Several kinds of flowering plants blooming commonly in April in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania have lovely blue or purple blossoms, adding beauty to the habitats they inhabit. Some are aliens to North America, but others are native here.
Veronicas are the first of these plants to bloom each year, starting in mid to late March. Veronicas are aliens from Europe that produce small, light-blue blossoms less than an inch above the ground on short-grass lawns and roadsides. Carpets of those blooms make parts of many lawns appear blue.
Grape hyacinths are also aliens from Europe that were introduced to North America by people planting bulbs. Each plant has a few grass-like leaves and a cluster of small, bluish-purple, grape-like blooms a few inches above the soil by mid-April. And this species spreads and beautifully covers much of several lawns and fields in this county. I know a meadow that is intriguing because of a couple of acres of grape-hyacinth plants and flowers each April.
Ground ivy is a mint originally from Europe that is common on many local lawns. This ground-hugging, creeping plant grows several small, rounded and scalloped leaves and little, light-purple blossoms. This species has a strong scent that is noticeable when the leaves are crushed or cut when a lawn is mowed.
One of my favorite flowers, blue violets are native woodland wildflowers that adapted well to short-grass lawns and are abundant on many of them. This plant is a well-known associate of dandelions on many lawns in the latter half of April, providing much beauty on those human-made habitats. Each violet plant grows several heart-shaped leaves and a few blue-purple blossoms.
Periwinkles are native, vine-like plants that crawl across local woodland floors, flower gardens and lawns. The five, violet-blue petals of each bloom on this plant resemble pinwheels that almost seem to turn in the wind.
Virginia bluebells are native woodland wildflowers that stand over two feet tall, have several large, broad leaves and a couple clusters of sky-blue, bell-like flowers. Those blossoms develop from pink buds, offering a variety of lovely colors on each plant. Colonies of a quarter-acre or more of this flowering species in full bloom look like they are reflecting a clear sky.
Wood phlox is another native woodland species that forms patches of itself on beautiful forest floors. This plant blooms from late in April into the first several days of May. Each plant produces a few blooms with five, pale-violet petals.
Loose patches of bluets, a kind of spindly, grass-like plant not a foot tall, are easily overlooked in the dry pastures they inhabit. Each delicately-lovely bluet flower is pale-blue with a yellow center, offering a pleasing contrast of colors.
This April, or next, look for these wild plants with blue or purple blossoms during April. They certainly add more beauty and cheer to the habitats they inhabit.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Ospreys
At this time, hundreds of ospreys are migrating into the Middle Atlantic States, where some of them will nest around larger bodies of water, while others push farther north to hatch offspring. If the reader watches the sky carefully from mid-morning to late afternoon, one or a few or more of these large, majestic birds of prey will pass into view, continue overhead and will soon be gone, unless one or more of them stop to catch fish from a larger waterway or impoundment.
Most ospreys that raise young here come from wintering grounds in South America. Ospreys, by the way, nest and/or winter around bigger bodies of water on every continent on Earth, except Antarctica.
Ospreys are large hawks with distinctive patterns of dark and white feathering and an appetite for live fish, which they catch themselves. Look in a field guide to birds and on a computer to see their distinctive color patterns and read more about their characteristics and habits.
To catch fish, each osprey circles in the air over a larger body of water and watches the surface for victims. When prey is spotted, the osprey quickly dives to the water and plunges in feet-first, kicking up spray, in an attempt to snare the slippery fish in its long, sharp talons. If the prey is successfully caught, the osprey rises from the water with its victim headfirst in its claws for easier flying, shakes water from its plumage and flies to a tree, channel marker or platform to consume its catch. Sometimes, however, an osprey is harassed by a bald eagle to the point of dropping its fish, which the eagle then grabs in mid-air and scavenges.
Ospreys nest near water across much of northern North America, but their biggest numbers are on the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary on this continent, and full of fish. Many pairs annually attempt to rear two or three offspring in large bulky, stick nurseries in trees, as they have done traditionally. But many pairs of ospreys today are quite obvious, handsome and picturesque rearing babies on channel markers, buoys, and platforms mounted over water especially for the ospreys to nest in. The adaptable ospreys readily use the human-made structures, which helps bolster their populations. And all pairs of ospreys feed fish to their youngsters, tearing off bits of meat when the young are small. Many people, incidentally, enjoy seeing ospreys on their nesting platforms engaged in rearing youngsters.
