Category: Superasterids

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Time to Eat

A glimpse of the rowdy guests crowding the Thanksgiving Day dinner table at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters…

White-breasted Nuthatch
A male White-breasted Nuthatch visits a peanut feeder…
White-breasted Nuthatch
…soon to be joined by a female White-breasted Nuthatch.
Downy Woodpecker
A male Downy Woodpecker gets a bill full of suet.
Carolina Wren
A Carolina Wren nibbles at a peanut.
Eastern Gray Squirrel
An Eastern Gray Squirrel stuffs itself on peanuts dropped by the birds.
Northern Mockingbird
A territorial Northern Mockingbird stands guard over its supply of Common Winterberry fruit.
Eastern Bluebird
To avoid the mockingbird’s aggression, the Eastern Bluebirds opted out of fresh fruit in favor of raisins offered at the feeders.
American Robin
This persistent American Robin has made an art of repeatedly sneaking in to quickly devour a few berries before being chased away by the vigilant mockingbird.
Dark-eyed Junco
After everyone has had their fill, Dark-eyed Juncos clean up the leftovers.
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Photo of the Day

Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)
Among the hardy wildflowers still in bloom in the forests of the lower Susquehanna valley is the Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium), a variable species also known as the Heart-leaved Aster.
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Visit South Mountain for the Brightest Foliage Display You’ve Ever Seen

Where should you go this weekend to see vibrantly colored foliage in our region?  Where are there eye-popping displays of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens without so much brown and gray?  The answer is Michaux State Forest on South Mountain in Adams, Cumberland, and Franklin Counties.

South Mountain is the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Section of the Ridge and Valley Province in Pennsylvania.  Michaux State Forest includes much of the wooded land on South Mountain.  Within or adjacent to its borders are located four state parks: King’s Gap Environmental Education Center, Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Caledonia State Park, and Mont Alto State Park.  The vast network of trails on these state lands includes the Appalachian Trail, which remains in the mountainous Blue Ridge Section all the way to its southern terminus in Georgia.

Pennsylvania State Parks on South Mounatin
In Pennsylvania, the forested highlands of the Blue Ridge Section of the Ridge and Valley Province are known as South Mountain.  Much of South Mountain lies within the boundaries of Michaux State Forest.  Stars indicate the locations of 1) King’s Gap Environmental Education Center, 2) Pine Grove Furnace State Park, 3) Caledonia State Park, and 4) Mont Alto State Park.  A drive on US 30 between Gettysburg and Chambersburg will take you right through Michaux State Forest along an east to west axis while a scenic northbound or southbound trip along PA 233 will bring you in proximity to each of the state parks located therein.  (Base image from NASA Earth Observatory Collection)

If you want a closeup look at the many species of trees found in Michaux State Forest, and you want them to be labeled so you know what they are, a stop at the Pennsylvania State University’s Mont Alto arboretum is a must.  Located next door to Mont Alto State Park along PA 233, the Arboretum at Penn State Mont Alto covers the entire campus.  Planting began on Arbor Day in 1905 shortly after establishment of the Pennsylvania State Forest Academy at the site in 1903.  Back then, the state’s “forests” were in the process of regeneration after nineteenth-century clear cutting.  These harvests balded the landscape and left behind the combustible waste which fueled the frequent wildfires that plagued reforestation efforts for more than half a century.  The academy educated future foresters on the skills needed to regrow and manage the state’s woodlands.

Online resources can help you plan your visit to the Arboretum at Penn State Mont Alto.  More than 800 trees on the campus are numbered with small blue tags.  The “List of arboretum trees by Tag Number” can be downloaded to tell you the species or variety of each.  The interactive map provides the locations of individual trees plotted by tag number while the Grove Map displays the locations of groups of trees on the campus categorized by region of origin.  A Founder’s Tree Map will help you find some of the oldest specimens in the collection and a Commemorative Tree Map will help you find dedicated trees.  There is also a species list of the common and scientific tree names.

Yellow Buckeye
The Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava) is a tree found in the forests of the Blue Ridge Section of the Ridge and Valley Province in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.  You can see it in Pennsylvania by visiting the collection of trees in the Arboretum at Penn State Mont Alto.
American Chestnut
The American Chestnut can be difficult to find due to the impact of chestnut blight, but you can see it in the Arboretum at Penn State Mont Alto.
Shagbark Hickory
Shagbark Hickory is a common tree in the forests of South Mountain.
Sweet Cherry
The Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium), a native of Europe, is naturalized throughout eastern and south-central Pennsylvania and is one of the more than 150 species of trees in the arboretum’s collection.
Sweet Birch
Sweet Birch (Betula lenta) foliage is particularly bright yellow on South Mountain this autumn.  It really “pops” against the backdrop of the evergreen Eastern White Pines and Eastern Hemlocks.  During less-than-ideal years, Sweet Birch leaves can subtly transition from green to drab brown without much fanfare before falling.
Common Persimmon
You might have a difficult time finding a Common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) growing wild in Pennsylvania, but you can find it in the Arboretum at Penn State Mont Alto.

The autumn leaves will be falling fast, so make it a point this weekend to check out the show on South Mountain.

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Late Season Ruby-throated Hummingbirds…Again

Last October 3rd, a late-season Ruby-throated Hummingbird stopped by the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters to take shelter from a rainy autumn storm.  It was so raw and chilly that we felt compelled to do something we don’t normally do—put out the sugar water feeder to supplement the nectar produced by our fall-flowering plants.  After several days of constant visits to the feeder and the flowers, our lingering hummer resumed its southbound journey on October 7th.

Fast forward to this afternoon and what do you know, at least two migrating hummingbirds have stopped by to visit the flowers in our garden.  This year, we have an exceptional abundance of blooms on some of their favorite plants.  In the ponds, aquatic Pickerelweed is topped with purple spikes and we still have bright orange tubular flowers on one of our Trumpet Vines—a full two to three months later than usual.

Late-season Ruby-throated Hummingbird
We checked each of our late-season visitors carefully to be reasonably certain that none was a stray western species of hummingbird.  All appear to be female or juvenile “Ruby-throats”.  If you have an abundance of flowering plants and/or you’re going to maintain your hummingbird feeders through the coming weeks, be on the lookout for western species.  Most are more hardy than our Ruby-throats and some have remained in the lower Susquehanna valley through the winter.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Mexican Cigar
As is typically the case, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds quickly gravitate toward the tubular flowers of our Cuphea ignea, the Mexican Cigar.  They find these showy plants to be absolutely irresistible.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Mexican Cigar
Mexican Cigar grows wild in parts of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s winter range.  To them, it’s comfort food.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Bat-faced Cuphea
We’re trying some new cultivars of Cuphea to see how they do.  As this composite image shows, the hummingbirds won’t let our Bat-faced Cuphea (Cuphea llavea) alone.  It’s another plant native to Mexico and Central America, right where some of our hummingbirds spend the winter.

Remember, keep those feeders clean and the provisions fresh!  You’ll be glad you did.

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Hymanoptera: A Look at Some Bees, Wasps, Hornets, and Ants

What’s all this buzz about bees?  And what’s a hymanopteran?  Well, let’s see.

Hymanoptera—our bees, wasps, hornets and ants—are generally considered to be our most evolved insects.  Some form complex social colonies.  Others lead solitary lives.  Many are essential pollinators of flowering plants, including cultivars that provide food for people around the world.  There are those with stingers for disabling prey and defending themselves and their nests.  And then there are those without stingers.  The predatory species are frequently regarded to be the most significant biological controls of the insects that might otherwise become destructive pests.  The vast majority of the Hymanoptera show no aggression toward humans, a demeanor that is seldom reciprocated.

Late summer and early autumn is a critical time for the Hymanoptera.  Most species are at their peak of abundance during this time of year, but many of the adult insects face certain death with the coming of freezing weather.  Those that will perish are busy, either individually or as members of a colony, creating shelter and gathering food to nourish the larvae that will repopulate the environs with a new generation of adults next year.  Without abundant sources of protein and carbohydrates, these efforts can quickly fail.  Protein is stored for use by the larval insects upon hatching from their eggs.  Because the eggs are typically deposited in a cell directly upon the cache of protein, the larvae can begin feeding and growing immediately.  To provide energy for collecting protein and nesting materials, and in some cases excavating nest chambers, Hymanoptera seek out sources of carbohydrates.  Species that remain active during cold weather must store up enough of a carbohydrate reserve to make it through the winter.  Honey Bees make honey for this purpose.  As you are about to see, members of this suborder rely predominately upon pollen or insect prey for protein, and upon nectar and/or honeydew for carbohydrates.

