Category: Perching Birds (Passeriformes)

Posted on

An Early Winter Interlude

Hermit Thrush
After decades of heavy manual labor, it’s time for your editor to go under the knife and have his guts put back where they belong.  We hope you won’t mind if we take a little break while he behaves like this Hermit Thrush and becomes a bit of a recluse for a while.  We’ll be back soon.
Posted on

Seven Reasons to Visit Middle Creek’s Willow Point Right Now

Here are 7 reasons why you, during the coming week or so, should consider spending some time at Willow Point overlooking the lake at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.

REASON NUMBER ONE— Wildlife is at close quarters along the trail leading from the parking lot to Willow Point…

Eastern Gray Squirrel
Eastern Gray Squirrels are common and easily seen along the edge of the woods.
Eastern Bluebirds
Eastern Bluebirds are investigating nest boxes and may presently be using them as communal roost sites during cold, windy nights.
Hermit Thrush
A Hermit Thrush was just one of the songbirds we found foraging along the edge of Willow Point Trail.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Look carefully and you may see one or more species of woodpeckers in the mature trees.  We found this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in a maple near the trail’s terminus at the Willow Point viewing area.

REASON NUMBER TWO— A variety of waterfowl species are lingering on ice-free sections of the lake surrounding Willow Point…

Tundra Swans and Canada Geese
Noisy flocks of Tundra Swans and Canada Geese on open water at Willow Point.
American Black Ducks
American Black Ducks on a fly by.
Mallards
Mallard drakes near the point.
Green-winged Teal
A small flock of Green-winged Teal feeding among the Mallards.
Northern Shovelers
A flock of Northern Shovelers has been frequenting the shallows along the south side of Willow Point for at least two weeks.
Common Mergansers
Common Mergansers diving for benthic fare.

REASON NUMBER THREE— Bald Eagles are conspicuous, easily seen and heard…

Bald Eagles
Bald Eagles on tree stumps in the lake.
Bald Eagle
A hatch-year/juvenile Bald Eagle on a glide over Willow Point.

REASON NUMBER FOUR— Northern Harriers have been making close passes over Willow Point as they patrol Middle Creek’s grasslands while hunting voles…

Northern Harrier
A female Northern Harrier over Willow Point.
Northern Harrier
A hatch-year/juvenile Northern Harrier gazing over a field of goldenrod adjacent to Willow Point.
Northern Harrier
Hatch-year/juvenile Northern Harrier patrolling a field of goldenrod and preparing to pounce.
Northern Harrier
A Northern Harrier buoyantly flying past Willow Point just prior to sunset.

REASON NUMBER FIVE— The annual observance of the White-tailed Deity holidays may be drawing to a close for the gasoline and gunpowder gang, but for the supreme ungulates, the rituals that lead to consummation of their unions are still ongoing…

White-tailed Deity
Mystical White-tailed Deities hiding in plain sight near Willow Point.
White-tailed Deity
Having so far survived the ceremonies of sacrifice practiced by worshipers clad in vibrant orange attire, these divine idols agree to a more civilized ritual, a gentlemanly duel.

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity

White-tailed Deity
…then it’s off to find the fair maidens.

REASON NUMBER SIX— Sandhill Cranes are still being seen from Willow Point…

Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes have been spending time on dry portions of the lake bed and in grasslands and croplands to the north.

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes
These Sandhill Cranes could depart from Middle Creek’s refuge at any time, particularly if the deep freeze returns to make feeding more difficult.  You’ll want to visit soon if you want to see them.

REASON NUMBER SEVEN— The crowds that will accompany the arrival of thousands of Snow Geese in early 2025 can make visiting Willow Point a stressful experience.  Visit now to see these birds and mammals at Willow Point and you might just have the place all to yourself.  Then you can spend your time looking through the flocks of waterfowl and other birds for unusual new arrivals instead of wading through a sea of humanity.

White-crowned Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area’s Willow Point.
Posted on

Purple Finch Irruption?

Each spring and fall, Purple Finches are regular migrants through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  Northbound movements usually peak in April and early May.  During the summer, these birds nest primarily in cool coniferous forests to our north.  Then, in October and November each year, they make another local appearance on their way to wintering grounds in the southeastern United States.  A significant population of Purple Finches remains to our north through the colder months, inhabiting spruce-pine and mixed forests from the Great Lakes east through New England and southeastern Canada.  This population can be irruptive, moving south in conspicuous numbers to escape inclement weather, food shortages, and other environmental conditions.  Every few years, these irruptive birds can be found visiting suburbs, parks, and feeding stations—sometimes lingering in areas not often visited by Purple Finches.  Right now, Purple Finches in flocks larger than those that moved through earlier in the fall are being seen throughout the lower Susquehanna valley.  Snow and blustery weather to our north may be prompting these birds to shift south for a visit.  Here are some looks at members of a gathering of more than four dozen Purple Finches we’ve been watching in Lebanon County this month…

Purple Finches
Purple Finches are easily distinguished from House Finches by their notched tails, darker streaking, and well-defined facial markings.  Though most frequently found in proximity to  conifers, they also visit native deciduous trees and shrubs to snack on berries, seeds, and buds.  Purple Finches can be particularly fond of maple, birch, poplar, sumac, and viburnum.
Purple Finches
Adult male Purple Finches are unmistakable in their wine-colored plumage.
Purple Finches
Purple Finches join a Dark-eyed Junco, a White-throated Sparrow, and a Black-capped Chickadee at a feeding station.
Purple Finches
Purple Finches eating black oil sunflower seed.
Male Purple Finch
A male Purple Finch in successional forest edge habitat consumes seeds from a dried stand of goldenrod.
Purple Finches
Purple Finches with juncos and Northern Cardinals.
Purple Finches
Purple Finches filling up on supplemental foods.
Posted on

Nothing But Leftovers?

If you provide supplemental foods for the birds visiting your garden sanctuary, we don’t need to tell you how expensive those provisions have become.  It can be quite frustrating when the majority of these pricey supplies get gobbled up by the chunky squirrels that dominate your feeding station and leave hungry birds with nothing but the tiny little scraps.

Here at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, we like to feed whole peanuts in the shell to the resident and migratory native birds.  But placed out in the open on a stump or a tray, or even within a hopper feeder, peanuts are quickly carried away and cached for latter use by squirrels and jays.  The chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, wrens, and woodpeckers that could really use the extra food to maintain their body fat through the winter get nothing but leftovers.

It’s not unusual for squirrels and jays to scarf up and carry away 90% or more of the expensive peanuts placed at your feeding station.  The dozen or more other species of native birds that will partake of this offering get the leftovers or nothing at all.

We’ve discovered a solution that, for us, saves money and more efficiently feeds the native species of birds that stop by our oasis.  We’ve been using inexpensive ($6-$8) wire mesh tube feeders intended for suet nuggets to serve whole peanuts in the shell to our guests.  As long as they can’t knock the feeders to the ground, squirrels have failed to raid the contents.  Like other birds, Blue Jays can still peck away to remove the peanuts from their shells and eat them on the spot, but they can no longer haul off a whole feeder load at a time.  Each must carefully crack the shell and remove an individual peanut or portion thereof for immediate consumption.  The empty shells remain mostly in the tubes and don’t make a mess.  Pesky hoards of non-native European Starlings sometimes visit, but soon become frustrated because their bills aren’t adapted for cracking the hardened peanut husks; they grab any loose morsels they can get, then move along.

Suet Nugget Feeders
We assemble these suet nugget feeders without installing the included perches.  We fill them with UNSALTED peanuts in the shell, then hang them from stiff wire hooks beneath the larger horizontal limbs on some of our trees.  About every 5 to 10 days, we take them down to remove empty shells, clean the feeder, and add peanuts.  A 2-pound bag that would disappear within hours if freely accessible to squirrels now fills 3  feeders or more and nourishes our native birds for a week or longer.

The list of native birds visiting our peanut feeders includes:

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Blue Jay

Carolina Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Carolina Wren

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The most recent addition to the list of birds feasting on peanuts from our wire mesh tube feeders was this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that visited yesterday.

So don’t pay hard-earned cash to feed nothing but leftovers to your intended guests, give wire mesh tube feeders and whole peanuts in the shell a try.  The colorful native birds will thank you with their presence.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
A welcome visitor, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker stopping by for dinner…
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
…and varying its diet by finding small insects among the bark of some of our larger trees.
Posted on

Five Favorite Visitors from the Northern Forests

As the autumn bird migration draws to a close for 2024, we’re delighted to be finding five of our favorite visitors from the coniferous and mixed forests of Canada and the northernmost continental United States.

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers drill evenly spaced holes which they repeatedly visit to harvest “sap” and the insects that become trapped therein.  These surgically small excavations penetrate only the bark and the phloem, a shallow, spongy layer of the trunk that carries sugars from the leaves to other parts of the tree.  Seldom do they puncture the thin, underlying cambium layer which protects the true sapwood.  After healing, sapsucker holes leave linear rows of small scars which are sometimes still discernible decades after a bird’s final visit.  This adult male will probably linger in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed until colder weather renders the tree totally dormant, the flow of “sap” ebbs, and small insects become harder to find.  Then he’ll make his way off toward southern forests of oak and pine for the remainder of the winter.  Sapsuckers work their way north as sugary “sap” begins flowing again in the spring.
Hermit Thrush
The Hermit Thrush is another denizen of coniferous and mixed forests.  In habitats with dense cover and sufficient food sources like fruit-bearing shrubs and vines, some will remain through the winter.  The Hermit Thrush is the only spot-breasted thrush regularly seen in our region from November through March.
Fox Sparrow
Almost the size of a thrush, the largest of our native sparrows, the Fox Sparrow, is currently at the peak of its southbound migration.  While taking a break from their nocturnal flights, some may stray from forest edges to visit suburban feeding stations.  Most leave our area by mid-December, then begin returning north as early as mid-February.
Pine Siskins
Not present every year, flocks of Pine Siskins are beginning to arrive in the lower Susquehanna region.  They are currently most common along the mountain tops of the Ridge and Valley Province where they are feeding on the seeds of the Sweet Birch, a tree also known as Black Birch.  Look for them around niger seed feeders and on the prickly seed balls of cultivated American Sweetgum, but don’t be surprised if they quickly pass us by to spend the winter on the Atlantic Coastal Plain to our south where this native tree grows in abundance.
Female/Juvenile Male Purple Finch
Since late October, Purple Finches have been widespread throughout the region.  These female/juvenile male types are frequently being seen at feeders, particularly near woodlands and other areas with stands of conifers.
Male Purple Finch
Less frequently seen are the adult male Purple Finches in their raspberry-colored plumage.  What a dandy.

While right now is the best time to get out and look for these species from the northern forests, any or all of them could linger into the winter months, particularly where the food supply is sufficient and conifers and other evergreens provide cover from the blustery weather.

