban neighborhood in the eastern United States has a variety of interesting nesting birds in it.  The reader only has to get out and look for them, but please don't disturb those nesting birds!      
          
      

Cavity-nesting Ducks in Eastern North America

     Females of five kinds of ducks, including wood ducks, hooded mergansers, common mergansers, American goldeneyes and buffleheads, hatch ducklings in tree hollows and nest boxes in eastern North America.  Those cavities offer protection to the setting mothers and their eggs and young from weather, flooding and some predators, hazards that would harm them on the ground.  When the young hatch, they use their toe nails to climb up the inside walls of their cradles and jump out the entrance to the water, or ground, sometimes a bit of a distance from water.  In that case, each mother leads her brood to water to feed and, hopefully, live long enough to grow up. 
     All these types of ducks are small and slender, which enables them to clamber about in the trees.  Males of all these species are striking in appearance, real dandies to portray good health and vigor to prospective mates, and drive away other males of each drake's kind.  The females of each species, however, are plain and brownish, which camouflages them while raising young.  Females of many bird species are more valuable than males to nature because they lay eggs and rear offspring.  Therefore, they are better protected by blending in.  Field guides to birds show the plumage colors and patterns of these birds.  
     Although all these duck species migrate through southeastern Pennsylvania, only wood ducks commonly nest here, in tree cavities and nest boxes along streams in woodlands, swampy woods where tree limbs hang over still water, and recently in strips of trees along waterways in farmland, wherever boxes have been erected.  They arrive here in March already paired.  And during that month, female woodies search for vacant cavities they can use for nesting, accompanied by their mates.  By early April they begin laying eggs, one a day, in their nursery until they have a clutch of about 15 eggs.  The ducklings hatch toward the end of May.  They eat a variety of invertebrates while their parents consume vegetation, reducing rivalry for food between them.  Ducklings need protein they get from invertebrates for rapid growth.
     Hooded mergansers nest in much the same habitats in the eastern United States as woodies, but very sparingly in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Both genders have crests they can raise and lower.  This type of duck eats crayfish, small fish and other aquatic creatures, thus reducing competition for food with wood ducks.    
     Related to hooded mergansers, common mergansers hatch ducklings in tree cavities farther north than their relatives, mainly across Canada.  They, too, eat small fish, but in larger bodies of water than hooded mergansers do, reducing rivalry for space and food with their smaller relatives.
     Common goldeneyes and buffleheads are related to each other.  Drakes of both species have similar plumage patterns, demonstrating their common ancestry.  Both these kinds of ducks hatch young in tree cavities in the northern, lake-riddled forests of Canada.  But because goldeneyes are a little bigger than buffleheads, they lay eggs in larger hollows than their relatives.  Goldeneyes use hollows chiseled out by crow-sized pileated woodpeckers, then deserted.  Buffleheads, however, lay eggs in holes chipped out by the jay-sized northern flickers, then abandoned by those woodpeckers.  These duck species using different sized cavities reduces competition for nesting sites between them.
     Though only the woodies are common breeders here, we southeastern Pennsylvanians can enjoy all these handsome duck species when they migrate through in spring.  Many common mergansers, common goldeneyes and buffleheads winter here as well, mostly on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and larger, built impoundments.  But even if we don't see them, it's nice to know they are in this area at least part of each year.         
        

Grackle Mortality

     On the morning of May 26, 2015, I saw an adult red-tailed hawk flying over New Holland, Pennsylvania with an animal in its talons.  I've been seeing red-tails in this town for years, but this was a situation not often seen.  The hawk landed on the flat top of a utility pole.  With my 16 power binoculars I could see the hawk pulling the black feathers from a young grackle.  When most of the feathers were off the bird and floated away on the breeze, the red-tail took flight with the dead bird in its claws.  It didn't eat its victim, so I guessed the hawk was taking the grackle to its young in its open, stick nest in a tree top somewhere in town.
     Waves of purple grackles pour into Lancaster County, as elsewhere in northeastern North America, during March.  By early April those great floods of blackbirds disperse into smaller colonies of mated pairs around coniferous trees in suburban areas and parks where they intend to raise young.  During April, males court their mates by raising their feathers to show off their beautiful, iridescent-purple plumage.  Each female, meanwhile, constructs her nursery among the sheltering, needled boughs of evergreen trees.  Young grackles hatch early in May and fledge toward the end of that month.  All this seems idyllic, but it isn't because grackles, like all forms of life, have mortality, especially among their eggs and young.
     Nesting pairs of the related American crows and blue jays raid grackle cradles to consume their eggs or young, or feed them to their own youngsters.  Several parent grackles dive at the marauders to scare them away, but usually to little avail.
     Tree-climbing raccoons, opossums, gray squirrels, black rat snakes and other predators also take a toll on grackle eggs and small chicks.  Again the adult grackles attempt to defend their helpless offspring, but usually are not successful, losing some of their young to those predators.
     Young grackles, like most birds, are not strong or accomplished fliers when they first leave their nests.  Predators see that lack of experience and equate it with easy pickings.  American crows, red-tailed hawks, Cooper's hawks, great horned owls, house cats and other types of predators take advantage of blundering young grackles, and other kinds of birds just out of their nurseries.
     But predation of the less adapted creatures has its advantages to nature in general.  Predators get meals from those critters.  There is not enough food and cover for all those animals of every species.  Most animals produce more young than the environment can sustain, to make up for losses.  And only the best adapted individuals live long enough to reproduce.  But, of course, try to tell all that to the animals that fall victim to predation.  And, besides, grackles raid smaller birds' nests to eat their eggs or young, so too many grackles in one area is not good for smaller species of birds.   
     So our fledgling grackle didn't mature to be a strong flier fast enough to avoid being caught by the red-tailed hawk.  And, it was in the wrong place at the wrong time with its temporary weaknesses.  So it became a meal for a sharp-eyed, discerning hawk, a hawk we enjoy seeing soaring on high.
     And that is the way with nature.  Some life lives long enough to reproduce, while other life becomes meals for other kinds of creatures.  Every critter benefits nature in some way, even by losing its life.   