We’ve assembled here a collection of images and some short commentary describing nearly two dozen kinds of Hymanoptera found in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the majority photographed as they busily collected provisions during recent weeks.  Let’s see what some of these fascinating hymanopterans are up to…

SOLITARY WASPS

Great Black Wasp on goldenrod (Solidago species)
A Great Black Wasp on goldenrod (Solidago species).  Like other solitary wasps, a female  Great Black Wasp will sting and paralyze a host insect upon which she’ll deposit her eggs.  After hatching, the larvae will begin consuming the host’s body as a source of protein.  The parasitized insects are often katydids or grasshoppers.
A Great Black Wasp.
A Great Black Wasp feeding on nectar, a source of carbohydrates.  Unlike social bees and wasps, solitary wasps are equipped with a stinger solely used for immobilizing prey, not defending a nest.  They are therefore quite docile and pose little threat to humans.
A Great Black Wasp powdered with pollen.
A Great Black Wasp powdered with pollen.  Hymanopterans that gather nectar and/or pollen are tremendously important pollinators of hundreds of species of plants.
Thread-waisted Wasp
A female Thread-waisted wasp (Ammophilia species, probably A. nigricans) drags a paralyzed caterpillar to her excavated nest where she’ll deposit an egg on the body.  After hatching, the larval wasp will feed on the disabled caterpillar.  The protein will enable the larvae to grow, pupate, and later emerge as an adult wasp.
The female Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) excavates an underground nest with branch tunnels connecting a dozen chambers or more.  As the common name suggests, the female wasp paralyzes a cicada, then makes a strenuous effort to fly and drag it back to the nest for placement in a cell.  Each male wasp egg is deposited upon just one immobilized cicada, but a female egg is provided with a cache of several cicadas to provide adequate protein for growth to a larger size.  Nest cells are sealed with soil, then the larvae hatch in just a couple of days.  Within about two weeks, they have consumed the cicada protein and are fully grown.  Wrapped in a cocoon, they spend the winter in the nest, then pupate in the spring before emerging as a new generation of adults.
The Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber
The Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) builds a mud-ball nest within which it packs paralyzed spiders to function as a source of protein for its larvae.
Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber at nest.
A Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber at nest.
Pipe Organ Mud Dauber Nest
The Pipe Organ Mud Dauber builds this elaborate nest in which their eggs and paralyzed spiders are deposited in cells sealed with mud partitions.  After consuming the spiders, the larvae pupate, overwinter, then emerge from their cells as adults during the following spring.  To escape the protection of the nest, the new generation of adults bore through the mud walls.  Adult Pipe Organ Mud Daubers resemble the Great Black Wasp, but have a white or yellow distal segment on their rear legs resembling a pair of light-colored socks.
A closeup of the previous image with the lengths of the nest tubes compressed to show four scavenger flies (Miltogramminae), possibly two species, that have invaded this Pipe Organ Mud Dauber nest.  Scavenger flies are kleptoparasites that victimize various solitary bees and wasps, depositing larvae directly into the host species’ nest cells to consume the protein cache stored therein.

CUCKOO WASPS

Cuckoo Wasp
Cuckoo Wasps (Chrysididae), also known as Emerald Wasps, parasitize the nests of other species of wasps.  Females lay their eggs inside the host’s nest, then flee the scene.  Upon hatching, larval Cuckoo Wasps feed on stockpiles of prey intended for the host species’ offspring.  Like the adult mud daubers that have already matured and departed this nest by digging a hole through the wall of the cell within which they were hatched, the metallic green Cuckoo Wasp in the upper left has just emerged in much the same way.

SWEAT BEES

A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species).
A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species) collecting nectar and pollen on White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima).
A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species).
Sweat Bees (Lasioglossum species) visit human skin to lick up the electrolytes left behind by evaporating perspiration.
A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species).
Sweat Bees  in the genus Lasioglossum demonstrate various social behaviors ranging from species that are solitary nesters to those that create colonies with work forces ranging in size from as few as four to as many as hundreds of bees.  Some Lasioglossum practice kleptoparasitism, while others are quite accomplished foragers.
An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).
A female Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini) collecting nectar on White Snakeroot.  Notice the pollen “baskets” on the rear leg.
An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).
An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).  Sweat bees nest in subterranean cavities and in hollowed out sections of trees.
An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).
A copper-colored Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini) collecting nectar and dusted with pollen.

LEAFCUTTER AND MASON BEES

Leafcutter Bee
A Leafcutter Bee (Megachile species).  Like Mason Bees, female Mason Bees deposit each of their eggs on a “pollen loaf” within an individual cell inside a preexisting tunnel-like cavity in wood, stone, or in the ground.  Unlike Mason Bees, female Leafcutter Bees cut a circular piece of leaf to create each of the cells in their nest.  After hatching, the larval bee feeds on the pollen loaf, pupates, then emerges from the shelter of the nest to start a new generation, usually during the following year.
A Leafcutter Bee (Megachile species).
A Leafcutter Bee (Megachile species) visiting Wild Bergamot.  Female Leafcutter and Mason Bees lack pollen “baskets” on their rear legs but instead have pollen “brushes” on the underside of the abdomen to gather the protein they need to create a “pollen loaf” for each nest cell.
Leafcutter Bee
A Leafcutter Bee (Megachile species) collecting nectar from White Snakeroot.
A Mason Bee (Osmia species) emerging from a nest cell in spring.
A Mason Bee (Osmia species) emerging from a nest in spring.  Mason Bees create nesting cells within preexisting cavities in wood, stone, and other other supporting structures.  Within the nest cavity, each egg is deposited atop a cache of pollen and nectar, a pollen loaf, then enclosed behind a partition of mud.  The female Mason Bee will usually repeat this process until an entire cavity is filled with cells.  During the following spring, a new generation of adult Mason Bees digs its way through the cell walls to emerge and repeat the process.  These bees readily use paper straws or holes drilled in blocks of wood for nesting.
A mason bee nest box with holes drilled into blocks of wood.
A mason bee nest box with holes drilled into blocks of wood.
Parasitized Mason Bee Nest
Mason Bees seal each cell and the outer end of their nest cavity with mud.  These outer nest cells can been parasitized by a variety of wasps.  Here, the outer cell of a Mason Bee nest has been victimized by a tiny chalcid wasp (looks like another one to the lower left).  Several species of female chalcid wasps (native Monodontomerus species or non-native Pteromalus venustus) enlarge weak points in the outer partition of a mason bee nest, then sting and paralyze the larval bee inside before depositing their eggs.  Within the cell. the wasp larvae consume the larval Mason Bee and the “pollen loaf” provided for its growth.  These same parasitic wasps prey upon Leafcutter Bees as well.

BUMBLE BEES, CARPENTER BEES, HONEY BEES, AND DIGGER BEES

Common Eastern Bumble Bee
A Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) collecting nectar and pollen on goldenrod.  Bumble bees are our sole native group of social bees.  Their wax nests are built in a burrow or other shelter.  The eggs are deposited in cells along with a supply of pollen for nourishing the larvae upon hatching.  Honey is stored in “honey pots” within the nest.  New queens are produced along with male bees during the late-summer and fall.  Only the new generation of fertilized queens survive the winter to lay eggs and produce workers to construct a new nest.
Common Eastern Bumble Bees
A pair of Common Eastern Bumble Bees collecting nectar and becoming dusted with pollen.  Their fuzzy coats and semi-warm-blooded metabolism allows them to be active in cooler weather than is tolerated by other bees.
A Common Eastern Bumble Bee pollinating a Great Rhododendron flower.
Flowering plants including the Great Rhododendron find success attracting pollinators to their reproductive blossoms by offering carbohydrate-rich nectar to insects like this Eastern Bumble Bee.  The yellow spots on the flower’s upper petal help to guide visitors toward their sweet treat.
Eastern Carpenter Bee
An Eastern Carpenter Bee feeding on goldenrod nectar.  Compare the almost hairless abdomen to that of the bumble bees.  Carpenter bees are semi-social insects.  Females lay their eggs in cells within galleries bored into wood.  These nests are completed with great precision, avoiding creation of any second entrance by mistakenly breaching the outer surface of the excavated wood.  Each egg/larvae is provided with a supply of protein-rich pollen.  Males often hover outside their mate’s nest to prevent competing males from entering the area.
A Honey Bee visiting goldenrod alongside Common Eastern Bumble Bees.
A worker Honey Bee, a female member of a sisterhood of foragers from a nearby hive, visits goldenrod alongside Common Eastern Bumble Bees.  Honey Bees were brought to North America during the 1620s, the earliest years of the trans-Atlantic migration of European colonists, to pollinate cultivated plants and to provide a reliable source of honey and beeswax.  Within the Honey Bee’s social structure, the queen of each hive lays the eggs to produce the female worker bees.  Once each year, male drones are produced along with a new generation of queens.
Honey Bee Hive
In nature, Honey Bees build hives in tree cavities.  Recently, this colony constructed a hive in a screech owl nest box at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.  To provide protein for the hatching larvae, worker bees collect pollen and deposit it within the hexagonal cells of the vertically aligned beeswax combs.  After an egg is deposited upon the pollen cache, each cell is sealed with more beeswax.  Young females tend these nest combs before maturing and becoming foraging worker bees.
Bee Hive Display
In apiculture, Honey Bees are raised in man-made hives.  This Pennsylvania Association of Beekeepers display gives visitors to the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg a look at the inner workings of a live bee hive.  Nectar collected by worker bees is turned into honey to provide the supply of carbohydrates needed to fuel the colony through the winter.  Note the honeycombs on the glass.
A possible Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina species).
A possible Small Carpenter Bee (Ceratina species) visiting White Snakeroot.  Small Carpenter Bees nest inside hollow stems and twigs.  Some species are eusocial, with a queen’s daughters and sisters sharing responsibility for finding food and rearing the young.  Females overwinter inside a one of the excavated stems and begin a new nest there in the spring.
A Digger Bee (possibly Melissodes species).
A Digger Bee (possibly Melissodes species) with “pollen baskets” full of pollen collected from nearby flowers.  Digger Bees in the genus Melissodes are often known as the Long-horned Bees.  These social insects excavate underground nests and many species practice communal living.

SCOLIID WASPS

Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp
The Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp (Scolia dubia), also known as the Blue-winged Scoliid Wasp, is most frequently observed feeding on nectar.  Scoliid wasps are solitary nesters, though they may assemble into groups while visiting flowers.  They often ignore the presence of humans and are seldom disturbed by their presence.  Females seek out the burrowing grubs of beetles including the Green June Bug (Cotinis nitida) and possibly the Japanese Beetle.  After stinging a grub to paralyze it, the wasp will deposit her egg on its body, then bury it.  Upon hatching, the larval wasp will feed on the grub for nourishment as it grows.
June Bugs eating watermelon.
Don’t like having your watermelon overrun by Green June Bugs while you’re eating?  Then you ought to go out of your way to be nice to the Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp.
The Double-banded Scoliid
The Double-banded Scoliid (Scolia bicincta) parasitizes beetle larvae as hosts for its larvae.  For carbohydrates it relishes flower nectar.

