I visited a picturesque, little clump of several red-twigged dogwood shrubs, a young river birch tree and a few crab apple trees along a clear-running stream in a short-grass pasture in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland for half an hour one afternoon toward the end of November of this year. I stopped at that patch of sheltering, woody plants and stayed in my car to see what wintering wildlife was taking advantage of that vegetation for food and cover.
I didn't see wildlife right away, but I noticed a muskrat hole dug into the stream-bank, across the waterway, at the usual water line. Muskrats dig burrows at the normal water level, then slant it up so their home won't easily flood. Females raise young in those dens above the usual water line. Muskrats eat cattail roots, grass, aquatic vegetation and other plants.
As I continued to watch for wildlife at that tiny, stream-side thicket in a meadow, a flock of resident starlings swooped into a couple of the crab apple trees and immediately consumed some of their fruit. There was plenty of action as the starlings flew from branch to branch and tree to tree in the process of dining. A couple minutes later, a half dozen, or more, American robins flipped into the crab apples to take their share of fruit. These kinds of birds, and others, digest the pulp of berries and fruit, but pass the seeds in their droppings all over the countryside. That is the reason wild crab apples are so common along roadsides and streams, where the sprouting trees don't get plowed under or cut off as they would in fields and many pastures.
As the starlings and robins fluttered vigorously among the crab apples, a pair of beautiful mallard ducks floated downstream on the waterway, and under those fruity trees. At least a dozen mallards winter along that stretch of waterway through most of each winter. At that time they feed on water plants in ponds and waterways, and on corn kernels in harvested cornfields during the day and night.
Finally, I saw some motion on the ground under that pretty clump of shrubs and trees along the sparkling waterway. Looking with a 16 power pair of binoculars, I saw a total of six sparrows, one resident song sparrow, three wintering white-throated sparrows and one each of wintering adult and immature white-crowned sparrows. Those sparrows hopped about under the shrubbery to eat seeds from dead, beige fox-tail grasses and bits of crab apple pulp that fell from the feeding birds above.
All those sparrows were attractive, each in its own way. They were all mostly brown, which blends them into their habitat of soil and dead grass, so that hawks and cats can't see them so easily. The song sparrow had several black streaks in its feathering, making it a handsome bird. The white-throats had dark and white-striped crowns and white throat patches, making them attractive. But the white-crowns were the most impressive of those sparrows. The adult's crown was a vivid, elegant black and white that really stood out! The young white-crown had a dark-chestnut and beige-striped crown that made that bird appealing to see.
Each bit of natural food and cover, in the midst of human activities and human-made habitats, is a help to a variety of wildlife. Those little patches of food and shelter can be nurtured on lawns, meadows, fields, large parking lots and other human-managed habitats, large and small. Or, even a little neglect, at least here and there, can go a long way in helping wildlife live naturally.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Symbolic Trees
I've noticed over the years that certain kinds of trees represent the four major habitats in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Those habitats are waterways, farmland, suburbs and woods. And each habitat in this county has more than one species of attractive trees representing it.
Sycamores are the most noticeable, beautiful and characteristic of tree species along the banks of waterways in this county. They are the large trees that have mottled light and darker, smooth bark on their trunks and limbs, making them stand out and readily noticeable from a distance. As the older, darker bark peels off the trees, the younger, lighter bark is apparent, creating that mottling.
Big, shaggy-barked silver maples are also characteristic of local stream banks. This species has dull-red flowers around the end of February and into March and winged seeds in April that are eaten by squirrels and other creatures. Unfortunately, silver maples' branches break off easily in winds, giving those trees a battered appearance.
However, the wind's breaking limbs off creates many cavities in sycamores and silver maples that are used by a variety of wildlife. Permanent resident barred owls, screech owls, raccoons and opossums live and raise young in the bigger hollows. Sometimes one can see one of those critters sticking its head out of the cavity to look around or to soak up the sun's warm rays.