Posted on

A Visit to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Mid-November is our favorite time of year to visit Hawk Mountain Sanctuary on Blue Mountain/Kittatinny Ridge just to the east of the lower Susuquehanna valley near Kempton, Pennsylvania.  By now, the huge crowds that come to see October’s world-famous raptor flights and spectacular fall foliage have dwindled to small groups of serious hawkwatchers and hardy trail enthusiasts.  Join us as we drop in on the Keystone State’s most famous birding destination.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Entrance
The entrance to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is located at 1700 Hawk Mountain Road off PA Route 895 east of PA Route 61.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Headquarters
Start your visit with a stop inside the refuge headquarters building where you’ll find raptor ecology and migration displays, a gift shop, and a window overlooking a busy bird-feeding station.  Hawk Mountain is a non-profit organization that receives no taxpayer support and relies largely upon membership fees and donations for the majority of its operating expenses.  Inside the headquarters building, you can pay dues and join on the spot.
Native Plant Garden
The native plant habitat includes a pond and a rain garden that collects stormwater from the roof of the headquarters building.  There’s also a memorial fern garden named for the refuge’s first curator, Maurice Broun, author of a 1938 index to the ferns of North America.
Trail Sign
After a visit to the habitat garden, it’s time to make our way toward the lookouts.
PA Historical Marker, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.
2024 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.  We stopped at the trail crossing along the mountain road to admire this newly erected sign.
Hawk Mounatin Sanctuary Trailhead Gate
Trail fees are collected to support the sanctuary’s operations and maintain its 2,600 acres.  Members enter free.
Hawk Mountain Interpretive Kiosk
Interpretive signs and trail information are provided throughout the refuge, particularly along the mile-long climb to the North Lookout.
River of Rocks Trail
Aside from the route to the lookouts (along which sturdy shoes and good balance are a must), many of the sanctuary’s hiking trails require special equipment and preparations.  Be certain to follow the posted guidelines.
Raptor education panels along the lookout trail.
The scope of Hawk Mountain’s educational mission includes topics ranging from local Appalachian natural history to global raptor conservation.
Hawk Mountain South Lookout
Just a few hundred yards from the entrance gate, South Lookout provides a panoramic view of the “River of Rocks” talus outcrop and beyond.  On days with southerly winds, autumn raptor flights are sometimes enumerated from this location.
North Lookout
Hawk Mountain’s “classroom in the sky”, the North Lookout, hosts school and scout groups learning raptor identification and ecology.  It’s the sanctuary’s primary location for counting thousands of migrating birds of prey each fall.
Turkey Vulture
Students quickly learn to identify distant Turkey Vultures by their upturned wings held in a dihedral posture and by their rocking motion in flight.
Hawk Mountain North Lookout
After the pupils depart for the day, there are but few observers remaining to find and count passing hawks and eagles during mid-November.
Southern Red-backed Vole
While sitting quietly among the boulders of North Lookout waiting for the next bird to come along, one can be treated to a visit by one or more of a local population of Southern Red-backed Voles (Clethrionomys gapperi).
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawks remain common among the flights of mid-November migrants.
Red-tailed Hawk
And it happens to be an ideal time to see Red-shouldered Hawks on the move.
While you were busy looking up, the Southern Red-backed Vole was at your feet scarfing up the crumbs from your sandwich.  When not availed of our leftovers, its diet includes seeds, various plant parts, and subterranean fungi.
Common Ravens
Playful groups of Common Ravens often provide comic relief during interludes in the parade of migrants.
Northern Short-tailed Shrew
Don’t look now, but your friend the vole has scurried away and a Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda) has arrived from beneath the rocks to finish the remnants of your lunch.  On the rocky outcrops atop the ridges of southeastern Pennsylvania, these mammals are often found in close company; Red-backed Voles traveling through the burrows and runways created by Northern Short-tailed Shrews instead of excavating their own.  Unlike the vegetarian voles, shrews are classified as insectivores, behaving mostly as carnivorous mammals.  Equipped with salivary venom, they can consume prey as large as other similarly sized vertebrates, including small voles.
Bald Eagle
Flights of Bald Eagles thrill visitors on North Lookout throughout November.
Golden Eagle
But late-season visitors really want to see a Golden Eagle.  On a chilly day with gusty northwest winds, few are disappointed.
Hatch-year/juvenile American Goshawk
We got very lucky during a recent day on North Lookout, spotting this rarity, a hatch-year/juvenile American Goshawk (Accipiter atricapillus), a species which, in 2023, was split from the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), a species which was simultaneously assigned the new common name Eurasian Goshawk.  Even more recently, within the past several weeks, the genus name Astur has replaced Accipiter for the goshawks, now formally known as the the American Goshawk (Astur atricapillus) and the Eurasian Goshawk (Astur gentilis).  The new classification includes Cooper’s Hawk in the genus Astur, while the Sharp-shinned Hawk remains in the genus Accipiter.
Hatch-year/Juvenile American Goshawk
A November specialty, a hatch-year/juvenile American Goshawk (Astur atricapillus) passes the North Lookout.  During this century, the drop in American Goshawk numbers has been precipitous.  Most eastern hawk-counting stations see fewer than four or five goshawks during their entire fall season.  Many no longer see them at all.
Hatch-year/juvenile American Goshawk
Here and gone in a jiffy, a brief but memorable look at a hatch-year/juvenile American Goshawk.

If the cold of mid-November doesn’t cramp your style, and if you’d like to seize your best opportunity for a much-coveted sighting of one or more of the late-season specialties, then now is the time to visit Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.  Bring a cushion upon which to sit, dress in layers, pack a lunch, and plan to spend the day.  You could be rewarded with memorable views of the seldom-encountered species some people spend years of their lives hoping to see.

To learn more, check out the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary website.

Posted on

Photo of the Day

Winter Wren
Another arrival from the northern forests, the petite Winter Wren is often difficult to observe.  Look for it right now in wetlands, along wooded streams, and among fallen timber where it sometimes resembles a mouse scurrying about looking for food.  In good habitat, some of these migrants will remain through the colder months and will on occasion burst into song.  Hearing it is sure to brighten your day.
Posted on

Photo of the Day

Brown Creeper
Going almost undetected, the Brown Creeper quietly probes the bark for spiders and tiny insects, as well as their eggs, larvae, and pupae.  These unique little birds are rare breeders in the lower Susquehanna valley, finding larger tracts of forest to our north more to their liking.  Now is perhaps the best time of year to find them, while their southbound migration reaches its peak.  Small numbers of Brown Creepers stick around through winter, somehow finding enough to eat among the cracks and crevices of the tree trunks.
Posted on

Things to See While You’re Leaf Peeping

During your foray to view the colorful foliage of the autumn landscape, a little effort will reveal much more than meets the eye of the casual observer.

Fallen Foliage in the Forest
Don’t just stand there like a bump on a log, go for a stroll, watch your step, and have a look around.  There’s a lot to see out there!
Witch-hazel
The dense understory of this forest on Blue Mountain consists almost exclusively of Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana).
Witch-hazel in Flower
Witch-hazel is unique among our native flowering shrubs; it blooms in autumn.
Common Buckeye
Until we experience a heavy frost, some of our most beautiful butterflies, including this Common Buckeye, remain active along forest edges.
An Eastern Tailed Blue
An Eastern Tailed Blue.
A Pearl Crescent.
A Pearl Crescent.
A Variegated Fritillary.
A Variegated Fritillary.
Painted Lady.
A Painted Lady.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
The arrival of large numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers heralds the transition to movements of migrants that will spend the colder months in temperate climates like ours instead of continuing on to the tropics.  In winter, small numbers of “yellow-rumps” sometimes linger in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, as long as a supply of wild berries is readily available.
Palm Warbler
The Palm Warbler, a persistent “tail wagger”, is another late-season migrant that occasionally spends the winter.  The migration of these drab “Western Palm Warblers” will be followed in coming weeks by the more yellowish “Eastern Palm Warblers” of the eastern third of the species’ breeding range in Canada.
White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrows are southbound and easily observed right now.  Many will remain along our brushy forest edges for winter.
Dark-eyed Junco
Another native sparrow, the familiar Dark-eyed Junco, is now arriving.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a secretive migratory woodpecker that is currently moving through the region on its way to southern pine forests for the winter.  Juveniles like this one in the lower right remain close to their parents during migration and continue to beg for food.
Pileated Woodpecker
The Pileated Woodpecker is a resident species in our mature forests and woodlands.  We were showered by “sawdust” as we watched this one dismantling a rotted dead tree while searching for beetle grubs and other invertebrates.
Eastern Bluebird
You may see Eastern Bluebirds year-round in the lower Susquehanna valley, but many are migratory.  A southbound push is currently transiting our area.
Hawk Watching on Blue Mountain at Boyd Big Tree Preserve.
Mix your leaf watching with hawk watching by visiting a ridgetop vista like this one at Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area on Blue Mountain north of Harrisburg and you can double your pleasure.
Common Raven
In addition to spectacular foliage, you stand a good chance of seeing an inquisitive Common Raven…
Screaming Red-tailed Hawk
…or a migrating Red-tailed Hawk that gives you a good scream as it passes by…
Bald Eagle
…or a majestic Bald Eagle.
Common Ravens
You may even double your fun by seeing two Common Ravens…
Red-tailed Hawks
…or a couple of migrating Red-tailed Hawks…
Bald Eagles
…or a pair of Bald Eagles passing thru.

You too can experience the joys of walking and chewing gum at the same time, so grab your field glasses, your camera, and your jacket, then spend lots of time outdoors this fall.  You can see all of this and much more.

Don’t forget to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Diurnal Raptors” tab at the top of this page to help you find a place to see both fall foliage and migrating birds of prey in coming weeks.  And click the “Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines” tab to find a photo guide that can help you identify the autumn leaves you encounter during your outings.

Posted on

A Sunny Day to Get Things Moving Again

At last, the bird migration is picking up where it left off after the third week of September when rain, fog, and gloom arrived for a two week stay in the lower Susquehanna valley.  Now that this persistent meteorological interluder has departed the stage, our stalled avians can resume the autumn spectacle.

Barn Swallow
There are still a few Barn Swallows around.  By October, they’ve usually departed for more southern climes.  Our more common late-season species are the Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, both of which tend to be found close to water and are thus able to still grab flying insects on mornings when the air temperature over land is too cold for their favored prey.  We found this Barn Swallow following the lead of its cool-weather counterparts, hawking up its breakfast over a warm sun-drenched pond.
Eastern Phoebe
While the vast majority of the Neotropical flycatchers are now gone for the year, Eastern Phoebes are currently moving through in large numbers.  Like the late-season swallows, these insectivores are a temperate species with an affinity for habitats near water.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Though getting harder to find, there are still some Neotropical warblers moving through. This Black-throated Green Warbler was strongly outnumbered by the Ruby-crowned Kinglets in a mixed flock of woodland songbirds.
Northern Parula
A Northern Parula in the mixed flock of migrants.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
One of dozens of Ruby-crowned Kinglets encountered this morning.
Blue Jay
Despite the inclement weather, diurnal flights of southbound Blue Jays have continued throughout the past week.
Blue Jays
Migrating Blue Jays are best seen during the first few hours after sunrise.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpeckers, after extending their range north through the Susquehanna watershed and beyond during the past century, have now become a regular fall migrant as they withdraw from the northernmost periphery of their breeding grounds.  This individual was photographed while taking a break from its diurnal flight and was one of more than three dozen seen at Second Mountain Hawk Watch on Thursday, October 3.
Osprey
After a significant delay, especially for the Neotropical Broad-winged Hawks, diurnal raptor flights have resumed.  Now is the time to see the widest variety of species, including migrants like this Osprey, at any one of the regional hawk-counting stations.
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Numbers of migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks are now reaching their seasonal peak.  Be certain to check out “Hawkwatchers Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and Other Diurnal Raptors” by clicking the tab at the top of this page.  There you’ll find a listing of regional lookouts and a photo guide to help you identify the species you see.
Posted on

Delayed by a Week of Rain

During this foggy, dreary week, if you happened to visit a parcel of land that included even a small patch of brushy growth here in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, you likely weren’t alone.  Among the migrating songbirds grounded by the inclement weather were an abundance of these thicket-dwelling warblers—a species aptly named the Common Yellowthroat.

Common Yellowthroat
A Common Yellowthroat, on an extended layover due to flight cancellations imposed by this week’s moisture-laden east winds, peers from the dense cover of a tangle of shrubs and thorny vines.
Common Yellowthroat
As soon as the inclement weather moves out, this adult male Common Yellowthroat and other avian migrants will resume their southbound journey.  Until then, he has plenty of time to scrounge around in the low-growing vegetation for insects and other fare to replenish the energy stores needed for the trip.

Get ready.  The sun will show its glow in just a couple of days and when it does, bottled-up birds are going to make a run for it.  Do plan to get out and have a look later this week.

Posted on

Photo of the Day

A juvenile Scarlet Tanager
We have at last reached the autumnal equinox, a day when everything is even stephen, equal time both with and without sunlight.  Southbound birds like this juvenile Scarlet Tanager can now freely be called “fall migrants”, even though the majority of tanagers and other Neotropical species departed for warmer climes earlier this month, technically during the summer season.
Posted on

This Week’s Enormous Diurnal Flights

For the past several weeks, we’ve given you a look at the fallout of Neotropical songbirds on mornings following significant nocturnal flights of southbound migrants.  Now let’s examine the diurnal (daytime) flights that have developed in recent days over parts of the lower Susquehanna basin and adjacent regions.

