Early in the afternoon of March 26, I drove through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania's farmland to enjoy the lovely, greening scenery on a sunny, pleasant day. And everything I experienced that lovely afternoon was beautiful and represented spring.
Many cropland roadsides were pretty with the lush, green shoots of grass and garlic, and the colorful, innumerable blooms of Veronicas, purple dead nettles and dandelions, like scattered flower gardens. Those three flowering species are aliens from Europe. They long ago adapted to disturbed soil in cropland and have provided roadside beauties where, otherwise, there may not be any. These plants have blooms on short stems because they adapted to regular cutting in Europe and America. And because of their adjustments and hardiness, the flowers they produce early in spring brighten and beautify roadsides with color, life and cheer.
Veronicas have small, pale-blue blooms in patches of thousands, which makes them quite visible along roadsides, and in lawns and fields. The light-blue flowers of this species dominate sections of certain lawns late in March and into much of April, making those areas light-blue instead of green.
Roadside patches of purple dead nettles, which are a member of the mint family, have millions of tiny, pink blossoms. And the flowers of this species are so numerous in farmland that acres and acres of certain fields are pink with this plant's blossoms during the latter part of March and into April, until the fields get plowed.
And the edible dandelions produce cheery, yellow flowers in abundance along roadsides, and in lawns and fields. Being an inch across, the blooms of this plant are much larger than those of Veronicas and nettles. Seed-eating, small birds eat the seeds of dandelions during May.
That afternoon, I made three stops in natural places where I have visited before over the years. I stopped at a stretch of Mill Creek where a quarter-mile strip of riparian trees, including black walnuts and ash-leafed maples, reed canary-grass and skunk cabbage leaves border one side of the creek and short-grass cow pastures flank the other. There I saw a few pairs each of the waterfowl that will nest along that sheltering section of the creek. Female mallard ducks and Canada geese will hatch young under tall grass on the ground. And hen wood ducks will hatch ducklings in tree hollows and wood duck nest boxes erected for them along the creek.
There were a few other kinds of birds along that same section of Mill Creek that will, eventually, nest there. I saw a pair of eastern bluebirds investigating a bluebird box erected by a farmer. I heard a northern flicker chanting to proclaim nesting territory. I saw and heard a few male red-winged blackbirds singing "konk-ga-reeee" from the twigs of bushes. And I saw a pair each of song sparrows and northern cardinals, both permanent species here, that will rear young in the shrubbery.
At another place along Mill Creek, I saw mixed schools of killifish and blunt-nosed minnows swimming against the current in a little tributary of Mill Creek where they had not been all winter. Both these types of small fish are well adapted to life in running streams and creeks. They are long and lean, streamlined for swimming upstream. And they are both mostly brown, which allows them to blend into the bottom of the waterways, often making them invisible to herons and kingfishers who would eat them if they could see and catch them.
And in a brook tributary to a stream tributary to Mill Creek, I saw another school of blunt-nosed minnows in a deep "hole" in that small waterway, a spot where they had not been all winter. That little brook was beautifully flanked on both sides by lush, green grass and the shiny, yellow blooms of lesser celandines, another kind of alien plant form Europe.
That little trip in Lancaster County farmland was enjoyable and inspiring to me, and represented the vernal season. Readers, too, can get out and enjoy signs of spring close to home. Any day in nature is a health-preserving tonic.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Similarities of Mourning Doves and House Sparrows
This morning, March 28, at daybreak, I heard a mourning dove cooing for several minutes from on top of the outside part of our bedroom air conditioner, as I have every spring for years. Then I went into the bathroom and heard a group of house sparrows chirping and scrambling on top of the outside part of the air conditioner in that room, as I have for several years. Both these adaptable, permanent resident species will attempt to nest on the conditioners, or between them and the window sills. Instantly, I realized the many similarities mourning doves and house sparrows have, though they have a few differences, too.
Mourning doves are native to North America, but house sparrows were introduced to this continent from Europe. The doves probably lived in woodland clearings originally, where there were weed and grass seeds to eat. The house sparrows long ago adapted to agricultural fields and horse stables in Europe. Doves coo and are much bigger than the sparrows. The sparrows chirp. And there is where the differences between these species ends.
Though mourning doves and house sparrows look a lot different, they have many similarities.
Both species are brown with darker markings, which allows them to blend into their backgrounds so they are not obvious to hawks, cats and other predators. However, in spring, males of each species acquire subtle colors that show their readiness for breeding. Male doves get a sheen of pink on their necks while male house sparrows have black bibs.
Males of both species have courtship displays to coax their mates to copulate with them. Male sparrows flatten their bodies, spread their wings a bit and hop around their mates, chirping all the while. Male doves coo, but also engage in courtship flights, with several deep flaps of their wings, then soaring in a circle over their territories.
Both these species with abundant numbers are well adapted to suburban areas with their buildings, trees and shrubbery for nesting, and grain field banquet tables in agricultural areas near the suburbs, which is an abundant habitat combination here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, therefore the abundance of birds of both these species. Large habitats potentially make the success and abundance of every form of life.
The sparrows build bulky grass nurseries in sheltering crevices in the buildings while doves nest on ledges on the buildings, and in trees and shrubs. Doves build flimsy cradles of grass, straw or twigs, many of which fall apart in high winds. Doves are often better off building nests on buildings or in other birds' sturdier nurseries.
The vocalizations of both species are heard much of each day, every day through summer. Doves raise two young per brood, but have successive broods from March through September. Each pair could rear 12 young a year, but accidents and predators take their tolls. House sparrows generally hatch two or three broods of five youngsters each, in a summer.
Mourning doves and house sparrows eat grain and weed and grass seeds in fields near their nesting sites, though the sparrows also consume insects in summer when that food is abundant. Both these species are prevalent in harvested grain fields to feed on the seeds that fell to the ground. And both kinds consume seeds at bird feeders in suburban lawns the year around, dominating some of those feeders with their numbers.
After a summer of multiple broods of young, both species form larger and larger flocks, by the score or even hundreds, late in summer and into early autumn. Both types of birds range across harvested fields to pick up seeds and grain with their beaks, dominating those croplands. The doves are even common game birds in the croplands during September.
House sparrows and mourning doves may look different, but they have a lot of similarities. And these adaptable species have the best of two human-made worlds- suburbs and fields, including here in Lancaster County.
Mourning doves are native to North America, but house sparrows were introduced to this continent from Europe. The doves probably lived in woodland clearings originally, where there were weed and grass seeds to eat. The house sparrows long ago adapted to agricultural fields and horse stables in Europe. Doves coo and are much bigger than the sparrows. The sparrows chirp. And there is where the differences between these species ends.
Though mourning doves and house sparrows look a lot different, they have many similarities.
Both species are brown with darker markings, which allows them to blend into their backgrounds so they are not obvious to hawks, cats and other predators. However, in spring, males of each species acquire subtle colors that show their readiness for breeding. Male doves get a sheen of pink on their necks while male house sparrows have black bibs.
Males of both species have courtship displays to coax their mates to copulate with them. Male sparrows flatten their bodies, spread their wings a bit and hop around their mates, chirping all the while. Male doves coo, but also engage in courtship flights, with several deep flaps of their wings, then soaring in a circle over their territories.
Both these species with abundant numbers are well adapted to suburban areas with their buildings, trees and shrubbery for nesting, and grain field banquet tables in agricultural areas near the suburbs, which is an abundant habitat combination here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, therefore the abundance of birds of both these species. Large habitats potentially make the success and abundance of every form of life.
The sparrows build bulky grass nurseries in sheltering crevices in the buildings while doves nest on ledges on the buildings, and in trees and shrubs. Doves build flimsy cradles of grass, straw or twigs, many of which fall apart in high winds. Doves are often better off building nests on buildings or in other birds' sturdier nurseries.
The vocalizations of both species are heard much of each day, every day through summer. Doves raise two young per brood, but have successive broods from March through September. Each pair could rear 12 young a year, but accidents and predators take their tolls. House sparrows generally hatch two or three broods of five youngsters each, in a summer.
Mourning doves and house sparrows eat grain and weed and grass seeds in fields near their nesting sites, though the sparrows also consume insects in summer when that food is abundant. Both these species are prevalent in harvested grain fields to feed on the seeds that fell to the ground. And both kinds consume seeds at bird feeders in suburban lawns the year around, dominating some of those feeders with their numbers.
After a summer of multiple broods of young, both species form larger and larger flocks, by the score or even hundreds, late in summer and into early autumn. Both types of birds range across harvested fields to pick up seeds and grain with their beaks, dominating those croplands. The doves are even common game birds in the croplands during September.
House sparrows and mourning doves may look different, but they have a lot of similarities. And these adaptable species have the best of two human-made worlds- suburbs and fields, including here in Lancaster County.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Three Swans in North America
Sometimes when I am outside in winter in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I hear trumpeted, but reedy, "woo-hoo", "woo-hoo-hoo" from high in the sky. I look skyward, searching, and here they come- long white lines and large V's of large, stately birds, tundra swans moving swiftly across the sky. Their magnificent flocks come closer and closer and soon one can see their elegance in body form and beautiful ease in flight. They are inspiring to experience, and I never tire of them.
All species of wild swans in North America are large, mostly white and majestic. Tundra swans and trumpeter swans are closely related, nearly look-alikes and native to North America. But they do have differences, including life styles. Mute swans, however, are aliens from Europe and in a different genus of swans. Field guides to birds will demonstrate the identifiable differences among these swan species.
Swans are species of waterfowl related to ducks and geese. All waterfowl are aquatic, and have webbed feet for efficient swimming, boat-like bodies for floating and spoon-like beaks for shoveling up aquatic vegetation, grasses and grain. But swans are the largest of their bird family, most elegant, and have the longest necks.
Tundra swans are, by far, the most numerous of wild swans in North America, about 100,000 strong. They nest on the ground on the treeless Arctic tundra north and west of Hudson Bay and about half their number winter on the backwaters of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, the Outer Banks of North Carolina and other areas of the Middle Atlantic States, including here in Lancaster County. Wintering swans in this area feed on waste kernels of corn in harvested fields and the green blades of winter rye in fields.
