A community of tall, native plants blooms in damp, bottomland meadows of full sunlight in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, during September and October. Those plants include an abundance of a tall aster with small, pale-lavender flowers, another tall aster with tiny, white blossoms, New England asters that have striking, deep-purple blooms, bur-marigolds with attractive yellow flowers along streams, boneset that have small, white blossoms and the lofty, bushy-looking spotted jewelweeds with orange flowers leftover from earlier in September.
The asters with lovely, pale-lavender blossoms are the most abundant of these flowering plants, particularly early in October, and my favorites in moist meadow habitats. The asters with white blooms are also abundant in certain deserted fields. Some of those fields have so many white aster blossoms in them in October that they look like snow fell just on those fields.
A few kinds of plants that grow on slightly higher ground in pastures, and more abundantly in fields, include the tall and abundant goldenrod with many tiny, yellow, plume-like blooms on each of several pointing "fingers", the high, spindly chicory that sport pretty, blue flowers, the tall evening primrose with yellow blossoms and the short knapweeds with pink flowers. In autumn, these lovely flowers add more variety and beauty to the meadows and fields they grow in. The beautiful goldenrod is the most abundant and prevalent of these kinds of flowering plants during September and October.
Some abandoned fields are especially attractive with the dark-purple flowers of New England asters and the yellow of goldenrod blooms, from mid-September to well into October. Those flowering plants create a beautiful combination of colors in overwhelming abundance in certain fields, making those habitats some of the most beautiful places in autumn in southeastern Pennsylvania. And those deserted fields in fall are made even more striking by the red, orange and yellow of staghorn sumac, Virginia creeper and poison ivy leaves. They are glorious!
A variety of bees and butterflies are around all these flowers to sip nectar, the last sources of that sweet liquid they will get each year. The small, orange and brown pearl crescent butterflies usually are the most abundant of butterflies on blossoms in autumn, particularly on any of the wild aster blooms. Pearl crescent larvae eat the leaves and stems of asters, pupate in the soil beneath the asters, then emerge as butterflies.
There are other pretty and interesting aspects of sunny meadows and fields during September and, especially, in October. The flowers of ironweed, Joe-pye weed, Queen-Anne's-lace and swamp milkweeds are done blooming and have "gone to seed", making those still-standing plants picturesque. Mice and small birds eat many of those seeds in autumn and winter. Rushes, cattails, and cockleburs with their prickly seed pods, are also abundant and picturesque in many moist meadows. And many intriguing spider webs are strung over or between the plants in the pastures. They are made the more beautiful and interesting when morning sunshine bounces off the innumerable droplets of dew on each web.
Several kinds of plants have lovely flowers in meadows and fields in fall. The seeds from many of those blooms feed mice and small birds through winter. And those blossoms are a joy and inspiration for us to see. Get out to experience the beauty of these flowers, along with that of colored leaves.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Box Elder Bugs and Lady Bugs
Eastern box elder bugs are in a family of insects called true bugs, and lady bug beetles are in another insect family known as beetles. Though not closely related and having different lifestyles, box elder bugs and lady bugs have one major thing in common: swarms of adults of each species seek shelter in cold weather and frost in October in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere across the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, to survive the coming winter. Those great gatherings of both kinds of insects are impressive to see on October afternoons when they emerge from their shelters and are active in the warming sunlight. But they quickly retreat again when the cold of October evenings set in.
In spring, after their winter dormancy, female box elder bugs emerge from their shelters and suck the sugary sap of the leaves of ash-leafed maple trees, also known as box elders, silver maples and red maples in riparian woods along creeks and rivers. And because they mated with males of their kind during the previous summer, each female lays many fertile eggs in bark crevices and other sheltered places on maple trees, then die.
Red male and female nymphs hatch from those eggs in the same summer and feed on the sap of maple foliage. They become almost one inch long and dark as they grow, with orange-red undersides and reddish stripes on their upper thoraxes and wings. This second generation of box elder bugs mates and the males soon die. But the fertilized females live to form great gatherings in October to spend the winter in dormancy in sheltered places, such as hollow trees and in crevices between rocks at the ground's surface.
Sometimes thousands of wintering female box elder bugs enter some barns, homes and other buildings. And, although those insects don't bite, sting or eat anything all winter, most people don't like them in their homes. They don't like the idea of swarms of bugs in their homes, no matter how harmless those insects are.
Unfortunately for wintering box elder bugs, peoples' homes are too warm for cold-blooded insects to winter in. The warmth greatly increases the insects' metabolism and they burn up their bodies' food reserves before foliage develops on maple trees the next spring. Wintering female box elder bugs in warm houses run out of energy and die before spring arrives. It's best to get these bugs out of the house for the peoples' sake and the insects'.
The cute, quarter-inch lady bug beetles also form great gatherings in October when they seek sheltered places to spend the winter in relative safety. Their impressive swarms take refuge under dead and fallen leaves and logs, behind loose bark on standing trees, in cracks between rocks on the surface of the soil and other sheltering places.
The attractive adults of most kinds of lady bugs are red with black dots on their wing covers. And they have black and white heads and thoraxes. Lady bug nymphs are spindle-shaped, dark and red and have small spines that protect them. Adults and young alike catch and eat aphids and other kinds of small, soft-bodied insects, protecting fruit trees and other plants from those potentially destructive insects. Lady bugs are sometimes intentionally released among crop plants to rid those crops of harmful insects.
Look for swarms of box elder bugs and lady bug beetles in sheltering places in October. Those gatherings are impressive, and another natural happening when average temperatures each succeeding day drop and deciduous foliage reaches its peak of changing colors.
In spring, after their winter dormancy, female box elder bugs emerge from their shelters and suck the sugary sap of the leaves of ash-leafed maple trees, also known as box elders, silver maples and red maples in riparian woods along creeks and rivers. And because they mated with males of their kind during the previous summer, each female lays many fertile eggs in bark crevices and other sheltered places on maple trees, then die.
Red male and female nymphs hatch from those eggs in the same summer and feed on the sap of maple foliage. They become almost one inch long and dark as they grow, with orange-red undersides and reddish stripes on their upper thoraxes and wings. This second generation of box elder bugs mates and the males soon die. But the fertilized females live to form great gatherings in October to spend the winter in dormancy in sheltered places, such as hollow trees and in crevices between rocks at the ground's surface.
Sometimes thousands of wintering female box elder bugs enter some barns, homes and other buildings. And, although those insects don't bite, sting or eat anything all winter, most people don't like them in their homes. They don't like the idea of swarms of bugs in their homes, no matter how harmless those insects are.
Unfortunately for wintering box elder bugs, peoples' homes are too warm for cold-blooded insects to winter in. The warmth greatly increases the insects' metabolism and they burn up their bodies' food reserves before foliage develops on maple trees the next spring. Wintering female box elder bugs in warm houses run out of energy and die before spring arrives. It's best to get these bugs out of the house for the peoples' sake and the insects'.
The cute, quarter-inch lady bug beetles also form great gatherings in October when they seek sheltered places to spend the winter in relative safety. Their impressive swarms take refuge under dead and fallen leaves and logs, behind loose bark on standing trees, in cracks between rocks on the surface of the soil and other sheltering places.
The attractive adults of most kinds of lady bugs are red with black dots on their wing covers. And they have black and white heads and thoraxes. Lady bug nymphs are spindle-shaped, dark and red and have small spines that protect them. Adults and young alike catch and eat aphids and other kinds of small, soft-bodied insects, protecting fruit trees and other plants from those potentially destructive insects. Lady bugs are sometimes intentionally released among crop plants to rid those crops of harmful insects.
Look for swarms of box elder bugs and lady bug beetles in sheltering places in October. Those gatherings are impressive, and another natural happening when average temperatures each succeeding day drop and deciduous foliage reaches its peak of changing colors.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
September's Dancing Butterflies
Alfalfa fields and red clover fields gone to flower late in September in southeastern Pennsylvania shimmer with thousands of dancing clouded sulphur butterflies. They visit the lavender blooms of alfalfa and the pink ones of red clover to sip nectar, making those hay fields lively in September. Like fireflies, cabbage white butterflies, true katydids and other kinds of common insects in this area, clouded sulphurs, also known as common sulphurs, are quite successful.
Pale-yellow with two-inch wing spans, the abundant clouded sulphurs are pleasing and inspiring to see flying low and fast over the green foliage of hay plants and their innumerable, lovely blooms. And many more of these fluttering butterflies are in those pretty hay fields late in September than there had been all summer. The attractive flowers and butterflies together add much beauty to the farmland of southeastern Pennsylvania at that time.