Summering wood ducks hatch ducklings in larger holes. When the ducklings are ready to leave their wooden nurseries, they jump out of the entrance to the ground or water below, bounce a couple of times and get up and follow their mothers to water where they consume invertebrates.
Carolina chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, gray squirrels, white-footed mice and other permanent, woodland dwellers, and summering prothonatory warblers and crested flycatchers, raise young in the smaller tree hollows along waterways. The warblers are lovely, golden flashes among the green foliage. The flycatchers have a loud "wheeeepp" call.
Many tall trees stand scattered across farmland in Lancaster County, particularly along country roads and in hedgerows between fields. Black locusts and choke cherries are the two most characteristic trees in cropland. They both bear white blossoms around the middle of May, the locust flowers having a sweet scent that is carried across the fields on the wind. Hawks perch on them to watch for prey and eastern kingbirds nest on their twigs.
The tall, slender black locust trees have rough, gnarled bark that resembles muscles straining. And their trunks and limbs have cavities that are used by American kestrels and screech owls to raise young. Lovely eastern bluebirds rear chicks in their smaller hollows. A few colonies of honey bees set up house-keeping in locust hollows at times. Those bees gather nectar from pretty, roadside wildflowers and the attractive, sweet-smelling blooms of alfalfa and red clover in nearby fields.
Planted conifers are thee trees of suburban areas. A few stands of wild eastern hemlocks inhabit cool, shaded woodland ravines along the Susquehanna River. Red junipers inhabit the shoulders of expressways, and abandoned fields. And a few wild eastern white pines, pitch pines, Virginia pines and table mountain pines inhabit hilly or rocky spots in the county. But most conifers in this county, and surrounding counties, are those planted in suburbs- most notably white pines, eastern hemlocks, Norway spruce and blue spruce. However, white pines readily break off in high winds and eastern hemlocks are killed by woolly adelgids. The most hardy conifers, then, are the two spruces noted.
Coniferous trees are planted for their majestic shapes, evergreen needles the year around which are most attractive in winter when deciduous foliage is non-existent, and as wind breaks. They usually are planted in attractive rows or clumps, which enhances their beauties and service as wind breaks in suburban areas.
Many kinds of birds seek shelter in planted conifers, wherever they may have been placed. Great horned, long-eared and saw-whet owls have shelter among them during winter days. One can spot the furry, bony pellets of those owls on the ground under the trees. Red-tailed hawks, Cooper's hawks, mourning doves and dark-eyed juncos shelter in them during winter nights. And mourning doves, Cooper's hawks, purple grackles and other kinds of birds nest in them in summer.
Some critters, including American goldfinches, pine siskins and two kinds of crossbills down from Canadian forests, and gray squirrels consume the winged seeds from the cones of evergreen trees in suburbs, as well as in the wild. All these creatures that seek food and cover among the conifers make them more interesting, particularly in winter.
American beeches, sugar maples and white oaks are symbolic of Lancaster County's remnant woodlands. Beeches have smooth, gray bark that is unique and nuts that feed rodents, white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. They retain many of their dead leaves through winter, making them stand out.
Sugar maples have orange foliage in October and sap that is made into syrup and candy. White oaks have pale-gray, slightly rough bark and acorns that feed the same animals as stated above in this paragraph. And these big, beautiful trees have cavities where flying and gray squirrels, chickadees and other animals live the year around.
These are trees that most represent the major habitats in Lancaster County. They are all beneficial to people and wildlife.
Sycamores are the most noticeable, beautiful and characteristic of tree species along the banks of waterways in this county. They are the large trees that have mottled light and darker, smooth bark on their trunks and limbs, making them stand out and readily noticeable from a distance. As the older, darker bark peels off the trees, the younger, lighter bark is apparent, creating that mottling.
Big, shaggy-barked silver maples are also characteristic of local stream banks. This species has dull-red flowers around the end of February and into March and winged seeds in April that are eaten by squirrels and other creatures. Unfortunately, silver maples' branches break off easily in winds, giving those trees a battered appearance.
