The American west has many kinds of lizards in its deserts and other habitats. But the eastern United States doesn't have near the west's diversity of those reptiles. But several species of lizards do live in the east and three of them I have seen fairly often over the years, including five-lined skinks, fence lizards and green anoles. And they are cute. For those reasons, they are my favorite lizards.
All my favorite lizards are small, being only a few inches long, numerous, harmless to us, camouflaged and generally hide out, except when hunting invertebrate prey and sunning themselves on sunlit rocks, trees or other objects. They all lay eggs in sheltered places. And the young are on their own from the start.
These little reptiles are not easy to see because of their blending in. And all those I have experienced, I saw by being in the right place at the right time by pure luck.
They are well camouflaged for good reason. Some of them already fall prey to hawks, skunks, certain snakes and other kinds of predators that see or smell through the lizards' camouflage. But the mortality would be higher without their blending into their surroundings.
All reptiles are cold-blooded and scaly, including my favorite lizards. Those in the north must seek shelter in autumn to hibernate through winter. And all take on the temperature around them. Reptiles bask in sunlight to warm themselves to the point of being able to have the energy to hunt food and mates.
Five-lined skinks range across most of the eastern United States. They do have five dark lines on top that run lengthwise from their snouts to the tips of their tails. Juveniles have more pronounced stripes and light-blue tails, making them attractive lizards. Here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, for example, they live in crevices between boulders along waterways and railroad cuts and in cracks in the rock walls of buildings and the locks of remnant canals that were in this area. Fortunately, they are quick to dart into those sheltering places at the least hint of danger.
Fence lizards also live in most of the eastern United States. They are gray above, with darker markings, both of which camouflage them. Males have dark-blue throats and black on their bellies to impress females of their kind for breeding.
Fence lizards live among trees that they frequently climb, and, like skinks, live among rocks in locks, buildings and cliffs where they find shelter from cold and predators. I find them locally in the same places I see skinks.
Green anoles are confined to the Deep South up to the North Carolina coast. They are green all over, but can quickly change to brown. Both colors allow them to blend into their surroundings to the point they seem to disappear. They mostly live in trees and on vines. Males have a red throat pouch they inflate when courting a female of their kind.
I have seen green anoles in abundance in various places of Florida, and in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. But they live abundantly in all parts of the Deep South.
Though they are hard to spot because of their small sizes and camouflage, these little lizards are cute, interesting and harmless to us. They are worth experiencing when spotted.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Friday, July 10, 2015
Common Autumn Insects
Several kinds of common insects in southeastern Pennsylvania are interesting, major parts of late summer and autumn. The following are only a few examples of them. These insects add beauty and intrigue in abundance to the local landscape. And they can be experienced and enjoyed by the most casual observers of nature.
Cabbage white and yellow sulphur butterflies swarm among the lovely pink blooms of red clover and the purple flowers of alfalfa in local hay fields to sip nectar in July through September. Some fields have so many of these butterflies from Europe fluttering among the blossoms at once that those fields seem to shimmer with butterflies. Though plain as individuals, these two kinds of butterflies are beautiful in their abundance.
Amorous males of various kinds of tree crickets and katydids begin chirping, trilling or chanting, depending on the species, by the end of July through to October to attract females of their respective species to them for mating. They make their music by rubbing their wings or legs together, again depending on the species. They start their chorusing at dusk and continue into the wee hours of the night, concerts that make the males more vulnerable to predation.
Snowy tree crickets are a common member of their family. Males of this species scrape out measured, monotonous chirps that tell us the temperature. Count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 40. That will fairly accurately record the temperature.
Male true katydids use files and scrapers on their wings to scratch out "Katy-did" seemingly without end. But there is an end to all the crickets' and katydids' serenading sometime in October when heavy frost kills all the adult crickets and katydids. Those species survive the winter only in the egg stage.
Annual cicada grubs emerge from the ground on August nights and climb trees and other objects. They had spent the previous year sucking sap from tree roots in the soil. But now they are ready to be adults, reproduce and die.
The exoskeleton of each grub up a tree splits down the back and the adult emerges from it. When that insect's wings are fully pumped out, it flies off in search of a mate. Male cicadas create a whining sound by vibrating plates on their abdomens. One can hear that trilling during the heat of the day and, especially, in the evening. Females hear that sound and come to the males to mate.
Grassy, weedy roadsides and some fields jump with a few kinds of common grasshoppers in summer. And by August and September those grasshoppers are large enough to see jumping and flying away from the observer, as they do to escape predators. All these grasshoppers eat grass and other plants. And all are brown or green to blend into their surroundings so they are not so easily seen by predators such as birds, foxes and others.