Clouded sulphurs are common across the United States, in western Canada and much of Alaska. And there probably are far more of these butterflies today in North America than ever before because of the vast acreages of human-made fields here. Common sulphur larvae eat alfalfa, red clover, white clover and soybean leaves, all of which are abundant, alien plants in North America.
Several broods of common sulphur larvae hatch each year, which is why their numbers build up by late September. Those caterpillars are green to blend into their surroundings of green plants. But each larvae has a white stripe along both sides. The larvae are somewhat sheltered in hay fields, but hay cutting probably kills some caterpillars and pupae. And some larvae and/or butterflies are eaten by a variety of field birds, dragonflies, preying mantises, spiders, skunks, toads and other predatory creatures. But if it matures, each caterpillar forms a green chrysalis, again for camouflage, on a plant. There the larva changes to a butterfly. But pupae left in the cold of late fall over-winter, and the butterflies emerge early the next spring, ready to nectar on flowers and reproduce themselves.
Happily, clouded sulphur butterflies also sip nectar from other kinds of lovely blooms, to a lesser extent. Those handsome flowers include any of the asters with white, pale-lavender or deep-purple blossoms, depending on the species. And common sulphurs visit goldenrod in upland fields and bur-marigolds in moist soil, both of which have yellow flowers. And, along with various kinds of bees, other species of butterflies and other types of insects, clouded sulphurs pollinate the flowers they sip nectar from.
Interestingly, clouded sulphurs, like cabbage white butterflies, various swallowtail butterflies and other butterfly species, gather on bare mud and animal poop, and shallow puddles to draw moisture and minerals up their straw-like mouths, elements they can't get from flowers. Sometimes mixed gangs of colorful, fluttering butterflies are on mud, droppings or shallow water at once.
The humble, mostly overlooked clouded sulphur butterflies adapted well to the vast acreages of hay field blossoms to sip nectar. And their caterpillars consume alfalfa and clover plants before pupating and changing to butterflies. Many species of life have adapted to human-made habitats and activities. And, I think, many more will. They are the species with futures on this planet.
Pale-yellow with two-inch wing spans, the abundant clouded sulphurs are pleasing and inspiring to see flying low and fast over the green foliage of hay plants and their innumerable, lovely blooms. And many more of these fluttering butterflies are in those pretty hay fields late in September than there had been all summer. The attractive flowers and butterflies together add much beauty to the farmland of southeastern Pennsylvania at that time.
Clouded sulphurs are common across the United States, in western Canada and much of Alaska. And there probably are far more of these butterflies today in North America than ever before because of the vast acreages of human-made fields here. Common sulphur larvae eat alfalfa, red clover, white clover and soybean leaves, all of which are abundant, alien plants in North America.
Several broods of common sulphur larvae hatch each year, which is why their numbers build up by late September. Those caterpillars are green to blend into their surroundings of green plants. But each larvae has a white stripe along both sides. The larvae are somewhat sheltered in hay fields, but hay cutting probably kills some caterpillars and pupae. And some larvae and/or butterflies are eaten by a variety of field birds, dragonflies, preying mantises, spiders, skunks, toads and other predatory creatures. But if it matures, each caterpillar forms a green chrysalis, again for camouflage, on a plant. There the larva changes to a butterfly. But pupae left in the cold of late fall over-winter, and the butterflies emerge early the next spring, ready to nectar on flowers and reproduce themselves.
Happily, clouded sulphur butterflies also sip nectar from other kinds of lovely blooms, to a lesser extent. Those handsome flowers include any of the asters with white, pale-lavender or deep-purple blossoms, depending on the species. And common sulphurs visit goldenrod in upland fields and bur-marigolds in moist soil, both of which have yellow flowers. And, along with various kinds of bees, other species of butterflies and other types of insects, clouded sulphurs pollinate the flowers they sip nectar from.
Interestingly, clouded sulphurs, like cabbage white butterflies, various swallowtail butterflies and other butterfly species, gather on bare mud and animal poop, and shallow puddles to draw moisture and minerals up their straw-like mouths, elements they can't get from flowers. Sometimes mixed gangs of colorful, fluttering butterflies are on mud, droppings or shallow water at once.
The humble, mostly overlooked clouded sulphur butterflies adapted well to the vast acreages of hay field blossoms to sip nectar. And their caterpillars consume alfalfa and clover plants before pupating and changing to butterflies. Many species of life have adapted to human-made habitats and activities. And, I think, many more will. They are the species with futures on this planet.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Woodland Nature Trip
For a few hours on the morning of September 21, 2016, I visited various spots in the wooded Welsh Mountains, which are near New Holland, Pennsylvania, to enjoy nature. The Welsh Mountains are filled with homes, fields and roads, and yet some woods are intact and have much nature in them.
I no sooner drove into Welsh Mountain woods when I spotted five stately wild turkey Toms strolling along a soil road between a woodland and a field. They were picking up seeds, grasshoppers and other tidbits as they walked. I have seen wild turkeys in those wooded hills before over the years, but never five magnificent Toms in one group.
I stopped for close to an hour at a community park of a few acres on a hilltop to watch for migrating broad-winged hawks passing over on their way to northern South America for the winter. While in the park, I noticed about 40 American robins and two northern flickers in the short-grass lawn. The robins were eating earthworms and other invertebrates they could catch. The mostly brown flickers were probing into the soil after ants in their underground colonies. Flickers are woodpeckers, but instead of being black and white like their relatives, they are brown, which camouflages them on the ground as they feed. And while in this park, I saw a few turkey vultures and two resident red-tailed hawks sail over it. And I saw three migrant broad-wings and one sharp-shinned hawk soar over and heading southwest.
Moving on again, I came to a house and barn in the Welsh Mountains where several black vultures have roosted in the past. And, sure enough, almost a dozen of them were perched on the house roof, the barn roof and in trees around those buildings. Those scavenging vultures, like turkey vultures, are clean and a bit regal, whether in trees or soaring high in the sky.
Permanent resident blue jays and red-bellied woodpeckers seemed to be common in the woods everywhere I went that day. I could see and hear them almost constantly. Some jays also were busily flying in and out of a small grove of planted pin oak trees as they harvested acorns and buried them in soil or in crevices in trees.
I saw a few kinds of flowering plants blooming commonly along the roads in Welsh Mountain woods, including goldenrods, Jerusalem artichokes and evening primrose with yellow blossoms and spotted jewelweeds that have orange ones. I saw two different ruby-throated hummingbirds, in two patches of jewelweeds, dipping their beaks into jewelweed flowers to sip nectar and eat whatever little insects were in them as well. And I saw a few beautiful, orange and black monarch butterflies, either on goldenrod blooms or migrating southwest to Mexico for the winter.
Some colored leaves on certain plant species helped beautify the woods that day. There were some red leaves on black gum, red maple and sumac trees and red ones on Virginia creeper vines. I saw orange foliage on sassafras trees and poison ivy vines and some yellow leaves on tulip trees, black walnut trees and spicebushes. All that autumn foliage made the woods bright and cheery.
And I saw several kinds of birds eating the off-white berries of a poison ivy vine and the small, dark fruits of a Virginia creeper vine. Those vines grew up neighboring trees so I could see both of them at once and some of the birds were eating both kinds of berries. A few permanent resident blue jays and a single each of red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker and Carolina chickadee were consuming berries while I was there. A few summering American robins and gray catbirds and a single northern flicker also ate some of those fruits of the vines. And one each of migrating rose-breasted grosbeak, eastern phoebe, Swainson's thrush and yellow-rumped warbler were ingesting those fruits, too.
For a woodland that has been compromised by human activities, there is a lot of nature to be experienced in the Welsh Mountains at times. And September 21 was a good day to explore the natural world close to home.
I no sooner drove into Welsh Mountain woods when I spotted five stately wild turkey Toms strolling along a soil road between a woodland and a field. They were picking up seeds, grasshoppers and other tidbits as they walked. I have seen wild turkeys in those wooded hills before over the years, but never five magnificent Toms in one group.