PAPER WASPS

Northern Paper Wasp
A Northern Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus).  Paper wasps prey upon numerous garden pests, particularly caterpillars, to collect protein.  Though they are social insects equipped with stingers to subdue their victims and defend their nests, paper wasps are surprisingly docile.
The Northern Paper Wasp
A Northern Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus) feeding on nectar from a goldenrod flower.
A Northern Paper Wasp harvesting wood pulp
A Northern Paper Wasp harvesting wood pulp from the side of a mason bee nest box at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.  The pulp is chewed in the wasp’s saliva to create the paper used to construct the colony’s open-cell nest.
Guinea Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans) at their nest.
Common Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans), also known as Guinea Paper Wasps, at their open-cell nest.  This and the nests of most other paper wasps are suspended on a filament or a pedicle.  Many paper wasps can excrete an ant repellent on this section of the nest in an effort to prevent invasion.  Like many other social hymenopterans, a defending wasp can secrete a pheromone venom during the stinging process to warn the colony of danger at the nest.  In winter, Common Paper Wasps seek shelter in stumps and other locations to hibernate.
European Paper Wasp
The European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula) is a non-native species which builds nests in man-made structures including bird houses.  To collect protein, they prey on a wide selection of insects and other invertebrates.  As such, European Paper Wasps are widespread and successful here in North America.

YELLOWJACKETS AND HORNETS

An Eastern Yellowjacket
An Eastern Yellowjacket feeding on lanternfly honeydew.  Eastern Yellowjackets derive much of their success from being generalists, collecting carbohydrates from nearly any sweet source, natural or man made.  They are quite fond of ripe fruits, flower nectar, and sugary snacks and drinks, especially soda.  Protein for nourishing their larvae is derived from the wide variety invertebrates upon which they prey and from carrion.  These foods are chewed into a paste form in preparation for placement into the brood cells.
An Eastern Yellowjacket.
A subterranean colony of Eastern Yellowjackets is started anew each spring by a young queen that has survived winter hibernation in diapause, a state of interrupted development.  She constructs the new nest’s first cells using pulp made by chewing rotting wood.  The first brood of workers scales up construction while the queen continues producing eggs.  At the nest, these social insects will viciously attack anyone or anything perceived to be a threat, so give them their space and leave them alone.  Many yellowjacket infestations of homes and other buildings are the work of non-native German Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica) [not shown], an invasive species that constructs paper nests in void spaces including walls and attics.
Robber Fly consuming an Eastern Yellowjacket
Yellowjackets may be moody and aggressive, but they do fall victim to a number of predators.  A Robber Fly (Promachus species) has taken down and is devouring this Eastern Yellowjacket.
A Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) feeding on Spotted Lanternfly honeydew deposits
A Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) feeding on Spotted Lanternfly honeydew on a Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima).  In the absence of nectar-producing flowers, many bees, yellowjackets, and hornets have turned to the invasive lanternfly and Ailanthus combo to turn the sun’s energy into the carbohydrates they need.  For protein, they prey upon spiders, flies, caterpillars, and a variety of other insects.
A Bald-faced Hornet collecting wood pulp from the surface of a weathered picnic table.
To create paper for nest construction, this Bald-faced Hornet is collecting wood pulp from the surface of a weathered picnic table.  Away from the nest, these hornets demonstrate a calm, carefree demeanor and can be closely observed.
Bald-faced Hornet Nest
A Bald-faced Hornet nest in a pine tree.  These hives are strictly temporary.  Within the nest, a generation of drones (males) and new queens are produced late each year.  These wasps leave the colony to mate.  With the arrival of freezing weather, all inhabitants within the nest, including the old queen, perish, as do the drones that departed to breed.  Only the new queens survive winter hibernation to propagate the next generation of wasps,  starting with the workers needed to construct a fresh nest and reestablish the colony.
Bald-faced Hornets Peering from Nest
Did you ever get the feeling you’re being watched?  Don’t go messing around with Bald-faced Hornet nests.  The occupants therein, like other social bees, wasps, and hornets, are equipped with stingers and venom for defending their colony.  This is an adaptation that has developed over time to assure the survival of populations of these insects.  Think about it this way, a solitary wasp that loses a nest loses only their individual brood of offspring.  There is minimal impact on the wider local population of such insects.  Conversely, a social wasp or hornet that loses a nest loses an entire colony, possibly negating the benefits of their cooperative behavior and threatening the survival of the species.  Insects that cooperate to build societies for survival can be more vulnerable to the catastrophic impacts of certain circumstances like disease, weather, and invasion of their colonies.  Therefore, natural selection has provided them with contingencies for these dangers, for example, the instinct to construct protective shelters and the adaptation of stingers and venom for defense against intruders and would-be predators.  Oh, and by the way, the Bald-faced Hornet can spray venom, often aiming for the eyes, so keep your distance.
European Hornets
European Hornets (Vespa crabro), an introduced species, are predatory on a variety of flying insects for protein.  For carbohydrates they are attracted to sweets like this lanternfly honeydew on Tree-of-heaven.
European Hornets constructing a nest in a tree cavity.
European Hornets constructing a paper nest in a tree cavity.

POTTER WASPS

A Potter Wasp (Eumenes species, probably E. fraturnus) hovering near a European Paper Wasp.
A potter wasp (Eumenes species), probably a Fraternal Potter Wasp (E. fraternus), hovering near a European Paper Wasp on Partridge Pea.  The female potter wasp builds a small mud nest resembling a tiny clay pot.  One of her eggs is inserted and left hanging on a thin thread.  Then a paralyzed caterpillar is deposited as a source of protein to nourish the larva upon hatching.  Lastly, the pot is sealed with a lid made of wet mud.  Upon maturing, the new generation of adult wasps perform a pottery breaking to emerge and take flight.

ANTS

Field Ants (Formica species, possibly Formica pallidefulva) clearing the entrance to their underground nest.
Field Ants (Formica species, possibly Formica pallidefulva) clear the entrance to their underground nest.  Field ants are eusocial insects, they work in concert to build, maintain, and defend the nest, rear young, and find food.  There is no social caste system.  Field Ants are predators and scavengers when collecting protein.  For carbohydrates they often rely on the honeydew produced by aphids.  As a method of improving and sustaining the production of honeydew, some ant species will tend colonies of aphids by moving the younger individuals from depleted portions of plants to more healthy tissue.  Field Ant nests contain chambers used for a variety of functions including raising young and storing food.  Some nests include multiple queens and some colonies consist of more than one nest.   Ants in the genus Formica are weaponized; they can spray formic acid to repel intruders and defend their colony.

We hope this brief but fascinating look at some of our more common bees, wasps, hornets, and ants has provided the reader with an appreciation for the complexity with which their food webs and ecology have developed over time.  It should be no great mystery why bees and other insects, particularly native species, are becoming scarce or absent in areas of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed where the landscape is paved, hyper-cultivated, sprayed, mowed, and devoid of native vegetation, particularly nectar-producing plants.  Late-summer and autumn can be an especially difficult time for hymanopterans seeking the sources of proteins and carbohydrates needed to complete preparations for next year’s generations of these valuable insects.  An absence of these staples during this critical time of year quickly diminishes the diversity of species and begins to tear at the fabric of the food web.  This degradation of a regional ecosystem can have unforeseen impacts that become increasingly widespread and in many cases permanent.

A farmland desert.

A farmland desert.
How can anyone be surprised by the absence of bees and other pollinators in farmland? Manicured and cultivated ground offers little in the way of year-round shelter and food sources for insects and other wildlife.
A savanna-like habitat.
This savanna-like habitat on a south-facing slope provides the abundance of nectar-producing, pollen-rich wildflowers needed to nourish a diverse population of insects including bees, wasps, hornets, and ants.  Goldenrods, asters, and White Snakeroot are some of their late-season favorites.

Editor’s Note: No bees, wasp, hornets, or ants were harmed during this production.  Neither was the editor swarmed, attacked, or stung.  Remember, don’t panic, just observe.

SOURCES

Eaton, Eric R., and Kenn Kaufman.  2007.  Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America.  Houghton Mifflin Company.  New York, NY.

(If you’re interested in insects, get this book!)

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A Visit to a Beaver Pond

To pass the afternoon, we sat quietly along the edge of a pond created recently by North American Beavers (Castor canadensis).  They first constructed their dam on this small stream about five years ago.  Since then, a flourishing wetland has become established.  Have a look.

A Beaver Pond
Vegetation surrounding the inundated floodplain helps sequester nutrients and sediments to purify the water while also providing excellent wildlife habitat.
A beaver lodge.
The beaver lodge was built among shrubs growing in shallow water in the middle of the pond.
Woolgrass in a beaver pond.
Woolgrass (Scirpus cyperinus) is a bulrush that thrives as an emergent and as a terrestrial plant in moist soils bordering the pond.
A male Common Whitetail dragonfly keeping watch over his territory.
A male Common Whitetail dragonfly keeping watch over his territory.
A Twelve-spotted Skimmer perched on Soft Rush.
A Twelve-spotted Skimmer perched on Soft Rush.
A Blue Dasher dragonfly seizing a Fall Field Cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus).
A Blue Dasher dragonfly seizing a Fall Field Cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus).
A Spicebush Swallowtail visiting Cardinal Flower.
A Spicebush Swallowtail visiting a Cardinal Flower.
Green Heron
A Green Heron looking for small fish, crayfish, frogs, and tadpoles.
A Green Heron stalks potential prey.
The Green Heron stalking potential prey.
A Wood Duck feeding on Lesser Duckweed.
A Wood Duck feeding on the tiny floating plant known as Lesser Duckweed (Lemna minor).
A Least Sandpiper feeding along the muddy edge of a beaver pond.
A Least Sandpiper poking at small invertebrates along the muddy edge of the beaver pond.
Solitary Sandpiper
A Solitary Sandpiper.
A Solitary Sandpiper testing the waters for proper feeding depth.
A Solitary Sandpiper testing the waters for proper feeding depth.
Pectoral Sandpiper
A Pectoral Sandpiper searches for its next morsel of sustenance.
A Sora rail in a beaver pond.
The Sora (Porzana carolina) is a seldom seen rail of marshlands including those created by North American Beavers.  Common Cattails, sedges, and rushes provide these chicken-shaped wetland birds with nesting and loafing cover.

