Several kinds of small, wintering woodland birds in the Middle Atlantic States, including two species of chickadees, tufted titmice, golden-crowned kinglets, two kinds of nuthatches, brown creepers, seven types of woodpeckers and two species of wrens, eat invertebrates from different parts of trees, thus reducing competition for that food among those birds. Different groups of birds exploited unique niches on trees to get food, causing the development of different bird species in forests. But, being adaptable, these birds also get food in woodlots, and older suburban areas with their many maturing trees. And these birds are entertaining to us as each species gets food from a different part of every tree.
The closely-related and nearly look-alike black capped and Carolina chickadees, titmice and kinglets flutter lightly among the tiny crevices of twigs and buds on trees in winter to find and eat invertebrates and/or their eggs. The birds' little bodies and tiny, tweezer-like beaks allow them to feed the way they do. These handsome birds fill a niche that larger birds could not, thus having it mostly to themselves.
Permanent resident white-breasted nuthatches and wintering red-breasted nuthatches and creepers are attractive small birds that search for invertebrates and their eggs in crevices in tree bark. The gray or brown upper part feathers of these birds camouflage them on tree trunks.
Nuthatches are real acrobats, creeping up vertical tree trunks, and down them headfirst in their search for invertebrate food. Nuthatches also cling and walk along the under sides of branches. And they have stout, sharply-pointed bills for poking into cracks in bark to pull out invertebrates.
Creepers travel along tree trunks differently than nuthatches. Creepers flutter to the base of a large tree and slowly, jerkily hitch up the trunk in a spiral, all the while peeking into cracks in bark for invertebrates. When satisfied with one tree, creepers flutter down to the bases of others and repeat their spiral climbs, all day, every day. Creepers have stiff tail feathers to help hold them upright on vertical trunks and thin, curved-down bills for probing crevices for food.
Having diverged from a common ancestor, all woodpecker species on earth, including the seven kinds in the Mid-Atlantic States in a year's time, have characteristics in common, including stiff tail feathers to help hold them erect on vertical tree trunks and feet with two toes in front and two in back to help them cling to tree trunks. Woodpeckers chip away bark from trunks and limbs and chisel into the wood underneath. Then they push their long, sticky tongues into invertebrate tunnels in the wood to snare those little critters and pull them out into their beaks to swallow.
Permanent resident Carolina wrens and wintering winter wrens live among and get invertebrate food from fallen logs, brush piles and piles of leaves carpeting woodland floors and under planted shrubbery and log piles on maturing suburban lawns. The feathers of wrens are brown, which blends them into their habitats of forest floors and older lawns. To capture invertebrates through winter, they scurry like feathered mice among those sheltering niches.
All these attractive, wintering birds eat invertebrates from various parts of trees, each kind in its own way, in its own niche, which reduces rivalry for food. Every species on Earth has its particular niche that it evolved in, a niche that suits its needs better than any other species.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Seeds, Nuts and Berries
For an hour one afternoon late in October of this year, I visited an overgrown habitat of deciduous trees, shrubs, vines, weeds and grasses to experience what birds and mammals those plants were feeding and sheltering. A flock of American robins, smaller groups of eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings and yellow-rumped warblers, and an individual each of Carolina wren and northern cardinal were feasting on dark wild grapes hanging on their vines on ash-leafed maple trees.
Meanwhile other robins were eating earthworms on a nearby short-grass lawn, a half-dozen northern flickers were on that same lawn consuming ants in their tunnels in the soil and a northern mockingbird was eating a variety of invertebrates from the short grass. And a red-tailed hawk circled that impenetrable thicket and watched for gray squirrels to catch and ingest.
Overgrown thickets form from woods that were lumbered off, abandoned fields and meadows, and deserted corners of fields and developments. Seeds either blow into abandoned areas on the wind, or are brought in on animal fur or in digestive tracts, depending on the kind of plant that produced them. The resulting plants get much sunlight without a canopy of tree foliage over them, resulting in rapid growth that densely covers the ground. That thick growth provides abundant food and shelter for insects, birds, mammals and other kinds of critters.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere in the world, thickets of successional vegetation produce seeds, nuts and berries in abundance that feed several kinds of birds and mammals in fall and winter. And those same jungles of plants shelter those wild creatures as well. Small seeds are produced by foxtail grass and other types of grasses, Queen-Anne's-lace, chicory, smartweeds, goldenrods, asters, ragweeds and other, weedy plant species. American goldfinches, house finches, song sparrows, white-throated sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, northern cardinals and other kinds of small, seed-eating birds consume many of those small seeds during winter.
Deer mice and eastern chipmunks also ingest some of those grass and weed seeds and store others in their nests. They consume those seeds during the hardships of winter. And the many seeds that survive the appetites of birds and mammals in winter will sprout the next spring.
Nuts grow on black walnut, pin oak, white oak and other kinds of trees in successional thickets after timbering or deserting farmland. White-tailed deer, black bears, deer mice, eastern chipmunks, at least three kinds of squirrels, American crows, blue jays, wild turkeys and ruffed grouse are some of the local critters that consume acorns in fall and winter. But only the squirrels, chippies and mice, being rodents, can chew through the tough husks and hard shells of black walnut tree nuts because only they have jaws strong enough and teeth sharp enough to do so.
During fall, squirrels of every kind and blue jays stash nuts and acorns into tree cavities or bury them in the ground. And during inclement weather in winter when food would be hard to find, the squirrels and jays eat some of those nuts and acorns. But they don't get around to all of them, and surviving nuts sprout into trees the next spring and summer.
Acorns and their "caps", by the way, are beautiful and decorative. Most of them are warm-brown in color and shiny.
Many kinds of trees, shrubs and vines grow small fruits or berries that birds and mammals consume in overgrown habitats in fall and winter. Some local, fruit and berry-producing plants are Bradford pear, crab apple hackberry, staghorn sumac and American holly trees, multi-flora rose, Tartarian honeysuckle and winterberry shrubs, pokeweed, and green briar, deadly nightshade, wild grape, tearthumb, poison ivy, Virginia creeper and bittersweet vines. Crab apples, hollies, winterberries, sumacs, Tartarian honeysuckles and multiflora roses have red fruits or berries while bittersweet has bright-orange ones. Those fruits are not only attractive for us to see, but they also attract the attentions of hungry birds that eat them.
Greenbriar, poison ivy, Virginia creeper and pokeweed have beautifully colored foliage in fall that adds to the beauty of that enjoyable season. Virginia creepers have red autumn leaves and deep-purple fruits on short, red stems at the same time, which makes than vine quite pretty to see.
Flocks of wild turkeys, American robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings and yellow-rumped warblers and individual northern mockingbirds and ruffed grouse are some of the birds that regularly eat berries and small fruits in southeastern Pennsylvania in fall and winter. Those birds liven and brighten those berry patches when feeding on their colorful, nutritious fruits.
As the birds consume fruits and berries, they also ingest the seeds in them. The birds digest the pulp of those fruits and berries, but pass many of the seeds, intact, in droppings all over the countryside as they fly from place to place. Seeds not eaten by mice and squirrels have a chance to sprout into new plants. It's a win/win situation. Each plant species colonizes new areas and the birds insure food supplies for future bird generations.
Several kinds of local mammals eat fruits and berries in fall and winter, including white-tailed deer, black bears, three kinds of squirrels, chipmunks, deer mice, raccoons, opossums, striped skunks and two species of foxes. Those mammals, other than squirrels, chippies and mice, pass many of the seeds in droppings, therefore, helping spread each plant species across the landscape.
Overgrown thickets are great sources of food and cover for several kinds of wildlife from insects to birds and mammals. They are wonderful wildlife refuges, however big or small. And those thickets develop wherever the soil is not worked by people for at least a few years.
