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.