Birds at Manure

     Today I drove by a five foot tall, twenty foot long pile of chicken manure on the end of a field along the country road I was on.  But a score of beautiful barn swallows sweeping swiftly at once over and around that manure pile made me stop and watch that pile of chicken droppings more closely for about half an hour.  As always, the swallows were entertaining while zipping and weaving among each other, without collision, as they snapped up flies and other insects that were flying above the chicken droppings.  I know it was chicken waste because of the many white feathers in it. 
     I noticed, too, that several starlings, a pair of house sparrows and a northern mockingbird, all from a nearby suburban area, were on that pile of droppings and poked their beaks into crannies to pull out flies and other invertebrates.  The rummaging of those hungry birds after invertebrates in the manure stirred up some of the flies that were snared in mid-air by the equally ravenous swallows.  
     Some of the swallows took turns landing on the pile of droppings to rest for a short time.  Then I could better see their forked tails and beautiful feather coloring of metallic deep-purple on top and light-orange below. 
     While watching the birds on, or careening over, the manure pile, I thought it never ceases to amaze me how adaptable most forms of life are, even here on a pile of chicken poop.  Adaptable creatures readily take advantage of various kinds of shelters and food sources; really whatever is available.
     Probably that pile of chicken manure will be spread over the field it is on and the birds will have to find food elsewhere.  But, in the meantime, those adaptable and abundant birds getting food from that pile reminded me again of how versatile life is in seeking shelter and nutrition.  Being versatile is a key to success in a fast-changing world.       

Entertaining Meadow Wildlife

     I visited a short-grass meadow with a stream flowing through it for about an hour on April 28, 2016 to experience whatever beauties of nature I could.  This meadow is in a once-forested bottomland with constantly damp to wet soil.  But the woodland was long ago cleared to create the cow pasture, and the farmland that surrounds it.  All the plants and wild animals in this meadow were either introduced by people or adapted to human-made habitats. 
     I know a forest was here originally because of the patches of skunk cabbage plants in the pasture.  Skunk cabbage can tolerate shade and flourishes on wet forest floors.  But when the trees were removed to make the meadow, the skunk cabbage adapted to lots of direct sunlight and continued to thrive.
     Meanwhile, cattails and sedges that prefer ample sunlight took root among the skunk cabbage plants in this human-created pasture.  And so today skunk cabbage, cattails, sedges and a few trees all flourish among each other in an interesting plant community in the wetter parts of this short-grass meadow, the background for the entertaining and abundant species of birds I saw in it today.
     Several each of tree swallows and barn swallows were real entertainers in that pasture today.  Swallows of both kinds continually weaved and swooped among each other in mid-air, careening swiftly low to the ground and stream, without collision.  They were catching small, flying insects that are too small for us to see at any distance.  And both species were beautifully stream-lined and feathered, the tree swallows with metallic-blue upper parts and white under parts and the barn swallows being purple above and light orange below. 
     The barn swallows will nest in neighboring barns and some of the tree swallows will rear offspring in tree cavities and bird boxes erected in the meadow and nearby farmland for them.  But there were so many tree swallows that I thought many of them are migrants that stopped at a hot spot of insects for lunch.
     Both male and female red-winged blackbirds were among or near the cattail stands.  Some of the males were perched on last year's dead cattail stems to regularly sing "kong-ga-ree" while raising their black wings to show off their red shoulder patches, which attracts females to them for mating.  But the females and some of the males were feeding on invertebrates they found among the short grasses of the pasture.
     Male red-wings are black all over, except for those red shoulders, each one lined with a stripe of yellow.  Female red-wings are brown with darker streaks all over their plumage, feathering that camouflages them around their nest and young.   Each female red-wing will weave a grass nursery among a few neighboring cattail stems, a few feet above the ground as a precaution against flooding.  Young red-wings, when leaving their grass cradle, look like their mothers.
     Many American robins ran and stopped, ran and stopped over the short-grass meadow as they do over regularly mowed lawns in their searches for earthworms and other invertebrates.  I am amazed at how many robins are in this county at all seasons recently.  They seem to be almost everywhere, including on lawns, pastures and some fields.
     Robins are members of the woodland thrush family, but this species probably nested traditionally in small trees in forest clearings and edges, rather than in the deep forests.  Today robins hatch young in younger trees and shrubbery, including those near this meadow.    
     I enjoyed watching the lively birds gathering food and claiming nesting sites in this meadow close to home.  It was an inspiring experience.

Wildlife From Our Deck

     On the warm, lovely evening of April 25, we sat on our back deck in New Holland, Pennsylvania for about an hour and a half to enjoy spring.  And while we were there, we noticed much wildlife on our lawn and in the air above it, making our time on the deck more enjoyable and entertaining.    
     Our two side-by-side bird baths were an attraction that evening because several kinds of critters took their turns coming to them to drink and/or bathe.  Watch a bird bath to learn what creatures are living near it because most of them regularly come to it.  That evening a gray squirrel drank at one of our bird baths and so did a few house sparrows, a beautiful male white-throated sparrow, a pair of Carolina wrens, a blue jay, and a gray catbird just recently arrived here from wherever he wintered.
     The sky over our lawn was interesting with the activities of locally nesting purple grackles, American robins and mourning doves.  I saw three chimney swifts swirling over our yard after flying insects.  These small birds are back from northern South America to nest down the inside of chimneys.  And I saw a red-tailed hawk and a Cooper's hawk soar over our yard at different times.  Both these raptor species have nested in our neighborhood, and might be at this time.
     There were other, random critters on our lawn as the sun sank in the west.  I saw a baby cottontail rabbit hopping over the lawn and nibbling grass and other plants.  Every year, we have a couple of broods of cottontails born in some protected spot in our yard.  A single tiger swallowtail butterfly fluttered among the trees.  I saw and heard a pair of northern cardinals, both genders in lovely feathering.  And I saw a pair of Carolina chickadees in a pussy willow bush and a song sparrow singing from a top twig on a viburnum bush. 
     And while I was on the deck that evening, I noticed where a mourning dove and an American robin were building nests in young arborvitae trees.  Each kind of bird repeatedly flew into a tree with dried grass and other materials in its beak.  But I made no move to see the nurseries because I didn't want to disturb the birds.
     After sunset, I counted five bats, probably little browns and big browns, judging by their different sizes and ways of flying.  Sweeping and dipping after insects over our neighborhood, as elsewhere at dusk,  bats are entertaining in the air when capturing insect prey that is trying to escape.
     Sitting on our deck was enjoyable, especially when entertained by various types of wildlife.  Readers can do the same, wherever you may be.  Just get out and look for wildlife in any nearby neighborhood at any time of day..    

