Catkins are one of the least known beauties of nature in the Middle Atlantic States, as elsewhere in the world. They are male flowers that produce pollen, which is carried on the wind and fertilizes the female blooms of their respective species. Three common kinds of shrubs, including pussy willows, speckled alders and hazelnuts, plus large-toothed aspens, which is a type of tree, bear catkins in March in this area, as elsewhere in the eastern United States. Those attractive catkins add beauty to their habitats and that spring month.
Pussy willows are alien shrubs from Europe that are commonly planted here. Twigs of male bushes can be soaked in water until they produce roots and leaves from their stems. Then those twigs can be planted in sunny environments where they will flourish.
Male pussy willow shrubs are noted for their short, upright catkins that are gray, furry and sprout from buds on the ends of their twigs. Those catkins, which are popular among many people, open in this area toward the end of February and continue into March. Some people take twigs of opened fuzzies to be used as indoor décor.
Speckled alders are native shrubs that mostly grow on the banks of smaller waterways and ponds. They are so-named for the light-colored speckles on their smooth bark.
Speckled alders' inch-long, deep-purple catkins open in March and hang about an inch and a half long and decoratively from the ends of twigs. Female flowers on the same trees produce attractive, half-inch long, woody cones that protect the developing seeds. Like the scales of conifers, the overlapping scales of alder cones eventually open to release mature seeds on the wind, which scatters them. Some of those little seeds are eaten by mice and small, seed-eating birds.
Hazelnuts are native, ten-foot-tall shrubs in sunny woodland edges. The male catkins of this plant open in March and are a couple inches long, supple and undulate in the wind. Each female bloom is a group of several tiny, red stigmas protruding beautifully a quarter of an inch from one of many scaly, gray-brown buds along the woody stems of the same plants.
The resulting nuts on hazelnut bushes are acorn-like and brown inside two leafy, coarsely-toothed husks. In fall, those nuts are eaten by people, and white-tailed deer, black bears, a variety of rodents, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and other critters. Deer and cottontail rabbits eat their twigs and leaves.
Large-toothed aspen trees are native to this area and pioneer burnt woods and abandoned fields. But, eventually, they are replaced by forest trees except along the sunny edges of the woods.
Male and female blossoms are on separate aspen trees during March and into April. Male flowers are three-inch-long, dangling catkins that appear to be hairy caterpillars hanging from the ends of the male trees' stems. Pollen from the male catkins blows in the wind and pollinates female catkins that are shorter than male ones. Seeds from female catkins blow on the wind and are scattered across the countryside.
This type of aspen has olive-green bark, which is often eaten by beavers, cottontails, mice and other woodland animals. Aspens have large "teeth" on the edges of their leaves and flat leaf petioles that make the leaves flutter in the wind.
Look for the lovely and interesting catkins of these plants during March. They add beauties to their respective environments at that time.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
New Holland's Wintering Robins
On the afternoon of February 5, 2015, I was driving around the New Holland, Pennsylvania area when I saw about 200 American robins in a field just off the road right outside of town. It was a warm, sunny afternoon and I supposed at the time that the robins were looking for invertebrates in the sun-warmed soil of that field. At any rate, I mentally noted that probably was the biggest single group of wintering American robins I ever saw.
A few days later, on cloudy, cold February 9, I noticed several American robins flying across the road from a park in New Holland. I looked in the direction the robins came from and saw several of them on the ground under three crab apple trees loaded with dull-red fruits that were about the size of grapes. I drove fairly close to those trees, stayed in my car so to not scare the birds away and spotted them with 16 power binoculars. There must have been about 200 robins there, most of them ingesting crab apples off the ground under the crab apple trees, but a few were eating fruit from the trees themselves. Those on the ground ran and stopped, ran and stopped, as robins do, between picking up and eating crab apple fruits. I figured these probably were the same robins I saw in the field nearby on the fifth of February. But because the ninth was a colder day, invertebrates would not be active and so the robins turned to eating fruit.
