Party Animals

     My wife and I attended an outdoor deck party in a suburb of northern Chester County, Pennsylvania on the eve of July 6 of this year.  The weather was perfect; sunny, with temperatures in the 70's and low humidity.  And almost immediately upon stepping onto the deck around 7:00 pm, all the guests were treated to entertainment provided by five species of wildlife visible and/or audible from that porch.
     We saw an eastern phoebe tail-pumping on a wire fence on the lawn as it watched for flying insects to grab in its beak in mid-air.  Our host told us that a pair of phoebes had a mud and moss nest on top of an electric box under the deck.  Phoebes traditionally nest on rock ledges under overhanging boulders near streams or ponds in woodlands in much of eastern North America.  But to that adaptable pair of phoebes the box was a rock ledge under an overhanging deck near a 200 gallon goldfish pond near the deck and a woodland at the end of the lawn.
     Many other adaptable pairs of phoebes raise young in similar, human-made niches, including on support beams under little bridges and cabin porch roofs near water in woods.  Phoebes have increased their breeding potential, and numbers, by hatching offspring in built habitats.
     At the same time, the goldfish pond was alive with a few each of male green frogs and two-inch-long gray tree frogs, all of which were calling incessantly and loudly, providing much entertainment to the human guests.  The male green frogs, two of which were visible to us, gulped, belched and twanged raucously.  But the male gray tree frogs, none of which were visible, sang short, rapidly-rolling trills that were beautiful and interesting to listen to.
     Green frogs are common almost wherever there are ponds, puddles and slow streams in meadows in much of the eastern United States.  And I have heard green frogs croaking amid many backyard goldfish ponds in southeastern Pennsylvania where I live.  Green frogs travel over fields and pastures on rainy or dewy summer nights and find various bodies of water in that way.  And they spawn in those watery habitats, including goldfish ponds, in mid-summer.
     Gray tree frogs are uncommon in this area.  I have heard them trilling musically only a few times in my life, including from that deck on July 6th.  They were a real treat for me to hear that evening in July, partly because I never heard them call from the vicinity of a goldfish pond on a lawn. 
     Soon after sunset, thousands of male fireflies, each one blinking his cold, abdominal lantern, rose from the short grass of the lawn and floor of the bordering woods.  Each male flew slowly, and upright like a helicopter, still flashing his silent beacon every couple of seconds.  Before long, the lawn and woodland were enchanted by the magical, winking lights from firefly multitudes that looked like neon signs in the trees as the sky gradually darkened.
     A few bats, silhouetted strikingly before the red, but fading sunset, zig-zagged and swooped over the lawn in hot pursuit of flying insects to catch and eat.  Bats flying at dusk offer a little excitement to many lawns in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere throughout the world.  Using their excellent hearing to pick up incoming echos from their outgoing squeaking, the bats "see" objects and flying insects around them, avoiding obstacles and finding meals in the darkness of dusk and night.  That form of bat radar is intriguing to us.
     Nature can be enjoyed most anytime, anywhere, even at a party.  Stay alert wherever you may be for the intrigues and beauties of nature.