Tiger Beetles

     Over the years, I have seen several six-spotted green tiger beetles on bare paths in woods in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  They always ran quickly on long legs or flew low to the ground in front of me as I walked along those woodland trails.  And, although they are only three-quarters of an inch long, I could see they were an attractive metallic green.  Two species of tiger beetles are in this county- six-spotted greens that live in the northeastern part of the United States and beautiful tiger beetles that inhabit most of North America.
     Adults of all tiger beetle species are ferocious predators, like their mammal name-sakes.  They feed on small invertebrates of many kinds.  They grab their prey with their powerful, sickle-shaped jaws.  But they are no threat to us people, mainly because they are next to impossible to catch.  And if handled, their bites are weak against us. 
     Soon after hatching, the larvae of tiger beetles dig vertical burrows into dry soil.  There they  ambush prey that walk by the entrances, pupate in those shafts and later emerge from them in summer as adult beetles. The bodies of the larvae each form an S-shape in the hole, with their heads level with the soil's surface and their abdomens wedged into the hole with the help of abdominal bristles on one body segment.  That wedging makes them hard to pull out of their burrows, which saves many of their lives from the predation of birds and other creatures.  
     Six-spotted green tiger beetles are green all over, which allows them to be camouflaged in the greenery of woodlands.  Six small, pale-yellow markings on the edges of their wing covers help identify this species. 
     Green tiger beetles inhabit woodland paths where they catch invertebrate prey.  In summer, females of this species drop eggs singly on bare ground on shady trails in the woods. 
     Beautiful tiger beetles are brown on their heads, thoraxes and wing covers with pale-beige markings on the edges of those covers.  Those colors allow this type of beetle to blend into their surroundings of sandy or bare-ground environments with limited vegetation.  As the reader can see, these tiger beetle species live in different habitats, which reduces competition for space and food between them. 
     The related tiger beetles have much in common, including body forms, and being predatory as young and adults, though they are harmless to us.  They are a beautiful, interesting family of beetles that are hard to spot because of camouflage and tougher to catch.  But then they really should be left alone to live out their lives where they belong.   
      

Two Tussock-haired Caterpillars

     Two unrelated species of small, common moths have attractive, tussock-haired caterpillars that we see here in the Middle Atlantic States, and throughout much of the eastern United States.  In fact, the hairy (really setae) caterpillars of these moth species are more noticeable and attractive than their adult, moth form. These two species are white-marked tussock moths and milkweed tussock (or tiger) moths, both of which have curious and pretty larvae completely covered by long "hairs".  Most birds and other animals would never eat such hairy creatures, which, of course, is good for both species.  And some peoples' skin is irritated if touched by the setae, which protect the caterpillars.
     White-marked tussock caterpillars are striking with red heads, many yellow or white, hair-like setae on their bodies, a black stripe aloog the middle of their backs, red, defensive glands on the rear of their backs, four thick, white tufts of setae standing up from their backs like tiny shaving brushes, and a long, thin tuft of grey or pale-brown hair at the rear. 
     White-marked, tussock caterpillars eat a variety of tree leaves early in summer.  Within  a few weeks each larva spins a gray cocoon with setae imbedded in it in tree bark crevices.  There, within a couple of weeks, they change to a small, brownish moth with wavy, dark lines on their fore wings.  At that time, they emerge from their pupae, but the females don't leave their cocoons.  Neither gender consumes anything.  Their only jobs now are for the males to fly to find a mate or mates, breed, mostly at night, and for the females to lay eggs.  Males soon die.  Each female lays up to 300 eggs in a mass on her cocoon still in a crack in tree bark.  She covers the egg mass with a protective froth she makes, a froth that soon hardens.  Then she dies.  There the eggs over winter.  The caterpillars hatch early the next summer and start another generation of this beautiful species of caterpillars.
     The larvae of milkweed tussock moths  have black heads, and thick, soft clumps of black, white and orange setae scattered all over their bodies.  They would be a hairy mouthful to any animal that tried to ingest them.  Again, most critters would never try. 
     This kind of caterpillar eats milkweed and dogbane leaves, plants that are related to each other.  That foliage has chemicals in them that the caterpillars store in their bodies to defend themselves against predatory critters that would eat them if they could.
     After a few weeks of eating milkweed and dogbane foliage, each milkweed tussock caterpillar makes a grey cocoon that has setae in it in the ground.  The larvae over winter in their pupae until early summer when they emerge from them. 
     Adult milkweed tussock moths are small, have gray wings, and yellow, hairy abdomens, each with an attractive row of black dots on top, which gives them the name milkweed tiger moths.  Females of this species lay eggs in masses only under growing milkweed and dogbane leaves, foliage their caterpillars eat.
     This summer, or succeeding ones, watch for these two kinds of beautiful, thick-haired caterpillars.  Each kind is handsome and interesting to experience.        






     