Wildlife by a Lake Shore

     In the afternoon of April 24, 2016, I stopped by the shore of a human-made lake near the road I was on in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to see what wildlife was visible.  There was plenty.
     The first creatures I saw were more than 20 tiger swallowtail butterflies on the mud of the lake shore.  They had pupated in cocoons in the dead leaf litter on the floor of a nearby woodland through the past winter and recently emerged.  Now they seek nectar from flowers, minerals and salts in mud and animal droppings, which they were doing when I saw them, and mates.  Those several tiger swallowtails were also entertaining to me while fluttering and bobbing into the wind as they shuttled from place to place on the mud flats.  
     Several painted turtles of all ages and sizes were picturesquely sunning themselves on tree stumps, and logs fallen into shallow water near the edge of the impoundment.  Several kinds of water turtles, being cold-blooded, do this to warm themselves so they have the energy to hunt food and mates the rest of the day.
     While along the impoundment shore, I heard male American toads trilling musically in the distance, their voices trailing beautifully across the water and mud as a remnant of the ancient age of amphibians.  Though I couldn't see the toads, I figured they were in a puddle of shallow water near the lake, a place where their black tadpoles could hatch without being eaten by fish.  From past experiences with spawning toads, I could picture these male toads sitting in inch-deep water, their throats bulging out as they trilled for females to join them in the water to spawn thousands of eggs that will hatch in a week or two, depending on the water temperature.   
     A few big carp plowed through the shallows to feed on algae and invertebrates in the mud.  I could see their scaly backs protruding above the water as they pushed this way and that.  Occasionally a carp jumped partly out of the water with a splash, presumably after low-flying insects.
     Several tree swallows skimmed in erratic flight low over the water in hot pursuit of flying insects.  They are easily identified by their metallic-blue backs and pure white under parts.  They will soon nest in tree cavities and bird boxes near the impoundment.   
     About 20 migrant American coots repeatedly dove under water from the surface to eat algae and other water vegetation in the shallows.  Down and up, down and up, swallowing the plants when on the surface, then diving again for more.  The coots were unmistakable to identify because of their habits, shapes, gray feathering all over and gleaming, white beaks.
     I was happy to notice a few broods of recently-hatched Canada geese goslings, each one with both of their protective parents.  The goslings were small and cute, each one clad in gray and yellow fuzz as they grazed on vegetation of the lake shore.
     And I saw a pair of wood ducks swimming in the shallows along the shore of the water closest to a deciduous woods.  The hen probably has been laying an egg a day in a tree hollow somewhere in that woodland.  She will start setting on her clutch of 12 or more eggs after the last one is laid so all the ducklings will hatch on the same day and leave their nursery together the next day.  Staying together and with their mother is the ducklings best strategy for survival.
     It was an interesting hour and a half I spent along that lake shore.  Anyone can do the same as I did simply by having patience and quietly waiting for critters to come by wherever you happen to be.          

Waterway Eagle Nests

     In February of this year, I was thrilled to notice two mated pairs of bald eagles active at large, stick nests high in big, tall sycamore trees along waterways in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland.  One eagle nursery is along a part of Mill Creek and the other is by a section of the Conestoga River, which is a small river.  I occasionally watched those eagle nests from inside my car at a discreet distance along rural roads so as to not disturb the eagles.  And the last time I checked on both eagle cradles, which was on April 22, 2016, I saw two large, dark youngsters in each one, each pair of offspring guarded by a watchful parent perched in a nearby tree.  The other parent of each pair probably was hunting prey animals to feed their young.  After viewing both eagle families on the same day, I was pleasantly amazed by the similarities between them.
     Sycamore trees, with their mottled light and darker bark, grow commonly along creeks and rivers,  watery habitats they define with their unique bark.  Bald eagles are attracted and adapted to creeks and rivers where they catch and scavenge larger fish, as well as other creatures.  And, given time, many sycamore trunks and limbs become massive, certainly strong enough to support the great weight of large bald eagle nests.  Big sycamores, then, are one of the reasons why bald eagles are attracted to Lancaster County waterways, as elsewhere, to hatch young.   But there are other reasons as well.
     Bald eagles have been protected by law for several years and many young eagles have been raised on and released from hacking towers on Susquehanna River islands to re-establish the species in southeastern Pennsylvania.  That, alone, increased bald eagle populations in this area.  Today, many balds winter along the Susquehanna and in Lancaster County farmland, habitats with much wildlife to hunt, and wildlife and farm animals to scavenge.  Plus people today realize bald eagles don't cause harm and are actually quite intriguing.  And the eagles' adapting to farmland and peoples' activities has also helped in their increased numbers in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as across much of the Lower 48 States.  All the above has led to greatly increased bald eagle populations nationwide, and several pairs of balds nesting in Lancaster County in the past 15 years or more.
     There have been other pairs of bald eagles nesting along creeks in Lancaster County cropland in the past.  Some of those nests had been used for at least a few years, then abandoned by the eagles that moved on to other sites to construct nurseries.  The eagles might have depleted the supply of food animals in one area and moved on to fresh hunting areas.
     In the meantime, however, I was happy to monitor the two eagle nests I did this year.  It is heartening to know that bald eagles can adapt to human-made habitats and activities, including raising young, as long as they are left alone.              
    