The robins and crab apple trees were in an open complex of a public park, a small golf course and the grounds of a public pool, all having short grass and varying sized, deciduous and coniferous trees. The crab apple trees, like all the trees in that open area, were planted for their beauties.
The robins had handsome plumages that varied a little. Males had more vivid colors than females. Every few minutes, many of the robins flew away as if in panic, but I couldn't see anything that was scaring them. But they soon came back to their food supply and continued feeding.
Interestingly, there were a few cedar waxwings among the robins in the crab apple trees. The waxwings, too, were consuming the fruits of those trees.
Some flocks of American robins stay north all winter. Those birds feed all winter on berries and roost overnight in the needled, sheltering embraces of coniferous trees.
On sunny February 11, I again saw an estimated 200 American robins on an extensive lawn on the edge of New Holland, near the crab apple trees and the field they were in on the fifth. Again I thought these must be the same birds I've been seeing all along around New Holland this winter. The robins ran and stopped, ran and stopped across the short grass, probably in quest of invertebrates in the soil under the short grass.
The day after a three inch snow on February 16, 2015, I again saw the robins back in the crab apple trees to eat some of their fruit. They resorted to fruit again because the ground and invertebrates were covered by snow.
The flock of about 200 American robins in New Holland seemed to be getting along quite well this winter. I had seen flocks of wintering robins in this my home town before, but not in such large numbers. It was exciting to see so many of them this winter.
A few days later, on cloudy, cold February 9, I noticed several American robins flying across the road from a park in New Holland. I looked in the direction the robins came from and saw several of them on the ground under three crab apple trees loaded with dull-red fruits that were about the size of grapes. I drove fairly close to those trees, stayed in my car so to not scare the birds away and spotted them with 16 power binoculars. There must have been about 200 robins there, most of them ingesting crab apples off the ground under the crab apple trees, but a few were eating fruit from the trees themselves. Those on the ground ran and stopped, ran and stopped, as robins do, between picking up and eating crab apple fruits. I figured these probably were the same robins I saw in the field nearby on the fifth of February. But because the ninth was a colder day, invertebrates would not be active and so the robins turned to eating fruit.
The robins and crab apple trees were in an open complex of a public park, a small golf course and the grounds of a public pool, all having short grass and varying sized, deciduous and coniferous trees. The crab apple trees, like all the trees in that open area, were planted for their beauties.
The robins had handsome plumages that varied a little. Males had more vivid colors than females. Every few minutes, many of the robins flew away as if in panic, but I couldn't see anything that was scaring them. But they soon came back to their food supply and continued feeding.
Interestingly, there were a few cedar waxwings among the robins in the crab apple trees. The waxwings, too, were consuming the fruits of those trees.
Some flocks of American robins stay north all winter. Those birds feed all winter on berries and roost overnight in the needled, sheltering embraces of coniferous trees.
On sunny February 11, I again saw an estimated 200 American robins on an extensive lawn on the edge of New Holland, near the crab apple trees and the field they were in on the fifth. Again I thought these must be the same birds I've been seeing all along around New Holland this winter. The robins ran and stopped, ran and stopped across the short grass, probably in quest of invertebrates in the soil under the short grass.
The day after a three inch snow on February 16, 2015, I again saw the robins back in the crab apple trees to eat some of their fruit. They resorted to fruit again because the ground and invertebrates were covered by snow.
The flock of about 200 American robins in New Holland seemed to be getting along quite well this winter. I had seen flocks of wintering robins in this my home town before, but not in such large numbers. It was exciting to see so many of them this winter.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
A Day of Flocks
One late morning in mid-March a couple of years ago as I drove through farmland around my home in New Holland, Pennsylvania to see what was happening in nature, I saw flocks of different kinds of migrating birds. Though regularly spotted migrants in this area in spring, they were still exciting to see, especially because there were so many different kinds of birds in one day. But that's what happens here at that time of year.