Carolina locusts are brown and good fliers. When they are in flight, one can see yellow and black or their wings.
Differential grasshoppers and red-legged grasshoppers are both "short-horned", which means they have short antennae. Red-legs do have a bit of red on their large, rear, jumping legs.
And there are a couple species of long-horned grasshoppers in this area, including gladiators and cone-heads, which are both mostly green. Gladiators seem to have a shield on their thoraxes and cone-heads have pointed heads, hence their common names.
Monarch butterflies are most prevalent here late in summer. We start seeing them in this area early in July. Females of the species at that time lay eggs individually on milkweed leaves, which the caterpillars consume. Adults sip nectar from a variety of flowers.
Eggs of the last generation of the year are laid on milkweed in early August. The resulting caterpillars pupate about the third week of August and emerge as butterflies early in September. But these monarchs do not breed. Instead, they migrate southwest across the United States to certain forests in mountains of Mexico where they spend the winter. But the miracle of their migration is they were never in those forests before. Yet every year, the last generation of each year finds the very woods in Mexico their great grandparents left early in March when they migrated north. How do they know where to go and when they arrived at their destination. Nobody knows. But it seems all monarchs that winter in those Mexican woods are related and originally came from a small population of monarchs in those patches of woods in Mexico.
In September and October when we feel autumn and the approach of winter, swarms of inseminated female box elder bugs gather in sunny places near cover in rock walls, tree cavities and crevices in buildings, among other sheltered spots. They are true bugs, in the bug family of insects, that are attractive with red and black color patterns. Eventually, those masses of bugs will enter various shelters to spend the winter in relative safety.
Box elder bugs spend summers sipping sap from twigs on box elder or ash-leafed maple trees that grow on flood plains along waterways. But with the approach of winter, they seek sheltered places to spend the winter and that's when we see them in large swarms. They are harmless to us, however. They do not bite or sting and they don't eat anything through winter.
In October, we see thousands of handsome woolly caterpillars crossing country roads, as each one is seeking a place in the soil to spend the winter. These caterpillars are bristly with stiff hairs to ward off predators. They have black hairs at both ends and reddish-brown ones in the middle.
Woolly caterpillars ate grass and other plants in summer. They pupate in the ground through winter and emerge the next year as Isabella moths. Those moths lay eggs in the soil, then die. The young that hatch from those eggs will be another generation of attractive woolly caterpillars. Keep your eyes and ears open to experience some of these common and interesting species of insects in southeastern Pennsylvania. They are entertaining and inspiring.
Cabbage white and yellow sulphur butterflies swarm among the lovely pink blooms of red clover and the purple flowers of alfalfa in local hay fields to sip nectar in July through September. Some fields have so many of these butterflies from Europe fluttering among the blossoms at once that those fields seem to shimmer with butterflies. Though plain as individuals, these two kinds of butterflies are beautiful in their abundance.
Amorous males of various kinds of tree crickets and katydids begin chirping, trilling or chanting, depending on the species, by the end of July through to October to attract females of their respective species to them for mating. They make their music by rubbing their wings or legs together, again depending on the species. They start their chorusing at dusk and continue into the wee hours of the night, concerts that make the males more vulnerable to predation.
Snowy tree crickets are a common member of their family. Males of this species scrape out measured, monotonous chirps that tell us the temperature. Count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 40. That will fairly accurately record the temperature.
Male true katydids use files and scrapers on their wings to scratch out "Katy-did" seemingly without end. But there is an end to all the crickets' and katydids' serenading sometime in October when heavy frost kills all the adult crickets and katydids. Those species survive the winter only in the egg stage.
Annual cicada grubs emerge from the ground on August nights and climb trees and other objects. They had spent the previous year sucking sap from tree roots in the soil. But now they are ready to be adults, reproduce and die.
The exoskeleton of each grub up a tree splits down the back and the adult emerges from it. When that insect's wings are fully pumped out, it flies off in search of a mate. Male cicadas create a whining sound by vibrating plates on their abdomens. One can hear that trilling during the heat of the day and, especially, in the evening. Females hear that sound and come to the males to mate.
Grassy, weedy roadsides and some fields jump with a few kinds of common grasshoppers in summer. And by August and September those grasshoppers are large enough to see jumping and flying away from the observer, as they do to escape predators. All these grasshoppers eat grass and other plants. And all are brown or green to blend into their surroundings so they are not so easily seen by predators such as birds, foxes and others.
Carolina locusts are brown and good fliers. When they are in flight, one can see yellow and black or their wings.
