On May 27, 2017, I pulled off a country road at a "window" in the foliage of trees and shrubbery where I could see a small part of the Conestoga River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I was only at that window for an hour, but it was an interesting one.
While waiting for birds and other animals to appear, I admired the lush-green of ash-leafed maple, silver maple, sycamore and black walnut trees, Virginia creeper and poison ivy vines, stinging nettles and other common, bottomland plants. I also enjoyed the beautiful and abundant flowers of honeysuckle vines and multiflora rose bushes.
Within a few minutes I saw a spotted sandpiper bobbing and dancing over a group of rocks near the river's shore as it looked for invertebrates to eat. Spotties hatch young along inland waterways and impoundments throughout much of North America. And their bouncing as they walk is a form of camouflage resembling debris bobbing in the current along the water's edge.
A few purple grackles walked along the river's muddy shoreline in their search for invertebrates. A gray catbird emerged from shrubbery to bathe in a shallow, shoreline puddle. A female Baltimore oriole gathered nesting material for her deep-pouch nursery that she will attach to tree twigs extending over the river. And I heard a red-bellied woodpecker calling from some of the tall trees that line the river on both sides.
But the most interesting part of that hour along the Conestoga was several light-green, adult May flies rising from the edges of the water. Each one flew up and to the left slowly, but steadily, then disappeared behind tree foliage.
Local May flies start life in waterways from narrow brooks to the mile-wide Susquehanna River. Each naiad is brown, which camouflages it on stream bottoms, is up to half an inch long, and flat so it doesn't get swept away in the current and can squeeze between rocks on the bottom where it consumes alga, tiny animals and detritus. That May fly larva also is relatively safe from Johnny darter fish, crayfish and other predators lurking on the bottoms of waterways. But some may fly larvae are eaten in spite of all their protections.
After about a year living under rocks on stream bottoms, May fly larvae mature, grow four clear wings and leave the water, often in great swarms at once that quickly become airborne. They only live a few hours to a couple of days and don't ingest anything as adults. Their only job is to mate and lay eggs back in the waterways they came from.
Multitudes of May flies come together in mid-air swarms over the waterways they emerged from. Each male grabs a female and copulates with her, then dies. Each fertilized female spawns eggs on the water's surface, then dies.
Many May flies get eaten by rough-winged, barn and tree swallows, purple martins, wood pewees and other kinds of flycatchers, cedar waxwings, and bats at night. Some of the May flies I saw on May 27 were consumed by a few each of rough-winged swallows and cedar waxwings. And I remember years ago a May fly flew by me as I stood on a small bridge over a stream. When that insect was a foot away from my face, it suddenly disappeared in a blur! A split second later I saw that blur was a barn swallow.
The rough-wings and waxwings were along the Conestoga because the swallows dig nesting burrows in the loose soil of stream banks and waxwings build twig cradles on tree twigs along waterways in farmland. Rough-wings catch small insects while cruising over waterways until their beaks are full. Waxwings, however, snare one insect at a time.
I looked through that "window" to the Conestoga for only an hour, but that hour was interesting. Readers can do the same, almost anywhere, anytime.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Dandelions and White Clover
Although dandelions and white clovers are abundant on lawns, in meadows and along country roads, originally from Europe and considered undesirable by many people, I have to admire their beauties, benefits to wildlife and people, and ability to adapt to those human-made habitats already mentioned to their great advantage. Some lawns are yellow, and cheery, with many golden dandelion flowers during mid-April and into early May and many of those same human-made habitats are white with the multitudes of white clover blooms from the end of May through summer. These plant species represent adaptable life in abundance in built habitats. They are in much of North America to stay.
Both these perennial plant species adapted well to regular lawn mowing. Dandelions grow blossoms on long and short stems. Long flower stalks are cut off during lawn mowing. But blooms on short stems are missed by mower blades and survive to produce seeds. Eventually, all dandelions on regularly mowed lawns produce short flower stems.
After they are pollinated by insects, dandelion flower heads quickly become seed heads. Each seed has a fluffy, white parachute that carries it away on the wind, thus spreading the species across the landscape in abundance. However, during May, many dandelion seeds are eaten by several kinds of attractive, seed-eating birds, including permanent resident northern cardinals, house finches, American goldfinches and song sparrows, and migrant chipping sparrows and indigo buntings.
Cottontail rabbits, wood chucks and white-tailed deer are some mammals that consume the leaves and flower stalks of dandelions. Those mammals add their own intrigues to human-made habitats.
Though white clover plants are overlooked, taken for granted and on many hit lists, certain kinds of insects, mammals and people benefit from the regular mowing of lawns thick with white clover blooms. White clover is another miracle of abundant life right at our door steps, even more so than dandelion.
White clover responds to getting their flowers cut off during lawn mowing by quickly growing new blooms after each and every cutting. That results in white clovers' constant production of new blossoms in abundance all summer and into early autumn. A variety of bees, including honey bees, butterflies and other species of insects, therefore, have a seemingly unending supply of sugary nectar to ingest through the warmer months.
Clover leaves and blossoms are eaten by cottontails and chucks. I like to watch these mammals feeding on clover on our lawn at home.
We get honey and wax from honey bees' processing clover nectar, as well as nectar from other kinds of flowering plants. The bees sip nectar from the blossoms and swallow it to a special stomach that converts it to honey. When they reach their colony of waxy cells, the bees regurgitate the honey into those cells for a food supply for the bees that will live through the winter.
We might as well learn to appreciate dandelions and white clover because they are adaptable, hardy and tough to eliminate. They take advantage of human-made habitats to their benefit and have a future in North America. Try to enjoy their beauties, and benefits to people and wildlife.
Both these perennial plant species adapted well to regular lawn mowing. Dandelions grow blossoms on long and short stems. Long flower stalks are cut off during lawn mowing. But blooms on short stems are missed by mower blades and survive to produce seeds. Eventually, all dandelions on regularly mowed lawns produce short flower stems.
After they are pollinated by insects, dandelion flower heads quickly become seed heads. Each seed has a fluffy, white parachute that carries it away on the wind, thus spreading the species across the landscape in abundance. However, during May, many dandelion seeds are eaten by several kinds of attractive, seed-eating birds, including permanent resident northern cardinals, house finches, American goldfinches and song sparrows, and migrant chipping sparrows and indigo buntings.
Cottontail rabbits, wood chucks and white-tailed deer are some mammals that consume the leaves and flower stalks of dandelions. Those mammals add their own intrigues to human-made habitats.
Though white clover plants are overlooked, taken for granted and on many hit lists, certain kinds of insects, mammals and people benefit from the regular mowing of lawns thick with white clover blooms. White clover is another miracle of abundant life right at our door steps, even more so than dandelion.
White clover responds to getting their flowers cut off during lawn mowing by quickly growing new blooms after each and every cutting. That results in white clovers' constant production of new blossoms in abundance all summer and into early autumn. A variety of bees, including honey bees, butterflies and other species of insects, therefore, have a seemingly unending supply of sugary nectar to ingest through the warmer months.
Clover leaves and blossoms are eaten by cottontails and chucks. I like to watch these mammals feeding on clover on our lawn at home.
We get honey and wax from honey bees' processing clover nectar, as well as nectar from other kinds of flowering plants. The bees sip nectar from the blossoms and swallow it to a special stomach that converts it to honey. When they reach their colony of waxy cells, the bees regurgitate the honey into those cells for a food supply for the bees that will live through the winter.
We might as well learn to appreciate dandelions and white clover because they are adaptable, hardy and tough to eliminate. They take advantage of human-made habitats to their benefit and have a future in North America. Try to enjoy their beauties, and benefits to people and wildlife.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Summer Retention Basins
Today retention basins are required by law to be built near building construction. The basins' job is to hold storm water so it doesn't wash out soil or fill waterways with silt. Some human-made basins that hold water well, are like ponds attracting certain kinds of adaptable wildlife to the water, making those basins interesting. And emergent cattails and crack willows, two of the first plants to colonize the shallow and damp edges of retention basins, when those plants are allowed to grow, attract other species of critters. And the basins and the ground around them are usually planted to grass and trees, attracting lawn wildlife when the grass is regularly mowed.