I stopped briefly at an abandoned quarry filled with water where twenty elegant tundra swans and 32 American wigeon ducks rested on the water. Both these species of waterfowl eat waste corn kernels and the green shoots of winter rye in nearby fields, creating inspiring spectacles in flight between the water and fields. But soon they will migrate farther north and west to their breeding territories.
Moving on, I came upon a large, mixed congregation of blackbirds in a harvested cornfield. Purple grackles, red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds and starlings ate waste corn, seeds, invertebrates and everything else they deem edible. That gathering of blackbirds moved around a lot, like a dark river, and was soon gone from view.
Every early-spring, many thousands, hordes, of migrant blackbirds, in the mixed flocks mentioned above, pour like a flood into Lancaster County. Though only four species are in each mixed group of blackbirds, it looks like there are six kinds because male red-winged blackbirds are black with red shoulder patches, but female red-wings are brown, streaked with black. Those scarlet epaulets on male red-wings in flight flash like hot coals in a black furnace. Male cowbirds have black body plumage, but that of their mates is dull-gray. Both genders of grackles have a purple sheen on their black feathers and yellow irises.
But soon those great gatherings of blackbirds will break up into individual pairs focused on reproduction in different nesting habitats in the local area. Red-wings will hatch young in cattail marshes and hay fields, while grackles will rear offspring in groves of coniferous trees on lawns.
I also came upon a few flocks of American robins on lawns and fields in the farmland around New Holland. As is their way, those robins ran and stopped, an and stopped as they looked and listened for invertebrates at the grass roots level. Occasionally, I would see a robin wrestling with an earthworm.
I also saw a gathering of hundreds of ring-billed gulls in a plowed field where they were searching for earthworms and other invertebrates to eat. Those gulls were a bit of the seacoast come inland to bare ground that must remind them of the beaches and mud flats they are adapted to. These gulls are adaptable to the point of making a living, not only in those seacoast habitats, but in bare, winter croplands as well.
Back in New Holland, I saw several skeins of snow geese moving swiftly across the sky like waves sliding up a beach. As always, the snows honked loudly and excitedly, which, in turn, stirs the emotions of outdoor people. Those snows, at that moment, were either continuing their migration north, or going to or from nearby feeding fields. But like the swans, wigeons and gulls, these snow geese will soon migrate out of this area to their nesting grounds. The snows, like the swans, will rear young on the Arctic tundra of Canada and Alaska.
Anyone can see migrating birds anywhere in the world. One has only to get out at the right times in spring and autumn to experience migration spectacles.
I stopped briefly at an abandoned quarry filled with water where twenty elegant tundra swans and 32 American wigeon ducks rested on the water. Both these species of waterfowl eat waste corn kernels and the green shoots of winter rye in nearby fields, creating inspiring spectacles in flight between the water and fields. But soon they will migrate farther north and west to their breeding territories.
Moving on, I came upon a large, mixed congregation of blackbirds in a harvested cornfield. Purple grackles, red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds and starlings ate waste corn, seeds, invertebrates and everything else they deem edible. That gathering of blackbirds moved around a lot, like a dark river, and was soon gone from view.
Every early-spring, many thousands, hordes, of migrant blackbirds, in the mixed flocks mentioned above, pour like a flood into Lancaster County. Though only four species are in each mixed group of blackbirds, it looks like there are six kinds because male red-winged blackbirds are black with red shoulder patches, but female red-wings are brown, streaked with black. Those scarlet epaulets on male red-wings in flight flash like hot coals in a black furnace. Male cowbirds have black body plumage, but that of their mates is dull-gray. Both genders of grackles have a purple sheen on their black feathers and yellow irises.
But soon those great gatherings of blackbirds will break up into individual pairs focused on reproduction in different nesting habitats in the local area. Red-wings will hatch young in cattail marshes and hay fields, while grackles will rear offspring in groves of coniferous trees on lawns.
I also came upon a few flocks of American robins on lawns and fields in the farmland around New Holland. As is their way, those robins ran and stopped, an and stopped as they looked and listened for invertebrates at the grass roots level. Occasionally, I would see a robin wrestling with an earthworm.