Ospreys today seem used to normal human activities near their nesting places. They are protected by law from shooting, trapping and harassment, particularly around their nests. And the use of DDT is banned in the United States, which is a great help in the survival of egg shells and chicks.
Late in summer and into fall, ospreys and their grown young of the year drift south to warmer wintering grounds where they can still catch fish. They exit this area each year during August, September and October by following mountain ridges that give them lift as wind pushes up and over the mountains. Ospreys also follow rivers, catching fish along the way.
Ospreys are large, stately hawks that feed almost exclusively on larger fish. And they are becoming abundant once again in North America, thanks to their adaptations and being protected by law. Look for these elegant fish hawks migrating in spring and autumn, and watch for them in their breeding areas, including on the Chesapeake Bay. They are always a joy to experience.
Most ospreys that raise young here come from wintering grounds in South America. Ospreys, by the way, nest and/or winter around bigger bodies of water on every continent on Earth, except Antarctica.
Ospreys are large hawks with distinctive patterns of dark and white feathering and an appetite for live fish, which they catch themselves. Look in a field guide to birds and on a computer to see their distinctive color patterns and read more about their characteristics and habits.
To catch fish, each osprey circles in the air over a larger body of water and watches the surface for victims. When prey is spotted, the osprey quickly dives to the water and plunges in feet-first, kicking up spray, in an attempt to snare the slippery fish in its long, sharp talons. If the prey is successfully caught, the osprey rises from the water with its victim headfirst in its claws for easier flying, shakes water from its plumage and flies to a tree, channel marker or platform to consume its catch. Sometimes, however, an osprey is harassed by a bald eagle to the point of dropping its fish, which the eagle then grabs in mid-air and scavenges.
Ospreys nest near water across much of northern North America, but their biggest numbers are on the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary on this continent, and full of fish. Many pairs annually attempt to rear two or three offspring in large bulky, stick nurseries in trees, as they have done traditionally. But many pairs of ospreys today are quite obvious, handsome and picturesque rearing babies on channel markers, buoys, and platforms mounted over water especially for the ospreys to nest in. The adaptable ospreys readily use the human-made structures, which helps bolster their populations. And all pairs of ospreys feed fish to their youngsters, tearing off bits of meat when the young are small. Many people, incidentally, enjoy seeing ospreys on their nesting platforms engaged in rearing youngsters.
Ospreys today seem used to normal human activities near their nesting places. They are protected by law from shooting, trapping and harassment, particularly around their nests. And the use of DDT is banned in the United States, which is a great help in the survival of egg shells and chicks.
Late in summer and into fall, ospreys and their grown young of the year drift south to warmer wintering grounds where they can still catch fish. They exit this area each year during August, September and October by following mountain ridges that give them lift as wind pushes up and over the mountains. Ospreys also follow rivers, catching fish along the way.
Ospreys are large, stately hawks that feed almost exclusively on larger fish. And they are becoming abundant once again in North America, thanks to their adaptations and being protected by law. Look for these elegant fish hawks migrating in spring and autumn, and watch for them in their breeding areas, including on the Chesapeake Bay. They are always a joy to experience.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Two Sunfish
Around the end of May and into June over the years, I have occasionally watched the interesting spawning of attractive bluegill sunfish in the clear, shallow, sun-filled waters of ponds in southeastern Pennsylvania. Male bluegills made little colonies of circular nests on the bottoms of those human-made impoundments by swishing away silt down to the gravel or sand underneath with their tails and bodies. And male sunfish are territorial, guarding their nests against invasion by other male sunfish and other fish.
Female sunfish come to the males of their choice to spawn thousands of eggs in the males' nurseries. Each male may have two, three or more partners, but one at a time. Each male and the female that came to him swim side by side and round and round over the nest, as she drops many, adhesive eggs into it and he spreads sperm over the eggs, fertilizing them. When finished spawning, each female leaves the nursery, only to be replaced by another female, sooner or later. Meanwhile, each male guards the eggs in his gravelly cradle from fish, crayfish and other critters that would consume them until those eggs hatch into schools of tiny fry.
The small, young sunfish swim in dense schools in shallow water where they avoid being eaten by bass and larger sunfish. Adult sunnies, which can be close to ten inches long, hang out among water vegetation in deeper water where they hunt their food animals. Being larger, they are not as likely to be eaten by even larger fish, and so get away with living in deeper water.