For those observing diurnal migrants, particularly at raptor-counting stations, the third week of September is prime time for large flights of tropics-bound Broad-winged Hawks.  Winds from easterly directions during this year’s movements kept the greatest concentrations of these birds in the Ridge and Valley Province and upper areas of the Piedmont as they transited our region along a southwesterly heading.  Counts topped 1,000 birds or more on at least one day at each of these lookouts during the past seven days.  Meanwhile at hawk watches along the Piedmont/Atlantic Coastal Plain border, where flights topped 10,000 or more birds on the best days last fall, observers struggled to see 100 Broad-winged Hawks in a single day.

Broad-winged Hawks
Dozens of migrating Broad-winged Hawks during a morning liftoff to the north of Blue Mountain.

Among the challenges counters faced while enumerating migratory Broad-winged Hawks this week was the often clear blue skies, a glaring sun, and the high altitude at which these raptors fly during the mid-day hours.

"Kettling" Broad-winged Hawks
Large numbers of Broad-winged Hawks climbing on a thermal updraft to gain altitude can become increasingly difficult to spot in a clear blue sky.
"Kettling" Broad-winged Hawks
Higher and higher they go until they practically disappear from view.
Broad-winged Hawks
Cloud cover can help make locating really high-flying birds a bit easier, but they can sometimes climb into the lower portion of the cloud and vanish.

Another factor complicating the hawk counters’ tasks this week, particularly west of the Susquehanna River, was the widespread presence of another group of diurnal fliers.

Blue Jay
Was it the migratory Blue Jays that are beginning to move through the area?   No.
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Was it the increasing numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks and other raptors?  No.
Hawkwatchers Scanning the Skies
So what was it that complicated the hawkwatchers’ efforts to find high-flying Broad-winged Hawks during this week’s flights?
Spotted Lanternfly
Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No.  And it’s nobody’s superhero either.  It’s the non-native Spotted Lanternfly and it is now very numerous west of the Susquehanna and common enough to the east to make even experienced observers take a second look while scanning the skies for Broad-winged Hawks and other migrating raptors.  Just how many do raptor counters have to contend with?  Even where these invasive insects have become less populous in the lower Susquehanna valley, hundreds still fill the skies above forest clearings around hawk-counting stations including Waggoner’s Gap, Second Mountain, and Rocky Ridge County Park.
Spotted Lanternflies on Radar
Spotted Lanternfly populations explode with great vigor as they colonize areas with plenty of tender new growth on native, non-native, and cultivated shrubs, trees, and vines.  Earlier this week, National Weather Service Doppler Radar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, captured enormous mid-afternoon flights of Spotted Lanternflies in recently invaded areas of southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.  (NOAA/National Weather Service Doppler Radar image)
Spotted Lanternflies on Radar
A base velocity image consisting primarily of Spotted Lanternflies in southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.  (NOAA/National Weather Service Doppler Radar image)

As the Broad-winged Hawk migration draws to a close during the coming ten days, the occurrence of the one dozen other migratory diurnal raptors will be on the upswing.  They generally fly at lower altitudes, often relying upon wind updrafts on the ridges for lift instead of high-rising thermal updrafts.  They therefore present better observation opportunities for visitors at hawk watch lookouts and are less frequently confused with high-flying Spotted Lanternflies.

Merlin
A Merlin seen earlier this week migrating through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  The numbers of migrating Merlins and other falcons will peak sometime in coming weeks.
Posted on

Photo of the Day

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
It’s a sign that things are about to change.  As the Neotropical warbler migration reaches its climax, other small songbirds like this Ruby-crowned Kinglet are beginning to make their southbound movements through the lower Susquehanna valley.  For a kinglet, the autumn journey is greatly abbreviated compared to that of the Neotropical species.  While the warblers and their traveling companions including vireos and flycatchers are primarily headed to the tropical climate zone for winter, kinglets spend the cold season in the temperate zone, an area encompassing most of the the continental United States and southern Canada.  These tiny birds feed mostly on small invertebrates which, particularly during the winter months, they find in spaces among the bark of mature trees.
Posted on

A Rare Find Among the Migrants at Second Mountain Hawk Watch

Yesterday morning’s fallout of hundreds of nocturnally migrating birds was followed overnight by the influx of one hundred or more new arrivals atop Second Mountain in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.  Visitors to the forest clearing used as a hawk watch lookout were treated to the antics of these colorful Neotropical species and more…

Red-eyed Vireo
…Red-eyed Vireo,…
A Great Crested Flycatcher.
…Great Crested Flycatcher,…
Least Flycatcher
…Least Flycatcher,…
A Northern Parula.
…Northern Parula,…
Juvenile Northern Paula
…juvenile Northern Paula,…
Nashville Warblers
…and quarrelsome Nashville Warblers.

These night-flying warblers, vireos, and flycatchers did again provide a thrilling show during the hours after sunrise, but today’s rarity passed through among the hundreds of migrating diurnal raptors—the tropics-bound Broad-winged Hawks—that made their way down the ridges of the lower Susquehanna valley this afternoon.

"Kettling" Broad-winged Hawks
A “kettle” of Broad-winged Hawks climbing on a thermal updraft above Second Mountain Hawk Watch.
Broad-winged Hawks
After gaining altitude, Broad-winged Hawks glide away toward the southwest in search of the next thermal updraft upon which they will rise to continue their journey to Texas, Mexico, and beyond.  Over three hundred of these raptors were counted as they passed the Second Mountain lookout today.
"Kettling" Broad-winged Hawks
Another “kettling” flock of migrating Broad-winged Hawks above Second Mountain.
Light-morph and dark-morph Broad-winged Hawks
A closer look reveals something unusual.  While the Broad-winged Hawk at the bottom center of the image displays the typical light-morph plumage, the bird in the upper left appears to be a dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk, a rarity in the eastern United States.
Dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk
A zoomed-in view of the probable dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk seen over Second Mountain this afternoon.  Populations of these variants nest in areas of central and western Canada.

The peak of the autumn Broad-winged Hawk migration will likely occur during the coming two weeks with many counting stations tallying more than one thousand birds on the best of days.  Visit one of these prominent lookout points so that you too can witness this amazing spectacle.  Click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Diurnal Raptors” tab at the top of this page to find a hawk watch near you!

Posted on

Pot o’ Gold on the Ridgetops

Bathed in glowing sunshine, a very large fallout of migrating Neotropical songbirds enlivened the forest edge atop Second Mountain in northern Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, this morning.  While last night’s flight was widespread beneath a dome of atmospheric high pressure covering the Mid-Atlantic States, this is a look at some of the 500 -1,000 migrants observed feeding on insects and other natural foods at just this single location.

Blackpoll and Black-throated Green Warblers
As the composition of the nightly flights begins to transition to species that start their migration later in the season, numbers of birds like the Blackpoll Warbler (top) are beginning to rival those of the heretofore very common Black-throated Green Warbler (bottom).
Blackpoll Warbler
A Blackpoll Warbler.
Bay-breasted Warbler
The Bay-breasted Warbler, another common species found among the fallout flock.
Tennessee Warbler
The Tennessee Warbler was today’s most abundant migrant with at least 200 birds seen moving among the other species.
Tennessee Warbler
A newly arrived Tennessee Warbler at sunrise.
Tennessee Warbler
A Tennessee Warbler snatches breakfast.
Magnolia Warbler
The Magnolia Warbler was another common find among today’s migrants.
Magnolia Warbler
A Magnolia Warbler.
Nashville Warbler
A Nashville Warbler among tangles of Mile-a-minute Weed.
Nashville Warbler
A Nashville Warbler.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Adult Male Black-throated Blue Warbler
An adult male Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Northern Parula
An acrobatic Northern Parula.
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warblers continue their southerly trek.
American Redstart
An American Redstart.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
A Chestnut-sided Warbler feeding on Mile-a-minute Weed berries.
Cape May Warbler
A Cape May Warbler.
Adult Male Cape May Warbler
A handsome adult male Cape May Warbler.
Swainson's Thrush
A Swainson’s Thrush.
Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanagers continue to work their way south through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
Olive-sided Flycatcher
A composite image of an uncommon find, a large-headed Olive-sided Flycatcher seen perched atop a dead tree snag.
Philadelphia Vireo
A brief encounter with a Philadelphia Vireo, another uncommon species.
Blue-headed Vireo
A Blue-headed Vireo, typically the last of its genus to move south in the fall, put in a welcome appearance among the hundreds of migrants.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
A favorite diurnal migrant, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, was seen feeding on flowers that grew from the remains of garden waste dumped illegally along the mountain road last autumn.

Many of the observers at the Second Mountain Hawk Watch commented that this morning’s fallout was by far the best they had seen anywhere in the region during recent years.  Others believed it to be the best they had ever seen.  It was indeed less like a “wave” of migrants and more like a “tsunami”.  Choosing a good viewing location and being there at the right time can improve your chances of seeing a spectacle like this.  The good news is, it looks like another big flight is currently underway, so finding a forest edge on a ridgetop or along a utility right-of-way just might pay off for you early tomorrow morning.

Nocturnal migrating birds, a southwest-bound flight down the ridges of central Pennsylvania as indicated by Doppler radar between 10:30 and 11:30 PM EDT on September 11, 2024.  (NOAA/National Weather Service image)
Posted on

This Week’s Review of the Morning Fallouts

Clear, cool nights have provided ideal flight conditions for nocturnal Neotropical migrants and other southbound birds throughout the week.  Fix yourself a drink and a little snack, then sit down and enjoy this set of photographs that includes just some of the species we found during sunrise feeding frenzies atop several of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed’s ridges.  Hurry up, because here they come…

Black-throated Green Warbler
A Black-throated Green Warbler.
Black-throated Green Warbler
The Black-throated Green Warbler was perhaps the most frequently identified treetop warbler during the most recent four mornings.
Black-throated Green Warbler
A Black-throated Green Warbler with a unique variation in the crown plumage.
Blackburnian Warbler
The Blackburnian Warbler was another plentiful species.
Cape May Warblers
Cape May Warblers have an affinity for conifers like this Eastern White Pine.
Cape May Warbler
But when traveling in mixed flocks with other migrants, Cape May Warblers can also be found feeding in the crown foliage of deciduous trees.
Tennessee Warbler
This adult Tennessee Warbler appears to be adorned in a very worn set of plumage…
Tennessee Warbler
…and its traveling companion looks like it’s overdue for a new set of feathers as well.
Nashville Warbler
Like the Tennessee Warbler, the Nashville Warbler was common among mixed flocks.
Nashville Warbler
A Nashville Warbler atop a Black Cherry.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
This Chestnut-sided Warbler was one of several found among the more common species of migrants.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
A Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
We were lucky enough to spot this male Chestnut-sided Warbler sporting his namesake flank feathers.
Black-and-white Warbler
A Black-and-white Warbler uses its nuthatch-like feeding behavior to search the tree bark for edible invertebrates.
Common Yellowthroat
To see the Common Yellowthroat, one must cease looking upward into the high canopy and instead give the aching neck a rest by peering into the low vegetation at the forest edge.
Magnolia Warbler
While checking the low growth, keep an eye open for other migrants among the shrubs and tangles. This Magnolia Warbler glows in the rays of a rising sun as it searches for a meal after a long night of travel.
House Wren
Here we found a perky little House Wren.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Back in the middle and upper reaches of the trees, we find what has been by far the most numerous of the flycatchers seen during our visits to fallout sunrises.  Eastern Wood-Pewees are appearing in very good numbers and can be seen quarreling and battling for hunting perches from which they are ambushing flying insects.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
An Eastern Wood-Pewee fiercely defending its hunting perch.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
An Eastern Wood-Pewee.
Least Flycatcher
The numbers of migrating Least Flycatchers and other members of the genus Empidonax may be reaching their seasonal peak this week.
Scarlet Tanagers
Scarlet Tanagers are currently a common find following nocturnal flights.
Scarlet Tanager
A Scarlet Tanager peers down from the top of a Red Maple.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Did you hear a loud squeak in the treetops?  It could be a southbound Rose-breasted Grosbeak stopping by for the day.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A Rose-breasted Grosbeak in a dead tree snag.
Swainson's Thrush
The Neotropical thrushes are beginning to move south now as well.  We found this newly arrived Swainson’s Thrush at Rocky Ridge County Park in York County during sunrise this morning.
Red-eyed Vireo
Not surprisingly, the Red-eyed Vireo is one of the most numerous of the migrants seen feeding in the deciduous canopy following a nocturnal flight event.  It’s not at all unusual to see dozens filing the trees around a ridgetop overlook or along a forest edge.  Be certain to check these congregations carefully, especially the groups of birds feeding in the lower branches of tall timber or in the tops of smaller trees.  This week we found…
Yellow-throated Vireo
…several hungry Yellow-throated Vireos arriving after nocturnal flights,…
Philadelphia Vireo
…and a Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus) at the hawkwatch at Rocky Ridge County Park in York County.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Though not a Neotropical migrant, the easier-heard-than-seen Red-breasted Nuthatch is beginning to wander south into the lower Susquehanna region.  Most of these birds will eventually continue on to the pine forests of the southern United States for winter, but a few could remain to become seasonal visitors at feeding stations.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are on the move; their migration to the tropics is well underway and nearing its peak.  Ruby-throats are diurnal migrants that do a majority of their flying during the hours of daylight.  The notable exception: the nighttime portion of the long southbound flight some of the birds make to cross the Gulf of Mexico.
Red-headed Woodpecker
The Red-headed Woodpecker is another diurnal migrant.   This denizen of temperate climates is currently beginning to move to its wintering grounds, an area that extends from the latitudes of the lower Susquehanna south to the Gulf of Mexico and central Texas.
Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker
A juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker during a brief pit stop.
Cedar Waxwings
The flights of roving bands of masked Cedar Waxwings continue.  Their numbers appear to be an improvement over those of 2023.
Broad-winged Hawk
At regional hawk-counting stations, observers are seeing more Broad-winged Hawks and other species beginning to move through.
"Kettling" Broad-winged Hawks
The frequency of Broad-winged Hawks passing the lookouts one at a time is giving way to the occurrence of larger and larger “kettling” groups that search out thermal updrafts to save energy while migrating.  By mid-September each of these “kettles” can include one hundred birds or more.  On the peak days, the daily Broad-winged Hawk totals can reach one thousand or more.
Broad-winged Hawk
A Broad-winged Hawk soaring to gain lift from a thermal updraft above a hawkwatch lookout.