However, the wind's breaking limbs off creates many cavities in sycamores and silver maples that are used by a variety of wildlife. Permanent resident barred owls, screech owls, raccoons and opossums live and raise young in the bigger hollows. Sometimes one can see one of those critters sticking its head out of the cavity to look around or to soak up the sun's warm rays.
Summering wood ducks hatch ducklings in larger holes. When the ducklings are ready to leave their wooden nurseries, they jump out of the entrance to the ground or water below, bounce a couple of times and get up and follow their mothers to water where they consume invertebrates.
Carolina chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, gray squirrels, white-footed mice and other permanent, woodland dwellers, and summering prothonatory warblers and crested flycatchers, raise young in the smaller tree hollows along waterways. The warblers are lovely, golden flashes among the green foliage. The flycatchers have a loud "wheeeepp" call.
Many tall trees stand scattered across farmland in Lancaster County, particularly along country roads and in hedgerows between fields. Black locusts and choke cherries are the two most characteristic trees in cropland. They both bear white blossoms around the middle of May, the locust flowers having a sweet scent that is carried across the fields on the wind. Hawks perch on them to watch for prey and eastern kingbirds nest on their twigs.
The tall, slender black locust trees have rough, gnarled bark that resembles muscles straining. And their trunks and limbs have cavities that are used by American kestrels and screech owls to raise young. Lovely eastern bluebirds rear chicks in their smaller hollows. A few colonies of honey bees set up house-keeping in locust hollows at times. Those bees gather nectar from pretty, roadside wildflowers and the attractive, sweet-smelling blooms of alfalfa and red clover in nearby fields.
Planted conifers are thee trees of suburban areas. A few stands of wild eastern hemlocks inhabit cool, shaded woodland ravines along the Susquehanna River. Red junipers inhabit the shoulders of expressways, and abandoned fields. And a few wild eastern white pines, pitch pines, Virginia pines and table mountain pines inhabit hilly or rocky spots in the county. But most conifers in this county, and surrounding counties, are those planted in suburbs- most notably white pines, eastern hemlocks, Norway spruce and blue spruce. However, white pines readily break off in high winds and eastern hemlocks are killed by woolly adelgids. The most hardy conifers, then, are the two spruces noted.
Coniferous trees are planted for their majestic shapes, evergreen needles the year around which are most attractive in winter when deciduous foliage is non-existent, and as wind breaks. They usually are planted in attractive rows or clumps, which enhances their beauties and service as wind breaks in suburban areas.
Many kinds of birds seek shelter in planted conifers, wherever they may have been placed. Great horned, long-eared and saw-whet owls have shelter among them during winter days. One can spot the furry, bony pellets of those owls on the ground under the trees. Red-tailed hawks, Cooper's hawks, mourning doves and dark-eyed juncos shelter in them during winter nights. And mourning doves, Cooper's hawks, purple grackles and other kinds of birds nest in them in summer.
Some critters, including American goldfinches, pine siskins and two kinds of crossbills down from Canadian forests, and gray squirrels consume the winged seeds from the cones of evergreen trees in suburbs, as well as in the wild. All these creatures that seek food and cover among the conifers make them more interesting, particularly in winter.
American beeches, sugar maples and white oaks are symbolic of Lancaster County's remnant woodlands. Beeches have smooth, gray bark that is unique and nuts that feed rodents, white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. They retain many of their dead leaves through winter, making them stand out.
Sugar maples have orange foliage in October and sap that is made into syrup and candy. White oaks have pale-gray, slightly rough bark and acorns that feed the same animals as stated above in this paragraph. And these big, beautiful trees have cavities where flying and gray squirrels, chickadees and other animals live the year around.
These are trees that most represent the major habitats in Lancaster County. They are all beneficial to people and wildlife.