Summer Farmscapes That Benefit Wildlife

     Farmland in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, is a tough human-made habitat for wildlife to cope with, particularly to raise families.  Every year there is plowing discing, planting and harvesting of acres of monoculture crops.  There usually is not enough time for wildlife to raise young between human activities in the fields.  But there are a few oases of shelter in croplands that several kinds of wildlife take advantage of, stream bank fencing, ponds, hedgerows, buildings and bird boxes.
     Stream bank fencing is implemented in many meadows to keep livestock from breaking down the banks of the streams and brooks that run through them, and passing waste into the water.  And because it is hard to mow vegetation between the fence and the waterway, a variety of plants grow tall there and provide cover and food for several kinds of adaptable wildlife.
     Red-winged blackbirds are one of the most obvious of bird species in the tall reed canary-grass that grows between the fences and waterways.  Several black male red-wings can be seen swaying on the grass, and cattail stems, while they repeatedly sing their "konk-ga-ree" songs.  Meanwhile, female red-wings  busily build grass nests they anchor to several stalk of grass or cattails.  Both genders of red-wings consume a variety of invertebrates, and feed them to their young in their grassy cradles.
     Song sparrows hatch young in grassy nurseries on the ground among the grasses, and in shrubbery protected from mowing by stream bank fencing.  These little, brown birds are not so obvious because of their size, camouflaging feathering and tendency to stay under cover for the most part.  However, song sparrows are stream side shore birds because they often wander along the muddy or gravelly shores of a little waterway to seek and catch invertebrates, almost constantly flicking their tails as they move along.
     Baltimore orioles hatch youngsters in deep cradles of grasses and vines suspended from the outer twigs of trees, particularly sycamores, that grow along the edges of waterways.  Those beautiful and sturdy oriole pouches sway with every puff of wind.  Orioles ingest a variety of invertebrates they find in the trees they summer in.             
     Mallard ducks and Canada geese nest on the ground under the cover of tall grasses caused by stream bank fencing.  Their young hatch toward the end of April which means they started their nesting cycle around the beginning of March when the grass was just staring to grow.
     Built farm ponds are also havens for a variety of wildlife that lives around water, including muskrats and mink.  Red-wings, song sparrows, mallards and Canadas all nest there.  But some of those ponds are stocked with bluegill sunfish and large-mouthed bass for fishing.  Of course belted kingfishers, a small variety of herons and an occasional osprey or mink frequent those impoundments to catch and eat some of the fish.
     American toads, bull frogs and green frogs spawn in those ponds and many of their tadpoles are consumed by herons and fish.  It's neat to hear the trilling of male toads in April and the moaning and belching of the bull frogs and green frogs respectively around these ponds during May through June.
     A variety of dragonflies, especially green darners and white tails, catch flying insects around the pond and spawn in it.  Dragonfly larvae live in the pond and eat aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles and small fish.  After a year in the pond, they become adult dragonflies and leave the water for life on land and in the air.  Then we see them skimming swiftly over the water's surface in pursuit of food and mates.  
     Hedgerows between fields offer haven to a variety of nesting birds, and mammals.  Indigo buntings, song sparrows, rufous-sided towhees and gray catbirds are some of the bird species that nest in the cover of shrubbery in those long, thin strips of overgrown thickets.  Downy woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds, eastern kingbirds and Baltimore orioles hatch offspring in the trees of those hedgerows, the woodpeckers and bluebirds in cavities and the kingbirds and orioles among twigs.  
     Hedgerows also benefit a variety of mammals including wood chucks, cottontail rabbits, red foxes, striped skunks and others.  Hedgerows to these mammals are places of stability in farm country, places where they can raise young in relative peace and safety, without plowing and other farming activities.  While cropland is constantly being cultivated, hedgerows are usually ignored by people.
     Wood chucks are the home builders of these farm mammals, digging deep burrows into the soil with a few exits so they are not trapped in their own homes by foxes.  But foxes, rabbits, skunks and other animals live in abandoned chuck holes.
     Farm houses, barns, bridges and other structures in cropland are havens for other kinds of nesting birds.  Barn swallows, rock pigeons and house sparrows are birds that nest most commonly in those buildings.  Barn swallows formerly hatched young on rock walls in small caves and on cliffs.  To them, barns and bridges are similar to caves.  They plaster mud pellet cradles to the sides of support beams in barns and under bridges.  These little birds dash over fields to catch flying insects to eat.
     Rock pigeons originally nested on rock cliffs of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe.  They were domesticated long ago for meat, eggs and sport, and were eventually brought to North America as domestic birds.  Some of the birds escaped into the wild and nest on support beams in barns and under bridges and on the rock walls of local quarries.  This type of bird ingests grain and seeds.
     House sparrows also consume grain and seeds, as well as some invertebrates during the warmer months.  This small, brown European species was brought to America to consume insects in New York City.  But they spread from that city and live throughout most of the United States.  They raise young in sheltering crevices in cropland buildings.
     Bird boxes erected in weedy fields, hedgerows and in stream bank fencing areas increase the numbers of certain farmland bird species, including eastern bluebirds, tree swallows, purple martins, which are another kind of swallow, and wood ducks.  Bluebirds and tree swallows can be intense rivals over bird boxes in agricultural areas.  Sometimes little groups of tree swallows gang up on     
a pair of bluebirds to chase them away from a nesting box, then the swallows use that bird house themselves.  But while tree swallows prefer cavities near water for nesting, bluebirds do not, so that cuts down a bit on competition for nesting sites between those species.
     Purple martins hatch offspring in apartment bird boxes erected on poles about 20 feet high in certain farmyards.  Swallows of every type catch and eat flying insects they catch on the wing, much to the delight of farmers, and everyone else.
     Wood ducks are a woodland species that is adapting to farmland, mostly through the erecting of wood duck nest boxes along waterways in stream bank fencing that provides tall grasses, shrubbery and young trees that serve as shelter.  Female woodies hatch ducklings in those boxes and raise them on invertebrates in the cover of stream bank fencing vegetation along pasture streams.  
     Cropland is a tough environment for even adaptable wildlife to live in.  But the above discussed, human-made habitats and niches help some species to survive in farmland.  As in every habitat, the creatures that can adapt to agricultural areas have a future. 

Eastern Dobsonflies

     Occasionally someone will notice a two-inch-long, brown insect on an outdoor wall near a stream on a summer day.  It will have a pair of two-and-a-half-inch-long, clear wings stretching beyond the end of its abdomen, making it look like a miniature Dracula.  But, perhaps most frighteningly, it will have two tusk-like mandibles that are about half as long as the body, curved inward and crossing each other.  The insect is an adult male eastern dobsonfly, which is harmless to us.
      Adult dobsonflies are active at night, but rest during the day, perching on trees, walls and other objects.  They are more common than we know.  Most of them just are never seen by people because they are at rest during the day. 
     Female dobsonflies are similar in appearance to males, but have much shorter mandibles.  But females can bite!  And being one of the largest of insects in southeastern Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, both genders have up to five inch wing spans. 
     Dobsonflies seek mates at night near the stream they grew up in, early in summer for the most part.  It's thought they don't eat during that time of breeding.  Males flutter their wings and try to push their long mandibles under male dobsonfly opponents to flip them over.  Winners of those struggles get access to the girls. 
     After mating, female dobsonflies spawn up to 1,000 eggs in rounded masses on rocks near the waterways' edges where they lived as larvae.  They spawn at night, any night from May to September.  Each mass is covered by a chalky-white substance, to keep the eggs protected and moist.  After hatching, the larvae crawl to the water where they live from two to three years, or more.
     Dobsonfly larvae in the water are called hellgramites.  They live under stones on stream bottoms, eat aquatic insects and grow to be two to three inches long.  They are dark which allows them to blend into the stream bottoms and be invisible, wrinkly and worm-like.  But each one has a pair of hooked, anal prolegs for hanging onto stones so they don't get washed away in the current.  Those large, scary-looking larvae are often used as fish bait, especially for trout that readily consume hellgramites in moving streams.
     Hellgramites need good water to survive.  Therefore, they are indicators of water quality.  Their presence in a stream speaks of good quality water.  
     When mature, hellgramites crawl out of the water and make pupal cells of soil under stones, logs and other debris near the water.  Here they overwinter.  Adults emerge early the next summer ready to find mates, breed and spawn eggs.  And that is when some people find them on outdoor walls near the streams they grew up in.                         
     Adult dobsonflies are eaten by raccoons, bull frogs, certain kinds of birds and other predators.  It's good they spawn lots of eggs  to make up for losses.
     If the reader finds a dobsonfly, there is no need to be afraid of it.  Just leave it alone and it won't bother anybody.  In fact, they are quite interesting to experience.  And they and their larvae are parts of several food chains of who eats whom. 