A family each of Canada geese and mallard ducks live on and around some retention basins usually filled with water. Both partners of a pair of Canadas raise four to six goslings while only hen mallards raise broods of about a dozen ducklings. Goslings, like their parents, graze on short grass, while the ducklings feed on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and some plants. Not all goslings and ducklings grow up because of the hearty appetites of snapping turtles, raccoons and mink in the water and hawks and red foxes on land.
Green frogs and/or bull frogs are camouflaged on the edges of retention basins that generally are filled with water. These frogs travel from pond to pond during rainy or dewy nights. Males of green frogs and bull frogs gulp and moan respectively to attract mates for spawning thousands of eggs.
Frogs catch invertebrates by flipping out their tongues, which are attached to the front of their mouths. The frogs' tongues snare the victims and flip them back into their mouths. Tadpoles, however, eat algae and decaying plant and animal material.
Unfortunately for the frogs and their tadpoles, mink, raccoons, snapping turtles, great egrets and great blue and green-backed herons catch and consume many of those frogs and their tadpoles, but not all. And dragonfly nymphs of a few kinds snare tadpoles to ingest them. Surviving nymphs change to winged adults and buzz over water-filled retention basins as they do ponds to catch and eat flying insects.
Cattails emerging from shallows on the edges of retention basins attract muskrats and red-winged blackbirds. Muskrats eat the roots of cattails and pile chewed-off, cattail stems in the shallows to build protective homes with entrances under water. The black, red-shouldered male red-wings repeatedly sing "konk-ga-reeee" from emergent, swaying cattail stalks to establish nesting territories and attract females for nesting. And the chocolate and beige-striped female red-wings build grassy nurseries a couple of feet above the normal water level among those same cattails. Fledged red-wing youngsters cling to cattails to be fed invertebrates by their parents.
Pairs of gray catbirds and yellow warblers nest among clumps of crack willow trees on the shores of some retention basins, as those birds do around certain ponds. The catbirds often walk along the muddy edges of ponds and basins to watch for invertebrates to eat. The warblers, which are yellow, consume invertebrates from the trees.
The lawns and/or fields around retention basins harbor certain lawn and field birds and mammals. Cottontail rabbits can be spotted grazing on grass on lawns. But they seek shelter under planted shrubbery. Killdeer plovers trot over the short grass to catch invertebrates in their beaks. Occasionally, a pair or two of killdeer will hatch four young on bare or stony patches in the lawns. American robins and purple grackles also move across lawns after invertebrates and nest in the planted trees. And a pair or two of eastern kingbirds hatch offspring in open cradles in the trees and flutter out to snatch flying insects from mid-air, one at a time.
Barn swallows and tree swallows cruise swiftly after flying insects over certain retention basins and the lawns or fields around them. The presence of barn swallows is decided whether or not barns or other buildings are close by. And tree swallows are there if tree hollows or nesting boxes are nearby.
These are all adaptable creatures around retention basins that can satisfy their needs. Basins help increase the populations of those wild animals by providing them with more homes, nesting places and food. Sometime, visit a basin to experience some of the attractive and interesting critters around it.
A family each of Canada geese and mallard ducks live on and around some retention basins usually filled with water. Both partners of a pair of Canadas raise four to six goslings while only hen mallards raise broods of about a dozen ducklings. Goslings, like their parents, graze on short grass, while the ducklings feed on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and some plants. Not all goslings and ducklings grow up because of the hearty appetites of snapping turtles, raccoons and mink in the water and hawks and red foxes on land.
Green frogs and/or bull frogs are camouflaged on the edges of retention basins that generally are filled with water. These frogs travel from pond to pond during rainy or dewy nights. Males of green frogs and bull frogs gulp and moan respectively to attract mates for spawning thousands of eggs.
Frogs catch invertebrates by flipping out their tongues, which are attached to the front of their mouths. The frogs' tongues snare the victims and flip them back into their mouths. Tadpoles, however, eat algae and decaying plant and animal material.
Unfortunately for the frogs and their tadpoles, mink, raccoons, snapping turtles, great egrets and great blue and green-backed herons catch and consume many of those frogs and their tadpoles, but not all. And dragonfly nymphs of a few kinds snare tadpoles to ingest them. Surviving nymphs change to winged adults and buzz over water-filled retention basins as they do ponds to catch and eat flying insects.
Cattails emerging from shallows on the edges of retention basins attract muskrats and red-winged blackbirds. Muskrats eat the roots of cattails and pile chewed-off, cattail stems in the shallows to build protective homes with entrances under water. The black, red-shouldered male red-wings repeatedly sing "konk-ga-reeee" from emergent, swaying cattail stalks to establish nesting territories and attract females for nesting. And the chocolate and beige-striped female red-wings build grassy nurseries a couple of feet above the normal water level among those same cattails. Fledged red-wing youngsters cling to cattails to be fed invertebrates by their parents.
Pairs of gray catbirds and yellow warblers nest among clumps of crack willow trees on the shores of some retention basins, as those birds do around certain ponds. The catbirds often walk along the muddy edges of ponds and basins to watch for invertebrates to eat. The warblers, which are yellow, consume invertebrates from the trees.
The lawns and/or fields around retention basins harbor certain lawn and field birds and mammals. Cottontail rabbits can be spotted grazing on grass on lawns. But they seek shelter under planted shrubbery. Killdeer plovers trot over the short grass to catch invertebrates in their beaks. Occasionally, a pair or two of killdeer will hatch four young on bare or stony patches in the lawns. American robins and purple grackles also move across lawns after invertebrates and nest in the planted trees. And a pair or two of eastern kingbirds hatch offspring in open cradles in the trees and flutter out to snatch flying insects from mid-air, one at a time.
Barn swallows and tree swallows cruise swiftly after flying insects over certain retention basins and the lawns or fields around them. The presence of barn swallows is decided whether or not barns or other buildings are close by. And tree swallows are there if tree hollows or nesting boxes are nearby.
These are all adaptable creatures around retention basins that can satisfy their needs. Basins help increase the populations of those wild animals by providing them with more homes, nesting places and food. Sometime, visit a basin to experience some of the attractive and interesting critters around it.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Nesting Open-Country Birds
For a couple of hours on May 19, 2017, I drove the blacktop Tour Route through fields at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in southeastern Pennsylvania, as I have most years in the recent past, to see what small, nesting birds were visible to most anyone in vehicles along that route from the middle of May to the end of June. Those attractive birds are most visible when perched on roadside bird boxes, plants, wires and signs. They are in order of abundance at Middle Creek, tree swallows, red-winged blackbirds, eastern bluebirds and eastern kingbirds.
Tree swallows, as a species, raise young in cavities in open areas with some trees, usually near water. The fields and a lake at Middle Creek attract these swallows to that area and the many bluebird boxes erected along the rural roadsides, boxes they took over, offer nesting places for them. I have often seen a few pairs of tree swallows joining forces to unrelentingly harass a lone pair of eastern bluebirds, forcing the latter species to abandon bird boxes.
Tree swallows seemed formally attired and are entertaining to watch in mid-air. Adult males are metallic blue on top and white below, while females and young are bluish-gray above and white underneath. And groups of them are interesting to see perched on bluebird boxes and roadside wires, and sweeping low over fields and water after flying insects they catch in their beaks and feed to their young in cavities.
Red-winged blackbirds have long been adapted to nesting in cattail marshes and fields of tall grass. The striking males are black with red shoulder patches and females are chocolate-brown with darker streaking. Each male sways on top of cattails and tall grasses to sing his "konk-ga-reeee" songs to establish territory and attract a mate for nesting. Each female makes a cradle of grass that she attaches to a clump of grasses. Red-wings consume a variety of invertebrates they pick off plants in their territories.
Though some pairs of beautiful bluebirds are hassled and driven away by gangs of tree swallows after nesting boxes, other pairs of these blue and rusty thrush relatives hatch youngsters in bluebird houses in the fields at Middle Creek, as elsewhere. Bluebirds perch on roadside poles, wires and signs and drop to the ground to grab and eat invertebrates. Each bluebird pair rears up to three broods of babies in hollows during spring and summer.
I was surprised by the numbers of eastern kingbirds I saw that day at Middle Creek, though this species has been increasing in numbers locally in recent years. Kingbirds are members of the flycatcher family, a family of small birds that catch flying insects in mid-air. Gray above and white below, with white on the end of their dark tails, eastern kingbirds seem to be in formal dress, as are tree swallows. And while many of their flycatcher relatives nest in woodlands, kingbirds prefer open country with a few, scattered trees.
