Coniferous Cruising

     Late in fall and through winter, I enjoy the beauties of coniferous trees whenever I'm driving around in the Middle Atlantic States.  As the colored deciduous leaves fall late in autumn, it's like a veil dropped from their trees, better revealing the beautiful green needles of conifers of various kinds, most of which are planted on lawns in this area. 
     There are some wild, native conifers in this area, but never in abundance.  They include white pines and pitch pines on mountain tops, eastern hemlocks in cool, shaded ravines, red junipers in abandoned fields and roadsides, scrub pine in areas of thin, barren soil, and table mountain pines on rocky slopes along the Susquehanna River.
     Most coniferous trees in this region, however, were planted on lawns in suburban areas, city back yards, and on golf courses, parks and other properties.  They were planted for their handsome shapes and attractive, green needles, which are particularly lovely in winter when there is little other green at times in the suburbs and on lawns.  The most commonly planted evergreens planted here in arbitrary order of abundance are Norway spruces, white pines, northern white cedars (arborvitae), hemlocks, yews, Douglas firs, blue spruces and red spruces.
     Whether the conifers are wild or planted, we can experience them in several ways.  We hear wind sighing or singing through their needles, a lovely, melancholy sound.  We can see their many beauties and smell their wonderful, "piney" smells.   
     Norway spruces, originally from Europe, are magnificently shaped, most commonly planted because they don't snap off easily in high winds and they seem resistant to diseases.  Limbs on tall trees sweep down and out gracefully, then up at the tips.  And this is a majestic species at dusk when their dark needles are silhouetted against the sunset and gathering darkness.
     The younger needles of blue spruces, from the American west, have a bluish tinge, adding to the beauty of this type of evergreen.  Blue spruces planted in open areas have needled branches that reach to the ground, creating an beautiful, needled umbrella-like effect.
     White pines are interesting evergreens in several ways.  They are the only pine species that has five needles in a bundle.  Their needles are long, flexible and soft.  And when those needles fall dead and brown to the ground under their trees, they produce soft, fragrant carpets that are so neat to lie on, or in.  Their limbs grow in whorls around their trunks at about two-foot intervals, which is a way to estimate the age of a tree without cutting it down to count rings of growth in the wood.  Unfortunately, white pines break off easily in strong winds.
     Northern white cedars, which are native to northeastern North America, have dense foliage, and, when planted in rows, can develop living fences.  Their needles are flattened and this kind of tree has a lovely shape.  All these traits lend to this plant being commonly planted on lawns.
     Yews, which are from Asia, have deep-green foliage and red "berries", each with a brown nut inside the red, sticky pulp.  When ripe, the nut falls out of the opening on the bottom of the fruit.  The greatest beauty of this tree or shrub is the contrast between the needles and the berries.  And a variety of birds ingest those fruits.
     Red junipers have pyramidal shapes and quarter-inch, pale-blue cones that look like berries.  But with close examination, one can see the faint lines of scales.  These "berries" are also eaten by rodents and small birds. 
     But most coniferous trees have attractive, brown cones that range in length from a half inch on hemlocks to about seven inches on Norway spruces.  Seeds develop in the cones when they are green and alive, but when those seeds are ripe, the cones die, turn a shade of brown and open their many scales to release their seeds into the wind.  Each small, brown seed has a thin wing that allows the seed to be carried off with the wind to a location on the ground away from their parent trees.  If not eaten by small birds and rodents, some of those seeds will sprout into young trees.  The cones eventually fall to the ground, too, where they are as decorative as in the trees.
     Many cones, particularly those on white pines, are often splattered with whitish sap from injuries in twigs and bark.  Those cones also have a stronger fragrance from the sticky sap on them.                     White-footed mice, deer mice, and a variety of small birds, including two kinds of crossbills, pine siskins, American goldfinches, dark-eyed juncos and two species of chickadees eat the seeds of cones.  Some of those birds even hang up-side-down on the cones to get the seeds.  Or those birds consume coniferous seeds from the ground where they fell.  Either, way, these birds add their beauties to those of the cones and the evergreens near them.
     Squirrels and several species of birds find shelter in the needled boughs of conifers both day and night.  Several kinds of owls rest by day in evergreens where they are relatively safe from the harassment of small birds that would heckle them when they find them.  Owls need their rest to be able to hunt efficiently the next night.
     Mourning doves, a small variety of hawks and some kinds of little birds, including juncos, American robins and other species, retire into conifers during winter evenings and stay in them through the night.  The needled, tightly-packed branches block cold winds and shelter those birds  from predators.  
     Yes, I enjoy experiencing coniferous trees, particularly in winter when they are most visible.  And I enjoy the creatures that benefit from those trees, both wild and planted.

Sweet Gums and Goldfinches

     A few days ago, I came upon a planted row of five tall sweet gum trees here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Each tree was loaded with hundreds of brown, bristly seed balls that were hanging decoratively on their twig moorings.  Each of those balls was amply pitted where tiny seeds fell out to the ground.  As I drove by those sweet gums, scores of small birds rose from the ground under the trees and landed on those same trees' twigs.  I stopped to look at those birds with binoculars and saw that most of them were American goldfinches in winter plumage, with a few dark-eyed juncos mixed in.  Sunlight added to the beauties of the leafless trees, seed balls and birds.
     American goldfinches are common in Lancaster County through the year.  But I seldom see so many of them in one place at one time as this gathering of them.  Many of the goldfinches clung up-side-down to the seed balls in the trees as they ate seeds from the many holes in them.  Others of that feathery clan ate sweet gum seeds that fell to the ground.
     Every time a vehicle passed the sweet gums, scores of goldfinches flew up into those trees.  I estimated there were more than a hundred goldfinches among those sweet gums.  A few minutes after each vehicle passed by, many of those birds dropped to the ground to continue feeding on fallen sweet gum seeds.  Goldfinches have an up and down, roller-coaster flight, chirping as they go.  They were up and down among the trees several times during the hour I watched them.
     Though not as striking as male goldfinches in yellow and black, summer breeding plumage, goldfinches in winter are handsome in their winter feathering.  They are basically olive, with a little yellow on their throats and chests and two white bars on each wing.  Males and females, by the way, look petty much alike.
     Some winters, other kinds of sparrows and finches eat the seeds of sweet gums.  One winter, I found several common redpolls, a small, gray bird with a pink cap and throat that breeds on the high Arctic tundra, eating seeds from a sweet gum in our yard.  Redpolls and other finches and grosbeaks from the Far North are irruptive migrants, which means they only come south during some winters, but in large numbers.  Their migrations depend on available seeds and berries in the north.  Pine siskins, which are goldfinch-like, and purple finches are some other irruptive species this far south some winters.              
     Local Carolina chickadees and black-capped chickadees also eat sweet gum seeds in winter.  Those tiny seeds are the right size for those small birds that also cling to the decorative balls to eat their seeds.
     Watch maturing sweet gum trees in winter to see the variety of small birds that eat their seeds at that time.  Those small birds are lovely and interesting to experience.

Chickadees and our Pussy Willow

     While sitting at my writing desk behind a window on the second floor of our house, I am seeing a pair of Carolina chickadees flitting from twig to twig on a tall pussy willow shrub just feet from me.  They are lively, cute, interesting and so close I could almost touch them.  They are five inches long and gray with black caps and bibs.  And they are permanent residents in my neighborhood the year around. 
     Several years ago, I bought a few pussy willow twigs to be spring indoor decor, but put those twigs in a jar of water.  I gradually added soil to the water as the twigs grew leaves above the water and roots below it.  I always wonder how those twigs knew where to grow what.
     When the jar contained mud instead of water and the twigs had several leaves and roots each, I planted those twigs in a sunny spot in our yard and watered them a couple of weeks to get them started.  Over the years, some of the pussy willow limbs grew as tall as our two-story house and  within a couple feet of the house, making it neat to see their dull-reddish buds on naked branches in winter and fuzzy, gray catkins in the beginning of March.  
     Meanwhile, we have had a pair of Carolina chickadees, but not always the same individuals, in our neighborhood for years.  They've nested some years in house wren boxes on our lawn in summer and come to feeders in winter.  And within the last few years, a pair of them have been going in and out of an old, unused dryer vent hole in a side of the house under the pussy willow.  The vent is only a few inches deep because of it being paneled over inside the house.  It is too shallow to be a nesting cavity, but one or both of those chickadees might use it as nightly quarters in winter.  That hole would be warmed by the heat in the house.  But whatever draws those chickadees to that dryer vent, I enjoy their close up, everyday presence.  Those pretty, little birds use pussy willow twigs as a staging area, often within six feet of me, before fluttering to the hole.  They are two of our closest wildlife neighbors.  And the combination of the chickadees and furry catkins is absolutely beautiful.  They are pretty beyond description. 
     Many readers may have wildlife they see daily close to home, too.  Those wild creatures help make life more interesting and bearable.    