I stopped for close to an hour at a community park of a few acres on a hilltop to watch for migrating broad-winged hawks passing over on their way to northern South America for the winter. While in the park, I noticed about 40 American robins and two northern flickers in the short-grass lawn. The robins were eating earthworms and other invertebrates they could catch. The mostly brown flickers were probing into the soil after ants in their underground colonies. Flickers are woodpeckers, but instead of being black and white like their relatives, they are brown, which camouflages them on the ground as they feed. And while in this park, I saw a few turkey vultures and two resident red-tailed hawks sail over it. And I saw three migrant broad-wings and one sharp-shinned hawk soar over and heading southwest.
Moving on again, I came to a house and barn in the Welsh Mountains where several black vultures have roosted in the past. And, sure enough, almost a dozen of them were perched on the house roof, the barn roof and in trees around those buildings. Those scavenging vultures, like turkey vultures, are clean and a bit regal, whether in trees or soaring high in the sky.
Permanent resident blue jays and red-bellied woodpeckers seemed to be common in the woods everywhere I went that day. I could see and hear them almost constantly. Some jays also were busily flying in and out of a small grove of planted pin oak trees as they harvested acorns and buried them in soil or in crevices in trees.
I saw a few kinds of flowering plants blooming commonly along the roads in Welsh Mountain woods, including goldenrods, Jerusalem artichokes and evening primrose with yellow blossoms and spotted jewelweeds that have orange ones. I saw two different ruby-throated hummingbirds, in two patches of jewelweeds, dipping their beaks into jewelweed flowers to sip nectar and eat whatever little insects were in them as well. And I saw a few beautiful, orange and black monarch butterflies, either on goldenrod blooms or migrating southwest to Mexico for the winter.
Some colored leaves on certain plant species helped beautify the woods that day. There were some red leaves on black gum, red maple and sumac trees and red ones on Virginia creeper vines. I saw orange foliage on sassafras trees and poison ivy vines and some yellow leaves on tulip trees, black walnut trees and spicebushes. All that autumn foliage made the woods bright and cheery.
And I saw several kinds of birds eating the off-white berries of a poison ivy vine and the small, dark fruits of a Virginia creeper vine. Those vines grew up neighboring trees so I could see both of them at once and some of the birds were eating both kinds of berries. A few permanent resident blue jays and a single each of red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker and Carolina chickadee were consuming berries while I was there. A few summering American robins and gray catbirds and a single northern flicker also ate some of those fruits of the vines. And one each of migrating rose-breasted grosbeak, eastern phoebe, Swainson's thrush and yellow-rumped warbler were ingesting those fruits, too.
For a woodland that has been compromised by human activities, there is a lot of nature to be experienced in the Welsh Mountains at times. And September 21 was a good day to explore the natural world close to home.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Health Center Campus
Continuing to take my dad to the Lancaster, Pennsylvania health campus for treatments, I enjoyed the abundant beauties and colors of the campus's natural landscaping in the strips of soil between parking lots on September 20, 2016. The brilliant leaf colors of planted trees, the lovely flowers, tall, beige grasses, pretty butterflies and lively small birds in those natural gardens reflect autumn and must be inspiring and up-lifting to staff people and patients alike, making those gardens invaluable.
The yellow flowers of goldenrods and the tiny, white blossoms of a kind of aster, the small, pale-lavender flowers of another species and the large, deep-purple blooms of New England asters are almost everywhere in the health campus landscaping. Aster blossoms attract a wide variety of pretty, active butterflies and bees that sip nectar from them. Some of the butterflies that visit aster flowers are cabbage whites, common sulphers, red admirals, buckeyes, frittilaries, a few kinds of skippers, monarchs and pearl crescents. In fact, I saw three big, striking, orange and black monarchs on one large, bushy aster plant loaded with deep-purple blooms. They were filling up on nectar before continuing their migrations south to wooded mountains in central Mexico. The pretty, little pearl crescent butterflies are common on asters of all kinds because their caterpillars consume aster leaves and stems before pupating into butterflies.
I also saw several honey bees and bumble bees on aster flowers. But don't worry about them because they are more interested in sipping nectar from the blooms than bothering people.
Since these gardens are a bit lower than the black top, they collect the parking lot's rain water runoff, making the soil moist most of the time. Trees that thrive in damp ground were planted in those parking lot strips of soil, including black gums, red maples and river birches, all of which had some colored leaves on September 20. The gums and maples get red foliage while the birches have yellow leaves. Those trees, though still young and small, already add much color and beauty to the health campus parking lots and make them resemble fall.
A few patches of tall, beige grasses with seed heads, here and there amid the parking lots, are each about a quarter of an acre in size. Those grasses lend to the look of autumn and provide shelter and food, in the forms of stems and seeds, for wildlife. Although I didn't see any in the forty minutes I studied this landscaping, cottontail rabbits and field mice could be living at the base of those grasses. However, I did see some individuals each of American goldfinches and house finches, and a pair of song sparrows, feeding on grass seeds while swaying on the grasses' seed heads. I also saw a few mourning doves walking on the black top and mulch around plants while they ate seeds from grass and other plants.
And there are a couple stands each of cattails and phragmites in moist soil. Their seed heads are quite decorative wherever they may be.
All landscaping should be more natural with native trees, shrubbery, grasses and flowering plants. The beauties of nature in those plantings, and the wildlife they attract, will inspire and uplift many a human soul.
The yellow flowers of goldenrods and the tiny, white blossoms of a kind of aster, the small, pale-lavender flowers of another species and the large, deep-purple blooms of New England asters are almost everywhere in the health campus landscaping. Aster blossoms attract a wide variety of pretty, active butterflies and bees that sip nectar from them. Some of the butterflies that visit aster flowers are cabbage whites, common sulphers, red admirals, buckeyes, frittilaries, a few kinds of skippers, monarchs and pearl crescents. In fact, I saw three big, striking, orange and black monarchs on one large, bushy aster plant loaded with deep-purple blooms. They were filling up on nectar before continuing their migrations south to wooded mountains in central Mexico. The pretty, little pearl crescent butterflies are common on asters of all kinds because their caterpillars consume aster leaves and stems before pupating into butterflies.
I also saw several honey bees and bumble bees on aster flowers. But don't worry about them because they are more interested in sipping nectar from the blooms than bothering people.
Since these gardens are a bit lower than the black top, they collect the parking lot's rain water runoff, making the soil moist most of the time. Trees that thrive in damp ground were planted in those parking lot strips of soil, including black gums, red maples and river birches, all of which had some colored leaves on September 20. The gums and maples get red foliage while the birches have yellow leaves. Those trees, though still young and small, already add much color and beauty to the health campus parking lots and make them resemble fall.
A few patches of tall, beige grasses with seed heads, here and there amid the parking lots, are each about a quarter of an acre in size. Those grasses lend to the look of autumn and provide shelter and food, in the forms of stems and seeds, for wildlife. Although I didn't see any in the forty minutes I studied this landscaping, cottontail rabbits and field mice could be living at the base of those grasses. However, I did see some individuals each of American goldfinches and house finches, and a pair of song sparrows, feeding on grass seeds while swaying on the grasses' seed heads. I also saw a few mourning doves walking on the black top and mulch around plants while they ate seeds from grass and other plants.
And there are a couple stands each of cattails and phragmites in moist soil. Their seed heads are quite decorative wherever they may be.
All landscaping should be more natural with native trees, shrubbery, grasses and flowering plants. The beauties of nature in those plantings, and the wildlife they attract, will inspire and uplift many a human soul.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
September Yellows
Several kinds of lovely, yellow wildflowers bloom in September along country roadsides where they are easily seen in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. All these common species of cheery, golden blossoms, plus other kinds, add to the beauties of that pretty, autumn month, and into October. And all but one species is native to eastern North America.
The plume-like flower arrangements of goldenrods, each one with many tiny, yellow flowers, are the most common of golden blossoms in September here. These five-foot-tall plants bloom in many abandoned fields, in association with the deep-purple flowers of New England asters in some fields, along rural roadsides and the edges of certain wet spots in sunny meadows. The combination of yellow and purple, in abundance, is quite breathtakingly beautiful in sunny, September fields. Many insects of several kinds, including butterflies, particularly the small pearl crescents, and bees, come to goldenrod and aster flowers to sip nectar, making those lovely blossoms the more intriguing. Sparrows and finches eat its tiny seeds in winter and plumes of this plant are used in indoor dried arrangements in winter.
The yellow flowers of five-foot-tall, evening primrose plants each has four showy petals that make those plants stand out along certain country roadsides. Butterflies and other kinds of insects come to those cheery blossoms on top of slender stalks to sip nectar, adding more interest and beauty to the blooms.