I also saw a gathering of hundreds of ring-billed gulls in a plowed field where they were searching for earthworms and other invertebrates to eat. Those gulls were a bit of the seacoast come inland to bare ground that must remind them of the beaches and mud flats they are adapted to. These gulls are adaptable to the point of making a living, not only in those seacoast habitats, but in bare, winter croplands as well.
Back in New Holland, I saw several skeins of snow geese moving swiftly across the sky like waves sliding up a beach. As always, the snows honked loudly and excitedly, which, in turn, stirs the emotions of outdoor people. Those snows, at that moment, were either continuing their migration north, or going to or from nearby feeding fields. But like the swans, wigeons and gulls, these snow geese will soon migrate out of this area to their nesting grounds. The snows, like the swans, will rear young on the Arctic tundra of Canada and Alaska.
Anyone can see migrating birds anywhere in the world. One has only to get out at the right times in spring and autumn to experience migration spectacles.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Rabbits and Squirrels on our Lawn
We have at least three cottontail rabbits and five gray squirrels on our lawn in New Holland, Pennsylvania for good reasons. Both these adaptable species are here the year around because of ample food and shelter.
Cottontails are common in overgrown fields and the thickets of hedgerows between fields, woodland edges and suburban areas. Gray squirrels are abundant in deciduous woods, and older parks and suburbs with their many large trees. These species are game animals during legal hunting seasons, but they are also interesting to watch wherever they are, including in out yard.
These small mammals blend into their respective backgrounds which makes them tough to see to be safer from predation. Cottontails are brown, which camouflages them among grasses and the soil. But gray squirrels are gray, which camouflages them on the bark of the deciduous tree trunks and limbs they climb on.
The rabbits eat grass and other green vegetation on the ground. The squirrels consume nuts, seeds, berries and tree buds. Obviously, there is little competition between these species for food, which allows them to live in harmony wherever their niches overlap, such as on our lawn, as elsewhere.
Cottontails find shelter on the ground, including in abandoned wood chuck holes, thick patches of tall weeds and grasses, brush piles and so on. In our yard, they live by day under our deck and tool shed, but are active from dusk through each night the year around.
The squirrels, however, live in tree hollows high above the ground, or in bulky nests of dead leaves they make themselves among several twigs, if they can't find cavities that aren't being used by another animal. There is no competition between cottontails and squirrels for homes.
Both the rabbits and squirrels come to bird feeders on our lawn. Like birds, these mammals take advantage of easy food sources, the cottontails on the ground and the squirrels on the feeders. Gray squirrels use their intelligence to get on many bird feeders that people think are squirrel proof.
In spite of the camouflaged fur on both these adaptable, common mammals and their keen senses of smell, sight and sound, they need to be alert for predators at all times, including on our lawn. Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks and house cats roam our yard by day, and are big and strong enough to kill cottontails and gray squirrels. And great horned owls and house cats are around at dusk, dawn and through the night. The owls and squirrels overlap each other at dawn and dusk.
Though cottontails and gray squirrels are adaptable and commonplace, they are still interesting little animals. They each demonstrate camouflage and play a role in a food chain of who eats whom. And they take advantage of whatever food and shelter is available in their respective niches.
Cottontails are common in overgrown fields and the thickets of hedgerows between fields, woodland edges and suburban areas. Gray squirrels are abundant in deciduous woods, and older parks and suburbs with their many large trees. These species are game animals during legal hunting seasons, but they are also interesting to watch wherever they are, including in out yard.
These small mammals blend into their respective backgrounds which makes them tough to see to be safer from predation. Cottontails are brown, which camouflages them among grasses and the soil. But gray squirrels are gray, which camouflages them on the bark of the deciduous tree trunks and limbs they climb on.
The rabbits eat grass and other green vegetation on the ground. The squirrels consume nuts, seeds, berries and tree buds. Obviously, there is little competition between these species for food, which allows them to live in harmony wherever their niches overlap, such as on our lawn, as elsewhere.