Differential grasshoppers and red-legged grasshoppers are both "short-horned", which means they have short antennae. Red-legs do have a bit of red on their large, rear, jumping legs.
And there are a couple species of long-horned grasshoppers in this area, including gladiators and cone-heads, which are both mostly green. Gladiators seem to have a shield on their thoraxes and cone-heads have pointed heads, hence their common names.
Monarch butterflies are most prevalent here late in summer. We start seeing them in this area early in July. Females of the species at that time lay eggs individually on milkweed leaves, which the caterpillars consume. Adults sip nectar from a variety of flowers.
Eggs of the last generation of the year are laid on milkweed in early August. The resulting caterpillars pupate about the third week of August and emerge as butterflies early in September. But these monarchs do not breed. Instead, they migrate southwest across the United States to certain forests in mountains of Mexico where they spend the winter. But the miracle of their migration is they were never in those forests before. Yet every year, the last generation of each year finds the very woods in Mexico their great grandparents left early in March when they migrated north. How do they know where to go and when they arrived at their destination. Nobody knows. But it seems all monarchs that winter in those Mexican woods are related and originally came from a small population of monarchs in those patches of woods in Mexico.
In September and October when we feel autumn and the approach of winter, swarms of inseminated female box elder bugs gather in sunny places near cover in rock walls, tree cavities and crevices in buildings, among other sheltered spots. They are true bugs, in the bug family of insects, that are attractive with red and black color patterns. Eventually, those masses of bugs will enter various shelters to spend the winter in relative safety.
Box elder bugs spend summers sipping sap from twigs on box elder or ash-leafed maple trees that grow on flood plains along waterways. But with the approach of winter, they seek sheltered places to spend the winter and that's when we see them in large swarms. They are harmless to us, however. They do not bite or sting and they don't eat anything through winter.
In October, we see thousands of handsome woolly caterpillars crossing country roads, as each one is seeking a place in the soil to spend the winter. These caterpillars are bristly with stiff hairs to ward off predators. They have black hairs at both ends and reddish-brown ones in the middle.
Woolly caterpillars ate grass and other plants in summer. They pupate in the ground through winter and emerge the next year as Isabella moths. Those moths lay eggs in the soil, then die. The young that hatch from those eggs will be another generation of attractive woolly caterpillars. Keep your eyes and ears open to experience some of these common and interesting species of insects in southeastern Pennsylvania. They are entertaining and inspiring.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Roadside Plants with Historic Uses
Several kinds of adaptable flowering plants abundant along country roads in the Middle Atlantic States, including chicory, Queen-Anne's-lace, teasel, common mullein and bouncing bet, have much in common. They all have attractive blossoms, are originally from Europe, but naturalized in much of North America, and have a history of usefulness to humans, particularly in medieval Europe.
The perennial chicory is a four-foot tall, spindly plant with few leaves and a few lovely, sky-blue flowers every summer morning from late June through August. But those blooms close by early afternoon each day. Chicory dominates many roadsides and some meadows, making those human-made habitats look like they are reflecting the blue sky on sunny mornings. Insects come to their flowers to sip nectar and goldfinches and other seed-eating birds consume some of their seeds.
The roots of chicory can be roasted and ground to bits. Those grinds are used by some people even today to make chicory coffee.
The perennial Queen-Anne's-lace have flat clusters of many tiny, white flowers from early July through August. The flowers of this species dry in fall and curl up, resembling small birds' nests through winter, or ice cream cones when snow piles on those attractive, dried flowers. Some people use dried blooms of this species as part of indoor decorations.
Queen-Anne's-lace is the ancestor of domestic carrots. This plant and carrots smell alike and each species has flowers like the other one. But this plant s not edible to people.
Teasel has a two year cycle of life. During its first summer, it is a plant of leaves close to the ground. But the next summer it grows tall to get its tiny, lavender flowers into the wind and visible to insects that visit those blooms to get nectar, fertilizing the blossoms in the process. I accidentally spilled teasel seeds on our lawn and the next summer we had teasel plants among the short grass. But that summer and the next, I kept mowing those plants off until they died at the end of their life cycle.
In natural circumstances,when teasel seeds are developed, the whole plant dies, except its seeds that disperse in the wind. Many of those seeds are eaten by mice and seed-eating birds.
Teasel plants form flower heads with several small blooms on each head. The blossoms in the middle of each head bloom first and all other flowers bloom in their turn out to the ends of each head. Teasel heads and stems are prickly to protect the flowers. The dead heads and stems of this plant were used in medieval Europe to tease out wool.