Butter and eggs are the only plants in this article that are not native to North America. Having come from Europe and planted in flower gardens, this species is a member of the snapdragon family, and has snapdragon-shaped flowers to prove it. Standing about a foot high, butter and eggs form many pretty bouquets of themselves along rural roads. Their blooms are pale-yellow with an orange dot on each one, which is the colors of butter and eggs.
Wingstem stands up to six feet high along country roads and in corners of fields, and each plant has a small cluster of yellow flowers on top of its slender stem. The stems of this vegetation have long strips that project out about a quarter of an inch, like wings, hence its common name. The yellow petals of this species reflex down from the flowers' centers. Again, a variety of insects sip nectar from the blossoms of this species.
Jerusalem artichoke is a type of wild sunflower that is loaded with history. A blast from the past, it was long ago cultivated by American Indians in eastern North America, along with corn, beans and pumpkins. Native people cooked and ate the roots of this type of sunflower, as we consume small, white potatoes.
Standing up to nine feet high and having several showy flowers per stalk, Jerusalem artichoke is presently quite noticeable and attractive along country roadsides, the edges of corn fields and in hedgerows of trees and shrubbery between fields. Insects visit its blossoms and mice and small birds ingest its seeds.
Bur-marigolds and two kinds of sneezeweeds, common and dark-headed, dominate the shores of clear, running brooks in many sunny, Lancaster County cow pastures. Patches of bur-marigolds, in particular, become so large that they grow over the little waterways they flourish along, completely hiding the musical water from view.
Both kinds of sneezeweed flowers have petals that droop from their centers. And dark-headed sneezeweeds have dark centers, and are the more common of these two lovely species. Again, a variety of insects land on the flowers of these wild plants to consume their nectar.
In September, visit local croplands for plants bearing golden flowers. They certainly do liven and beautify rural roadsides and certain fields during autumn.
The plume-like flower arrangements of goldenrods, each one with many tiny, yellow flowers, are the most common of golden blossoms in September here. These five-foot-tall plants bloom in many abandoned fields, in association with the deep-purple flowers of New England asters in some fields, along rural roadsides and the edges of certain wet spots in sunny meadows. The combination of yellow and purple, in abundance, is quite breathtakingly beautiful in sunny, September fields. Many insects of several kinds, including butterflies, particularly the small pearl crescents, and bees, come to goldenrod and aster flowers to sip nectar, making those lovely blossoms the more intriguing. Sparrows and finches eat its tiny seeds in winter and plumes of this plant are used in indoor dried arrangements in winter.
The yellow flowers of five-foot-tall, evening primrose plants each has four showy petals that make those plants stand out along certain country roadsides. Butterflies and other kinds of insects come to those cheery blossoms on top of slender stalks to sip nectar, adding more interest and beauty to the blooms.
Butter and eggs are the only plants in this article that are not native to North America. Having come from Europe and planted in flower gardens, this species is a member of the snapdragon family, and has snapdragon-shaped flowers to prove it. Standing about a foot high, butter and eggs form many pretty bouquets of themselves along rural roads. Their blooms are pale-yellow with an orange dot on each one, which is the colors of butter and eggs.
Wingstem stands up to six feet high along country roads and in corners of fields, and each plant has a small cluster of yellow flowers on top of its slender stem. The stems of this vegetation have long strips that project out about a quarter of an inch, like wings, hence its common name. The yellow petals of this species reflex down from the flowers' centers. Again, a variety of insects sip nectar from the blossoms of this species.
Jerusalem artichoke is a type of wild sunflower that is loaded with history. A blast from the past, it was long ago cultivated by American Indians in eastern North America, along with corn, beans and pumpkins. Native people cooked and ate the roots of this type of sunflower, as we consume small, white potatoes.
Standing up to nine feet high and having several showy flowers per stalk, Jerusalem artichoke is presently quite noticeable and attractive along country roadsides, the edges of corn fields and in hedgerows of trees and shrubbery between fields. Insects visit its blossoms and mice and small birds ingest its seeds.
Bur-marigolds and two kinds of sneezeweeds, common and dark-headed, dominate the shores of clear, running brooks in many sunny, Lancaster County cow pastures. Patches of bur-marigolds, in particular, become so large that they grow over the little waterways they flourish along, completely hiding the musical water from view.
Both kinds of sneezeweed flowers have petals that droop from their centers. And dark-headed sneezeweeds have dark centers, and are the more common of these two lovely species. Again, a variety of insects land on the flowers of these wild plants to consume their nectar.
In September, visit local croplands for plants bearing golden flowers. They certainly do liven and beautify rural roadsides and certain fields during autumn.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Flowers in September Ditches
In my travels in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania early in September of this year, I studied the plants in four roadside ditches, which are tiny wetlands. Those roadside low spots were the same in that they were dominated by vegetation that flourishes best in wet or, at least, moist ground. Yet each ditch I visited had a different community of plants, including a nice variety of lovely blooms. All those wetland plants in roadside low spots provide shelter for a variety of wildlife and the beautiful blossoms supply nectar to a variety of insects.
Spotted jewelweeds with their one-inch-long, orange, cornocopia-shaped blossoms dominated every roadside ditch I visited. Jewelweeds grow up to five feet tall and are bushy. Several of them standing together create thickets of themselves that shelter wildlife. The less common pale jewelweeds with their pale-yellow blooms are virtually the same as spotted jewelweeds, but seem better able to tolerate shade than their orange-flowered cousins. A variety of bees and migrating rubythroated hummingbirds sip nectar from jewelweed blooms.
A kind of smartweed with pink, closed blooms was common in three little, roadside gullies I visited. The tiny, black seeds in those little flowers, wherever they grow, are eaten by ducks and small birds in winter.
Joe-pye weeds bloom in August when their many small, dusty-pink flowers are visited by a variety of butterflies to sip nectar. Joe-pyes stand eight to ten feet tall and so are an impressive plant even when done blooming, including in two roadside ditches I studied.
Boneset with its many tiny, white blooms was common in two low spots by the side of roads. This wetland plant offers contrast to the many brightly-colored flowers of its vegetable neighbors.
Asiatic dayflowers are originally from Asia, as their name implies. This plant species does best in damp soil and partial shade, as do the other plants listed here. And its two, bright-blue petals and yellow stamens, per blossom, are striking to see.
I saw a few of the lovely and related cardinal flowers with red flowers and great lobelias with blue blooms in a couple of ditches along country roads. I also noted a few ironweed plants in one ditch and several purple loosestrifes in another. Ironweed and loosestrife both have beautiful, hot-pink blossoms that are readily visited by a variety of butterflies that sip their nectar.
Goldenrods are not wetland plants, but they were abundant in two of the roadside ditches I saw this September. Goldenrods' multitudes of tiny, cheery flowers are visited by bees and other small insects to get nectar.
Three of the country road wet spots I visited had cattails growing in them and the fourth one hosted phragmites. Cattails and phragmites both have decorative seed heads. Cattails get up to five feet tall while phragmites can reach ten feet. Red-winged blackbirds nest on the stalks of these two wetland plants wherever they sprout and grow. Muskrats use the stems of these plants to make homes in ponds and roadside puddles.
Several kinds of wetland trees shade roadside ditches, including red maples in three of them I visited. Black walnut, black gum and crack willow trees were in two low spots along roads and pin oaks were in one. These trees, wherever they occur, help hold down the soil, shade plants beneath them, and offer food and shelter to a variety of wildlife. And the red maples and black gums both had some striking, red leaves when I saw them in September.
Alder bushes were in two roadside ditches and gray-stem dogwoods were in one. These shrubs, wherever they sprout, also provide food and shelter for wildlife. The dogwoods, for example, already had many dull-blue berries on them, fruits that will be eaten by rodents and small birds through the coming winter.
When I visited these roadside wetlands in September, I noticed a few common kinds of small birds, including northern cardinals, song sparrows and gray catbirds in all of them. These birds like thickets with ample water, invertebrates and berries.
And these little wetlands also had many bees of various kinds, and several cabbage white, silver-spotted skipper and least skipper butterflies in them. All those common insects visited the colorful blooms of the wetlands to sip nectar.
The above-mentioned flowers together make unique, human-made plant communities that add beauty to the landscape and the already lovely September. They are there for our looking, free.