Meanwhile other robins were eating earthworms on a nearby short-grass lawn, a half-dozen northern flickers were on that same lawn consuming ants in their tunnels in the soil and a northern mockingbird was eating a variety of invertebrates from the short grass. And a red-tailed hawk circled that impenetrable thicket and watched for gray squirrels to catch and ingest.
Overgrown thickets form from woods that were lumbered off, abandoned fields and meadows, and deserted corners of fields and developments. Seeds either blow into abandoned areas on the wind, or are brought in on animal fur or in digestive tracts, depending on the kind of plant that produced them. The resulting plants get much sunlight without a canopy of tree foliage over them, resulting in rapid growth that densely covers the ground. That thick growth provides abundant food and shelter for insects, birds, mammals and other kinds of critters.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere in the world, thickets of successional vegetation produce seeds, nuts and berries in abundance that feed several kinds of birds and mammals in fall and winter. And those same jungles of plants shelter those wild creatures as well. Small seeds are produced by foxtail grass and other types of grasses, Queen-Anne's-lace, chicory, smartweeds, goldenrods, asters, ragweeds and other, weedy plant species. American goldfinches, house finches, song sparrows, white-throated sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, northern cardinals and other kinds of small, seed-eating birds consume many of those small seeds during winter.
Deer mice and eastern chipmunks also ingest some of those grass and weed seeds and store others in their nests. They consume those seeds during the hardships of winter. And the many seeds that survive the appetites of birds and mammals in winter will sprout the next spring.
Nuts grow on black walnut, pin oak, white oak and other kinds of trees in successional thickets after timbering or deserting farmland. White-tailed deer, black bears, deer mice, eastern chipmunks, at least three kinds of squirrels, American crows, blue jays, wild turkeys and ruffed grouse are some of the local critters that consume acorns in fall and winter. But only the squirrels, chippies and mice, being rodents, can chew through the tough husks and hard shells of black walnut tree nuts because only they have jaws strong enough and teeth sharp enough to do so.
During fall, squirrels of every kind and blue jays stash nuts and acorns into tree cavities or bury them in the ground. And during inclement weather in winter when food would be hard to find, the squirrels and jays eat some of those nuts and acorns. But they don't get around to all of them, and surviving nuts sprout into trees the next spring and summer.
Acorns and their "caps", by the way, are beautiful and decorative. Most of them are warm-brown in color and shiny.
Many kinds of trees, shrubs and vines grow small fruits or berries that birds and mammals consume in overgrown habitats in fall and winter. Some local, fruit and berry-producing plants are Bradford pear, crab apple hackberry, staghorn sumac and American holly trees, multi-flora rose, Tartarian honeysuckle and winterberry shrubs, pokeweed, and green briar, deadly nightshade, wild grape, tearthumb, poison ivy, Virginia creeper and bittersweet vines. Crab apples, hollies, winterberries, sumacs, Tartarian honeysuckles and multiflora roses have red fruits or berries while bittersweet has bright-orange ones. Those fruits are not only attractive for us to see, but they also attract the attentions of hungry birds that eat them.
Greenbriar, poison ivy, Virginia creeper and pokeweed have beautifully colored foliage in fall that adds to the beauty of that enjoyable season. Virginia creepers have red autumn leaves and deep-purple fruits on short, red stems at the same time, which makes than vine quite pretty to see.
Flocks of wild turkeys, American robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings and yellow-rumped warblers and individual northern mockingbirds and ruffed grouse are some of the birds that regularly eat berries and small fruits in southeastern Pennsylvania in fall and winter. Those birds liven and brighten those berry patches when feeding on their colorful, nutritious fruits.
As the birds consume fruits and berries, they also ingest the seeds in them. The birds digest the pulp of those fruits and berries, but pass many of the seeds, intact, in droppings all over the countryside as they fly from place to place. Seeds not eaten by mice and squirrels have a chance to sprout into new plants. It's a win/win situation. Each plant species colonizes new areas and the birds insure food supplies for future bird generations.
Several kinds of local mammals eat fruits and berries in fall and winter, including white-tailed deer, black bears, three kinds of squirrels, chipmunks, deer mice, raccoons, opossums, striped skunks and two species of foxes. Those mammals, other than squirrels, chippies and mice, pass many of the seeds in droppings, therefore, helping spread each plant species across the landscape.
Overgrown thickets are great sources of food and cover for several kinds of wildlife from insects to birds and mammals. They are wonderful wildlife refuges, however big or small. And those thickets develop wherever the soil is not worked by people for at least a few years.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Rodent Preparations for Winter
In autumn, some species of rodents in southeastern Pennsylvania, as throughout the northern temperate areas on Earth, annually make preparations for the coming winter. They all developed the habit of doing that because food is hard to get when locked away in snow and ice.
Squirrels, including the abundant and omnipresent gray squirrels, for example, eastern chipmunks and deer mice store seeds and nuts to eat in winter. Gray squirrels stash nuts mostly, including those from black walnut, hickory, beech and oak trees, in tree cavities and in the ground in woodlands and older suburban areas with their many maturing trees. The squirrels dig little, shallow holes in the soil with their front feet, push a nut into each one with their noses, then bury those nuts with their front feet again, tamping the soil down with noses and feet for good measure. In winter, the squirrels sniff out the food they buried in the soil, even when it's under snow. But some of those nuts and seeds don't get eaten, perhaps sprouting into new vegetation.
Chipmunks store seeds and nuts in underground burrows they dig out themselves. They make many scurried forays over woodland floors and lawns, pick up the foods in their mouths and store them in their two cheek pouches. When their pouches are full, the chippies race home and empty those grocery containers into a storage room in their burrows. Then out they go for more edibles, risking their lives in doing so because of weasels, foxes, hawks and other predators. Surviving chipmunks sleep in their dens in winter, waking every few days to eat from their stores.
Deer mice winter in old squirrel and bird nests, under logs, in brush piles, crevices among rocks and in and under buildings. They stash many seeds in those sheltering places for winter use. Being active all winter, they probably feed from their stores when the weather is too snowy or cold for them to want to venture out, and when food is buried by snowfalls.
Wood chucks and meadow jumping mice hibernate through winter, in burrows in the ground from early November to mid-February with regards to the chucks and March for the mice. In fall, the chucks and mice put on fat their bodies use in the coming winter. Chucks consume green plants while the jumping mice ingest seeds and berries.
Beavers are large, aquatic rodents that eat green plants and the bark of twigs and branches. In fall, beavers stick limbs they gnawed off trees into the mud at the bottom of the ponds they created with their dams. They got the branches from trees they gnawed off with their sharp, strong teeth.
In winter, when ice covers their ponds, beavers leave their lodges through under water entrances to bring back limbs from their stores to those lodges. There they consume the bark of those branches.
Beavers also store fat in their tails. That fat helps sustain them through winter.
These rodents' preparations for winter make the outdoors in fall the more interesting. And the rodents survive winter because of those laid away stores of food, or the fat they stored on their bodies in autumn, depending on the species.
Squirrels, including the abundant and omnipresent gray squirrels, for example, eastern chipmunks and deer mice store seeds and nuts to eat in winter. Gray squirrels stash nuts mostly, including those from black walnut, hickory, beech and oak trees, in tree cavities and in the ground in woodlands and older suburban areas with their many maturing trees. The squirrels dig little, shallow holes in the soil with their front feet, push a nut into each one with their noses, then bury those nuts with their front feet again, tamping the soil down with noses and feet for good measure. In winter, the squirrels sniff out the food they buried in the soil, even when it's under snow. But some of those nuts and seeds don't get eaten, perhaps sprouting into new vegetation.