But tundra swans are most magnificent early in spring when they gather by the thousands prior to embarking on the first part of their migration north to their breeding territories. From about mid-February to around the middle of March, depending on the weather, five to six thousand tundras, or more, congregate in Lancaster County alone, causing wonderful, beautiful natural spectacles with their sheer numbers and gracefulness. Twice daily they leave large bodies of water to feed in fields, then return to the water to rest, preen and socialize. But when the weather warms, off they go to the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes regions, literally overnight, where they will rest and feed, and wait for spring to catch up to their restless hormones. Little by little, they migrate across Canada as spring pushes north, arriving on the tundra about the middle of May, already paired and ready to lay eggs.
Trumpeter swans are called that because they do seem to trumpet as a communication. This magnificent species of swans mostly breeds in the northern American and Canadian west and mid-west and in Alaska. Many pairs of them build their bulky nests of grass and reeds on top of beaver dams and lodges, as well as along the shores of lakes and ponds in those regions. And most individuals of this species winter on the coast of British Columbia and ice-free waters inland in the American and Canadian west. But some individuals or pairs of trumpeters winter in scattered locations in eastern North America, including Pennsylvania, where, someday, they may nest, too.
Trumpeter swans were once almost extinct. But through protection and habitat restoration, their numbers have bounced back to over 35,000.
Trumpeters are the largest kind of waterfowl and the largest flying bird in North America, with males up to six feet long, including their necks, and weighing 26 pounds. They need large areas of running room into the wind, while flapping their wings, to become airborne.
Mute swans in North America are permanent residents along the Atlantic Coast from Rhode Island to North Carolina's Outer Banks. They also dwell in back waters of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. And they live in the Great Lakes Area, particularly in upper Illinois and northern Michigan. And they live on many farm ponds in the northeastern United States, including in Lancaster County.
But mute swans are aggressive toward other living creatures, including people. The presence of those beautiful, graceful swans is not welcome by wild game officials and others who favor native ducks, geese and swans that might be driven off their breeding territories by mute swans. But other people have pairs of mute swans
on farm ponds and along farmland creeks where those swans annually rear four to six cygnets. Some of the young swans become feral, joining other wild mutes and help to increase the population of this species in North America.
All swans are elegant, graceful birds. They add much beauty and intrigue to North American wetlands, lakes and ponds through the year.
All species of wild swans in North America are large, mostly white and majestic. Tundra swans and trumpeter swans are closely related, nearly look-alikes and native to North America. But they do have differences, including life styles. Mute swans, however, are aliens from Europe and in a different genus of swans. Field guides to birds will demonstrate the identifiable differences among these swan species.
Swans are species of waterfowl related to ducks and geese. All waterfowl are aquatic, and have webbed feet for efficient swimming, boat-like bodies for floating and spoon-like beaks for shoveling up aquatic vegetation, grasses and grain. But swans are the largest of their bird family, most elegant, and have the longest necks.
Tundra swans are, by far, the most numerous of wild swans in North America, about 100,000 strong. They nest on the ground on the treeless Arctic tundra north and west of Hudson Bay and about half their number winter on the backwaters of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, the Outer Banks of North Carolina and other areas of the Middle Atlantic States, including here in Lancaster County. Wintering swans in this area feed on waste kernels of corn in harvested fields and the green blades of winter rye in fields.
But tundra swans are most magnificent early in spring when they gather by the thousands prior to embarking on the first part of their migration north to their breeding territories. From about mid-February to around the middle of March, depending on the weather, five to six thousand tundras, or more, congregate in Lancaster County alone, causing wonderful, beautiful natural spectacles with their sheer numbers and gracefulness. Twice daily they leave large bodies of water to feed in fields, then return to the water to rest, preen and socialize. But when the weather warms, off they go to the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes regions, literally overnight, where they will rest and feed, and wait for spring to catch up to their restless hormones. Little by little, they migrate across Canada as spring pushes north, arriving on the tundra about the middle of May, already paired and ready to lay eggs.
Trumpeter swans are called that because they do seem to trumpet as a communication. This magnificent species of swans mostly breeds in the northern American and Canadian west and mid-west and in Alaska. Many pairs of them build their bulky nests of grass and reeds on top of beaver dams and lodges, as well as along the shores of lakes and ponds in those regions. And most individuals of this species winter on the coast of British Columbia and ice-free waters inland in the American and Canadian west. But some individuals or pairs of trumpeters winter in scattered locations in eastern North America, including Pennsylvania, where, someday, they may nest, too.
Trumpeter swans were once almost extinct. But through protection and habitat restoration, their numbers have bounced back to over 35,000.
Trumpeters are the largest kind of waterfowl and the largest flying bird in North America, with males up to six feet long, including their necks, and weighing 26 pounds. They need large areas of running room into the wind, while flapping their wings, to become airborne.
Mute swans in North America are permanent residents along the Atlantic Coast from Rhode Island to North Carolina's Outer Banks. They also dwell in back waters of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. And they live in the Great Lakes Area, particularly in upper Illinois and northern Michigan. And they live on many farm ponds in the northeastern United States, including in Lancaster County.
But mute swans are aggressive toward other living creatures, including people. The presence of those beautiful, graceful swans is not welcome by wild game officials and others who favor native ducks, geese and swans that might be driven off their breeding territories by mute swans. But other people have pairs of mute swans
on farm ponds and along farmland creeks where those swans annually rear four to six cygnets. Some of the young swans become feral, joining other wild mutes and help to increase the population of this species in North America.
All swans are elegant, graceful birds. They add much beauty and intrigue to North American wetlands, lakes and ponds through the year.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Trout in Pennsylvania
One winter day when I was much younger, I was walking in a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania woodland and came upon a tumbling mountain brook. I laid on the snow to peer into the cold, clear water to the bottom of that little waterway. I vividly saw stones of various shapes and sizes through the crystalline, running water, and a six-inch brook trout staring back at me from just inches away!
During another walk in a different woodland in October, I saw a few small trout darting for safety under stream banks. Sitting on a log, I watched those banks with binoculars in hand. Eventually a couple of small brook trout in breeding colors emerged from those streamsides. They were strikingly beautiful! And trout are not only lovely in themselves, but also in the waterways they inhabit in shaded, cool woods.
Since spring is here and trout season is quickly approaching, I am thinking of trout in this state, although I am not a fisherman. All trout species are well developed for life in running streams. They are slender, and powerful to cope with the current in cold, clear, fast-running waterways, generally in beautiful, woodland habitats. They feed on mayfly and stonefly larvae, smaller crayfish, minnows and other small creatures in sparkling brooks and streams.
Three kinds of beautiful trout, brook, brown and rainbow, live in Pennsylvania's cold, crystalline streams. Brook trout are native to the northeastern United States, including Pennsylvania. Adult brook trout are brownish-green on top and along their flanks, with many red dots, each one surrounded by blue. Their bellies are yellow-orange and their lower fins are orange, with a white leading edge on each one. Adults vary in size from five to 18 inches long, depending on the size of the waterway they live in.
Brown trout are native to Eurasia, and were introduced to North America several years ago, often to replace brook trout that could not tolerate slightly polluted waters. Adult browns are brown on their backs and sides, with dark spots and smaller red and yellow dots. And, although they are aliens to North America, brown trout spawn in many of the streams they were introduced to, perhaps competing with brook trout for spawning space in streams and brooks.
Rainbow trout are from the American west coast. They, too, were stocked in Pennsylvania, as other places on Earth, to offer a variety of fishing species, particularly where native brook trout died out. Rainbows are gray-green on their backs and flanks. And they have a pink or light-red stripe along each side from gill to tail.
All these trout species are predators and have predators. Some adults are caught by bald eagles, ospreys, mink and river otters. Eggs and small fry are consumed by crayfish, small fish and certain insect larvae, including stoneflies.
These trout species spawn on the gravelly bottoms of the running waterways they live in. Females of each species prepare nests for their many eggs by rolling on their sides and pushing against the bottom gravel with their bodies, fins and tails. Brook and brown trout spawn in autumn, but rainbows do so in spring.
Trout are beautiful, streamlined fish that live in cold, running waterways, often in forests, in the northern hemisphere. They are well worth experiencing anytime of the year, anywhere.
During another walk in a different woodland in October, I saw a few small trout darting for safety under stream banks. Sitting on a log, I watched those banks with binoculars in hand. Eventually a couple of small brook trout in breeding colors emerged from those streamsides. They were strikingly beautiful! And trout are not only lovely in themselves, but also in the waterways they inhabit in shaded, cool woods.
Since spring is here and trout season is quickly approaching, I am thinking of trout in this state, although I am not a fisherman. All trout species are well developed for life in running streams. They are slender, and powerful to cope with the current in cold, clear, fast-running waterways, generally in beautiful, woodland habitats. They feed on mayfly and stonefly larvae, smaller crayfish, minnows and other small creatures in sparkling brooks and streams.
Three kinds of beautiful trout, brook, brown and rainbow, live in Pennsylvania's cold, crystalline streams. Brook trout are native to the northeastern United States, including Pennsylvania. Adult brook trout are brownish-green on top and along their flanks, with many red dots, each one surrounded by blue. Their bellies are yellow-orange and their lower fins are orange, with a white leading edge on each one. Adults vary in size from five to 18 inches long, depending on the size of the waterway they live in.
Brown trout are native to Eurasia, and were introduced to North America several years ago, often to replace brook trout that could not tolerate slightly polluted waters. Adult browns are brown on their backs and sides, with dark spots and smaller red and yellow dots. And, although they are aliens to North America, brown trout spawn in many of the streams they were introduced to, perhaps competing with brook trout for spawning space in streams and brooks.
Rainbow trout are from the American west coast. They, too, were stocked in Pennsylvania, as other places on Earth, to offer a variety of fishing species, particularly where native brook trout died out. Rainbows are gray-green on their backs and flanks. And they have a pink or light-red stripe along each side from gill to tail.
All these trout species are predators and have predators. Some adults are caught by bald eagles, ospreys, mink and river otters. Eggs and small fry are consumed by crayfish, small fish and certain insect larvae, including stoneflies.
These trout species spawn on the gravelly bottoms of the running waterways they live in. Females of each species prepare nests for their many eggs by rolling on their sides and pushing against the bottom gravel with their bodies, fins and tails. Brook and brown trout spawn in autumn, but rainbows do so in spring.