Kingbirds perch on twigs, wires and fences and watch for passing insects. When prey is spotted close by, kingbirds flutter out on shallow wing beats, which is interesting to see, grab their victims in their beaks and zip back to their perches to eat their prey and watch for more. Kingbirds place their twig and grass cradles on the twigs of trees in fields and feed their young some of the flying insects they catch on the wing.
I was happy to see a few each of yellow warblers and common yellowthroat warblers in dense patches of shrubbery in the fields, especially those of blooming blackberry canes. The lovely males of both kinds sang their territorial songs from the tops of that vegetation, giving me hope they will nest there, a place they had not raised young in recent years when the blackberries and other shrubs were not yet there. Plant succession causes wildlife to shift living and nesting areas to find habitats they are adapted to. For example, while these warblers, hopefully, found new nesting spots in what had been grass fields, grassland birds had to move to another nesting location of tall grasses.
Which brings me to bobolinks, which are small, grassland blackbirds. I saw two dapper male bobolinks singing while in flight and when perched on tall grasses, but not the score or more of male bobolinks establishing nesting territories in that same large field a few years ago. With the influx of blackberry canes and other shrubbery in that field, brought in by seeds in bird droppings, bobolinks have been discouraged of nesting in it. Kingbirds, yellow warblers and common yellowthroats favor that field the way it is now, but not the bobolinks. As plant communities change in composition, many species of wildlife often move about to find the habitat they are adapted to. Grasslands being dispossessed by deciduous thickets and woods are a major example of plant succession. So only a few bobolinks remain in that field that once held several pairs of them and their young of the year. Tree swallow, red-wing and bluebird populations have held steady at Middle Creek because nothing major has changed in their niches, but kingbird populations have risen in farmland, partly because of that species' adapting to farmland conditions. Yellow and common yellowthroat warblers are moving into new shrubby habitats, but bobolinks are losing nesting grounds because they haven't adapted to changing field conditions to their benefit. Those small, striking blackbirds can only flourish in large fields of tall grasses.
Tree swallows, as a species, raise young in cavities in open areas with some trees, usually near water. The fields and a lake at Middle Creek attract these swallows to that area and the many bluebird boxes erected along the rural roadsides, boxes they took over, offer nesting places for them. I have often seen a few pairs of tree swallows joining forces to unrelentingly harass a lone pair of eastern bluebirds, forcing the latter species to abandon bird boxes.
Tree swallows seemed formally attired and are entertaining to watch in mid-air. Adult males are metallic blue on top and white below, while females and young are bluish-gray above and white underneath. And groups of them are interesting to see perched on bluebird boxes and roadside wires, and sweeping low over fields and water after flying insects they catch in their beaks and feed to their young in cavities.
Red-winged blackbirds have long been adapted to nesting in cattail marshes and fields of tall grass. The striking males are black with red shoulder patches and females are chocolate-brown with darker streaking. Each male sways on top of cattails and tall grasses to sing his "konk-ga-reeee" songs to establish territory and attract a mate for nesting. Each female makes a cradle of grass that she attaches to a clump of grasses. Red-wings consume a variety of invertebrates they pick off plants in their territories.
Though some pairs of beautiful bluebirds are hassled and driven away by gangs of tree swallows after nesting boxes, other pairs of these blue and rusty thrush relatives hatch youngsters in bluebird houses in the fields at Middle Creek, as elsewhere. Bluebirds perch on roadside poles, wires and signs and drop to the ground to grab and eat invertebrates. Each bluebird pair rears up to three broods of babies in hollows during spring and summer.
I was surprised by the numbers of eastern kingbirds I saw that day at Middle Creek, though this species has been increasing in numbers locally in recent years. Kingbirds are members of the flycatcher family, a family of small birds that catch flying insects in mid-air. Gray above and white below, with white on the end of their dark tails, eastern kingbirds seem to be in formal dress, as are tree swallows. And while many of their flycatcher relatives nest in woodlands, kingbirds prefer open country with a few, scattered trees.
Kingbirds perch on twigs, wires and fences and watch for passing insects. When prey is spotted close by, kingbirds flutter out on shallow wing beats, which is interesting to see, grab their victims in their beaks and zip back to their perches to eat their prey and watch for more. Kingbirds place their twig and grass cradles on the twigs of trees in fields and feed their young some of the flying insects they catch on the wing.
I was happy to see a few each of yellow warblers and common yellowthroat warblers in dense patches of shrubbery in the fields, especially those of blooming blackberry canes. The lovely males of both kinds sang their territorial songs from the tops of that vegetation, giving me hope they will nest there, a place they had not raised young in recent years when the blackberries and other shrubs were not yet there. Plant succession causes wildlife to shift living and nesting areas to find habitats they are adapted to. For example, while these warblers, hopefully, found new nesting spots in what had been grass fields, grassland birds had to move to another nesting location of tall grasses.
Which brings me to bobolinks, which are small, grassland blackbirds. I saw two dapper male bobolinks singing while in flight and when perched on tall grasses, but not the score or more of male bobolinks establishing nesting territories in that same large field a few years ago. With the influx of blackberry canes and other shrubbery in that field, brought in by seeds in bird droppings, bobolinks have been discouraged of nesting in it. Kingbirds, yellow warblers and common yellowthroats favor that field the way it is now, but not the bobolinks. As plant communities change in composition, many species of wildlife often move about to find the habitat they are adapted to. Grasslands being dispossessed by deciduous thickets and woods are a major example of plant succession. So only a few bobolinks remain in that field that once held several pairs of them and their young of the year. Tree swallow, red-wing and bluebird populations have held steady at Middle Creek because nothing major has changed in their niches, but kingbird populations have risen in farmland, partly because of that species' adapting to farmland conditions. Yellow and common yellowthroat warblers are moving into new shrubby habitats, but bobolinks are losing nesting grounds because they haven't adapted to changing field conditions to their benefit. Those small, striking blackbirds can only flourish in large fields of tall grasses.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
A Bottomland Forest in May
For a few hours today, May 17, 2017, I sat under sun-bathed deciduous leaves in a bottomland forest along a creek in northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Bird songs and the sweet smell of damp woods permeated the cooling breezes this warm morning.
Several kinds of plants were in lovely full bloom today along the gravel road I was on. Golden ragworts with their yellow blooms, wild geraniums that have pale pinkish-purple blooms and daisy fleabane with their small, soft-petaled, light-pink flowers dominated the blossoms along that woodland road. Wild gingers, Dame's rockets, and May apples with their umbrella leaves, were also in bloom along that woodland road. And I saw the abundant leaves of skunk cabbage and colt's-foot plants that are already done blooming on the forest floor for this year.
I also saw several beautiful tiger swallowtail butterflies fluttering through the woods and over the road and creek. Each swallowtail spent the winter dormant in its chrysalis under leaves on the dead-leaf carpeted forest floor. But the warmth of April's and early May's sun allowed the swallowtail pupae to finish developing into butterflies and emerge from their cocoons as the first generation of their kind of the year.
Although those bottomland woods are dominated by tall white oak, red maple and tulip poplar trees, spicebushes are abundant in the understories of the woods, and there are many thickets of multiflora rose and other kinds of shrubbery in sunny clearings, all of which, including the creek, help diversify the forest and the species of small birds that nest in them. During the few hours I was still and quiet in that woodland, I saw birds chasing others of their kind out of their territories, feeding, singing, bathing, copulating and gathering nest materials. Most of them are camouflaged in the woods and, sometimes, hard to see.
I saw some permanent resident birds in those woods, including blue jays, northern cardinals, Carolina chickadees and other kinds. But my main interest was the migrants that come to woods like this one to raise offspring through summer.
Gray catbirds dominate thickets in the woods where they pick up invertebrates to eat. And some of them spend a little time getting invertebrate food from the mud flats of the creek. I heard some of the males singing gently from the depths of the thickets.
Veeries, which are a kind of thrush, dominate the bottomland woods, which is their favored summer habitat. No other kinds of thrushes are as well adapted to woodlands along streams and creeks as are veeries. They are brown on top which camouflages them on the forest floor, where they nest and eat invertebrates, and off-white below with faint speckling. Veeries bounce across the woodland floor as they run and stop, run and stop like their relatives the American robins do across lawns when looking for invertebrate food. Veeries' unique, flute-like songs spiral down, down and are most often vocalized at dawn and dusk.