The migration is by no means over; it has only just begun.  So plan to visit a local hawkwatch or other suitable ridgetop in coming weeks.  Arrive early (between 7 and 8 AM) to catch a glimpse of a nocturnal migrant fallout, then stay through the day to see the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Broad-winged Hawks and other diurnal raptors that will pass by.  It’s an experience you won’t forget.

Broad-winged Hawk Gliding Away to the Southwest
A Broad-winged Hawk gliding away to the southwest.

Be certain to click the “Birds” tab at the top of this page for a photo guide to the species you’re likely to see passing south through the lower Susquehanna valley in coming months.  And don’t forget to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Diurnal Raptors” tab to find a hawk-counting station near you.

More birds are on the way.  Here’s a look at this evening’s liftoff of nocturnal migrants detected by National Weather Service Radar in State College, Pennsylvania.  (NOAA/National Weather Service Doppler Radar image)
Posted on

A Prescribed Fire Site After the Burn

Back on March 24th, we took a detailed look at the process involved in administering prescribed fire as a tool for managing grassland and early successional habitat.  Today we’re going turn back the hands of time to give you a glimpse of how the treated site fared during the five months since the controlled burn.  Let’s go back to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for a photo tour to see how things have come along…

Prescribed Fire application in March
Pennsylvania Game Commission crews administering prescribed fire on a grassland demonstration site back on March 16.
Prescribed Fire Site in May
By late May, native herbaceous perennial wildflowers including Joe-pye Weed had re-greened the site.  One of the goals of the burn was to kill fire-sensitive woody plants, thus preventing the process of succession from reforesting the site.
Prescribed Fire Site in May
The scorched, lifeless remains of small trees and shrubs indicate that that goal was met.
Yellow-breasted Chat in May
Because prescribed fire is administered in a mosaic pattern that permits some early successional growth to remain until the next burn, birds including this thicket-nesting Yellow-breasted Chat are able to take advantage of the mixed habitat during their breeding season in May and June.
Prescribed Fire Site in August
By August, the site is a haven for native plants and animals.
Native Warm-season Grasses and Wildlflowers in August
The burn has promoted the growth and late-summer bloom of fire-tolerant native wildflowers and warm-season grasses…
Indiangrass in Flower
…including Indiangrass,…
Big Bluestem
…Big Bluestem…
Thin-leaved Coneflower, a plant also known as Brown-eyed Susan.
…Thin-leaved Coneflower (Rudbeckia triloba), a plant also known as Brown-eyed Susan,…
Joe-pye Weed
…and Joe-pye Weed, a plant butterflies find irresistible.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail collecting nectar from Joe-pye Weed.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail collecting nectar from Joe-pye Weed.
Black-morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
A black-morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtail collecting nectar from Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea steobe micranthos), a non-native invasive plant found growing in an area of the burn site missed by this year’s fire.  While many non-native plants are unable to survive the flames and heat produced by prescribed fire, it isn’t an absolute cure-all.  It doesn’t eliminate all invasive plants, it just keeps them from dominating a landscape by out-competing native species.  Left unmanaged, Spotted Knapweed is a tough perennial invasive that can easily become one the species able to overtake a vulnerable grassland.  It can be a stubborn survivor of some prescribed burns.  On the plus side, butterflies really like it.
American Goldfinch
By August, native grassland plants in the prescribed fire area were already providing an abundance of seeds for birds including this American Goldfinch.
Carolina Grasshopper
For larger birds like turkeys and pheasants, an abundance of Carolina Grasshoppers are providing a protein-dense food source in managed grasslands.
Black Saddlebags
And tiny flying insects, a nuisance to us as we take a stroll alongside the grasslands, are a meal taken on the wing by dragonflies including this Black Saddlebags.

Elsewhere around the refuge at Middle Creek, prescribed fire and other management techniques are providing high-quality grassland habitat for numerous species of nesting birds…

Bobolink
Bobolinks nested both in areas subjected to controlled burns…
Bobolink in Hay Field
…and in hay fields where mowing was delayed until the nesting season, including the fledging process, was completed earlier this month.
Grasshopper Sparrow
As advertised, Grasshopper Sparrows nested in these fields as well.

We hope you enjoyed this short photo tour of grassland management practices.  Now, we’d like to leave you with one last set of pictures—a set you may find as interesting as we found them.  Each is of a different Eastern Cottontail, a species we found to be particularly common on prescribed fire sites when we took these images in late May.  The first two are of the individuals we happened to be able to photograph in areas subjected to fire two months earlier in March.  The latter two are of cottontails we happened to photograph elsewhere on the refuge in areas not in proximity to ground treated with a prescribed burn or exposed to accidental fire in recent years.

Eastern Cottontail
Eastern Cottontail at a site subjected to prescribed fire earlier in the spring.
Eastern Cottontail
Eastern Cottontail at a site subjected to prescribed fire earlier in the spring.

These first two rabbits are living the good life in a warm-season grass wonderland.

Eastern Cottontail with ticks.
Eastern Cottontail at a site not subjected to any recent fire activity.
Eastern Cottontail with ticks.
Eastern Cottontail at a site not subjected to any recent fire activity.

Oh Deer!  Oh Deer!  These last two rabbits have no clock to track the time; they have only ticks.  Better not go for a stroll with them Alice—that’s no wonderland!  I know, I know, it’s time to go.  See ya later.

Posted on

A Tricky Flycatcher To Identify

The tiny flycatchers of the genus Empidonax are notoriously difficult to identify by visual clues alone.  Determining the species by sight requires a good look under ideal conditions.  Even then, these birds are a tricky lot.  Don’t believe it?  Take a gander at these photos of an Empidonax flycatcher found atop Second Mountain in Lebanon County at sunrise this morning…

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
One of the telltale signs of an Empidonax flycatcher from outside the group of eastern species is the presence of an expanded rear edge of a well-defined eye ring.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Only the Pacific-slope and Cordilleran Flycatchers, groups currently lumped together by taxonomists as the Western Flycatcher, exhibit the teardrop-shaped eye ring.  In the lower Susquehanna region, Western Flycatchers have been recorded as vagrants during autumn and in early winter on several occasions, most recently along the river in Conoy Township, Lancaster County, in December of 2023.  (See post from December 20, 2023)
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
For now, that 2023 record will remain the most recent.  With a turn of its head providing a better angle in direct sunlight, the apparent expansion of the rear portion of the eye ring turns out to be little more than a pale post-ocular feather on this bird.  The broad (but uniform) eye ring, rounded head, small bill, short tail, and the unbroken coloration of the underside areas all conspire to indicate that this is probably a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris).  Disappointing?  Hardly.  Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are strictly migrants in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  They are rarely seen as they pass through traveling to and from their breeding grounds in the moist coniferous forests, bogs, and swamps of the northernmost United States and southern Canada.  A Neotropical species, the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher winters in southern Mexico and Central America.
Posted on

Southbound Flights: On Their Way Both Night and Day

It’s hard to believe, but for almost two months now, sandpipers, plovers, and terns have been filtering south through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed on their way to the Atlantic coastline as they complete the first leg of their long autumn migration—a journey that will take some species all the way to the far reaches of the South American continent for winter.

Caspian Terns and Osprey
Migrating Caspian Terns and an Osprey take a break on a lower Susquehanna valley gravel bar.

As August draws to a close, these early birds are being joined by widespread nocturnal flights of Neotropical migrants—those species, primarily songbirds, on their way to wintering grounds which lie exclusively south of the continental United States.

To catch a glimpse of these night-flying avians, your best bet may be to position yourself on the crest of a ridge or along a linear break in the forest such as a utility right-of-way where waves of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and other Neotropical passerines sometimes feed on invertebrates after making landfall at daybreak.  Pick a place where the trees are bathed in the warm light of the rising sun and be there by 7 A.M. E.D.T.  The activity can be tremendous, but it usually ends between 8 and 9.

Red-eyed Vireo
One of more than half a dozen Red-eyed Vireos seen during a daybreak fallout at Second Mountain Hawkwatch in Lebanon County earlier this week.
Blackburnian Warbler
During sunrise, a just-arrived Blackburnian Warbler checks the foliage of a ridgetop Red Maple for insects.
Least Flycatcher
A Least Flycatcher quietly searches the shrubby growth along the forest edge for a morning meal.
Black-and-white Warbler
A Black-and-white Warbler in the first hour of sunlight after a big nocturnal flight.
Scarlet Tanager
A Scarlet Tanager having a look around.  This individual and other migrating birds may be here for a few days before moving on.
Black-throated Green Warbler
A Black-throated Green Warbler in a treetop glowing with the light of sunrise.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
A hungry Chestnut-sided Warbler inspects limbs, leaves, and twigs looking for nourishment after an all-night flight.

Diurnal migrants, birds that make their movements during the daylight hours, are ramping up their flights now as well.  Broad-winged Hawks, Bald Eagles, and falcons are currently being tallied at hawk-counting stations throughout the northeast.  Many of those lookouts are seeing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, swallows, and other daytime migrants too.

Broad-winged Hawk
While many diurnal migrants gather in flocks as a method of defense against predators, Broad-winged Hawks congregate as a reconnaissance measure.  Not waiting around for strong autumn winds to be deflected upwards by the region’s numerous ridges, these Neotropical birds migrate early enough in the season to rely upon thermal updrafts from sun-heated surfaces to provide lift, gain altitude, and save energy during their long trip.  By traveling in groups, there are collectively able to better locate and utilize rising air columns as they progress southwesterly along their route.  Broad-winged Hawks travel to Central and South America for winter.  Their numbers in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed will peak during the third week of September.
American Kestrel
Many American Kestrels transit our area in August and early September, a time coinciding with flights of migratory dragonflies, insects upon which they and another falcon, the Merlin, frequently prey.
Chimney Swifts
Chimney Swifts are fast-flying diurnal migrants.  They are beginning to congregate into larger groups in preparation for their departure.  Some are already on the move.
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwings are currently being seen in roving flocks throughout the region.  Their migration is less of a point-to-point flight and more of a continuous wandering in search of berries and other wild foods.
American Goldfinch
Not everyone is yet ready to go.  American Goldfinches are still in the midst of their nesting cycle and won’t begin leaving until the young are on their own and colorful adult males like this one are beginning to molt into their drab winter plumage.