Isn’t that amazing?  North American Beavers build and maintain what human engineers struggle to master—dams and ponds that reduce pollution, allow fish passage, and support self-sustaining ecosystems.  Want to clean up the streams and floodplains of your local watershed?  Let the beavers do the job!

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Surf’s Up: The Waves Keep Rolling In

“Waves” of warblers and other Neotropical songbirds continue to roll along the ridgetops of southern Pennsylvania.  The majority of these migrants are headed to wintering habitat in the tropics after departing breeding grounds in the forests of southern Canada.  At Second Mountain Hawk Watch, today’s early morning flight kicked off at sunrise, then slowed considerably by 8:30 A.M. E.D.T.  Once again, in excess of 400 warblers were found moving through the trees and working their way southwest along the spine of the ridge.  Each of the 12 species seen yesterday were observed today as well.  In addition, there was a Northern Parula and a Canada Warbler.  Today’s flight was dominated by Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Black-throated Green, and Tennessee Warblers.

A Blackburnian Warbler at sunrise on Second Mountain.
A Blackburnian Warbler at sunrise on Second Mountain.
A hungry Blackburnian Warbler feeding on insects.
A hungry Blackburnian Warbler feeding on insects.
Black-throated Green Warbler on Second Mountain.
Black-throated Green Warblers were a plentiful species among both yesterday’s and today’s waves of Neotropical migrants.
A juvenile Black-throated Green Warbler on Second Mountain
A juvenile Black-throated Green Warbler.
Tennessee Warbler on Second Mountain.
One of the scores of Tennessee Warblers seen on Second Mountain early this morning.
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warblers were still common today, but not moving through in the numbers seen yesterday.
A male Black-throated Blue Warbler on Second Mountain.
A male Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Magnolia Warbler on Second Mountain.
Compared to yesterday’s flight, lesser numbers of Magnolia Warblers were seen today.
An adult male Wilson's Warbler on Second Mounatin.
An adult male Wilson’s Warbler was a good find among the hundreds of birds swarming the ridgetop.
Nashville Warbler
This Nashville Warbler spent much of the day in the tangles of Mile-a-minute Weed surrounding the lookout.

Other interesting Neotropical migrants joined the “waves” of warblers…

Red-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo numbers were higher than yesterday.
Warbling Vireo
This Warbling Vireo was found peering from the cover of the shady forest.
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
A minimum of six Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were identified including the juvenile male seen here in first-fall plumage.  Other good sightings were Scarlet Tanagers, an adult male Baltimore Oriole, and a dozen or more Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
Least Flycatcher on second Mountain.
Three Least Flycatchers were heard calling and seen chasing one another through a stand of dead timber on the south slope below the lookout.
Broad-winged Hawk
After the warbler flight settled, the task of counting migrating raptors commenced.  Five Broad-winged Hawks including this one were tallied as they glided away to the southwest for a winter vacation in the tropics of Central and South America.
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One of Nature’s Finest: The Cardinal Flower

It may be one of the most treasured plants among native landscape gardeners.  The Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) blooms in August each year with a startling blaze of red color that, believe it or not, will sometimes be overlooked in the wild.

Cardinal Flower on a Stream
Cardinal Flower is most often found in wet soil along forested bodies of water.  The blooms of this shade-loving species may go unnoticed until rays of sunshine penetrate the canopy to strike their brilliant red petals.

The Cardinal Flower grows in wetlands as well as in a variety of moist soils along streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds.  Shady locations with short periods of bright sun each day seem to be favored for an abundance of color.

Cardinal Flower and Great Blue Lobelia
Cardinal Flower in bloom in a riparian forest along the Susquehanna.  To its right is its close relative, Great Lobelia, a plant sometimes known as Great Blue Lobelia or Blue Cardinal Flower.
Cardinal Flower in a wet bottomland woods.
Cardinal Flower in a wet bottomland woods.
The Cardinal Flower can find favorable growing conditions along stream, river and lake shores.
The Cardinal Flower can find favorable growing conditions along stream, river, and lake shores.  Even though they are perennial plants, their presence along such waters often seems temporary.  Changing conditions cause them to suddenly disappear from known locations, then sometimes reappear at the same place or elsewhere nearby.  Some of this phenomenon may be due to the fact that stressed plants can fail to bloom, so they easily escape notice.  When producing flowers during favorable years, the plants seem to mysteriously return.
Cardinal Flowers along a wave-swept shoreline light up the greenery of erosion-controlling riparian vegetation with glowing red color.
Cardinal Flowers along a wave-swept shoreline light up the greenery of erosion-controlling riparian vegetation with glowing red color.

The Cardinal Flower can be an ideal plant for attracting hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and other late-summer pollinators.  It grows well in damp ground, especially in rain gardens and along the edges streams, garden ponds, and stormwater retention pools.  If you’re looking to add Cardinal Flower to your landscape, you need first to…

REMEMBER the CARDINAL RULE…

Cardinal Flower plants are available at many nurseries that carry native species of garden and/or pond plants.  Numerous online suppliers offer seed for growing your own Cardinal Flowers.  Some sell potted plants as well.  A new option is to grow Cardinal Flowers from tissue cultures.  Tissue-cultured plants are raised in laboratory media, so the pitfalls of disease and hitchhikers like invasive insects and snails are eliminated.  These plants are available through the aquarium trade from most chain pet stores.  Though meant to be planted as submerged aquatics in fish tank substrate, we’ve reared the tissue-cultured stock indoors as emergent plants in sandy soil and shallow water through the winter and early spring.  When it warms up, we transplant them into the edges of the outdoor ponds to naturalize.  As a habit, we always grow some Cardinal Flower plants in the fish tanks to take up the nitrates in the water and to provide a continuous supply of cuttings for starting more emergent stock for outdoor use.

Tissue culture Cardinal Flower being grown as a submerged aquatic in a fish aquarium.
A tissue-cultured Cardinal Flower rooted in sandy substrate and being grown as a submerged aquatic plant in a fish tank.  Cuttings from this plant will be used to grow emergent specimens in shallow water for transplanting outdoors around the garden pond.
Cardinal Flower from Tissue Culture
A Cardinal Flower grown from an aquarium store tissue culture blooms in the pond at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.
Cardinal Flower blooming in November.
Grown as an emergent, Cardinal Flower may bloom very late in the season.  This tissue-cultured specimen in the headquarters pond was photographed in early November, 2022.
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Blue Tuesday

We’ve got the summertime blues for you, right here at susquehannawildlife.net…

Big Bluestem
In warm-season grass meadows, Big Bluestem is now in flower.  This and other species of native prairie grasses provide excellent habitat for birds, mammals, and insects including butterflies.  To survive drought and fire, their roots run much deeper than cool season grasses, creeping down four to six feet or more.  This adaptation allowed warm season grasses to recover from heavy grazing by large Pre-Anthropocene mammals.  Today, it makes them ideal plants for soil stabilization.
A male Indigo Bunting has already found some ripe seeds among the heads of flowering Big Bluestem.
A male Indigo Bunting has already found ripe seeds among the heads of flowering Big Bluestem.
Molting Indigo Bunting
Look closely and you’ll see our Indigo Bunting is beginning a pre-migration molt out of its bright-blue breeding (alternate) plumage and into a gray-brown winter (basic) plumage.  The berries of the American Pokeweed upon which it is perched will soon ripen into a dark blue, almost black, color.  Though toxic to humans, these fruits find favor with many species of birds and mammals.
Silky Dogwood
Another great wildlife food is Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum), a deciduous shrub that sports blue-colored berries in summer and showy, bright-red twigs in winter.  It grows well in wet ground along streams and ponds, as well as in rain gardens.
Great Blue Heron
A Great Blue Heron searches the shallows for small fish.  This species is also a good mouser, at times seen hunting in grassy meadows.  Right now is prime time to see it and a variety of other herons and egrets throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

…so don’t let the summertime blues get you down.  Grab a pair of binoculars and/or a camera and go for a stroll!

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Butterflies and More at Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area

If you’re feeling the need to see summertime butterflies and their numbers just don’t seem to be what they used to be in your garden, then plan an afternoon visit to the Boyd Big Tree Preserve along Fishing Creek Valley Road (PA 443) just east of U.S. 22/322 and the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg.  The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources manages the park’s 1,025 acres mostly as forested land with more than ten miles of trails.  While located predominately on the north slope of Blue Mountain, a portion of the preserve straddles the crest of the ridge to include the upper reaches of the southern exposure.

American Chestnut at Boyd Big Tree Preserve
A grove of American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata) planted at Boyd Big Tree Preserve is part of a propagation program working to restore blight-resistant trees to Pennsylvania and other areas of their former range which included the Appalachians and the upper Ohio River watershed.

Fortunately, one need not take a strenuous hike up Blue Mountain to observe butterflies.  Open space along the park’s quarter-mile-long entrance road is maintained as a rolling meadow of wildflowers and cool-season grasses that provide nectar for adult butterflies and host plants for their larvae.