With the arrival of spring, some of us think about fish and fishing. And bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish are two abundant, beautiful kinds of fish in the ponds, lakes and slow-moving parts of waterways in southeastern Pennsylvania. Sunfish are often called panfish because they have flat, round bodies, like a pan. There bodies are also shaped like a human hand.
Bluegills and pumpkinseeds prefer warmer, clear water, choked with aquatic plants and sunken logs and stumps, places where they can hide from predators, and ambush prey species, including aquatic insects, minnows, scuds, pond snails and small crayfish, plus water plants. Some of the wildlife that catch and eat sunfish are otters, mink, large-mouthed bass, snapping turtles, northern water snakes, a variety of herons, belted kingfishers, ospreys and bald eagles.
Bluegills are the better known of these sunfish. Today they are all over Pennsylvania, but they were introduced to this state as a fighting, but easy-to-catch fish, which is good for beginning fishermen, especially children. However, bluegills are aggressive fish and could push out pumpkinseeds where the two species live together.
Adult bluegills, particularly spawning males, are attractive with olive-brown backs and flanks, with darker streaks on the flanks. Their bellies are yellow to light-orange and their gills are light-blue with a black gill flap at the rear of each gill.
Adult pumpkinseeds, especially spawning males, are even prettier than bluegills. This is a colorful sunfish native to Pennsylvania and much of eastern North America. Pumpkinseeds are olive-brown, with vertical blue-green lines and sprinklings of red-orange spots on their backs and sides. Their bellies are reddish-orange to yellow. And their black gill flaps are small, each one tipped with orange-red. These sunnies are also scrappers when hooked, making fishing for them, and bluegills, the more exciting.
Watch the clear, plant-choked waters of human-made impoundments this spring and summer for the attractive and interesting bluegills and pumpkinseeds, young and mature. You might see them spawning and/or feeding. And by looking closely or using binoculars, you can see their beautiful colors without catching them on a fish hook.
Female sunfish come to the males of their choice to spawn thousands of eggs in the males' nurseries. Each male may have two, three or more partners, but one at a time. Each male and the female that came to him swim side by side and round and round over the nest, as she drops many, adhesive eggs into it and he spreads sperm over the eggs, fertilizing them. When finished spawning, each female leaves the nursery, only to be replaced by another female, sooner or later. Meanwhile, each male guards the eggs in his gravelly cradle from fish, crayfish and other critters that would consume them until those eggs hatch into schools of tiny fry.
The small, young sunfish swim in dense schools in shallow water where they avoid being eaten by bass and larger sunfish. Adult sunnies, which can be close to ten inches long, hang out among water vegetation in deeper water where they hunt their food animals. Being larger, they are not as likely to be eaten by even larger fish, and so get away with living in deeper water.
With the arrival of spring, some of us think about fish and fishing. And bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish are two abundant, beautiful kinds of fish in the ponds, lakes and slow-moving parts of waterways in southeastern Pennsylvania. Sunfish are often called panfish because they have flat, round bodies, like a pan. There bodies are also shaped like a human hand.
Bluegills and pumpkinseeds prefer warmer, clear water, choked with aquatic plants and sunken logs and stumps, places where they can hide from predators, and ambush prey species, including aquatic insects, minnows, scuds, pond snails and small crayfish, plus water plants. Some of the wildlife that catch and eat sunfish are otters, mink, large-mouthed bass, snapping turtles, northern water snakes, a variety of herons, belted kingfishers, ospreys and bald eagles.
Bluegills are the better known of these sunfish. Today they are all over Pennsylvania, but they were introduced to this state as a fighting, but easy-to-catch fish, which is good for beginning fishermen, especially children. However, bluegills are aggressive fish and could push out pumpkinseeds where the two species live together.
Adult bluegills, particularly spawning males, are attractive with olive-brown backs and flanks, with darker streaks on the flanks. Their bellies are yellow to light-orange and their gills are light-blue with a black gill flap at the rear of each gill.
Adult pumpkinseeds, especially spawning males, are even prettier than bluegills. This is a colorful sunfish native to Pennsylvania and much of eastern North America. Pumpkinseeds are olive-brown, with vertical blue-green lines and sprinklings of red-orange spots on their backs and sides. Their bellies are reddish-orange to yellow. And their black gill flaps are small, each one tipped with orange-red. These sunnies are also scrappers when hooked, making fishing for them, and bluegills, the more exciting.