Wood thrushes nest on sapling trees in the understories of deciduous woodlands, but not necessarily along waterways in the woods. Male woodies also sing flute-like songs that sound like "ee-o-laay" or "a-o-lee".
Louisiana waterthrushes are a kind of warbler that hunts invertebrate food in the shallows of running water in woodlands, including this creek in northern Lancaster County, and raises young in crevices in stream banks along those woodland waterways. Waterthrushes constantly dip and bob their bodies and tails as they walk along the creek in search of food, which, I think, is a form of blending into their streamside habitat. Waterthrushes dance along the water's edges with the same rhythm as debris bouncing in the shoreline current. Therefore the waterthrushes look like that debris to predators.
I saw and/or heard other species of neotropical, migrant birds, besides the thrushes and waterthrushes, today in those same woods. They included a couple each of red-eyed vireos and eastern wood pewees that I heard in the woods, and two pairs of Baltimore orioles, a female scarlet tanager gathering nesting material, a male redstart singing, and two female rose-breasted grosbeaks that apparently were feeding on invertebrates when I saw them.
The dark and orange male orioles and redstart were colorful and striking to see flitting around the green, sun-drenched woods. And as I watched them, I thought of the different woodland layers these neotropical, nesting birds use each summer, though there is some overlap of woodland strata. Waterthrushes raise young in the lowest strata, at the stream level. Veeries hatch offspring in nurseries on forest floors near woodland waterways. Wood thrushes, redstarts, red-eyed vireos, rose-breasted grosbeaks and catbirds rear youngsters on sapling trees and shrubbery in the understory level. Baltimore orioles build swinging cradles half way up trees along creeks and streams in bottomlands. Pewees raise young half way up trees up slopes and scarlet tanagers hatch babies in treetop cradlesn on those same wooded rises. These birds raising young at different levels in the woods reduces competition for nesting space and food among those species. That allows many birds of different kinds living space in the woods.
Today was a good day in local woods, with the beauties of flowers, butterflies and neotropical, nesting birds. Those bird species will continue to live and nest in those woodlands until the end of summer when they will migrate to the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and northern South America, depending on the species.
Several kinds of plants were in lovely full bloom today along the gravel road I was on. Golden ragworts with their yellow blooms, wild geraniums that have pale pinkish-purple blooms and daisy fleabane with their small, soft-petaled, light-pink flowers dominated the blossoms along that woodland road. Wild gingers, Dame's rockets, and May apples with their umbrella leaves, were also in bloom along that woodland road. And I saw the abundant leaves of skunk cabbage and colt's-foot plants that are already done blooming on the forest floor for this year.
I also saw several beautiful tiger swallowtail butterflies fluttering through the woods and over the road and creek. Each swallowtail spent the winter dormant in its chrysalis under leaves on the dead-leaf carpeted forest floor. But the warmth of April's and early May's sun allowed the swallowtail pupae to finish developing into butterflies and emerge from their cocoons as the first generation of their kind of the year.
Although those bottomland woods are dominated by tall white oak, red maple and tulip poplar trees, spicebushes are abundant in the understories of the woods, and there are many thickets of multiflora rose and other kinds of shrubbery in sunny clearings, all of which, including the creek, help diversify the forest and the species of small birds that nest in them. During the few hours I was still and quiet in that woodland, I saw birds chasing others of their kind out of their territories, feeding, singing, bathing, copulating and gathering nest materials. Most of them are camouflaged in the woods and, sometimes, hard to see.
I saw some permanent resident birds in those woods, including blue jays, northern cardinals, Carolina chickadees and other kinds. But my main interest was the migrants that come to woods like this one to raise offspring through summer.
Gray catbirds dominate thickets in the woods where they pick up invertebrates to eat. And some of them spend a little time getting invertebrate food from the mud flats of the creek. I heard some of the males singing gently from the depths of the thickets.
Veeries, which are a kind of thrush, dominate the bottomland woods, which is their favored summer habitat. No other kinds of thrushes are as well adapted to woodlands along streams and creeks as are veeries. They are brown on top which camouflages them on the forest floor, where they nest and eat invertebrates, and off-white below with faint speckling. Veeries bounce across the woodland floor as they run and stop, run and stop like their relatives the American robins do across lawns when looking for invertebrate food. Veeries' unique, flute-like songs spiral down, down and are most often vocalized at dawn and dusk.
Wood thrushes nest on sapling trees in the understories of deciduous woodlands, but not necessarily along waterways in the woods. Male woodies also sing flute-like songs that sound like "ee-o-laay" or "a-o-lee".
Louisiana waterthrushes are a kind of warbler that hunts invertebrate food in the shallows of running water in woodlands, including this creek in northern Lancaster County, and raises young in crevices in stream banks along those woodland waterways. Waterthrushes constantly dip and bob their bodies and tails as they walk along the creek in search of food, which, I think, is a form of blending into their streamside habitat. Waterthrushes dance along the water's edges with the same rhythm as debris bouncing in the shoreline current. Therefore the waterthrushes look like that debris to predators.
I saw and/or heard other species of neotropical, migrant birds, besides the thrushes and waterthrushes, today in those same woods. They included a couple each of red-eyed vireos and eastern wood pewees that I heard in the woods, and two pairs of Baltimore orioles, a female scarlet tanager gathering nesting material, a male redstart singing, and two female rose-breasted grosbeaks that apparently were feeding on invertebrates when I saw them.
The dark and orange male orioles and redstart were colorful and striking to see flitting around the green, sun-drenched woods. And as I watched them, I thought of the different woodland layers these neotropical, nesting birds use each summer, though there is some overlap of woodland strata. Waterthrushes raise young in the lowest strata, at the stream level. Veeries hatch offspring in nurseries on forest floors near woodland waterways. Wood thrushes, redstarts, red-eyed vireos, rose-breasted grosbeaks and catbirds rear youngsters on sapling trees and shrubbery in the understory level. Baltimore orioles build swinging cradles half way up trees along creeks and streams in bottomlands. Pewees raise young half way up trees up slopes and scarlet tanagers hatch babies in treetop cradlesn on those same wooded rises. These birds raising young at different levels in the woods reduces competition for nesting space and food among those species. That allows many birds of different kinds living space in the woods.
Today was a good day in local woods, with the beauties of flowers, butterflies and neotropical, nesting birds. Those bird species will continue to live and nest in those woodlands until the end of summer when they will migrate to the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and northern South America, depending on the species.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Some Country Roadside Flowers in May
Every May I marvel at the variety and beauty of several kinds of flowers while driving along country roads in southeastern Pennsylvania. Most of those plants that flower along roadside shoulders in May are aliens from Eurasia where they long ago adapted to disturbed soil in farmland. All the plant species of this writing have showy blooms that are easily noticed by anyone walking or riding along country roads. All these plants are more or less common in fields and meadows, as well as along the rural roadsides that pass through those human-made habitats, in much of eastern North America. And they make lovely bouquets of themselves where two or more species are blooming in the same place at the same time; bouquets that are free to enjoy in the beautiful countryside.
Buttercups, celandine and goat's-beard, all aliens in that arbitrary order of abundance, have yellow flowers that are cheery to see. Abundant buttercup blossoms carpet many meadows and roadsides with gold. That gold is especially delightful to see with its background of green grass and when bathed in sunlight.
Celandine plants are a couple of feet high and a bit bushy-looking. They mostly grow in clumps here and there, almost exclusively along rural roadside shoulders where no cultivation is done after the initial disturbance of the soil to create the road.
And goat's-beard can be up to three feet tall and has grass-like leaves. This species, too, is found almost nowhere but along rural roads. Goat's-beard blooms resemble those of dandelions, and like dandelions, their seeds each have a fluffy parachute that carries its seed cargo away on the wind, thus dispersing the species far and wide.
Daisy fleabanes are the only native kind of plant in this writing. This abundant species in meadows and along rural roads can be a few feet high. And each plant has several small, white to pale-pink blooms that are "fluffy" because of the many soft petals on each flower.
Evening lynchis is common along country roadside shoulders. This species stands a couple of feet tall and has white blossoms. And under each bloom is an inflated calyx sac.