Trout are beautiful, streamlined fish that live in cold, running waterways, often in forests, in the northern hemisphere. They are well worth experiencing anytime of the year, anywhere.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Adapted to a Meadow and Stream
I like to see what plants and animals can adapt to human-made habitats that have little food and shelter, and why living beings are in those seemingly barren habitats. For an hour in the afternoon of March 19th, I stopped along a stream with barely a current in a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania cow pasture to experience what creatures were active in those two habitats. The waterway is slow-moving, making it more like a long, lean pond because of a dam, and that waterway's banks on both sides are lined with reed-canary-grass and a few, scattered black walnut and mulberry tree saplings. Two tiny thickets of sapling trees add a third habitat to the farmland meadow.
There was a small variety of adaptable and interesting wildlife on the stream and in the pasture and thickets on the 19th, as there often is in that meadow in spite of its sparse cover. And those species of wildlife help demonstrate how they use built habitats to their own benefit.
The meadow on both sides of the stream, and some of the trees along that waterway, were liberally sprinkled with migrant and handsome American robins and purple grackles that all were watching for earthworms and other invertebrates to eat. The grackles were attractive in their iridescent, purple feathers. But those robins and grackles won't be on that pasture long because they will be restless to keep moving to their nesting territories.
A pair of resident mallard ducks swam on the stream, and the hen probably is working on laying a clutch of about `12 eggs, one per day, in a grassy nest among the matted-down reed canary-grass. Meanwhile, a pair of resident Canada geese and a pair of migrant American wigeons grazed on short grass in the meadow. The female goose probably had a partial clutch of eggs in the sheltering shoreline grass, but the wigeons will migrate to northwestern North America to nest.
A couple of hen wood ducks raised broods on this stretch of stream in the past few years because local farmers erected a few wood duck nest boxes by this waterway. Probably, one to three female woodies will rear ducklings here again this year.
A flock of half a dozen pretty rock pigeons swirled over the meadow and stream and landed on rocks in shallow water. There the pigeons drank by pumping the water up their beaks and throats much like mammals do. Pigeons originally nested on rock cliffs above the Mediterranean Sea and fed on seeds and grain in nearby fields. Today, pigeons in America nest in barns and under bridges, but still feed on seeds and grains in agricultural areas.
About four striking, male red-winged blackbirds sang from grass stems and tree twigs along the waterway. Their red shoulder patches are quite visible when they raise their wings with each song. The singing and banner-like shoulder patches attract female red-wings for mating and rearing young, and repel rival, male red-wings. A few female red-winged blackbirds will hatch babies in grass nurseries, each one attached to a few tall stems of reed canary-grass on the banks of the waterway.
A couple pairs each of permanent resident song sparrows and northern cardinals live in the tiny, streamside thickets. These species of attractive, small birds are very adaptable and nest in woodland edges, hedgerows and older suburban areas with their many larger bushes.
A pair of mourning doves walked along the water's edge ingesting grass seeds and tiny stones to grind those seeds in their stomachs. These doves are related to rock pigeons, but native to North America. They mostly eat grain in fields and raise young in shrubbery.
I also spotted a couple of small, migrant male birds of two species in the meadow. One was a beautiful eastern bluebird perched on a fence post to watch for insects in the grass. The other was a tree swallow careening over the pasture and stream after flying insects to ingest. The white of his belly alerted me to his presence. But since I didn't see any bird boxes erected anywhere, I don't think either male would stay in that meadow to attract a mate for raising young in that pasture.
Lots of raccoon tracks in streamside mud and muskrat droppings on mid-stream rocks indicated the presence of those two mammal species. And since this time of the year is the breeding season for both species, there must be much activity by these animals at night.
I always like to experience life in human-made habitats. To me, those species of life have a future in spite of what we do as a society, and in many cases BECAUSE of what we do. Adapting to less than ideal conditions helps secure many species of life into the future.
There was a small variety of adaptable and interesting wildlife on the stream and in the pasture and thickets on the 19th, as there often is in that meadow in spite of its sparse cover. And those species of wildlife help demonstrate how they use built habitats to their own benefit.
The meadow on both sides of the stream, and some of the trees along that waterway, were liberally sprinkled with migrant and handsome American robins and purple grackles that all were watching for earthworms and other invertebrates to eat. The grackles were attractive in their iridescent, purple feathers. But those robins and grackles won't be on that pasture long because they will be restless to keep moving to their nesting territories.
A pair of resident mallard ducks swam on the stream, and the hen probably is working on laying a clutch of about `12 eggs, one per day, in a grassy nest among the matted-down reed canary-grass. Meanwhile, a pair of resident Canada geese and a pair of migrant American wigeons grazed on short grass in the meadow. The female goose probably had a partial clutch of eggs in the sheltering shoreline grass, but the wigeons will migrate to northwestern North America to nest.
A couple of hen wood ducks raised broods on this stretch of stream in the past few years because local farmers erected a few wood duck nest boxes by this waterway. Probably, one to three female woodies will rear ducklings here again this year.
A flock of half a dozen pretty rock pigeons swirled over the meadow and stream and landed on rocks in shallow water. There the pigeons drank by pumping the water up their beaks and throats much like mammals do. Pigeons originally nested on rock cliffs above the Mediterranean Sea and fed on seeds and grain in nearby fields. Today, pigeons in America nest in barns and under bridges, but still feed on seeds and grains in agricultural areas.
About four striking, male red-winged blackbirds sang from grass stems and tree twigs along the waterway. Their red shoulder patches are quite visible when they raise their wings with each song. The singing and banner-like shoulder patches attract female red-wings for mating and rearing young, and repel rival, male red-wings. A few female red-winged blackbirds will hatch babies in grass nurseries, each one attached to a few tall stems of reed canary-grass on the banks of the waterway.
A couple pairs each of permanent resident song sparrows and northern cardinals live in the tiny, streamside thickets. These species of attractive, small birds are very adaptable and nest in woodland edges, hedgerows and older suburban areas with their many larger bushes.
A pair of mourning doves walked along the water's edge ingesting grass seeds and tiny stones to grind those seeds in their stomachs. These doves are related to rock pigeons, but native to North America. They mostly eat grain in fields and raise young in shrubbery.
I also spotted a couple of small, migrant male birds of two species in the meadow. One was a beautiful eastern bluebird perched on a fence post to watch for insects in the grass. The other was a tree swallow careening over the pasture and stream after flying insects to ingest. The white of his belly alerted me to his presence. But since I didn't see any bird boxes erected anywhere, I don't think either male would stay in that meadow to attract a mate for raising young in that pasture.
Lots of raccoon tracks in streamside mud and muskrat droppings on mid-stream rocks indicated the presence of those two mammal species. And since this time of the year is the breeding season for both species, there must be much activity by these animals at night.
I always like to experience life in human-made habitats. To me, those species of life have a future in spite of what we do as a society, and in many cases BECAUSE of what we do. Adapting to less than ideal conditions helps secure many species of life into the future.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Stately Woodpeckers
In recent years I have been seeing and hearing pileated woodpeckers in patches of woods and wooded recreational parks where, years ago, I never expected to see them. And I have been seeing them more frequently than I did years ago. They're even nesting in places where many years ago one would not expect to see them at all. Pileateds are attached to large stretches of mature trees, but since many of Pennsylvania's forests have been cut, these adaptable woodpeckers are adjusting to second-growth woods and smaller patches of deciduous woods.
Pileated woodpeckers are two feet tall and stately. Big as a crow, this type of woodpecker is about 18 inches long, with a wingspan of 28 inches, and weighs around 12 ounces. The magnificent pileateds are mostly black, with white stripes on the face and neck and white on the front of each wing, which are seen when the birds fly. Both genders have flaming red crests, but those on males are bigger than on females. And males have red moustaches while females have black ones. The cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker, with his crazy laugh, was modeled after this kind of North American woodpecker with a loud, laugh-like call.
Pileated woodpeckers are permanent residents in forests in the eastern United States, across Canada and down the Pacific Coast. However, they have been adapting to less than forest habitats in the last several years, so today we also see them inhabiting woodlots, wooded parkland and large, older suburban areas with many tall trees. Their adapting has increased their breeding potential and their numbers, which is good for us who like to see these exciting birds.
Big as they are, pileated woodpeckers have all the unique characteristics of their family. They have stiff feathers on their six-inch tails that help hold them upright on tree trunks while they search for food or create nesting cavities. Each foot has two toes in the front and two in back, which is different than the toe arrangement on most bird species. Woodpeckers' sharp-nailed toes allow them to cling to vertical tree bark. Pileateds' two-inch beaks are hard and sharp to chisel into dead wood after invertebrate food and to carve out nesting cavities. Woodpecker heads are reinforced with bone to withstand the blows of the striking bills. Pileateds' have an undulating flight, as do all their kin. And all woodpecker species have long, sticky tongues that are anchored on the birds' foreheads under the skin, wrap over the skull and lie in the long beaks. After woodpeckers chip into insect tunnels in dead wood, they run their tongues into those burrows. Insects stick to their tongues and they pull their tongues out to swallow the invertebrates.
Pileateds are also unique in that they chisel out deep, vertically-rectangular holes in dead wood when searching for food. Even if we don't see or hear pileateds in a woodland, we know they are there because of those holes in trees that only this big, majestic woodpecker produces.
Like all their family members, pileateds carve out nurseries for young in dead wood in woodlands and other wooded habitats. Each pair annually raises three or four offspring. When the youngsters are ready to fledge their tree nurseries, they, too, have red crests on their heads.
Other kinds of woodland critters use abandoned woodpecker holes, including the large ones of pileateds. Wood ducks, barred owls, screech owls, squirrels, raccoons and other species live in deserted pileated holes, and raise young in them, as well.
The big, beautiful pileated woodpeckers are always exciting to experience. And because of their adaptations to less than ideal conditions for them, they are increasing in numbers and living where they had not for many years. They benefit from their adjustments and so do we.
Pileated woodpeckers are two feet tall and stately. Big as a crow, this type of woodpecker is about 18 inches long, with a wingspan of 28 inches, and weighs around 12 ounces. The magnificent pileateds are mostly black, with white stripes on the face and neck and white on the front of each wing, which are seen when the birds fly. Both genders have flaming red crests, but those on males are bigger than on females. And males have red moustaches while females have black ones. The cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker, with his crazy laugh, was modeled after this kind of North American woodpecker with a loud, laugh-like call.