Cottontails find shelter on the ground, including in abandoned wood chuck holes, thick patches of tall weeds and grasses, brush piles and so on. In our yard, they live by day under our deck and tool shed, but are active from dusk through each night the year around.
The squirrels, however, live in tree hollows high above the ground, or in bulky nests of dead leaves they make themselves among several twigs, if they can't find cavities that aren't being used by another animal. There is no competition between cottontails and squirrels for homes.
Both the rabbits and squirrels come to bird feeders on our lawn. Like birds, these mammals take advantage of easy food sources, the cottontails on the ground and the squirrels on the feeders. Gray squirrels use their intelligence to get on many bird feeders that people think are squirrel proof.
In spite of the camouflaged fur on both these adaptable, common mammals and their keen senses of smell, sight and sound, they need to be alert for predators at all times, including on our lawn. Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks and house cats roam our yard by day, and are big and strong enough to kill cottontails and gray squirrels. And great horned owls and house cats are around at dusk, dawn and through the night. The owls and squirrels overlap each other at dawn and dusk.
Though cottontails and gray squirrels are adaptable and commonplace, they are still interesting little animals. They each demonstrate camouflage and play a role in a food chain of who eats whom. And they take advantage of whatever food and shelter is available in their respective niches.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Beauties of Winter Trees
Trees here in the Middle Atlantic States, as elsewhere, are attractive the year around, including in winter. During that harshest of seasons, coniferous and deciduous trees add much beauty to the landscape, including having majestic, silhouetted shapes during sunrises and sunsets.
Many coniferous species, particularly spruces and firs, have stately, pyramidal shapes that are attractive, one of the reasons why these conifers are commonly planted on lawns. And almost all conifers bear handsome beige, scaled cones of various sizes and shapes, depending on the species. Norway spruces and white pines have long cones, while those on eastern hemlocks and red spruces are shorter. Squirrels and a variety of small birds eat the seeds from those cones after the scales on them open.
The bark on several kinds of deciduous trees here is attractive, and most easily seen in winter. American beeches have smooth, gray bark, while that of shagbark hickories is rough and has long strips that curl out at both ends, looking like they will peel off.
Sycamores and river birches grow on floodplains along creeks and rivers. Sycamores have mottled light and dark bark that stands out among the gray bark of other riparian trees on floodplains. The bark of river birch is pale-orange and peels off in many thin, curled strips. Having decorative bark, river birch is commonly planted on lawns.
American beeches, and pin, white and red oaks, have decorative dead leaves still on their twigs through winter. Sleet rattles through those dried leaves on its way to the ground. Dead foliage on beeches is thin, curled and pale-beige. Oaks' dried leaves are thicker, flat and brown. One can identify these trees partly because of the foliage still attached to their twigs through winter.
Some tree species have beauties in the seed pods and seed balls they retain on their twigs through winter. Ash-leafed maples' paired, beige, winged seeds hanging in clusters on twigs are decorative through winter. So are the stiff, upright seeds of some tulip poplars. Like that tree's flowers, those interesting rings of pointed seeds create the shape of tulips.
Sycamore and sweet gum trees have attractive seed balls on them through much of winter. Those on sycamores have long stems, making their beige-colored balls look like dangling ear rings on the trees. Sweet gum balls are dark-brown and riddled with bristles, and orifices where tiny, dark seeds tumble to the ground. A variety of small birds, including two kinds of chickadees and American goldfinches, eat sweet gum seeds from the balls and off the ground.
Several kinds of trees have colorful berries and fruits, which are attractive clinging to them through winter. American hollies, hawthorns and the coniferous yews have red berries that are edible to mice, squirrels and berry-eating birds, including northern mockingbirds, cedar waxwings and American robins.
Crab apples of several varieties have red or yellow fruits that are attractive to us. And those fruits are consumed by the mammals and birds mentioned above, plus, white-tailed deer, raccoons, wild turkeys and other mammals and birds.