Black Ducks and Canada Geese

     As commonplace as they are here in winter, black ducks and Canada geese are my favorite waterfowl in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  They are both hardy and handsome species in winter throughout eastern North America.  They are sturdy in all kinds of weather and conditions.  They congregate and rest on most every pond, lake and creek in Lancaster County, often the same waters at the same time.  Both are dark birds, but liven the impoundments and waterways they assemble on,  and help make winter here more bearable.
     Black ducks are large puddle ducks that are closely related to mallard ducks.  Black ducks  originally nested in eastern forests, probably the reason they are so dark, to blend into their shady surroundings in swamps.  They do have a bit of color with their dark plumage, however.  They have white under their wings and purple speculums on their wings, both of which are visible when they fly.  And they have orange feet like mallards.   
     Mallards live throughout the world, in more open habitats than the blacks do.  When the forests of eastern North America were leveled for farmland, mallards moved into that open country where they mixed with the local black ducks that were beginning to adapt to a more open habitat.  But black ducks are still secretive and wary, often swimming under the branches of trees hanging over the water along shorelines.
     This species of duck mostly raises young in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, and winters in salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of the United States, where it always has.  Recently, however, black ducks are also wintering on impoundments and waterways in inland farmland where they find shelter and food.  Black ducks, like mallards, feed mostly on an abundance of waste corn kernels in harvested corn fields through winter.
     Black ducks really do look black from a distance, or when on ice or snow, or in the air.  And they look robust, which they are, ready for any kind of harsh weather.  Like all waterfowl, black ducks have a thick layer of down under larger outer, water-proof feathers that shed wind and water. 
     Black ducks in winter form small flocks of their own, with a score or more individuals in each group.  But singles or a pair or two of them will be in gatherings of mallards here in winter.  When the blacks and mallards are together, one can see that the blacks are a bit bigger and more rugged looking than their relatives.  These two ducks species are so closely related that they quack much the same, have mostly the same habits and sometimes interbreed.         
     Wintering Canada geese form large, noisy flocks of themselves on most every impoundment and waterway in Lancaster County.  Each stately goose has gray-brown body feathering with a black neck and head.  And there is a white chin strap on each cheek.
     Hordes of Canadas rest, socialize and preen their feathers on larger bodies of water.  But when hungry, flock after flock of them, one after another in turn, run as a body of individual geese across the water or ice while flapping their wings to take off, group after group, into the wind for better lift, all the geese honking excitedly, as if encouraging each other to fly swiftly to harvested corn fields to ingest waste corn kernels on the ground, or to rye fields to pluck shoots of winter rye.  They really are an amazing sight to see taking flight from water or ice.  When they reach the decided upon field, their masses circle it several times as they watch for any kind of danger.  Finally a group starts floating down into the wind on great wings spread like parachutes to the field.  The other flocks follow as if on an aerial highway to the ground, all of them honking loudly and incessantly.  And when full, the geese run  over the field into the wind and fly back to their impoundment to rest and digest.  But I will stress here that the Canadas don't ruin rye crops.  They pluck the blades, but leave the roots in the ground to grow new shoots.
     Yes, wintering black ducks and Canada geese are truly great additions to bird populations in Lancaster County.  They are interesting to experience.       
    

Diurnal Farmland Raptors in Fall and Winter

     Bald eagles and a variety of hawks can be seen at least occasionally in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland in fall and winter.  They can be spotted either by driving on country roads through cropland or by walking on those same roads.  But either way, they make farmland more interesting and exciting.
     The regal ospreys, also known as fish hawks, migrate through local farmland during September and October on their way farther south for the winter.  They don't stay here in winter because their diet is larger fish that will be locked away when the built impoundments in this area freeze over.
     Bald eagles also migrate through here in autumn, but some of those majestic birds winter here as well because they scavenge dead chickens, turkeys and other farm animals they find lying on snow or frozen ground in the fields.  We see a few mixed gatherings of bald eagles, American crows, turkey vultures, black vultures and red-tailed hawks resting in trees near the dead farm animals, or on he ground actively feeding on them.  It's intriguing to see those collections of large, scavenging birds in this overly-civilized county, particularly the stately eagles
     Northern harriers also migrate through this area in fall, but a few of them stay among the fields here all winter, even settling in tall-grass fields for the night.  Harriers are beautiful hawks of marshes, prairies and other open habitats in much of North America.  Because there were few perches in their ancestral habitats, they developed a hunting technique of flying slowly, back and forth, low to the ground while watching and listening for mice in the tall vegetation.  When prey is spotted, these hawks suddenly wheel and drop to seize the victims in their sharp claws.
     Three kinds of falcons migrate through this area, and winter here to a lesser extent.  They are the colorful American kestrels, the dashing merlins and the stately peregrines.  As a species, kestrels are here the year around.  Some pairs of them raise young here, others migrate through in spring and autumn and still other spend the winter here.  In fall they feed mostly on grasshoppers and other large insects.  In winter, however, they are obliged to snare field mice.  In winter we most often see kestrels perched on roadside wires while watching for prey.
     Merlins hatch young in Canada and Alaska for the most part, but migrate south for the winter, mostly along the open habitat of ocean shorelines.  But merlins discovered farmland in recent years and are passing through and wintering on that human-made habitat more often. 
     Merlins mainly catch and eat small birds.  It's exciting to watch these pigeon-sized birds chasing fleeing, zig-zagging horned larks, sparrows and other types of small birds low over the fields.
     Merlins, and all falcons, have long, swept-back, powerful wings that developed in open country for swift flight.  They had to evolve strong wings and fast flight to be able to catch birds in the wide open spaces they prefer.            
     The magnificent, powerful peregrines look like larger editions of merlins.  Peregrines, too, catch birds, but, usually, larger ones than merlins can't handle.  Peregrines climb high in the sky and watch for birds flying below.  When they spot likely victims, they fold their wings and dive as much as 180 miles per hour toward the prey and strike it with their padded chests, which stuns or outright kills the victims.  After the mid-air impacts, the peregrines swoop up, around and down, grab their prey in mid-air and fly to a perch to ingest them.  Watching a peregrine stoop at that speed and strike a bird in mid-air is exciting.
     The stately Cooper's hawks are forest birds that recently adapted to farmland.  Coop's are swift fliers, too, and mostly take birds.  They often simply perch in a tree, then ambush unsuspecting prey.
     Red-tailed hawks are the most common and familiar hawks in local cropland during winter.  They seem to be everywhere. 
     Red-tails have two hunting techniques, perching in a lone tree in a field or along a country road and looking for prey or soaring on high while watching the ground for victims, mostly field mice and brown rats.  They also catch a lot of gray squirrels in hedgerows between fields. 
     Red-tails as a species live in this area the year around.  Some of them nest here, others migrate through, and still others nested farther north, but winter here.     
     Rough-legged hawks are soaring hawks like red-tails.  Rough-legs raise young on cliffs in the high Arctic tundra, but drift south for the winter, usually not arriving in this area until November.  These beautiful hawks have another hunting technique of hovering in mid-air, into the wind, while watching the ground for mice and small birds. 
     Rough-legs were once common in Lancaster County cropland during winter.  But now I don't see them nearly as much as I used to.  It seemed that the more common red-tailed hawks became, the less rough-legs I would see.  My theory is the heavier, stronger red-tails may have driven the rough-legs out of the farmland so the red-tails would have more food for themselves. 
     Eagles and hawks are fascinating birds, particularly in winter when one can see them better because of less tree foliage and other cover to hide in.  Watch for these delightful birds in your neighborhood.