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Birds in Odd Places
Within a few days of each other early in November, I visited two human-made habitats in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to experience beauties of nature in places where most people would not look for them. One habitat was a vegetated strip, one of several, of soil between sections of a large parking lot. The other was a small clump of half-grown crack willow trees along a creek in a public park.
That strip of soil and plants in the parking lot had much beauty because of blooming goldenrods, lavender asters and white asters. Yellow leaves and curling bark on a planted river birch tree, and red foliage on a young, introduced red maple tree and a few "volunteer" stag-horn sumac trees added to that beauty. Juicy, purple berries on a pokeweed plant that also had red stems and leaves, plus tall, pale-yellow grass, particularly foxtail grass, also added to the beauties of that strip of vegetation.
The asters may have been planted in those strips of soil, but goldenrods and grasses probably got established there by seeds blowing in the wind and settling on the ground. The grasses, and the asters and goldenrods from earlier blossoms, were loaded with seeds the day I was there.
The sumacs and pokeweed sprouted from seeds deposited by birds that ate those kinds of berries elsewhere and dropped the seeds in their droppings in that strip of soil while those birds perched on the planted trees.
I saw a limited variety of small, handsome birds in diminutive numbers in that strip of vegetation in the parking lot. They were there to eat seeds from the weeds, grasses and the river birch, or berries from the sumacs and pokeweed. In less than an hour, I saw a wintering dark-eyed junco, a permanent resident song sparrow, male house finch and female northern cardinal, and a small group of roving American goldfinches eating seeds from the plants listed above. And a handful of lovely eastern bluebirds perched on the sumacs and pokeweed to eat their berries. None of these birds seemed afraid of cars or people in the parking lots, as they adjusted to the presence of both.
Birds, in their daily travels, are forever on the lookout for sources of food and shelter and go to it wherever it is. Gangs of wintering cedar waxwings consume berries in trees and shrubbery along city streets and noisy flocks of wintering Canada geese graze on short grass along busy expressways and in the cloverleafs of those highways, for example.
The current-exposed roots of the few young crack willows perched upright on the bank of a creek and a tiny island in the middle of that waterway worked together to snare logs, limbs and other woods debris, forming all that into a twelve-foot-long, driftwood peninsula. And, for a variety of reasons, a few kinds of interesting, small birds hung around those trees and that peninsula for the hour I visited that spot along the creek in the park.
An energetic, fluttering group of entertaining yellow-rumped warblers constantly flitted after tiny, flying insects among the small trees and from the floating bridge beneath them. Yellow-rumps resemble sparrows in winter, but have thinner beaks than sparrows do. Warbler bills are designed to pick up insects and their eggs. And yellow-rumps do have bright-yellow rumps that are quite noticeable. This species nests in Canada's mixed forests and spends winters in the Lower 48.
A song sparrow and a small gang of American goldfinches fluttered about on the drift-wood bridge in their search for seeds, invertebrates and other edibles among the fallen limbs and logs. There is always an abundance of song sparrows in thickets along waterways and ponds where they find ample food and cover. Goldfinches can be found most anywhere in winter as they travel about in search of food.
Interestingly, I saw a white-breasted nuthatch and a brown creeper on one of the willows. Both these woodland species were searching for insects and their eggs hidden away in crevices in the bark. Nuthatches can cling to tree bark in any position, including being up-side-down as they look for food. The creepers, however, flutter down to the base of trees and spiral their way up trunks as they search for sustenance.
Birds, and other wildlife, can be found in the oddest of places at times. We just need to look for them and be prepared for almost anything!
That strip of soil and plants in the parking lot had much beauty because of blooming goldenrods, lavender asters and white asters. Yellow leaves and curling bark on a planted river birch tree, and red foliage on a young, introduced red maple tree and a few "volunteer" stag-horn sumac trees added to that beauty. Juicy, purple berries on a pokeweed plant that also had red stems and leaves, plus tall, pale-yellow grass, particularly foxtail grass, also added to the beauties of that strip of vegetation.