Watch the clear, plant-choked waters of human-made impoundments this spring and summer for the attractive and interesting bluegills and pumpkinseeds, young and mature. You might see them spawning and/or feeding. And by looking closely or using binoculars, you can see their beautiful colors without catching them on a fish hook.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
A Red-Head Meadow
On the afternoon of April 7th, this past, I was driving through farmland in northern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I stopped at a short-grass cow pasture watered by Muddy Creek and studded with several mature, riparian trees of various kinds that thrive in moist soil. I stopped because I saw a white flash of a wing among the trees. And as I thought, that white wing was on a red-headed woodpecker, a species of bird not common in this county. Red-heads are acclimated to meadows with several large, live trees and one or two dead ones or dead limbs on live trees where they hatch offspring. But that kind of habitat is uncommon Lancaster County because people are quick to remove dead trees from the landscape.
But this bottomland pasture is pretty with green, lush grass, several multiflora rose bushes already sprouting green leaves and deciduous trees, including pin oaks, sycamores, red maples, ash-leafed maples, black walnuts, shag-bark hickories and river birches. Some of the trees are riddled with cavities caused by wind and woodpeckers, making them more picturesque, and homes for wildlife of various kinds.
As I searched among the trees for birds for a couple of hours, I saw two pairs of red-heads that were actively flying here and there looking for invertebrate food among the trees and on the ground. They didn't seem ready to nest yet, but they probably will rear youngsters in cavities they chip into dead, but still-standing, trees.
Red-headed woodpeckers are striking and the genders are identical. Their heads are entirely red. They have white under parts and large, white patches on their wings. The rest of their feathering appears black.
A pair of eastern bluebirds were also searching for invertebrates on the ground. They probably will stay to hatch young in a tree cavity in the meadow. But, unfortunately, they and the red-heads may have problems competing for nesting hollows with the starlings in this pasture.
I heard a red bellied woodpecker and a northern flicker, which is another type of woodpecker, calling among the trees. A pair each of these woodpecker species probably will attempt to raise young here, too, and like the red-heads, these woodpeckers chisel out their own nesting cavities. But they, too, may also have to compete with starlings.
One hollow in a dead river birch tree seemed odd to me. And when I looked at it with my 16 power binoculars, I saw a sleeping, gray-phase screech owl in its entrance. The owl's feathers were the color of its hollow, making it nearly invisible.
I saw a male red-winged blackbird perched on a twig of a tree. That red-wing and his mate might raise young in a grassy nursery the female will build a few off the ground in tall grasses in the meadow beyond the shade of the trees, when those grasses grow high.
A few kinds of birds were in that pasture because of the stream. I saw a pair each of mallard ducks and wood ducks on the water. The hen mallard probably is working on laying a clutch of up to 12 eggs among tall grasses near the stream. And the female woody is probably in the process of producing a clutch in a larger tree hollow somewhere in the meadow. A male belted kingfisher was perched on a tree limb hanging over the water as he watched for minnows to catch and eat. A pair of kingfishers might dig a tunnel into the high stream bank in which they will raise young.
And there were a few other common bird species in the pasture because of the trees and shrubbery. A few tree swallows zipped over the pasture after flying insects. A pair or two of them might hatch young in tree hollows in this pasture. I saw a mature red-tailed hawk soaring over the meadow in search of gray squirrels and other prey. That hawk's mate probably is setting on eggs in a stick platform high in a nearby tree. I saw a few each of blue jays and American robins among the trees and on the ground in their quests for food. Eventually, some of the jays and robins will settle in the meadow to nest in the trees. And I saw a couple pairs of song sparrows among the multiflora rose bushes, a place where they are already rearing offspring.
This is a pretty meadow in Lancaster County farm country, made the more interesting by the birds living in it. Readers need only to quietly visit similar habitats to enjoy the birds, other critters and plant life in them. Enjoy them, but please leave them alone.
But this bottomland pasture is pretty with green, lush grass, several multiflora rose bushes already sprouting green leaves and deciduous trees, including pin oaks, sycamores, red maples, ash-leafed maples, black walnuts, shag-bark hickories and river birches. Some of the trees are riddled with cavities caused by wind and woodpeckers, making them more picturesque, and homes for wildlife of various kinds.
As I searched among the trees for birds for a couple of hours, I saw two pairs of red-heads that were actively flying here and there looking for invertebrate food among the trees and on the ground. They didn't seem ready to nest yet, but they probably will rear youngsters in cavities they chip into dead, but still-standing, trees.
Red-headed woodpeckers are striking and the genders are identical. Their heads are entirely red. They have white under parts and large, white patches on their wings. The rest of their feathering appears black.