Winter Only Owls

     Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has four handsome, resident owls- great horned screech, barred and barn.  Those kinds of owls live here the year around: They don't migrate.  But Lancaster County also is host to four other attractive species of owls during the winter only- long eared, saw-whet, short-eared and snowy.  The first two species roost each winter day in rows and patches of coniferous trees in older suburban areas and hunt mice in nearby fields at night.  The latter two kinds of owls roost by day in fields and hunt mice in those same fields, mostly at night.  All these owls nest farther north and come to this area, and through much of the United States, for the winter only.  They migrate south where mice and other prey is more accessible because of milder winters. 
     All these species blend into their surroundings, which keeps them from being heckled by crows, jays and other types of birds during the day when the owls need to get rest between hunting forays at night.  Like all owls, they have soft wing feathers that allow them to have silent flight.  Silent flight allows them to swoop down on their victims undetected, increasing their chances of catching prey.  And like all owls, these owls swallow their prey whole.  Their stomachs digest the soft parts, but wrap the fur and feathers around the bones, creating pellets that are regurgitated through their beaks when the owls are on their daytime roosts. 
     Long-ears have tall feather tufts on their heads, which gives them their name.  Those tufts help with camouflage in the trees and make the long-ears look bigger than they are.  A medium-sized owl, they are a foot and a half tall.
     Long-eared owls spend winter days hidden away in taller conifers and hunt mice at night.  Sometimes, several of them perch together in taller conifers.  Over the years, I have seen a few groups of them roosting quietly and solemnly in groves of evergreens.  Most gatherings stayed motionless in the trees, relying on camouflage for safety.
     Long-eared owls raise young in stick nurseries made by crows, hawks or herons in tall, protective coniferous trees.   They nest across Canada, the western United States, the northern part of the Middle Atlantic States, New England and in Eurasia.         
     Northern saw-whet owls are the smallest owls in eastern North America, being only seven inches long.  They nest in cavities created by yellow-shafted flickers, which is a kind of woodpecker and pileated woodpeckers in deciduous trees in mixed deciduous/coniferous forests in northern North America and the Rocky Mountains.  They also hatch young in nest boxes erected especially for them.       Male saw-whets start their breeding cycle around the end of January when they call "too,too, too, too in seemingly endless series of notes.  That calling proceeds every night into early May.
     Saw-whets winter through much of the United States, including in older suburbs.  They perch by day in protective evergreen trees, particularly arborvitae, also known as northern white cedars.  
     Saw-whets mostly consume deer mice and field mice the year around.  And certain, larger hawks and owls prey on the diminutive saw-whets.
     Short-eared owls have short feather tufts that are hard to see on their heads.  This type of owl lives and rears offspring in open habitats, including marshes, prairies, tall-grass fields and so on across Canada and Alaska, and in the northwestern United States.  They winter in the United States.  And populations of them live and breed in Eurasia and Argentina.
     Short-ears often hunt mice before dusk and can be spotted, along with their hawk counterpart, the northern harrier, fluttering buoyantly and moth-like low over open habitats in search of mice.  When victims are spotted, short-ears abruptly drop into the vegetation to seize them in their sharp talons.
     The stately snowy owls only get to Lancaster County one winter in every four or five, as a result of lemming population crashes on the high tundra where this owl species nests.  And then we usually only see one or two snowies here in a winter, which still thrills birders and non-birders alike.  But during the winter of 2013-2014, we saw several snowy owls hunched on Lancaster County's largest fields that must have reminded those regal birds of the tundra where they hatched.  Here they caught and ate mice, birds and other creatures they could subdue.  I saw one snowy on top of a dead snow goose it was ingesting.  I don't know if the owl killed the goose itself, (it certainly could have), or was scavenging that large waterfowl.                
     The most interesting thing about snowy owls is their reproductive cycle.  When lots of lemmings, which is a kind of rodent, overrun the tundra, male snowies are well fed and offer their mates gifts of lemmings to eat.  That giving seals the bond between male and female to form a pair and builds up her energy reserves, resulting in her laying several eggs in a clutch because there are plenty of lemmings to feed lots of owlets.  But if lemmings are scarce, the male eats every critter he catches, gives his mate no gifts and she lays no eggs that year.  It is a built in birth control.  But as the lemming populations build up so does that of snowy owls.  And when the lemming population crashes, many snowy owls, particularly the young of the year, drift south for the winter in hopes of finding abundant food.
     This winter, or succeeding ones, watch for these migrant owls.  They certainly make a winter more exciting.

Lancaster County's Resident Owls

     Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is home to four kinds of resident owls- great horned, screech, barred and barn.  All these owls are nighttime hunters, at least for the most part.  All of them catch and eat small rodents and other critters.  They all have adapted to human-made structures and activities in suburban areas and farmland, much to their benefit.  And all owls are camouflaged, which makes them nearly invisible when they are still.  By being out of sight, crows, jays and other kinds of birds can't see them to heckle them during the day when the owls get rested for the next night's hunting. The owls won't get much rest if they are harrassed by other types of birds all day.
     Great horned and screech owls are "eared".  Which means that each individual of those species has two feather tufts on its head, perhaps to help with blending into its surroundings, and intimidating enemies and rivals for territories and mates.    
     Horned owls are the biggest of this county's resident owls.  They stand about two feet tall and are fierce hunters, catching mice, rats, squirrels, skunks, young house cats and other prey.  They live and nest in local woods, and older suburbs with their many tall trees, particularly coniferous ones.
     Pairs of horned owls begin to court toward the end of November when we hear their loud hooting, "hoo,hoo,hoo-hooooooo, hooooooo", around sunset and into the gathering dusk.  They court all through December, hooting every dawn and dusk.  In January they repair stick nests they usurped from hawks, crows or herons and late that month each female owl lays one to three eggs, at intervals of a few days, in her rebuilt nursery.  The chicks hatch about a month later, at intervals of a few days.
     Female horned owls brood the eggs and small babies in the cold of winter and early spring, while their mates hunt for the whole family.  Later, when the young are bigger, feathered and can defend themselves, female horned owls join their mates in catching food for their growing youngsters.
     Horned owl chicks leave their stick cradles about the middle of April and are on their own by the end of May.  By that time, there are many young, naive prey animals about that the young owls will have a relatively easier time of catching.  Horned owls start their nesting cycle around the end of November so their young will have plenty of prey animals in June and through the summer and fall, before the hardships of the next winter start.    
     Screech owls stand about a foot tall and have two color phases, red and gray.  Screechers live and nest in tree cavities and bird boxes erected especially for them.  This type of owl resides in woods, suburbs, and cropland with scattered trees, such as along country roads and between fields. 
     In winter, the best way to see these small owls is to look for hollows in deciduous trees in woods.  On sunny, winter days particularly, the owls will be sleeping, camouflaged, in the entrance to catch the warm rays of the sun.
     Screech owls begin courting early in March when the birds of each pair communicate with each other each evening.  Their calls are a long, rolling whistle, either on one note or a series of descending notes.  The young hatch around the middle of April, leave their tree cavity nurseries about the end of May and are on their own by the middle of June.  In July, mostly around sunset, young screech owls  utter descending whistles to establish territories.
     Screech owls mostly consume mice and larger insects in woods and fields during the warmer months.  But in winter, they are limited to mice and small birds.
     Barred owls seem to limit themselves to living in woods, and older suburbs with large, deciduous trees, bordering larger bodies of water such as creeks and lakes.  They are not common here in Lancaster County.
     Barred owls are noted for their many scary sounds, including eight-hooting, "hoo, hoo- hoo, hooooo, hoo, hoo- hoo, hooooo-all".  Barred owls hatch one to three young in larger tree hollows, particularly in big sycamore and silver maple trees, early in spring.  This species mostly ingests mice, small birds, frogs, snakes and other small creatures they find in woodlands.  
     Barn owls in Lancaster County are mostly limited to farmland where they hunt meadow mice at night.  They are the farmers' friends.  But because of constant cultivation of cropland, mice are not everywhere in that human-made habitat.  Therefore, barn owls are not common in this county.   
     Having originally nested in tree hollows, today barn owls still do, and in silos, barns and nest boxes erected especially for them.  But many trees with cavities are removed for firewood or simply because they are "unsightly" in some peoples' eyes.  And barn owls don't have access to every silo or barn, causing their reproduction to be limited here. 
     But barn owls inhabit every continent on the globe, except Antarctica.  So they are not in peril as a species. 
     Each female barn owls lays three to five eggs in a clutch.  Both parents feed their young a diet of mice mostly.
     Though nocturnal and hard to experience by sight, owls are often first noticed by their exciting hooting.  But they sound more fore-boding than they are.  However, they truly are a bit of the wild in human-made habitats.  They are intriguing to experience.       

Stray Geese

     Descended from geese introduced here as breeding birds, Canada geese, as a species, are in southeastern Pennsylvania by the thousands the year around.  And every winter, and especially in February and March, tens of thousands of restless snow geese come into this area looking for corn kernels in harvested fields and the green shoots of winter rye to eat, just as the Canadas do.  But five other kinds of geese are in this area rarely and in limited numbers in winter.  These stray geese usually join flocks of Canada geese and snow geese on resting impoundments and in feeding fields to eat a variety of vegetation, adding more interest to those great gatherings of geese during winter.  Look in a field guide to North American birds to see these kinds of geese.
     Cackling geese are Canada geese look-alikes, except cacklers are half the size of Canada geese and have short necks and small heads and beaks.  Closely related to Canada geese, cackling geese nest along the Arctic Ocean in western Canada, which is farther north and west in Canada than where Canada geese raise young.  Cacklers spend winters in several of the Central states, but a few get east in winter.
     Atlantic brant is in the same family of geese as Canada geese, Branta, but brant are hardly larger than mallard ducks.  Brant rear goslings high in the Arctic tundra and winter along both coasts of the United States.  Black brant winter on the Pacific Coast, while Atlantic brant winter on the east coast.  Both species mostly ate aquatic vegetation until disease killed much of it.  Now brant also feed on winter rye shoots and other vegetation on land. 
     The feathering of brant bodies is much the same as that on Canada geese.  But brant necks and heads are totally dark, except a small white mark on each side of the neck that identifies them.
     Barnacle geese are in the Branta family, too.  And  these small geese are closely related to the diminutive cackling geese.  This type of goose hatches goslings high on rocky cliffs on Arctic islands of the North Atlantic Ocean to avoid the inroads of Arctic foxes and polar bears.  To get to feeding grounds, the young geese must leap off the cliffs and bounce down on rocks to the bottom.  Some are killed or injured by the impacts and are scavenged by Arctic foxes and polar bears.
     Barnacle geese have light-gray feathering on their bodies, dark necks and much white on their heads.  But they do resemble cackling geese to a degree.
     Greater white-fronted geese are in the Anser family.  This species rears offspring on the tundra along the Arctic Ocean in Alaska and western Canada.  And they winter along the Pacific Coast and in Mexico.  This species is also called "speckle-belly" because of the dark patches and speckles on the feathering of their underparts.
     Belonging to the goose family Chen, Ross's geese are tiny, white geese with black wing tips.  They look like their close relatives, the snow geese, but are much smaller.  Just like snow geese, Ross's geese have two color phases, white and dark.  The white phase birds are white all over, except black wing tips.  The dark phase are called blue geese, but they really are gray with white necks and heads, and black wing tips.   
     Ross's geese breed in a few places on the tundra, especially on the western shore of Hudson Bay.  They winter mostly in Central California and other parts of the southwestern United States, but a few make it east every winter.
     Look for these stray geese in hordes of Canada geese and snow geese in winter here in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere.  They are not always east to spot with so many birds.  But they add a bit of spice to winter days when found.
         