Butterfly Meadow at Boyd Big Tree Preserve
A view looking north at the butterfly meadow and entrance road at Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area.  Second Mountain is in the background.
Walking a Meadow Path
Mowed paths follow the entrance road and a portion of the perimeter of the meadow allowing visitors a chance to wander among the waist-high growth to see butterflies, birds, and blooming plants at close range without trampling the vegetation or risking exposure to ticks.
A Silver-spotted Skipper feeding on nectar from Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) flowers.
A Silver-spotted Skipper feeding on nectar from the flowers of Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum).  Like the milkweeds, Indian Hemp is a member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae).
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeding on Common Milkweed.
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeding on Common Milkweed.
Great Spangled Fritillary on Common Milkweed.
A Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on Common Milkweed.
A Black Swallowtail feeding on Common Milkweed nectar.
A Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) feeding on Common Milkweed nectar.
A Pipevine Swallowtail on Common Milkweed.
A Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) on Common Milkweed.
A Pipevine Swallowtail on Common Milkweed.
Another Pipevine Swallowtail on Common Milkweed.  Note the hook-shaped row of red-orange spots on the underside of the hindwing.
A Pipevine Swallowtail on visiting Butterfly Weed.
A Pipevine Swallowtail visiting the brilliant blooms of Butterfly Weed, a favorite of a wide variety of pollinators.
A Black Swallowtail on Butterfly Weed
A Black Swallowtail with damaged wings alights atop a Butterfly Weed flower cluster.  Note the pair of parallel rows of red-orange spot on the underside of the hindwing.
A Monarch on Butterfly Weed
A Monarch feeding on nectar from the flowers of Butterfly Weed.
A mating pair of Eastern Tailed Blues.
A mating pair of Eastern Tailed Blues on a Timothy (Phleum pratense) spike.
A female (left) and male Great Spangled Fritillary.
A male Great Spangled Fritillary (right) pursuing a female.
Common Green Darner
Butterflies aren’t the only colorful insects patrolling the meadows at Boyd Big Tree Preserve.  Dragonflies including Common Green Darners are busily pursuing prey, particularly small flying insects like mosquitos, gnats, and flies.
Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk
Dragonflies themselves can become prey and are much sought after by Broad-winged Hawks. This very vocal juvenile gave us several good looks as it ventured from the forest into the skies above the upper meadow during midday.  It wasn’t yet a good enough flier to snag a dragonfly, but it will have plenty of opportunities for practice during its upcoming fall migration which, for these Neotropical raptors, will get underway later this month.

Do yourself a favor and take a trip to the Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area.  Who knows?  It might actually inspire you to convert that lawn or other mowed space into much-needed butterfly/pollinator habitat.

While you’re out, you can identify your sightings using our photographic guide—Butterflies of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed—by clicking the “Butterflies” tab at the top this page.  And while you’re at it, you can brush up on your hawk identification skills ahead of the upcoming migration by clicking the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Diurnal Raptors” tab.  Therein you’ll find a listing and descriptions of hawk watch locations in and around the lower Susquehanna region.  Plan to visit one or more this autumn!

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Shorebirds and More at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Have you purchased your 2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp?  Nearly every penny of the 25 dollars you spend for a duck stamp goes toward habitat acquisition and improvements for waterfowl and the hundreds of other animal species that use wetlands for breeding, feeding, and as migration stopover points.  Duck stamps aren’t just for hunters, purchasers get free admission to National Wildlife Refuges all over the United States.  So do something good for conservation—stop by your local post office and get your Federal Duck Stamp.

2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp. Your Federal Duck Stamp is your free pass to visit the nation's National Wildlife Refuges including Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on Delaware Bay near Smyrna, Delaware.
Your Federal Duck Stamp is your admission ticket for entry into many of the country’s National Wildlife Refuges including Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on Delaware Bay near Smyrna, Delaware.

Still not convinced that a Federal Duck Stamp is worth the money?  Well then, follow along as we take a photo tour of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  Numbers of southbound shorebirds are on the rise in the refuge’s saltwater marshes and freshwater pools, so we timed a visit earlier this week to coincide with a late-morning high tide.

Northern Bobwhite
This pair of Northern Bobwhite, a species now extirpated from the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed and the rest of Pennsylvania, escorted us into the refuge.  At Bombay Hook, they don’t waste your money mowing grass.  Instead, a mosaic of warm-season grasses and early successional growth creates ideal habitat for Northern Bobwhite and other wildlife.
Shearness Pool at Bombay Hook N.W.R.
Twice each day, high tide inundates mudflats in the saltwater tidal marshes at Bombay Hook prompting shorebirds to move into the four man-made freshwater pools.  Birds there can often be observed at close range.  The auto tour route through the refuge primarily follows a path atop the dikes that create these freshwater pools.  Morning light is best when viewing birds on the freshwater side of the road, late-afternoon light is best for observing birds on the tidal saltwater side.
Great Blue Heron
A Great Blue Heron at high tide on the edge of a tidal creek that borders Bombay Hook’s tour route at Raymond Pool.
Semipalmated Sandpipers
Semipalmated Sandpipers stream into Raymond Pool to escape the rising tide in the salt marsh.
Semipalmated Sandpipers and Short-billed Dowitcher
More Semipalmated Sandpipers and a single Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) arrive at Raymond Pool.
Short-billed Dowitchers
Two more Short-billed Dowitchers on the way in.
Sandpipers, Avocets, Egrets, and Mallards
Recent rains have flooded some of the mudflats in Bombay Hook’s freshwater pools. During our visit, birds were often clustered in areas where bare ground was exposed or where water was shallow enough to feed.  Here, Short-billed Dowitchers in the foreground wade in deeper water to probe the bottom while Semipalmated Sandpipers arrive to feed along the pool’s edge.  Mallards, American Avocets, and egrets are gathered on the shore.
Short-billed Dowitchers
More Short-billed Dowitchers arriving to feed in Raymond Pool.
Semipalmated Sandpipers
Hundreds of Semipalmated Sandpipers gathered in shallow water where mudflats are usually exposed during mid-summer in Raymond Pool.
Hundreds of Semipalmated Sandpipers, several Short-billed Dowitchers, and some Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri) crowd onto a mud bar at Bear Swamp Pool.
Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forster's Terns, and a Short-billed Dowitcher
A zoomed-in view of the previous image showing a tightly packed crowd of Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forster’s Terns, and a Short-billed Dowitcher (upper left).
Short-billed Dowitchers
Short-billed Dowitchers wading to feed in the unusually high waters of Raymond Pool.
Short-billed Dowitchers, American Avocets, and a Snowy Egret
Short-billed Dowitchers, American Avocets, and a Snowy Egret in Raymond Pool.  A single Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) can been seen flying near the top of the flock of dowitchers just below the egret.
Stilt Sandpiper among Short-billed Dowitchers
Zoomed-in view of a Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus), the bird with white wing linings.
American Avocets
American Avocets probe the muddy bottom of Raymond Pool.
Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitchers
Among these Short-billed Dowitchers, the second bird from the bottom is a Dunlin. This sandpiper, still in breeding plumage, is a little bit early.  Many migrating Dunlin linger at Bombay Hook into October and even November.
Least Sandpiper
This Least Sandpiper found a nice little feeding area all to itself at Bear Swamp Pool.
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs at Bear Swamp Pool.
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs at Bear Swamp Pool
Greater Yellowlegs
A Greater Yellowlegs at Bear Swamp Pool.
Caspian Tern
A Caspian Tern patrolling Raymond Pool.
Marsh Wren singing
The chattering notes of the Marsh Wren’s (Cistothorus palustris) song can be heard along the tour road wherever it borders tidal waters.
Marsh Wren Nest
This dome-shaped Marsh Wren nest is supported by the stems of Saltwater Cordgrass (Sporobolus alterniflorus), a plant also known as Smooth Cordgrass.  High tide licks at the roots of the cordgrass supporting the temporary domicile.
Seaside Dragonlet
By far the most common dragonfly at Bombay Hook is the Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice).  It is our only dragonfly able to breed in saltwater.  Seaside Dragonlets are in constant view along the impoundment dikes in the refuge.
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbirds are still nesting at Bombay Hook, probably tending a second brood.
Bobolink
Look up!   A migrating Bobolink passes over the dike at Shearness Pool.
Mute Swans and Canada Geese
Non-native Mute Swans and resident-type Canada Geese in the rain-swollen Shearness Pool.
Trumpeter Swans
A pair of Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) as seen from the observation tower at Shearness Pool.  Unlike gregarious Tundra and Mute Swans, pairs of Trumpeter Swans prefer to nest alone, one pair to a pond, lake, or sluggish stretch of river.  The range of these enormous birds was restricted to western North America and their numbers were believed to be as low as 70 birds during the early twentieth century.  An isolated population consisting of several thousand birds was discovered in a remote area of Alaska during the 1930s allowing conservation practices to protect and restore their numbers.  Trumpeter Swans are slowly repopulating scattered east coast locations following recent re-introduction into suitable habitats in the Great Lakes region.
Great Egret
A Great Egret prowling Shearness Pool.
Snowy Egret
A Snowy Egret in Bear Swamp Pool.
A hen Wood Duck (second from right) escorts her young.
Wood Ducks in Bear Swamp Pool.
Black-necked Stilt and young.
A Bombay Hook N.W.R. specialty, a Black-necked Stilt and young at Bear Swamp Pool.

As the tide recedes, shorebirds leave the freshwater pools to begin feeding on the vast mudflats exposed within the saltwater marshes.  Most birds are far from view, but that won’t stop a dedicated observer from finding other spectacular creatures on the bay side of the tour route road.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge protects a vast parcel of tidal salt marsh and an extensive network of tidal creeks. These areas are not only essential wildlife habitat, but are critical components for maintaining water quality in Delaware Bay and the Atlantic.
Atlantic Horseshoe Crab
The shells of expired Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs were formerly widespread and common among the naturally occurring flotsam along the high tide line on Delaware Bay.  We found just this one during our visit to Bombay Hook.  Man has certainly decimated populations of this ancient crustacean during recent decades.
As the tide goes out, it’s a good time for a quick walk into the salt marsh on the boardwalk trail opposite Raymond Pool.
Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs
Among the Saltmarsh Cordgrass along the trail and on the banks of the tidal creek there, a visitor will find thousands and thousands of Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs (Minuca pugnax).
Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs
Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs and their extensive system of burrows help prevent the compaction of tidal soils and thus help maintain ideal conditions for the pure stands of Saltwater Cordgrass that trap sediments and sequester nutrients in coastal wetlands.
Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab
A male Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab peers from its den.
Great Egret
Herons and egrets including this Great Egret are quite fond of fiddler crabs.  As the tide goes out, many will venture away from the freshwater pools into the salt marshes to find them.
Green Heron
A Green Heron seen just before descending into the cordgrass to find fiddler crabs for dinner.
Clapper Rail
A juvenile Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans crepitans) emerges from the cover of the cordgrass along a tidal creek to search for a meal.
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis leave their high-tide hiding place in Shearness Pool to head out into the tidal marshes for the afternoon.
Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and possibly other species feed on the mudflats exposed by low tide.
Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and possibly other species feed on the mudflats exposed by low tide in the marshes opposite Shearness Pool.
Ospey
An Osprey patrols the vast tidal areas opposite Shearness Pool.