The asters may have been planted in those strips of soil, but goldenrods and grasses probably got established there by seeds blowing in the wind and settling on the ground. The grasses, and the asters and goldenrods from earlier blossoms, were loaded with seeds the day I was there.
The sumacs and pokeweed sprouted from seeds deposited by birds that ate those kinds of berries elsewhere and dropped the seeds in their droppings in that strip of soil while those birds perched on the planted trees.
I saw a limited variety of small, handsome birds in diminutive numbers in that strip of vegetation in the parking lot. They were there to eat seeds from the weeds, grasses and the river birch, or berries from the sumacs and pokeweed. In less than an hour, I saw a wintering dark-eyed junco, a permanent resident song sparrow, male house finch and female northern cardinal, and a small group of roving American goldfinches eating seeds from the plants listed above. And a handful of lovely eastern bluebirds perched on the sumacs and pokeweed to eat their berries. None of these birds seemed afraid of cars or people in the parking lots, as they adjusted to the presence of both.
Birds, in their daily travels, are forever on the lookout for sources of food and shelter and go to it wherever it is. Gangs of wintering cedar waxwings consume berries in trees and shrubbery along city streets and noisy flocks of wintering Canada geese graze on short grass along busy expressways and in the cloverleafs of those highways, for example.
The current-exposed roots of the few young crack willows perched upright on the bank of a creek and a tiny island in the middle of that waterway worked together to snare logs, limbs and other woods debris, forming all that into a twelve-foot-long, driftwood peninsula. And, for a variety of reasons, a few kinds of interesting, small birds hung around those trees and that peninsula for the hour I visited that spot along the creek in the park.
An energetic, fluttering group of entertaining yellow-rumped warblers constantly flitted after tiny, flying insects among the small trees and from the floating bridge beneath them. Yellow-rumps resemble sparrows in winter, but have thinner beaks than sparrows do. Warbler bills are designed to pick up insects and their eggs. And yellow-rumps do have bright-yellow rumps that are quite noticeable. This species nests in Canada's mixed forests and spends winters in the Lower 48.
A song sparrow and a small gang of American goldfinches fluttered about on the drift-wood bridge in their search for seeds, invertebrates and other edibles among the fallen limbs and logs. There is always an abundance of song sparrows in thickets along waterways and ponds where they find ample food and cover. Goldfinches can be found most anywhere in winter as they travel about in search of food.
Interestingly, I saw a white-breasted nuthatch and a brown creeper on one of the willows. Both these woodland species were searching for insects and their eggs hidden away in crevices in the bark. Nuthatches can cling to tree bark in any position, including being up-side-down as they look for food. The creepers, however, flutter down to the base of trees and spiral their way up trunks as they search for sustenance.
Birds, and other wildlife, can be found in the oddest of places at times. We just need to look for them and be prepared for almost anything!
Monday, November 12, 2018
Creek Wildlife in November
One afternoon early in November of this year, I visited a couple of my favorite spots along the shores of Mill Creek, where it flows slowly, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland. Each of those creekside locations have different habitats, causing them to also have different communities of wild plants and animals.
At my first stop along Mill Creek, in an extensive short-grass meadow that afternoon in November, I saw about 3,000 stately Canada geese, a half dozen mallard ducks, at least 12 killdeer plovers, a pectoral sandpiper, an elegant great blue heron, a male belted kingfisher and a magnificent adult bald eagle.
The geese have wintered on and along the creek in that pasture for several years. They feed on corn kernels in nearby harvested cornfields and the green shoots of winter rye in other fields. Some winters, those Canadas are joined by flocks of snow geese, and one or two individuals each of white-fronted geese, brant geese and, maybe, a tundra swan, making an interesting mix of large waterfowl. It's exciting to see and hear large, mixed flocks of bugling Canada geese and piping snow geese returning to this stretch of creek, group after group, after feeding in the fields on a winter's day. Each gang of geese swings majestically into the wind to drift down into it to land gently on the creek or its surrounding, short-grass meadow.