Pileated woodpeckers are permanent residents in forests in the eastern United States, across Canada and down the Pacific Coast. However, they have been adapting to less than forest habitats in the last several years, so today we also see them inhabiting woodlots, wooded parkland and large, older suburban areas with many tall trees. Their adapting has increased their breeding potential and their numbers, which is good for us who like to see these exciting birds.
Big as they are, pileated woodpeckers have all the unique characteristics of their family. They have stiff feathers on their six-inch tails that help hold them upright on tree trunks while they search for food or create nesting cavities. Each foot has two toes in the front and two in back, which is different than the toe arrangement on most bird species. Woodpeckers' sharp-nailed toes allow them to cling to vertical tree bark. Pileateds' two-inch beaks are hard and sharp to chisel into dead wood after invertebrate food and to carve out nesting cavities. Woodpecker heads are reinforced with bone to withstand the blows of the striking bills. Pileateds' have an undulating flight, as do all their kin. And all woodpecker species have long, sticky tongues that are anchored on the birds' foreheads under the skin, wrap over the skull and lie in the long beaks. After woodpeckers chip into insect tunnels in dead wood, they run their tongues into those burrows. Insects stick to their tongues and they pull their tongues out to swallow the invertebrates.
Pileateds are also unique in that they chisel out deep, vertically-rectangular holes in dead wood when searching for food. Even if we don't see or hear pileateds in a woodland, we know they are there because of those holes in trees that only this big, majestic woodpecker produces.
Like all their family members, pileateds carve out nurseries for young in dead wood in woodlands and other wooded habitats. Each pair annually raises three or four offspring. When the youngsters are ready to fledge their tree nurseries, they, too, have red crests on their heads.
Other kinds of woodland critters use abandoned woodpecker holes, including the large ones of pileateds. Wood ducks, barred owls, screech owls, squirrels, raccoons and other species live in deserted pileated holes, and raise young in them, as well.
The big, beautiful pileated woodpeckers are always exciting to experience. And because of their adaptations to less than ideal conditions for them, they are increasing in numbers and living where they had not for many years. They benefit from their adjustments and so do we.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Red Maple Flowers
I have been seeing beautiful red maple tree flowers blooming abundantly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania's bottomland woods, and suburban areas, in the last few days. Every year, red maples in this area begin to bloom any time from mid-March to late March, depending on the weather. The flowers develop before the leaves do, making those blooms stand out against the still-gray bark of deciduous trees. And those multitudes of striking, red blossoms are pleasing to see, particularly against a blue sky, and when a few purple grackles, American robins or a pair of eastern bluebirds are perched among them.
Red maple flowers reach their peak of blooming when silver maple tree blooms and pussy willow catkins are fading. Red maple blossoms are prevalent in moist woods and suburbs when hepatica and crocuses are also blooming. And red maples bloom when wood frogs and spotted salamanders are finishing their spawning in woodland pools of rain water and snow melt and spring peepers and American toads are starting their ancient calling and spawning in wooded swamps dominated by red canopies of red maple flowers.
Red maple trees are well-named because several parts of them are red. Red maples have red buds and twigs in winter. They sport red flowers in spring. In summer, they have red petioles and seeds. And they are covered with red foliage in autumn. But their bark is always pale-gray, and smooth on young trees.
Red maples are adaptable trees, living from sea level to about 3,000 feet up mountain slopes in the eastern half of the Lower 48 of the United States. They are pioneer trees, colonizing bare ground, particularly where the soil is moist. Red maples are commonly planted on lawns because of their lovely shapes, the shade they offer in summer and their strikingly red flowers and autumn leaves.
Some red maple trees are male and some are female. The flowers of each have five small petals and droop in clusters from the tips of twigs. Female blooms are larger and droopier. Male blossoms have yellow anthers, the part of the stamens where pollen is produced. Pollen is carried on the wind and by bees to the female flowers that produce the red, winged seeds.
Maple trees furnish food for a variety of wildlife in a year's time. White-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares and beavers are some of the mammal's that eat their twigs, buds and bark. A small variety of squirrels and mice consume their winged seeds. The seeds' wings carry them on the wind to distant places where they might take root.
Red maple trees are beautiful throughout the year, but especially in spring with red flowers and fall with red foliage. And those blooms and leaves are made the more lovely when seen against blue skies and when birds are perched among maple branches.
Red maple flowers reach their peak of blooming when silver maple tree blooms and pussy willow catkins are fading. Red maple blossoms are prevalent in moist woods and suburbs when hepatica and crocuses are also blooming. And red maples bloom when wood frogs and spotted salamanders are finishing their spawning in woodland pools of rain water and snow melt and spring peepers and American toads are starting their ancient calling and spawning in wooded swamps dominated by red canopies of red maple flowers.
Red maple trees are well-named because several parts of them are red. Red maples have red buds and twigs in winter. They sport red flowers in spring. In summer, they have red petioles and seeds. And they are covered with red foliage in autumn. But their bark is always pale-gray, and smooth on young trees.
Red maples are adaptable trees, living from sea level to about 3,000 feet up mountain slopes in the eastern half of the Lower 48 of the United States. They are pioneer trees, colonizing bare ground, particularly where the soil is moist. Red maples are commonly planted on lawns because of their lovely shapes, the shade they offer in summer and their strikingly red flowers and autumn leaves.
Some red maple trees are male and some are female. The flowers of each have five small petals and droop in clusters from the tips of twigs. Female blooms are larger and droopier. Male blossoms have yellow anthers, the part of the stamens where pollen is produced. Pollen is carried on the wind and by bees to the female flowers that produce the red, winged seeds.
Maple trees furnish food for a variety of wildlife in a year's time. White-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares and beavers are some of the mammal's that eat their twigs, buds and bark. A small variety of squirrels and mice consume their winged seeds. The seeds' wings carry them on the wind to distant places where they might take root.
Red maple trees are beautiful throughout the year, but especially in spring with red flowers and fall with red foliage. And those blooms and leaves are made the more lovely when seen against blue skies and when birds are perched among maple branches.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Spring in our Neighborhood
Flock after honking flock of Canada geese in large V's and long lines poured swiftly over our neighborhood and much of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for a couple hours in the morning of March 8. Beautiful goose music continually tumbled to Earth like rain, exciting those who enjoy hearing the geese. The temperature was in the 60's under a sunny sky with little wind, the final stimulus that pushed those geese into starting their migration north to their breeding areas in Canada. That long parade of goose flocks was exciting and inspiring to experience. It heralded the presence of spring and represented the beauties and intrigues of nature.
There were other delights of the vernal season in our neighborhood that morning as well. A colony of over 20 purple grackles was everywhere, including courting in the trees, feeding on invertebrates on the ground and flying from place to place in pairs and small groups.
Purple grackles are striking with purple sheen on their black feathers, big, black beaks, long tails and legs and yellow irises. The robust males are particularly majestic when they lift their wings and puff up their feathers in courtship displays to female grackles. I could hear their creaking, screeching calls with each display. Within a couple of weeks, this species of blackbirds will nest as a colony in a clump of half-grown coniferous trees in our neighborhood, as they have for the past several years.
And during that same morning, I heard the courtship sounds of permanent resident, male birds attracting females of their respective kinds to pair up to produce young. Male mourning doves cooed and engaged in courtship flights with deep wing beats and long glides in circles over their nesting territories. A few northern cardinals and one each of song sparrow and Carolina wren sang repeatedly from trees and shrubbery. And I heard a downy woodpecker drilling rapidly on a dead limb, which, for him, was a courtship display. All that charming bird music was delightful to hear at winter's end.
A pair of American robins was on our lawn, as there is every year by mid-March. The robins seemed mostly interested in eating invertebrates from our lawn, but occasionally appeared to be looking for a nesting site among the taller shrubbery. I believe they intended to nest here.
That day, too, little gangs of house sparrows, that lived peacefully all winter, were visiting sheltered nesting sites, and fighting over some of them. One group of fighting males tumbled into the street. Good thing for them there was no traffic at the time.
While all that bird activity was happening on such a beautiful, warm day, I visited little flower beds in our yard to inspect the blooms. White snow drop blooms, yellow winter aconite blossoms and Lenten roses were all blooming, as they should be by this time. And our two pussy willow bushes had many furry, gray catkins on them, making our lawn the more interesting.
March 8 this year was a beautiful, exciting day right here at home. Most everywhere on Earth has as much nature, or more. We need only get out to enjoy nature's intrigues.
There were other delights of the vernal season in our neighborhood that morning as well. A colony of over 20 purple grackles was everywhere, including courting in the trees, feeding on invertebrates on the ground and flying from place to place in pairs and small groups.
Purple grackles are striking with purple sheen on their black feathers, big, black beaks, long tails and legs and yellow irises. The robust males are particularly majestic when they lift their wings and puff up their feathers in courtship displays to female grackles. I could hear their creaking, screeching calls with each display. Within a couple of weeks, this species of blackbirds will nest as a colony in a clump of half-grown coniferous trees in our neighborhood, as they have for the past several years.
And during that same morning, I heard the courtship sounds of permanent resident, male birds attracting females of their respective kinds to pair up to produce young. Male mourning doves cooed and engaged in courtship flights with deep wing beats and long glides in circles over their nesting territories. A few northern cardinals and one each of song sparrow and Carolina wren sang repeatedly from trees and shrubbery. And I heard a downy woodpecker drilling rapidly on a dead limb, which, for him, was a courtship display. All that charming bird music was delightful to hear at winter's end.
A pair of American robins was on our lawn, as there is every year by mid-March. The robins seemed mostly interested in eating invertebrates from our lawn, but occasionally appeared to be looking for a nesting site among the taller shrubbery. I believe they intended to nest here.
That day, too, little gangs of house sparrows, that lived peacefully all winter, were visiting sheltered nesting sites, and fighting over some of them. One group of fighting males tumbled into the street. Good thing for them there was no traffic at the time.
While all that bird activity was happening on such a beautiful, warm day, I visited little flower beds in our yard to inspect the blooms. White snow drop blooms, yellow winter aconite blossoms and Lenten roses were all blooming, as they should be by this time. And our two pussy willow bushes had many furry, gray catkins on them, making our lawn the more interesting.