Spotted jewelweeds with their one-inch-long, orange, cornocopia-shaped blossoms dominated every roadside ditch I visited. Jewelweeds grow up to five feet tall and are bushy. Several of them standing together create thickets of themselves that shelter wildlife. The less common pale jewelweeds with their pale-yellow blooms are virtually the same as spotted jewelweeds, but seem better able to tolerate shade than their orange-flowered cousins. A variety of bees and migrating rubythroated hummingbirds sip nectar from jewelweed blooms.
A kind of smartweed with pink, closed blooms was common in three little, roadside gullies I visited. The tiny, black seeds in those little flowers, wherever they grow, are eaten by ducks and small birds in winter.
Joe-pye weeds bloom in August when their many small, dusty-pink flowers are visited by a variety of butterflies to sip nectar. Joe-pyes stand eight to ten feet tall and so are an impressive plant even when done blooming, including in two roadside ditches I studied.
Boneset with its many tiny, white blooms was common in two low spots by the side of roads. This wetland plant offers contrast to the many brightly-colored flowers of its vegetable neighbors.
Asiatic dayflowers are originally from Asia, as their name implies. This plant species does best in damp soil and partial shade, as do the other plants listed here. And its two, bright-blue petals and yellow stamens, per blossom, are striking to see.
I saw a few of the lovely and related cardinal flowers with red flowers and great lobelias with blue blooms in a couple of ditches along country roads. I also noted a few ironweed plants in one ditch and several purple loosestrifes in another. Ironweed and loosestrife both have beautiful, hot-pink blossoms that are readily visited by a variety of butterflies that sip their nectar.
Goldenrods are not wetland plants, but they were abundant in two of the roadside ditches I saw this September. Goldenrods' multitudes of tiny, cheery flowers are visited by bees and other small insects to get nectar.
Three of the country road wet spots I visited had cattails growing in them and the fourth one hosted phragmites. Cattails and phragmites both have decorative seed heads. Cattails get up to five feet tall while phragmites can reach ten feet. Red-winged blackbirds nest on the stalks of these two wetland plants wherever they sprout and grow. Muskrats use the stems of these plants to make homes in ponds and roadside puddles.
Several kinds of wetland trees shade roadside ditches, including red maples in three of them I visited. Black walnut, black gum and crack willow trees were in two low spots along roads and pin oaks were in one. These trees, wherever they occur, help hold down the soil, shade plants beneath them, and offer food and shelter to a variety of wildlife. And the red maples and black gums both had some striking, red leaves when I saw them in September.
Alder bushes were in two roadside ditches and gray-stem dogwoods were in one. These shrubs, wherever they sprout, also provide food and shelter for wildlife. The dogwoods, for example, already had many dull-blue berries on them, fruits that will be eaten by rodents and small birds through the coming winter.
When I visited these roadside wetlands in September, I noticed a few common kinds of small birds, including northern cardinals, song sparrows and gray catbirds in all of them. These birds like thickets with ample water, invertebrates and berries.
And these little wetlands also had many bees of various kinds, and several cabbage white, silver-spotted skipper and least skipper butterflies in them. All those common insects visited the colorful blooms of the wetlands to sip nectar.
The above-mentioned flowers together make unique, human-made plant communities that add beauty to the landscape and the already lovely September. They are there for our looking, free.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Black Vultures
A few days ago, I was in a public park at the head of the Chesapeake Bay to look for terns, gulls and other kinds of water birds. I saw individuals of each of those species, but I also noted more than two dozen black vultures in two, sometimes three, groups, in the park. They didn't bother anybody and they seemed unafraid of people being close to them. Incidentally, I've never heard of these vultures, or turkey vultures, ever threatening anybody.
During the few hours I was in the park, those black vultures mostly stood around together on short-grass lawns, but occasionally some of them raided dumpsters, supposedly to find food. I was so close to them I could hear their vocalizations that sounded like muffled, distant barks. And I noticed they were absolutely clean and handsome birds that walked about a bit like large, lumbering chickens. They were a joy for me to study a little while the opportunity was available.
I have always enjoyed spotting black vultures in the air and on the ground. They are almost as large as wild turkeys, but with shorter legs, often obvious in the air, usually form flocks of a dozen or score of themselves and can be spotted anytime of the year here in southeastern Pennsylvania. Their flight patterns alternate between short sails and quick, panicky-looking wing beats, unlike the flight patterns of any other vulture, eagle or hawk soaring in the sky. And when the handsome, robust black vultures are seen close-up or through binoculars on the ground, they all have black body feathers, and naked, black heads and necks.
Black vultures have been in southeastern Pennsylvania for at least 50 years, having come form farther south where they are abundant. This species ranges through much of the United States, all of Mexico and Central America, and much of South America to, and including, Argentina. They gather each night in treetops in woodland or forest roosts, often in mixed groups with turkey vultures. And during the day, black vultures watch airborne turkey vultures for clues of dead animals on the ground. Turkey vultures have a great sense of smell that can detect rotting carcasses by scent quicker than they can by eyesight. Unfortunately, the aggressive black vultures often chase the more timid turkey vultures off the carcasses the latter species found first.
Like turkey vultures and bald eagles, black vultures are successful scavengers, eating dead fish, ducks and other critters on the shores of larger waterways and impoundments, edibles from dumpsters and landfills, and dead livestock in fields and cow pastures. Black vultures prefer larger carcasses so that flocks of themselves can feed together.
But like eagles, the aggressive black vultures are predatory when killing opportunities arise. For example, they often nest near heron nesting rookeries and feed on dead heron chicks, and kill and eat live ones that fell from their treetop nurseries. Groups of cooperating black vultures will also kill and consume lambs and newborn calves.
Being adaptable and used to human-made conditions and activities, black vultures often perch in unusual places. One example is up to 16, or more, black vultures perched on the roofs of a house and adjacent small barn in a woods in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And they stand in fields near roads and parks where there is no cover. In the parks they raid dumpsters and, perhaps, are waiting to be fed by picnic participants.
Black vultures nest in sheltered places, including inside broken-off trees, fallen, hollow logs, small caves, including those in stone quarries, and thickets of vegetation. Each female of a mated pair lays two eggs per brood and the chicks hatch with a thick covering of white fluff. There is only one brood each year and both parents feed the chicks until they are fully feathered and able to fly.
Black vultures are beautiful, interesting additions to the fauna of southeastern Pennsylvania, especially when they are in flight. And they clean up dead, decaying animals along waterways and impoundments, in fields and everywhere else dead animals may be. They are well worth our attention and admiration.
During the few hours I was in the park, those black vultures mostly stood around together on short-grass lawns, but occasionally some of them raided dumpsters, supposedly to find food. I was so close to them I could hear their vocalizations that sounded like muffled, distant barks. And I noticed they were absolutely clean and handsome birds that walked about a bit like large, lumbering chickens. They were a joy for me to study a little while the opportunity was available.
I have always enjoyed spotting black vultures in the air and on the ground. They are almost as large as wild turkeys, but with shorter legs, often obvious in the air, usually form flocks of a dozen or score of themselves and can be spotted anytime of the year here in southeastern Pennsylvania. Their flight patterns alternate between short sails and quick, panicky-looking wing beats, unlike the flight patterns of any other vulture, eagle or hawk soaring in the sky. And when the handsome, robust black vultures are seen close-up or through binoculars on the ground, they all have black body feathers, and naked, black heads and necks.
Black vultures have been in southeastern Pennsylvania for at least 50 years, having come form farther south where they are abundant. This species ranges through much of the United States, all of Mexico and Central America, and much of South America to, and including, Argentina. They gather each night in treetops in woodland or forest roosts, often in mixed groups with turkey vultures. And during the day, black vultures watch airborne turkey vultures for clues of dead animals on the ground. Turkey vultures have a great sense of smell that can detect rotting carcasses by scent quicker than they can by eyesight. Unfortunately, the aggressive black vultures often chase the more timid turkey vultures off the carcasses the latter species found first.
Like turkey vultures and bald eagles, black vultures are successful scavengers, eating dead fish, ducks and other critters on the shores of larger waterways and impoundments, edibles from dumpsters and landfills, and dead livestock in fields and cow pastures. Black vultures prefer larger carcasses so that flocks of themselves can feed together.
But like eagles, the aggressive black vultures are predatory when killing opportunities arise. For example, they often nest near heron nesting rookeries and feed on dead heron chicks, and kill and eat live ones that fell from their treetop nurseries. Groups of cooperating black vultures will also kill and consume lambs and newborn calves.