Dame's rocket plants can be three feet or more high, and each plant has pink, purple and white flowers. This is a member of the mustard family.
Red clover is a hay crop that has colonized roadsides, too. Each plant has a few leaves, each one with three petals and pretty, pink flower heads. Those flowers are visited by bees, butterflies and a variety of other insects along roadsides and in fields.
This array of lovely roadside blooms in May make walks and rides in the country more interesting and enjoyable. I have always been happy to experience them close to home during that time of every year.
Buttercups, celandine and goat's-beard, all aliens in that arbitrary order of abundance, have yellow flowers that are cheery to see. Abundant buttercup blossoms carpet many meadows and roadsides with gold. That gold is especially delightful to see with its background of green grass and when bathed in sunlight.
Celandine plants are a couple of feet high and a bit bushy-looking. They mostly grow in clumps here and there, almost exclusively along rural roadside shoulders where no cultivation is done after the initial disturbance of the soil to create the road.
And goat's-beard can be up to three feet tall and has grass-like leaves. This species, too, is found almost nowhere but along rural roads. Goat's-beard blooms resemble those of dandelions, and like dandelions, their seeds each have a fluffy parachute that carries its seed cargo away on the wind, thus dispersing the species far and wide.
Daisy fleabanes are the only native kind of plant in this writing. This abundant species in meadows and along rural roads can be a few feet high. And each plant has several small, white to pale-pink blooms that are "fluffy" because of the many soft petals on each flower.
Evening lynchis is common along country roadside shoulders. This species stands a couple of feet tall and has white blossoms. And under each bloom is an inflated calyx sac.
Dame's rocket plants can be three feet or more high, and each plant has pink, purple and white flowers. This is a member of the mustard family.
Red clover is a hay crop that has colonized roadsides, too. Each plant has a few leaves, each one with three petals and pretty, pink flower heads. Those flowers are visited by bees, butterflies and a variety of other insects along roadsides and in fields.
This array of lovely roadside blooms in May make walks and rides in the country more interesting and enjoyable. I have always been happy to experience them close to home during that time of every year.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
A May Meadow
Many meadows in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania are pretty and interesting, human-made habitats. They are carpeted with grass, dotted with scattered trees, patched here and there with shrubbery, and have a brook or stream running through them. Those cow pastures, therefore, are habitats for a variety of adaptable wildlife, including several kinds of birds during summer.
On sunny May 10, 2017, I visited a lovely meadow close to home to experience what plants and animals were visible in it, as I have done at times in the past. Since no livestock have been grazing in it this year so far, the grass was more than two feet high and growing. Patches of beautiful, golden buttercup flowers were everywhere in it. And I saw several species of birds during the hour I watched that pasture.
I saw a pair each of striking Baltimore orioles and handsome eastern kingbirds because of the tall trees in that pasture, the orioles high in a tree and the kingbirds perched on two different fence posts. The female oriole will build a deep basket of vines and grasses, attached to a few outer twigs on a limb high in a lone tree. The oriole pair will feed their young a variety of invertebrates they pick off the trees, other vegetation and the ground.
Kingbirds perch on fences, trees and tall weeds and grasses to watch for flying insects passing by their lookouts. When prey is spotted, each kingbird flutters out after it, catches it in its beak and returns to its perch to eat its victim. The female kingbird will make an open cup nursery of small twigs and grass on twigs inside the foliage of a lone tree in the meadow. And the kingbird pair will feed flying insects to their youngsters.
Because of a couple of dead, but still-standing, trees in that meadow, I saw a pair each of striking red-headed woodpeckers and pretty northern flickers, each pair working on a nesting cavity in each of the dead trees. Neither kind of woodpecker is common in Lancaster County because of habitat loss and competition for nesting hollows in dead trees with starlings, an aggressive bird species originally from Europe.
Red-heads have completely red heads, white bellies and black wings with a white patch on each wing. They peck into bark and wood after invertebrates like all woodpeckers do, but red-heads also fly out after flying insects.
Flickers, unlike other woodpeckers, which are mostly black and white, are mostly brown because of their inherited habit of eating ants from ant hills on the ground. And, interestingly, both these kinds of woodpeckers, unlike their relatives, prefer open country with some trees rather than woodlands with their dense growths of trees.
Because of abandoned woodpecker holes in the dead trees and in dead limbs in live trees in that cow pasture, I saw a pair each of eastern bluebirds and tree swallows in that meadow. Bluebirds and tree swallows compete mightily for nesting cavities in trees and wooden fence posts, and bird boxes erected particularly for them. I think each species is lovely in appearance and disposition so I have no preference to which species wins the nesting holes. But since both species are successful in being common, they each must be winning enough hollows to raise adequate numbers of offspring. Bluebirds and tree swallows both eat invertebrates in pastures, the former species off plants and the ground and the latter from the air while in flight.
I saw a northern mockingbird in a patch of multiflora rose shrubbery in the pasture. And I am sure that mocker had a mate somewhere nearby. The mockers will build a twig and grass cradle in that clump of rose bushes where they will hatch babies and feed them a variety of invertebrates.
Some taller and growing grasses and cattails along the brook in that meadow attracted at least a couple of male red-winged blackbirds who swayed on top of that vegetation and repeatedly sang their "kon-ga-ree" songs to attract female red-wings to them for mating and raising young.
And while looking at those handsome male red-wings along that tiny, shallow waterway, I saw four other species of birds that, to me, were the highlight of visiting that grassy pasture. At first, I noticed up to five male barn swallows at a time repeatedly circling low over a patch of mud by the brook, then dropping to it. Through binoculars, I saw them pick up bits of mud with their beaks as other birds pick up grain and fly away with those loads of mud. Those males each made trip after trip to the mud and carried it back by the bill-full to their nest sites in a barn, or barns, where, presumably, their mates were using those mud pellets to make mud pellet cradles plastered to support beams under the ceilings of those barns.
Meanwhile, back at the mud, I saw four fluffy, stilted killdeer chicks walking on the mud and in the shallows of the running brook to ingest invertebrates. They blended into their surroundings so well that they were hard to see with the naked eye.
A female American robin was also collecting mud in her beak to use to line her nearby nursery in a bush or young tree. She also made trip after trip to get the mud she needed.
And two lesser yellowlegs waded in the brook to catch aquatic worms and insects before continuing their migrations to the boreal forests of Canada to nest on the ground near lakes. They may have wintered as far south as South America.
Several interesting species of birds were visible in that meadow on May 10. I went home inspired, having enjoyed every second of that trip to a human-habitat close to home.
On sunny May 10, 2017, I visited a lovely meadow close to home to experience what plants and animals were visible in it, as I have done at times in the past. Since no livestock have been grazing in it this year so far, the grass was more than two feet high and growing. Patches of beautiful, golden buttercup flowers were everywhere in it. And I saw several species of birds during the hour I watched that pasture.
I saw a pair each of striking Baltimore orioles and handsome eastern kingbirds because of the tall trees in that pasture, the orioles high in a tree and the kingbirds perched on two different fence posts. The female oriole will build a deep basket of vines and grasses, attached to a few outer twigs on a limb high in a lone tree. The oriole pair will feed their young a variety of invertebrates they pick off the trees, other vegetation and the ground.
Kingbirds perch on fences, trees and tall weeds and grasses to watch for flying insects passing by their lookouts. When prey is spotted, each kingbird flutters out after it, catches it in its beak and returns to its perch to eat its victim. The female kingbird will make an open cup nursery of small twigs and grass on twigs inside the foliage of a lone tree in the meadow. And the kingbird pair will feed flying insects to their youngsters.
Because of a couple of dead, but still-standing, trees in that meadow, I saw a pair each of striking red-headed woodpeckers and pretty northern flickers, each pair working on a nesting cavity in each of the dead trees. Neither kind of woodpecker is common in Lancaster County because of habitat loss and competition for nesting hollows in dead trees with starlings, an aggressive bird species originally from Europe.
Red-heads have completely red heads, white bellies and black wings with a white patch on each wing. They peck into bark and wood after invertebrates like all woodpeckers do, but red-heads also fly out after flying insects.
Flickers, unlike other woodpeckers, which are mostly black and white, are mostly brown because of their inherited habit of eating ants from ant hills on the ground. And, interestingly, both these kinds of woodpeckers, unlike their relatives, prefer open country with some trees rather than woodlands with their dense growths of trees.