Two Natural Roadside Events

     I saw two interesting nature events today, May 18, 2015, just off two country roads within a couple miles of each other while driving through the southern part of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  The first was in a meadow that was partly overgrown with trees and shrubbery.  The other was in a field of newly sprouting field corn. 
     I stopped at the meadow because it looked like a good habitat for wildlife.  Almost immediately, I saw a dead river birch along a stream where it sprouted.  I could identify the tree to its species because much of its thin, curled bark was still intact on it.  Through my field glasses I could see a male song sparrow standing on the highest stub on that deceased tree and singing again and again for the 20 minutes I was there.  He was advertising his presence and claiming his territory with his boisterous songs.  And no doubt one of the nearby bushes in that pasture harbored his mate and their eggs or young. 
     Meanwhile, a northern mockingbird perched on another dead and broken limb of that birch.  He, too, was singing beautifully to maintain his breeding area while his mate probably was incubating her eggs or feeding their young in nearby shrubbery.
     That river birch had a downy woodpecker hole in it, indicating that sometime in the past, but after the tree died, a downy came out of the bordering woodland to drill into the birch's soft wood to make a nesting cavity.  And after raising their young, the woodpecker pair retreated to the woods again.  And now, I noticed, a pair of eastern bluebirds had young in that deserted woodpecker hollow because both bluebirds took turns taking green caterpillars and other invertebrates to their young in the nest the whole time I watched them from the road.
     The other natural event of interest happened among young corn plants about 20 yards off a country road.  I noticed three black vultures and a turkey vulture were standing together in that field as if they were feeding on a dead animal.  Again I stopped and noticed that, indeed, they were feeding on a dead raccoon in the field.  I could see the animal's ringed tail through my binoculars, and multitudes of flies.  That mammal probably was killed on the road and someone threw it into the field to decay.  But the vultures found it and were making a meal of it; well one was.
     One black vulture was very aggressive to the other two of his kind, repeatedly chasing them off the carcass.  One black vulture finally flew away, having had enough abuse, I suppose.  The bullying black vulture never bothered the turkey vulture because that bird stood by passively, waiting his turn at the meal, but not making a move as long as the black vultures were there. 
     The dominant vulture continued to tear bits of meat off the raccoon while the other black vulture and the turkey vulture waited their turn.  And that is how the situation was when I drove away a few minutes later.
     Black vultures are known to be more aggressive than turkey vultures.  The latter species is a little larger than the other kind, but that makes no difference.  And, it seems that these two kinds of vultures might be in competition with each other, but the blacks only arrived this far north in any numbers during the early 1970's.  It might be awhile before we see which type of vulture ultimately wins the rivalry between those species.
     Simply by luck and keeping my eyes open, I saw two interesting natural events unfolding near country roads as I was driving along on business.  Anyone can do the same just by being aware of the possibilities.      
          

Life Along Mill Creek in Summer

     A quarter-mile strip of Mill Creek that closely parallels Meadow Creek Road in a shallow, agricultural valley about a mile and a half south of New Holland, Pennsylvania is an interesting wildlife area.  Banks along parts of this creek have been fenced to keep livestock out of that waterway, which results in much lush, overgrown vegetation that provides shelter and food for a variety of adaptable wild creatures.  This creek and its overgrown shorelines in a farmland meadow embodies one of my favorite local habitats.
     Some abundant plants in this habitat, that is 12 yards across on average, including the width of the stream, are water cress in the water, tall reed canary-grass, a few each of staghorn sumac trees, young black walnut trees, crab apple trees, mulberry trees, silver and ash-leafed maple trees, elderberry bushes, common milkweeds and three kinds of thistles.  Monarch butterflies visit the milkweeds to sip their nectar and lay eggs on their thick leaves.
     Many kinds of aquatic critters live in this stream, partly because of the jungle of plants that provide shelter and shade that keeps the water cool.  A few hen mallard ducks raise ducklings here.  Schools of banded killifish and black-nosed dace are abundant in this waterway.  I see the shadows of those stream-lined minnows on the muddy and gravelly bottom of the stream better than those brown-topped fish themselves because of their blending into their surroundings.  I sometimes hear green frogs croaking along the water's edges and see predatory northern water snakes prowling through the water and vegetation after small fish and frogs.
     Every summer I see a few green herons and belted kingfishers stalking minnows in the stream, which is entertaining.  Probably a pair of each species nests here as well, the herons in a stick cradle in a nearby tree and the kingfishers in a burrow they dug into a stream bank.  The herons wade in shallow parts of the waterway, while the kingfishers either perch on a tree limb hanging over the water or hover into the wind, then dive beak-first into the water after small fish they catch in their long beaks.
     Muskrats dig dens into the stream banks at the normal water level, then abruptly tunnel up to just below the grass roots level.  These rodents eat water plants, grasses, cattail roots and other vegetation near their watery homes.  Females raise a few broods of young every summer.
     Mink live along this waterway, and many others throughout Lancaster County.  They catch and eat muskrats, frogs, water snakes, fish, mice, small birds and other types of critters they can subdue.  They often live in abandoned muskrat burrows, some of which were made deserted by the mink killing and consuming the original owners.
     Green darner dragonflies, white-tailed dragonflies and bluet damselflies patrol the waterway to catch flying insects and look for mates.  Damselflies were predatory larvae in the creek the previous year.
     A few kinds of shorebirds patrol the shores of the creek for invertebrates to eat.  A couple pairs of killdeer plovers and a pair of spotted sandpipers raise young along the stream and the bordering short-grass meadows.  In July and August, a few each of least sandpipers and lesser yellowlegs, which is another kind of sandpiper, migrating south from their breeding grounds in northern Canada, stop to wade in the shallows of this waterway to eat aquatic invertebrates before continuing their flights farther south to escape the coming winter.  Those least sandpipers and yellowlegs, while they are here, bring a bit of far away lands to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 
     Several other kinds of birds live, nest or feed, or all three, along Mill Creek because of its thick growth of vegetation.  A few pairs each of song sparrows and red-winged blackbirds eat invertebrates and build nurseries in the tall grasses along the waterway.  Song sparrows are permanent residents here, but red-wings are present only in summer to raise young. 
     Permanent resident northern cardinals and American goldfinches, and summering gray catbirds, willow flycatchers and eastern kingbirds, which are another kind of flycatchers, hatch babies in the shrubbery and smaller trees along Mill Creek.  All these species ingest invertebrates, except the goldfinches.  That latter species is mostly vegetarian, consuming seeds, particularly thistle seeds at this time of year, and algae in the water.  The flycatchers snare flying insects in mid-air.
     Barn swallows, rough-winged swallows and purple martins, which are another type of swallow, are entertaining to watch cruising swiftly along this waterway and over neighboring fields and meadows to catch flying insects.  These flying birds weave among their airborne relatives at breakneck speed with never a collision. 
     Barn swallows raise young in barns and under bridges near this waterway, while martins hatch offspring in large apartment bird boxes erected in farmyards especially for them.  Rough-wings, however, raise babies in holes they dug themselves in the stream banks.  However, some rough-wing pairs use abandoned kingfisher burrows, or drain pipes extending over the water.                    
     There are other beautiful and interesting waterways and pastures in farmland like this one throughout the eastern United States where one can enjoy a variety of adaptable plants and animals.  Now the challenge is to get out and experience some of them wherever you may be.