Being adaptable and used to human-made conditions and activities, black vultures often perch in unusual places. One example is up to 16, or more, black vultures perched on the roofs of a house and adjacent small barn in a woods in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And they stand in fields near roads and parks where there is no cover. In the parks they raid dumpsters and, perhaps, are waiting to be fed by picnic participants.
Black vultures nest in sheltered places, including inside broken-off trees, fallen, hollow logs, small caves, including those in stone quarries, and thickets of vegetation. Each female of a mated pair lays two eggs per brood and the chicks hatch with a thick covering of white fluff. There is only one brood each year and both parents feed the chicks until they are fully feathered and able to fly.
Black vultures are beautiful, interesting additions to the fauna of southeastern Pennsylvania, especially when they are in flight. And they clean up dead, decaying animals along waterways and impoundments, in fields and everywhere else dead animals may be. They are well worth our attention and admiration.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Furnace Hills Hawk Watch
Early in October of 1974, I heard someone spotted black vultures in the wooded Furnace Hills on the border of Lancaster and Lebanon Counties in Pennsylvania. At that time, black vultures were uncommon here, so I sat on a high step of the 75 foot tall Cornwall Fire Tower on the top of a thousand foot mountain a few times that October to watch for those vultures. I saw a wonderful view of my home area and turkey vultures, but no black vultures. However, I saw several handsome hawks of a few kinds and a couple staely bald eagles soaring southwest by the fire tower. Those diurnal raptors were migrating to the south to escape the coming winter!
No one in the Lancaster County Bird Club, of which I was a member at the time, mentioned hawk migrations along the southwest-running, wooded Furnace Hills of northern Lancaster County because nobody knew of it. During the winter of 1974-1975, I told members of that club about the hawk migrations by the fire tower and one club member got permission and a key to the wooden "cabin" on top of the tower from the Bureau of Forestry, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. The Lancaster County Bird Club's hawk watch at the Cornwall Fire Tower officially started early in September in 1975 and continued every autumn through to and including the fall of 1989. Only four bird club members could be on the tower at one time for bird watching from early September to mid-November of each autumn. Observers filled in charts of weather, flight patterns and the numbers of each kind of hawk and eagle seen each day of coverage.
Several bird club members took turns staffing the cabin on top of the tower, not every fall day, but many of them, to watch for hawks and eagles soaring by that structure in migration. The cabin had four large, wooden flaps that could be raised inward and hooked to the ceiling so hawk watchers could see in every direction. The one to four observers at a time in that wooden box on the tower thoroughly enjoyed and were inspired by the hundreds of handsome hawks sailing majestically southwest by it. Camaraderie and joking developed among two or more observers between inspiring sights of migrating raptors. Some people even brought coffee and snacks to the cabin. A fun, up-lifting time was had by all.
Twelve kinds of hawks and two types of eagles migrated by the Cornwall Fire Tower in those 15 autumn seasons, which is the number of diurnal raptors to be expected in this area each fall. Many individuals came from the east and northeast and followed the southwest running slopes to the south. Some years only about 2,000 raptors passed the fire tower while one fall an impressive ten thousand plus did. But most years about 4,000 to 5,000 hawks and eagles passed by the tower in an autumn.
Migrant broad-winged hawks float by in awe-inspiring flocks of scores or hundreds most every day during the middle of September. From the Cornwall Tower one September late-afternoon, I was fortunate to see scores of broadies diving head-first into the deciduous woods around the tower. There they would spend that night perched in trees. Early the next morning they would hunt insects, mice, small birds and other little creatures before lifting off in mid-morning to find thermals of sun-heated air that would lift them higher and higher into the sky at the start of the next day's migration.
Single sharp-shinned hawks, sometimes one right after another, zipped excitingly by the tower on days of north or northwest winds during October. Those winds are pushed up the southwest running mountains by wind from behind, pushing the hawks up with them.
Majestic red-tailed hawks, on large, flat-out wings, also rode northwest winds down the ridges and by the tower during the latter part of October and well into November. Some days in October, sharpies and red-tails stole the hawk migration show at the Cornwall Fire Tower.
Other species of hawks and the eagles made occasional showings by the tower every autumn. The most exciting raptors were the majestic ospreys, bald eagles, golden eagles and the thrilling, dashing peregrine falcons and Cooper's hawks. Stately golden eagles mostly went by during November.
Other kinds of intriguing birds were seen from the top of the tower each fall. An occasional ruffed grouse would be spotted eating the lovely, blue-black fruits of black gum trees below the tower. Flocks of honking, south-bound Canada geese, American crows and blue jays from nesting grounds in Canada would be noted passing the tower in mid-October. And migrant groups of chimney swifts, tree swallows, American robins, eastern bluebirds, common grackles and red-winged blackbirds would be spotted from the tower at times.
But several species of warblers, and red-eyed and solitary vireos, feeding on invertebrates in the trees below, were often the highlight of being in the tower, beside the raptor migrations that is. Every fall beautifully feathered black-throated green, black-throated blue, yellow-rumped, Cape May, blackburnian and other warbler species would be spotted from the tower like jewels in the foliage.
Observers in the tower also had a ringside view of the beautiful leaf color change each autumn. The first trees to have red leaves were black gums and flowering dogwoods in early September. Each fall day more leaves turned red, yellow or brown as the season progressed. By the third week in October the leaf color change reached its climax; and what a striking, breath-taking sight it was each year. The woods were a riot of warm colors unique to October. Then the trees rapidly became bare and tower observers could see the forest and its floor like no time before in autumn.
The Lancaster County Bird Club's hawk watch ended in the fall of 1989. And the tower was taken down since that time. But the pleasant memories of an autumn migrant hawk watch in Lancaster County remains. The visions of speeding sharp-shins, soaring red-tails and golden eagles, lovely colors of warblers' feathers, varying wind and weather, camaraderie, coffee, beautiful scenery and striking colored leaves are still part of the observers' being to this day. The hawk watch in the Cornwall Fire Tower in the wooded Furnace Hills of northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania will always be a highlight of Lancaster County's bird club.
No one in the Lancaster County Bird Club, of which I was a member at the time, mentioned hawk migrations along the southwest-running, wooded Furnace Hills of northern Lancaster County because nobody knew of it. During the winter of 1974-1975, I told members of that club about the hawk migrations by the fire tower and one club member got permission and a key to the wooden "cabin" on top of the tower from the Bureau of Forestry, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. The Lancaster County Bird Club's hawk watch at the Cornwall Fire Tower officially started early in September in 1975 and continued every autumn through to and including the fall of 1989. Only four bird club members could be on the tower at one time for bird watching from early September to mid-November of each autumn. Observers filled in charts of weather, flight patterns and the numbers of each kind of hawk and eagle seen each day of coverage.
Several bird club members took turns staffing the cabin on top of the tower, not every fall day, but many of them, to watch for hawks and eagles soaring by that structure in migration. The cabin had four large, wooden flaps that could be raised inward and hooked to the ceiling so hawk watchers could see in every direction. The one to four observers at a time in that wooden box on the tower thoroughly enjoyed and were inspired by the hundreds of handsome hawks sailing majestically southwest by it. Camaraderie and joking developed among two or more observers between inspiring sights of migrating raptors. Some people even brought coffee and snacks to the cabin. A fun, up-lifting time was had by all.
Twelve kinds of hawks and two types of eagles migrated by the Cornwall Fire Tower in those 15 autumn seasons, which is the number of diurnal raptors to be expected in this area each fall. Many individuals came from the east and northeast and followed the southwest running slopes to the south. Some years only about 2,000 raptors passed the fire tower while one fall an impressive ten thousand plus did. But most years about 4,000 to 5,000 hawks and eagles passed by the tower in an autumn.
Migrant broad-winged hawks float by in awe-inspiring flocks of scores or hundreds most every day during the middle of September. From the Cornwall Tower one September late-afternoon, I was fortunate to see scores of broadies diving head-first into the deciduous woods around the tower. There they would spend that night perched in trees. Early the next morning they would hunt insects, mice, small birds and other little creatures before lifting off in mid-morning to find thermals of sun-heated air that would lift them higher and higher into the sky at the start of the next day's migration.
Single sharp-shinned hawks, sometimes one right after another, zipped excitingly by the tower on days of north or northwest winds during October. Those winds are pushed up the southwest running mountains by wind from behind, pushing the hawks up with them.
Majestic red-tailed hawks, on large, flat-out wings, also rode northwest winds down the ridges and by the tower during the latter part of October and well into November. Some days in October, sharpies and red-tails stole the hawk migration show at the Cornwall Fire Tower.