March 8 this year was a beautiful, exciting day right here at home. Most everywhere on Earth has as much nature, or more. We need only get out to enjoy nature's intrigues.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
A Soggy Meadow in March
In the early afternoon of March 10, I visited a soggy, bottomland cow pasture in lovely Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland a couple miles north of New Holland to see if there were water-loving birds visible there. There were; over 200 resident Canada geese, about 20 resident mallard ducks, around 12 migrant American wigeon ducks, two pairs of migrant shoveler ducks and a pair of wood ducks. All those geese and ducks appeared to be quite comfortable in that short-grass and sedge meadow of puddles, a quarter-acre, shallow pond and saturated soil. The mallards rested on the edges of the pools while the Canadas and wigeons grazed on grass. The wood ducks were loafing on a puddle, but they will search for an abandoned cavity in one of several white oak and sycamore trees that line one edge of this wet pasture. The woody hen will lay up to a dozen eggs in that hollow. And a couple pairs each of Canadas and mallards will hatch young in grassy nurseries on the ground.
I saw a few other kinds of birds on that soggy meadow on March 10, including a pair of killdeer plovers, a few Wilson's snipe, a handful of male red-winged blackbirds, and a few each of purple grackles and American robins. The killdeer will nest on a bare-ground spot somewhere in or near that pasture and their four chicks will run over the meadow and fields after invertebrates. Snipe winter around the puddles, as long as they are not frozen. They poke their long beaks into mud under the inch-deep water to pull out invertebrates. The male red-wings sang their "konk-ga-reeee" songs from swaying cattails in the pasture, reeds their future mates will build grassy cradles on. And the grackles and robins moved over the grass to consume earthworms and other invertebrates.
I have seen these same kinds of birds in March in years past, plus, sometimes, a few each of migrating northern pintail ducks and green-winged teal ducks. Mallards, wigeons, shovelers, pintails, teal and a few other types of ducks are called puddle ducks because they are at home in shallow pools, such as in this meadow, where they get some of their food. Drakes of these species are colorful and attractive, but their mates are brown and streaked, to blend into their habitats for safety, especially when they are brooding eggs and raising ducklings. Of all these puddle ducks, only mallards nest here regularly and in good numbers. All the other species travel north or west to hatch young.
Check out soggy, bottomland cow pastures in March for a variety of ducks and other kinds of birds that might be feeding there before moving on. Those birds make March meadows interesting.
I saw a few other kinds of birds on that soggy meadow on March 10, including a pair of killdeer plovers, a few Wilson's snipe, a handful of male red-winged blackbirds, and a few each of purple grackles and American robins. The killdeer will nest on a bare-ground spot somewhere in or near that pasture and their four chicks will run over the meadow and fields after invertebrates. Snipe winter around the puddles, as long as they are not frozen. They poke their long beaks into mud under the inch-deep water to pull out invertebrates. The male red-wings sang their "konk-ga-reeee" songs from swaying cattails in the pasture, reeds their future mates will build grassy cradles on. And the grackles and robins moved over the grass to consume earthworms and other invertebrates.
I have seen these same kinds of birds in March in years past, plus, sometimes, a few each of migrating northern pintail ducks and green-winged teal ducks. Mallards, wigeons, shovelers, pintails, teal and a few other types of ducks are called puddle ducks because they are at home in shallow pools, such as in this meadow, where they get some of their food. Drakes of these species are colorful and attractive, but their mates are brown and streaked, to blend into their habitats for safety, especially when they are brooding eggs and raising ducklings. Of all these puddle ducks, only mallards nest here regularly and in good numbers. All the other species travel north or west to hatch young.
Check out soggy, bottomland cow pastures in March for a variety of ducks and other kinds of birds that might be feeding there before moving on. Those birds make March meadows interesting.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Spring is Here !!
Spring in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania comes sooner than our calendar indicates. To me, spring, in spite of temporary weather conditions, is here by the middle of February and there are several signs of its arrival. By mid-February into March, mourning doves coo, and permanent resident tufted titmice, northern cardinals and song sparrows sing. Male American woodcocks engage in their evening courtship displays and wood chucks and eastern chipmunks are visible above ground. Snow drops, winter aconites and pussy willows are blooming and, unfortunately, a few each of striped skunks, opossums, cottontail rabbits and other medium-sized mammals are killed on streets and roads. Most of those mammals probably were males looking for mates in unfamiliar terrain.
And there are several other, more obvious, symbols of the vernal season's arrival in the latter half of February into early March- the great migrations of waterfowl (geese, swans and ducks), a variety of blackbirds, ring-billed gulls and American robins.
Snow geese are the single most spectacular migrant species in this county with 65,000 to 150,000 birds strong, most of which rest on the human-made impoundment at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area like a covering of snow. Snow geese rest, feed and travel in great masses, creating breath-taking shows that many people enjoy. But these magnificent snow geese movements are unpredictable, especially in their landing on feeding fields. So many snows land in a harvested corn field to eat corn kernels or in a winter rye field to consume the green shoots of rye that they exhaust that food within hours and have to fly to another field, and then another. And because farmers rotate crops, snow geese land in different fields from one year to the next.
Snow geese often take flight from the ground or water in one tremendous mass that shuts out background scenery, as would a blizzard. One end of a horde of snows takes flight and the rest follow in sequence like a sheet being lifted from a bed until all are in the air, with an uproar of excited honking and beating wings, without a single collision and causing unforgettable sights.
Snow geese are really something to experience early each spring.
As many as 8,000 migrant tundra swans stop at Middle Creek's lake in February into early March. They rest on the main impoundment, but apart from the snow geese, and feed on waste corn kernels and winter rye shoots in nearby fields. The elegant swans gather in much smaller groups than the snow geese, but the stately swans are just as inspiring to experience. Small groups of swans take off from water or field, flock after beautiful flock, and follow each other through the air to either field or water. Sometime in March, depending on the weather, snow geese and tundra swans continue their migrations north, little by little, through Canada and arrive on the Arctic tundra to nest by mid-May.
Thousands of Canada geese winter on various creeks and impoundments here. But sometime in March, when the weather warms, thousands of these geese leave the Chesapeake Bay Area and for a few hours pour over Lancaster County, flock after noisy flock, on their way north to raise young in Canada. The overwhelming passage of the majestic Canadas, flock after swiftly-moving, noisy flock, are exciting to experience. And usually, at the same time, snow geese and tundra swans start north as well, often exiting this area overnight.
Meanwhile, several kinds of ducks migrate through Lancaster County on their way north or west to rear offspring. The most notable kinds of ducks are northern pintails, American wigeons, ring-necked ducks and wood ducks. Pintails engage in swift courtship flights when on migration. A single hen is pursued by a few drakes. And the male that keeps up with her will be her mate. American wigeons graze on grass as do Canada and snow geese. Little groups of ring-necks dive under the water of ponds to consume aquatic vegetation. And some of the wood ducks nest here. One can see pairs of lithe woodies inspecting unused tree hollows and wood duck nest boxes along creeks and ponds for suitable nurseries.
Late in February and through much of March, great mixed rivers of thousands of purple grackles, red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds and starlings pour into Lancaster County. Those hordes of various blackbird species flood into fields, meadows and lawns to search for invertebrates. But like snow geese, these tremendous flocks of blackbirds are forever on the move from field to pasture in their search for food. And like snow geese, blackbirds block out the background scenery with their tremendous numbers, but with black, not white. One can see the lovely purple sheen on the grackles and the striking red "coals" on the shoulders of the red-wings as their overwhelming swarms fly from banquet to banquet. But within a week or two, those blackbird hordes scatter to nesting sites; the grackles among coniferous trees and the red-wings in cattail marshes.
Flocks of migrant, soaring ring-billed gulls drop to fields, mostly plowed ones, to feed on earthworms and other kinds of invertebrates. Horses or tractors pulling plows are a dinner bell to ring-bills, many of which land in furrows right behind the plows to get food.
And gatherings of American robins suddenly show up on lawns, pastures and fields where there had not been robins all winter, exciting many people ready for spring. These robins are migrants from farther south and they stop to feed on earthworms and other invertebrates before continuing their flights north. Each robin quietly runs and stops, runs and stops, while watching for food, entertaining many of the people who see them.
Many people think robins are a sign of spring, and the migrants are. But migrating geese, swans, ducks, blackbirds and ring-bills are as well. Get out to see these migrants to get a spring tonic, if not this year, hopefully next year, or the next.
And there are several other, more obvious, symbols of the vernal season's arrival in the latter half of February into early March- the great migrations of waterfowl (geese, swans and ducks), a variety of blackbirds, ring-billed gulls and American robins.
Snow geese are the single most spectacular migrant species in this county with 65,000 to 150,000 birds strong, most of which rest on the human-made impoundment at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area like a covering of snow. Snow geese rest, feed and travel in great masses, creating breath-taking shows that many people enjoy. But these magnificent snow geese movements are unpredictable, especially in their landing on feeding fields. So many snows land in a harvested corn field to eat corn kernels or in a winter rye field to consume the green shoots of rye that they exhaust that food within hours and have to fly to another field, and then another. And because farmers rotate crops, snow geese land in different fields from one year to the next.
Snow geese often take flight from the ground or water in one tremendous mass that shuts out background scenery, as would a blizzard. One end of a horde of snows takes flight and the rest follow in sequence like a sheet being lifted from a bed until all are in the air, with an uproar of excited honking and beating wings, without a single collision and causing unforgettable sights.
Snow geese are really something to experience early each spring.
As many as 8,000 migrant tundra swans stop at Middle Creek's lake in February into early March. They rest on the main impoundment, but apart from the snow geese, and feed on waste corn kernels and winter rye shoots in nearby fields. The elegant swans gather in much smaller groups than the snow geese, but the stately swans are just as inspiring to experience. Small groups of swans take off from water or field, flock after beautiful flock, and follow each other through the air to either field or water. Sometime in March, depending on the weather, snow geese and tundra swans continue their migrations north, little by little, through Canada and arrive on the Arctic tundra to nest by mid-May.
Thousands of Canada geese winter on various creeks and impoundments here. But sometime in March, when the weather warms, thousands of these geese leave the Chesapeake Bay Area and for a few hours pour over Lancaster County, flock after noisy flock, on their way north to raise young in Canada. The overwhelming passage of the majestic Canadas, flock after swiftly-moving, noisy flock, are exciting to experience. And usually, at the same time, snow geese and tundra swans start north as well, often exiting this area overnight.