Commonly Nesting Warblers

     Yellow warblers and common yellow-throats are adaptable species of warblers that commonly nest in the Middle Atlantic States, and throughout much of North America, but in different niches to reduce competition for space and food between them.  Both species spend northern winters south of the United States, the yellow warblers in Central America and northern South America and the yellow-throats in Mexico and Central America.  Both species arrive in this area toward the end of April and into early May to raise young.  And many of them leave North America early in September, mostly migrating south at night and eating invertebrates during the day between flights. 
     Warblers are a large family of small, colorful birds that probably originated in Central America.  But as the last ice age receded north about 10,000 years ago, many warbler species acquired the habit of pushing north each spring to find breeding areas free of competition for space and food from their relatives in Central America. 
     Warbler species have certain characteristics in common, demonstrating their common ancestry.  All of them are small.  Most kinds have yellow in their plumage.  Male yellow warblers and yellow-throats are attractive, with much yellow in their feathering.  And both these types of warblers, as all their kin, feed on small invertebrates, the reason why most species of their large family winter in sub-tropical  climates where invertebrates are active and available the year around.
     Yellow warbler males are almost completely yellow, like canaries, but with several rows of elongated, orange spots on their underparts.  Females of that species are a pale yellow all over.  Yet because of their small size and retiring habits, they usually are difficult to spot among the foliage of small trees.  Their songs are much more likely to give away their presence. 
     This species nests in most of North America, including well into Alaska.  They rear offspring mostly in areas of moist ground and young trees, especially willows, along waterways, wetlands and ponds.  Females place their petite nests of fine grasses, plant down and spider webs low in small trees and shrubbery.  To establish territory and attract a mate, each male repeatedly sings a lively "sweet, sweet, I'm so sweet" in a distinctive rhythm of notes.
     Male common yellow-throat warblers are striking in appearance.  They are olive-brown, with yellow throats, a black mask around the eyes and white above the mask.  Their mates are the same in appearance, except they don't have the mask or the white above it.  They are better camouflaged than the males to be less visible around their young.
     Yellow-throats nest in most of North America, south of Hudson Bay.  Their nesting niche is in expanses of thick shrubbery in hedgerows, woodland edges and clearings, and in older suburban areas that have lots of bushes.  Males sing a unique song that, with imagination, sounds like "witchety, witchety, witchety"..........  Like yellow warblers, this species is heard more than it is seen because its members stick tight to the sheltering shrubbery for their protection against predation.
     Watch for these beautiful warblers in North America during summer.  They help liven the niches they raise young in.     
       

Tent Caterpillars

     Early in May we begin to see many tiny, white tents of webbing in the crotches of cherry trees here in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Those tents are made by the larvae of a kind of small, brown moth; what we call tent caterpillars.  As those many sibling caterpillars grow, they daily add more silk to their nests, making those shelters ever bigger, too.  Each tent has an opening on one side and is peppered with small, dark droppings.      
     Tiny, black tent caterpillars hatch from eggs in a small, dark mass of eggs on the bark of cherry trees late in April and soon begin eating newly sprouting cherry leaves on the trees.  And the larvae immediately start creating their sheltering tents with their own silk they spin from spinnerets on their rear ends.  The growing larvae are hairy, but have lovely colors and designs.  They are mostly blue, black, white and orange.
     The caterpillars consume cherry leaves at dawn, mid-afternoon and after sunset.  They leave their tents to move out to where the leaves are, laying down paths of silk on the limbs and twigs that they will follow to get back to their shelters when full of foliage.  Older larvae feed only at night.
     Yellow-billed cuckoos and black-billed cuckoos are the only birds in North America that will regularly eat the hairy tent caterpillars.  Those cuckoos are the only birds that specialize in eating hairy caterpillars of many kinds.
     Mature tachnid flies and the adults of certain kinds of wasps lay eggs on tent caterpillars.  The larvae of those flies and wasps consume the moth larvae.       
     By the end of May the surviving members in each tent disperses, crawling across the ground to find a sheltered place in the soil to pupate.  Adult moths emerge from those cocoons about two weeks later.  Those moths are nocturnal, flying only at night in search of mates.  Mating and egg-laying occur on the day the moths emerge from their pupae. 
     Each female moth lays 200 to 300 fertile eggs in a single batch on a cherry tree.  She has to be a little forester to know which tree to use because the caterpillars only eat cherry, and apple, leaves.  In about three weeks, about the second week in July, fully formed larvae are in those eggs, but they remain dormant until the end of next April, when they hatch and begin another cycle.
     Tent caterpillars can cause damage to cherry tree and apple tree foliage, perhaps killing a tree or two.  But that is unusual.  For the most part, the tents of tent caterpillars are another unique and interesting part of late spring in this area.  The larvae of a little, brown moth are more intriguing than damaging.     

Wrens and Sparrows Nesting in Salt Marshes

     Red-winged blackbirds, laughing gulls, clapper rails and willets, which are a kind of sandpiper, and other kinds of birds nest in salt marshes along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.  And marsh wrens, seaside sparrows and saltmarsh sparrows also nest in those same marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf shores.  These latter three kinds of small, brown and streaked birds converged with each other in their reedy and grassy habitat.  That habitat made them what they are, but each species' needs are a bit different than those of the other two, which allows these species to live in the same environment with limited competition for space and food.
     The wrens and sparrows blend into their habitat so well they are difficult to see until they move in more open situations.  The songs of the males of each species are more likely to give away their presence.
     Marsh wrens have warm-brown feathering with a prominent white eye-stripe over each eye and small, white streaks on their shoulders.  They live among cattails and rushes in fresh-water marshes, and among tall marsh grasses in salt marshes.  They hide, nest and look for invertebrate food in those environments.
     Male marsh wrens frequently sing one to three loud, musical rattles on different pitches to attract females of their kind to them for mating and raising young.  Each male also builds a few rounded nests of grass they mount on cattail or reed stems in their part of a marsh.  Each potential nursery has an opening on one side.  The mate of each male marsh wren inspects the cradles and chooses one to hatch young.  All that activity of the males makes this species one of the dominant birds of a salt marsh.
     Seaside sparrows live and nest only among the grasses of salt marshes, which is a limited environment in acreage.  This type of sparrow has a brownish-gray face and shoulders, and a yellow mark on each side of the face behind the beak.  Males sing from the tops of grasses and shrubs, which is the only time this species is readily visible.  Their weak songs begin with two buzzy notes followed by a buzzy trill.  This species eats seeds, insects, snails and small crustaceans they find on the ground and along tidal creeks at low tide.
     Female seasides build woven, grass nurseries that they place in grass tussocks above the high tide line.  Each female lays four or five white eggs with brown blotches, which camouflages those eggs.
     Saltmarsh sparrows are handsome birds, with dull-orange stripes on their faces and gray cheeks.  And they have white under parts that are streaked.  But most people don't see them because they are secretive and skulking, as well as camouflaged, among marsh grasses and on the ground.  There they search for invertebrates and seeds to eat.     
     Males of this species sing weak, raspy trills, but do not defend territories or help raise young.  In fact, pair bonds are not formed in this species.  Females of this kind of sparrow build open cup nests of grass stems and blades on the ground, under grasses, above the normal high tide.  Each hen bird lays four to five brown-spotted, pale-blue eggs in her cradle. 
     Interestingly, seaside sparrows prefer the wetter parts of salt marshes to nest, but saltmarsh sparrows would rather raise young in the drier sections of those same marshes.  In that way, these two sparrow species have reduced competition for nesting space and food in the same marshes.
     Marsh wrens, seaside sparrows and saltmarsh sparrows nest in salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.  Because of their camouflaged plumages and secretive ways, they are hard to spot.  One must watch for them to experience them.      
     