American Tent Caterpillars

     Around the middle of April every year in southeastern Pennsylvania, we see small, white "tents"
of webbing in crotches of wild cherry trees along woodland edges and rural roads.  Those silky-looking constructions are the works of newly-hatched American tent caterpillars.
     Each protective tent is made by scores of sibling caterpillars that hatched from a cluster of dark eggs laid around a twig of a cherry tree by a single female moth the summer before.  Moths of this kind are small, hairy and brown, with an average wingspan of one and a quarter inches.  The most obvious parts of this kind of moth is the dwellings the caterpillar siblings make with webbing they exude from their bodies, and the larvae themselves that get up to two inches long and are hairy with black and yellow stripes down their bodies and blue speckles.   
     American tent caterpillars are widespread in eastern North America, wherever cherry, apple and pear trees grow.  The larvae of each communal structure emerge from it at intervals each day in April and May to consume the leaves of the fruit trees they live on, which is cherry trees for the most part. Each larvae lays down a web of silk on the twigs it travels on so it can find its way back to its sheltering nest when it is finished eating.  And as they eat and grow, they add threads to their dwelling, which becomes larger and larger in just a few weeks.
     Two species of American cuckoos, the yellow-billed and black-billed, specialize in eating hairy moth larvae, including tent caterpillars.  Both these kinds of cuckoos are about the size of blue jays and have long, curved beaks that use to reach into caterpillar tents to pull out and consume the larvae.  These cuckoos seem a bit sluggish, but they don't have to be quick to catch caterpillars.
     Toward the end of May, each tent caterpillar is as large as it will get.  All of them stop eating leaves and crawl away from their tent homes and across the leaf-covered ground to sheltered places under logs, bark or rocks where they can pupate in relative safety.  A couple of weeks later each one emerges from its cocoon as a small, inconspicuous moth that looks for a mate, lays eggs and dies.  But the next generation of tent caterpillars is in an egg mass attached to a cherry twig.
     Tent caterpillar homes are conspicuous in cherry trees at this time.  One can watch the caterpillars' interesting comings and goings from their shelters until they leave their tents to hide away and pupate toward the end of May. 

Dandelions and Blue Violets

     Today, April 21, 2016, our short-grass back yard in New Holland, Pennsylvania is beautifully full of golden dandelion flowers and the purple blossoms of flowering blue violets.  And it has been that way every spring at this time.  When I drive around on errands or whatever, I notice many other lawns also have innumerable dandelion and blue violet flowers, colorful bouquets of them.  The innumerable yellow and blue dots on short-grass lawns make lovely color combinations in great abundance. 
     Many people here consider those two abundant plant species to be weeds to be eliminated from lawns.  But I think those people are missing out on free beauty in abundance.  And those blooms are only visible for a few weeks from about the middle of April to around mid-May, depending on the weather.
     Dandelions are aliens from Europe and very invasive.  They spread rapidly because each dandelion plant grows short and long flower stems.  Dandelions growing on lawns that are regularly mowed can't grow seeds on long stems because those flower heads are cut off.  But those dandelions still grow seeds on short stems that are not cut because they develop and go to seed below the reach of the mower blades.  Our lawn is loaded with dandelions with short blossom stems.
     Each seed of several on a dandelion blossom head has a parachute that carries its cargo away on the wind, spreading this species across the landscape.  Seeds that land on good soil and are not eaten by mice and small, seed-eating birds will sprout into new plants.
     And dandelion plants must be completely dug out of the ground to eradicate them.  If any bit of the root is left in the soil, it will grow a new plant.
     Dandelion leaves are edible to people, either raw in salads or steamed like spinach.  Every spring many people dig up dandelions to eat.  In fact, there are dandelion farms in Europe where the plants are sold in food markets.  I have eaten dandelion leaves often over the years, but my main fascination with this plant species is the beauties of its green leaves, yellow flowers and the small, seed-eating birds that eat many of its numerous seeds from the flower heads during late April and into May.
     Several kinds of colorful and interesting birds eat dandelion seeds on our lawns and in fields in May.  Some of those birds are the permanent resident northern cardinals, yellow and black American goldfinches, pink and gray house finches and song sparrows.  Migrating seed-eating birds include chipping sparrows, deep-blue indigo buntings and field sparrows.       
     Blue violets are native woodland wildflowers that have adapted to our lawns and today are tremendously abundant on many of them.  Most violet blooms are short enough to be missed by the mowers, allowing this species to go through its life cycle unharmed.  Patches of violet flowers are coolly subtle compared to the "blaring" gold of dandelion blossoms. 
     I annually enjoy dandelion and blue violet flowers on our lawn every spring.  And I miss them when they fade away.  My advice to anyone is to enjoy them, and anything, while you can. 