Because of abandoned woodpecker holes in the dead trees and in dead limbs in live trees in that cow pasture, I saw a pair each of eastern bluebirds and tree swallows in that meadow. Bluebirds and tree swallows compete mightily for nesting cavities in trees and wooden fence posts, and bird boxes erected particularly for them. I think each species is lovely in appearance and disposition so I have no preference to which species wins the nesting holes. But since both species are successful in being common, they each must be winning enough hollows to raise adequate numbers of offspring. Bluebirds and tree swallows both eat invertebrates in pastures, the former species off plants and the ground and the latter from the air while in flight.
I saw a northern mockingbird in a patch of multiflora rose shrubbery in the pasture. And I am sure that mocker had a mate somewhere nearby. The mockers will build a twig and grass cradle in that clump of rose bushes where they will hatch babies and feed them a variety of invertebrates.
Some taller and growing grasses and cattails along the brook in that meadow attracted at least a couple of male red-winged blackbirds who swayed on top of that vegetation and repeatedly sang their "kon-ga-ree" songs to attract female red-wings to them for mating and raising young.
And while looking at those handsome male red-wings along that tiny, shallow waterway, I saw four other species of birds that, to me, were the highlight of visiting that grassy pasture. At first, I noticed up to five male barn swallows at a time repeatedly circling low over a patch of mud by the brook, then dropping to it. Through binoculars, I saw them pick up bits of mud with their beaks as other birds pick up grain and fly away with those loads of mud. Those males each made trip after trip to the mud and carried it back by the bill-full to their nest sites in a barn, or barns, where, presumably, their mates were using those mud pellets to make mud pellet cradles plastered to support beams under the ceilings of those barns.
Meanwhile, back at the mud, I saw four fluffy, stilted killdeer chicks walking on the mud and in the shallows of the running brook to ingest invertebrates. They blended into their surroundings so well that they were hard to see with the naked eye.
A female American robin was also collecting mud in her beak to use to line her nearby nursery in a bush or young tree. She also made trip after trip to get the mud she needed.
And two lesser yellowlegs waded in the brook to catch aquatic worms and insects before continuing their migrations to the boreal forests of Canada to nest on the ground near lakes. They may have wintered as far south as South America.
Several interesting species of birds were visible in that meadow on May 10. I went home inspired, having enjoyed every second of that trip to a human-habitat close to home.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Twilight Woodland Songs
Enchanted deciduous woodlands in southeastern Pennsylvania are made more so at dusk in May and June by the lovely songs of the males of four kinds of birds, including wood thrushes, veeries, eastern wood pewees and gray catbirds. Those male birds sing beautifully from the shadows of trees and shrubs as twilight gradually deepens to full darkness.
All those bird species blend into the summer woods where they raise young, making them hard to spot. But their pretty, heart-tugging songs make up for their lack of being visible. However, when seen, they are charming in appearance and look like they belong where they are. As everywhere, each species is a product of the habitat it adapted to. It fits right into the environment that shaped it to be what it is.
All these bird species winter farther south. Wood thrushes and veeries winter mostly in Central America. Pewees also spend winters in Central America, and northern South America. And catbirds spend that harshest of seasons in the southern United States. Migration happens not to avoid cold, but to find reliable sources of food in the warm south when the north is frozen with ice and snow. And since these birds mostly consume invertebrates that are dormant and inaccessible in winter, they must go farther south to find food.
Wood thrushes and veeries are both species of thrushes that nest in southeastern Pennsylvania woods, as they do through much of eastern North America's forests. Always handsome when seen perched low in the woods, both kinds are brown on top, which camouflages them on carpets of dead, fallen leaves on forest floors. And they are white below with rows of spots. The dots on veeries are much fainter than those on wood thrushes.
Related to the familiar American robins of suburban lawns and fields, wood thrushes and veeries are shaped like robins, but smaller. And those two kinds of thrushes run and stop, run and stop across dead-leaf, moss and fern-strewn forest floors to look for invertebrate food, as robins run and stop on lawns and fields.
Wood thrushes raise young in twig and leaf nurseries placed low in understory shrubs and sapling trees. Veeries rear offspring in leafy cradles on woodland floors near streams. Those different nesting niches reduce competition between wood thrushes and veeries for nesting space and food.
Wood thrushes and veeries are elegant when perched low in the woods. And their lovely, flute-like songs are ethereal. Wood thrushes utter flute-like phrases that sound like "e-o-laaay" or "a-o-leeee". Each of the Veeries' songs seem to breezily spiral downward, downward, downward.
Veery songs seem out of this world!
Eastern wood pewees, which are a kind of woodland flycatcher, often join thrush concerts in the woods at dusk. Pewees sing sweet, gentle songs at twilight that seem to say "pee-a-weee", "pee-a-weee", "pee-uurrrrr". Those seemingly sad phrases continue and continue and finally fade into the darkness of most every dusk during May, June and into early July, the breeding season of all these bird species.
Pewees are gray all over, which allows them to blend into the color of tree bark. Each female makes cradles of tiny twigs, grass, lichens and spider webs in forks of twigs high in the trees.
Gray catbirds are also gray with darker caps. Their plumage allows them to blend into the shadows in the depths of dense shrubbery on woodland edges where they summer and nest. Their lovely, twilight songs are soft and quiet, as if each male songster sings to himself.
The beautiful, melancholy songs of these four kinds of summering birds make the already lovely deciduous woods of northeastern North America more enchanting at twilight from early May to mid-July. These are bird songs well worth hearing as dusk deepens to full darkness.
All those bird species blend into the summer woods where they raise young, making them hard to spot. But their pretty, heart-tugging songs make up for their lack of being visible. However, when seen, they are charming in appearance and look like they belong where they are. As everywhere, each species is a product of the habitat it adapted to. It fits right into the environment that shaped it to be what it is.
All these bird species winter farther south. Wood thrushes and veeries winter mostly in Central America. Pewees also spend winters in Central America, and northern South America. And catbirds spend that harshest of seasons in the southern United States. Migration happens not to avoid cold, but to find reliable sources of food in the warm south when the north is frozen with ice and snow. And since these birds mostly consume invertebrates that are dormant and inaccessible in winter, they must go farther south to find food.
Wood thrushes and veeries are both species of thrushes that nest in southeastern Pennsylvania woods, as they do through much of eastern North America's forests. Always handsome when seen perched low in the woods, both kinds are brown on top, which camouflages them on carpets of dead, fallen leaves on forest floors. And they are white below with rows of spots. The dots on veeries are much fainter than those on wood thrushes.
Related to the familiar American robins of suburban lawns and fields, wood thrushes and veeries are shaped like robins, but smaller. And those two kinds of thrushes run and stop, run and stop across dead-leaf, moss and fern-strewn forest floors to look for invertebrate food, as robins run and stop on lawns and fields.
Wood thrushes raise young in twig and leaf nurseries placed low in understory shrubs and sapling trees. Veeries rear offspring in leafy cradles on woodland floors near streams. Those different nesting niches reduce competition between wood thrushes and veeries for nesting space and food.
Wood thrushes and veeries are elegant when perched low in the woods. And their lovely, flute-like songs are ethereal. Wood thrushes utter flute-like phrases that sound like "e-o-laaay" or "a-o-leeee". Each of the Veeries' songs seem to breezily spiral downward, downward, downward.
Veery songs seem out of this world!
Eastern wood pewees, which are a kind of woodland flycatcher, often join thrush concerts in the woods at dusk. Pewees sing sweet, gentle songs at twilight that seem to say "pee-a-weee", "pee-a-weee", "pee-uurrrrr". Those seemingly sad phrases continue and continue and finally fade into the darkness of most every dusk during May, June and into early July, the breeding season of all these bird species.
Pewees are gray all over, which allows them to blend into the color of tree bark. Each female makes cradles of tiny twigs, grass, lichens and spider webs in forks of twigs high in the trees.
Gray catbirds are also gray with darker caps. Their plumage allows them to blend into the shadows in the depths of dense shrubbery on woodland edges where they summer and nest. Their lovely, twilight songs are soft and quiet, as if each male songster sings to himself.