     
           
    

Two Garden Flowers in May

     Snow peas and strawberries are in flower from late April through much of May in gardens in the Middle Atlantic States.  The white blooms of both cultivated plants are lovely against the green of their foliage, making the gardens more attractive, particularly when bathed in sunshine.  But green plants are also pretty during a rain.  Then that lush, dripping vegetation seems to glow from within.
     There are several pluses to gardening.  Many people like to have gardens because they allow those folks to be able to work the soil, smelling the soil and getting exercise in fresh air and sunlight while doing so.  And there is the reward of being close to nature, watching plants develop and harvesting your own fresh vegetables and fruits from those plants.        
     Pea plants originally grew in the Mediterranean Sea area of Europe.  Being a legume, pea plants take nitrogen from the air and fix that nitrogen into the soil, enriching it and preparing it for the growth of other types of vegetation.  Peas can be planted early and their seeds in green pods can be harvested around the end of May and into early June.  After that the plants, that grow as vines, wilt in the heat of summer. 
     Snow peas produce flat pods with immature seeds.  Whole pods of snow peas, steamed until they are desirably soft, are edible, and tasty with margarine.  Or snow pea pods can be eaten raw as part of a salad.        
     Strawberries grow wild in much of the world, including in North America.  This aggravate fruit has double beauties- the lovely flowers and the attractive, red fruit that have many small, beige seeds imbedded in their outer surfaces.  Those sweet, juicy fruits are available in this area, in abundance, around the beginning of June.  Many people like to pick their own, which gets them into nature.   
     A large variety of wild animals in this area like to eat strawberry fruits, both wild and domestic,  as much as people do.  They include slugs, box turtles, several kinds of birds, raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, rodents, deer and other species.    
     Snow peas and strawberry plants have many delights, including their lovely flowers in May, edible fruits and getting people into nature to cultivate and harvest those plants.  The beauties and benefits of nature are where one finds them. 

Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

     Some species of birds that spend northern winters in Central and South America come north to nest early in spring, arriving suddenly in waves in the Middle Atlantic States by late April and the first two weeks of May.  Some of the bird families involved in that great push north include warblers, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, and a couple kinds each of orioles, tanagers and grosbeaks.  Those birds suddenly present a richness of bright colors, color patterns, and bird songs that were not heard until this time of year. 
     Scarlet tanagers and rose-breasted grosbeaks are unrelated birds that have certain traits in common.  Both species nest in deciduous forests in the northeastern United States, but in different niches in those woods.  And the tanagers spend northern winters in northwestern South America, while the grosbeaks winter in Central America and northern South America.  Males of both kinds have brilliant plumages with much red and black in each species, while their mates have camouflaged feathering.  Males of many kinds of birds have gaudy feathers in their plumages to intimidate other males of their various kinds away from their breeding territories and to attract females of their respective species to them for nesting. And, most of all, coincidentally, male scarlet tanagers and male rose-breasted grosbeaks sing American robin-like songs, but the tanagers have raspy voices, while the songs of grosbeaks are sweeter and more melodious than those of robins.  The songs of these birds alert birders to their presence in treetops and help in identification of those species.
     Male scarlet tanagers are red with black wings and tails in summer.  Their mates and the young of the year are yellow-green for camouflage among tree leaves with darker wings and tails.  But because tanagers nest and feed mostly in treetops, in larger, upland oak woods, they are not easy to spot in the foliage of the canopy.  They are mostly voices in the woods, most often noticed by their hoarse "chp-burr" call notes.
     Male rose-breasted grosbeaks have black heads, wings and tails, white bellies and red chests.  There also is white barring on their wings.  Females and young of the year are brown above and lighter below with streaking on their under parts.  This type of grosbeak raises young in nests high in trees in moist, bottom land woods near fields and other open areas.  They, too, are often mere voices in the woods that give away their presence.     
      Scarlet tanager and rose-breasted grosbeak females both build nests of twigs, plant fibers and grass, but in different ways, on twigs high in the tree tops.  They each lay speckled eggs, which blend into the nest colors, hindering crows and jays from finding the eggs to eat.
     During the summer breeding season, both the tanagers and grosbeaks eat a variety of forest invertebrates and feed them to their young in the nest.  They catch most of their food among the tree tops, but could snare it at any level in the woods, as well.
     Scarlet tanagers and rose-breasted grosbeaks are two of the many species of neotropical birds that migrate north from Central and South America to nest in North America where there is less competition for nesting space and food.  They bring with them beautiful feathering and new songs.  But by fall, most of these birds are moving south where they can find ample food without the threat of ice and snow that would cover that sustenance.     

Ovenbirds and Waterthrushes

     Ovenbirds and two kinds of waterthrushes, northern and Louisiana, are closely related small birds in the warbler family.  Having come from a common ancestor, probably recently, in geologic terms, these three species look alike for the most part.  And they all spend northern winters in Central and South America where invertebrates are still available to eat.  But there are slight differences among them as well, but differences that are important, particularly in their nesting habitats in the forests of North America.  And as they diverged from their relatives, they became more like birds they are not related to but share habitats with..  The habitats these three warblers nest in with other types of unrelated birds make them more like those birds, not their cousins, an example of convergence.
     Ovenbirds and waterthrushes are brown above to blend into their surroundings on dead-leaf, forest floors.  And they all have light underparts that are liberally streaked with dark, which breaks up their shapes, which is another form of camouflage. 
     Ovenbirds nest in upland woods in most eastern deciduous forests and build nurseries of dead leaves on woodland floors.  Each cradle has a leafy roof, thus the name ovenbirds.  This species looks like thrushes with their large, dark eyes and feather patterns, both walks rather running and stopping as thrushes do.  Male ovenbirds have a ringing, unmistakable chant with the rhythm of "teacher, teacher, teacher".  That song becomes louder as it progresses.            
     Northern waterthrushes and Louisiana waterthrushes have one major,physical difference in their appearances.  The former species is beige underneath while its relatives are white below.  That is a way to identify each species when seen on migration.
     Both species of waterthrushes dance while walking and watching for invertebrates along water, which is a form of blending in.  That bobbing mimics debris bouncing along the shores of woodland streams.  And both kinds of waterthrushes imitate spotted sandpipers that also bob their bodies as they walk along the edges of water in meadows and other open areas to seize invertebrates. 
     Males of both species of waterthrushes have loud songs that can be heard above the music of running water.  And both species hatch young in leafy nurseries on little ledges in stream banks. 
     The reader can see these two kinds of warblers are almost the same in appearance, habits and habitats.  Their divergence comes from where they raise youngsters.  Northern waterthrushes nest along streams and bogs in North American forests, but mostly north of the Great Lakes.  Louisiana waterthrushes, on the other hand, hatch offspring in the same niche, but in woods mostly south of the Great Lakes.
     This is an interesting grouping of related birds because one can see the similarities they got from a shared ancestor.  Yet to reduce competition among themselves, they use different woods and diverse parts of woodlands.  Many other families of life do the same thing to survive.  But the habitats life live in shape them and make them similar to other forms of life that also uses each habitat.    