Red junipers are a conifer that produces pale-blue, berry-like cones that a variety of birds and rodents ingest. But, of course, many of these cones on a tree are decorative.
Many bigger deciduous trees are riddled with cavities where wind ripped limbs off them. Those hollows are homes and nurseries to squirrels, raccoons, barred owls, certain kinds of small, forest birds such as titmice and nuthatches, and other species of wildlife.
Many kinds of trees are pretty to see through the year, including in winter. And they feed and shelter a variety of interesting birds and mammals as well. Get out in winter to see tree beauties, some of which probably are right in your neighborhood.
Many coniferous species, particularly spruces and firs, have stately, pyramidal shapes that are attractive, one of the reasons why these conifers are commonly planted on lawns. And almost all conifers bear handsome beige, scaled cones of various sizes and shapes, depending on the species. Norway spruces and white pines have long cones, while those on eastern hemlocks and red spruces are shorter. Squirrels and a variety of small birds eat the seeds from those cones after the scales on them open.
The bark on several kinds of deciduous trees here is attractive, and most easily seen in winter. American beeches have smooth, gray bark, while that of shagbark hickories is rough and has long strips that curl out at both ends, looking like they will peel off.
Sycamores and river birches grow on floodplains along creeks and rivers. Sycamores have mottled light and dark bark that stands out among the gray bark of other riparian trees on floodplains. The bark of river birch is pale-orange and peels off in many thin, curled strips. Having decorative bark, river birch is commonly planted on lawns.
American beeches, and pin, white and red oaks, have decorative dead leaves still on their twigs through winter. Sleet rattles through those dried leaves on its way to the ground. Dead foliage on beeches is thin, curled and pale-beige. Oaks' dried leaves are thicker, flat and brown. One can identify these trees partly because of the foliage still attached to their twigs through winter.
Some tree species have beauties in the seed pods and seed balls they retain on their twigs through winter. Ash-leafed maples' paired, beige, winged seeds hanging in clusters on twigs are decorative through winter. So are the stiff, upright seeds of some tulip poplars. Like that tree's flowers, those interesting rings of pointed seeds create the shape of tulips.
Sycamore and sweet gum trees have attractive seed balls on them through much of winter. Those on sycamores have long stems, making their beige-colored balls look like dangling ear rings on the trees. Sweet gum balls are dark-brown and riddled with bristles, and orifices where tiny, dark seeds tumble to the ground. A variety of small birds, including two kinds of chickadees and American goldfinches, eat sweet gum seeds from the balls and off the ground.
Several kinds of trees have colorful berries and fruits, which are attractive clinging to them through winter. American hollies, hawthorns and the coniferous yews have red berries that are edible to mice, squirrels and berry-eating birds, including northern mockingbirds, cedar waxwings and American robins.
Crab apples of several varieties have red or yellow fruits that are attractive to us. And those fruits are consumed by the mammals and birds mentioned above, plus, white-tailed deer, raccoons, wild turkeys and other mammals and birds.
Red junipers are a conifer that produces pale-blue, berry-like cones that a variety of birds and rodents ingest. But, of course, many of these cones on a tree are decorative.
Many bigger deciduous trees are riddled with cavities where wind ripped limbs off them. Those hollows are homes and nurseries to squirrels, raccoons, barred owls, certain kinds of small, forest birds such as titmice and nuthatches, and other species of wildlife.
Many kinds of trees are pretty to see through the year, including in winter. And they feed and shelter a variety of interesting birds and mammals as well. Get out in winter to see tree beauties, some of which probably are right in your neighborhood.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
A Few Winter Field Scavengers
I was driving along Route 23 through the Twin Valleys of eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on a cold, windy day, when I noticed several turkey vultures and many American crows in a harvested corn field planted to winter rye to enrich the soil and keep it from eroding. I pulled into a farmer's lane to get off the highway to view those birds. And as soon as I did I noticed a great cloud of ring-billed gulls lift off that same field, but farther back. The gulls swirled over several large, adjoining fields several times then dropped to a field like a blizzard, making that part of the big, open habitat appear white. The vultures, crows and gulls are adaptable, scavenging birds that are successful in fields and landfills.