The killdeer trot over the meadow and along the shores of the creek in search of invertebrates to eat. They are robin-sized and well-camouflaged, making them difficult to see, even in open habitats.
There usually are at least a few killdeer in this meadow the year around; and they attract migrating shorebirds to the shores of Mill Creek in May and again in late summer, such as the pectoral sandpiper I saw the last time of was at that spot along Mill Creek. Least sandpipers and lesser yellowlegs are the sandpiper species most likely to be along Mill Creek to poke their beaks into mud under the shallows to pull out invertebrates to ingest. Eventually, all the shorebirds move on, except the killdeer, a few of which nest in that pasture.
The three fish-catching birds I saw that afternoon, the heron, kingfisher and eagle, are species that spend the winter, in limited numbers, by creeks and ice-free ponds in Lancaster County cropland. And these kinds of fish-catchers snare their prey in different ways, reducing competition for food among these species. The heron cautiously waded the shallows of Mill Creek while watching for finny prey to snare with its long, sturdy beak. Kingfishers either perch in limbs hanging over water, even deep water, or hover into the wind, as the one I saw was doing, in their search for small fish. They dive beak-first into the water to grab fish in their bills. And bald eagles perch on trees to look for larger fish to grab from the water's surface. They grab their victims with their eight sharp, curved talons, without touching the water.
Overgrown thickets of red-twigged dogwoods and reed canary-grass, and floodplain trees, including ash-leafed maples and black walnuts, and crab apples, line the shores of my other favorite spot along Mill Creek. During my visit there that afternoon in November, I saw a few mallards, two pairs of wood ducks, a muskrat, a pied-billed grebe and a kingfisher. The beautiful woodies were left-over from nesting along that stretch of Mill Creek during the past summer. They probably will soon migrate farther south for the winter.
The charming, and well-camouflaged, little grebe was a migrant from farther north or west in North America. It was resting and fishing on Mill Creek before continuing its migration farther south. The duck-like grebes fish by diving under water from the surface, using their legs to propel themselves forward.
There also was a variety of small birds in the thickets along the banks of Mill Creek. In time, I saw one each of permanent resident Carolina chickadee and song sparrow, and migrant ruby-crowned kinglet and eastern phoebe, and a pair of permanent resident northern cardinals among the thickets of dogwoods and tall grass. They were in those thickets to find and consume small invertebrates or seeds, depending on the species of birds.
And there were a few each of permanent resident American robins, blue jays and cedar waxwings consuming the fruits of a crab apple tree. These pretty birds were interesting to watch flying in and out of that tree, as some birds were filled with fruit and left, while hungry birds zipped into the tree to dine.
I only visited those two places along slow-moving Mill Creek for a little over two hours that November afternoon. But I was rewarded with experiencing the food-getting activities of several kinds of interesting wild creatures in their lovely natural habitats.
At my first stop along Mill Creek, in an extensive short-grass meadow that afternoon in November, I saw about 3,000 stately Canada geese, a half dozen mallard ducks, at least 12 killdeer plovers, a pectoral sandpiper, an elegant great blue heron, a male belted kingfisher and a magnificent adult bald eagle.
The geese have wintered on and along the creek in that pasture for several years. They feed on corn kernels in nearby harvested cornfields and the green shoots of winter rye in other fields. Some winters, those Canadas are joined by flocks of snow geese, and one or two individuals each of white-fronted geese, brant geese and, maybe, a tundra swan, making an interesting mix of large waterfowl. It's exciting to see and hear large, mixed flocks of bugling Canada geese and piping snow geese returning to this stretch of creek, group after group, after feeding in the fields on a winter's day. Each gang of geese swings majestically into the wind to drift down into it to land gently on the creek or its surrounding, short-grass meadow.
The killdeer trot over the meadow and along the shores of the creek in search of invertebrates to eat. They are robin-sized and well-camouflaged, making them difficult to see, even in open habitats.