Meanwhile, several kinds of ducks migrate through Lancaster County on their way north or west to rear offspring. The most notable kinds of ducks are northern pintails, American wigeons, ring-necked ducks and wood ducks. Pintails engage in swift courtship flights when on migration. A single hen is pursued by a few drakes. And the male that keeps up with her will be her mate. American wigeons graze on grass as do Canada and snow geese. Little groups of ring-necks dive under the water of ponds to consume aquatic vegetation. And some of the wood ducks nest here. One can see pairs of lithe woodies inspecting unused tree hollows and wood duck nest boxes along creeks and ponds for suitable nurseries.
Late in February and through much of March, great mixed rivers of thousands of purple grackles, red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds and starlings pour into Lancaster County. Those hordes of various blackbird species flood into fields, meadows and lawns to search for invertebrates. But like snow geese, these tremendous flocks of blackbirds are forever on the move from field to pasture in their search for food. And like snow geese, blackbirds block out the background scenery with their tremendous numbers, but with black, not white. One can see the lovely purple sheen on the grackles and the striking red "coals" on the shoulders of the red-wings as their overwhelming swarms fly from banquet to banquet. But within a week or two, those blackbird hordes scatter to nesting sites; the grackles among coniferous trees and the red-wings in cattail marshes.
Flocks of migrant, soaring ring-billed gulls drop to fields, mostly plowed ones, to feed on earthworms and other kinds of invertebrates. Horses or tractors pulling plows are a dinner bell to ring-bills, many of which land in furrows right behind the plows to get food.
And gatherings of American robins suddenly show up on lawns, pastures and fields where there had not been robins all winter, exciting many people ready for spring. These robins are migrants from farther south and they stop to feed on earthworms and other invertebrates before continuing their flights north. Each robin quietly runs and stops, runs and stops, while watching for food, entertaining many of the people who see them.
Many people think robins are a sign of spring, and the migrants are. But migrating geese, swans, ducks, blackbirds and ring-bills are as well. Get out to see these migrants to get a spring tonic, if not this year, hopefully next year, or the next.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
All-Habitat Woodpeckers
One day in the middle of May a few years ago, I was walking along main street of our small town and happened to notice a downy woodpecker land on a tree near me along the walk. The bird had insects in its beak, hitched up the tree about a foot and disappeared into a round hollow it chipped into a dead limb on that tree. When it came out of its cavity, I noticed it was a female downy. I was amazed that a woodland bird would be nesting in a planted tree along a sidewalk on busy main street in a town.
Occasionally, I have seen red-bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers wintering or nesting in this same neighborhood. Again, I marveled at those woodpeckers' ability to adapt to less than ideal, woodland conditions.
Seven kinds of woodpeckers live in southeastern Pennsylvania at some time of the year, including downy, hairy, red-headed, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers, northern flickers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. All these species are adaptable and common in this area. And, as their family name implies, woodpecker species developed first in woodlands. But only permanent resident downies and red-bellies and partly migrant flickers commonly inhabit woods, and human-made suburban areas and meadows studded with trees.
All woodpecker species chip into the dead wood of trees to enter the tunnels of insects. Then woodpeckers run their long, sticky tongues into the insect burrows to capture the insects, pull them out and swallow them.
All woodpecker species chisel out nesting cavities, of different sizes, depending on the kind of bird, in dead wood to raise young. Many of those woodpecker nurseries, when abandoned, are used by black rat snakes, honey bees, squirrels, raccoons, chickadees, bluebirds, screech owls and other kinds of creatures.
Woodpeckers, as a family, have a few characteristics that help them get their food in trees. All species have stiff tail feathers to help prop them up on the sides of trees. All species have two toes in front and two in back of each foot to help them cling to vertical bark. And all of them have heavily-boned skulls to withstand the blows their beaks deliver to dead wood.
Downy woodpeckers are the smallest species of their family in North America, being not much larger than a sparrow. Their feathering has a black and white pattern and male downies have a red spot on the back of the head.
Red-bellies are a southern species that pushed north in the early 1960's. Today it is one of the most common of woodpeckers in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere. And because it is larger and audibly boisterous, it is probably experienced here more than downies.
Red-bellies are robin-sized, and black and white striped, like a zebra, on top. Males have red feathers on top of the head and down the neck, while females have red down the neck.
Northern flickers are an unusual woodpecker. While most woodpeckers have black and white feathering, flickers are mostly brown with dark streaks and spots. And while most woodpeckers get invertebrate food in trees, flickers mostly eat ants in the ground. Flickers, therefore, are mostly brown to blend into their soil feeding niche, to avoid the attention of predators.
Woodpeckers, as a group, have several characteristics unique to themselves. And three species have adapted well to suburbs and certain pastures with trees in them. Those kinds of woodpeckers have additional nesting habitats to increase their numbers, and we have species of interesting birds rearing offspring close to home.
Occasionally, I have seen red-bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers wintering or nesting in this same neighborhood. Again, I marveled at those woodpeckers' ability to adapt to less than ideal, woodland conditions.
Seven kinds of woodpeckers live in southeastern Pennsylvania at some time of the year, including downy, hairy, red-headed, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers, northern flickers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. All these species are adaptable and common in this area. And, as their family name implies, woodpecker species developed first in woodlands. But only permanent resident downies and red-bellies and partly migrant flickers commonly inhabit woods, and human-made suburban areas and meadows studded with trees.
All woodpecker species chip into the dead wood of trees to enter the tunnels of insects. Then woodpeckers run their long, sticky tongues into the insect burrows to capture the insects, pull them out and swallow them.
All woodpecker species chisel out nesting cavities, of different sizes, depending on the kind of bird, in dead wood to raise young. Many of those woodpecker nurseries, when abandoned, are used by black rat snakes, honey bees, squirrels, raccoons, chickadees, bluebirds, screech owls and other kinds of creatures.
Woodpeckers, as a family, have a few characteristics that help them get their food in trees. All species have stiff tail feathers to help prop them up on the sides of trees. All species have two toes in front and two in back of each foot to help them cling to vertical bark. And all of them have heavily-boned skulls to withstand the blows their beaks deliver to dead wood.
Downy woodpeckers are the smallest species of their family in North America, being not much larger than a sparrow. Their feathering has a black and white pattern and male downies have a red spot on the back of the head.
Red-bellies are a southern species that pushed north in the early 1960's. Today it is one of the most common of woodpeckers in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere. And because it is larger and audibly boisterous, it is probably experienced here more than downies.
Red-bellies are robin-sized, and black and white striped, like a zebra, on top. Males have red feathers on top of the head and down the neck, while females have red down the neck.
Northern flickers are an unusual woodpecker. While most woodpeckers have black and white feathering, flickers are mostly brown with dark streaks and spots. And while most woodpeckers get invertebrate food in trees, flickers mostly eat ants in the ground. Flickers, therefore, are mostly brown to blend into their soil feeding niche, to avoid the attention of predators.
Woodpeckers, as a group, have several characteristics unique to themselves. And three species have adapted well to suburbs and certain pastures with trees in them. Those kinds of woodpeckers have additional nesting habitats to increase their numbers, and we have species of interesting birds rearing offspring close to home.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
March Meadows
Short-grass cow pastures in southeastern Pennsylvania are much like lawns. They have no cover for vertebrate creatures, but are a banquet table to muskrats and a small variety of birds, particularly in March.
Those meadows are grazed mostly by cattle and horses. The cattle provide milk and meat, the reason the pastures exist. Many of those meadows have a stream or creek flowing through them, and some pastures are dotted with trees and/or shrubbery.
Flocks of certain kinds of permanent resident or wintering birds get food in some meadows in winter, as long as the ground is snow-free. Canada geese eat the grass itself. House sparrows hop across pastures to consume seeds. Starlings, killdeer plovers and American pipits walk over the grass to catch invertebrates among the grasses; starlings poke their beaks down to the grassroots level to get food. Eastern bluebirds perch on twigs or fences to watch for flying insects on milder winter days. Bluebirds and starlings eat berries when insects are not available to them to eat.
As periods of daylight get longer each succeeding day from early January to the start of March and snow melts, a variety of migrating birds suddenly join the resident and wintering birds in local pastures during the beginning of March. Now American wigeon ducks and great masses of snow geese join Canada geese on some impoundments to rest, and certain meadows to graze on grass. Now, too, mallard ducks, northern pintail ducks, green-winged teal ducks and well-camouflaged and strikingly beautiful Wilson's snipe gather around puddles of rain and snow melt in meadows. The ducks swim in the shallows of those pools to ingest vegetation they dredge out of the mud with their shovel-like bills. The snipe are inland sandpipers, some of which patrolled the edges of meadow brooks for invertebrates through winter in this part of Pennsylvania. In March, the locally wintering snipe also wade in inches-deep water in partly-flooded meadows to poke their long beaks into the mud under the water to pull out invertebrates. And now some snipe are moving north a little and settling around pools in local pastures.
Mixed hordes of purple grackles, brown-headed cowbirds and male red-winged blackbirds pour like rivers into this area early in March. Those massive floods of blackbirds spread across fields, lawns and meadows to feed on seeds, grain and invertebrates. But soon they are in the air again to look for new feeding grounds, inundating each one with their tremendous numbers. When in flight, blackbird flocks block out the background scenery, and one can see thousands of red shoulder patches of male red-wings flickering like red-hot coals in a black furnace of coal. And all the while, one can hear their unending, vocal squeaking and wing-flapping. But soon those great gatherings disperse as pairs of birds seek nesting places to rear young, grackles mostly in coniferous trees and red-wings in cattail marshes for the most part.
Migrant ring-billed gulls and American robins also populate fields, lawns and cow pastures with their numbers early in March when they search for earthworms and other invertebrates to fuel themselves to continue their passages. Like the other avian March migrants, ring-bills and robins constantly move from place to place in their quest for food.
Gulls are pre-adapted to getting food on fields and meadows because of their evolving on beaches and salt marshes. But robins, a kind of thrush, developed as a species in shrubby clearings in eastern deciduous woodlands. Obviously, the robins made the greater, recent adjustment to open, human-made habitats, such as pastures.
All these meadow birds are interesting and exciting to see during their March migrations north to breeding grounds. It's not too late to get out to see some of these birds passing through and settling on pastures to feed, where they sometimes make great spectacles of themselves.