Autumn migration flights are an ever-changing process, with different species peaking at different times throughout the season.  In these months just after the nesting season, each of these species is more numerous than at any other time of the year.  And of course, the more often we as observers get out and have a look, the more of them we’ll see.

Be certain to click the “Birds” tab at the top of this page for a photo guide to the species you’re likely to see passing through the lower Susquehanna valley this fall.  Nearly four months of autumn hawk migration flights lie ahead, so don’t forget to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Diurnal Raptors” tab to find a hawk-counting station near you, then stop by for a visit or two.  See you there!

A large nightfall liftoff of nocturnal migrating birds is shown here on this evening’s State College, Pennsylvania, Doppler Radar base velocity loop.  Returns indicating birds moving toward the radar site (the white dot in the center of the color mass) are shown in green, and those indicating birds moving away are indicated in red.  This is a big flight headed generally in a south-southwest direction.  (NOAA/National Weather Service Doppler Radar image)
Posted on

Photo of the Day

Berries and foliage of the Black Gum, also known as the Black Tupelo.
In the forests and woodlots of the lower Susquehanna watershed, the Black Gum, also known as the Black Tupelo, is always the first of our native trees to pop with autumn color.  Its crimson leaves glow in an otherwise green landscape to help lure hungry birds including waxwings, American Robins, and Pileated Woodpeckers to its soon-to-be-ripe berries.  The seeds contained in the fruit are thus well-distributed as a by-product of this avian feast.  While not among the most massive of our trees, the Black Gum can live for over five hundred years, an age not exceeded by any other non-clonal indigenous flowering plant.
Posted on

Wildflower Meadow Update

Do you recall our “Photo of the Day” from seven months ago…

Riverfront Park Wildflower Meadow
Here’s something to look forward to in the new year.  The good citizens of East Donegal Township in Lancaster County have partnered with Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to establish an extensive wildflower meadow on what had been a mowed field of turf grass at Riverside Park in the Susquehanna floodplain near Marietta.  As the photo shows, the lawn plants have been eliminated in preparation for seeding with a diverse assortment of native grasses and wildflowers to provide habitat for birds and pollinators including butterflies, bees, and other insects.  Once established, the meadow’s extensive vegetative growth will help reduce stormwater runoff by better infiltrating rainfall to recharge the aquifer.  During flood events, the plantings will provide soil stabilization and increase the ability of the acreage to uptake nutrients, thus reducing the negative impact of major storms on the quality of water in the river and in Chesapeake Bay.  Check the project’s progress by stopping by from time to time in 2024!

Well, here’s what that site looks like today…

Riverfront Park Wildflower Meadow
The wildflowers, thousands of them, are now in bloom!
Riverfront Park Wildflower Meadow
Black-eyed Susan and Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) dominate the assortment currently in flower.

And there are pollinating insects galore, most notably butterflies…

Cabbage White
A Cabbage White collecting nectar on Blue Vervain.
A Sulphur
A Clouded or Orange Sulphur among the grasses in the meadow.
Silver-spotted Skipper
A Silver-spotted Skipper.
Least Skipper
The Least Skipper is our tiniest butterfly.
Little Glassywing
The Little Glassywing (Vernia verna), this one feeding on vervain nectar, deposits its eggs on Purpletop grass, which then functions as the host plant for this butterfly’s larvae.
Summer Azure
A Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) feeding on the nectar of a Black-eyed Susan.
Common Buckeye
A Common Buckeye on a “Gloriosa Daisy”, a showy, large-flowered cultivar of Black-eyed Susan.
Red-winged Blackbird
A Red-winged Blackbird with a caterpillar found among the meadow’s lush growth.
Tiger Swallowtail
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Blue Vervain.  Nearby Yellow (Tulip) Poplars and other trees serve as host plants for this butterfly’s larvae.
Black Morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
The black morph of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail shows subdued shading in the wings that closely resembles the brilliant color patterns of the more familiar yellow form.
Sachem
The Sachem, this one visiting a Black-eyed Susan, is a variable species with a range that normally lies south of the 40th parallel, the line of latitude that intersects the Susquehanna in the area of the Conejohela Flats at Washington Boro.
A Sachem visiting the blooms of Oxeye sunflower.   During recent weeks, scorching winds from the south and southwest have transported an abundance of these vagrant skippers into the lower Susquehanna valley and beyond.
Sachem
A male Sachem approaching the bloom of a “Gloriosa Daisy”.  Miles north of the 40th parallel, wandering Sachems are currently the most numerous of the butterflies at the Riverfront Park wildflower meadow.
Partridge Pea
Here and there among the meadow’s plantings we noticed one of our favorites starting to flower, the Partridge Pea.
Cloudless Sulphur
Partridge Pea happens to be a host plant for another vagrant from the south, the big, lime-yellow Cloudless Sulphur.  We saw at least half a dozen patrolling the meadow.
Zebra Swallowtail
The stars of the show are the Zebra Swallowtails, gorgeous butterflies that rely on stands of native Common Paw-paw trees in the river floodplain to host their eggs and larvae.
Zebra Swallowtail
The red-white-and-blue underside of a Zebra Swallowtail.
Zebra Swallowtail
WOW!

Why on earth would anyone waste their time, energy, and money mowing grass when they could have this?  Won’t you please consider committing graminicide this fall?  That’s right, kill that lawn—at least the majority of it.  Then visit the Ernst Seed website, buy some “Native Northeast Wildlflower Mix” and/or other blends, and get your meadow planted in time for the 2025 growing season.  Just think of all the new kinds of native plants and animals you’ll be seeing.  It could change your life as well as theirs.

Snowberry Clearwing
A Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis), more commonly known as a hummingbird moth, visits the flowers of Blue Vervain in the Riverfront Park wildflower meadow.
Posted on

Poorly Dressed for Dinner

By mid-summer, many birds exhibit less-than-stellar appearance.  Juveniles have just left the nest and although their plumage is completely fresh, it may look drab compared to the feathers the bird will sport upon reaching adulthood.  Their parents, having completed the stressful tasks of building nests and raising a new generation, now enter a state of molt to replace all or some of their adornment.  Now is a fortuitous time for these mature birds to exchange old feathers for new—food is plentiful and the need to keep warm and fly long distances is at a minimum.  Besides, they really don’t have to impress anyone with their beauty during summer vacation.

Following the break in the heat wave during recent days, activity at the headquarters feeders has increased significantly.  We took notice that many of our guests are looking a little rough around the edges.

Mourning Dove
Having started their nesting cycle in February, most Mourning Doves including this adult male are nearly done molting by mid-summer.  They are the exception.
Juvenile American Robin
This juvenile American Robin has acquired its first full set of flight feathers and will, in coming weeks, begin replacing the spotted plumage to more closely resemble an adult bird.
Male Northern Cardinal
This adult male Northern Cardinal in worn plumage is still tending to the needs of fledged young, but is nevertheless in the early stages of molt.
Juvenile Northern Cardinal
This juvenile Northern Cardinal will not only acquire brighter red feathers as an adult, but its bill will turn red as well.
Carolina Chickadee
This actively molting Carolina Chickadee shows pin feathers in the wings and is balding rather profusely.
Blue Jay
This Blue Jay has gone beyond having its feathers ruffled, but it’ll be good as new by the time autumn migration rolls around in September.
Juvenile European Starling
This drab brown bird is a juvenile European Starling.  While its first set of feathers looks complete, it has a big problem.  It lost its left eye and has trouble keeping up with a flock of its peers that have been roaming the area.  A predator will quickly notice this young bird’s vulnerabilities.
Downy Woodpecker
A juvenile Downy Woodpecker in a dull, streaky, almost dirty-looking, first plumage.  Unlike the adult male which has a red patch on the back of its head, the juvenile Downy Woodpecker has a mottled red crown.
Female Downy Woodpecker
An adult female Downy Woodpecker beginning to molt its heavily worn, year-old feathers.
Hairy Woodpecker
Mid-summer is prime time for discovering post-breeding wanders.  These are birds that spend the time between the end of nesting season and the fall migration roaming the countryside and sometimes visiting areas outside their more traditional habitats and/or native ranges.  For the past two days, this bird, a Hairy Woodpecker, has strayed from a mature woodland into urban environs to visit the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.  It’s our first record of one here.
American Goldfinches
Not yet a lot of molt among the American Goldfinches.  Why?  Well, they’re late-season breeders and are only now in the midst of their nesting cycle.  They begin shedding feathers and losing that brilliant color sometime in late August, just as the last of this year’s young are being fledged.

Think of all the opportunities mid-summer offers.  It’s a good time to get outdoors to have a look at all the young animals that are exploring their world for the first time.  Birds and other wildlife are at their greatest abundance of the year right now, so your chance to see new things is at its peak.  And the phenomenon of post-breeding wandering always raises the possibility of a surprise or two—maybe even a rarity.  Be cool and good luck!

Posted on

The Acadian Flycatcher: A Shady Character

You’ve probably never noticed the Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens).  This small Neotropical songbird arrives in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed during mid-May to breed in the dense shade of mature forests, often along steep slopes adjacent to a brook or creek.  It’s quick, sneezy song—“pit-see” or “wee-seet”—heard emanating from the shadows of the woodland understory is often the first and only sign of their presence.

Acadian Flycatcher
Of the five species of similar-looking Empidonax flycatchers that regularly occur in our region, the Acadian is the only one to nest in the forest interior.  These insectivores shy away from edge habitat and clearings that disturb the closed canopy of mature trees.

One of the more fascinating  habits of the Acadian Flycatcher is their selection of a nesting location.  While many species try to conceal their nests in tree cavities, dense foliage, or some other form of cover, this clever songbird constructs a cup using tiny twigs and leaves and places it near the end of a small branch on a small tree.  The nest is sometimes very easily seen, but for climbing scroungers looking to plunder eggs or helpless young birds, it’s practically out of reach.

Acadian Flycatcher on Nest
A female Acadian Flycatcher on its nest incubating eggs.
Acadian Flycatcher Nest
The white arrow points to the Acadian Flycatcher nest seen in the previous image. The dark-colored limb appears close, but this nest is perched precariously close to the end of a leafy branch and is hanging free and clear above the stream.  When leaving the nest, the young birds that are destined to survive must avoid a tumble into the waterway.

To guard against airborne threats, Acadian Flycatcher parents are vigilant defenders of the space around their nest.

Carolina Chickadee
When this curious juvenile Carolina Chickadee wandered into the flycatcher’s nest tree…
Acadian Flycatcher
…mom came out fighting!  It may be an overreaction, but nesting birds often have a zero-tolerance policy for invaders within their “zone”.

Moments later, things settle down and the waiting continues…

Back on the nest, mom, the eggs, and eventually the young will spend the next several weeks riding the wind atop this flimsy branch in their shady forest home.
Posted on

Photo of the Day

Grasshopper Sparrow
A nesting Grasshopper Sparrow surveys the warm-season grasslands at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.  Minutes later, this evening’s thundershower sent everyone and everything seeking cover.
Posted on

Arboreal Birds and Tent Caterpillars

During the past week, we’ve been exploring wooded slopes around the lower Susquehanna region in search of recently arrived Neotropical birds—particularly those migrants that are singing on breeding territories and will stay to nest.  Coincidentally, we noticed a good diversity of species in areas where tent caterpillar nests were apparent.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Nest
The conspicuous nest of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum), a native species of moth.  The first instar of the larval caterpillars hatch in early spring from egg masses laid on the limbs of the host tree by an adult female moth during the previous spring.  Soon after they begin feeding on the host tree’s first tender shoots, these tiny, seldom-noticed larvae start communal construction of a silk tent to act as a shelter and greenhouse-like solar collector that will both provide protection from the elements and expedite their growth.
Eastern Tent Caterpillar
The familiar last instar of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar is the most consumptive stage of the animal’s life.  After feeding in the treetops, they will descend to the ground and seek a sheltered location to pupate.  Adult moths emerge in several weeks to take to the air, mate, and produce eggs to be deposited on a host tree for hatching next year.  The favorite host tree in forests of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed: native Black Cherry.