Chipmunks store seeds and nuts in underground burrows they dig out themselves. They make many scurried forays over woodland floors and lawns, pick up the foods in their mouths and store them in their two cheek pouches. When their pouches are full, the chippies race home and empty those grocery containers into a storage room in their burrows. Then out they go for more edibles, risking their lives in doing so because of weasels, foxes, hawks and other predators. Surviving chipmunks sleep in their dens in winter, waking every few days to eat from their stores.
Deer mice winter in old squirrel and bird nests, under logs, in brush piles, crevices among rocks and in and under buildings. They stash many seeds in those sheltering places for winter use. Being active all winter, they probably feed from their stores when the weather is too snowy or cold for them to want to venture out, and when food is buried by snowfalls.
Wood chucks and meadow jumping mice hibernate through winter, in burrows in the ground from early November to mid-February with regards to the chucks and March for the mice. In fall, the chucks and mice put on fat their bodies use in the coming winter. Chucks consume green plants while the jumping mice ingest seeds and berries.
Beavers are large, aquatic rodents that eat green plants and the bark of twigs and branches. In fall, beavers stick limbs they gnawed off trees into the mud at the bottom of the ponds they created with their dams. They got the branches from trees they gnawed off with their sharp, strong teeth.
In winter, when ice covers their ponds, beavers leave their lodges through under water entrances to bring back limbs from their stores to those lodges. There they consume the bark of those branches.
Beavers also store fat in their tails. That fat helps sustain them through winter.
These rodents' preparations for winter make the outdoors in fall the more interesting. And the rodents survive winter because of those laid away stores of food, or the fat they stored on their bodies in autumn, depending on the species.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Woodland Birds on our Lawn
For a couple of minutes one afternoon in the middle of this October, I was thrilled to see, by rare chance, a pair each of Carolina wrens, Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice at once at our bird feeder, bird baths and their bordering shrubbery on our suburban lawn in New Holland. A pair each of these permanent resident, woodland species has lived in our neighborhood for years, but I never before saw both genders of all three kinds at once. These species of small, handsome birds are neat to experience in their native woods and, especially, on lawns of trees and bushes, including ours.
Our lawn is not a woods, or even near one. But these types of lovely, lively birds are adaptable and flourish in less than woodland habitats, such as older suburban areas with tall trees and large bushes, including ours. These birds, and other species, add intrigue to those human-made habitats, and are entertaining to watch going about their daily business of getting food and avoiding predators by sticking to the cover of trees and shrubbery.
The colors of the feathers of these attractive birds indicate where each species spends most of its time each day. The wrens are warm-brown, which allows them to blend in with soil, fallen leaves and logs, and brush piles where they get much of their invertebrate food. The closely related chickadees and titmice, however, are mostly gray, which camouflages them among the bark and twigs of trees where they seize tiny invertebrates. Our Carolina wrens often frequent the crevices in our wood pile to hunt for food, as their kind does.
The chickadees and titmice daily come to our bird feeder and bird baths to supplement their food supply with sunflower seeds, and to get water. The wrens pick up invertebrates and sunflower seeds from the ground under the feeder and nearby shrubbery, and visit the bird bath. Those activities were why I saw all three species at once. When feeling threatened, all these birds zip into the nearby, sheltering bushes and hide until the danger is gone.
These three permanent resident, woodland bird species are attractive and entertaining on our lawn. They add more beauty and intrigue to it the year around.
Our lawn is not a woods, or even near one. But these types of lovely, lively birds are adaptable and flourish in less than woodland habitats, such as older suburban areas with tall trees and large bushes, including ours. These birds, and other species, add intrigue to those human-made habitats, and are entertaining to watch going about their daily business of getting food and avoiding predators by sticking to the cover of trees and shrubbery.
The colors of the feathers of these attractive birds indicate where each species spends most of its time each day. The wrens are warm-brown, which allows them to blend in with soil, fallen leaves and logs, and brush piles where they get much of their invertebrate food. The closely related chickadees and titmice, however, are mostly gray, which camouflages them among the bark and twigs of trees where they seize tiny invertebrates. Our Carolina wrens often frequent the crevices in our wood pile to hunt for food, as their kind does.
The chickadees and titmice daily come to our bird feeder and bird baths to supplement their food supply with sunflower seeds, and to get water. The wrens pick up invertebrates and sunflower seeds from the ground under the feeder and nearby shrubbery, and visit the bird bath. Those activities were why I saw all three species at once. When feeling threatened, all these birds zip into the nearby, sheltering bushes and hide until the danger is gone.
These three permanent resident, woodland bird species are attractive and entertaining on our lawn. They add more beauty and intrigue to it the year around.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Another Overgrown Meadow
In the middle of October of this year, I stopped at a former cow pasture straddling a tumbling, musical brook because I saw a flurry of small birds flutter from the rural road I was on and zip into young trees in that meadow. That pasture in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland was planted to river birches, pin oaks, white oaks, sycamores, tulip poplars, red maples and other kinds of moisture-loving trees about seven years ago. And a few small black walnut trees sprouted on their own. Since that meadow couldn't be mowed well because of the waterway and trees, it was mostly overgrown with tall grasses, including foxtail grass, plus evening primrose, pokeweed, a little multiflora rose and other plants loaded with seeds or berries, food for small birds in October and through winter.
The birds I saw flying up from the roadside were a mixed group of several dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows recently arrived in Lancaster County from their nesting territories. Those two common sparrow species probably will stay in that overgrown meadow through winter and eat seeds from the tall weeds and grasses. And they will shelter each winter night among those same weeds and grasses, and the few brush piles lying in the pasture.
I saw a few each of permanent resident song sparrows and northern cardinals, and one field sparrow, feeding on grass seeds. Those common species probably nested in small trees or bushes in the meadow. Overgrown meadows are ideal habitats for pretty, little field sparrows.
Little groups of American goldfinches and chipping sparrows flitted among the weeds and grasses to ingest their seeds. Goldfinches were also on the birches to consume birch seeds. These birds nest in Lancaster County, but the goldfinches will drift around the local countryside all winter in search of seeds to eat, while the chippers, and the field sparrow, will migrate south for the winter.
I saw one each of a few other kinds of birds in that overgrown pasture, including an eastern phoebe that was hawking flying insects from mid-air and a yellow-rumped warbler eating tiny invertebrates from the leaves, twigs and bark of trees. A male northern flicker was feeding on the ground, probably on ants at an ant hill he discovered. Unlike most woodpeckers, flickers are mostly brown, which camouflages them on the ground where they get most of their food. And an American kestrel was perched on top of a sapling tree as it watched for field mice and grasshoppers to capture and consume.
And there was a small gathering of American robins in sections of short grass in the meadow. There they searched for earthworms and other kinds of invertebrates among the grasses and in the surface of the soil. These robins probably nested in Lancaster County, but they have a choice of migrating south or staying here through winter. They might stay here, if they can find ample supplies of berries to eat through winter and shelter for each freezing night.
Letting meadows grow wild, or planting them to trees and shrubbery, allows them to be better wildlife habitats than short-grass pastures. Some farmers in Lancaster County are letting their meadows succeed as they will, which increases the numbers of species and individuals of wildlife in each one of them. And increased wildlife activity makes those pastures more interesting to experience.
The birds I saw flying up from the roadside were a mixed group of several dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows recently arrived in Lancaster County from their nesting territories. Those two common sparrow species probably will stay in that overgrown meadow through winter and eat seeds from the tall weeds and grasses. And they will shelter each winter night among those same weeds and grasses, and the few brush piles lying in the pasture.
I saw a few each of permanent resident song sparrows and northern cardinals, and one field sparrow, feeding on grass seeds. Those common species probably nested in small trees or bushes in the meadow. Overgrown meadows are ideal habitats for pretty, little field sparrows.