The beautiful, melancholy songs of these four kinds of summering birds make the already lovely deciduous woods of northeastern North America more enchanting at twilight from early May to mid-July. These are bird songs well worth hearing as dusk deepens to full darkness.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Abundant Field Invertebrates
Farmland is a tough environment for wild creatures to live in because of annual plowing, discing, harvesting, spraying herbicides and spraying insecticides. But in spite of that, many wild critters live in abundance in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania cropland, including several kinds of invertebrates. And, although they live in the fields, those invertebrates are seen by most people on rural roads and roadsides.
Night crawlers, which are a kind of earthworms, slide across wet, country roads by the thousands during or after heavy or prolonged rains, mostly at night during warmer times of the year. Maybe they are looking for new food sources or mates, but some of them only find death, crushed under the wheels of vehicles. I know it's hard to avoid them all when they are all over the roads.
Opossums, striped skunks, American toads, a few kinds of frogs and other species of nocturnal animals eat many of those worms off the roads and roadsides at night, as well as in the fields. And American crows, American robins, purple grackles and other species of birds eat many worm casualties off the roads during the day. Obviously, night crawlers are beneficial to several adaptable types of farm country wildlife.
Many, many thousands of male fireflies are at the peak of flashing their cold, abdominal lights by early July. Each evening at dusk, those fireflies crawl up plants, launch themselves into the air and blink their yellow signals every few seconds to female fireflies still in the depths of vegetation. The air and darkening landscape become ever more alive with flashing, little lights, making the pragmatic fields beautiful and enchanting. If each tiny, firefly lantern made a sound when it blinked, the uproar of lights would be deafening. Female fireflies in the vegetation signal back to the airborne males and the genders eventually unite to mate.
And at dusk, thousands upon thousands of little, brown moths (species unknown) rise from vegetated roadsides and fields and flutter about, probably to look for mates. Many of them, and some of the fireflies, get hit by vehicles on country roads. Though these moths are mostly unidentified, they are interesting to see in the forward-sweeping lights of vehicles. They are another interesting form of life in the darkening cropland.
Cabbage white butterflies and yellow sulpher butterflies by the many thousands visit the numerous pink flowers of red clover and the abundant lavender blossoms of alfalfa in summer hay fields and along roadsides to sip the sugary nectar of those lovely blooms. These two kinds of butterflies, and other species, are obliged to move from hay field to hay field through each summer, as some hay is cut for farm animal feed while other clover and alfalfa mature and grow blossoms.
These two kinds of butterflies, originally from Eurasia, build up their numbers through a few succeeding generations during each summer until they reach a peak of abundance by late summer into autumn when the hay fields are fluttering and shimmering with white and gold wings among the pink and lavender flowers. Those hay fields then are interesting and inspiring to see.
Many field crickets, and grasshoppers of at least a few kinds, including red-legged and differential grasshoppers, live in fields and along weedy, rural roadsides where they eat grass and other kinds of vegetation. The big, dull-green differential grasshoppers are the most common and noticeable species of their high-jumping clan along country roads. Some of them leap onto the blacktop where some of those adventurers get crushed by passing cars and trucks. Skunks, red foxes, short-tailed shrews, American toads, screech owls, garden spiders and other nocturnal critters eat some of the farmland crickets and grasshoppers at night. And American kestrels, wild turkeys, purple grackles and other kinds of birds consume some crickets and grasshoppers during the day.
Through much of crisp, golden and red October, many woolly bear caterpillars, which are the larvae of the small, yellow-brown Isabella moths, cross country roads by the hundreds. Those caterpillars are covered with shiny, black bristles at both ends and rusty-orange ones in their middles, making them quite handsome little critters. Many people like to look for them along roadsides on sunny, warm afternoons in autumn.
Those woolly bears spent part of the summer eating grass and a variety of other open country plants. But, spurred by cold nights in October, they move about on warm afternoons to find shelter where they will pass the coming winter in relative safety. Some of them cross rural roads, where, unfortunately, some of those pretty, little caterpillars are crushed by passing vehicles.
Though not always easy to spot, look for these abundant invertebrates in farmland. They are just as interesting as any other species of life, anywhere. And all of them have their place in the overall scheme of nature.
Night crawlers, which are a kind of earthworms, slide across wet, country roads by the thousands during or after heavy or prolonged rains, mostly at night during warmer times of the year. Maybe they are looking for new food sources or mates, but some of them only find death, crushed under the wheels of vehicles. I know it's hard to avoid them all when they are all over the roads.
Opossums, striped skunks, American toads, a few kinds of frogs and other species of nocturnal animals eat many of those worms off the roads and roadsides at night, as well as in the fields. And American crows, American robins, purple grackles and other species of birds eat many worm casualties off the roads during the day. Obviously, night crawlers are beneficial to several adaptable types of farm country wildlife.
Many, many thousands of male fireflies are at the peak of flashing their cold, abdominal lights by early July. Each evening at dusk, those fireflies crawl up plants, launch themselves into the air and blink their yellow signals every few seconds to female fireflies still in the depths of vegetation. The air and darkening landscape become ever more alive with flashing, little lights, making the pragmatic fields beautiful and enchanting. If each tiny, firefly lantern made a sound when it blinked, the uproar of lights would be deafening. Female fireflies in the vegetation signal back to the airborne males and the genders eventually unite to mate.
And at dusk, thousands upon thousands of little, brown moths (species unknown) rise from vegetated roadsides and fields and flutter about, probably to look for mates. Many of them, and some of the fireflies, get hit by vehicles on country roads. Though these moths are mostly unidentified, they are interesting to see in the forward-sweeping lights of vehicles. They are another interesting form of life in the darkening cropland.
Cabbage white butterflies and yellow sulpher butterflies by the many thousands visit the numerous pink flowers of red clover and the abundant lavender blossoms of alfalfa in summer hay fields and along roadsides to sip the sugary nectar of those lovely blooms. These two kinds of butterflies, and other species, are obliged to move from hay field to hay field through each summer, as some hay is cut for farm animal feed while other clover and alfalfa mature and grow blossoms.
These two kinds of butterflies, originally from Eurasia, build up their numbers through a few succeeding generations during each summer until they reach a peak of abundance by late summer into autumn when the hay fields are fluttering and shimmering with white and gold wings among the pink and lavender flowers. Those hay fields then are interesting and inspiring to see.
Many field crickets, and grasshoppers of at least a few kinds, including red-legged and differential grasshoppers, live in fields and along weedy, rural roadsides where they eat grass and other kinds of vegetation. The big, dull-green differential grasshoppers are the most common and noticeable species of their high-jumping clan along country roads. Some of them leap onto the blacktop where some of those adventurers get crushed by passing cars and trucks. Skunks, red foxes, short-tailed shrews, American toads, screech owls, garden spiders and other nocturnal critters eat some of the farmland crickets and grasshoppers at night. And American kestrels, wild turkeys, purple grackles and other kinds of birds consume some crickets and grasshoppers during the day.
Through much of crisp, golden and red October, many woolly bear caterpillars, which are the larvae of the small, yellow-brown Isabella moths, cross country roads by the hundreds. Those caterpillars are covered with shiny, black bristles at both ends and rusty-orange ones in their middles, making them quite handsome little critters. Many people like to look for them along roadsides on sunny, warm afternoons in autumn.
Those woolly bears spent part of the summer eating grass and a variety of other open country plants. But, spurred by cold nights in October, they move about on warm afternoons to find shelter where they will pass the coming winter in relative safety. Some of them cross rural roads, where, unfortunately, some of those pretty, little caterpillars are crushed by passing vehicles.
Though not always easy to spot, look for these abundant invertebrates in farmland. They are just as interesting as any other species of life, anywhere. And all of them have their place in the overall scheme of nature.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Some Migratory Insects
One morning early in April of 1998, when I was visiting people in Florida, I saw long, thin streams of cabbage white butterflies here and there going north. They, apparently, were migrating to alfalfa hay fields farther north to sip nectar from flowers and lay eggs on the plants.
One warm, sunny afternoon in October of 2014, I saw many autumn meadowhawk dragonflies cruising back and forth low over the six-acre swimming lake at Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania. Apparently they were migrating south, but stopped at that human-made impoundment to catch and eat flying insects over the water. In the bright, low-slanting sunlight, those striking dragonflies had abdomens as red as the autumn foliage on the red maple and black gum trees that bordered the lake.