Here’s a sample of the variety of Neotropical migrants we found in areas impacted by Eastern Tent Caterpillars.  All are arboreal insectivores, birds that feed among the foliage of trees and shrubs searching mostly for insects, their larvae, and their eggs.

Yellow-throated Vireo
The Yellow-throated Vireo nests, feeds, and spends the majority of its time feeding among canopy foliage.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a flycatcher found in mature woodlands.  It feeds not only among the limbs and leaves, but is an aerial predator as well.
Northern Parula
The Northern Parula nests in mature forests along rivers and on mountainsides, particularly where mature trees are draped with thick vines.
Hooded Warbler
The Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) is found among thick understory growth on forested slopes.
Ovenbird
The Ovenbird builds a domed, oven-like nest on the ground and forages in the canopy.
Kentucky Warbler
The Kentucky Warbler (Geothlypis formosa) nests in woodland undergrowth, often near steep, forested slopes.
Worm-eating Warbler
The Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) nests among woody understory growth on forested hillsides.
Scarlet Tanager
The Scarlet Tanager is often difficult to observe because of its affinity for the canopy of mature forest trees.

In the locations where these photographs were taken, ground-feeding birds, including those species that would normally be common in these habitats, were absent.  There were no Gray Catbirds, Carolina Wrens, American Robins or other thrushes seen or heard.  One might infer that the arboreal insectivorous birds chose to establish nesting territories where they did largely due to the presence of an abundance of tent caterpillars as a potential food source for their young.  That could very well be true—but consider timing.

Already Gone-  By the time Neotropical migrants arrive in our area, the larval stages of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar’s life cycle are already coming to an end.  The nests that these native insects constructed to capture the energy of the springtime sun have allowed the larvae to exit and browse foliage when conditions were suitable, then return for shelter when they were not.  While inside, the larvae could move among the chambers of their structure to find locations with a temperature that best suited their needs.  Therein the solar heating and communal warmth sped up digestion and growth.
Eastern Tent Caterpillar
Eastern Tent Caterpillar larvae are now in their bristly final-instar stage and the majority have already moved to the ground to each seek a place to pupate and metamorphose into an adult moth.  Arboreal Neotropical birds have scarcely had a chance to feed upon them, and ground-feeding species seem to lack any temptation.  As for the adult moths, they fly only at night and live for just one day, offering little in the way of food for aerial, arboreal, or ground-feeding birds.
Wild Turkey
Having left arboreal environs, Eastern Tent Caterpillar larvae are now food for ground-feeding birds like our resident Wild Turkeys.  They need only get past the bristly hairs on the caterpillar’s back and the foul taste that may result from its limited diet of cyanogenic Black Cherry leaves.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
The arboreal Yellow-billed Cuckoo (seen here) and its close relative the Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) are the two species of birds in our area known to regularly feed on bristly tent caterpillars.  But having just arrived from the tropics to nest, they’ll need to rely on other insects and their larvae as sources of food for their young.
Black Cherry defoliated by Eastern Tent Caterpillars.
Final-instar Eastern Tent Caterpillars often defoliate Black Cherry trees before moving to the ground to pupate. Their timing allows them to feed on the fresh foliage while it is still young and tender, and to largely avoid becoming food for the waves of Neotropical birds that arrive in the lower Susquehanna basin in May.

So why do we find this admirable variety of Neotropical bird species nesting in locations with tent caterpillars?  Perhaps it’s a matter of suitable topography, an appropriate variety of native trees and shrubs, and an attractive opening in the forest.

American Redstart
An American Redstart singing in a Black Cherry.  Unlike others in the vicinity, this tree nestled among several very large Eastern White Pines showed no signs of tent caterpillar activity.  It may be that for one reason or another, no adult female moth deposited her eggs on this particular tree.  During our visits, Black Cherry was but one of the diverse variety of native trees and shrubs found growing on the sloping topography that created attractive habitat for the nesting birds we found.  We happened to notice that a majority, but not all, of those Black Cherry trees were impacted by Eastern Tent Caterpillars.
Black Cherry in Flower
The end of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar’s larval surge may spell the end of their nests for the year, but it’s not the end for the Black Cherry and other host trees in the Prunus (cherry) and Malus (apple) genera.  Because it’s still early in the season, they have plenty of time to re-leaf and many will still flower and produce fruit.  Those flowers and foliage will attract numerous other insects (including pollinators) that benefit breeding birds.
Blue-winged Warbler
The Blue-winged Warbler inhabits shrubby breaks in the forest such as this utility right-of-way where Black Cherry trees have sprouted after their seeds arrived in waste deposited by fruit-eating (frugivorous) birds.  Already attractive to a variety of insectivores, these openings soon lure egg-laying Eastern Tent Caterpillar moths to the cherry trees growing therein.  Even in dense forest, a small clearing created by a cluster of dead trees makes good bird habitat and will sooner or later be visited by fruit-eating species that will inadvertently sow seeds of Black Cherry, starting yet another stand of host trees for Eastern Tent Caterpillars.  It’s the gap in the forest that often attracts the birds, some of which plant the host trees, which sometimes entice Eastern Tent Caterpillar moths to lay their eggs.
Red-Eyed Vireo
Adapt and Reuse-  A Red-eyed Vireo visits an Eastern Tent Caterpillar nest…
Red-eyed Vireo
…and ignores the few remaining occupants that could easily be seized to instead collect silk to reinforce its own nest.

Here in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the presence of Eastern Tent Caterpillar nests can often be an indicator of a woodland opening, natural or man-made, that is being reforested by Black Cherry and other plants which improve the botanical richness of the site.  For numerous migratory Neotropical species seeking favorable places to nest and raise young, these regenerative areas and the forests surrounding them can be ideal habitat.  For us, they can be great places to see and hear colorful birds.

Scarlet Tanager
Our Lucky Break-  This Scarlet Tanager descended from the treetops to feed on spiders in a small forest clearing.
Posted on

See Food and an Oriole Doubleheader

The rain and clouds have at last departed.  With blue skies and sunshine to remind us just how wonderful a spring afternoon can be, we took a stroll at Memorial Lake State Park in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to look for some migratory birds.

Indigo Bunting
Though running just a few days later than usual, Indigo Buntings have arrived to begin nesting.
Common Loon
This Common Loon dropped by Memorial Lake during a storm several days ago and decided to stay awhile.  It’s a species that winters in oceanic waters along the Atlantic seaboard and nests on glacial lakes to our north.
Common Loon
Because of the low level of turbidity in Memorial Lake, visibility is good enough to allow this benthic feeder an opportunity to see food before expending energy to dive down and retrieve it.  Favorable foraging conditions might be part of the reason this bird is hanging around.
Shoreline Vegetation at Memorial Lake
Clear Water-  Memorial Lake is one of the few man-made lakes in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed to be appropriately vegetated with an abundance of submerged, floating, and emergent plants.  As a result, the water from Indiantown Run that passes through the impoundment is minimally impacted by nutrient loads and the algal blooms they can cause.  Buffers of woody and herbaceous growth along the lake’s shorelines provide additional nutrient sequestering and help prevent soil erosion and siltation.
Baltimore Oriole
The breeding season has begun for Neotropical migrants including this Baltimore Oriole, which we found defending a nesting territory in a stand of Black Walnut trees.
Orchard Oriole
Along the edge of the lake, this Orchard Oriole and its mate were in yet another stand of tall walnut trees.
Common Nighthawks
Early in the season and early in the day, we started seeing Common Nighthawks flying above wooded areas north of the lake at 4 o’clock this afternoon.  After all the raw and inclement weather they’ve experienced in recent days, the warm afternoon was probably their first opportunity to feed on flying insects in quite a while.
Common Nighthawks
Early birds, Common Nighthawks feeding at 4 P.M.

What?  You thought we were gonna drop in on Maryland’s largest city for a couple of ball games and some oysters, clams, and crab cakes—not likely.

Posted on

More Migrating Birds

As waves of wet weather persistently roll through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the tide of northbound migrants continues.  Here are few of today’s highlights…

Eastern Kingbird
Though few in number several days ago, flycatchers are now quite common.  Many of the Eastern Kingbirds we’re now seeing will stay to nest in trees bordering grasslands and pastures.
Willow Flycatcher
Willow Flycatchers nest along streams and other bodies of water where herbaceous growth and scattered shrubs are plentiful.  Lacking favorable habitat, many will continue moving north in coming days.
Lincoln's Sparrow
The seldom seen Lincoln’s Sparrow likes wet thickets for layovers during its passage through the lower Susquehanna valley.  They are often the last of the migratory sparrows to transit the area in May.  These elusive birds nest primarily in boggy thickets far to the north of our region, mostly in Canada.
Northern Parula
Colorful warblers are still arriving.  Remember to watch for them in unusual places due to stormy weather.  Earlier today, we spotted this Northern Parula prowling a lakeside willow instead of spending its time among the crown foliage and vines adorning mature forest trees.  Breezy conditions ahead of an afternoon shower may have prompted this bird to seek caterpillars and other grub in this protected location.
Least and Solitary Sandpipers
As May churns on, more and more shorebirds will be moving through on their way to nesting grounds in the interior of Canada.  This flock of Least and Solitary Sandpipers was found on the muddy margins of a man-made pond.  Flooded portions of farm fields and stormwater basins are also good places to see these migrants as they trek north.
Posted on

A Pre-dawn Thunderstorm and a Fallout of Migrating Birds

In recent days, the peak northbound push of migratory birds that includes the majority of our colorful Neotropical species has been slowed to a trickle by the presence of rain, fog, and low overcast throughout the Mid-Atlantic States.  Following sunset last evening, the nocturnal flight resumed—only to be grounded this morning during the pre-dawn hours by the west-to-east passage of a fast-moving line of strong thundershowers.  The NOAA/National Weather Service images that follow show the thunderstorms as well as returns created by thousands of migrating birds as they pass through the Doppler Radar coverage areas that surround the lower Susquehanna valley.

Sterling, Virginia, Doppler Radar west of Washington, D.C., at 4:00 A.M. E.D.T. indicates a dense flight of northbound migrating birds located just to the south of the approaching line of rain and thunderstorms over the State College, Pennsylvania, radar coverage area.  (NOAA/National Weather Service image)
More northbound birds are indicated at 4 A.M. by the radar station located at Dover, Delaware…  (NOAA/National Weather Service image)
…and by the Mount Holly, New Jersey, radar site.  (NOAA/National Weather Service image)
Many of the migrating birds shown here over the Binghamton, New York, radar station at 4 A.M. probably overflew the lower Susquehanna region earlier in the night.  (NOAA/National Weather Service image)
And these birds over Albany, New York’s, radar station at 4 A.M. are mostly migrants that passed north over New Jersey and easternmost Pennsylvania last evening and during the wee hours of this morning.  (NOAA/National Weather Service image)

Just after 4 A.M., flashes of lightning in rapid succession repeatedly illuminated the sky over susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.  Despite the rumbles of thunder and the din of noises typical for our urban setting, the call notes of nocturnal migrants could be heard as these birds descended in search of a suitable place to make landfall and seek shelter from the storm.  At least one Wood Thrush and a Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) were in the mix of species passing overhead.  A short time later at daybreak, a Great Crested Flycatcher was heard calling from a stand of nearby trees and a White-crowned Sparrow was seen in the garden searching for food.  None of these aforementioned birds is regular here at our little oasis, so it appears that a significant and abrupt fallout has occurred.

White-crowned Sparrow
A White-crowned Sparrow in the headquarters garden at daybreak.  It’s the first visit by this species in a decade or more.

Looks like a good day to take the camera for a walk.  Away we go!