    

Ring-necks and Buffleheads

     Ring-necked ducks and bufflehead ducks regularly winter in small flocks and in fair numbers on larger waterways and impoundments, as long as their water stays ice-free, here in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as across much of the Lower 48 States.  And larger numbers of both species migrate north and west through here during March, and when coming south during November.
     The drakes of both these species of small ducks are attractive, helping beautify the waters they winter on.  Ring-neck drakes are dark on top, including their heads that have a purple sheen in the sunlight.  They have dark chests, but light-gray flanks with a vertical white stripe between chest and the flank on each side.  And they have a small tuft of feathers on top of the head.
     Bufflehead drakes have dark backs, white flanks and green heads with white in the middle of their heads.  They appear black and white striped on the wings and back when they fly.
     Hens of both species are plain in feathering, which allows them to blend in to their surroundings.  Camouflage is valuable to hen ducks, and many other kinds of birds.  It keeps them alive longer to incubate eggs and raise youngsters.  Ring-neck hens are brown all over, with a bit of white feathering at the base of the bill.  The beaks of both genders of ring-necks are light-blue, with black tips and a white ring behind that tip.  Female buffleheads are gray-brown with a white patch on each cheek. 
     Ring-necked ducks are bay ducks related to two kinds of scaups, red-headed ducks and canvasback ducks.  While scaups, red-heads and cans are birds of bigger waters in winter, such as brackish bays and salty inlets off the ocean, ring-neck ducks are more of an inland species of fresh waters.  By using a different habitat, ring-necks don't compete much with their relatives for wintering space and food.
     Ring-necks hatch young on the marshy borders of beaver ponds and other fresh water ponds in woods across Canada.  Migrating ring-necks put down on ponds and lakes, natural and human-made, when on migration either going north or south.  This species regularly winters across the southern half of the United States and much of Mexico.
     While their ducklings eat a lot of invertebrates to get protein for growth, adult ring-necks are mostly vegetarians, consuming seeds and aquatic plants, with some insects and snails.  They dive under water from the surface and swim with their webbed feet to the bottoms of impoundments to dredge up their food with their shovel-like beaks.
     Bufflehead females hatch ducklings in tree hollows, created by a kind of woodpecker called yellow-shafted flickers, plus pileated woodpeckers, by ponds and wetlands in forests across Canada and Alaska.  Buffleheads winter on rivers, ponds and lakes in the southern two-thirds of the United States, where they are associates of American goldeneye ducks and common merganser ducks.
     Buffleheads dive under water from the surface and swim with their webbed feet to get food on the bottom of larger waterways, and impoundments of most sizes.  They mostly ingest aquatic insect larvae, snails and other kinds of invertebrates, plus small fish and seeds from plants.  Since buffleheads mostly eat small animal life, they don't compete much with ring-necked ducks for food.
     Ring-necked ducks and bufflehead ducks are common in southeastern Pennsylvania during winter and early spring when they pass through here on migration.  They are attractive additions to ponds and larger waterways and impoundments during that bleakest of seasons, as long as the water doesn't freeze, effectively locking away their food supplies.     
     

Conserving Nature's Habitats

A habitat is a home where species of life live.
Suburban habitats take much room, but they can be wildlife habitats.
One of my best nature trips this past summer was a lawn in Charlotte, North Carolina.
We see lots of life on our lawn here in Pennsylvania.
Flower gardens, particularly of native plants like asters and goldenrod, provide nectar to butterflies, bees and other kinds of insects.
Berries on shrubs and trees feed rodents and small birds.

The major degradation of habitats started with the industrial revolution during the 1750's.
People consume way too many resources, especially in the United States, China and India.
And there is too much waste: We need to reduce, reuse and recycle paper, plastic, glass etc.
Too much consumption does not make us happier, and it could kill us and other forms of life.
We need to reduce our use of everything, including fossil fuels.  Climate change may be accelerated by the greenhouse affect from carbon dioxide and air pollutants.
We should not use agrofuels such as trees, corn, etc.  We should rely on solar, wind and geothermal energy.
Habitats are destroyed by pollution, monoculture, deforestration, herbicides, pesticides and so on.
Habitat destruction also destroys wild plant and animal life.
But there are causes for hope.
Here in New Holland, Pa. minnows, frogs, ducks and other aquatic animals are continuing to live
in Mill Creek downstream from where treated sewage and industrial waste are released into that
creek.
Rye and white radishes are planted as a winter cover crop to contain soil, and enrich it by putting nitrogen into the soil.
Stream bank fencing keeps pollutants out of waterways and provides good wildlife habitats.
Bald eagles, ospreys and peregrine falcons have made great comebacks in the United States because of the law and the ban on using DDT, and the birds' adapting.
Game animals are managed for sustained hunting.  And game lands also harbor non-game species of plants and wildlife, free from housing developments.
Many people are using solar, wind and geothermal energy.
What can the avergae person do?  Plenty.  Give or sell land to a conservancy that will preserve that land in a natural state.
Give money to game commissions to buy land for hunting, and non-game species of life.
Donate money to other organizations that preserve land.  The Wetlands Institute near Stone Harbor, New Jersey preserves many acres of salt marshes and salt channels.
Support land and wildlife protection acts.
Create or sign petitions that preserve natural areas.
But environmentally safe products.  Use clean energy sources.
Write letters to congresspeople asking for their help in protecting natural habitats.
Allow children to be aware of nature.
Only run dish washers and wash machines when they are full.
Take shorter showers.  Don't water lawns. Sweep decks and porches; no water. 
Use biodegradible products.  Turn off lights when not in use.  Don't use plastic bags.  Drive less.  Heat the home less.  Don't build on floodplains- let them be wildlife refuges.
Vote for congresspeople or presidents or govenors that have good records on preserving natural resources.
We must have more respect for other kinds of like, then we are more likely to use, but not abuse.
We must live more in harmony and balance with nature, to use but not abuse.
We must manage land more wisely, protecting habitats as well to preserve life's diversity.
Oceans, beaches and salt marshes need to be preserved for our food and recreation, and provide homes for certain wild plants and animals.
Rivers, lakes and wells need to be protected for our water use and for wildlife diversity.
Forests, prairies and deserts need to be preserved for their renewable resources for us, and to maintain their diversities of wild plants and animals. 
But habitat loss equals a loss of wild plant and animal diversity.
And all of the above will be for nothing if we don't soon reverse human population growth.  We need to reduce human numbers to manage the Earth's resources for all life.   

Webbed Bandits

      Many times I have seen these plump, little ducks in action as feathered bandits on ponds and marshes in the Middle Atlantic States in winter and early spring.  They are a species of puddle ducks called American wigeons.
     American wigeons form large flocks in winter, including here in the Middle Atlantic States, when they get food in several ways which lends to their success as a species.  They tip-up in shallow water to shovel up aquatic vegetation as all dabbler ducks, their relatives, do.  But they also feed on short grass on lawns and the green shoots of winter rye in fields with flocks of Canada geese.  And they eat waste grain on the ground in harvested fields with the Canadas and dabbling ducks.   
     But that's not all wigeons' congregations consume through winter.  These cute, little ducks are also robber ducks.  They join gatherings of American coots and certain species of diving ducks, all of which ingest water plants.  The coots, ring-necked ducks, lesser scaup ducks and other kinds of ducks on inland ponds and marsh shallows dive under water and swim to the bottom to pull up aquatic vegetation.  They bring those plants to the surface to swallow them, but wigeon individuals zip through the water's surface to those diving birds and grab some of those plants before the divers can swallow them.  The divers don't seem perturbed by the robbery, and only keep diving to the bottom to get aquatic vegetation to eat until they are filled and rest on the water's surface.
     American wigeons are only in the Mid-Atlantic States in winter, and early spring when they migrate through here to their nesting areas.  Wigeons hatch ducklings in marshes in the western half of Canada and all of Alaska.  And they winter among ponds and fields in the western half of the United States and all of Mexico, and along the Atlantic sea coast from Rhode Island south to Florida and the Caribbean.  Thousand Acre Marsh and Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge in Delaware are two marsh areas where wigeons often winter in good numbers, at least until the fresh water freezes.
     American wigeons are pretty in a plain way.  Drake wigeons are mostly light-brown with a black rear, a white crown and a broad, green stripe over each eye and back to the neck, which seems to be a mask appropriate for a robber.  Hens are brown all over, which allows them to blend into their habitats as they set on eggs and raise ducklings.
     American wigeons are lovely little ducks that have several strategies for survival.  They became bandits simply to get food, though we may deem them unfair to diving birds who work to get that bottom vegetation.  But there are other unfair practices in this world.    
      