Skunk Cabbage Bottoms

     On April 14, this past, I was parked on a soil road by a quarter acre patch of skunk cabbage leaves in a wooded, bottomland bog of standing, one-inch water.  Suddenly, a pair of tufted titmice landed on the edge of the shallow water just a few feet from my car and drank.  I was thrilled to be so close to those pretty, little, woodland birds, even for just a minute. 
     Every year at this time I admire patches of lush, green skunk cabbage leaves when driving or walking through bottomland woods in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Skunk cabbage colonies indicate where the soil is constantly moist as this species only develops where the ground is damp.  And skunk cabbage leaves that make the soggy floors of wooded bottomlands green and lovely are visible in April because no tree leaves veil them.
     Starting to grow early in February, skunk cabbage flower hoods push up through mud, shallow water, ice or snow.  About the earliest flowers to bloom in this area, each fleshy, green and dull-purple hood generates a bit of heat that allows it to melt through ice and snow.  Each protective hood has a fleshy ball inside it, on which several tiny flowers develop.  Early insects enter each hood to sip nectar and eat pollen, spreading some of that pollen from bloom to bloom in all the hoods, thus reproducing this plant species.
     I particularly like where clear, woodland brooks tumble musically through bottomland colonies of skunk cabbage leaves under canopies of white oak trees with their dead leaves from last year still hanging on their twigs, red maple trees with their red flowers blooming, and tulip trees with straight trunks.  And spicebushes with their many tiny, yellow blossoms in April and alder bushes with last year's seed cones and this year's hanging, dull-purple catkins spread over carpets of skunk cabbage, adding to their beauty and intrigue.
     Some of those woodland brooks that flow through patches of skunk cabbage harbor brook, brown or rainbow trout, black-nosed dace, which is a kind of minnow, crayfish, and black-winged damselfly and may fly larvae among stones on the bottoms, spotted turtles, northern water snakes, and water striders walking on the surface.
     A few kinds of small, summering-only birds nest in woodland bogs and along woods streams where skunk cabbage, hellebores, shining club mosses and other kinds of plants that prefer wet feet grow abundantly, helping provide shelter for those birds on bottomland forest floors.  Those birds are veeries, which are a kind of thrush, and Louisiana waterthrushes in more southern parts of eastern North America, and winter wrens and northern waterthrushes in the more northern sections of the eastern part of this same continent.  
     Wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, gray foxes, a variety of small birds and other critters drink from skunk cabbage-lined brooks in the woods.  And black bears eat skunk cabbage leaves when they first emerge from their winter's sleep.  
     Skunk cabbage leaves are lush and lovely, and make bottomland woods green in April.  And this plant also benefits several kinds of wildlife in some way.  Look for skunk cabbage leaves in your area. 
      

Shenk's Ferry Blues and Lavenders

     Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve is nestled in a small ravine clothed with deciduous trees.  That little valley radiates off the nearby Susquehanna River at a 90 degree angle close to the village of Pequea in the southern part of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.  And although many species of native, woodland wildflowers bloom in that preserve from late March to mid-May, my two favorites are Virginia bluebells and wood phlox.  Those two native, flowering species blossom in abundance across much of the preserve during the latter half of April, though the bluebells begin blooming earlier than the phlox.  And both those species dominate Shenk's Ferry with their numerous, lovely flowers for a couple of weeks during that part of the month.  
     The dead-leaf floors of deciduous woods are warmer in April than at any other time of the year.  Then there are no leaves in the deciduous trees to block the sunlight, so the sun's warmth reaches to the ground, warming it and the dead leaves that carpet it.  That heat and the sun's light together encourage the growth of small, flowering plants on forest floors, making them beautiful and interesting to experience.
     Virginia bluebells stand about two feet tall and have large, broad leaves that are alternate on the plants' stems.   And each plant has a few clusters of sky-blue, bell-shaped flowers on the tips of the stems.  One can almost hear the flowers tinkling in the wind. 
     The flowers of Virginia bluebells develop as pink buds, offering a petty medley of green, blue and pink.  Bluebell blossoms begin to bloom about the second week in April and continue to close to the end of that month.  Many bluebell flowers together seem to reflect clear skies.
     Wood phlox bloom from the third week in April into early May.  This species stands about sixteen inches high and has two small, thin leaves opposite each other at intervals on their stems.  The lavender blossoms at the top of the stalks each have five petals that, together, look like pinwheels.  One can almost see them spinning in the wind.
     Virginia bluebells and wood phlox dominate Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve for a couple of weeks in the middle of April with their abundance of beautiful blooms.  These innumerable flowers, that are readily seen from a soil trail that people are required to stay on, are exciting and inspiring to experience, along with other kinds of less dominating wild flowers.      