Common mullein is another biannual plant. During its first year of life it is only a rosette of leaves hugging the soil. But the next year each plant grows a flower spike up to six feet tall. And each stem has several yellow flowers on it, which are pollinated by insects. Seeds develop where the blooms were, and when those seeds are mature, the whole plant dies, except the seeds that are scattered in the wind.
Eventually that flower stem is dry with many empty pockets in it where the blooms were. In medieval Europe people soaked those mullein flower spikes, with their many hollows, into animal fat and lit them as torches at night.
Bouncing bet has pink blossoms during July and into autumn. This plant is also called soapwort because its crushed leaves can be whipped into a soapy lather, which has been used as a soap. The name bouncing bet comes from the name of a physically well-endowed washer woman scrubbing clothes by hand over an old-fashioned washboard.
All these common, roadside flowering plants have lovely blossoms that we can enjoy seeing free of charge, and have a history of being useful in some practical way. When a passenger along country roads in this area in summer, watch for these beautiful plants that also have interesting natural histories.
The perennial chicory is a four-foot tall, spindly plant with few leaves and a few lovely, sky-blue flowers every summer morning from late June through August. But those blooms close by early afternoon each day. Chicory dominates many roadsides and some meadows, making those human-made habitats look like they are reflecting the blue sky on sunny mornings. Insects come to their flowers to sip nectar and goldfinches and other seed-eating birds consume some of their seeds.
The roots of chicory can be roasted and ground to bits. Those grinds are used by some people even today to make chicory coffee.
The perennial Queen-Anne's-lace have flat clusters of many tiny, white flowers from early July through August. The flowers of this species dry in fall and curl up, resembling small birds' nests through winter, or ice cream cones when snow piles on those attractive, dried flowers. Some people use dried blooms of this species as part of indoor decorations.
Queen-Anne's-lace is the ancestor of domestic carrots. This plant and carrots smell alike and each species has flowers like the other one. But this plant s not edible to people.
Teasel has a two year cycle of life. During its first summer, it is a plant of leaves close to the ground. But the next summer it grows tall to get its tiny, lavender flowers into the wind and visible to insects that visit those blooms to get nectar, fertilizing the blossoms in the process. I accidentally spilled teasel seeds on our lawn and the next summer we had teasel plants among the short grass. But that summer and the next, I kept mowing those plants off until they died at the end of their life cycle.
In natural circumstances,when teasel seeds are developed, the whole plant dies, except its seeds that disperse in the wind. Many of those seeds are eaten by mice and seed-eating birds.
Teasel plants form flower heads with several small blooms on each head. The blossoms in the middle of each head bloom first and all other flowers bloom in their turn out to the ends of each head. Teasel heads and stems are prickly to protect the flowers. The dead heads and stems of this plant were used in medieval Europe to tease out wool.
Common mullein is another biannual plant. During its first year of life it is only a rosette of leaves hugging the soil. But the next year each plant grows a flower spike up to six feet tall. And each stem has several yellow flowers on it, which are pollinated by insects. Seeds develop where the blooms were, and when those seeds are mature, the whole plant dies, except the seeds that are scattered in the wind.
Eventually that flower stem is dry with many empty pockets in it where the blooms were. In medieval Europe people soaked those mullein flower spikes, with their many hollows, into animal fat and lit them as torches at night.
Bouncing bet has pink blossoms during July and into autumn. This plant is also called soapwort because its crushed leaves can be whipped into a soapy lather, which has been used as a soap. The name bouncing bet comes from the name of a physically well-endowed washer woman scrubbing clothes by hand over an old-fashioned washboard.
All these common, roadside flowering plants have lovely blossoms that we can enjoy seeing free of charge, and have a history of being useful in some practical way. When a passenger along country roads in this area in summer, watch for these beautiful plants that also have interesting natural histories.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Eyed Elaters and Stag Beetles
I saw a male stag beetle on a friend's screen door one recent evening. It had two large pincers for the size of the insect, which made it interesting, yet a little frightening to some of the people who saw it. It stirred my imagination about stag beetles and click beetles that are sometimes seen in or near woods on summer evenings and nights.
Eastern eyed-elater click beetles and reddish-brown stag beetles are two species of attractive and intriguing beetles that live in the forests of the eastern United States, including here in southeastern Pennsylvania. Adults of both species are about an inch and a half long, which helps make them intimidating to some folks, active mostly during summer nights and are attracted to artificial lights, even those inside a building.