Little groups of American goldfinches and chipping sparrows flitted among the weeds and grasses to ingest their seeds. Goldfinches were also on the birches to consume birch seeds. These birds nest in Lancaster County, but the goldfinches will drift around the local countryside all winter in search of seeds to eat, while the chippers, and the field sparrow, will migrate south for the winter.
I saw one each of a few other kinds of birds in that overgrown pasture, including an eastern phoebe that was hawking flying insects from mid-air and a yellow-rumped warbler eating tiny invertebrates from the leaves, twigs and bark of trees. A male northern flicker was feeding on the ground, probably on ants at an ant hill he discovered. Unlike most woodpeckers, flickers are mostly brown, which camouflages them on the ground where they get most of their food. And an American kestrel was perched on top of a sapling tree as it watched for field mice and grasshoppers to capture and consume.
And there was a small gathering of American robins in sections of short grass in the meadow. There they searched for earthworms and other kinds of invertebrates among the grasses and in the surface of the soil. These robins probably nested in Lancaster County, but they have a choice of migrating south or staying here through winter. They might stay here, if they can find ample supplies of berries to eat through winter and shelter for each freezing night.
Letting meadows grow wild, or planting them to trees and shrubbery, allows them to be better wildlife habitats than short-grass pastures. Some farmers in Lancaster County are letting their meadows succeed as they will, which increases the numbers of species and individuals of wildlife in each one of them. And increased wildlife activity makes those pastures more interesting to experience.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Fall Colors in Farmland
Most people in the northeastern United States look to deciduous woodlands to admire and be inspired by the beauty of colorful leaves in October. But there also is much vegetative beauty in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland in October as well.
Some crops are pretty to see in the fields during that autumn month. Dead, but still-standing corn stalks, and corn shocks, have beige leaves. The shocks resemble the tepees of American Indian towns. Fields of soybean leaves become yellow in fall. And there are fields bright with orange pumpkins and red tomatoes, and orchards of lovely, red apples that beautify cropland before they are harvested.
Corn, pumpkins and tomatoes were first domesticated and cultivated many hundreds of years ago by Native Americans in Mexico and Central America. Today those crops are big business, providing lots of different kinds of foods, and pleasing to see on beautiful October days.
Tall, bushy stalks of lamb's quarters, redroot pigweed and pokeweed have red leaves and stems in pumpkin and soybean fields in October, beautifying them. Eliminating "weeds" is not possibole in pumpkin fields with all the runners across the ground or densely packed soybean plants. So those "undesirable" plants grow in abundance in those fields, making them strikingly beautiful in October, especially when they are seen with low-slanting sunlight behind them.
The beige or yellow foxtail, redtop and broom grass leaves in fields and along rural roads are particularly pretty when seen with sunshine behind them. Redtop grass also has red or purple seed heads that are lovely in the sunlight.
There are many beautifully colored leaves along rural roads and streams and in hedgerows between fields. We see yellow foliage on black walnut and shag-bark hickory trees along streams and creeks. And there green-husked nuts cover the ground beneath them and becomne food for squirrels and mice. We see the red foliage of staghorn sumac trees, and Virginia creeper vines that grew up the trees. The fuzzy, red berries of sumac add color, and feed a variety of mice and berry-eating, small birds. And poison ivy, that also crawls up trees, have red, yellow and orange leaves in October.
But there is still much lush-green in Lancaster County farmland in October, including alfalfa and winter rye in fields and green grass in pastures. All those still-living, green plants help hold down the soil. Alfalfa and rye take nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil, which helps the growth of future plants in those fields. The green of those plants balances the brighter colors of croplands in fall. And that vegetation provides food for wood chucks, cottontail rabbits, white-tailed deer and Canada geese in autumn and winter, whenever snow isn't burying it.
Many kinds of flowering plants are still beautifully in bloom in October. The most notable ones include goldenrods and butter-and-eggs with yellow blossoms, red clover, smartweed and knapweed that have pink flowers, chicory with blue blooms and alfalfa that has lavender ones.
Most of these lovely flowers are left over from summer, but the beautiful aster, and wild morning glory blooms that have several bright colors, only started blooming in September. Two abundant types of asters have white flowers on one species and pale-lavender ones on a different species. White aster blossoms are so abundant in certain fields that it looks like snow fell only on those croplands. The striking New England asters that have deep-purple petals and yellow centers escaped cultivation and grow wild and abundantly in some local fields.
Bees and butterflies of various kinds, especially the small and beautiful orange and brown pearl crescent butterflies, visit aster flowers to sip nectar. In October, asters provide about the last chance insects have to ingest flower liquid in abundance.
Red clovers, white asters and chicory appear to be patriotic with their pink, white and blue blooms, respectively. And they are so abundant and omnipresent that patriotism seems to be everywhere.
Dead seed heads on a few kinds of plants still standing add more color and beauty to Lancaster County fields and country roadsides late in October, and into November. The abundant goldenrod seed heads are pretty when back-lighted by the sun low in the sky. Dried seed heads of Queen-Anne's-lace resemble small birds' nests. And the gray pods of common milkweed plants split open in fall, allowing their many brown seeds, each one with a fluffy, white parachute, to fall out and blow away on the wind. Seeds from these plants feed mice and small birds in fall and winter.
Obviously, there is an abundance of lovely, striking colors in Lancaster County farmland in autumn, particularly October, in spite of intensive agricultural practices for the benefit of people. Those colors make life more enjoyable. As the saying goes, "beauty is where you find it".
Some crops are pretty to see in the fields during that autumn month. Dead, but still-standing corn stalks, and corn shocks, have beige leaves. The shocks resemble the tepees of American Indian towns. Fields of soybean leaves become yellow in fall. And there are fields bright with orange pumpkins and red tomatoes, and orchards of lovely, red apples that beautify cropland before they are harvested.
Corn, pumpkins and tomatoes were first domesticated and cultivated many hundreds of years ago by Native Americans in Mexico and Central America. Today those crops are big business, providing lots of different kinds of foods, and pleasing to see on beautiful October days.
Tall, bushy stalks of lamb's quarters, redroot pigweed and pokeweed have red leaves and stems in pumpkin and soybean fields in October, beautifying them. Eliminating "weeds" is not possibole in pumpkin fields with all the runners across the ground or densely packed soybean plants. So those "undesirable" plants grow in abundance in those fields, making them strikingly beautiful in October, especially when they are seen with low-slanting sunlight behind them.
The beige or yellow foxtail, redtop and broom grass leaves in fields and along rural roads are particularly pretty when seen with sunshine behind them. Redtop grass also has red or purple seed heads that are lovely in the sunlight.
There are many beautifully colored leaves along rural roads and streams and in hedgerows between fields. We see yellow foliage on black walnut and shag-bark hickory trees along streams and creeks. And there green-husked nuts cover the ground beneath them and becomne food for squirrels and mice. We see the red foliage of staghorn sumac trees, and Virginia creeper vines that grew up the trees. The fuzzy, red berries of sumac add color, and feed a variety of mice and berry-eating, small birds. And poison ivy, that also crawls up trees, have red, yellow and orange leaves in October.
But there is still much lush-green in Lancaster County farmland in October, including alfalfa and winter rye in fields and green grass in pastures. All those still-living, green plants help hold down the soil. Alfalfa and rye take nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil, which helps the growth of future plants in those fields. The green of those plants balances the brighter colors of croplands in fall. And that vegetation provides food for wood chucks, cottontail rabbits, white-tailed deer and Canada geese in autumn and winter, whenever snow isn't burying it.
Many kinds of flowering plants are still beautifully in bloom in October. The most notable ones include goldenrods and butter-and-eggs with yellow blossoms, red clover, smartweed and knapweed that have pink flowers, chicory with blue blooms and alfalfa that has lavender ones.