Other species of hawks and the eagles made occasional showings by the tower every autumn. The most exciting raptors were the majestic ospreys, bald eagles, golden eagles and the thrilling, dashing peregrine falcons and Cooper's hawks. Stately golden eagles mostly went by during November.
Other kinds of intriguing birds were seen from the top of the tower each fall. An occasional ruffed grouse would be spotted eating the lovely, blue-black fruits of black gum trees below the tower. Flocks of honking, south-bound Canada geese, American crows and blue jays from nesting grounds in Canada would be noted passing the tower in mid-October. And migrant groups of chimney swifts, tree swallows, American robins, eastern bluebirds, common grackles and red-winged blackbirds would be spotted from the tower at times.
But several species of warblers, and red-eyed and solitary vireos, feeding on invertebrates in the trees below, were often the highlight of being in the tower, beside the raptor migrations that is. Every fall beautifully feathered black-throated green, black-throated blue, yellow-rumped, Cape May, blackburnian and other warbler species would be spotted from the tower like jewels in the foliage.
Observers in the tower also had a ringside view of the beautiful leaf color change each autumn. The first trees to have red leaves were black gums and flowering dogwoods in early September. Each fall day more leaves turned red, yellow or brown as the season progressed. By the third week in October the leaf color change reached its climax; and what a striking, breath-taking sight it was each year. The woods were a riot of warm colors unique to October. Then the trees rapidly became bare and tower observers could see the forest and its floor like no time before in autumn.
The Lancaster County Bird Club's hawk watch ended in the fall of 1989. And the tower was taken down since that time. But the pleasant memories of an autumn migrant hawk watch in Lancaster County remains. The visions of speeding sharp-shins, soaring red-tails and golden eagles, lovely colors of warblers' feathers, varying wind and weather, camaraderie, coffee, beautiful scenery and striking colored leaves are still part of the observers' being to this day. The hawk watch in the Cornwall Fire Tower in the wooded Furnace Hills of northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania will always be a highlight of Lancaster County's bird club.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Cattle Sustain Wildlife
One afternoon in mid-August I was driving through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland and saw a farmer cutting alfalfa hay that will feed cattle this winter. Scores of post-breeding barn swallows were entertaining and inspiring as they swooped, dove and swirled swiftly after the innumerable insects stirred into the air by the hay cutter. Those tiny, flying insects made great meals for the swallows. Again, I thought about milk and meat from cattle being big business here in Lancaster County. And I thought about how cattle, indirectly, feed and shelter several kinds of adaptable wildlife. The corn and hay that feed cattle in winter, the straw that beds them, the barns that shelter them and the manure they produce sustain a variety of wild creatures in farmland.
Many acres of soil are plowed each April, in which corn is sown early in May. Horned larks and killdeer plovers are the only local birds that nest on bare ground when the corn is young and small in the fields. Both those species of birds are pre-adapted to bare-ground fields; the killdeer traditionally nest on beaches, gravel and bare soil, while the larks do so on denuded soil or ground with sparse vegetation. Killdeer hatch four chicks per brood on top of the ground while larks dig tea-cup-sized holes in the soil to raise four or five young.
Horned larks and killdeer are both brown on top, which allows them to blend into the bare ground to be invisible to predators. And their eggs and young are camouflaged against soil, too. But killdeer chicks can run and feed themselves within 24 hours of hatching, while lark babies stay in their nurseries and are fed by their parents until old enough to fly.
In summer, some white-tailed deer hide in corn fields and nibble neighboring alfalfa and clover at dusk and into the night. And those deer, and raccoons, eat some kernels of corn in the ears before those kernels harden.
In winter, great, awe-inspiring flocks of Canada geese, snow geese, tundra swans and mallard ducks settle into harvested corn fields and shovel up kernels left among the stubble by machinery. Smaller groups of mourning doves, rock pigeons, house sparrows and American crows also put down on harvested corn fields to consume kernels of corn. And field mice, brown rats, muskrats, gray squirrels and white-tails come out of their various shelters to ingest corn kernels, too, all but the squirrels at night.
Many alfalfa and red clover fields are often swarming with cabbage white and clouded sulpher butterflies, other kinds of butterflies, including tiger swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails, silver-spotted skippers and monarchs, and a variety of bees and other insects. All those insects land on the lavender alfalfa blooms and pink clover blossoms to sip nectar. White-tails, wood chucks and cottontail rabbits ingest the plants themselves.
Grain fields here are harvested early in July. The grain is bagged and sold to make flour, and the golden stems are baled for livestock bedding. But some grain tumbles to the ground where it is eaten by flocks of rock pigeons, mourning doves, house sparrows, house finches, American crows, horned larks and other kinds of birds. Field mice and gray squirrels also get their share.
Several kinds of wildlife live and raise young in barns, including pigeons, house sparrows, barn swallows, barn owls, brown rats, house mice, little brown bats, big brown bats, spiders, milk snakes, black rat snakes and a few other kinds of adaptable wild critters. The bats leave the barns at dusk and spend good portions of each spring, summer and autumn night catching and eating flying insects, including mosquitoes and flies. Spiders snare a lot of insects in their webs, while the snakes are good at catching and eating rats and mice that live in the barns.
Manure from cattle has chewed, but undigested, corn bits in it. Manure is particularly important to certain birds and mammals in winter when snow covers the fields, burying grain and weed seeds.
Pigeons, doves, house sparrows, geese, swans, ducks, crows and horned larks poke and shovel through the manure to eat the bits of corn. Field mice, brown rats and muskrats all eat some of the corn in manure, too.
Flies that settle around the eyes and other orifices of cattle are preyed on by barn swallows, tree swallows, purple martins, which are another kind of swallow, eastern kingbirds, eastern bluebirds and other kinds of birds, and a few species of dragonflies. The flies were larvae in manure piles, changed to flies, and are now seeking mates to lay more fertile eggs. But most of those flies, when in flight, are caught and eaten by the above-mentioned birds and insects, which is another example of cattle indirectly feeding wildlife.
Brown-headed cowbirds, starlings and, once in a while, a few cattle egrets, follow cattle in the meadows to catch grasshoppers, crickets and other invertebrates stirred out of the grass by the animals' hooves. Cowbirds have a long history of following bison on the western prairies to get insects. And because the bison were always on the move, cowbirds moved with them, developing the habit of laying their eggs in other birds' nests so they could forever follow the bison and not be tied to hatching and raising young for more than a month.
Milk and meat are big business in Lancaster County. And the many cattle that provide those foods to us also feed a variety of adaptable wildlife in various ways. Being adaptable is a key to success.
Many acres of soil are plowed each April, in which corn is sown early in May. Horned larks and killdeer plovers are the only local birds that nest on bare ground when the corn is young and small in the fields. Both those species of birds are pre-adapted to bare-ground fields; the killdeer traditionally nest on beaches, gravel and bare soil, while the larks do so on denuded soil or ground with sparse vegetation. Killdeer hatch four chicks per brood on top of the ground while larks dig tea-cup-sized holes in the soil to raise four or five young.
Horned larks and killdeer are both brown on top, which allows them to blend into the bare ground to be invisible to predators. And their eggs and young are camouflaged against soil, too. But killdeer chicks can run and feed themselves within 24 hours of hatching, while lark babies stay in their nurseries and are fed by their parents until old enough to fly.
In summer, some white-tailed deer hide in corn fields and nibble neighboring alfalfa and clover at dusk and into the night. And those deer, and raccoons, eat some kernels of corn in the ears before those kernels harden.
In winter, great, awe-inspiring flocks of Canada geese, snow geese, tundra swans and mallard ducks settle into harvested corn fields and shovel up kernels left among the stubble by machinery. Smaller groups of mourning doves, rock pigeons, house sparrows and American crows also put down on harvested corn fields to consume kernels of corn. And field mice, brown rats, muskrats, gray squirrels and white-tails come out of their various shelters to ingest corn kernels, too, all but the squirrels at night.
Many alfalfa and red clover fields are often swarming with cabbage white and clouded sulpher butterflies, other kinds of butterflies, including tiger swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails, silver-spotted skippers and monarchs, and a variety of bees and other insects. All those insects land on the lavender alfalfa blooms and pink clover blossoms to sip nectar. White-tails, wood chucks and cottontail rabbits ingest the plants themselves.