Nature is Changing

     Nature is constantly changing, which is good.  Life must never be stagnant.  Stagnation is equivalent to extinction. 
     Many years ago when I was a young adult in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I thought the only nearby place to see Canada geese, great blue herons and bald eagles was along the Chesapeake Bay.  I knew those species were along the Chesapeake, particularly in winter, and I wasn't seeing them here, not even in winter.  Back in the 1950's I thrilled to the sight of a few flocks of migrating Canada geese that nested in Canada honking excitedly high in a clear sky on a mid-October day as they went south to the bay.  But I saw no great blues or eagles at all. 
     Today Canada geese, great blue herons and bald eagles, all of them species of large, magnificent birds, are common in Lancaster County where I still live.  Breeding pairs of Canadas were introduced to this area in the 1960's to satisfy goose hunters.  The adaptable Canadas did so well nesting in this area that now thousands of them live here the year around.  Most every human-made impoundment and slow-moving, larger waterway has its share of Canada geese.
     Flocks of local and stately Canada geese rest on larger bodies of water here through winter, but feed on waste corn kernals, grass and the green shoots of winter rye in fields.  Late in February, mated pairs of them begin their nesting cycle, with goslings hatching by mid to late April along farm ponds, creeks retention basins and other places of water and grass.
     Meanwhile, elegant great blue herons have increased in numbers for a variety of reasons.  They are protected by law, and they have adapted to catching fish and other aquatic critters in human-made ponds, lakes and back yard goldfish ponds, as well as along natural brooks, streams, creeks and rivers.  There are even a couple of great blue heron nesting colonies in this county.  They seem not to be afraid of civilization as long as they are not directly harassed by people and there is plenty of fish for them to dine on.       
     And in the meantime, the majestic bald eagles have been protected by law and the use of DDT was banned in the United States in the early 1970's.  Meanwhile, bald eagle eggs were taken from stick nests in Canada during the 1980's and the small young raised in nests on towers on islands in the Susquehanna River in southeastern Pennsylvania.  All that increased the numbers of bald eagles until they entered Lancaster County via the Susquehanna River as pairs of adults looking for places to nest in the wooded hills bordering that river on both sides. 
     Today, several pairs of balds hatch young along the lower Susquehanna every spring and a few pairs rear offspring inland around impoundments and creeks in farmland.  Bald eagles adapted to farmland by scavenging dead chickens and other farm animals in winter when those carcasses could not be buried because of snow and frozen ground.        
     Lancaster County today has abundant Canada geese, great blue herons and bald eagles because of human protection and introduction, and the birds' adapting to changing conditions.  Adapting is a key to success.

Farmland Falcons

     Happily for me, it happened again on Friday, November 13, 2015.  I was driving home through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland from errands when I saw a hawk swiftly sweep up to a roadside pole and land on the flat top of it.  At first I thought the bird was another American kestrel, which are regularly seen in this area.  But, I thought, I should stop and check that bird with my binoculars.  It was a merlin, one of a few kinds of falcons that regularly migrate through and winter in Lancaster County farmland.  The other two types of falcons, locally, are American kestrels and peregrine falcons.  These three species of wild, racy falcons are exciting to experience in this county's cultivated and civilized cropland.   
     Falcons are a  branch of hawkdom that fly swiftly on pointed, swept-back wings in open country where their fast flight is necessary to overtake and kill prey animals.  The wing shape of these related, but different sized, hawks and their resulting powerful, speedy flight developed in open spaces where there are no objects to impede their style of flying.
     American kestrels are the smallest and most colorful of these falcons and are in Lancaster County, as a species, the year around.  They nest in tree hollows in farmland, and in barns and nesting boxes erected especially for them and screech owls, their nighttime counterpart and nesting cavity competitor.  Kestrels feed mostly on mice and larger insects in the warmer months and mostly on mice the rest of the year.  Kestrels are most likely seen by us people hovering into the wind or perched on roadside wires as they watch the tall, roadside vegetation for mice and grasshoppers.
     I see the majestic and dashing peregrines fairly regularly in Lancaster County cropland, in fall when they migrate south and once in a while in other seasons.  A pair of peregrines have been raising young the last few summers under a bridge over the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County.  And one or two peregrines have been living now and again in Lancaster City, though there is, as yet, no report of peregrines nesting there, though pairs of peregrines do nest on buildings and under bridges over rivers in nearby cities, including Harrisburg, Wilmington, Philadelphia, Allentown and others. 
     Peregrines, too, perch on the flat tops of roadside poles in the country to watch the surrounding farmland for pigeons, doves, starlings and other kinds of birds to eat.  And just this past summer, I had the good fortune of seeing a peregrine eating a pigeon on top of a pole.  And in October a few years ago, I saw a peregrine chasing a half dozen migrant golden plovers across a bare ground field.
     But, I guess, merlins are my favorite falcons.  They certainly thrill me more than the other falcons. They are about the size of a pigeon and exciting to see in fast flight while swiftly chasing horned larks and other small birds low over local fields.  They feed on their catches on the ground devoid of tall vegetation or on top of a roadside pole. 
     Merlins, too, represent a bit of the wild quite well.  Although most merlins here are migrants, a few of them winter here.  I've seen merlins perched on poles and trees in mid-winter, locally.  And while they are on those perches, they are constantly watching for small bird and mouse victims.
     Peregrines and merlins are fairly recent migrants through inland Lancaster County.  In the past, they mostly migrated along the shores of the oceans.  But they discovered the wide open spaces of cropland, loaded with birds to catch and eat.  That vast farmland is similar to shoreline marshes, mud flats and beaches and these falcons readily adapted to them.               
     Watch for the thrilling kestrels, merlins and peregrines in vastly open cropland.  They are adapted to that human-made habitat where they catch mice and a variety of birds.

Two Native Mice

     Two species of mice native to the Middle Atlantic States, and throughout much of North America, are white-footed mice, which are nearly identical to deer mice, and meadow voles.  Both these kinds of mice are handsome, clean, active the year around and mostly nocturnal.  Their brown fur blends them into their surroundings as a protection against being seen by predators.  And both species make nests, store food for winter use and are preyed on by many kinds of larger animals.
     White-footed mice really are beautiful, delightful little creatures that live in forests, wood lots and older suburban areas with their many trees.  But they seldom enter homes, preferring, instead, to live in natural surroundings, however hazardous to them.  They are warm-brown on top and white below with white feet.  They have large ears and big, black eyes that protrude appealingly from their faces.
     White-foots are solitary little critters, and territorial.  Each mouse has a one-acre home range in a wooded habitat where it lives and gets its food.  Each mouse builds a few protective nests in wooded areas, including in hollows in trees and tree stumps, under fallen logs, in log piles and brush piles, underground and, because they can climb, in old squirrel and bird nests.  They build a roof of fine plant material on a bird nursery and chew a small entrance in the side of it.  These mice are snug and warm in the homes they create and females give birth in them.
     Each female white-foot gives birth to three or four litters a year with two to eight young in each one, depending on the age and health of the mother.  They babies are born blind, helpless and naked, which is good because it keeps them from wandering out of the nest and into the dangerous world too soon.  But the youngsters soon mature and leave their nursery. 
     White-foots gather seeds, nuts, fungi and other foods for winter use.  They store it in their nests and in nearby, hidden caches.
     White-footed mice have many enemies through the year.  They are preyed on by foxes, hawks, owls, weasels, mink, certain kinds of snakes and other kinds of predatory animals.  The average life span of a mouse in the wild is about a year.
     Meadow voles are a larger, chunkier mouse than the white-foots.  And these voles live in grassy meadows, roadsides and abandoned fields, places where they don't compete with white-foots for space and food.  Voles live mostly in burrows along country roads in cropland that is constantly cultivated.  Roadside burrows are the only places among cultivated fields where they can live without being plowed under and, perhaps, killed by farm equipment.
     These voles are brown all over and have small eyes and tails.  They live in cozy, chewed-grass nests in underground burrows, or under hay bales, boards or tussocks of tall grass.  In winter they make nests on top of the ground under a covering of snow.  When the snow melts away, one can see vole homes and the corridors chewed by the mice through the grass, a network of runways that were under the snow and connected those mouse homes to feeding areas.                 
     Female meadow voles produce several litters of young a year.  But they don't have litters in mid-winter.  They make nests of finely-chewed grass in underground burrows where they deliver four to six naked, blind babies per litter.  Obviously, many voles a year are produced and there could be as many as 30 voles in an acre of abundant food and cover.  That makes ample food for foxes, hawks, owls, coyotes, house cats and a host of other predatory animals.  Any kind of rodent can overrun its habitat and quickly run out of food if predators didn't catch and eat most of them.  Those predators serve a valuable function in controlling rodent, including mouse, numbers.  
     Meadow voles eat grasses, sedges, hay, seeds, roots, bulbs and tender, young bark.  They store some seeds, roots and bulbs in or near their grassy homes for winter use.
     Interestingly, some queen bumble bees start colonies of their offspring in protective underground vole homes of chewed grass.  There they store honey and pollen to feed the first larval bees until they become adult female workers that carry on the work of the colony, including feeding successive larvae, while each queen only lays eggs.   
     White-footed mice and meadow voles are attractive little creatures that have a big impact on their respective habitats.  They feed a lot of larger animals, but these mice are interesting in themselves. 