A pair of eastern bluebirds were also searching for invertebrates on the ground. They probably will stay to hatch young in a tree cavity in the meadow. But, unfortunately, they and the red-heads may have problems competing for nesting hollows with the starlings in this pasture.
I heard a red bellied woodpecker and a northern flicker, which is another type of woodpecker, calling among the trees. A pair each of these woodpecker species probably will attempt to raise young here, too, and like the red-heads, these woodpeckers chisel out their own nesting cavities. But they, too, may also have to compete with starlings.
One hollow in a dead river birch tree seemed odd to me. And when I looked at it with my 16 power binoculars, I saw a sleeping, gray-phase screech owl in its entrance. The owl's feathers were the color of its hollow, making it nearly invisible.
I saw a male red-winged blackbird perched on a twig of a tree. That red-wing and his mate might raise young in a grassy nursery the female will build a few off the ground in tall grasses in the meadow beyond the shade of the trees, when those grasses grow high.
A few kinds of birds were in that pasture because of the stream. I saw a pair each of mallard ducks and wood ducks on the water. The hen mallard probably is working on laying a clutch of up to 12 eggs among tall grasses near the stream. And the female woody is probably in the process of producing a clutch in a larger tree hollow somewhere in the meadow. A male belted kingfisher was perched on a tree limb hanging over the water as he watched for minnows to catch and eat. A pair of kingfishers might dig a tunnel into the high stream bank in which they will raise young.
And there were a few other common bird species in the pasture because of the trees and shrubbery. A few tree swallows zipped over the pasture after flying insects. A pair or two of them might hatch young in tree hollows in this pasture. I saw a mature red-tailed hawk soaring over the meadow in search of gray squirrels and other prey. That hawk's mate probably is setting on eggs in a stick platform high in a nearby tree. I saw a few each of blue jays and American robins among the trees and on the ground in their quests for food. Eventually, some of the jays and robins will settle in the meadow to nest in the trees. And I saw a couple pairs of song sparrows among the multiflora rose bushes, a place where they are already rearing offspring.
This is a pretty meadow in Lancaster County farm country, made the more interesting by the birds living in it. Readers need only to quietly visit similar habitats to enjoy the birds, other critters and plant life in them. Enjoy them, but please leave them alone.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Birds in Mill Creek Meadows
For an hour and a half each morning for the last couple days, I had been looking for birds in the beautiful short-grass meadows along sections of Mill Creek in farmland only a mile, or two, south of New Holland, Pennsylvania. The birds I saw and their activities were typical of early April in this region.
Loose flocks each of American robins and purple grackles were picturesque on the lush, green grass. Both species were looking for invertebrates among the grass roots in the pastures they dominated. The robins were particularly abundant, and present in most every meadow I visited. They have adapted well to short-grass lawns and pastures to find food, especially since they originally lived in woodland edges and clearings, and most of their thrush relatives are still woodland birds.
I saw three species of waterfowl, Canada geese, mallard ducks and wood ducks, on most all the meadows. Presumably, those birds will nest there, using the creek for navigation and part of their food supply. I saw a few pairs of Canadas together, but also a couple female geese on their nests incubating eggs. Male Canadas guard their mates and eggs, and, later, help raise the four to six goslings per family.
I saw a few pairs of mallards, but also a couple groups of bachelor drakes, indicating their mates are setting on concealed, grassy nests on the ground. Female mallards are well camouflaged, which allows them to blend into their surroundings to the point of being invisible until they move. Not being noticed by predators, allows mallard mothers a better chance at raising ducklings.
And I saw a beautiful pair of wood ducks swimming in the creek in one little patch of trees and shrubbery along Mill Creek. Though forest birds, woodies adapted to less than woodland conditions to raise young. They still nest in tree cavities, however. Wood ducks are along Mill Creek in intensely cultivated cropland because of farmers erecting bird boxes in patches of trees along waterways, including this one.
A few male red-winged blackbirds were on territory in some of the meadows I visited. When perched on tall grass, a cattail, or the twig of a shrub, they often raised their feathers, which emphasizes their red shoulder patches, and sang "konk-ga-reee" to establish territory, repel males of their kind and attract females for breeding.
Pairs of red-wings will eventually raise young in the taller, grassy or reedy plants in some of these cow pastures. Females build each grassy cradle on a few cattail or tall-grass stems a couple feet above the ground or water level.