Gray Catbird
Along woodland edges, in thickets, and in gardens, Gray Catbirds were everywhere today.  We heard and/or saw hundreds of them.
American Redstart
During our travels, American Redstarts were the most frequently encountered warbler.  Look for them in low-lying forested habitats.
Many early-arriving Baltimore Orioles have already begun building nests.  But widespread territorial fighting today may be an indication that some latecomer orioles became trespassers after dropping in on existing territories during the morning fallout.
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireos are difficult to see but easily heard in forested areas throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
Scarlet Tanager
If the oriole isn’t the showiest of the Neotropical migrants, then the Scarlet Tanager is certainly a contender…
Scarlet Tanager
Listen for their burry, robin-like song in the treetops of mature upland forests.
Wood Thrush
No woodland chorus is complete without the flute-like harmony of the Wood Thrush.  Look and listen for them in rich forests with dense understory vegetation.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
The Eastern Wood-Pewee, another forest denizen, has an easy song to learn…a series of ascending “pee-a-wee” phrases interspersed with an occasional descending “pee-urr”.  It was one of the few flycatchers we found today, but more are certainly on the way.  Their numbers should peak in coming days.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warblers can be especially numerous during migration but tend to peak prior to the arrival of the bulk of the Neotropical species.  This was the only “yellow-rump” we encountered today.  The majority have already passed through on their way to breeding grounds to our north.
Common Yellowthroat
If today you were to visit a streamside thicket or any type of early successional habitat, you would probably find this perky little warbler there, the Common Yellowthroat.
Yellow Warbler
The Yellow Warbler likes streamside thickets too.  You can also find them along lakes, ponds, and wetlands, especially among shrubby willows and alders.
White-crowned Sparrow
While nowhere near the headquarters garden, we ran into another White-crowned Sparrow in less-than-ideal habitat.  This one was in a row of trees in a paved parking lot.
Bobolink
Not all songbirds migrate at night. The Bobolink is an example of a diurnal (day-flying) migrant.  They’re currently arriving in hay fields that are spared the mower until after nesting season.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
While looking for Neotropical species and other late-season migrants, we also found numerous early arrivals that had already begun their breeding cycles.  We discovered this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on its nest in a Black Walnut tree…
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
…then, later in the day, we found this one in its nest, again in a Black Walnut tree.  Note the freshly emerging set of leaves and flower clusters.  With many tree species already adorned in a full set of foliage, open canopies in stands of walnuts we found growing in reforested areas seemed to be good places to see lots of migrants and other birds today.  It’s hard to say whether birds were more numerous in these sections of woods or were just easier to observe among the sparse leaf cover.  In either case, the nut-burying squirrels that planted these groves did us and the birds a favor.

There’s obviously more spring migration to come, so do make an effort to visit an array of habitats during the coming weeks to see and hear the wide variety of birds, including the spectacular Neotropical species, that visit the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed each May.  You won’t regret it!

Wood Ducks
Wood Ducks arrived in February and March to breed in the lower Susquehanna valley.  Soon after hatching in April or May, the young leave the nest cavity to travel under the watchful gaze of their ever-vigilant mother as they search for food along our local waterways.  If you’re fortunate, you might catch a glimpse of a brood and hen while you’re out looking at the more than one hundred species of birds that occur in our region during the first half of May.  Good luck!
Posted on

Sightings on a Beautiful Spring Morning

Following a frosty night, sunny skies and a south breeze brought lots of action to the headquarters garden this morning.  Take a look…

Mason Bee at nest box
Mason Bees are quickly depositing their eggs and a mixture of pollen and nectar called a “pollen loaf” within holes we drilled into blocks of wood in our bee houses.  Each egg is laid in its own chamber within which the larva will hatch, feed on “pollen loaf”, and mature.  The individual cells, including the outermost one in the hole, are sealed with partitions made of mud.  It’s just like a mason using mortar.  Early next spring, the new generation of adults will emerge to begin the process once again.
Black Vulture
This morning’s south wind helped propel some northbound raptors.  This Black Vulture was the first we’ve seen from the headquarters garden since last fall.  While Turkey Vultures remain common and roost nearby, Black Vulture are noticeably less numerous since being impacted by avian flu one year ago.
Cooper's Hawk
This Cooper’s Hawk is one of pair nesting somewhere nearby.  It was quickly gaining altitude on a thermal…
Cooper's Hawks tangle.
…to intercept a transient Cooper’s Hawk (upper right) which it promptly escorted away to the north.
Broad-winged Hawk
Back from their winter holiday in the tropics, migrating Broad-winged Hawks are returning to breed in the forests of the north.  Watch for them either singly or in small groups as they “kettle” in thermal updrafts above south-facing slopes and sun-drenched paved surfaces.
American Robin at Bird Bath
Many birds including this American Robin have been frequenting our water features.  Remember to keep your fixture clean and change the water at least daily.  Watch the temperature too.  A late season freeze can leave you with a shattered bird bath.
Posted on

Photo of the Day

White-throated Sparrow
While generally common along forest edges throughout the lower Susquehanna valley from mid-autumn through mid-spring, we seldom see White-throated Sparrows in the urban oasis that is the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters garden.  Our greatest hope for spotting one comes during the peak times of seasonal migration.  Alas, gloomy weather grounded this handsome northbound chap for the past several days and at last gave us a chance to repeatedly hear his cheery “old sam peabody-peabody-peabody” song.
Posted on

Solar Eclipse of 2024

It was dubbed the “Great Solar Eclipse”, the Great North American Eclipse”, and several other lofty names, but in the lower Susquehanna valley, where about 92% of totality was anticipated, the big show was nearly eclipsed by cloud cover.  With last week’s rains raising the waters of the river and inundating the moonscape of the Pothole Rocks at Conewago Falls, we didn’t have the option of repeating our eclipse observations of August, 2017, by going there to view this year’s event, so we settled for the next best thing—setting up in the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters garden.  So here it is, yesterday’s eclipse…

Solar Eclipse 2024
Here’s one of our first views through a break in the clouds as photographed using a number 12 welder’s glass to shield the camera.
Solar Eclipse 2024
A shot through the welder’s glass with minimal cloud cover reveals a sunspot (AR3628) visible at between ten and eleven o’clock on the solar surface.
Solar Eclipse 2024
Clouds aren’t necessarily a bad thing during a solar eclipse.  Putting the welding filter aside, we were able to photograph the sun directly, without risk of damage to the camera.  Again, sunspot AR3628 can be seen just off the limb of the moon at between ten and eleven o’clock.
Solar Eclipse 2024
It’s 3:21 P.M. E.D.T., and it’s about as good as it’s going to get.  Fortunately for us, the clouds are maximizing the effect.
Solar Eclipse 2024
The sky darkened dramatically as the moon obscured more than 90% of the sun’s disk. Looking toward the northwest, where observers in locations including Erie, Pennsylvania, were experiencing a total solar eclipse, the sky appeared almost night-like.
Solar Eclipse 2024
Here in the lower Susquehanna region, the clouds made our partial solar eclipse an eerie one.
Solar Radio Shutdown during Annular Solar Eclipse 2024
Our home-brew solar-powered radio shut down.
Mourning Dove cooing during solar eclipse.
Our male Mourning Dove perched above its nests site and began a premature evening chorus of sorrowful coos.
Fish Crow Returning to Roost during solar eclipse
The flock of Fish Crows that has been lingering in the area for several weeks was seen making their way to a small grove of nearby evergreens where they often spend the night.
Turkey Vulture Flapping Its Way to Roost during solar eclipse.
Since early winter, Turkey Vultures have been roosting at a site about a half mile from our headquarters.  Each evening, they can be seen leisurely riding the late afternoon thermals as they glide in to pass the night at their favored resting spot.  During the height of the eclipse, as clouds co-conspired to quickly darken the sky and diminish the thermal updrafts, our local vultures were making a hurried scramble, flapping madly to get back to their roost.
The Eclipse of 2024 Wanes
Within fifteen minutes, the cloud cover thinned and the moon started to slide away.  Rays of sunshine quickly renewed the pace of an early spring afternoon.  Soon, the bees were buzzing around, the crows were out looking for trash, and the vultures were piloting the skies in search of deadbeats.
Solar Eclipse 2024
The Great Eclipse of 2024 left us with a sunny smile.
Posted on

Prescribed Fire: Controlled Burns for Forest and Non-forest Habitats

Homo sapiens owes much of its success as a species to an acquired knowledge of how to make, control, and utilize fire.  Using fire to convert the energy stored in combustible materials into light and heat has enabled humankind to expand its range throughout the globe.  Indeed, humans in their furless incomplete mammalian state may have never been able to expand their populations outside of tropical latitudes without mastery of fire.  It is fire that has enabled man to exploit more of the earth’s resources than any other species.  From cooking otherwise unpalatable foods to powering the modern industrial society, fire has set man apart from the rest of the natural world.

In our modern civilizations, we generally look at the unplanned outbreak of fire as a catastrophe requiring our immediate intercession.  A building fire, for example, is extinguished as quickly as possible to save lives and property.  And fires detected in fields, brush, and woodlands are promptly controlled to prevent their exponential growth.  But has fire gone to our heads?  Do we have an anthropocentric view of fire?  Aren’t there naturally occurring fires that are essential to the health of some of the world’s ecosystems?  And to our own safety?  Indeed there are.  And many species and the ecosystems they inhabit rely on the periodic occurrence of fire to maintain their health and vigor.

For the war effort- The campaign to reduce the frequency of forest fires got its start during World War II with distribution of this poster in 1942.  The goal was to protect the nation’s timber resources from accidental or malicious loss due to fire caused by man-made ignition sources.  The release of the Walt Disney film “Bambi” during the same year and the adoption of the Smokey the Bear mascot in 1944 softened the message’s delivery, but the public relations outreach continued to be a key element of a no-fire policy to save trees for lumber.  Protection and management of healthy forest ecosystems in their entirety has only recently become a priority.  (National Archives image)

Man has been availed of the direct benefits of fire for possibly 40,000 years or more.  Here in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the earliest humans arrived as early as 12,000 years ago—already possessing skills for using fire.  Native plants and animals on the other hand, have been part of the ever-changing mix of ecosystems found here for a much longer period of time—millions to tens of millions of years.  Many terrestrial native species are adapted to the periodic occurrence of fire.  Some, in fact, require it.  Most upland ecosystems need an occasional dose of fire, usually ignited by lightning (though volcanism and incoming cosmic projectiles are rare possibilities), to regenerate vegetation, release nutrients, and maintain certain non-climax habitat types.

But much of our region has been deprived of natural-type fires since the time of the clearcutting of the virgin forests during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  This absence of a natural fire cycle has contributed to degradation and/or elimination of many forest and non-forest habitats.  Without fire, a dangerous stockpile of combustible debris has been collecting, season after season, in some areas for a hundred years or more.  Lacking periodic fires or sufficient moisture to sustain prompt decomposition of dead material, wildlands can accumulate enough leaf litter, thatch, dry brush, tinder, and fallen wood to fuel monumentally large forest fires—fires similar to those recently engulfing some areas of the American west.  So elimination of natural fire isn’t just a problem for native plants and animals, its a potential problem for humans as well.

Indiangrass on Fire
Indiangrass (seen here), Switchgrass, Big Bluestem, and Little Bluestem are native species requiring periodic forms of disturbance to eliminate competition by woody plants.  These warm-season grasses develop roots that penetrate deep into the soil, sometimes to depths of six feet or more, allowing them to survive severe drought and flash fire events.  In the tall grass prairies, these extensive root systems allow these grasses to return following heavy grazing by roaming herds of American Bison (Bison bison).  Without these habitat disturbances, warm season grasslands succumb to succession in about seven years.  With their periodic occurrence, the plants thrive and provide excellent wildlife habitat, erosion control, and grazing forage.

To address the habitat ailments caused by a lack of natural fires, federal, state, and local conservation agencies are adopting the practice of “prescribed fire” as a treatment to restore ecosystem health.  A prescribed fire is a controlled burn specifically planned to correct one or more vegetative management problems on a given parcel of land.  In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, prescribed fire is used to…

      • Eliminate dangerous accumulations of combustible fuels in woodlands.
      • Reduce accumulations of dead plant material that may harbor disease.
      • Provide top kill to promote oak regeneration.
      • Regenerate other targeted species of trees, wildflowers, grasses, and vegetation.
      • Kill non-native plants and promote growth of native plants.
      • Prevent succession.
      • Remove woody growth and thatch from grasslands.
      • Promote fire tolerant species of plants and animals.
      • Create, enhance, and/or manage specialized habitats.
      • Improve habitat for rare species (Regal Fritillary, etc.)
      • Recycle nutrients and minerals contained in dead plant material.