There usually are at least a few killdeer in this meadow the year around; and they attract migrating shorebirds to the shores of Mill Creek in May and again in late summer, such as the pectoral sandpiper I saw the last time of was at that spot along Mill Creek. Least sandpipers and lesser yellowlegs are the sandpiper species most likely to be along Mill Creek to poke their beaks into mud under the shallows to pull out invertebrates to ingest. Eventually, all the shorebirds move on, except the killdeer, a few of which nest in that pasture.
The three fish-catching birds I saw that afternoon, the heron, kingfisher and eagle, are species that spend the winter, in limited numbers, by creeks and ice-free ponds in Lancaster County cropland. And these kinds of fish-catchers snare their prey in different ways, reducing competition for food among these species. The heron cautiously waded the shallows of Mill Creek while watching for finny prey to snare with its long, sturdy beak. Kingfishers either perch in limbs hanging over water, even deep water, or hover into the wind, as the one I saw was doing, in their search for small fish. They dive beak-first into the water to grab fish in their bills. And bald eagles perch on trees to look for larger fish to grab from the water's surface. They grab their victims with their eight sharp, curved talons, without touching the water.
Overgrown thickets of red-twigged dogwoods and reed canary-grass, and floodplain trees, including ash-leafed maples and black walnuts, and crab apples, line the shores of my other favorite spot along Mill Creek. During my visit there that afternoon in November, I saw a few mallards, two pairs of wood ducks, a muskrat, a pied-billed grebe and a kingfisher. The beautiful woodies were left-over from nesting along that stretch of Mill Creek during the past summer. They probably will soon migrate farther south for the winter.
The charming, and well-camouflaged, little grebe was a migrant from farther north or west in North America. It was resting and fishing on Mill Creek before continuing its migration farther south. The duck-like grebes fish by diving under water from the surface, using their legs to propel themselves forward.
There also was a variety of small birds in the thickets along the banks of Mill Creek. In time, I saw one each of permanent resident Carolina chickadee and song sparrow, and migrant ruby-crowned kinglet and eastern phoebe, and a pair of permanent resident northern cardinals among the thickets of dogwoods and tall grass. They were in those thickets to find and consume small invertebrates or seeds, depending on the species of birds.
And there were a few each of permanent resident American robins, blue jays and cedar waxwings consuming the fruits of a crab apple tree. These pretty birds were interesting to watch flying in and out of that tree, as some birds were filled with fruit and left, while hungry birds zipped into the tree to dine.
I only visited those two places along slow-moving Mill Creek for a little over two hours that November afternoon. But I was rewarded with experiencing the food-getting activities of several kinds of interesting wild creatures in their lovely natural habitats.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
October's Robins and Jays
While driving through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland and woodlots the afternoon of October 22, I saw some red foliage on staghorn sumac trees and red maple trees, orange and yellow leaves on poison ivy vines, several turkey vultures and a few black vultures. And on an extensive lawn, dotted with several white oak and pin oak trees, I saw about 100 American robins, 30 plus blue jays and a few northern flickers. I stopped to enjoy the beauties and activities of those birds among the colored leaves of the oaks, all of which was enhanced by the late afternoon sunlight.
The handsome robins were divided between running across the lawn in search of earthworms and other kinds of invertebrates, and perching in the oaks. And small groups of, and individual, robins flew from tree to tree, or from the ground to the trees, or the opposite.
I had not seen many robins since mid-July when they finished raising their second brood of young. After nesting, this species gathers into groups of scores and roams here and there across the countryside in search of invertebrates and berries to eat. During that time they are not conspicuous as they are in spring and early summer when they are raising offspring. They usually travel around unnoticed unless someone is really looking for them.