April Yellows

     Several kinds of plants that produce yellow flowers bloom abundantly in various Lancaster County, Pennsylvania habitats during April.  All those blossoms are quite noticeable and cheery, each species in its own niche.
     Dandelions are a familiar flowering plant on our lawns, fields and roadsides.  This is an alien species from Europe with leaves that are edible to people, cottontail rabbits and wood chucks.  And when their yellow blossoms are pollinated, the flower heads produce seeds, each of which has a silky, white parachute that carries the seed away from the parent plants to sprout elsewhere.  But most of those seeds are eaten by mice and several kinds of seed-eating birds, including northern cardinals and a variety of sparrows and finches, which add their feathered beauties to lawns and fields.
     An interesting fact about dandelions is that they reproduce themselves in spite of regular mowing. Dandelions produce flowers on tall stems so the blooms are noticed by pollinating insects and can be fertilized by wind blowing pollen around.  But This plant also grows blossoms on short stems that are not cut off by mowing.  In places that get mowed, only plants with short stems can reproduce, thereby producing plants that only develop short stems.
     Another alien from Europe, field mustards can grow to be four feet tall with yellow blooms at the tops of their stems.  This is a species of fields that grows and blooms early before the fields are plowed or cultivated.  It's a joy to drive along a country road and see the bright blossoms of this vegetation while it lasts during April.
     Lesser celandine is another alien from Europe that carpets many acres of tree-shaded, creek-side floodplains here in Lancaster County.  Large patches of this species with glossy, dark-green foliage and innumerable, shiny, yellow blooms are inspiring to see.  This plant, however, pushes out other kinds of plants.  But patches of blue violets and grape hyacinths with their violet flowers pop up through spreads of lesser celandine.             
     Daffodils and forsythia bushes also have yellow flowers that brighten the lawns they were planted on.  Daffodils are introduced to lawns by people planting bulbs.
     Trout lily, yellow violets, colt's-foot and spicebushes are woodland plants that have yellow flowers during April.  All these species are native to this area, except colt's-foot, which is from Europe, but escaped from flower gardens in this country.  Trout lilies are so-named because they have oblong, spotted leaves like the flanks of trout.  And they bloom during trout season in this area.
     Colt's-foot seems much like dandelions in that they have dandelion-like blossoms.  And their seeds have parachutes that float away on the wind, spreading the species along sun-filled, disturbed- soil dirt roads in woods.
     Spicebushes are common, under-story, woodland shrubs that produce innumerable, tiny yellow blooms that create a yellow haze in the woods in April.  The pollinated flowers each produce a green berry that turns red by September and is eaten by rodents and berry-eating birds.  The birds digest the pulp of the berries, but pass their seeds far and wide as they fly around, thus spreading the species in bottom-land, woods habitats across the landscape.  And, interestingly, every part of this shrub, including leaves, bark and berries have a spicy, lemony scent that is pleasant to smell.
     This April, or succeeding ones, look for the cheery, yellow blooms of these plants.  They offer joy and inspiration to our senses in spring when we can use them.        
          

April Blues and Purples

     Several kinds of flowering plants blooming commonly in April in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania have lovely blue or purple blossoms, adding beauty to the habitats they inhabit.  Some are aliens to North America, but others are native here.
     Veronicas are the first of these plants to bloom each year, starting in mid to late March.  Veronicas are aliens from Europe that produce small, light-blue blossoms less than an inch above the ground on short-grass lawns and roadsides.  Carpets of those blooms make parts of many lawns appear blue.
     Grape hyacinths are also aliens from Europe that were introduced to North America by people planting bulbs.  Each plant has a few grass-like leaves and a cluster of small, bluish-purple, grape-like blooms a few inches above the soil by mid-April.  And this species spreads and beautifully covers much of several lawns and fields in this county.  I know a meadow that is intriguing because of a couple of acres of grape-hyacinth plants and flowers each April.
     Ground ivy is a mint originally from Europe that is common on many local lawns.  This ground-hugging, creeping plant grows several small, rounded and scalloped leaves and little, light-purple blossoms.  This species has a strong scent that is noticeable when the leaves are crushed or cut when a lawn is mowed.
     One of my favorite flowers, blue violets are native woodland wildflowers that adapted well to short-grass lawns and are abundant on many of them.  This plant is a well-known associate of dandelions on many lawns in the latter half of April, providing much beauty on those human-made habitats.  Each violet plant grows several heart-shaped leaves and a few blue-purple blossoms.
     Periwinkles are native, vine-like plants that crawl across local woodland floors, flower gardens and lawns.  The five, violet-blue petals of each bloom on this plant resemble pinwheels that almost seem to turn in the wind.
     Virginia bluebells are native woodland wildflowers that stand over two feet tall, have several large, broad leaves and a couple clusters of sky-blue, bell-like flowers.  Those blossoms develop from pink buds, offering a variety of lovely colors on each plant.  Colonies of a quarter-acre or more of this flowering species in full bloom look like they are reflecting a clear sky.
     Wood phlox is another native woodland species that forms patches of itself on beautiful forest floors.  This plant blooms from late in April into the first several days of May.  Each plant produces a few blooms with five, pale-violet petals.                    
     Loose patches of bluets, a kind of spindly, grass-like plant not a foot tall, are easily overlooked in the dry pastures they inhabit.  Each delicately-lovely bluet flower is pale-blue with a yellow center, offering a pleasing contrast of colors. 
     This April, or next, look for these wild plants with blue or purple blossoms during April.  They certainly add more beauty and cheer to the habitats they inhabit.