Eyed-elaters have two black, oval marks on the upper part of their thoraxes that resemble eyes to intimidate would-be predators such as skunks, birds and other critters. Each of those large, oval "eyes" is bordered by a thin white line that allows each eye to stand out. The exoskeletons of this beetle is gray to blend into the color of tree bark for protection against predation, and there are white speckles on the gray wing covers. Adults hide by day under logs and other objects on forest floors and sip plant juices.
If click beetles fall onto their backs, they quickly right themselves by snapping their thoraxes and abdomens against each other and a hard, outside surface with an audible click, which flips them into the air. Hopefully, they will land right side up, but if not, they try and try again until successful.
Female eyed elaters lay eggs in protective forest soil. The resulting larvae, called wire worms because they are thin and stiff, crawl into rotting logs and stumps. Each larva has two sharp jaws to feed on wood-boring beetles and beetle larvae in decaying wood, grows to be two inches long and remains a larva for two to five years. They finally pupate in soil and emerge as winged adult beetles ready to search for mates and breed.
Like many kinds of insects, adult click beetles develop wings so they can fly distances farther than they could have crawled as larvae. That way they are more likely to find a mate and lay fertile eggs.
Reddish-brown stag beetle males have long jaws, pincers, for the size of their bodies, that resemble the antlers of deer. Females have noticeably shorter ones. Males use their pincers to fight each other and court females of their kind; not to pinch us, although they can deliver a painful nip if not handled carefully.
During summer, female stag beetles lay eggs in dead trees, logs and stumps. The grubs hatch there, eat the decaying wood and mature in it. Some of them may fall victim to the larvae of eyed elaters. Survivors, however, after two years of developing as larvae, pupate in nearby soil and emerge as adults in June, ready to breed.
Look for these large, beautiful insects during summer. They look fierce and intimidating, but they are not. In fact, they are quite attractive and fascinating to experience.
Eastern eyed-elater click beetles and reddish-brown stag beetles are two species of attractive and intriguing beetles that live in the forests of the eastern United States, including here in southeastern Pennsylvania. Adults of both species are about an inch and a half long, which helps make them intimidating to some folks, active mostly during summer nights and are attracted to artificial lights, even those inside a building.
Eyed-elaters have two black, oval marks on the upper part of their thoraxes that resemble eyes to intimidate would-be predators such as skunks, birds and other critters. Each of those large, oval "eyes" is bordered by a thin white line that allows each eye to stand out. The exoskeletons of this beetle is gray to blend into the color of tree bark for protection against predation, and there are white speckles on the gray wing covers. Adults hide by day under logs and other objects on forest floors and sip plant juices.
If click beetles fall onto their backs, they quickly right themselves by snapping their thoraxes and abdomens against each other and a hard, outside surface with an audible click, which flips them into the air. Hopefully, they will land right side up, but if not, they try and try again until successful.
Female eyed elaters lay eggs in protective forest soil. The resulting larvae, called wire worms because they are thin and stiff, crawl into rotting logs and stumps. Each larva has two sharp jaws to feed on wood-boring beetles and beetle larvae in decaying wood, grows to be two inches long and remains a larva for two to five years. They finally pupate in soil and emerge as winged adult beetles ready to search for mates and breed.
Like many kinds of insects, adult click beetles develop wings so they can fly distances farther than they could have crawled as larvae. That way they are more likely to find a mate and lay fertile eggs.
Reddish-brown stag beetle males have long jaws, pincers, for the size of their bodies, that resemble the antlers of deer. Females have noticeably shorter ones. Males use their pincers to fight each other and court females of their kind; not to pinch us, although they can deliver a painful nip if not handled carefully.
During summer, female stag beetles lay eggs in dead trees, logs and stumps. The grubs hatch there, eat the decaying wood and mature in it. Some of them may fall victim to the larvae of eyed elaters. Survivors, however, after two years of developing as larvae, pupate in nearby soil and emerge as adults in June, ready to breed.
Look for these large, beautiful insects during summer. They look fierce and intimidating, but they are not. In fact, they are quite attractive and fascinating to experience.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Two Finches
American goldfinches and house finches are beautiful, permanent resident birds in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as throughout much of North America. These related species of small birds have much in common, including pretty feathering on the males, eating seeds the year around, males have lively, lovely songs, being adapted to human-made habitats, coming to feeders the year around and raising young on lawns, adding more interest to them.
Goldfinch males in summer are bright yellow with black wings, tails, and jaunty, black caps on their foreheads. Being colored that way appeals to female goldfinches, but repels other males of their kind during the breeding season. Males are especially attractive among the blue flowers of chicory, the hot-pink blooms of thistles and the lavender blossoms of purple coneflowers when they eat the seeds of older, already pollinated blossoms on those plants. And they are pretty in the shallows of streams and ponds where they ingest alga and duckweed.