Some Raptor Counterparts

     Raptors are hawks, eagles and owls; all birds of prey.  Though hawks and eagles are in one family and owls are in another, all species of both families have long, curved talons for killing prey and sharp, curved beaks for tearing chunks of meat off the animals they kill.  Each family developed the same bodily equipment to do a similar job in life, the hawks during the day and the owls at night.  Those similar features in different families of life is called convergence, a coming together. 
     Hawks hunting victims during the day and owls doing so mostly at night reduces direct competition for food, which allows both predatory families to live in the same habitats.  Actually, species of each family have more competition from members of their own family than from other kinds of life.  That is why each species of a family lives in its own niche away from the niches of its relatives; to reduce rivalry for space and food.
     Being hunters, all hawks and owls blend into their surroundings to better their chances of catching food.  Hawks are camouflaged to better ambush prey that doesn't see them.  And owls are camouflaged so they can better hide by day on a roost, without being spotted by jays, crows and other types of birds that would harass them if they saw them.  When not heckled by birds, the owls can get better rest and be refreshed to hunt the next night.
     There are at least five examples of raptor counterparts in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere throughout the world.  Interestingly, each set of counterparts are about the same size.  Red-tailed hawks and great horned owls are counterparts living permanently in upland woods and older suburban areas with their many tall trees.  These raptors hunt in the woods, suburbs and neighboring fields for a variety of rodents and other animals, the red-tails by day and the owls mostly at night.  Red-tails specialize in catching gray squirrels, which is a daytime rodent while the owls snare a lot of mice and rats at night.  Both these raptors hatch young in open, stick nurseries in tree tops.
     Permanent residents as species, the little American kestrels and screech owls mostly hunt small rodents and larger insects at different times of day in fields and woodland edges.  Both these raptors compete for tree cavities and nest boxes erected for them in woods, suburbs and lone trees in fields to raise young in.  And these species spend winter nights in those hollows as well.
     Red-shouldered hawks and barred owls live and raise offspring in bottomland woods and older suburbs near larger bodies of water.  Red-shoulders rear babies in stick nests while the owls do so in tree cavities.  Both species consume mice, small birds, frogs, larger insects and other critters they catch in wooded bottomlands and suburbs.  And the hooting of barred owls and horned owls is frightening to some people who hear it in the middle of the night.  Each of these large owl species have a different rythm of hooting that identifies it.
     Northern harriers and short-eared owls are adapted to open habitats with tall grass and crops, where they catch mice and small birds.  These two species are almost completely winter residents in southeastern Pennsylvania.  And because of their similar habitat, they hunt the same way.  Instead of perching on trees and watching for victims as many of their relatives do, harriers and short-ears actively cruise back and forth low over the fields as they watch and listen for prey animals.  When a victim is spotted, each raptor suddenly drops to snare it in its claws.
     Sometimes harriers and short-ears hunt at the same time because short-ears start to hunt late in a winter afternoon before the harriers have retired into the long grass for the night.  It's exciting to see these two counterparts cruising the same fields at the same time.
      Rough-legged hawks and snowy owls both raise young on the Arctic tundra, where they mostly catch lemmings and voles, both of which are rodents.  Rough-legs come south to cropland and other open country in the United States every winter to avoid starving on the tundra.  Here they mostly eat mice.  But the big, elegant snowies, mostly the young of the year,  come south to open country, including farmland, one winter in about every four.  They will stay on the tundra all winter if there are enough rodents to eat there.  But if not, south they come, sometimes in impressive numbers that is sure to make the news.  Here in the Lower 48, snowy owls catch and eat critters from mice to snow geese.              
     Hawks and owls are counterparts of each other, in every habitat, so they can hunt the same animals without direct competition with each other.  Without rivalry for space and food, both these groups of birds can survive in the same habitats, which increases their chances of species survival.

Adaptable Birds in a Winter Meadow

     Today as I drove within a few yards of Mill Creek in farmland about a mile south of New Holland, Pennsylvania, a great blue heron floated down to the creek right beside me.  Because great blues stand almost five feet tall with over five foot wing spans, that close-up heron startled me as it landed in the creek to catch minnows and other fish.  I stopped along Mill Creek several yards downstream from the heron for an hour and a half to experience what wildlife was abroad and visible.
     I watched Mill Creek and its narrow strip of riparian trees in a cow pasture from inside my car so as to not put neighboring birds to flight.  And, as it turned out, I saw several kinds of birds in spite of the minimal cover in that short-grass meadow and all the human activities and structures near the creek and its bordering meadow.  Some of the adaptable birds were there because of the creek, while other species were present because of the trees and a few thickets of bushes and vines.
     I saw two majestic great blue herons stalking minnows in different sections of the creek.  Herons establish hunting territories, driving away others of their kind if those others infringe on their "properties".  But these herons were at peace.  They probably already settled border disputes.
     A few mallard ducks and a handsome belted kingfisher were also along that stretch of Mill Creek while I was there.  The mallards mostly rested in inches-deep water while the kingfisher perched on a limb hanging over the water to watch for small fish.  But after a few minutes the kingfisher moved on.  When prey is spotted, kingfishers drop into the water beak-first to catch the fish in their bills.
     A winter wren and a song sparrow stalked invertebrates on the few small gravel bars on the edges of the creek.  Both were brown and hard to see, until they moved.  The wren was comical to see because of its tiny size, short tail sticking straight up and quick movements.
     The winter wren lived farther north in summer, but was along Mill Creek for the winter.  The song sparrow was a permanent resident along this waterway.  Both species will stay along the water and in the thickets bordering it through the coming winter.
     A permanent resident Carolina wren and a few each of wintering dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows stayed in the sheltering thickets as I watched them.  All these birds were well camouflaged and, again, hard to see, until they moved.  The juncos and sparrows lived farther north in summer, but are here for the winter.  The wren will consume invertebrates it will find in the soil under logs, dead leaves and other natural litter on the ground.  The juncos and sparrows, however, will ingest weed and grass seeds they will find in the meadow and along the waterway.
     But it was the clumps of ash-leafed maple and black walnut trees that harbored the most birds while I was there.  A half-dozen mourning doves and a stately red-tailed hawk perched on the tops of some of the trees, the doves simply to rest, but the hawk to watch for vulnerable gray squirrels and mice.
     And I saw a few Carolina chickadees, a couple of white-breasted nuthatches, a red-bellied woodpecker, a downy woodpecker and a yellow-bellied sapsucker, which is a type of woodpecker from farther north, among the tall trees.  All those birds were actively looking for invertebrates, each species in its own way, among the trees.  The chicks gathered insects and their eggs from twigs and buds, while the nuthatches looked for the same food in crevices in the bark.  Sometimes the nuthatches were up-side-down on tree trunks in their search for food.  And the woodpeckers, being woodpeckers, chipped their invertebrate food out of dead wood among the living trees.
     I was impressed with how many bird species I saw late in the morning in November in a pasture of minimal shelter in cropland with all its activities.  Obviously, these are adaptable species able to make do in less than ideal habitats, which increases each species' chance of survival as a species.  One of the keys to success is being adaptable.                       