Ospreys

     At this time, hundreds of ospreys are migrating into the Middle Atlantic States, where some of them will nest around larger bodies of water, while others push farther north to hatch offspring.  If the reader watches the sky carefully from mid-morning to late afternoon, one or a few or more of these large, majestic birds of prey will pass into view, continue overhead and will soon be gone, unless one or more of them stop to catch fish from a larger waterway or impoundment. 
     Most ospreys that raise young here come from wintering grounds in South America.  Ospreys, by the way, nest and/or winter around bigger bodies of water on every continent on Earth, except Antarctica. 
     Ospreys are large hawks with distinctive patterns of dark and white feathering and an appetite for live fish, which they catch themselves.  Look in a field guide to birds and on a computer to see their distinctive color patterns and read more about their characteristics and habits.
     To catch fish, each osprey circles in the air over a larger body of water and watches the surface for victims.  When prey is spotted, the osprey quickly dives to the water and plunges in feet-first, kicking up spray, in an attempt to snare the slippery fish in its long, sharp talons.  If the prey is successfully caught, the osprey rises from the water with its victim headfirst in its claws for easier flying, shakes water from its plumage and flies to a tree, channel marker or platform to consume its catch.  Sometimes, however, an osprey is harassed by a bald eagle to the point of dropping its fish, which the eagle then grabs in mid-air and scavenges.     
     Ospreys nest near water across much of northern North America, but their biggest numbers are on the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary on this continent, and full of fish.  Many pairs annually attempt to rear two or three offspring in large bulky, stick nurseries in trees, as they have done traditionally.  But many pairs of ospreys today are quite obvious, handsome and picturesque rearing babies on channel markers, buoys, and platforms mounted over water especially for the ospreys to nest in.  The adaptable ospreys readily use the human-made structures, which helps bolster their populations.  And all pairs of ospreys feed fish to their youngsters, tearing off bits of meat when the young are small.  Many people, incidentally, enjoy seeing ospreys on their nesting platforms engaged in rearing youngsters.   
     Ospreys today seem used to normal human activities near their nesting places.  They are protected by law from shooting, trapping and harassment, particularly around their nests.  And the use of DDT is banned in the United States, which is a great help in the survival of egg shells and chicks. 
     Late in summer and into fall, ospreys and their grown young of the year drift south to warmer wintering grounds where they can still catch fish.  They exit this area each year during August, September and October by following mountain ridges that give them lift as wind pushes up and over the mountains.  Ospreys also follow rivers, catching fish along the way.
     Ospreys are large, stately hawks that feed almost exclusively on larger fish.  And they are becoming abundant once again in North America, thanks to their adaptations and being protected by law.  Look for these elegant fish hawks migrating in spring and autumn, and watch for them in their breeding areas, including on the Chesapeake Bay.  They are always a joy to experience.           

Two Sunfish

     Around the end of May and into June over the years, I have occasionally watched the interesting spawning of attractive bluegill sunfish in the clear, shallow, sun-filled waters of ponds in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Male bluegills made little colonies of circular nests on the bottoms of those human-made impoundments by swishing away silt down to the gravel or sand underneath with their tails and bodies.  And male sunfish are territorial, guarding their nests against invasion by other male sunfish and other fish.  
     Female sunfish come to the males of their choice to spawn thousands of eggs in the males' nurseries.  Each male may have two, three or more partners, but one at a time.  Each male and the female that came to him swim side by side and round and round over the nest, as she drops many,  adhesive eggs into it and he spreads sperm over the eggs, fertilizing them.  When finished spawning, each female leaves the nursery, only to be replaced by another female, sooner or later.  Meanwhile, each male guards the eggs in his gravelly cradle from fish, crayfish and other critters that would consume them until those eggs hatch into schools of tiny fry.
     The small, young sunfish swim in dense schools in shallow water where they avoid being eaten by bass and larger sunfish.  Adult sunnies, which can be close to ten inches long, hang out among water vegetation in deeper water where they hunt their food animals.  Being larger, they are not as likely to be eaten by even larger fish, and so get away with living in deeper water.    
     With the arrival of spring, some of us think about fish and fishing.  And bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish are two abundant, beautiful kinds of fish in the ponds, lakes and slow-moving parts of waterways in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Sunfish are often called panfish because they have flat, round bodies, like a pan.  There bodies are also shaped like a human hand. 
     Bluegills and pumpkinseeds prefer warmer, clear water, choked with aquatic plants and sunken logs and stumps, places where they can hide from predators, and ambush prey species, including aquatic insects, minnows, scuds, pond snails and small crayfish, plus water plants.  Some of the wildlife that catch and eat sunfish are otters, mink, large-mouthed bass, snapping turtles, northern water snakes, a variety of herons, belted kingfishers, ospreys and bald eagles.
     Bluegills are the better known of these sunfish.  Today they are all over Pennsylvania, but they were introduced to this state as a fighting, but easy-to-catch fish, which is good for beginning fishermen, especially children.  However, bluegills are aggressive fish and could push out pumpkinseeds where the two species live together. 
     Adult bluegills, particularly spawning males, are attractive with olive-brown backs and flanks, with darker streaks on the flanks.  Their bellies are yellow to light-orange and their gills are light-blue with a black gill flap at the rear of each gill.
     Adult pumpkinseeds, especially spawning males, are even prettier than bluegills.  This is a colorful sunfish native to Pennsylvania and much of eastern North America.  Pumpkinseeds are olive-brown, with vertical blue-green lines and sprinklings of red-orange spots on their backs and sides.  Their bellies are reddish-orange to yellow.  And their black gill flaps are small, each one tipped with orange-red.  These sunnies are also scrappers when hooked, making fishing for them, and bluegills, the more exciting.       
     Watch the clear, plant-choked waters of human-made impoundments this spring and summer for the attractive and interesting bluegills and pumpkinseeds, young and mature.  You might see them spawning and/or feeding.  And by looking closely or using binoculars, you can see their beautiful colors without catching them on a fish hook. 