Female goldfinches the year around, and young of the year, are olive all over, with slightly darker wings and tails, which allows them to blend into their surroundings for their own protection. Males in winter assume the coloring of females and young. All goldfinches bound along in energetic, roller-coaster flight while uttering cheery notes.
Goldfinches don't nest until July when thistles develop seeds, each with a fluffy, white parachute per seed that carries it away on the wind. Goldfinches eat thistle seeds, making the fluff float away on the breezes. Females use those parachutes to line their dainty, little nurseries tucked onto twigs of shrubbery and young trees in fields and suburban areas near patches of thistles. Goldfinches feed their young a porridge of pre-digested thistle and other kinds of seeds.
Male house finches have gray-feathered bodies with darker streaks and deep-pink on their heads, chests and backs. Females and young of this species are gray all over, with darker streaks.
Males have pretty songs they sing early in spring. These finches build cradles of fine grass in the sheltering, needled boughs of young spruces, firs and arborvitae, and in the protective niches on buildings. They don't compete much with goldfinches for nesting sites.
House finches are originally from the American west. But many of them were captured to be sold as cage birds in the east, which was illegal several years ago. Rather than be caught with caged house finches, shop keepers in New York City released them, the birds found each other, reproduced and now they are scattered throughout much of the eastern part of the United States, adding to the beauty of its avifauna.
Look for these finches in lawns and gardens through each year. They are attractive and interesting, making those human-made habitats more enjoyable.
Goldfinch males in summer are bright yellow with black wings, tails, and jaunty, black caps on their foreheads. Being colored that way appeals to female goldfinches, but repels other males of their kind during the breeding season. Males are especially attractive among the blue flowers of chicory, the hot-pink blooms of thistles and the lavender blossoms of purple coneflowers when they eat the seeds of older, already pollinated blossoms on those plants. And they are pretty in the shallows of streams and ponds where they ingest alga and duckweed.
Female goldfinches the year around, and young of the year, are olive all over, with slightly darker wings and tails, which allows them to blend into their surroundings for their own protection. Males in winter assume the coloring of females and young. All goldfinches bound along in energetic, roller-coaster flight while uttering cheery notes.
Goldfinches don't nest until July when thistles develop seeds, each with a fluffy, white parachute per seed that carries it away on the wind. Goldfinches eat thistle seeds, making the fluff float away on the breezes. Females use those parachutes to line their dainty, little nurseries tucked onto twigs of shrubbery and young trees in fields and suburban areas near patches of thistles. Goldfinches feed their young a porridge of pre-digested thistle and other kinds of seeds.
Male house finches have gray-feathered bodies with darker streaks and deep-pink on their heads, chests and backs. Females and young of this species are gray all over, with darker streaks.
Males have pretty songs they sing early in spring. These finches build cradles of fine grass in the sheltering, needled boughs of young spruces, firs and arborvitae, and in the protective niches on buildings. They don't compete much with goldfinches for nesting sites.
House finches are originally from the American west. But many of them were captured to be sold as cage birds in the east, which was illegal several years ago. Rather than be caught with caged house finches, shop keepers in New York City released them, the birds found each other, reproduced and now they are scattered throughout much of the eastern part of the United States, adding to the beauty of its avifauna.
Look for these finches in lawns and gardens through each year. They are attractive and interesting, making those human-made habitats more enjoyable.
Birds Following Farm Machinery
Recently I saw a couple dozen barn swallows following a hay cutter as it moved slowly through an alfalfa field. Those swallows were catching insects stirred into the air by the cutting machinery. They were entertaining to watch weaving swiftly among each other for several minutes without a single collision, due to their quick reflexes. I have seen this before in the fields of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but this time I was reminded of the birds I have seen following farm machinery of various kinds during spring and summer.
In March and April in this area, local farmers plow fields in preparation of planting corn, soybean and cigar tobacco. That turning the soil over is a dinner bell to gulls, mostly ring-bills this far inland, killdeer plovers, American crows, purple grackles and American robins that drop into the trenches behind the plows, often by the dozen, to catch earthworms and other invertebrates before those critters escape back into the soil.
Ring-billed gulls behind plows really put on a show. Groups of them at a time drop into the furrows behind the plows and compete vigorously for the creatures they can snare to eat, quickly gulping down what they catch. Meanwhile, as the plows keep moving ahead, more gulls drop into the trenches right behind those plows and ahead of the gulls already in the furrows to grab what critters they can. But within seconds, the gulls in the rear of the furrows fly up and ahead of the gulls that dropped into the plowed ground ahead of them, then drop to the ditches right behind the plows again. The result of that competition for food is a pinwheel affect of gulls in the rear of trenches flying over the ones in the furrows and dropping to the soil right behind the plows. That feathered pinwheel keeps rolling until all the birds are full of invertebrates.