Most of these lovely flowers are left over from summer, but the beautiful aster, and wild morning glory blooms that have several bright colors, only started blooming in September. Two abundant types of asters have white flowers on one species and pale-lavender ones on a different species. White aster blossoms are so abundant in certain fields that it looks like snow fell only on those croplands. The striking New England asters that have deep-purple petals and yellow centers escaped cultivation and grow wild and abundantly in some local fields.
Bees and butterflies of various kinds, especially the small and beautiful orange and brown pearl crescent butterflies, visit aster flowers to sip nectar. In October, asters provide about the last chance insects have to ingest flower liquid in abundance.
Red clovers, white asters and chicory appear to be patriotic with their pink, white and blue blooms, respectively. And they are so abundant and omnipresent that patriotism seems to be everywhere.
Dead seed heads on a few kinds of plants still standing add more color and beauty to Lancaster County fields and country roadsides late in October, and into November. The abundant goldenrod seed heads are pretty when back-lighted by the sun low in the sky. Dried seed heads of Queen-Anne's-lace resemble small birds' nests. And the gray pods of common milkweed plants split open in fall, allowing their many brown seeds, each one with a fluffy, white parachute, to fall out and blow away on the wind. Seeds from these plants feed mice and small birds in fall and winter.
Obviously, there is an abundance of lovely, striking colors in Lancaster County farmland in autumn, particularly October, in spite of intensive agricultural practices for the benefit of people. Those colors make life more enjoyable. As the saying goes, "beauty is where you find it".
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Autumn in a Park
I drove into a public, recreational park in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and spent two hours there in the afternoon of October 12, 2016 to see what was stirring in nature and to look for evidences of autumn. I parked at an overgrown strip of trees, vines, grasses and other plants and watched to see what the birds and other creatures were doing. There was a lot of life in that woodland edge and its surrounding, manicured habitats.
A flock of handsome, post-breeding American robins were scattered across a lawn bordering the small woods. There they were catching earthworms and other invertebrates in the soil and short grass. But part of that robin congregation fluttered among and perched on bushy pokeweed plants to eat their dark, juicy fruits that ripen by fall.
Meanwhile, I readily noticed several beautiful blue jays flying in and out of a couple of pin oak trees the whole time I was there. They were harvesting acorns and burying them in the lawn near the robins or taking those nuts into the woods, perhaps to tree cavities or pushing them into the woodland floor. The activity of those jays was a real act of autumn in preparing for the coming winter.
There were some striking colored leaves on planted trees in the park. Sugar maples had orange foliage while red maples had red leaves. And Virginia creeper vines that had grown up some of the planted trees had red leaves.
Planted white pine trees had many yellow needles, as they do every October. Each bundle of five needles lives a year and a half. Needles that grew in May of 2015 are now dying, turning yellow and carpeting the ground. But needles that sprouted in May of 2016 will live and be green until October of 2017. Hence white pines look forever green.
Several black and rusty-red woolly bear caterpillars, the bristly larvae of small, beige Isabella moths, crossed the blacktop road in the park. They were done feeding on grass and clover, were full grown and looking for sheltered places to spend the winter.
A few gray squirrels ran about carrying black walnut tree nuts and acorns in their mouths. I suppose they were storing them either in tree hollows or little holes they dig in the soil themselves to be eaten during winter. Their storing activities are a sign of autumn.
Thickets in the woodland edge were loaded with small birds of several kinds, including the robins and jays. And there was at least one each of permanent resident, woodland birds, including a few Carolina chickadees, a tufted titmouse, a white-breasted nuthatch, a downy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker, flitting here and there among the trees. The chickadees were occupied with harvesting seeds from Japanese hops vines and storing them somewhere in the woods. They were back and forth between the vines and the woods the whole time I was there. The jays and chicks were working hard to store food for the winter, which is an act of fall.
I also saw a few species of small birds recently arrived here from farther north, where they nested. These fall migrants included a brown creeper creeping up a large tree trunk, a ruby-crowned kinglet, an eastern phoebe that was catching flies in mid-air and two white-throated sparrows.
Many insects were flying before the sunlight, which made them more visible. Several clouded sulphur butterflies visited rooted bouquets of white aster flowers to sip nectar. Asters in this area probably provide the last big source of nectar insects can get before winter sets in.
I saw much nature and signs of autumn in that park that afternoon. As usual, one needn't go far to experience beautiful, wonderful nature in all its splendor.
A flock of handsome, post-breeding American robins were scattered across a lawn bordering the small woods. There they were catching earthworms and other invertebrates in the soil and short grass. But part of that robin congregation fluttered among and perched on bushy pokeweed plants to eat their dark, juicy fruits that ripen by fall.
Meanwhile, I readily noticed several beautiful blue jays flying in and out of a couple of pin oak trees the whole time I was there. They were harvesting acorns and burying them in the lawn near the robins or taking those nuts into the woods, perhaps to tree cavities or pushing them into the woodland floor. The activity of those jays was a real act of autumn in preparing for the coming winter.
There were some striking colored leaves on planted trees in the park. Sugar maples had orange foliage while red maples had red leaves. And Virginia creeper vines that had grown up some of the planted trees had red leaves.
Planted white pine trees had many yellow needles, as they do every October. Each bundle of five needles lives a year and a half. Needles that grew in May of 2015 are now dying, turning yellow and carpeting the ground. But needles that sprouted in May of 2016 will live and be green until October of 2017. Hence white pines look forever green.
Several black and rusty-red woolly bear caterpillars, the bristly larvae of small, beige Isabella moths, crossed the blacktop road in the park. They were done feeding on grass and clover, were full grown and looking for sheltered places to spend the winter.
A few gray squirrels ran about carrying black walnut tree nuts and acorns in their mouths. I suppose they were storing them either in tree hollows or little holes they dig in the soil themselves to be eaten during winter. Their storing activities are a sign of autumn.
Thickets in the woodland edge were loaded with small birds of several kinds, including the robins and jays. And there was at least one each of permanent resident, woodland birds, including a few Carolina chickadees, a tufted titmouse, a white-breasted nuthatch, a downy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker, flitting here and there among the trees. The chickadees were occupied with harvesting seeds from Japanese hops vines and storing them somewhere in the woods. They were back and forth between the vines and the woods the whole time I was there. The jays and chicks were working hard to store food for the winter, which is an act of fall.
I also saw a few species of small birds recently arrived here from farther north, where they nested. These fall migrants included a brown creeper creeping up a large tree trunk, a ruby-crowned kinglet, an eastern phoebe that was catching flies in mid-air and two white-throated sparrows.
Many insects were flying before the sunlight, which made them more visible. Several clouded sulphur butterflies visited rooted bouquets of white aster flowers to sip nectar. Asters in this area probably provide the last big source of nectar insects can get before winter sets in.
I saw much nature and signs of autumn in that park that afternoon. As usual, one needn't go far to experience beautiful, wonderful nature in all its splendor.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Two Grasshoppers
Two kinds of grasshoppers, differentials and Carolinas, are commonly seen late in summer and into autumn in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania cropland, as in other farmland across much of the United States. Both these species of grasshoppers are almost two inches long at maturity, have wing spans of up to three and a half inches and long, powerful back legs for jumping to escape danger. Both blend into their surroundings of grasses, weeds and soil in fields, and vegetated strips along country roads where they are most likely seen by most people.
Differential grasshoppers are mostly olive-green with dark streaking on their upper thoraxes. Their large hind legs are yellow with black V's in a herringbone pattern. Differentials eat a variety of grasses, clovers, alfalfa and weeds, but giant ragweed is their favorite food. Fortunately for this type of grasshopper, giant ragweeds, with pollen that makes us sneeze, are abundant along many rural roads in Lancaster County cropland.
Differential grasshoppers are most often seen on country roads in fall, if one watches for them a little. They're on the roads because of the abundance of grasshopper food plants growing just off the black top. Unfortunately, some of these grasshoppers are crushed by vehicles on the roads.