A Red-Head Meadow

     On the afternoon of April 7th, this past, I was driving through farmland in northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  I stopped at a short-grass cow pasture watered by Muddy Creek and studded with several mature, riparian trees of various kinds that thrive in moist soil.  I stopped because I saw a white flash of a wing among the trees.  And as I thought, that white wing was on a red-headed woodpecker, a species of bird not common in this county.  Red-heads are acclimated to meadows with several large, live trees and one or two dead ones or dead limbs on live trees where they hatch offspring.  But that kind of habitat is uncommon Lancaster County because people are quick to remove dead trees from the landscape. 
     But this bottomland pasture is pretty with green, lush grass, several multiflora rose bushes already sprouting green leaves and deciduous trees, including pin oaks, sycamores, red maples, ash-leafed maples, black walnuts, shag-bark hickories and river birches.  Some of the trees are riddled with cavities caused by wind and woodpeckers, making them more picturesque, and homes for wildlife of various kinds.
     As I searched among the trees for birds for a couple of hours, I saw two pairs of red-heads that were actively flying here and there looking for invertebrate food among the trees and on the ground.  They didn't seem ready to nest yet, but they probably will rear youngsters in cavities they chip into dead, but still-standing, trees.
     Red-headed woodpeckers are striking and the genders are identical.  Their heads are entirely red.  They have white under parts and large, white patches on their wings.  The rest of their feathering appears black.
     A pair of eastern bluebirds were also searching for invertebrates on the ground.  They probably will stay to hatch young in a tree cavity in the meadow.  But, unfortunately, they and the red-heads may have problems competing for nesting hollows with the starlings in this pasture.
     I heard a red bellied woodpecker and a northern flicker, which is another type of woodpecker, calling among the trees.  A pair each of these woodpecker species probably will attempt to raise young here, too, and like the red-heads, these woodpeckers chisel out their own nesting cavities.  But they, too, may also have to compete with starlings.
     One hollow in a dead river birch tree seemed odd to me.  And when I looked at it with my 16 power binoculars, I saw a sleeping, gray-phase screech owl in its entrance.  The owl's feathers were the color of its hollow, making it nearly invisible.
     I saw a male red-winged blackbird perched on a twig of a tree.  That red-wing and his mate might raise young in a grassy nursery the female will build a few off the ground in tall grasses in the meadow beyond the shade of the trees, when those grasses grow high.  
     A few kinds of birds were in that pasture because of the stream.  I saw a pair each of mallard ducks and wood ducks on the water.  The hen mallard probably is working on laying a clutch of up to 12 eggs among tall grasses near the stream.  And the female woody is probably in the process of producing a clutch in a larger tree hollow somewhere in the meadow.  A male belted kingfisher was perched on a tree limb hanging over the water as he watched for minnows to catch and eat.  A pair of kingfishers might dig a tunnel into the high stream bank in which they will raise young.
     And there were a few other common bird species in the pasture because of the trees and shrubbery.  A few tree swallows zipped over the pasture after flying insects.  A pair or two of them might hatch young in tree hollows in this pasture.  I saw a mature red-tailed hawk soaring over the meadow in search of gray squirrels and other prey.  That hawk's mate probably is setting on eggs in a stick platform high in a nearby tree.  I saw a few each of blue jays and American robins among the trees and on the ground in their quests for food.  Eventually, some of the jays and robins will settle in the meadow to nest in the trees.  And I saw a couple pairs of song sparrows among the multiflora rose bushes, a place where they are already rearing offspring.
     This is a pretty meadow in Lancaster County farm country, made the more interesting by the birds living in it.  Readers need only to quietly visit similar habitats to enjoy the birds, other critters and plant life in them.  Enjoy them, but please leave them alone.                        

Birds in Mill Creek Meadows

     For an hour and a half each morning for the last couple days, I had been looking for birds in the beautiful short-grass meadows along sections of Mill Creek in farmland only a mile, or two, south of New Holland, Pennsylvania.  The birds I saw and their activities were typical of early April in this region.
     Loose flocks each of American robins and purple grackles were picturesque on the lush, green grass.  Both species were looking for invertebrates among the grass roots in the pastures they dominated.  The robins were particularly abundant, and present in most every meadow I visited.  They have adapted well to short-grass lawns and pastures to find food, especially since they originally lived in woodland edges and clearings, and most of their thrush relatives are still woodland birds.
      I saw three species of waterfowl, Canada geese, mallard ducks and wood ducks, on most all the meadows.  Presumably, those birds will nest there, using the creek for navigation and part of their food supply.  I saw a few pairs of Canadas together, but also a couple female geese on their nests incubating eggs.  Male Canadas guard their mates and eggs, and, later, help raise the four to six goslings per family.
     I saw a few pairs of mallards, but also a couple groups of bachelor drakes, indicating their mates are setting on concealed, grassy nests on the ground.  Female mallards are well camouflaged, which allows them to blend into their surroundings to the point of being invisible until they move.  Not being noticed by predators, allows mallard mothers a better chance at raising ducklings.
     And I saw a beautiful pair of wood ducks swimming in the creek in one little patch of trees and shrubbery along Mill Creek.  Though forest birds, woodies adapted to less than woodland conditions to raise young.  They still nest in tree cavities, however.  Wood ducks are along Mill Creek in intensely cultivated cropland because of farmers erecting bird boxes in patches of trees along waterways, including this one.
     A few male red-winged blackbirds were on territory in some of the meadows I visited.  When perched on tall grass, a cattail, or the twig of a shrub, they often raised their feathers, which emphasizes their red shoulder patches, and sang "konk-ga-reee" to establish territory, repel males of their kind and attract females for breeding.
     Pairs of red-wings will eventually raise young in the taller, grassy or reedy plants in some of these cow pastures.  Females build each grassy cradle on a few cattail or tall-grass stems a couple feet above the ground or water level.        
     I saw about a dozen tree swallows skipping along in mid-air here and there and feeding on flying insects.  I first noticed them by the flash of white on their bellies that give away their presence.  Tree swallows are the earliest of north-bound swallows in spring.  But many of them will summer in pastures here to raise young in tree cavities, abandoned woodpecker holes and bird boxes erected especially for them.
     I spotted a couple pairs of eastern bluebirds, one in each of two meadows with a few tall trees and shrubbery.  The bluebirds were perched on twigs and fences and dropped to the grass to catch small invertebrates.  But soon they will begin to hatch offspring in tree and fence post cavities, deserted woodpecker holes and in bird boxes erected especially for them, all in pasture habitats.
     I saw one pair of killdeer plovers trotting about and picking up invertebrates to eat in each of two meadows.  Each pair of these inland shorebirds might hatch four young on the gravel of a gravel bar along Mill Creek, which is their species' original nesting niche.  Today, many pairs of killdeer have adapted to hatching young on gravel parking lots, driveways and roofs, which has increased their population.
     A red-tailed hawk soared over one meadow in its quest for prey animals, particularly meadow mice.  And a male belted kingfisher flew up Mill Creek, possibly looking for schools of killifish minnows in the creek. 
     A few kinds of permanent resident, thicket birds were spotted in little, overgrown areas of a couple of meadows.  I noticed a pair each of song sparrows and Carolina chickadees, two male cardinals chasing each other in a fight over nesting territory, one male house finch and one American goldfinch.  Probably all these birds, but the chickadees, will stay in those thickets to raise youngsters this summer.  Song sparrows seem particularly happy to nest in thickets near waterways and ponds. 
     And one clump of tall trees along Mill Creek in a pasture harbored an American kestrel, a downy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker.  And it's possible those three species will stay in that grove of trees to hatch young.     
      Lots of birds can be spotted in spring.  We need only to get out and look for them. 
     