I saw about a dozen tree swallows skipping along in mid-air here and there and feeding on flying insects. I first noticed them by the flash of white on their bellies that give away their presence. Tree swallows are the earliest of north-bound swallows in spring. But many of them will summer in pastures here to raise young in tree cavities, abandoned woodpecker holes and bird boxes erected especially for them.
I spotted a couple pairs of eastern bluebirds, one in each of two meadows with a few tall trees and shrubbery. The bluebirds were perched on twigs and fences and dropped to the grass to catch small invertebrates. But soon they will begin to hatch offspring in tree and fence post cavities, deserted woodpecker holes and in bird boxes erected especially for them, all in pasture habitats.
I saw one pair of killdeer plovers trotting about and picking up invertebrates to eat in each of two meadows. Each pair of these inland shorebirds might hatch four young on the gravel of a gravel bar along Mill Creek, which is their species' original nesting niche. Today, many pairs of killdeer have adapted to hatching young on gravel parking lots, driveways and roofs, which has increased their population.
A red-tailed hawk soared over one meadow in its quest for prey animals, particularly meadow mice. And a male belted kingfisher flew up Mill Creek, possibly looking for schools of killifish minnows in the creek.
A few kinds of permanent resident, thicket birds were spotted in little, overgrown areas of a couple of meadows. I noticed a pair each of song sparrows and Carolina chickadees, two male cardinals chasing each other in a fight over nesting territory, one male house finch and one American goldfinch. Probably all these birds, but the chickadees, will stay in those thickets to raise youngsters this summer. Song sparrows seem particularly happy to nest in thickets near waterways and ponds.
And one clump of tall trees along Mill Creek in a pasture harbored an American kestrel, a downy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker. And it's possible those three species will stay in that grove of trees to hatch young.
Lots of birds can be spotted in spring. We need only to get out and look for them.
Loose flocks each of American robins and purple grackles were picturesque on the lush, green grass. Both species were looking for invertebrates among the grass roots in the pastures they dominated. The robins were particularly abundant, and present in most every meadow I visited. They have adapted well to short-grass lawns and pastures to find food, especially since they originally lived in woodland edges and clearings, and most of their thrush relatives are still woodland birds.
I saw three species of waterfowl, Canada geese, mallard ducks and wood ducks, on most all the meadows. Presumably, those birds will nest there, using the creek for navigation and part of their food supply. I saw a few pairs of Canadas together, but also a couple female geese on their nests incubating eggs. Male Canadas guard their mates and eggs, and, later, help raise the four to six goslings per family.
I saw a few pairs of mallards, but also a couple groups of bachelor drakes, indicating their mates are setting on concealed, grassy nests on the ground. Female mallards are well camouflaged, which allows them to blend into their surroundings to the point of being invisible until they move. Not being noticed by predators, allows mallard mothers a better chance at raising ducklings.
And I saw a beautiful pair of wood ducks swimming in the creek in one little patch of trees and shrubbery along Mill Creek. Though forest birds, woodies adapted to less than woodland conditions to raise young. They still nest in tree cavities, however. Wood ducks are along Mill Creek in intensely cultivated cropland because of farmers erecting bird boxes in patches of trees along waterways, including this one.
A few male red-winged blackbirds were on territory in some of the meadows I visited. When perched on tall grass, a cattail, or the twig of a shrub, they often raised their feathers, which emphasizes their red shoulder patches, and sang "konk-ga-reee" to establish territory, repel males of their kind and attract females for breeding.
Pairs of red-wings will eventually raise young in the taller, grassy or reedy plants in some of these cow pastures. Females build each grassy cradle on a few cattail or tall-grass stems a couple feet above the ground or water level.
I saw about a dozen tree swallows skipping along in mid-air here and there and feeding on flying insects. I first noticed them by the flash of white on their bellies that give away their presence. Tree swallows are the earliest of north-bound swallows in spring. But many of them will summer in pastures here to raise young in tree cavities, abandoned woodpecker holes and bird boxes erected especially for them.
I spotted a couple pairs of eastern bluebirds, one in each of two meadows with a few tall trees and shrubbery. The bluebirds were perched on twigs and fences and dropped to the grass to catch small invertebrates. But soon they will begin to hatch offspring in tree and fence post cavities, deserted woodpecker holes and in bird boxes erected especially for them, all in pasture habitats.
I saw one pair of killdeer plovers trotting about and picking up invertebrates to eat in each of two meadows. Each pair of these inland shorebirds might hatch four young on the gravel of a gravel bar along Mill Creek, which is their species' original nesting niche. Today, many pairs of killdeer have adapted to hatching young on gravel parking lots, driveways and roofs, which has increased their population.