But, being adaptable, differential grasshoppers also live in city and suburban lawns and weedy vacant lots. We have had this type of grasshopper on our lawn for several years.
Carolina grasshoppers eat grass and weeds in weedy fields and along rural roadsides. Both genders of these grasshoppers are tan, brown or gray, which blends them into their habitats of grass, weeds and bare ground such as dirt roads. And the winged adults of this species are strong flyers, flushing into the air quickly at any slight hint of danger and flying up to 30 feet, or more, at an altitude of two to three feet.
Males of both species of grasshoppers court females of their respective kinds by producing sound to attract them. Differential males make a buzzing by rubbing their back wings against their front ones. Male Carolina grasshoppers court females, in part, by rubbing their hind legs against their wings to make a rythmic stridulation, or "fiddling". And those males are conspicuous when hovering a few feet above surrounding vegetation and making a soft, rattling sound with their rapidly fluttering wings. Each male hovers up to ten seconds with every airborne courtship. And each suitor displays himself several times in a row over a period of about five minutes. His beating back wings are black with pale-yellow margins, which makes his displays even more obvious to females, and us.
Both these species of grasshoppers are preyed on by many kinds of creatures, including American kestrels, merlins, screech owls, skunks, raccoons, foxes, American toads, common toads, shrews, praying mantises and others. But these grasshoppers have defenses, including camouflage and large, strong jumping legs. And each surviving female lays many eggs that make up for losses.
Adults of both kinds of grasshoppers in this area die in the first heavy frosts of late October. But their eggs, which were deposited safely in the soil in fall, live to start another generation of grasshoppers the next spring. Grasshoppers are as beautiful and intriguing as any other kind of wildlife. They are well worth looking for in the wild.
Differential grasshoppers are mostly olive-green with dark streaking on their upper thoraxes. Their large hind legs are yellow with black V's in a herringbone pattern. Differentials eat a variety of grasses, clovers, alfalfa and weeds, but giant ragweed is their favorite food. Fortunately for this type of grasshopper, giant ragweeds, with pollen that makes us sneeze, are abundant along many rural roads in Lancaster County cropland.
Differential grasshoppers are most often seen on country roads in fall, if one watches for them a little. They're on the roads because of the abundance of grasshopper food plants growing just off the black top. Unfortunately, some of these grasshoppers are crushed by vehicles on the roads.
But, being adaptable, differential grasshoppers also live in city and suburban lawns and weedy vacant lots. We have had this type of grasshopper on our lawn for several years.
Carolina grasshoppers eat grass and weeds in weedy fields and along rural roadsides. Both genders of these grasshoppers are tan, brown or gray, which blends them into their habitats of grass, weeds and bare ground such as dirt roads. And the winged adults of this species are strong flyers, flushing into the air quickly at any slight hint of danger and flying up to 30 feet, or more, at an altitude of two to three feet.
Males of both species of grasshoppers court females of their respective kinds by producing sound to attract them. Differential males make a buzzing by rubbing their back wings against their front ones. Male Carolina grasshoppers court females, in part, by rubbing their hind legs against their wings to make a rythmic stridulation, or "fiddling". And those males are conspicuous when hovering a few feet above surrounding vegetation and making a soft, rattling sound with their rapidly fluttering wings. Each male hovers up to ten seconds with every airborne courtship. And each suitor displays himself several times in a row over a period of about five minutes. His beating back wings are black with pale-yellow margins, which makes his displays even more obvious to females, and us.
Both these species of grasshoppers are preyed on by many kinds of creatures, including American kestrels, merlins, screech owls, skunks, raccoons, foxes, American toads, common toads, shrews, praying mantises and others. But these grasshoppers have defenses, including camouflage and large, strong jumping legs. And each surviving female lays many eggs that make up for losses.
Adults of both kinds of grasshoppers in this area die in the first heavy frosts of late October. But their eggs, which were deposited safely in the soil in fall, live to start another generation of grasshoppers the next spring. Grasshoppers are as beautiful and intriguing as any other kind of wildlife. They are well worth looking for in the wild.
Friday, October 7, 2016
Two Woolly Bears
On October 5, 2016, the weather in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania was clear and cool, but the sunlight was warm. It was a perfect October day. While driving through Lancaster County farmland that afternoon, I came upon a quarter mile plus stretch of rural road where several fuzzy caterpillars were crossing it. Every October in my lifetime, I saw an occasional black and orange woolly bear caterpillar determinedly crossing a country road, but never had I seen as many bristly caterpillars in one place at one time as on October 5. There must have been scores of them on the road and along its edges, often in bunches of three to five. I wondered how many more were in the three feet deep edges of mowed grasses and other vegetation just off the roadway.
Not knowing all the answers about caterpillars, at first I thought I was seeing up to five different kinds of them, including the typical black and orange woolly bears, plus other larvae with white, pale yellow, rusty-orange or dark "hair". Each one of those other caterpillars had only one color of hair. But upon research, I discovered that the more mature woolly bears, which are the larvae of Isabella tiger moths, have black bristles only, not the black and orange of younger woolly bears. And I noted that the caterpillars of Virginian tiger moths have white, yellow or orange hair. I surmise I was only seeing two kinds of woolly bears, that of Isabella tiger moths and Virginian tiger moths, both of which abundantly inhabit the eastern United States.
Adult, winged Isabella tiger moths are yellow-beige with dark spots on the upper side of their stout abdomens. Small moths, they have wing spans of up to two inches. And they have a well-developed hearing organ on each side of the thorax. But they don't eat as adults; only mate and lay eggs. Their larval form consumes grass, clover, dandelions and other, common kinds of field plants close to the ground. There are two or three broods of Isabella tiger moths a year and the last one hibernates in a safe place in the ground through the winter.
Adult, winged Virginian tiger moths are small and white, with long "fur" on top of the thorax and dark on the chunky abdomen. They, too, don't eat as adults. Each female extends an organ that emits a pheromone that males of their kind smell and follow to the females to mate. Again, this species has two or three broods a year and the last one hibernates through winter.
Virginian tiger moth caterpillars, like the larvae of Isabella moths, ingest grass, clover and other ground-hugging plants in fields and along rural roadsides. The abundant food sources of both these kinds of tiger moths in the larval stage of development are why we see so many of these caterpillars in autumn.
I can't venture a guess as to why there were so many bristly caterpillars along that one grassy strip of country road. Perhaps several females of both species laid eggs on the plants in it. The life histories of many kinds of insects are complicated and difficult to understand. But even when we don't understand all the mysteries of life, it is still fascinating beyond belief. We can be inspired by nature even when we don't know everything about it. And, perhaps, the better part of the beauties and intrigues of nature come from not knowing everything about them.
Not knowing all the answers about caterpillars, at first I thought I was seeing up to five different kinds of them, including the typical black and orange woolly bears, plus other larvae with white, pale yellow, rusty-orange or dark "hair". Each one of those other caterpillars had only one color of hair. But upon research, I discovered that the more mature woolly bears, which are the larvae of Isabella tiger moths, have black bristles only, not the black and orange of younger woolly bears. And I noted that the caterpillars of Virginian tiger moths have white, yellow or orange hair. I surmise I was only seeing two kinds of woolly bears, that of Isabella tiger moths and Virginian tiger moths, both of which abundantly inhabit the eastern United States.
Adult, winged Isabella tiger moths are yellow-beige with dark spots on the upper side of their stout abdomens. Small moths, they have wing spans of up to two inches. And they have a well-developed hearing organ on each side of the thorax. But they don't eat as adults; only mate and lay eggs. Their larval form consumes grass, clover, dandelions and other, common kinds of field plants close to the ground. There are two or three broods of Isabella tiger moths a year and the last one hibernates in a safe place in the ground through the winter.