Mini Migrant Ducks

     On March 31, I saw a flock of 15 handsome bufflehead ducks on the Susquehanna River and a loose gathering of 24 pretty green-winged teal on an inches-deep farm pond in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  That is about the same number of green-wings I've seen on the pond at this time of the year in the last few years.  They're probably the same individuals that have migrated through this area every spring, and some of their most recent descendants.
     Every late March and into early April, I see at least a few little flocks of these smallest of ducks in North America migrate through this county, as they do across much of North America.  Some groups of buffleheads rest and feed on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and certain, human-made impoundments.   But other gatherings of them put down to loaf and ingest food on farm ponds as well.  Migrant teal refresh in shallow wetlands and flooded fields, and on farm ponds where they occasionally overlap with buffleheads.
     Buffleheads and green-wings have characteristics in common.  Both kinds are about ten inches long, attractive and fly swiftly in small, compact groups.  Both are energetic, have interesting courtship displays and nest mainly in northwestern North America.  Females of both species are camouflaged, which allows them to blend into their surroundings, which is of greatest value when they are hatching eggs and caring for their young.
     Buffleheads are the smallest of diving ducks.  The attractive drakes are dark on top, with white flanks, chests and cheeks.  Their mates are dark gray with a small white patch on each cheek.
     Buffleheads dive under water from the surface to the bottom to eat amphipods, aquatic insects, snails, small fish, water vegetation and other edibles.  They frequent brackish and fresh water in winter, but fresh water only in summer when raising ducklings.     
     Each female bufflehead lays a clutch of about a dozen eggs in a tree cavity or nest box erected especially for this species along rivers and lakes in forests.  The newly-hatched ducklings climb up the inside of the hollow and jump out the entgrance to the water or ground below.  Unharmed, the young follow their mother to a wetland or pond to feed on invertebrates.
     Green-winged teal are the smallest of puddle or dabbling ducks that "tip-up", with their tails pointed toward the sky, to shovel seeds and water vegetation with their spoon-like bills from the shallows of ponds, wetlands and flooded fields.  Males are dark above, with gray flanks and warm-brown heads, with a green stripe around and swept back from each eye.  Female teal are brown and dappled for camouflage.  Both genders have an iridescent, green speculum on each wing that makes them a little more colorful.
     Green-wings nest on the ground under clumps of tall grass that conceal the eggs.  Mother teal lead their young to wetlands choked with emergent plants where the ducklings feed on invertebrates and seeds.       
     Buffleheads and green-wings are cute, little ducks that pass through Lancaster County every spring.  These migrants are well worth watching for on a variety of waters.  

Early-April Flowers

     Bradford pear trees, grape hyacinths and lesser celandines are all plant species not native to North America, but have spread across the landscape, including here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  And they all have pretty flowers that begin blooming in abundance at the same time from late March into mid-April, depending on the weather. 
     Bradford pears generally are the most noticeable of these flowering plants, on lawns and city streets where they were planted, and in let-go, overgrown places where they established themselves.  These trees are planted for their multitudes of lovely, white blossoms that draw early, pollinating insects, including honey bees.  But many Bradford pears break down easily in strong winds, making them not an ideal lawn and street tree after all.
     Many birds, including starlings and American robins, eat Bradford pears' berry-like fruits, digest the pulp, but pass the seeds in their droppings across the countryside as they fly here and there.  Some of those seeds sprout new trees.  "Wild" Bradford pears also have many flowers in April, the nectar of which feeds early insects, and striking, red and maroon leaves in November, that add more beauty to overgrown acres.
     Grape-hyacinths grow from bulbs planted in flower beds and on lawns.  Each hyacinth has grass-like leaves and an interesting, grape-like cluster of bell-shaped, bluish blooms.  But this species spreads rapidly across certain parts of some grassy lawns, roadsides and fields, making those human-made habitats bluish with their great abundance of beautiful blossoms.
     Lesser celandines with shiny foliage and cheery, yellow flowers dominate many partly shaded, moist floors of riparian woods, as would a carpet, along local streams and creeks during the early part of April.  Native blue violets and Virginia bluebells, with their purple and blue blossoms, respectively, grow among some patches of lesser celandines, adding more beauty and cheer to the wooded bottom lands by the middle of April.
     Early to mid-April is the time to see the lovely flowers of these flowering plants, as well as the blooms of other plants.  Though not native to North America, they add to this continent's beauties.