No visit to Bombay Hook is complete without at least a quick loop through the upland habitats at the far end of the tour route.

Indigo Bunting
Indigo Buntings nest in areas of successional growth and yes, that is a Spotted Lanternfly on the grape vine at the far right side of the image.
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeaks (Passerina caerulea) are common nesting birds at Bombay Hook.  This one was in shrubby growth along the dike at the north end of Shearness Pool.
Trumpet Creeper and Poison Ivy
These two native vines are widespread at Bombay Hook and are an excellent source of food for birds. The orange flowers of the Trumpet Vine are a hummingbird favorite and the Poison Ivy provides berries for numerous species of wintering birds.
Pileated Woodpecker in Sweet Gum
The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the numerous birds that supplements its diet with Poison Ivy berries.  The tree this individual is visiting is an American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), a species native to the Atlantic Coastal Plain in Delaware.  The seed balls are a favorite winter food of goldfinches and siskins.
Red-bellied Slider and Painted Turtle
Finis Pool has no frontage on the tidal marsh but is still worth a visit.  It lies along a spur road on the tour route and is located within a deciduous coastal plain forest.  Check the waters there for basking turtles like this giant Northern Red-bellied Cooter (Pseudemys rubiventris) and much smaller Painted Turtle.
White-tailed Deity
The White-tailed Deity is common along the road to Finis Pool.
Fowler's Toad
Fowler’s Toads (Anaxyrus fowleri) breed in the vernal ponds found in the vicinity of Finis Pool and elsewhere throughout the refuge.
Turk's Cap Lily
The National Wildlife Refuge System not only protects animal species, it sustains rare and unusual plants as well.  This beauty is a Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum), a native wildflower of wet woods and swamps.
Wild Turkey
Just as quail led us into the refuge this morning, this Wild Turkey did us the courtesy of leading us to the way out in the afternoon.

We hope you’ve been convinced to visit Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge sometime soon.  And we hope too that you’ll help fund additional conservation acquisitions and improvements by visiting your local post office and buying a Federal Duck Stamp.

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A Few Plants with Wildlife Impact in June

Here’s a look at some native plants you can grow in your garden to really help wildlife in late spring and early summer.

The Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and Soft Rush (Juncus effusus) in flower in mid-June.
The showy bloom of a Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and the drooping inflorescence of Soft Rush (Juncus effusus).  These plants favor moist soils in wetlands and damp meadows where they form essential cover and feeding areas for insects, amphibians, and marsh birds.  Each is an excellent choice for helping to absorb nutrients in a rain garden or stream-side planting.  They do well in wet soil or shallow water along the edges of garden ponds too.
Smooth Shadbush
The fruits of Smooth Shadbush (Amelanchier laevis), also known as Allegheny Serviceberry, Smooth Serviceberry, or Smooth Juneberry, ripen in mid-June and are an irresistible treat for catbirds, robins, bluebirds, mockingbirds, and roving flocks of Cedar Waxwings.
Common Milkweed and Eastern Carpenter Bee
Also in mid-June, the fragrant blooms of Common Milkweed attract pollinators like Eastern Carpenter Bees,…
Common Milkweed and Honey Bee
…Honey Bees,…
Common Milkweed and Banded Hairstreak
…and butterflies including the Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus).  In coming weeks, Monarch butterflies will find these Common Milkweed plants and begin laying their eggs on the leaves.  You can lend them a hand by planting milkweed species (Asclepias) in your garden.  Then watch the show as the eggs hatch and the caterpillars begin devouring the foliage.  Soon, they’ll pupate and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to watch an adult Monarch emerge from a chrysalis!
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Mother’s Day Flowers

Let’s have a look at some of the magnificent native wildflowers blooming on this Mother’s Day in forests and thickets throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

Rue Anemone
Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) is a fragile little wildflower of open woods.
Blackhaw
The Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) is a shrub of thickets and forest borders. The flower clusters mature into an abundance of berries relished by birds and other wildlife.
Black Cherry
A large Black Cherry tree adorned in white blossoms can be pleasing to the eye and very beneficial for pollinating insects.
Common Pawpaw
The Common Pawpaw is a small tree of damp well-drained soils.  Where conditions are ideal, it may form clonal colonies in the forest understory.  The deep maroon blooms mature into banana-like fruits, hence its alternate common name “Custard Apple”.
Mayapple
The Mayapple or Mandrake (Podophyllum peltatum) commonly blankets the forest floor.  It, like other ephemeral wildflowers, is vulnerable to invasions by non-native shrubs that leaf out earlier in spring than native species and rob them of sunlight during their already abbreviated growing season.

Aren’t they spectacular?

Why not take a stroll to have a look at these and other plants you can find growing along a nearby woodland trail?  You could check out some place new and get a little exercise too!

If you go, please tread lightly, take your camera, mind your manners, and…

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What’s Flying Right Now

Here’s a quick look at just a few of the birds that have been moving northward in recent days…

Gray Catbird
Find a thicket, a garden with plenty of shrubs, or a brushy woodland and you’ll find Gray Catbirds.  Many will stay in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed to nest.
Orchard Oriole
Orchard Orioles favor old meadows with large shade trees.  Some remain to nest.
Common Yellowthroat
The Common Yellowthroat is one of the more than two dozen species of warblers found regularly during spring migration.   It nests locally in wet thickets.
Warbling Vireo
The Warbling Vireo can be found singing among the branches of large streamside trees like this Green Ash.
Blue Jay
Unlike the preceding species which do the majority of their migrating by night, Blue Jays move north by daylight.  Keep an eye on the sky and you just might see a flock or two go by!
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Photo of the Day

A Reforestation Project
Visible in the background of this image, an infestation of invasive Emerald Ash Borer larvae has killed the trees in a woodlot comprised exclusively of Green Ash.  Left standing, the dead snags provide excellent habitat for a number of animal species including cavity-nesting birds like woodpeckers, known consumers of these destructive larvae.  To reforest the mowed field in the foreground, a variety of native deciduous trees have been planted.  In areas where a diversity of trees are not present to furnish a source of seeds for natural succession, manually planting an array of seedlings provides some insurance against the risk of allowing establishment of a single pioneer species such as the vulnerable Green Ash.  The white plastic tubes on the young trees offer protection from the ever-browsing White-tailed Deity.
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Purple Haze Across the Fields

Have you noticed a purple haze across the fields right now?  If so, you may have wondered, “What kind of flowers are they?”

A purple haze of color stretches across fields not already green with cold-season crops like winter wheat.

Say hello to Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum), a non-native invasive species that has increased its prevalence in recent years by finding an improved niche in no-till cropland.  Purple Dead Nettle, also known as Red Dead Nettle, is native to Asia and Europe.  It has been a familiar early spring “weed” in gardens, along roadsides, and in other disturbed ground for decades.

Purple Dead Nettle owes its new-found success to the timing of its compressed growing season.  Its tiny seeds germinate during the fall and winter, after crops have been harvested and herbicide application has ended for the season.  The plants flower early in the spring and are thus particularly attractive to Honey Bees and other pollinators looking for a source of energy-rich nectar as they ramp up activity after winter lock down.  In many cases, Purple Dead Nettle has already completed its flowering cycle and produced seeds before there is any activity in the field to prepare for planting the summer crop.  The seeds spend the warmer months in dormancy, avoiding the hazards of modern cultivation that expel most other species of native and non-native plants from the agricultural landscape.

Purple Dead Nettle in Bloom
Flowering Purple Dead Nettle as a volunteer cover crop among last year’s corn stubble in a no-till field.
Purple Dead Nettle
Like the flowers of orchids, Purple Hedge Nettle blossoms are described as yoke shaped or bilateral (zygomorphic).  Psychedelic experiences are produced only through observation, not by ingestion.  A member of the mint family, its edible young leaves and tops have nutritional value, making a unique addition to salads and soups.
Purple Dead Nettle, Common Dandelion, and Shepherd's Purse
We call them “weeds”, but what do we know?  Purple Dead Nettle, Common Dandelion, and Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), three edible non-native invasive species with similar life cycles seen here flowering along a rural road among fields where intensive farming is practiced.  Shepard’s Purse, like many members of the mustard family, is already producing seeds at the bottom of the flower cluster by the time the uppermost buds open for business.
Spraying Herbicide
In preparation for seeding of a warm-season crop,  herbicide is applied on a no-till field to kill Shepherd’s Purse and other cool-season plants.  To help prevent sediment and nutrient discharge from lands where high-intensity agriculture is practiced, no-till methods are used to reduce runoff from the areas of bare soil that would otherwise be created by traditional plowing.

While modern farming has eliminated a majority of native plant and animal species from agricultural lands of the lower Susquehanna valley, its crop management practices have simultaneously invited vigorous invasion by a select few non-native species.   High-intensity farming devotes its acreage to providing food for a growing population of people—not to providing wildlife habitat.  That’s why it’s so important to minimize our impact on non-farm lands throughout the remainder of the watershed.  If we continue subdividing, paving, and mowing more and more space, we’ll eventually be living in a polluted semi-arid landscape populated by little else but non-native invasive plants and animals.  We can certainly do better than that.

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Plantings for Wet Lowlands

This linear grove of mature trees, many of them nearly one hundred years old, is a planting of native White Oaks (Quercus alba) and Swamp White Oaks (Quercus bicolor).