Adult, winged Virginian tiger moths are small and white, with long "fur" on top of the thorax and dark on the chunky abdomen. They, too, don't eat as adults. Each female extends an organ that emits a pheromone that males of their kind smell and follow to the females to mate. Again, this species has two or three broods a year and the last one hibernates through winter.
Virginian tiger moth caterpillars, like the larvae of Isabella moths, ingest grass, clover and other ground-hugging plants in fields and along rural roadsides. The abundant food sources of both these kinds of tiger moths in the larval stage of development are why we see so many of these caterpillars in autumn.
I can't venture a guess as to why there were so many bristly caterpillars along that one grassy strip of country road. Perhaps several females of both species laid eggs on the plants in it. The life histories of many kinds of insects are complicated and difficult to understand. But even when we don't understand all the mysteries of life, it is still fascinating beyond belief. We can be inspired by nature even when we don't know everything about it. And, perhaps, the better part of the beauties and intrigues of nature come from not knowing everything about them.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Migrant Merlins
I went to Chamber's Lake, which is a human-made impoundment in Chester County, Pennsylvania, for a few hours on October 3, 2016 to experience nature. I saw overgrown fields of blooming goldenrod, tall grasses gone to seed, and patches of cattails and phragmites in low, moist places in the fields. The lake was bordered on two sides by deciduous woods and its water level was down a little, exposing mud flats and gravel bars.
I saw some species of small birds in thickets on the edges of the impoundment. They included permanent resident northern cardinals, song sparrows and northern mockingbirds, plus a few gray catbirds, a couple of eastern bluebirds, an American goldfinch and a migrant wood pewee, which is a kind of flycatcher.
And I noticed a few pied-billed grebes, an osprey, an immature bald eagle, a great egret and up to a half dozen great blue herons around the lake. These birds were there, in part, to catch fish, each species in its own way. Grebes dive under water from the surface to snare small fish while egrets and herons wade the shallows after scaly prey. Ospreys and eagles drop from the sky feet-first to catch larger fish in their curved, sharp talons.
But what I didn't see, and thought I should have seen, were shorebirds. I didn't see any on the flats or gravel bars at all. And the reason for their absence was a few merlins perched on rocks on the bars. Merlins are falcons in the hawk family and in the same genus as peregrine falcons. Merlins specialize in eating small birds and large insects they grab in open habitats. The mere presence of merlins on the flats at Chamber's Lake kept shorebirds off them.
Merlins are intriguing hawks that are a bit smaller than rock pigeons. Adult females and young are dark-brown on top and heavily streaked with brown below, which allows them to blend into their open, bare-ground habitats. Adult males are slate-gray on top. And all birds, young and older, male and female, have pointed wings and 22 to 25 inch wing spans for swift, powerful flight.
Merlins raise four or five young in a brood in other birds' nests in deciduous or coniferous trees in clearings in spruce/fir forests. They also rear offspring on cliff ledges, holes in banks and abandoned woodpecker hollows in trees along rivers and in park-like grasslands with scattered trees. All those natural habitats extend across the northern part of the northern hemisphere, including most of Canada and Alaska.
Merlins winter on beaches, mud flats, salt marshes, fields, golf courses and other open habitats along the Gulf Coast, and in Florida, the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America. They patrol those habitats, natural and human-made, for shorebirds and small song birds. And they often perch on a tree, rock or other elevation to watch for prey.
These dark, nearly pigeon-sized falcons migrate across the entire United States, including here in southeastern Pennsylvania. I see them here as migrants in October, and a few winter here, on a golf course with scattered trees, on a large lawn with a sprinkling of planted trees in a state park and in farmland harvested to the ground, for examples. There they catch bluebirds, sparrows, horned larks and other kinds of small birds.
Merlins are exciting to see chasing small birds. These slim, speedy falcons fly low and fast through open country, with quick, powerful wing beats, to overtake their panicky victims. Because of their zip and aggression on the wing, merlins have been used in falconry.
Since the ban on using DDT in the United States and merlins' adapting to human-made habitats, including cities, this falcon's population has increased significantly. With a little looking in the right places at the right times, readers might see merlins in the future. It's only a matter of getting out and waiting long enough.
I saw some species of small birds in thickets on the edges of the impoundment. They included permanent resident northern cardinals, song sparrows and northern mockingbirds, plus a few gray catbirds, a couple of eastern bluebirds, an American goldfinch and a migrant wood pewee, which is a kind of flycatcher.
And I noticed a few pied-billed grebes, an osprey, an immature bald eagle, a great egret and up to a half dozen great blue herons around the lake. These birds were there, in part, to catch fish, each species in its own way. Grebes dive under water from the surface to snare small fish while egrets and herons wade the shallows after scaly prey. Ospreys and eagles drop from the sky feet-first to catch larger fish in their curved, sharp talons.
But what I didn't see, and thought I should have seen, were shorebirds. I didn't see any on the flats or gravel bars at all. And the reason for their absence was a few merlins perched on rocks on the bars. Merlins are falcons in the hawk family and in the same genus as peregrine falcons. Merlins specialize in eating small birds and large insects they grab in open habitats. The mere presence of merlins on the flats at Chamber's Lake kept shorebirds off them.
Merlins are intriguing hawks that are a bit smaller than rock pigeons. Adult females and young are dark-brown on top and heavily streaked with brown below, which allows them to blend into their open, bare-ground habitats. Adult males are slate-gray on top. And all birds, young and older, male and female, have pointed wings and 22 to 25 inch wing spans for swift, powerful flight.
Merlins raise four or five young in a brood in other birds' nests in deciduous or coniferous trees in clearings in spruce/fir forests. They also rear offspring on cliff ledges, holes in banks and abandoned woodpecker hollows in trees along rivers and in park-like grasslands with scattered trees. All those natural habitats extend across the northern part of the northern hemisphere, including most of Canada and Alaska.
Merlins winter on beaches, mud flats, salt marshes, fields, golf courses and other open habitats along the Gulf Coast, and in Florida, the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America. They patrol those habitats, natural and human-made, for shorebirds and small song birds. And they often perch on a tree, rock or other elevation to watch for prey.
These dark, nearly pigeon-sized falcons migrate across the entire United States, including here in southeastern Pennsylvania. I see them here as migrants in October, and a few winter here, on a golf course with scattered trees, on a large lawn with a sprinkling of planted trees in a state park and in farmland harvested to the ground, for examples. There they catch bluebirds, sparrows, horned larks and other kinds of small birds.
Merlins are exciting to see chasing small birds. These slim, speedy falcons fly low and fast through open country, with quick, powerful wing beats, to overtake their panicky victims. Because of their zip and aggression on the wing, merlins have been used in falconry.
Since the ban on using DDT in the United States and merlins' adapting to human-made habitats, including cities, this falcon's population has increased significantly. With a little looking in the right places at the right times, readers might see merlins in the future. It's only a matter of getting out and waiting long enough.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Potpouri Nature
After doing a few errands in the morning of September 30, 2016, I drove around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania a little to experience what was happening in nature. While crossing a bridge over the Conestoga River, I saw an immature double-crested cormorant standing on a half-submerged log in that small river. I never saw a cormorant on the Conestoga before, but those fish-catching birds are adaptable and moving around at this time, so they could be on any larger body of water.
Inspired by the cormorant, I decided to stop at a few familiar places along Mill Creek on the way home. At the first stop along Mill Creek, I immediately saw an immature bald eagle perched on a limb of a dead tree along that exclusively Lancaster County waterway. This eagle may have been raised in a nearby bald eagle nest along Mill Creek. But at any rate, it probably was watching the creek for carp, bluegill sunfish and other kinds of larger fish to catch and eat.