  

Veeries and Northern Waterthrushes

     On May 5, 2015, I stopped along a 20-yard stretch of a stream in a 30-acre woodlot a mile and a half south of New Holland, Pennsylvania to look for neotropical birds returning to the woodlands of eastern North America to nest.  I saw a few species, including common yellow-throat warblers and yellow-rumped warblers.  I saw a striking male indigo bunting and several gray catbirds in patches of multiflora rose on the edge of the waterway and woodland.  And I saw a pair each of permanent resident northern cardinals and blue jays and a pair of wood ducks on the stream.  And I heard a few permanent resident red-bellied woodpeckers calling to each other.  But the two most outstanding and beautiful migrant birds along the stream in that little woodlot were a veery and a northern waterthrush.  Both these species of small birds spend northern winters in the forests of Central and northern South America.
     The veery, which is a kind of thrush, and the waterthrush, which is a type of warbler, were right at home as they looked for invertebrate food along the stream in the woods with trees and shrubbery that were leafing out and turning green.  Both these beautiful birds moved over pebbles in the waterway, muddy shores and moss-covered logs in the water, each bird in its own unique, interesting way, in their quest for food.  The veery moved in short spurts of steps, then stopped to look about for invertebrates.  The waterthrush walked deliberately, its body dipping up and down with most every step. 
     Both these species, though unrelated, nest near water in woodlands in northern North America; farther north than my home in Lancaster County.  And because both species feed on the ground and in the shallows of streams and bogs in the woods, their upper parts are brown to blend into that niche for their protection against predation.  The waterthrush also has streaks on its throat, chest and abdomen to break up its shape as another form of camouflage.
     Probably both those birds will travel to forests farther north to raise young, after they rested a day or so, and regained their weight and strength after their flight north so they can finish their migration.  Many small birds, including these two species, migrate at night.
     Male veeries sing an eerie song, "veer, veer, veer,veer," that spirals downward.  We more often hear veeries than see them in their breeding territories.  Veeries nest on the ground or in a shrub close to it.  They run and stop, run and stop, robin style, (robins are in the thrush family) over the dead-leaf forest floor to catch invertebrates to feed their offspring and themselves.
     Male northern waterthrushes have loud, ringing songs which allow them to be heard above the musical tumbling of waterways in woodlands.  Waterthrushes nest on ledges in stream banks in the woods.  And they patrol little waterways and bogs to catch invertebrates to feed their youngsters and themselves.  Waterthrushes bob and dance as they walk along.  That movement is a kind of camouflage which mimics debris bouncing along the shores of running water.
     I'm almost sure the veery and waterthrush will continue a bit farther north to nest because where I saw them was too small a habitat too far south to interest them.  But they both were neat to see in their natural habitat however small, and however briefly.    

Lilies-of-the-Valley

     Neighbors of ours here in New Holland, Pennsylvania have had a beautifully blooming and spreading patch of lilies-of-the-valley plants every May for many years.  I planted some plants of that species about eight years ago and now that cluster is blooming, and spreading, every year, too.  This plant species forms extensive colonies of itself from its growing underground rhizomes.  Between the neighbors and us we now have a couple of lovely patches of blossoming, white flowers of that plant species every May.  This kind of vegetation is beautiful and interesting to have in any flower bed or short-grass lawn in cities or suburbs.  I like seeing this species pushing, year after year, across flower beds and lawns. 
     Lilies-of-the-valley live for many years and each plant can be up to six inches tall and have two, lance-shaped, broad leaves.  Every May each plant has 12 to 15 white, quarter-inch flowers that are arranged alternately on a single tough stem that extends above the twin leaves.  Every sweet-smelling, bell-like blossom faces down and has six petals.  Those white blooms are made the more lovely when seen against the backdrop of their own lush foliage, particularly during rainy days when the foliage seems to glow from within.
     The perennial lilies-of-the-valley are originally from temperate, forested parts of Eurasia.  They were planted here in North America for their beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers.  And many colonies of them spread from their original plantings on this continent.  Today they are as wild as native plants because they respond to our seasons and are on their own, without human help. 
     This plant, that looks like a woodland wildflower in its colonies, does best in moist, rich soil and partial shade, as do native, woodland wildflowers in eastern North American forest floors.  And this plant is small and simple, like many woodland wildflowers are.
     Here in the Mid-Atlantic States, lilies-of-the-valley plants start emerging from the soil close to the end of April.  The leaves are curled at first to poke through the soil, but unfurl as they grow, turning bare soil into jungles of beautiful, green growth close to the ground.     
     Small, orange-red berries form where each blossom was, making lilies-of-the-valley almost as pretty in fall as in spring.  Each fruit contains a few white or brown seeds.  But everything about this species is poisonous to people.
     Look for lilies-of-the valley blossoms this May before a background of their broad, lush leaves.  They are a lovely species of plant that is similar to woodland wildflowers, but inhabit lawns on this continent.  They are also like native woodland wildflowers in the way they live and form colonies of themselves in partial shade.   

Courtyard Ducks

     For more than 35 years, at least in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, mallard duck females have been hatching ducklings in the walled in courtyards of schools, churches, retirement communities and other buildings.  And that has continued into 2015.  Because of a lack of water and ample food in most of those walled-in courtyards, nervous and upset hen mallards and their cute, little ducklings must be escorted or chased by concerned people from those courtyards, through the hallways of the buildings and into the world of waterways and impoundments outside those walls.  Every year that procedure makes the newspapers as a nature and human interest story.  And it is nice that those people were concerned enough to take the time to release the ducks into a more natural habitat. 
     But, also, I've often wondered why mallard hens have done this year after year, for so many years.  Probably at least one mallard hen, several years ago, laid her clutch of about a dozen eggs in a courtyard where they were safe from ground predators, such as skunks and raccoons, and, probably, aerial predators, too.  That first attempt to hatch ducklings in a courtyard was successful and mallard females from that hatching, when they grew up, were imprinted on that niche for hatching young, and so were their youngsters and their ducklings.  And so after all these years, many mallard hens of several generations that are descended from that first mother mallard, are hatching babies in courtyards throughout Lancaster County and, perhaps, elsewhere because that is what their ancestors did before them.
     Now suppose all mallards that nest outside of courtyards were to become extinct, which is not likely, only mallards that hatched young in courtyards would be left alive to carry on that new tradition.  A successful change in the breeding habit of that kind of duck happened that kept it from becoming completely extinct.  The species would be altered.  And this is one of the ways in which new species are formed.  Another is through geographic isolation where any quirk in the genetic code would be magnified in a species because of a lack of outside genes coming into that gene pool to dilute that quirk.         
     Of course, this is speculation.  But mallards have found another niche, however accidentally, in which to hatch ducklings in greater safety than in natural habitats.  Being adaptable is a key to success.  And it pays not to have "all your eggs in one basket".  At any rate, the story of the nesting courtyard mallards is interesting, and demonstrates the adjustments that some kinds of life make to increase their chances of survival as species.