Those meadows are grazed mostly by cattle and horses. The cattle provide milk and meat, the reason the pastures exist. Many of those meadows have a stream or creek flowing through them, and some pastures are dotted with trees and/or shrubbery.
Flocks of certain kinds of permanent resident or wintering birds get food in some meadows in winter, as long as the ground is snow-free. Canada geese eat the grass itself. House sparrows hop across pastures to consume seeds. Starlings, killdeer plovers and American pipits walk over the grass to catch invertebrates among the grasses; starlings poke their beaks down to the grassroots level to get food. Eastern bluebirds perch on twigs or fences to watch for flying insects on milder winter days. Bluebirds and starlings eat berries when insects are not available to them to eat.
As periods of daylight get longer each succeeding day from early January to the start of March and snow melts, a variety of migrating birds suddenly join the resident and wintering birds in local pastures during the beginning of March. Now American wigeon ducks and great masses of snow geese join Canada geese on some impoundments to rest, and certain meadows to graze on grass. Now, too, mallard ducks, northern pintail ducks, green-winged teal ducks and well-camouflaged and strikingly beautiful Wilson's snipe gather around puddles of rain and snow melt in meadows. The ducks swim in the shallows of those pools to ingest vegetation they dredge out of the mud with their shovel-like bills. The snipe are inland sandpipers, some of which patrolled the edges of meadow brooks for invertebrates through winter in this part of Pennsylvania. In March, the locally wintering snipe also wade in inches-deep water in partly-flooded meadows to poke their long beaks into the mud under the water to pull out invertebrates. And now some snipe are moving north a little and settling around pools in local pastures.
Mixed hordes of purple grackles, brown-headed cowbirds and male red-winged blackbirds pour like rivers into this area early in March. Those massive floods of blackbirds spread across fields, lawns and meadows to feed on seeds, grain and invertebrates. But soon they are in the air again to look for new feeding grounds, inundating each one with their tremendous numbers. When in flight, blackbird flocks block out the background scenery, and one can see thousands of red shoulder patches of male red-wings flickering like red-hot coals in a black furnace of coal. And all the while, one can hear their unending, vocal squeaking and wing-flapping. But soon those great gatherings disperse as pairs of birds seek nesting places to rear young, grackles mostly in coniferous trees and red-wings in cattail marshes for the most part.
Migrant ring-billed gulls and American robins also populate fields, lawns and cow pastures with their numbers early in March when they search for earthworms and other invertebrates to fuel themselves to continue their passages. Like the other avian March migrants, ring-bills and robins constantly move from place to place in their quest for food.
Gulls are pre-adapted to getting food on fields and meadows because of their evolving on beaches and salt marshes. But robins, a kind of thrush, developed as a species in shrubby clearings in eastern deciduous woodlands. Obviously, the robins made the greater, recent adjustment to open, human-made habitats, such as pastures.
All these meadow birds are interesting and exciting to see during their March migrations north to breeding grounds. It's not too late to get out to see some of these birds passing through and settling on pastures to feed, where they sometimes make great spectacles of themselves.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Two Suckers
I have often seen two kinds of adaptable fish called white suckers and northern hog suckers in certain streams here in southeastern Pennsylvania. A couple of times I've watched white suckers spawning over gravel in the shallows of streams early in April. Spawning males had pink on their flanks and fins. And I've seen hog suckers pushing their big heads into stream bottom gravel to expose insect larvae, crayfish and other kinds of invertebrates.
Both these types of suckers commonly live in streams and creeks in the eastern half of the United States. In spring they spawn in the rocky shallows of those waterways, scattering their eggs randomly among the stones.
Suckers have down-turned mouths, which allows them to efficiently eat invertebrates, fish eggs and aquatic vegetation from stream bottoms. Small, young suckers ingest zooplankton and algae from those same waterway bottoms. Suckers' feeding on stream bottoms reduces competition for food with other species of fish that share waterways with them. Great blue herons, bald eagles, ospreys, mink and other fish eaters consume suckers, making them part of several food chains.
White suckers are plain and silvery, and can grow to be 24 inches long and about five pounds in weight. These adaptable fish can tolerate some pollution, silt, warm water and low oxygen in their streams. And they can live in ponds as well as running waterways.
White suckers are a fighrting fish if caught on a hook. And they are reputed to be good eating.
Hog suckers are a clean-bottom-only fish, including the cold water of trout and minnow streams with their numerous, gravelly riffles. None of these fish species can tolerate much pollution. The presence of hog suckers, trout and minnows in a stream indicates good water quality.
Hog suckers can be up to 22 inches long and weigh about four pounds. They are brown with darker stripes over their backs and down their flanks, coloration that allows them to blend in with their surroundings, which helps keep them safe from predators. Their lower fins, however, are dull red. They also have large, sturdy heads they use to turn stones over to get invertebrates.
Hog suckers spawn over stones in shallow, running water. Much thrashing and splashing is associated with their egg-laying.
Hog suckers live with and resemble minnow-sized Johnny darters on the stony bottoms of streams. Hog suckers and darters are the same colors and color patterns for camouflage on waterway gravel. Both kinds of fish rest on their fins on stream bottoms, but dart away when disturbed. Their similar adaptations to a mutual niche is called convergence.
The two common sucker species of southeastern Pennsylvania are each interesting in their own way. When along a gravelly stream, watch for these species of fish, as well as other kinds of interesting creatures.
Both these types of suckers commonly live in streams and creeks in the eastern half of the United States. In spring they spawn in the rocky shallows of those waterways, scattering their eggs randomly among the stones.
Suckers have down-turned mouths, which allows them to efficiently eat invertebrates, fish eggs and aquatic vegetation from stream bottoms. Small, young suckers ingest zooplankton and algae from those same waterway bottoms. Suckers' feeding on stream bottoms reduces competition for food with other species of fish that share waterways with them. Great blue herons, bald eagles, ospreys, mink and other fish eaters consume suckers, making them part of several food chains.
White suckers are plain and silvery, and can grow to be 24 inches long and about five pounds in weight. These adaptable fish can tolerate some pollution, silt, warm water and low oxygen in their streams. And they can live in ponds as well as running waterways.
White suckers are a fighrting fish if caught on a hook. And they are reputed to be good eating.
Hog suckers are a clean-bottom-only fish, including the cold water of trout and minnow streams with their numerous, gravelly riffles. None of these fish species can tolerate much pollution. The presence of hog suckers, trout and minnows in a stream indicates good water quality.
Hog suckers can be up to 22 inches long and weigh about four pounds. They are brown with darker stripes over their backs and down their flanks, coloration that allows them to blend in with their surroundings, which helps keep them safe from predators. Their lower fins, however, are dull red. They also have large, sturdy heads they use to turn stones over to get invertebrates.
Hog suckers spawn over stones in shallow, running water. Much thrashing and splashing is associated with their egg-laying.
Hog suckers live with and resemble minnow-sized Johnny darters on the stony bottoms of streams. Hog suckers and darters are the same colors and color patterns for camouflage on waterway gravel. Both kinds of fish rest on their fins on stream bottoms, but dart away when disturbed. Their similar adaptations to a mutual niche is called convergence.
The two common sucker species of southeastern Pennsylvania are each interesting in their own way. When along a gravelly stream, watch for these species of fish, as well as other kinds of interesting creatures.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Big, Soaring Birds
I often see four kinds of big, soaring birds over Lancaster County, Pennsylvania the year around. The four include turkey vultures, black vultures, red-tailed hawks and bald eagles. Not only are they adaptable and, therefore, common across most of North America, but large, too, making them easily seen, if one knows when and where to look. Spotting any of them is exciting, entertaining and inspiring. Each species has its own way of soaring effortlessly and gracefully, while expending little energy. And all these species nest here in Lancaster County, and across much of the continent.
Turkey vultures hold their wings in a shallow V and rock from wing tip to wing tip to maintain balance in the wind, which is also a sure way of identifying this species. They can soar for hours with scarcely a wing beat. Adults have naked red heads while younger birds have featherless, gray ones.
Turkey vultures are scavengers and find dead animals with their eyesight and acute sense of smell. They raise one or two young annually between boulders, in hollow, fallen logs, and cavities in the bases of standing trees, all in woodlands.
Black vultures are fairly recent additions to this county's avifauna, since the early 1970's. They are more common in the Deep South of the United States and in Central America and South America. They have black feathering and naked, dark heads at all ages. In the air, each black vulture alternately soars, flaps its wings as if in a panic, then sails again on flat wings. No other bird species in this area flies that way, making that flight pattern the key way of identifying black vultures. And each of these vultures has a white patch of feathers near the center of each wing.
Black vultures are also scavengers and they find food by sight and watching the turkey vultures for clues of carcasses. Black vultures being more aggressive their relatives, muscle in on the turkey vultures at a dead animal. Black vultures annually hatch a couple of youngsters in much the same places that turkey vultures do.
Bigger than crows, but smaller than vultures, red-tailed hawks are brown on top, which camouflages them when they perch upright in trees to ambush prey. But they are white below, with a band of dark streaks across their bellies. Adults have red-orange tails while young birds have brown ones. Red-tails sail and circle beautifully on flat wings, that are light underneath, for long periods of time when watching the ground for mice, rats, squirrels and other live prey.
Red-tails also scavenge dead animals, often competing with vultures for that food. And this type of hawk annually rears two to four offspring in a stick platform nursery high in trees in fields and older suburban areas.
But bald eagles are the most magnificent of these local birds in the air. They have a steady, majestic way of soaring on broad, flat wings. And the white heads and tails of the adults add to their stately bearing. Immature bald eagles are big, bulky and dark all over, with random patches of lighter coloring. Adult and young eagles alike have noticeably large beaks.
Happily, bald eagles seem to be most everywhere in Lancaster County these days. I've been seeing them ever more frequently. There are scores of them wintering at Safe Harbor Dam on the Susquehanna River. They are along other stretches of that river and large, human-made impoundments. They commonly winter in farmland, where they scavenge dead chickens and other farm animals. Late in February and into much of March I see several bald eagles that probably are migrating through this area. And some of these eagles raise young along the Susquehanna and certain built lakes, and in farmland.
Like red-tailed hawks, bald eagles are hunters and scavengers. They catch live fish, ducks and other critters. And they scavenge the same creatures, often competing with vultures, crows and red-tails for that food.