Ring-bills and killdeer evolved in open habitats such as mud flats and beaches, so their being on a plowed field is expected. But grackles and robins developed as species in forest edges, making their entry in large, open fields quite an adaptation on their part. Grackles and robins spread over the plowed fields to seek invertebrate food, as well as dropping into the furrows after food.
American kestrels are a surprising bird species in plowed fields to ingest invertebrates. I first noticed that a few years ago when I saw a male kestrel drop from a roadside wire to a plowed field right behind the moving plow one afternoon early in April. With 16 power binoculars, I saw the kestrel pick up an earthworm and consume it. Kestrels mostly feed on mice and grasshoppers, so this was a mild surprise to me. But in nature, most anything is possible.
Swallows are as entertaining in their own way behind working farm machinery in summer as ring-billed gulls are in spring. Locally nesting swallow species involved in those, often mixed, gatherings behind farm equipment moving in the fields are barn and tree swallows, and purple martins, which are another kind of locally nesting swallows. By July, when hay and grain crops are harvested, these swallow species are done rearing offspring, and young and older birds alike are building up strength and fat reserves for the time when they drift south to escape the northern winter. Some of the feeding swallow flocks are of one species, but others are mixed. But as stated before, they are all entertaining following hay and grain cutters, rakes and balers across the fields, where they catch flying insects stirred up by that moving machinery.
Killdeer, crows, grackles and robins are also on those harvested fields to consume invertebrates. They don't follow the equipment, but spread over the fields, where vegetation is cut to the ground, to get food.
All these birds, particularly the gulls and swallows, are entertaining to see on Lancaster County fields. And it is inspiring to note these species are adaptable enough to take advantage of human-made habitats and activities for their own survival. Adapting is a key to success.
In March and April in this area, local farmers plow fields in preparation of planting corn, soybean and cigar tobacco. That turning the soil over is a dinner bell to gulls, mostly ring-bills this far inland, killdeer plovers, American crows, purple grackles and American robins that drop into the trenches behind the plows, often by the dozen, to catch earthworms and other invertebrates before those critters escape back into the soil.
Ring-billed gulls behind plows really put on a show. Groups of them at a time drop into the furrows behind the plows and compete vigorously for the creatures they can snare to eat, quickly gulping down what they catch. Meanwhile, as the plows keep moving ahead, more gulls drop into the trenches right behind those plows and ahead of the gulls already in the furrows to grab what critters they can. But within seconds, the gulls in the rear of the furrows fly up and ahead of the gulls that dropped into the plowed ground ahead of them, then drop to the ditches right behind the plows again. The result of that competition for food is a pinwheel affect of gulls in the rear of trenches flying over the ones in the furrows and dropping to the soil right behind the plows. That feathered pinwheel keeps rolling until all the birds are full of invertebrates.
Ring-bills and killdeer evolved in open habitats such as mud flats and beaches, so their being on a plowed field is expected. But grackles and robins developed as species in forest edges, making their entry in large, open fields quite an adaptation on their part. Grackles and robins spread over the plowed fields to seek invertebrate food, as well as dropping into the furrows after food.
American kestrels are a surprising bird species in plowed fields to ingest invertebrates. I first noticed that a few years ago when I saw a male kestrel drop from a roadside wire to a plowed field right behind the moving plow one afternoon early in April. With 16 power binoculars, I saw the kestrel pick up an earthworm and consume it. Kestrels mostly feed on mice and grasshoppers, so this was a mild surprise to me. But in nature, most anything is possible.
Swallows are as entertaining in their own way behind working farm machinery in summer as ring-billed gulls are in spring. Locally nesting swallow species involved in those, often mixed, gatherings behind farm equipment moving in the fields are barn and tree swallows, and purple martins, which are another kind of locally nesting swallows. By July, when hay and grain crops are harvested, these swallow species are done rearing offspring, and young and older birds alike are building up strength and fat reserves for the time when they drift south to escape the northern winter. Some of the feeding swallow flocks are of one species, but others are mixed. But as stated before, they are all entertaining following hay and grain cutters, rakes and balers across the fields, where they catch flying insects stirred up by that moving machinery.
Killdeer, crows, grackles and robins are also on those harvested fields to consume invertebrates. They don't follow the equipment, but spread over the fields, where vegetation is cut to the ground, to get food.