A red-tailed hawk soared over one meadow in its quest for prey animals, particularly meadow mice. And a male belted kingfisher flew up Mill Creek, possibly looking for schools of killifish minnows in the creek.
A few kinds of permanent resident, thicket birds were spotted in little, overgrown areas of a couple of meadows. I noticed a pair each of song sparrows and Carolina chickadees, two male cardinals chasing each other in a fight over nesting territory, one male house finch and one American goldfinch. Probably all these birds, but the chickadees, will stay in those thickets to raise youngsters this summer. Song sparrows seem particularly happy to nest in thickets near waterways and ponds.
And one clump of tall trees along Mill Creek in a pasture harbored an American kestrel, a downy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker. And it's possible those three species will stay in that grove of trees to hatch young.
Lots of birds can be spotted in spring. We need only to get out and look for them.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Mini Migrant Ducks
On March 31, I saw a flock of 15 handsome bufflehead ducks on the Susquehanna River and a loose gathering of 24 pretty green-winged teal on an inches-deep farm pond in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. That is about the same number of green-wings I've seen on the pond at this time of the year in the last few years. They're probably the same individuals that have migrated through this area every spring, and some of their most recent descendants.
Every late March and into early April, I see at least a few little flocks of these smallest of ducks in North America migrate through this county, as they do across much of North America. Some groups of buffleheads rest and feed on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and certain, human-made impoundments. But other gatherings of them put down to loaf and ingest food on farm ponds as well. Migrant teal refresh in shallow wetlands and flooded fields, and on farm ponds where they occasionally overlap with buffleheads.
Buffleheads and green-wings have characteristics in common. Both kinds are about ten inches long, attractive and fly swiftly in small, compact groups. Both are energetic, have interesting courtship displays and nest mainly in northwestern North America. Females of both species are camouflaged, which allows them to blend into their surroundings, which is of greatest value when they are hatching eggs and caring for their young.
Buffleheads are the smallest of diving ducks. The attractive drakes are dark on top, with white flanks, chests and cheeks. Their mates are dark gray with a small white patch on each cheek.
Buffleheads dive under water from the surface to the bottom to eat amphipods, aquatic insects, snails, small fish, water vegetation and other edibles. They frequent brackish and fresh water in winter, but fresh water only in summer when raising ducklings.
Each female bufflehead lays a clutch of about a dozen eggs in a tree cavity or nest box erected especially for this species along rivers and lakes in forests. The newly-hatched ducklings climb up the inside of the hollow and jump out the entgrance to the water or ground below. Unharmed, the young follow their mother to a wetland or pond to feed on invertebrates.
Green-winged teal are the smallest of puddle or dabbling ducks that "tip-up", with their tails pointed toward the sky, to shovel seeds and water vegetation with their spoon-like bills from the shallows of ponds, wetlands and flooded fields. Males are dark above, with gray flanks and warm-brown heads, with a green stripe around and swept back from each eye. Female teal are brown and dappled for camouflage. Both genders have an iridescent, green speculum on each wing that makes them a little more colorful.
Green-wings nest on the ground under clumps of tall grass that conceal the eggs. Mother teal lead their young to wetlands choked with emergent plants where the ducklings feed on invertebrates and seeds.
Buffleheads and green-wings are cute, little ducks that pass through Lancaster County every spring. These migrants are well worth watching for on a variety of waters.
Every late March and into early April, I see at least a few little flocks of these smallest of ducks in North America migrate through this county, as they do across much of North America. Some groups of buffleheads rest and feed on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and certain, human-made impoundments. But other gatherings of them put down to loaf and ingest food on farm ponds as well. Migrant teal refresh in shallow wetlands and flooded fields, and on farm ponds where they occasionally overlap with buffleheads.
Buffleheads and green-wings have characteristics in common. Both kinds are about ten inches long, attractive and fly swiftly in small, compact groups. Both are energetic, have interesting courtship displays and nest mainly in northwestern North America. Females of both species are camouflaged, which allows them to blend into their surroundings, which is of greatest value when they are hatching eggs and caring for their young.
Buffleheads are the smallest of diving ducks. The attractive drakes are dark on top, with white flanks, chests and cheeks. Their mates are dark gray with a small white patch on each cheek.