Watch the skies of Lancaster County, and elsewhere in North America, for these soaring birds. They are exciting and inspiring to see on the wing, circling high in the sky.
Turkey vultures hold their wings in a shallow V and rock from wing tip to wing tip to maintain balance in the wind, which is also a sure way of identifying this species. They can soar for hours with scarcely a wing beat. Adults have naked red heads while younger birds have featherless, gray ones.
Turkey vultures are scavengers and find dead animals with their eyesight and acute sense of smell. They raise one or two young annually between boulders, in hollow, fallen logs, and cavities in the bases of standing trees, all in woodlands.
Black vultures are fairly recent additions to this county's avifauna, since the early 1970's. They are more common in the Deep South of the United States and in Central America and South America. They have black feathering and naked, dark heads at all ages. In the air, each black vulture alternately soars, flaps its wings as if in a panic, then sails again on flat wings. No other bird species in this area flies that way, making that flight pattern the key way of identifying black vultures. And each of these vultures has a white patch of feathers near the center of each wing.
Black vultures are also scavengers and they find food by sight and watching the turkey vultures for clues of carcasses. Black vultures being more aggressive their relatives, muscle in on the turkey vultures at a dead animal. Black vultures annually hatch a couple of youngsters in much the same places that turkey vultures do.
Bigger than crows, but smaller than vultures, red-tailed hawks are brown on top, which camouflages them when they perch upright in trees to ambush prey. But they are white below, with a band of dark streaks across their bellies. Adults have red-orange tails while young birds have brown ones. Red-tails sail and circle beautifully on flat wings, that are light underneath, for long periods of time when watching the ground for mice, rats, squirrels and other live prey.
Red-tails also scavenge dead animals, often competing with vultures for that food. And this type of hawk annually rears two to four offspring in a stick platform nursery high in trees in fields and older suburban areas.
But bald eagles are the most magnificent of these local birds in the air. They have a steady, majestic way of soaring on broad, flat wings. And the white heads and tails of the adults add to their stately bearing. Immature bald eagles are big, bulky and dark all over, with random patches of lighter coloring. Adult and young eagles alike have noticeably large beaks.
Happily, bald eagles seem to be most everywhere in Lancaster County these days. I've been seeing them ever more frequently. There are scores of them wintering at Safe Harbor Dam on the Susquehanna River. They are along other stretches of that river and large, human-made impoundments. They commonly winter in farmland, where they scavenge dead chickens and other farm animals. Late in February and into much of March I see several bald eagles that probably are migrating through this area. And some of these eagles raise young along the Susquehanna and certain built lakes, and in farmland.
Like red-tailed hawks, bald eagles are hunters and scavengers. They catch live fish, ducks and other critters. And they scavenge the same creatures, often competing with vultures, crows and red-tails for that food.
Watch the skies of Lancaster County, and elsewhere in North America, for these soaring birds. They are exciting and inspiring to see on the wing, circling high in the sky.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Mill Creek Early in Spring
One late afternoon in February in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland, I visited a favorite, slow-moving part of Mill Creek to see what creatures were visible. Snow drifted across the land and the water rippled in the wind, making a wild and beautiful scene. A score of black ducks, several common mergansers and a few dozen Canada geese bobbed on the water's surface, while small groups of Canadas, one after another, descended into the wind and landed on the creek.
This section of Mill Creek has long been dammed, creating a lean, quarter-mile long "pond" with a very slow current. A thin, battered riparian woods with soggy ground, tall reed canary-grass, shrubs and skunk cabbage borders one shore of the creek while short-grass cow pastures edges the other. This diversity of habitat creates an oasis for adaptable wildlife in an area devoted entirely to the benefit of people.
Gatherings of resident Canada geese and mallard ducks are along this part of Mill Creek through winter, as long as the water is ice-free. And several each of migrant black ducks and common mergansers join the geese and mallards during February and March. The Canadas, mallards and black ducks leave the creek twice daily to feed on waste corn kernels in harvested fields and grass in the meadows. The mergansers dive under water from the surface to snare small fish. Drake mergansers are striking, being black on top and white on their flanks, with green heads and red beaks. Hen mergansers are gray with brown heads, which camouflages them.
Other kinds of waterfowl rest on this part of Mill Creek early in March every year, including occasional flocks of snow geese, and little groups of American wigeons and green-winged teal. All these birds feed in nearby fields with the Canada geese, mallards and black ducks.
I remember stopping by this part of Mill Creek one afternoon early in March to see what critters were visible. The creek was swollen and the bordering pasture was soggy and filled with puddles from rain and snow melt. The shoreline strip of trees and tall grass were gray and beige respectively, adding to the beauty of the setting. Common and hooded mergansers were diving for fish, while several black ducks and mallards, 20 green-winged teal, a few wigeons, a pair of northern pintail ducks and a dozen Canada geese flew to the nearby flooded pasture to shovel up vegetation. All those species of waterfowl made a lovely, intriguing scene that filled me with joy.
Early in March every year several pairs of wood ducks and a few pairs of hooded mergansers arrive on this stretch of Mill Creek from farther south. The mergansers soon move on, but some of the woody pairs stay and look for tree cavities and nest boxes they can use to hatch ducklings. One can see the lithe wood duck pairs perched comfortably high in the trees as the hens look for hollows.
A few other kinds of birds live along Mill Creek early in spring. Permanent resident song sparrows eat seeds and invertebrates in thickets along the shores of the creek. One can hear the males singing their lively, territorial songs.
One or two each of great blue herons and belted kingfishers catch fish here, but in different ways. The herons wade in the shallows of the creek while the kingfishers either perch on a limb hanging over the water or hover into the wind to watch for fish. Kingfishers dive bill-first into the water to seize their finny victims. Both bird species grab their prey with their long beaks.
A pair of bald eagles nests downstream a couple of miles. One of them sometimes perches in a big tree in this part of Mill Creek to catch larger fish from the creek.
A few pairs of red-winged blackbirds nest in the reed canary-grass and shrubbery along this part of Mill Creek every year. Males perch on bushes and tall grass to sing to establish territory, attract a mate and repel other male red-wings. A little later, female red-wings construct grassy nests in the vegetation described.
A few black-crowned night herons perch in the trees by day and fish along the creek at night. Several each of killdeer plovers and American robins move over the soaked meadow to catch and eat earthworms and other invertebrates coming out of the ground to avoid drowning.
Raccoons and muskrats live permanently along Mill Creek and are nocturnal. The coons hole up by day in tree hollows and abandoned wood chuck holes in the ground, while muskrats dig their own burrows in stream banks, beginning at the normal water level and slanting up to near the grass roots level. Coons are predatory, while muskrats eat many kinds of available vegetation.
This stretch of Mill Creek and its banks, like most waterways in this area, are a wildlife oasis for adaptable wildlife. And this particular oasis is most interesting to me during February and March.
This section of Mill Creek has long been dammed, creating a lean, quarter-mile long "pond" with a very slow current. A thin, battered riparian woods with soggy ground, tall reed canary-grass, shrubs and skunk cabbage borders one shore of the creek while short-grass cow pastures edges the other. This diversity of habitat creates an oasis for adaptable wildlife in an area devoted entirely to the benefit of people.
Gatherings of resident Canada geese and mallard ducks are along this part of Mill Creek through winter, as long as the water is ice-free. And several each of migrant black ducks and common mergansers join the geese and mallards during February and March. The Canadas, mallards and black ducks leave the creek twice daily to feed on waste corn kernels in harvested fields and grass in the meadows. The mergansers dive under water from the surface to snare small fish. Drake mergansers are striking, being black on top and white on their flanks, with green heads and red beaks. Hen mergansers are gray with brown heads, which camouflages them.
Other kinds of waterfowl rest on this part of Mill Creek early in March every year, including occasional flocks of snow geese, and little groups of American wigeons and green-winged teal. All these birds feed in nearby fields with the Canada geese, mallards and black ducks.
I remember stopping by this part of Mill Creek one afternoon early in March to see what critters were visible. The creek was swollen and the bordering pasture was soggy and filled with puddles from rain and snow melt. The shoreline strip of trees and tall grass were gray and beige respectively, adding to the beauty of the setting. Common and hooded mergansers were diving for fish, while several black ducks and mallards, 20 green-winged teal, a few wigeons, a pair of northern pintail ducks and a dozen Canada geese flew to the nearby flooded pasture to shovel up vegetation. All those species of waterfowl made a lovely, intriguing scene that filled me with joy.
Early in March every year several pairs of wood ducks and a few pairs of hooded mergansers arrive on this stretch of Mill Creek from farther south. The mergansers soon move on, but some of the woody pairs stay and look for tree cavities and nest boxes they can use to hatch ducklings. One can see the lithe wood duck pairs perched comfortably high in the trees as the hens look for hollows.
A few other kinds of birds live along Mill Creek early in spring. Permanent resident song sparrows eat seeds and invertebrates in thickets along the shores of the creek. One can hear the males singing their lively, territorial songs.
One or two each of great blue herons and belted kingfishers catch fish here, but in different ways. The herons wade in the shallows of the creek while the kingfishers either perch on a limb hanging over the water or hover into the wind to watch for fish. Kingfishers dive bill-first into the water to seize their finny victims. Both bird species grab their prey with their long beaks.
A pair of bald eagles nests downstream a couple of miles. One of them sometimes perches in a big tree in this part of Mill Creek to catch larger fish from the creek.
A few pairs of red-winged blackbirds nest in the reed canary-grass and shrubbery along this part of Mill Creek every year. Males perch on bushes and tall grass to sing to establish territory, attract a mate and repel other male red-wings. A little later, female red-wings construct grassy nests in the vegetation described.
A few black-crowned night herons perch in the trees by day and fish along the creek at night. Several each of killdeer plovers and American robins move over the soaked meadow to catch and eat earthworms and other invertebrates coming out of the ground to avoid drowning.
Raccoons and muskrats live permanently along Mill Creek and are nocturnal. The coons hole up by day in tree hollows and abandoned wood chuck holes in the ground, while muskrats dig their own burrows in stream banks, beginning at the normal water level and slanting up to near the grass roots level. Coons are predatory, while muskrats eat many kinds of available vegetation.
This stretch of Mill Creek and its banks, like most waterways in this area, are a wildlife oasis for adaptable wildlife. And this particular oasis is most interesting to me during February and March.
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