Driving the Welsh Mountains

     For about an hour and a half early in November, I drove through part of the Welsh Mountains, a peninsula of wooded hills jutting into a sea of farmland in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  My goal on this little trip near home was to see what nature was stirring and visible.
     Since most of the deciduous leaves had fallen from their trips and were crisply carpeting the forest floors, I could better see the still green foliage and twisted limbs of mountain laurel shrubbery.  Those leaves will stay green all winter and into next spring.  Most of the laurel bushes were six feet tall or shorter, which is about average for this woody species.  Late in May and into early June these wild shrubs are spangled with many pale-pink flowers.  Most people who build homes in local woods recognize the beauties of mountain laurel limbs and blossoms and don't remove those shrubs from the lawns they create in the woods.   
     Driving by a hundred-yard-long ditch along a road in Welsh Mountain woods, I saw a few wild winter-berry bushes loaded with red berries.  Winter-berry shrubs do well in constantly moist ground.  And American robins and other kinds of birds eat many of their berries during their spring migrations north.  
     Winter-berries are planted on lawns for the beauty of their berries.  But each neighborhood must have one male shrub to a few or several female bushes for the females to develop the scarlet berries.  Pollen from the male bush flowers spreads on the wind to the female blooms, fertilizing them.
     To my surprise, I saw barberry bushes in a row about one hundred and fifty yards long and around 20 yards in from another rural road.  They were impressive.  I had never before seen so many barberry bushes in one place. 
     Those many barberry shrubs must have been planted and were now strikingly loaded with thousands and thousands of red berries.  This winter those prickly barberries will provide food and cover for many birds of several kinds, including northern mockingbirds, robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings and others.
     I saw a few domestic animals as I drove through the Welsh Mountains.  One place I spotted nine mostly-grown bantam hens crossing a country road to scratch up and feed on invertebrates and seeds on the other side.  I drove slowly to avoid hitting them and noticed how petite and pretty they were.
     At another spot near the road, I saw a half-dozen young long-horned cattle grazing in a pasture.  Though they were only half-grown, they already had long, picturesque horns that make a person stop to look closer.
     Along another road in the Welsh Mountains, I saw several small birds fly up from a roadside shoulder.  I eased to a stop near where those birds were and waited in my car.  As long as conditions were peaceful and they didn't see the human figure, the birds will be back.  There was no traffic on that road and, sure enough, they soon started coming close to where I was parked along the road.
     The summary of small birds I saw along that country road was over a hundred dark-eyed juncos eating grass seed from the ground on the road's shoulder.  These are gray, little birds on top and white below, with a white tail feather on each side of the tail that looks like a V when they fly. 
     A couple of song sparrows were eating seeds with the juncos on the ground.  Song sparrows are brown with darker streaking and quite common in this area.
     Meanwhile, a couple dozen white-throated sparrows were scratching among the dead and fallen leaves for seeds and invertebrates a few yards into the woods near where the juncos were.  Being sparrows, they were brown with darker streaking and a white throat patch.  Like the juncos, white-throats nest farther north and spend winters in Lancaster County, and through much of the eastern United States.  And like juncos and all other sparrow species, white-throats are hard to see because of their camouflaged feathering.        
     Just off that same road I was parked on, I noticed a pair of northern cardinals eating multiflora rose berries and a dozen American goldfinches consuming weed seeds on the top of five-foot-tall stems near the road.  Obviously, some of the birds were feeding on the ground while other species were eating berries and seeds above the soil.  Because of their reducing competition for food, more species of birds in greater numbers can live in any one place. 
     When outside, one can almost always count on seeing something of interest in nature.  Nature is always inspiring wherever the reader may be.    
      

More on Seed Dispersal

     When I wrote the previous blog about seed dispersal, I forgot to mention kinds of trees in southeastern Pennsylvania that grow beautiful and intriguing seeds that blow away on the wind from the parent trees.  Those trees are a few kinds of maples, plus ashes, tulip trees and elms.
     Red, sugar and ash-leafed maple trees, for example, grow beige-colored, or red in the case of red maples, "veined"seeds that twirl in the wind away from the parent trees.  Hopefully those seeds will colonize new ground with maples. 
     Maple seeds grow in pairs and each seed has a fat part that houses the tree embryo and stored food to get the sprout started in life.  But each maple seed also has a long, thin section that is the seed's wing.  That single wing enables the seed to rotate in the wind like a helicopter blade, which carries the seed far before dropping to the ground where it might grow into a new tree, if not consumed by rodents.
     Maple seeds are often so numerous that they might pile up against objects.  These seeds have little chance of sprouting and growing in soil.
     Ash trees and tulip trees also grow beige seeds that have a thick part and a long, slender one, the wing.  Though these seeds are shaped differently than those on maples, they, too, swirl in the wind away and down to the ground where they might sprout if not eaten by rodents. 
     Elm seeds are rounded and fairly flat all over, but a little raised in the middle where the embryo and its food are.  Elm seeds have two tiny wings, one on each side of the thicker, middle part.  Elm seeds blow away lightly on the wind and often form great heaps against fallen logs and other objects on the ground.  Those piles of elm seeds could be places where invertebrates and small vertebrates can hide from critters that would eat them.  And warm-blooded, small mammals could also bury under blankets of elm seeds to stay warm. 
     Maple, ash, tulip tree and elm seeds are not only picturesque, but valuable to their parent plants, wildlife and the habitats they fall on.  They spread their species far and wide.  And they provide food and cover to a variety of wildlife, including certain kinds of birds, several types of mammals and hosts of invertebrates.  But if they don't sprout, or get ingested by wildlife, they will rot into the soil, enriching it.     

Seed Dispersal

     As we all know, plants can not travel.  Where they sprout is where they stay.  So why are certain kinds of vegetation seemingly everywhere?  They must get around somehow, including here in southeastern Pennsylvania, for example.  They spread across the countryside by virtue of their seeds, on the wind, in birds' digestive tracts, on animal fur and by being stored by certain critters to be eaten in winter. 
     Dandelions, thistles and milkweeds are types of plants that produce small, brownish seeds, each one with a white parachute that carries its burden away on the wind, often for long distances.  It's neat to watch those beautiful, fluffy parachutes blowing off the parent stalks with their dangling cargo.  And the seeds that land on soil, and are not consumed by mice and birds, sprout into new plants.
     Many kinds of trees and shrubbery have a different strategy for traveling over the landscape.  They produce pretty berries, many kinds of which are brightly colored, allowing birds to see them to ingest them during fall and winter.  Birds, including flocks of American robins, eastern bluebirds, starlings, cedar waxwings, yellow-rumped warblers and other species, eat the berries of spice bushes, multiflora rose, Tartarian honeysuckle, barberry, yews and hollies, all of which are red, and other kinds of woody-barked plants.  Those birds digest the pulp of the berries, but pass many of the seeds in their droppings, often miles away from the parent vegetation.  Some of the seeds, when not eaten by rodents, sprout into new plants that, eventually, produce more berries for birds and rodents to eat.
     Stick tights from tick-trefoil plants, beggar ticks from bur-marigolds, cockleburs and other kinds of prickly seeds stick to the fur of medium-sized to large mammals such as foxes, raccoons and white-tailed deer as those critters push through dense vegetation near the ground.  Eventually those animals tire of those irritating seeds and pull them out of their fur with their teeth and claws.  The seeds drop to the ground and sprout, thus spreading their kind across the landscape.
     Blue jays and a small variety of squirrels bury a diversity of acorns and other nuts in the ground in autumn.  Those nuts are stored by those creatures to be dug up and eaten in winter when food is scarce and buried under blankets of snow.  The animals must remember where they buried the nuts to retrieve them so easily.  But if a jay or squirrel is killed by a predator, the nuts it buried will not be consumed in winter, but sprout and grow during the following spring and summer, often far from the parent vegetation.  Whole woodlands have been started by deceased jays and squirrels.
     Nature is interesting and all aspects of it work together for the benefit of all species.  We only need to step outside, almost wherever we may be, to experience seed dispersal at work and other intrigues of nature.               

Autumn Ducks and Geese Inland

     By the middle of October and through November, stately Canada geese and several kinds of ducks are common on impoundments and fields in inland Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Mallard ducks, wood ducks and Canadas nested here and remained into fall, though most of the woodies flew south by October.  Many of the mallards and Canadas are permanent residents here and won't leave until forced to by a severe winter.  And other kinds of ducks and brant geese come here from their nesting territories farther north or west.  Some of them will also stay until lakes and ponds freeze over and fields are covered by snow, locking away their food supplies.
     All these geese and ducks are adaptable, even in highly civilized areas, which allows them to use built habitats, including impoundments and fields.  Instead of being driven away by our activities as a society, these water birds put them to use for their own benefit.
     Resident Canada geese form large flocks of themselves on most every human-made lake, pond, flooded quarry, retention basin and flooded field in this county at one time or another.  There they rest and honk almost constantly, but when hungry, off they go in inspiring, bugling groups, flock after flock, to harvested corn fields and winter rye fields, also human-made habitats, where they eat waste corn kernels and the green shoots of rye.  Their hordes noisily circle the field they intend to land on several times, then finally come down, group after group, as if on an aerial highway, to the ground.  The majestic Canadas are always thrilling and inspiring to see and hear, in the air, on the fields and on water.  And they are especially exciting when they take off from or come down on water or fields amid their boisterous honking.
     In October and November, a few small gatherings of migrating brant geese stop to rest on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, or on a couple of its winter rye fields to graze on the green rye stems.  These are small, attractive geese, barely larger than mallard ducks, that are related to Canada geese.  They nested on the tundra along the Arctic Ocean and are now going to salt marshes along the Atlantic shore for the winter.          
     Mallard ducks are the most common duck species in Lancaster County any time of year.  Most every pond, retention basin, wetland, flooded field and creek has its groups of pretty mallards.  Drakes have dark-rufous chests and totally green heads. 
     Mallards dabble for aquatic vegetation in the shallow water and fly out to harvested corn fields to shovel up waste corn kernels.  I have seen flocks of them powering out on whistling wings to feeding fields during winter sunsets when wind pushed snow over those fields like pink smoke.  The ducks descended into and disappeared in the drifting snow in the gathering darkness and continued to feed on corn among the snow drifts until darkness enveloped them.  What a wild sight for such a common creature in overly-civilized Lancaster County.
     And there are little gatherings and individuals of other duck species in this area in autumn, including dabbling ducks and diving ducks.  Dabblers here in November include black ducks, green-winged teal, shovelers, gadwalls, northern pintails and American wigeons.  Diving ducks on inland lakes include a few each of ring-necked ducks, lesser scaup, ruddy ducks, buffleheads and hooded mergansers.
     Black ducks nest in woodland habitats in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.  And, although many of them spend winters on Atlantic Coast salt marshes, some of them winter on creeks, ponds and lakes in Lancaster County and other inland locations.  Black ducks are closely related to mallards and a few blacks join mallards on water and in feeding fields. 
     The other dabblers are in Lancaster County mostly as pairs or individuals, usually in groups of mallards.  The exception is a flock of about 30 shovelers on the impoundment at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in November.  These ducks, as a group, are interesting to watch feeding in their own, unique way on small vegetable and animal matter in very shallow water.  A group of shovelers will form a circle in the shallows and swim round and round to stir up the mud on the bottom with their webbed feet.  Then they strain the mud with their over-sized beaks to consume the edibles in it.  I presume they have fed in this way from the origin of their species.  Their large, spatula-like bills developed later through genetic quirks to more efficiently feed in the way they do.
     I like to watch the diving ducks slip under water from the surface to get either vegetable or small animal foods in the water, depending on the species.  Hooded mergansers catch small fish, while the other kinds consume a combination of water plants and small animals, including insect larvae, and small mollusks and crustaceans, including crayfish of various sizes.
     This autumn and winter, watch for these inland types of geese and ducks in the Middle Atlantic States, and elsewhere.  They are another interesting part of nature in this developed area.  