Let’s look at some examples of prescribed fire being implemented right here in our own neighborhood…

Prescribed Fire
Prescribed fires are typically planned for the dormant season extending from late fall into early spring with burns best conducted on days when the relative humidity is low.
Prescribed Fire at Fort Indiantown Gap
Prescribed fire is used regularly at Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to keep accumulations of woody and herbaceous fuels from accumulating on and around the training range areas where live ordinance and other sources of ignition could otherwise spark large, hard-to-control wildfires.
Prescribed Fire at Fort Indiantown Gap
Prescribed fires replace the periodic natural burns that would normally reduce the fuel load in forested areas.  Where these fuels are allowed to accumulate, south-facing slopes are particularly susceptible to extreme fires due to their exposure to the drying effects of intense sunlight for much of the year.  The majority of small oaks subjected to treatment by the prescribed fire shown here will have the chance to regenerate without immediate competition from other species including invasive plants.  The larger trees are mostly unaffected by the quick exposure to the flames.  Note too that these fires don’t completely burn everything on the forest floor, they burn that which is most combustible.  There are still plenty of fallen logs for salamanders, skinks, and other animals to live beneath and within.

 

Prescribed fire in grassland.
A prescribed fire in late winter prevents this grassland consisting of Big Bluestem and native wildflowers from being overtaken by woody growth and invasive species.  Fires such as this that are intended to interrupt the process of succession are repeated at least every three to five years.
Prescribed Fire to Control Invasive Species
In its wildlife food plots, prescribed fire is used by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to prevent succession and control invasive species such as Multiflora Rose, instead promoting the growth of native plants.
A woodlot understory choked with combustible fuels and tangles of invasive Multiflora Rose.
An example of a woodlot understory choked with combustible fuels and dense tangles of invasive Multiflora Rose.  A forester has the option of prescribing a dose of dormant-season fire for a site like this to reduce the fuel load, top kill non-native vegetation, and regenerate native plants.
Precribed Fire to Eliminate Woody Growth
A dose of prescribed fire was administered on this grassland to kill the woody growth of small trees beginning to overtake the habitat by succession.
Precribed Fire Education Sign at middle creek Wildlife Management Area
The Pennsylvania Game Commission employs prescribed fire at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and on many of their other holdings to maintain grasslands.
Prescribed fire is used to eliminate invasive species including Multiflora Rose from grasslands at Middle Creek W.M.A.  Annual burns on the property are conducted in a mosaic pattern so that each individual area of the grassland is exposed to the effects of fire only once every two to five years.  Without fire or some type of mechanical or chemical intervention, succession by woody trees and shrubs would take hold after about seven years.
Prescribed fire is planned for a fraction of total grassland acreage at Middle Creek W.M.A. each year.  Another section of the mosaic is targeted in the following year and yet another in the year that follows that.  Because burns are conducted in the spring, grassland cover is available for wildlife throughout the winter.  And because each year’s fire burns only a portion of the total grassland acreage, wildlife still has plenty of standing grass in which to take shelter during and after the prescribed fire.
Grasshopper Sparrow
Prescribed fire at Middle Creek W.M.A. provides grassland habitat for dozens of species of birds and mammals including the not-so-common Grasshopper Sparrow…
Ring-necked Pheasant
…and stocked Ring-necked Pheasants that do nest and raise young there.
Prescribed Burn Maintains Savanna-like Habitat
On a few sites in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed , prescribed fire is being used to establish and maintain savanna-like grasslands.  This one, located on a dry, south-facing slope near numerous man-made sources of ignition, can easily be dosed with periodic prescribed burns to both prevent succession and reduce fuel accumulations that may lead to a devastating extreme fire.
Pitch Pines in Savanna-like Habitat
One year following a prescribed burn, this is the autumn appearance of a savanna-like habitat with fire-tolerant Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida), Bear Oak, warm-season grasses, and a variety of nectar-producing wildflowers for pollinators.  These ecosystems are magnets for wildlife and may prove to be a manageable fit on sun-drenched sites adjacent to man-made land disturbances and their sources of ignition.
Red-headed Woodpecker Adult and Juvenile
Savanna-like grasslands with oaks and other scattered large trees, some of them dead, make attractive nesting habitat for the uncommon Red-headed Woodpecker.
Wild Turkey in Savanna-like Habitat
Prescribed fire can benefit hungry Wild Turkeys by maintaining savanna-like grasslands for an abundance of grasshoppers and other insects in summer and improving the success of mast-producing oaks for winter.
Buck Moth
In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the caterpillar of the rare Eastern Buck Moth feeds on the foliage of the Bear Oak, also known as the Scrub Oak, a shrubby species that relies upon periodic fire to eliminate competition from larger trees in its early successional habitat.
Leaves of the Bear Oak in fall.
Leaves of the Bear Oak in fall.  The Bear Oak regenerates readily from top kill caused by fire.
Reed Canary Grass
Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is a native cool-season grass with a colorful inflorescence in spring.  But given the right situation, it can aggressively overtake other species to create a pure stand lacking biodiversity.  It is one of the few native species which is sometimes labelled “invasive”.
Prescribed Burn to Reduce Prevalence of Reed Canary Grass
Prescribed fire can be used to reduce an overabundance of Reed Canary Grass and its thatch in wetlands.  Periodic burning can help restore species diversity in these habitats for plants and animals including rare species such as the endangered Bog Turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii).
On the range areas at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, disturbances by armored vehicles mimic the effects of large mammals such as the American Bison which periodically trampled grasses to prevent succession and the establishment of woody plants on its prairie habitat.  To supplement the activity of the heavy vehicles and to provide suitable habitat for the very rare Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia) butterflies found there, prescribed fire is periodically employed to maintain the grasslands on the range.  These burns are planned to encourage the growth of “Fort Indiantown Gap Little Bluestem” grass as well as the violets used as host plants by the Regal Fritillary caterpillars.  These fires also promote growth of a variety of native summer-blooming wildflowers to provide nectar for the adults butterflies.
Depiction of Pennsylvania's Last American Bison, Killed in Union County in 1801. (Exhibit: State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg)
A last record of a wild American Bison killed in Pennsylvania was an animal taken in the Susquehanna watershed in Union County in 1801.  The species is thereafter considered extirpated from the state.  Since that time, natural disturbances needed to regenerate warm-season grasses have been limited primarily to fires and riverine ice scour.  The waning occurrence of both has reduced the range of these grasses and their prairie-like ecosystems in the commonwealth.  (Exhibit: State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg)
A male Regal Fritillary on the range at Fort Indiantown Gap, where armored vehicles and prescribed fire provide suitable prairie-like habitat for this vulnerable species.
Honey Bee Collecting Minerals After Prescribed Burn
Prescribed fires return the nutrients and minerals contained in dead plant material to the soil.  Following these controlled burns, insects like this Honey Bee can often be seen collecting minerals from the ashes.
Fly Collecting Minerals from Burned Grasses
A Greenbottle Fly gathering minerals from the ash following a prescribed burn.

In Pennsylvania, state law provides landowners and crews conducting prescribed fire burns with reduced legal liability when the latter meet certain educational, planning, and operational requirements.  This law may help encourage more widespread application of prescribed fire in the state’s forests and other ecosystems where essential periodic fire has been absent for so very long.  Currently in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, prescribed fire is most frequently being employed by state agencies on state lands—in particular, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on State Forests and the Pennsylvania Game Commission on State Game Lands.  Prescribed fire is also part of the vegetation management plan at Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation and on the land holdings of the Hershey Trust.  Visitors to the nearby Gettysburg National Military Park will also notice prescribed fire being used to maintain the grassland restorations there.

For crews administering prescribed fire burns, late March and early April are a busy time.  The relative humidity is often at its lowest level of the year, so the probability of ignition of previous years’ growth is generally at its best.  We visited with a crew administering a prescribed fire at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area last week.  Have a look…

Members of a Pennsylvania Game Commission burn crew provide visitors to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area with an overview of prescribed fire.
Members of a Pennsylvania Game Commission burn crew provide visitors to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area with an overview of prescribed fire and the equipment and techniques they use to conduct a burn.
Burn Boss Checking Weather
Pennsylvania Game Commission Southeast Region Forester Andy Weaver will fulfill the role of Burn Boss for administering this day’s dose of fire.  His responsibilities include assessing the weather before the burn and calculating a probability of ignition.
Burn Boss Briefing Crew
The Burn Boss briefs personnel with information on site layout, water supply location(s), places of refuge, emergency procedures, the event’s goals and plan of action, crew assignments, and the results of the weather check: wind from the northwest at 5 miles per hour, temperature 48 degrees, and the relative humidity 63%. Today’s patient is a parcel of warm-season grasses receiving a dose of fire to eliminate invasive non-native plants, woody growth, and thatch.  The probability of ignition is 20%, but improving by the minute.
Prescribed Fire Test Burn
To begin the burn, a test fire is started in the downwind corner of the parcel, which also happens to be the bottom of the slope.  Fuel ignition is good.  The burn can proceed.
Igniting the Fire
Crews proceed uphill from the location of the test fire while igniting combustibles along both flanks of the area being treated.
Prescribed Fire Crew Member with Equipment
A drip torch is used to ignite the dried stems and leaves of warm-season grasses and wildflowers.  Each member of the burn crew wears Nomex fire-resistant clothing and carries safety equipment including a two-way radio, a hydration pack, and a cocoon-like emergency fire shelter.
Wildfire ATV
An all-terrain vehicle equipped with various tools, a fire pump, hose, and a small water tank accompanies the crew on each flank of the fire.
Prescribed Fire
A mowed strip of cool-season grasses along the perimeter of the burn area is already green and functions as an ideal fire break.  While the drip torch is perfect for lighting combustibles along the fire’s perimeter, the paintball gun-looking device is an effective tool used to lob incendiaries into the center areas of the burn zone for ignition.
Effective Fire Break
With green cool-season grasses already growing on the trails surrounding the burn zone, very little water was used to contain this prescribed fire.  Where such convenient fire breaks don’t already exist, crews carry tools including chain saws, shovels, and leaf blowers to create their own.  They also carry flame swatters, backpack water pumps, shovels, and other tools to extinguish fires if necessary.  None of these items were needed to control this particular fire.
Halting the Process of Succession in a Grassland with Prescribed Fire
This fast-burning fire provides enough heat to damage the cambium layer of the woody tree and shrub saplings in this parcel being maintained as a grassland/wildflower plot, thus the process of succession is forestalled.  Burns conducted during previous years on this and adjacent fields have also controlled aggressive growth of invasive Multiflora Rose and Olives (Elaeagnus species).
Containing the Fire on the Flanks
Crews proceed up the slope while maintaining the perimeter by igniting dry plant material along the flanks of the burn zone.
The Crew Monitors the Burn
Ignition complete, the crews monitor the fire.
Prescribed Fire: Natural Mosaic-style Burn Pattern
The Burn Boss surveys the final stages of a safe and successful prescribed fire.  The fire has left behind a mosaic of burned and unburned areas, just as a naturally occurring event may have done.  Wildlife dodging the flames may be taking refuge in the standing grasses, so there is no remedial attempt to go back and ignite these areas.  They’ll be burned during prescribed fires in coming years.
Great Spangled Fritillary
By June, this grassland will again be lush and green with warm-season grasses and blooming wildflowers like this Common Milkweed being visited by a Great Spangled Fritillary.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on Joe-pye Weed.
And later in the summer, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on Joe-pye Weed.
Indiangrass in flower in mid-summer.
Indiangrass in flower in mid-summer.
Bobolinks in Indiangrass
Bobolinks glow in the late August sun while taking flight from a stand of warm-season grasses maintained using springtime prescribed fire.  The small dots on the dark background at the top of the image are multitudes of flying insects, many of them pollinators.  The vegetation is predominately Indiangrass, excellent winter cover for birds, mammals, and other wildlife.

Prescribed burns aren’t a cure-all for what ails a troubled forest or other ecosystem, but they can be an effective remedy for deficiencies caused by a lack of periodic episodes of naturally occurring fire.  They are an important option for modern foresters, wildlife managers, and other conservationists.