And during a couple of days early in May of 2012, thousands of red admiral butterflies fluttered north low to the ground almost everywhere in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They flew low over lawns where I worked, across rural roads on the way home and over our lawn at home, for example. They were a spectacle I haven't seen before nor since. Those red admirals were migrating north to mate and lay eggs on the three-feet tall and still growing stinging nettle plants.
Pretty, medium-sized butterflies, red admirals have brown and orange upper wings. Females of this species lay eggs on stinging nettles, one of the few plants their caterpillars eat. Those larvae hatch during the second week in May and pupate by mid June, stripping many leaves off their stalks in those few weeks. By early July, this second generation emerges as beautiful adult butterflies and feeds on the nectar of purple cone flowers and other species of flowering vegetation. Some of their offspring will migrate south to avoid the northern winter.
Some people don't know it, but several kinds of insects, including various species of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, beetles and others migrate according to the seasons, including some species here in southeastern Pennsylvania. They are another intriguing part of the miracle of nature.
The famous monarch butterflies are the best-known of insect migrants to Americans. There are four generations of monarchs every year. Early in March, the first of any given year starts journeying north from wintering grounds in the middle of Mexico, southern California and southern Florida. That generation migrates a few hundred miles, mates, lays eggs and dies. The second generation continues the passage north, mates, lays eggs and dies. The third generation does the same, but the fourth pupates late in August and emerges early in September, with each individual ready to migrate south to one of three major wintering grounds. And what is so miraculous about the fourth generations' southbound migrations is that no monarch of that generation had ever been to the wintering grounds, yet they all unerringly find their way to one of them! That is one of many miracles of nature. How do they do it?
I have seen alfalfa and red clover hay fields bursting with blossoms and loaded with butterflies seeking nectar, including several monarchs in each field. Some fields seem to shimmer with fluttering butterflies. It's always inspiring, and a treat, to see those multitudes of butterflies, including the striking monarchs, sipping nectar from the flowers and moving to other ones to feed.
I have seen spectacular, spell-binding, south-bound migrations of monarchs in September during a few autumns through the years. Sometimes they go by any given point of land at the rate of one every few minutes or less, all heading south or southwest. Sometimes they go by in seemingly little flocks. And a couple of times, several monarchs have spent the night in one or two of our trees on our lawn, but are gone the next morning; continuing on their way.
The caterpillars of monarchs consume only the leaves of several kinds of milkweeds. Female monarchs must lay their eggs on milkweed foliage for their young to survive and pupate.
Common buckeyes are a striking species of migrating butterflies. They are mostly brown on top, with two large, "fake" eyes on the top side of each of four wings. Those eyes must be startling to a bird of other creature that intended to snare a buckeye to consume. Buckeyes' larvae ingest a variety of low herbs in fields and along country roadsides.
Green darners are a kind of large dragonfly that have green thoraxes, pale-blue abdomens and four clear, stiff wings, with a six-inch wingspan. Adults feed on flying insects over ponds and fields, and while on migration to The South for the winter. Their larvae, or naiids, like those of all dragonflies, feed on aquatic insects, tadpoles, small fish and other small critters on the bottoms of their nursery ponds. Those larvae have gills to "breathe" while underwater.
When mature, naiids climb up plants, emerge from the water and shed their larval exoskeletons. When their wings are ready, these adult dragonflies take flight to search for food and mates.
Swarms of southbound green darners can be spotted almost anywhere during late summer and into fall, looking for all the world like tiny helicopters. Sometimes they will be cruising about and catching insects to eat on the wing, creating spectacular and entertaining aerial shows.
Twelve-spotted skimmers are another striking kind of dragonflies, so-named for the black spots and white spots on each of four wings. This species engages in sporadic, irruptive migrations at times. And this species, and its relatives the handsome white-tailed skimmers, are common around ponds in southeastern Pennsylvania during summer.
These are just a few, example, insect migrants. Some readers may encounter one or more of these species, or others, migrating north or south, depending on the season. Some encounters will be spectacular and inspiring.
One warm, sunny afternoon in October of 2014, I saw many autumn meadowhawk dragonflies cruising back and forth low over the six-acre swimming lake at Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania. Apparently they were migrating south, but stopped at that human-made impoundment to catch and eat flying insects over the water. In the bright, low-slanting sunlight, those striking dragonflies had abdomens as red as the autumn foliage on the red maple and black gum trees that bordered the lake.
And during a couple of days early in May of 2012, thousands of red admiral butterflies fluttered north low to the ground almost everywhere in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They flew low over lawns where I worked, across rural roads on the way home and over our lawn at home, for example. They were a spectacle I haven't seen before nor since. Those red admirals were migrating north to mate and lay eggs on the three-feet tall and still growing stinging nettle plants.
Pretty, medium-sized butterflies, red admirals have brown and orange upper wings. Females of this species lay eggs on stinging nettles, one of the few plants their caterpillars eat. Those larvae hatch during the second week in May and pupate by mid June, stripping many leaves off their stalks in those few weeks. By early July, this second generation emerges as beautiful adult butterflies and feeds on the nectar of purple cone flowers and other species of flowering vegetation. Some of their offspring will migrate south to avoid the northern winter.
Some people don't know it, but several kinds of insects, including various species of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, beetles and others migrate according to the seasons, including some species here in southeastern Pennsylvania. They are another intriguing part of the miracle of nature.
The famous monarch butterflies are the best-known of insect migrants to Americans. There are four generations of monarchs every year. Early in March, the first of any given year starts journeying north from wintering grounds in the middle of Mexico, southern California and southern Florida. That generation migrates a few hundred miles, mates, lays eggs and dies. The second generation continues the passage north, mates, lays eggs and dies. The third generation does the same, but the fourth pupates late in August and emerges early in September, with each individual ready to migrate south to one of three major wintering grounds. And what is so miraculous about the fourth generations' southbound migrations is that no monarch of that generation had ever been to the wintering grounds, yet they all unerringly find their way to one of them! That is one of many miracles of nature. How do they do it?
I have seen alfalfa and red clover hay fields bursting with blossoms and loaded with butterflies seeking nectar, including several monarchs in each field. Some fields seem to shimmer with fluttering butterflies. It's always inspiring, and a treat, to see those multitudes of butterflies, including the striking monarchs, sipping nectar from the flowers and moving to other ones to feed.
I have seen spectacular, spell-binding, south-bound migrations of monarchs in September during a few autumns through the years. Sometimes they go by any given point of land at the rate of one every few minutes or less, all heading south or southwest. Sometimes they go by in seemingly little flocks. And a couple of times, several monarchs have spent the night in one or two of our trees on our lawn, but are gone the next morning; continuing on their way.
The caterpillars of monarchs consume only the leaves of several kinds of milkweeds. Female monarchs must lay their eggs on milkweed foliage for their young to survive and pupate.
Common buckeyes are a striking species of migrating butterflies. They are mostly brown on top, with two large, "fake" eyes on the top side of each of four wings. Those eyes must be startling to a bird of other creature that intended to snare a buckeye to consume. Buckeyes' larvae ingest a variety of low herbs in fields and along country roadsides.
Green darners are a kind of large dragonfly that have green thoraxes, pale-blue abdomens and four clear, stiff wings, with a six-inch wingspan. Adults feed on flying insects over ponds and fields, and while on migration to The South for the winter. Their larvae, or naiids, like those of all dragonflies, feed on aquatic insects, tadpoles, small fish and other small critters on the bottoms of their nursery ponds. Those larvae have gills to "breathe" while underwater.
When mature, naiids climb up plants, emerge from the water and shed their larval exoskeletons. When their wings are ready, these adult dragonflies take flight to search for food and mates.
Swarms of southbound green darners can be spotted almost anywhere during late summer and into fall, looking for all the world like tiny helicopters. Sometimes they will be cruising about and catching insects to eat on the wing, creating spectacular and entertaining aerial shows.
Twelve-spotted skimmers are another striking kind of dragonflies, so-named for the black spots and white spots on each of four wings. This species engages in sporadic, irruptive migrations at times. And this species, and its relatives the handsome white-tailed skimmers, are common around ponds in southeastern Pennsylvania during summer.
These are just a few, example, insect migrants. Some readers may encounter one or more of these species, or others, migrating north or south, depending on the season. Some encounters will be spectacular and inspiring.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)