Imagine the benefit of trees like this along that section of stream you’re mowing or grazing right now.  The Swamp White Oak in particular thrives in wet soils and is available now for just a couple of bucks per tree from several of the lower Susquehanna’s County Conservation District Tree Sales.  These and other trees and shrubs planted along creeks and rivers to create a riparian buffer help reduce sediment and nutrient pollution.  In addition, these vegetated borders protect against soil erosion, they provide shade to otherwise sun-scorched waters, and they provide essential wildlife habitat.  What’s not to love?

Swamp White Oak
Autumn leaf of a Swamp White Oak

The following native species make great companions for Swamp White Oaks in a lowland setting and are available at bargain prices from one or more of the County Conservation District Tree Sales now underway…

Red Maple
The Red Maple is an ideal tree for a stream buffer project. They do so well that you should limit them to 10% or less of the plants in your project so that they don’t overwhelm slower-growing species.
River Birch
The River Birch (Betula nigra) is a multi-trunked tree of lowlands.  Large specimens with arching trunks help shade waterways and provide a source of falling insects for surface-feeding fish.  Its peeling bark is a distinctive feature.
Common Winterberry
The Common Winterberry with its showy red winter-time fruit is a slow-growing shrub of wet soils.  Only female specimens of this deciduous holly produce berries, so you need to plant a bunch to make sure you have both genders for successful pollination.
American Robins feeding on Common Winterberry.
An American Robin feeding on Common Winterberry.
Common Spicebush
Common Spicebush is a shrub of moist lowland soils.  It is the host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly and produces small red berries for birds and other wildlife.  Plant it widely among taller trees to provide native vegetation in the understory of your forest.
Common Spicebush foliage and berries.
Common Spicebush foliage and berries in the shade beneath a canopy of tall trees.
Common Pawpaw
The Common Pawpaw a small shade-loving tree of the forest understory.
Common Pawpaw
Common Pawpaw is a colony-forming small tree which produces a fleshy fruit.  It is the host plant for the caterpillars of the Zebra Swallowtail.
Buttonbush
The Buttonbush is a shrub of wet soils.  It produces a round flower cluster, followed by this globular seed cluster.
Eastern Sycamore
And don’t forget the Eastern Sycamore, the giant of the lowlands.  At maturity, the white-and-tan-colored bark on massive specimens makes them a spectacular sight along stream courses and river shores.  Birds ranging from owls, eagles, and herons to smaller species including the Yellow-throated Warbler rely upon them for nesting sites.
Yellow-crowned Night Herons Nesting in an Eastern Sycamore
Yellow-crowned Night Herons, an endangered species in Pennsylvania, nesting in an Eastern Sycamore.

So don’t mow, do something positive and plant a buffer!

Act now to order your plants because deadlines are approaching fast.  For links to the County Conservation District Tree Sales in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, see our February 18th post.

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Time to Order Your Trees for Spring Planting

County Conservation District Tree Sales are underway throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  Now is the time to order for pickup in April.  The prices are a bargain and the selection is fabulous.  For species descriptions and more details, visit each tree sale web page (click the sale name highlighted in blue).  And don’t forget to order bundles of evergreens for planting in mixed clumps and groves to provide winter shelter and summertime nesting sites for our local birds.  They’re only $12.00 for a bundle of 10—can’t beat that deal!

Cumberland County Conservation District Annual Tree Seedling Sale—

Orders due by: Friday, March 24, 2023

Pickup on: Thursday, April 20, 2023 or Friday, April 21, 2023

Showy Northeast Meadow Mix
Don’t mow it.  Plant a meadow or pollinator garden instead.
Showy Northeast Meadow Mix
Both Cumberland and Perry Counties are offering a native warm-season grass and wildflower seed mix for planting your own meadow or pollinator garden.  Perry County is also taking orders for a seed mix specifically formulated to grow plants for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.

Dauphin County Conservation District Seedling Sale—

Orders due by: Monday, March 20, 2023

Pickup on: Thursday, April 20, 2023 or Friday, April 21, 2023

American Goldfinch atop an Eastern Hemlock
The Eastern Hemlock, Pennsylvania’s official state tree, is an excellent choice for addition to your landscape or reforestation project.  It tolerates rocky soils and its cones are an excellent source of food for birds ranging from chickadees to finches.

Lancaster County Annual Tree Seedling Sale—

Orders due by: Friday, March 10, 2023

Pickup on: Thursday, April 13, 2023

Northern Red Oak
The handsome yet underused Northern Red Oak is a sturdy long-lived native tree that is ideal for street-side, lawn, and reforestation plantings.  In spring, it can be a magnet for migrating Neotropical birds when its flowers attract a wide variety of tiny insects to its upper reaches.  Unlike many other oaks, this species is a relatively fast grower.

Lebanon County Conservation District Tree and Plant Sale—

Orders due by: Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Pickup on: Friday, April 7, 2023

Pileated Woodpecker feeding on Black Gum berries.
In autumn, even after the bright red foliage is gone, the berries of mature Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) trees attract a wide variety of birds like this Pileated Woodpecker.  The Lebanon County Conservation District is offering Black Gum, also known as Black Tupelo, during their 2023 tree sale.  Why not order and plant a half dozen or more?

Perry County Conservation District Tree Sale—(click on 2023 Tree Sale Brochure tab when it scrolls across the page)

Orders due by: March 22, 2023

Pickup on: Thursday, April 13, 2023

Female Eastern Bluebird with Food for Young
The Perry County Conservation District is not only offering plants during this year’s sale, you can also purchase bluebird nest boxes for just $12.00 each!
Riparian Buffer at 15 Years
For less than the cost of one year of mowing, this stream corridor in Conewago Township, Dauphin County was reforested by the owner with hundreds of native trees, the majority purchased through County Conservation District Tree Sale events spanning a period of several years.  By replacing bare soil and mowed areas, the riparian buffer created by these plantings has significantly reduced the nutrient and sediment loads that were polluting the small stream therein known as Brill’s Run.  With determination and not a lot of money, you can do it too.
Maples, Pin Oaks, Eastern White Pines, and other trees in the Brill's Run riparian buffer.
But don’t forget the Eastern White Pines!
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Berries and More on a Bitter Cold Morning

The annual arrival of hoards of American Robins to devour the fruits found on the various berry-producing shrubs and trees in the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters happened to coincide with this morning’s bitter cold temperatures.  Here are photos of some of those hungry robins—plus shots of the handful of other songbirds that joined them for a frosty feeding frenzy.

American Robins consuming Common Winterberry fruits.
American Robins consuming Common Winterberry fruits.
American Robin
One of between one hundred and two hundred American Robins seen feeding on berries at susquehannawildife.net headquarters this morning.
Dark-eyed junco
A Dark-eyed Junco searching the ground for seeds.
American Robin in a "Hollywood Juniper".
An American Robin in the boughs of a “Hollywood Juniper”, a cultivar of the Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Torulosa’, also known as J. c. ‘Kaizuka’).
A Carolina Wren on the peanut feeder.
A Carolina Wren on the peanut feeder.
American Robin
An American Robin searching for fallen berries beneath a holly.
A female Eastern Bluebird.
A female Eastern Bluebird.
American Robin
An American Robin takes a break from the buffet.
A Carolina Chickadee preparing to pluck a sunflower seed from a tube feeder.
A Carolina Chickadee preparing to pluck a sunflower seed from a tube feeder.
American Robins feeding on "Hollywood Juniper" berries.
American Robins feeding on “Hollywood Juniper” berries.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
One of two Red-breasted Nuthatches spending the week at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.
Eastern Bluebird. American Robin, and Tufted Titmouse.
A male Eastern Bluebird among the crowd in the garden’s trees.
American Robin and Common Winterberry, a native deciduous holly.
An American Robin and Common Winterberry, a native deciduous holly.
A Carolina Wren investigates a tree cavity, a potential nest site.
A Carolina Wren investigates a tree cavity, a potential nest site in coming weeks.
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Photo of the Day

American Robin
We don’t have a resident groundhog at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, but the arrival of an American Robin to begin cleaning the abundance of berries from our holly trees and shrubs gives us the idea that spring is just around the corner.  We could hardly be happier.
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Photo of the Day

Northern Mockingbird
From a lookout atop an Eastern Hemlock, a Northern Mockingbird maintains a vigil over a garden full of berry-producing plants. To assure their survival during cold weather, these bold birds will vigorously defend winter food supplies on hollies, viburnums, poison-ivy, bittersweet, and other fruit-producing trees, shrubs, and vines, often swooping in to startle and flush birds and other animals that approach its stores too closely.
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Select Your Berry-producing Plants Now

You probably know that fall is an excellent time for planting.  Roots continue to grow in the warm soil even after the air becomes cool and leaves change color, setting the stage for your new trees and shrubs to sport splendid foliage and flowers in spring.

But did you know that autumn can be the best time to visit your local nursery/garden center to select the native trees and shrubs that produce berries for attracting and feeding overwintering birds and other wildlife?  Here are three of our favorites.  Each is looking its best from now through at least the first half of winter.

American Holly
American Holly is a favorite small evergreen tree for winter beauty in the landscape.  The showy red berries are produced only on female plants, so you’ll need to select at least one of each gender to grow fruit.  They do best in acidic soils, responding well to a mulching of plenty of dead leaves each fall.
American Robins Feeding on American Holly
American Robins eating American Holly berries in February.
Common Winterberry
Common Winterberry is a slow-growing deciduous shrub and a member of the holly family; you’ll need both a male and a female plant to get a crop of berries.  It just so happens that fall is the best time to visit the nursery for selecting a female that’s a good fruit producer.  Winterberry is at its best under full sun in moist, acidic soils.  These plants are very happy to receive the water from your downspouts and a mulching from the leaves in your garden.
American Robin Feeding on Common Winterberry
An American Robin feeds on Common Winterberry on a snowy February evening.
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a low-growing arching deciduous shrub of sunny locations in various well-drained soils.  It is a plant of the southern United States that, given current temperature trends, will thrive in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, particularly on south-facing slopes.  And yes, it does well in mass plantings on embankments.
American Beautyberry
The fruits of American Beautyberry may be the most colorful of any native species.