All these birds, particularly the gulls and swallows, are entertaining to see on Lancaster County fields. And it is inspiring to note these species are adaptable enough to take advantage of human-made habitats and activities for their own survival. Adapting is a key to success.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Blue Mussels
Many people who visit the Atlantic Ocean coastline of the Middle Atlantic States, and elsewhere in polar and temperate waters, see varying-sized clusters of blue mussels attached to the green-plant encrusted boulders of rock jetties that extend from the beaches into the tidal area of the ocean. Jetties are human-made walls constructed to stop waves from washing sand off the beaches. And the many colonies of mussels find the boulders to be handy homes. Though they, at first, appear uninteresting, they are more intriguing than they look. They filter impurities from a lot of sea water, and they are part of several food chains.
Blue mussels are animals in the mollusc family of clams, oysters and others. They are bivalves as many kinds of molluscs are, meaning they have two shells they close with a powerful muscle. The shells of these mussels are elongated, smooth and purple, blue or brown. They are attached to the boulders by strong, threadlike byssal threads secreted from glands in the foot of each animal. But each mussel can release those threads to move on its from one place to another to be in position to get food. These mussels also use those attachments to immobilize some would-be predators such as whelks, which are a kind of snail.
Blue mussels, like clams, are filter feeders that consume plankton and detritus when the tide comes in and cover the rocks. Cilia of a tube projecting from the partly open shell pull water and food into the mussels' bodies, food is filtered from the water in the body and the water is ejected through another tube. Each mussel processes ten to eighteen gallons of ocean water each day. Interestingly, mussels, and their relatives, also filter toxins and bacteria from the water, cleansing it. But when the tide goes out, the mussels are exposed to the drying air and predators. During that vulnerable time they close their shells to stay moist inside and defend themselves against animals that eat them when they can.
Several kinds of animals eat blue mussels, including people, whelks, starfish, gulls, crows, common eider ducks, oystercatchers, which are a kind of long-legged, long-billed shore bird, and other kinds of creatures. Oystercatchers have thin bills they poke between the shells of molluscs to pry them open to get the soft body inside.
Each blue mussel is of one gender. Each female of this species spawns from five to twelve million eggs sometime between mid-May to late June. The newly hatched larvae float freely in the ocean for three to four weeks. Many of them are eaten by jellies and other creatures in the ocean. The survivors, however, attach themselves with byssal threads to hard surfaces, such as piers, boulders and the like. And there they spend the rest of their lives, feeding, growing and spawning.
The next time the reader goes to the seacoast, look for these molluscs on rock jetties protruding into the ocean. Blue mussels are pretty in their own, plain way and have an interesting life history.
Blue mussels are animals in the mollusc family of clams, oysters and others. They are bivalves as many kinds of molluscs are, meaning they have two shells they close with a powerful muscle. The shells of these mussels are elongated, smooth and purple, blue or brown. They are attached to the boulders by strong, threadlike byssal threads secreted from glands in the foot of each animal. But each mussel can release those threads to move on its from one place to another to be in position to get food. These mussels also use those attachments to immobilize some would-be predators such as whelks, which are a kind of snail.
Blue mussels, like clams, are filter feeders that consume plankton and detritus when the tide comes in and cover the rocks. Cilia of a tube projecting from the partly open shell pull water and food into the mussels' bodies, food is filtered from the water in the body and the water is ejected through another tube. Each mussel processes ten to eighteen gallons of ocean water each day. Interestingly, mussels, and their relatives, also filter toxins and bacteria from the water, cleansing it. But when the tide goes out, the mussels are exposed to the drying air and predators. During that vulnerable time they close their shells to stay moist inside and defend themselves against animals that eat them when they can.
Several kinds of animals eat blue mussels, including people, whelks, starfish, gulls, crows, common eider ducks, oystercatchers, which are a kind of long-legged, long-billed shore bird, and other kinds of creatures. Oystercatchers have thin bills they poke between the shells of molluscs to pry them open to get the soft body inside.
Each blue mussel is of one gender. Each female of this species spawns from five to twelve million eggs sometime between mid-May to late June. The newly hatched larvae float freely in the ocean for three to four weeks. Many of them are eaten by jellies and other creatures in the ocean. The survivors, however, attach themselves with byssal threads to hard surfaces, such as piers, boulders and the like. And there they spend the rest of their lives, feeding, growing and spawning.
The next time the reader goes to the seacoast, look for these molluscs on rock jetties protruding into the ocean. Blue mussels are pretty in their own, plain way and have an interesting life history.
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