Buffleheads dive under water from the surface to the bottom to eat amphipods, aquatic insects, snails, small fish, water vegetation and other edibles. They frequent brackish and fresh water in winter, but fresh water only in summer when raising ducklings.
Each female bufflehead lays a clutch of about a dozen eggs in a tree cavity or nest box erected especially for this species along rivers and lakes in forests. The newly-hatched ducklings climb up the inside of the hollow and jump out the entgrance to the water or ground below. Unharmed, the young follow their mother to a wetland or pond to feed on invertebrates.
Green-winged teal are the smallest of puddle or dabbling ducks that "tip-up", with their tails pointed toward the sky, to shovel seeds and water vegetation with their spoon-like bills from the shallows of ponds, wetlands and flooded fields. Males are dark above, with gray flanks and warm-brown heads, with a green stripe around and swept back from each eye. Female teal are brown and dappled for camouflage. Both genders have an iridescent, green speculum on each wing that makes them a little more colorful.
Green-wings nest on the ground under clumps of tall grass that conceal the eggs. Mother teal lead their young to wetlands choked with emergent plants where the ducklings feed on invertebrates and seeds.
Buffleheads and green-wings are cute, little ducks that pass through Lancaster County every spring. These migrants are well worth watching for on a variety of waters.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Early-April Flowers
Bradford pear trees, grape hyacinths and lesser celandines are all plant species not native to North America, but have spread across the landscape, including here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And they all have pretty flowers that begin blooming in abundance at the same time from late March into mid-April, depending on the weather.
Bradford pears generally are the most noticeable of these flowering plants, on lawns and city streets where they were planted, and in let-go, overgrown places where they established themselves. These trees are planted for their multitudes of lovely, white blossoms that draw early, pollinating insects, including honey bees. But many Bradford pears break down easily in strong winds, making them not an ideal lawn and street tree after all.
Many birds, including starlings and American robins, eat Bradford pears' berry-like fruits, digest the pulp, but pass the seeds in their droppings across the countryside as they fly here and there. Some of those seeds sprout new trees. "Wild" Bradford pears also have many flowers in April, the nectar of which feeds early insects, and striking, red and maroon leaves in November, that add more beauty to overgrown acres.
Grape-hyacinths grow from bulbs planted in flower beds and on lawns. Each hyacinth has grass-like leaves and an interesting, grape-like cluster of bell-shaped, bluish blooms. But this species spreads rapidly across certain parts of some grassy lawns, roadsides and fields, making those human-made habitats bluish with their great abundance of beautiful blossoms.
Lesser celandines with shiny foliage and cheery, yellow flowers dominate many partly shaded, moist floors of riparian woods, as would a carpet, along local streams and creeks during the early part of April. Native blue violets and Virginia bluebells, with their purple and blue blossoms, respectively, grow among some patches of lesser celandines, adding more beauty and cheer to the wooded bottom lands by the middle of April.
Early to mid-April is the time to see the lovely flowers of these flowering plants, as well as the blooms of other plants. Though not native to North America, they add to this continent's beauties.
Bradford pears generally are the most noticeable of these flowering plants, on lawns and city streets where they were planted, and in let-go, overgrown places where they established themselves. These trees are planted for their multitudes of lovely, white blossoms that draw early, pollinating insects, including honey bees. But many Bradford pears break down easily in strong winds, making them not an ideal lawn and street tree after all.
Many birds, including starlings and American robins, eat Bradford pears' berry-like fruits, digest the pulp, but pass the seeds in their droppings across the countryside as they fly here and there. Some of those seeds sprout new trees. "Wild" Bradford pears also have many flowers in April, the nectar of which feeds early insects, and striking, red and maroon leaves in November, that add more beauty to overgrown acres.
Grape-hyacinths grow from bulbs planted in flower beds and on lawns. Each hyacinth has grass-like leaves and an interesting, grape-like cluster of bell-shaped, bluish blooms. But this species spreads rapidly across certain parts of some grassy lawns, roadsides and fields, making those human-made habitats bluish with their great abundance of beautiful blossoms.
Lesser celandines with shiny foliage and cheery, yellow flowers dominate many partly shaded, moist floors of riparian woods, as would a carpet, along local streams and creeks during the early part of April. Native blue violets and Virginia bluebells, with their purple and blue blossoms, respectively, grow among some patches of lesser celandines, adding more beauty and cheer to the wooded bottom lands by the middle of April.
Early to mid-April is the time to see the lovely flowers of these flowering plants, as well as the blooms of other plants. Though not native to North America, they add to this continent's beauties.
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