The vultures and crows were in that field because someone spread manure on it that, apparently, had dead chickens in it. The blades of the spreader that chop up the manure and fling into the fields also did that to the dead chickens. The vultures and crows saw those chicken parts, including wings, and dropped to the field to eat the meat on them.
The turkey vultures dominated those chicken remains, but the crows attacked the vultures with feet and beaks. Those attacks didn't hurt the vultures, but some of them yielded to the crows. But other vultures fought back in seeming anger, and won.
While the vultures and crows interacted with each other over food, the ring-bills did not associate with the vultures or crows. They stayed to themselves, feeding on whatever invertebrates, seeds and grains they could find.
However, the gulls were restless, taking off into the air in a great, tight ball of themselves. I looked in the sky for a bald eagle, because those eagles also scavenge dead animals and may have been in the vicinity, frightening the gulls into flight. I didn't see an eagle, but I did spot a peregrine falcon chasing and diving on a lone gull. Both birds went over a hill, the falcon right behind the gull, and out of sight. I never did see them again to know the outcome of that chase. I presumed the gulls were in a close gathering in the air to protect themselves from the peregrine. All the gulls moved on after that scare, and many of the vultures and crows left the area as well.
A couple of handsome red-tailed hawks stayed on the field where they, too, were scavenging chicken meat. They apparently didn't fear the falcon and I saw the red-tails after many of the other birds left the area.
Interestingly, several black vultures soared over those same fields, but did not land on them. I read that black vultures are not interested in small bits of meat, though turkey vultures are. Therefore, the black vultures sailed on across the sky to look for carrion elsewhere. Sometimes,it doesn't pay to be particular.
Those fields were interesting with wintering, scavenging turkey vultures, American crows, ring-billed gulls and red-tailed hawks that all take advantage of some of our practices, in this case, throwing dead chickens in fields with manure. It's the plants and animals that have adapted to what we people do that will survive into the future.
The vultures and crows were in that field because someone spread manure on it that, apparently, had dead chickens in it. The blades of the spreader that chop up the manure and fling into the fields also did that to the dead chickens. The vultures and crows saw those chicken parts, including wings, and dropped to the field to eat the meat on them.
The turkey vultures dominated those chicken remains, but the crows attacked the vultures with feet and beaks. Those attacks didn't hurt the vultures, but some of them yielded to the crows. But other vultures fought back in seeming anger, and won.
While the vultures and crows interacted with each other over food, the ring-bills did not associate with the vultures or crows. They stayed to themselves, feeding on whatever invertebrates, seeds and grains they could find.
However, the gulls were restless, taking off into the air in a great, tight ball of themselves. I looked in the sky for a bald eagle, because those eagles also scavenge dead animals and may have been in the vicinity, frightening the gulls into flight. I didn't see an eagle, but I did spot a peregrine falcon chasing and diving on a lone gull. Both birds went over a hill, the falcon right behind the gull, and out of sight. I never did see them again to know the outcome of that chase. I presumed the gulls were in a close gathering in the air to protect themselves from the peregrine. All the gulls moved on after that scare, and many of the vultures and crows left the area as well.
A couple of handsome red-tailed hawks stayed on the field where they, too, were scavenging chicken meat. They apparently didn't fear the falcon and I saw the red-tails after many of the other birds left the area.
Interestingly, several black vultures soared over those same fields, but did not land on them. I read that black vultures are not interested in small bits of meat, though turkey vultures are. Therefore, the black vultures sailed on across the sky to look for carrion elsewhere. Sometimes,it doesn't pay to be particular.
Those fields were interesting with wintering, scavenging turkey vultures, American crows, ring-billed gulls and red-tailed hawks that all take advantage of some of our practices, in this case, throwing dead chickens in fields with manure. It's the plants and animals that have adapted to what we people do that will survive into the future.
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