Grain fields here are harvested early in July. The grain is bagged and sold to make flour, and the golden stems are baled for livestock bedding. But some grain tumbles to the ground where it is eaten by flocks of rock pigeons, mourning doves, house sparrows, house finches, American crows, horned larks and other kinds of birds. Field mice and gray squirrels also get their share.
Several kinds of wildlife live and raise young in barns, including pigeons, house sparrows, barn swallows, barn owls, brown rats, house mice, little brown bats, big brown bats, spiders, milk snakes, black rat snakes and a few other kinds of adaptable wild critters. The bats leave the barns at dusk and spend good portions of each spring, summer and autumn night catching and eating flying insects, including mosquitoes and flies. Spiders snare a lot of insects in their webs, while the snakes are good at catching and eating rats and mice that live in the barns.
Manure from cattle has chewed, but undigested, corn bits in it. Manure is particularly important to certain birds and mammals in winter when snow covers the fields, burying grain and weed seeds.
Pigeons, doves, house sparrows, geese, swans, ducks, crows and horned larks poke and shovel through the manure to eat the bits of corn. Field mice, brown rats and muskrats all eat some of the corn in manure, too.
Flies that settle around the eyes and other orifices of cattle are preyed on by barn swallows, tree swallows, purple martins, which are another kind of swallow, eastern kingbirds, eastern bluebirds and other kinds of birds, and a few species of dragonflies. The flies were larvae in manure piles, changed to flies, and are now seeking mates to lay more fertile eggs. But most of those flies, when in flight, are caught and eaten by the above-mentioned birds and insects, which is another example of cattle indirectly feeding wildlife.
Brown-headed cowbirds, starlings and, once in a while, a few cattle egrets, follow cattle in the meadows to catch grasshoppers, crickets and other invertebrates stirred out of the grass by the animals' hooves. Cowbirds have a long history of following bison on the western prairies to get insects. And because the bison were always on the move, cowbirds moved with them, developing the habit of laying their eggs in other birds' nests so they could forever follow the bison and not be tied to hatching and raising young for more than a month.
Milk and meat are big business in Lancaster County. And the many cattle that provide those foods to us also feed a variety of adaptable wildlife in various ways. Being adaptable is a key to success.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Wildlife in Treated Water
On the afternoon of August 30, 2016, I spent an hour at the place where treated water from a business in New Holland, Pennsylvania pours into a meadow brook that almost immediately flows into Mill Creek about a mile outside New Holland. As always, my intent was to experience what plant and animal life adapted to that human-made habitat. And plenty of wildlife has.
Water pouring out of a one and a half foot in diameter pipe was clear and about the only water in the brook at the time. I saw scores of stream-lined, yellow-brown and dark-striped banded killifish in a few schools swimming easily into the current of that treated water. And with 16 power binoculars, I could see how beautiful and wonderfully camouflaged they are, which is a defense against herons, kingfishers and other predators on small fish.
I know from past observations that black-nosed dace are also in that brook. The killifish, and, particularly, the dace, are sensitive to water quality. The presence of those minnows in the brook, year after year, indicates there is nothing human-made in the water that harms them.
There were clumps of alga of various sizes in the water, tall grasses on the banks and flowering arrowhead plants with white blooms emerging from the shallows along both shores. I saw a few American goldfinches bathing and drinking, and eating strands of alga from the brook. And I saw a pair of song sparrows moving about among the grasses, on the shoreline mud and inch-deep water on the edge of the brook as they searched for invertebrates.
As I watched the killifish, goldfinches and sparrows, I began to notice little bumps in the alga that seemed out of place. Looking at those objects with xbinoculars at fairly close range, I saw they were the heads of three green frogs, one young snapping turtle and a northern water snake sticking out of the water. The rest of their bodies were covered by the alga, which concealed them from the prying eyes of herons, egrets, minks and other predators. Stalking killifish is one of the reasons the turtle and snake were in the brook.
I also noticed other kinds of interesting small birds, including several American robins, a few each of eastern bluebirds, house finches and chipping sparrows, and one gray catbird, northern cardinal and mourning dove taking turns drinking and bathing in the water of the brook I was studying. Those drinking birds are further proof of the cleanness of the water.
The pretty birds mentioned above are there because of vegetation near the brook. Thickets of young trees, tall grass and perennial plants line both sides of nearby Mill Creek. A long row of six-foot-tall northern white cedar (arborvitae) were planted near the brook. And an American elm tree and a choke cherry tree stand close to the brook in the meadow. Clumps of nodding thistles and pokeweeds grew in the thickets and along the line of arborvitae. When not drinking or bathing, the goldfinches ate thistle seeds. Robins and bluebirds ingested red cherry fruits while the catbird dined on the juicy fruits of pokeweed, when those birds were not along the brook. And the cardinal, mourning dove, house finches, and chipping sparrows consumed grass and weed seeds close to the brook. They, too, occasionally drink and bathe in the brook water.
The robins probably nested in the young trees along Mill Creek while the catbird, and its mate, reared offspring in bushes along that same waterway. And, perhaps, the chipping sparrows raised young in a cedar. But, also, by August most birds are done nesting and begin moving about in search of abundant food sources to fatten up before migrating or enduring winter in the north, depending upon the strategy of each kind of bird. And during the hot days of late summer into fall, birds are always looking for water supplies.
The treated water from a business in New Holland is one of innumerable human-made habitats being used by a variety of adaptable plants and wild animals. More and more, people are taking care of the environment, something we as a society always need to do to have healthy lives on Earth and be able to enjoy nature's beauties and intrigues.
Water pouring out of a one and a half foot in diameter pipe was clear and about the only water in the brook at the time. I saw scores of stream-lined, yellow-brown and dark-striped banded killifish in a few schools swimming easily into the current of that treated water. And with 16 power binoculars, I could see how beautiful and wonderfully camouflaged they are, which is a defense against herons, kingfishers and other predators on small fish.
I know from past observations that black-nosed dace are also in that brook. The killifish, and, particularly, the dace, are sensitive to water quality. The presence of those minnows in the brook, year after year, indicates there is nothing human-made in the water that harms them.
There were clumps of alga of various sizes in the water, tall grasses on the banks and flowering arrowhead plants with white blooms emerging from the shallows along both shores. I saw a few American goldfinches bathing and drinking, and eating strands of alga from the brook. And I saw a pair of song sparrows moving about among the grasses, on the shoreline mud and inch-deep water on the edge of the brook as they searched for invertebrates.
As I watched the killifish, goldfinches and sparrows, I began to notice little bumps in the alga that seemed out of place. Looking at those objects with xbinoculars at fairly close range, I saw they were the heads of three green frogs, one young snapping turtle and a northern water snake sticking out of the water. The rest of their bodies were covered by the alga, which concealed them from the prying eyes of herons, egrets, minks and other predators. Stalking killifish is one of the reasons the turtle and snake were in the brook.
I also noticed other kinds of interesting small birds, including several American robins, a few each of eastern bluebirds, house finches and chipping sparrows, and one gray catbird, northern cardinal and mourning dove taking turns drinking and bathing in the water of the brook I was studying. Those drinking birds are further proof of the cleanness of the water.
The pretty birds mentioned above are there because of vegetation near the brook. Thickets of young trees, tall grass and perennial plants line both sides of nearby Mill Creek. A long row of six-foot-tall northern white cedar (arborvitae) were planted near the brook. And an American elm tree and a choke cherry tree stand close to the brook in the meadow. Clumps of nodding thistles and pokeweeds grew in the thickets and along the line of arborvitae. When not drinking or bathing, the goldfinches ate thistle seeds. Robins and bluebirds ingested red cherry fruits while the catbird dined on the juicy fruits of pokeweed, when those birds were not along the brook. And the cardinal, mourning dove, house finches, and chipping sparrows consumed grass and weed seeds close to the brook. They, too, occasionally drink and bathe in the brook water.
The robins probably nested in the young trees along Mill Creek while the catbird, and its mate, reared offspring in bushes along that same waterway. And, perhaps, the chipping sparrows raised young in a cedar. But, also, by August most birds are done nesting and begin moving about in search of abundant food sources to fatten up before migrating or enduring winter in the north, depending upon the strategy of each kind of bird. And during the hot days of late summer into fall, birds are always looking for water supplies.
The treated water from a business in New Holland is one of innumerable human-made habitats being used by a variety of adaptable plants and wild animals. More and more, people are taking care of the environment, something we as a society always need to do to have healthy lives on Earth and be able to enjoy nature's beauties and intrigues.
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