Golden Eagles in Eastern North America

     The majestic golden eagles live in forested mountains and other wilderness habitats throughout the northern hemisphere, including here in eastern North America.  But because the eastern United States is so developed, most golden eagles in eastern North America raise young in the forests of eastern Canada, and in northern Maine in the United States.  And, although this stately type of raptor is tough and can tolerate cold weather, they still need abundant food in winter like any other kind of bird.  So many golden eagles leave their breeding territories in eastern Canada and migrate south, mostly along the southwest-running Appalachian Mountains, to wintering grounds in the more rural sections of New York State, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.     
      Golden eagle autumn migrations mostly occur from the middle of October to mid-December, with a peak of moving south during the bulk of November.  Goldens generally move on brisk northwest or north winds that are forced up the Appalachians, pushing the big, magnificent eagles up with them for easy traveling with little effort expended on the birds' parts.   
     Although migrating goldens are spotted most anywhere along their migration routes in the Middle Atlantic States in fall, they are seen in biggest numbers at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary on wooded mountains in northern Berks County and Waggoners' Gap, a wooded mountain off Route 74 on the border of Perry and Cumberland Counties. 
     Both those look outs are on the famous Blue Ridge Mountains of southeastern Pennsylvania so they both host many of the same eagles each autumn.  But Waggoner's Gap usually sees more migrant golden eagles in a fall than Hawk Mountain.  Waggoners' Gap averages about 235 goldens each fall.  And it saw 275 goldens migrate by in 2006.  Those numbers are a fair indication of how many of those stately eagles live in eastern North America.  And I'm sure not all migrant goldens move along the Blue Ridge, which tells us there must be more than 275 of them in eastern North America.    
     Golden eagles are adapting to less than wilderness conditions to winter in.  Some have wintered in developed Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Maryland's heavily populated Eastern Shore between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.  But many goldens winter in Pennsylvania's and West Virginia's remote and wild wooded valleys where they scavenge dead white-tailed deer and other animals, as well as catch cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares, gray squirrels and red and gray foxes.  They catch many of those same animals in warmer months, and wood chucks and other critters that are available.
     Golden eagles are big and majestic, and wilderness birds for the most part.  But they are slowly adapting to less than wild habitats, which may help them increase their numbers because of more places to nest and a lower death rate in winter when getting enough food is tough.  Watch for these magnificent birds.  They are thrilling and inspiring whenever and wherever found.  And, fortunately, they are protected by law.              

Bittersweet and Multiflora Rose Berries

     Bittersweet vines and multiflora rose bushes have obvious, brightly-colored berries by the beginning of November in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as elsewhere.  And these two fast-spreading species of plants have other characteristics in common, though they are not closely related.  They both are originally from Asia, and decorative where they grew and as indoor decor.  In fact, both species can be bought at some markets in fall.  They are bare of leaves in winter.  Both these species provide outdoor color in winter, and food and shelter for a variety of rodents and small birds.  They both flourish along the edges of woods, in hedgerows and along roadsides.  And they are most attractive when they grow side by side.
     These two kinds of vegetation are beautiful and interesting in winter, in themselves, but particularly so when birds such as American robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings and other species visit them to consume their berries.  The birds digest the pulp of those berries, but pass many of the seeds in their droppings as they fly here and there, thus spreading these two species of plants, and others, over the landscape.
     Though their warmly-colored berries are pretty and decorative, and provide some food and shelter for certain kinds of wildlife, these plants are invasive.  Bittersweet with their red or deep-orange berries that emerge from stiff, yellow petals early in November can quickly cover trees and shrubbery with their vines, perhaps shutting off sunlight enough to kill those host plants.  Thus this vine can lower the diversity of other kinds of plants that provide food and shelter for wildlife.  
     Multiflora rose bushes, that produce red berries, were originally planted to provide living fences to keep farm livestock confined to pastures.  But this kind of wild rose spreads rapidly in sunny habitats, which meadows are, and rapidly gets out of hand.  Canes of this rose arch up, over and down to the ground.  When the tip of each cane touches the soil, it sends roots into the ground, forming a new shrub.  In this way, multiflora rose bushes "march" across sunny habitats and take them over.
     However, certain kinds of birds have adapted to nesting in prickly multiflora rose thickets, including northern mockingbirds, brown thrashers, gray catbirds, northern cardinals, song sparrows, willow flycatchers, yellow warblers, common yellowthroat warblers and other species.  These thorny rose thickets are a blessing to those kinds of birds to raise young in with relative safety from predators.  And larger animals, such as red foxes, coyotes, opossums, skunks, cottontail rabbits and other kinds, can also find shelter under these bushes.   
     Like all forms of life, bittersweet and multiflora rose have good and not so good qualities.  But they are both in the United States to stay, no matter how we try to get rid of them.  So we may as well enjoy their beauties and intrigues.           

     Today, November 3rd, I was driving through the wooded Welsh Mountains about a mile and a half south of New Holland, Pennsylvania.  It is a warm, sunny day with blue skies and the remnant of colored leaves; a god day to be outside exploring nature.  Dead, red, yellow and brown leaves fell constantly from deciduous trees and planted, tall Norway spruce and white pine trees emerged from the falling veil of foliage.  Meanwhile, the forest floors became ever more covered with carpets of dead, crispy leaves. 
     As I stood and marveled at the autumn leaf beauties for a couple of hours that morning, several creatures came into my view, but not all at once.  A group of about six turkey vultures and around eight black vultures flapped and soared overhead for several minutes as they sought a thermal of warmed air that would carry them up and up and away in the sky.  Those vultures roosted overnight somewhere in the forests of the Welsh Mountains, but are now getting airborne to soar over nearby cropland to look for dead animals to eat.  Excitingly, as I watched the circling vultures, I saw an immature bald eagle float by, fairly low, on huge, flat wings.
     Since I was relatively still and quiet, I began to see gray squirrels gathering nuts for the winter and a flock of about a dozen sparrow-sized, dark-eyed juncos eating weed seeds along the road I was on in the woods.  I was amused to see a red-tailed hawk circling above the trees tops and thought those squirrels need to be careful with that hawk around. 
     About the time I saw the red-tail on high, the juncos suddenly zipped into roadside shrubs and disappeared.  Within a second I saw a hawk abruptly land on a fallen tree near where the juncos were.  Through my 16 power binoculars, I saw the hawk was a young, male sharp-shinned hawk.  That sharpy stood on the downed tree for a minute, then flew into a nearby tree, presumably to wait until the juncos forgot about him and came out to forage on weed and grass seeds again.  The hawk was camouflaged in the tree and maybe the juncos wouldn't see him, allowing him to ambush one or more of them.
     Because it was early November, I saw many colorful berries of four kinds along the road in the woods, as in many other woodland edges, hedgerows and roadsides in this area in autumn.  Those berries add much color and beauty to those overgrown, human-made habitats in fall and winter.  There were red ones on deciduous multiflora rose bushes, bittersweet vines and staghorn sumac trees and pale-blue ones on coniferous red juniper trees.  Those berries will be food for white-footed mice, gray squirrels, flying squirrels, and such birds as flocks of American robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings, and individual northern mockingbirds and a few kinds of woodpeckers.  This winter I will enjoy visiting that berry-producing vegetation to experience their beautiful berries and the birds that eat many of them.  The birds will ingest the berries, digest the pulp, but pass many of their seeds in their droppings across the countryside, thus spreading those plants far and wide.
     Staghorn sumacs are interesting little, native trees.  They have compound leaves that produce several leaflets that turn red in October or before and flutter in autumn winds like banners.  They produce fuzzy-covered, red berries in pyramid-shaped clumps on the tops of their twigs.  And many of those decorative berries stay on their twigs through much of the winter when they can be admired.
     Most any day any time of year is a good day to be outdoors.  There one can enjoy and be inspired by the beauties and intrigues of nature.