Although sometime in autumn, many robins migrate south to find reliable food sources through the northern winter, many other individuals stay in the north. There they feed on a variety of berries and shelter on winter nights in coniferous trees with their densely-needled limbs that block wind and shelter the birds from predators. The robins I was seeing on the twenty-second might stay there all winter, if the berry supplies hold out.
Using their stout, black beaks, the beautiful blue jays I experienced on the twenty-second gathered acorns, one at a time, from the white oaks and the pin oaks, and picked up other acorns from the ground under those trees. Then each jay flew away with that nut in its beak to stash it in a tree cavity or poke it into the ground and bury it, as squirrels do. Those stored nuts will be extracted and ingested through winter. But some of the nuts are forgotten and might sprout into seedling trees the next spring, thus ensuring an acorn food supply into the future.
The conspicuous blue feathering of blue jays is exceptionally attractive when those birds are flying in and out of the red, yellow and brown-blanketed oaks to get acorns. Some days in October they are in and out of those trees all day. And thirty-some jays constantly flying in and out of multi-colored oak foliage, a few at a time, on a sunny, pleasant afternoon is an exciting, wonderful sight!
Though few in number, the flickers were attractive and interesting among the robins on the lawn. Those brown woodpeckers with black markings were pecking into ant hills in the soil to extract ants on their long, sticky tongues.
Flickers are brown, instead of black and white like their relatives, because they spend much time on the ground getting food, particularly ants. The brown camouflages them while they are on the ground. But flickers still chip out nurseries in dead trees to raise young.
The robins, jays and flickers put on an intriguing, lovely show that sunny, mild October afternoon. Each species was attracted to a different food source than the others, eliminating competition for food among them. That was why they were so peaceful together on that one lawn. But when the various foods run out, each kind of birds will move to another location.
The handsome robins were divided between running across the lawn in search of earthworms and other kinds of invertebrates, and perching in the oaks. And small groups of, and individual, robins flew from tree to tree, or from the ground to the trees, or the opposite.
I had not seen many robins since mid-July when they finished raising their second brood of young. After nesting, this species gathers into groups of scores and roams here and there across the countryside in search of invertebrates and berries to eat. During that time they are not conspicuous as they are in spring and early summer when they are raising offspring. They usually travel around unnoticed unless someone is really looking for them.
Although sometime in autumn, many robins migrate south to find reliable food sources through the northern winter, many other individuals stay in the north. There they feed on a variety of berries and shelter on winter nights in coniferous trees with their densely-needled limbs that block wind and shelter the birds from predators. The robins I was seeing on the twenty-second might stay there all winter, if the berry supplies hold out.
Using their stout, black beaks, the beautiful blue jays I experienced on the twenty-second gathered acorns, one at a time, from the white oaks and the pin oaks, and picked up other acorns from the ground under those trees. Then each jay flew away with that nut in its beak to stash it in a tree cavity or poke it into the ground and bury it, as squirrels do. Those stored nuts will be extracted and ingested through winter. But some of the nuts are forgotten and might sprout into seedling trees the next spring, thus ensuring an acorn food supply into the future.
The conspicuous blue feathering of blue jays is exceptionally attractive when those birds are flying in and out of the red, yellow and brown-blanketed oaks to get acorns. Some days in October they are in and out of those trees all day. And thirty-some jays constantly flying in and out of multi-colored oak foliage, a few at a time, on a sunny, pleasant afternoon is an exciting, wonderful sight!
Though few in number, the flickers were attractive and interesting among the robins on the lawn. Those brown woodpeckers with black markings were pecking into ant hills in the soil to extract ants on their long, sticky tongues.
Flickers are brown, instead of black and white like their relatives, because they spend much time on the ground getting food, particularly ants. The brown camouflages them while they are on the ground. But flickers still chip out nurseries in dead trees to raise young.
The robins, jays and flickers put on an intriguing, lovely show that sunny, mild October afternoon. Each species was attracted to a different food source than the others, eliminating competition for food among them. That was why they were so peaceful together on that one lawn. But when the various foods run out, each kind of birds will move to another location.
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