On that same stretch of Mill Creek I saw an adult mute swan that has lived there for at least a few years and an apparent migrant pied-billed grebe. Both birds floated on the water like miniature boats. Eventually, the swan pushed upstream and out of sight like a tiny paddle boat. The duck-like grebe repeatedly dove under water in its search for smaller fish. At times it was hidden under tree limbs that had fallen from the shore into the creek.
While I watched the grebe, a fisherman approached that same tangle of branches hanging over the water and accidentally flushed a score of beautiful wood ducks. They were young of the year and adult woodies of both genders. The frightened woodies rushed off the water, up and away in seconds, amid alarmed voices and a hurried beating of wings.
Those post-breeding wood ducks had gathered prior to their flight into The Deep South for the winter. And any day now they will be off to The South, not to return here until March of next year.
A few species of birds were busily concerned about food along the shores of this same part of Mill Creek. I saw a couple of blue jays carrying pin oak acorns in their beaks to either bury them in the ground, or stash them in a crevice behind loose bark or in a tree cavity. In winter, they will collect some of those acorns and eat them. Pin oaks, incidentally, are trees of bottomlands where the soil is generally moist.
Three gray catbirds and a handful of American robins were happily consuming the small, red fruits of a crab apple tree on a bank of Mill Creek. The catbirds will go farther south sometime in October, but the robins might stay here all winter, if the fruit and berry supplies hold out through that harshest of seasons.
I drove to another section of Mill Creek to experience what was happening. On the way I saw several clumps of eight-foot tall Jerusalem artichoke plants, each one with several beautiful, yellow blossoms. This kind of sunflower was cultivated by Native Americans in this area who ate the tubers.
And on the way to another part of Mill Creek, I saw the yellow blooms of butter-and-eggs, the pale-pink blossoms of bouncing bet and the hot-pink flowers of a kind of smartweed growing here and there along the banks of the country roads I was on. Only the smartweeds are native to North America, while the other plant species are native to Europe. Butter-and-eggs are in the snapdragon family and have flowers shaped like those on snapdragons to prove it. The crushed leaves of bouncing bet can be made into a lathery soap. Bouncing bet came from the name of a well-endowed, medieval, European washer woman.
I saw two great blue herons and one great egret, all of them tall and statuesque, and wading in Mill Creek to watch for fish. The egret will soon drift south again for the winter, but the great blues might stay north, if they continue to find open water from which they can snare fish.
I saw several great lobelia plants along Mill Creek, all of them sporting lovely, dark-blue flowers. They reminded me of the dark-blue bottle gentian blooms I saw in a local woodland only days before. A flock of two dozen gray and white rock pigeons circled and swooped across the sky in unison and finally landed in a recently harvested corn field to feed on corn kernels left on the ground. Wild pigeons are handsome birds that live and nest in barns and under bridges and eat grain and seeds from cropland fields. They were brought to North America by Europeans for meat and eggs, but some escaped and their descendants are now wild birds on this continent, as throughout much of the world. And we continue to provide these adaptable birds with food and shelter the year around through our farming activities.
And, just before I reached home, I came across a flooded field from recent heavy rains. I stopped to check for shorebirds on the muddy edges of the quarter-acre puddle in that field of corn stubble left from recent harvesting. I saw several killdeer plovers, a few least sandpipers migrating south from their breeding territories on the Arctic tundra, and a flock of over a hundred local starlings around that temporary pool. All of them were looking for invertebrates that emerged from the soil to escape the water. Killdeer and sandpipers are shorebirds, but starlings are not. But starlings are very adaptable and take advantage of many feeding situations that make them successful and abundant throughout much of the world. They are a real success story.
All this I noticed in a couple hour's time without even trying close to home. Readers can do the same near their homes. Just get out and look for the beauties and intrigues of nature.
Inspired by the cormorant, I decided to stop at a few familiar places along Mill Creek on the way home. At the first stop along Mill Creek, I immediately saw an immature bald eagle perched on a limb of a dead tree along that exclusively Lancaster County waterway. This eagle may have been raised in a nearby bald eagle nest along Mill Creek. But at any rate, it probably was watching the creek for carp, bluegill sunfish and other kinds of larger fish to catch and eat.
On that same stretch of Mill Creek I saw an adult mute swan that has lived there for at least a few years and an apparent migrant pied-billed grebe. Both birds floated on the water like miniature boats. Eventually, the swan pushed upstream and out of sight like a tiny paddle boat. The duck-like grebe repeatedly dove under water in its search for smaller fish. At times it was hidden under tree limbs that had fallen from the shore into the creek.
While I watched the grebe, a fisherman approached that same tangle of branches hanging over the water and accidentally flushed a score of beautiful wood ducks. They were young of the year and adult woodies of both genders. The frightened woodies rushed off the water, up and away in seconds, amid alarmed voices and a hurried beating of wings.
Those post-breeding wood ducks had gathered prior to their flight into The Deep South for the winter. And any day now they will be off to The South, not to return here until March of next year.
A few species of birds were busily concerned about food along the shores of this same part of Mill Creek. I saw a couple of blue jays carrying pin oak acorns in their beaks to either bury them in the ground, or stash them in a crevice behind loose bark or in a tree cavity. In winter, they will collect some of those acorns and eat them. Pin oaks, incidentally, are trees of bottomlands where the soil is generally moist.
Three gray catbirds and a handful of American robins were happily consuming the small, red fruits of a crab apple tree on a bank of Mill Creek. The catbirds will go farther south sometime in October, but the robins might stay here all winter, if the fruit and berry supplies hold out through that harshest of seasons.
I drove to another section of Mill Creek to experience what was happening. On the way I saw several clumps of eight-foot tall Jerusalem artichoke plants, each one with several beautiful, yellow blossoms. This kind of sunflower was cultivated by Native Americans in this area who ate the tubers.
And on the way to another part of Mill Creek, I saw the yellow blooms of butter-and-eggs, the pale-pink blossoms of bouncing bet and the hot-pink flowers of a kind of smartweed growing here and there along the banks of the country roads I was on. Only the smartweeds are native to North America, while the other plant species are native to Europe. Butter-and-eggs are in the snapdragon family and have flowers shaped like those on snapdragons to prove it. The crushed leaves of bouncing bet can be made into a lathery soap. Bouncing bet came from the name of a well-endowed, medieval, European washer woman.
I saw two great blue herons and one great egret, all of them tall and statuesque, and wading in Mill Creek to watch for fish. The egret will soon drift south again for the winter, but the great blues might stay north, if they continue to find open water from which they can snare fish.
I saw several great lobelia plants along Mill Creek, all of them sporting lovely, dark-blue flowers. They reminded me of the dark-blue bottle gentian blooms I saw in a local woodland only days before. A flock of two dozen gray and white rock pigeons circled and swooped across the sky in unison and finally landed in a recently harvested corn field to feed on corn kernels left on the ground. Wild pigeons are handsome birds that live and nest in barns and under bridges and eat grain and seeds from cropland fields. They were brought to North America by Europeans for meat and eggs, but some escaped and their descendants are now wild birds on this continent, as throughout much of the world. And we continue to provide these adaptable birds with food and shelter the year around through our farming activities.
And, just before I reached home, I came across a flooded field from recent heavy rains. I stopped to check for shorebirds on the muddy edges of the quarter-acre puddle in that field of corn stubble left from recent harvesting. I saw several killdeer plovers, a few least sandpipers migrating south from their breeding territories on the Arctic tundra, and a flock of over a hundred local starlings around that temporary pool. All of them were looking for invertebrates that emerged from the soil to escape the water. Killdeer and sandpipers are shorebirds, but starlings are not. But starlings are very adaptable and take advantage of many feeding situations that make them successful and abundant throughout much of the world. They are a real success story.
All this I noticed in a couple hour's time without even trying close to home. Readers can do the same near their homes. Just get out and look for the beauties and intrigues of nature.
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