Unique Sandpipers

     Four kinds of sandpipers are unique in eastern North America.  Most species of sandpipers live in flocks on mud flats and beaches the bulk of their lives, except when hatching and raising chicks for a couple of months on the ground of the treeless Arctic tundra.  All sandpipers feed on invertebrates.  And the females of all species of sandpipers lay four eggs in a clutch, which demonstrates the ancestry they share. 
     But spotted sandpipers, solitary sandpipers, upland sandpipers and American woodcocks, departed from the usual way of sandpiper group life on flats and beaches and adapted to other habitats.  And three of these kinds of sandpipers, as most species in their family of birds, but not woodcocks, spend northern winters in Central and South America. 
     Spotted sandpipers nest along the edges of most every waterway and impoundment throughout the Lower 48, and into much of Canada and Alaska.  Spotties are light-brown above, which camouflages them, and white below, with dark spots all over during their breeding season.  They bob and dance when they walk along the shores of water, which is another form of blending in as a guard against predation.  Their dancing mimics bits of debris bouncing in the wavelets along the shore.
     Because of the tightness of their small, inland habitats, spotties don't gather into flocks.  They move about individually or as isolated pairs.
     Solitary sandpipers are another species of loners, for the most part, again because of their habitat that is restricted in size.  Solitaries are dark gray above with many white spots, good plumage pattern for living in the dark shadows of woods.  Solitaries have a buoyant, butterfly-like flight, rather than the swift, straight-forward flight of most of their relatives in flocks in wide open spaces.  Solitaries' way of flying allows this forest sandpiper to effectively flutter among tightly-growing trees.  The habitats of all species of life shape them.
     Solitaries nest in abandoned thrush, blackbird and jay nests in spruce trees near lakes and rivers in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska.  Hatching youngsters in other birds' cradles in tree tops is a departure from the usual sandpiper habits of hatching young on the ground.  The precocious, fuzzy solitary young must jump from their nurseries soon after hatching to feed on invertebrates on the forest floors.
     Inland sandpipers are a species of dry, tall-grass prairies.  Some of this type of sandpiper moved east to breed when the eastern forests were cleared for farmland.  But inlanders are rare in the east because they will only hatch babies in tall grass habitats, which are also rare in the east.
     Inland sandpipers arrive in North America in April with the intent to nest there.  Males float high in the sky over their nesting territories and utter several haunting whistles that can barely be heard by us on the ground.  Each whistle first ascends the scale of notes, then descends those same notes.  When this type of sandpiper lands on the ground or a fence, he or she raises their wings high, perhaps as a signal of some sort, before tucking them away.  
     American woodcocks are a sandpiper that lives on leafy woodland floors.  Their feathering camouflages them well in that habitat and their long beaks pull earthworms from the soft, moist ground of wooded bottom lands.
     Male woodcocks engage in interesting and entertaining courtship displays every evening from about the middle of February through most of April, weather permitting.  Soon after sunset, each male woodcock flutters out of a damp, bottom land woods and lands on a patch of bare soil in a clearing near the woodland.  There he stands upright with his beak on his chest and "beeps" about once per second for around a minute.  Then he takes off in upward, spiral flight, while his wings twitter rhythmically, until he is a speck in the sky.  There he sings a few notes in each of several series of notes for up to 15 seconds before plunging to Earth to start his display again and again until hunger or receptive females interrupt him. 
     These sandpiper species have traits that are departures from those of the bulk of their relatives.  Those characteristics are what make these sandpipers unique, and interesting.  But these sandpipers must be looked for because with camouflage and cautious habits, they are not easy to find, however common they may be.       
                

Sparrow Day on our Lawn

     From the deck of our house on April 29, 2015, I saw four sparrows of four species on our Lancaster County, Pennsylvania lawn in the suburbs, including at a bird bath close to the house.  I thought they probably were males because they were magnificently beautiful in their own plain ways; handsomely dressed to impress the lady sparrows of their respective species with their health and vigor, all qualities that make them good fathers for the next generation of sparrows.  All those sparrow species, which included song, white-throated, fox and chipping, had brownish backs and wings with darker streaking for camouflage, but each one had smaller, attractive parts of his plumage as well.  Those parts also aid in the identification of each species, as do the songs they sing to establish breeding territories and attract mates. 
     All these common sparrow species feed on weed and grass seeds in winter.  And they all visit bird feeders. But they consume mostly invertebrates during the warmer months and feed those little critters to their young that grow from the ample protein in those invertebrates. 
     Permanent resident song sparrows are gray-brown all over with black streaking on their upper body and lower.  They are the plainest of this grouping of sparrows, and stay well hidden in the bushes they prefer inhabiting.  The males sing cheerful ditties from shrubbery from warm afternoons in February through spring and summer.  Song sparrows are one of the most abundant bird species in North America, partly due to their adapting to living in the ever-spreading suburban areas.  
     White-throated sparrows nest farther north than my home area, but winter here and farther south.  They winter in weedy hedgerows, and in suburbs where feeders full of seeds are present.   White-throats are so-named because each one does have a white throat patch.  And males in spring have sharply contrasting black and white-striped crowns and a bright yellow patch of feathers in front of each eye, all of which makes them quite handsome to lady white-throats, and us. 
     White-throats have a lovely song they sing in spring before they migrate north to nest, as well as on their nesting grounds.  The song begins with a low, short whistle, followed by five higher ones, all on the same pitch.  Each white-throat song is beautiful and inspiring.
     Fox sparrows are the largest sparrow species in eastern North America.  They nest in mixed coniferous/deciduous forests of Canada, but come south for the winter, often living among the shrubbery of suburbs, as well as along hedgerows between fields and on the edges of woodlands.  They particularly like the suburbs because of the coniferous trees on the lawns, which remind them of their nesting niches.
     Fox sparrows have orange-brown tails and rumps and are a reddish-brown all over, including their streaking, which is colored like the fur of red foxes, hence their common name.  They scratch among fallen leaves and dead grasses for seeds and invertebrates.  And their songs, which they sing in the suburbs before migrating north in spring, are loud, clear and inspiring.
     Chipping sparrows winter farther south than my home in Pennsylvania, but they come here, and farther north, to raise young.  They, too, like suburban areas with their numerous conifers of various kinds, particularly arborvitae, because they hatch offspring in petite nurseries in those sheltering trees.
     Chipping sparrows have orange-red crowns, a broad, white stripe above each eye and a black streak through each eye, which makes them, particularly the males, quite handsome.  Males utter long trills that are characteristic of new suburbs with their many young, sheltering evergreen trees that chippers nest in.
     Watch for sparrows in your yard.  They are mostly plain in feathering, but have beauties as well.  And, although they hide among shrubbery and other plants, they can be spotted at times while feeding, or getting water, or raising young in suburban areas, and along hedgerows and woodland edges.