There’s still time to get the shovel dirty, so visit your local native plant dealer this week and invest in some fruit-producing trees and shrubs.  Fall is also a good time to plant pines, spruces, and hemlocks.  Who knows, you might just get a good end-of-season deal.

White Pines, Norway Spruces, and Eastern Red Cedar
When planted in mixed clumps, conifers like these White Pines, Norway Spruces, and Eastern Red Cedar provide excellent winter food and cover for birds and other wildlife.
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Photo of the Day

Monarch
After somehow finding refuge from freezing temperatures during recent nights, Monarch butterflies were on the move in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed this afternoon. This one was photographed taking a break to recharge on nectar from flowering Frost Aster, also known as Heath Aster.
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Photo of the Day

Hermit Thrushes
Earlier today, these migrants were found feeding on berries along the edge of a forest clearing in northern Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.  Can you find the three Hermit Thrushes among the early successional growth seen here?   For extra credit, identify the three species of berry-producing pioneer plants that are shown.  For additional credit, which one of these plants is a non-native invasive species?   Click the image to see how you did.
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Photo of the Day

Purple Finch feeding on Green Ash seeds.
It seems a bit early, but Purple Finches are indeed beginning to transit the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed on their way south. This one is feeding on the abundance of seeds produced by a Green Ash that has, at least thus far, survived the Emerald Ash Borer invasion.
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Shakedown Cruise of the S. S. Haldeman

First there was the Nautilus.  Then there was the Seaview.  And who can forget the Yellow Submarine?  Well, now there’s the S. S. Haldeman, and today we celebrated her shakedown cruise and maiden voyage.  The Haldeman is powered by spent fuel that first saw light of day near Conewago Falls at a dismantled site that presently amounts to nothing more than an electrical substation.  Though antique in appearance, the vessel discharges few emissions, provided there aren’t any burps or hiccups while underway.  So, climb aboard as we take a cruise up the Susquehanna at periscope depth to have a quick look around!

Brunner Island as seen from the east channel.
Close-in approach to emergent Water Willow growing on an alluvial Island.
The approach to York Haven Dam and Conewago Falls from the west channel.
A pair of Powdered Dancers on a midriver log.

Watertight and working fine.  Let’s flood the tanks and have a peek at the benthos.  Dive, all dive!

American Eelgrass, also known as Tapegrass, looks to be growing well in the channels.  Historically, vast mats of this plant were the primary food source for the thousands of Canvasback ducks that once visited the lower Susquehanna each autumn.
As is Water Stargrass (Heteranthera dubia).  When mature, both of these native plants provide excellent cover for young fish.  Note the abundance of shells from deceased Asiatic Clams (Corbicula fluminea) covering the substrate.
Mayfly nymph
A three-tailed mayfly (Ephemeroptera) nymph and a several exoskeletons cling to the downstream side of a rock.
Comb-lipped Casemaker Caddisfly larva and case.
This hollowed-out stick may be a portable protective shelter belonging to a Comb-lipped Casemaker Caddisfly larva (Calamoceratidae).  The larva itself appears to be extending from the end of the “case” in the upper right of the image.  Heteroplectron americanum, a species known for such behavior, is a possibility. 
Rusty Crayfish
In the Susquehanna and its tributaries, the Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) is an introduced invasive species.  It has little difficulty displacing native species due to its size and aggressiveness.
Rusty Crayfish
A Rusty Crayfish.
Freshwater Snails Susquehanna: Virginian River Horn Snail
Summers with conditions that promote eelgrass and stargrass growth tend to be big years for Virginian River Horn Snails (Elimia virginica).  2022 appears to be one of those years.  They’re abundant and they’re everywhere on the rocks and gravel substrate in midriver.  Feeding almost incessantly on algae and detritus, these snails are an essential component of the riverine ecosystem, breaking down organic matter for final decomposition by bacteria and fungi.
Freshwater Snails Susquehanna: Virginian River Horn Snail
Bits of debris suspended in the flowing water streak by this Virginian River Horn Snail.  The spire-shaped shell is a streamlining adaptation for maneuvering and holding fast in the strong current.
Freshwater Snails Susquehanna: Virginian River Horn Snail
A young Virginian River Horn Snail following a mature adult.  Note the green algae growing among the decaying plant and animal remains that blanket the river bottom.
Freshwater Snails Susquehanna: Virginian River Horn Snail
Two of a population that may presently include millions of Virginian River Horn Snails living downstream of Conewago Falls.
Susquehanna Snails: Virginian River Horn Snails and Lesser Mystery Snails
Virginian River Horn Snails with Lesser Mystery Snails (Campeloma decisum), another native species commonly encountered at Conewago Falls and in surrounding waters.
Freshwater Snails Susquehanna: River Snail and Virginian River Horn Snail
A River Snail (Leptoxis carinata), also known as a Crested Mudalia, hitching a ride on a Virginian River Horn Snail.  The two species are frequently found together.
Mollusks of the Susquehanna: Yellow Lampmussel and River Snail
A River Snail cleaning the shell of a native freshwater Unionidae mussel, Lampsilis cariosa, commonly called the Yellow Lampmussel or Carried Lampmussel.  Because of their general decline in abundance and range, all Unionidae mussels are protected in Pennsylvania.
Fishes of the Susquehanna: Banded Darter
The Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) is a member of the perch family (Percidae).
Fishes of the Susquehanna: Smallmouth Bass
A Smallmouth Bass in strong current.
Fishes of the Susquehanna: Spotfin or Satinfin Shiners
Along the edge of an alluvial island at midriver, Cyprinella (Spotfin or Satinfin) Shiners gather in the cover of an emergent stand of Water Willow.  The closely related Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) and Satinfin Shiner (Cyprinella analostanus) are nearly impossible to differentiate in the field.
Fishes of the Susquehanna: Spotfin or Satinfin Shiner
A breeding condition male Cyprinella (Spotfin or Satinfin) Shiner.
Fishes of the Susquehanna; Juvenile Channel Catfish
A juvenile Channel Catfish.

We’re finding that a sonar “pinger” isn’t very useful while running in shallow water.  Instead, we should consider bringing along a set of Pings—for the more than a dozen golf balls seen on the river bottom.  It appears they’ve been here for a while, having rolled in from the links upstream during the floods.  Interestingly, several aquatic species were making use of them.

River Snail cleaning a golf ball.
River Snail cleaning a golf ball.
Net-spinning Caddisfly (Hydropsychidae)
A golf ball used as an anchor point for silk cases woven by Net-spinning Caddisfly (Hydropsychidae) larvae to snare food from the water column.
Freshwater Snails (Gastropods) of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed: Creeping Ancylid (Ferrissia species)
A Creeping Ancylid (Ferrissia species), a tiny gastropod also known as a Coolie Hat Snail, River Limpet, or Brook Freshwater Limpet, inhabits the dimple on a “Top Flight”.
Freshwater Snails (Gastropods) of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed: Creeping Ancylid (Ferrissia species)
A closeup view of the Creeping Ancylid.  The shell sits atop the snail’s body like a helmet.
We now know why your golf balls always end up in the drink, it’s where they go to have their young.

Well, it looks like the skipper’s tired and grumpy, so that’s all for now.  Until next time, bon voyage!

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Photo(s) of the Day

A tallgrass prairie wildflower and warm-season grass planting: Big Bluestem
This tallgrass prairie wildflower planting on a health campus in Hershey, Pennsylvania, enhances stormwater management and benefits butterflies and other wildlife.  Reducing the acreage maintained as manicured lawn has helped disperse the large flocks of resident Canada Geese (a population of invasive native transplants) that frequented the property and posed a serious hazard to medevac helicopters flying in and out of the facility.
A tallgrass prairie wildflower and warm-season grass planting
Big Bluestem, a warm-season grass, dominates the site and is complemented by Indiangrass and tall wildflowers including Common Milkweed, Wild Bergamot, Oxeye, Black-eyed Susan, Prairie Coneflower, and Purple Coneflower.
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Monarch an Endangered Species: What You Can Do Right Now

This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I.U.C.N.) added the Migratory Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus) to its “Red List of Threatened Species”, classifying it as endangered.  Perhaps there is no better time than the present to have a look at the virtues of replacing areas of mowed and manicured grass with a wildflower garden or meadow that provides essential breeding and feeding habitat for Monarchs and hundreds of other species of animals.

Monarch on Common Milkweed Flower Cluster
A recently arrived Monarch visits a cluster of fragrant Common Milkweed flowers in the garden at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.  Milkweeds included among a wide variety of plants in a garden or meadow habitat can help local populations of Monarchs increase their numbers before the autumn flights to wintering grounds commence in the fall.  Female Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed leaves, then, after hatching, the larvae (caterpillars) feed on them before pupating.

If you’re not quite sure about finally breaking the ties that bind you to the cult of lawn manicuring, then compare the attributes of a parcel maintained as mowed grass with those of a space planted as a wildflower garden or meadow.  In our example we’ve mixed native warm season grasses with the wildflowers and thrown in a couple of Eastern Red Cedars to create a more authentic early successional habitat.

Comparison of Mowed Grass to Wildflower Meadow
* Particularly when native warm-season grasses are included (root depth 6′-8′)

Still not ready to take the leap.  Think about this: once established, the wildflower planting can be maintained without the use of herbicides or insecticides.  There’ll be no pesticide residues leaching into the soil or running off during downpours.  Yes friends, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a private well or a community system, a wildflower meadow is an asset to your water supply.  Not only is it free of man-made chemicals, but it also provides stormwater retention to recharge the aquifer by holding precipitation on site and guiding it into the ground.  Mowed grass on the other hand, particularly when situated on steep slopes or when the ground is frozen or dry, does little to stop or slow the sheet runoff that floods and pollutes streams during heavy rains.

What if I told you that for less than fifty bucks, you could start a wildflower garden covering 1,000 square feet of space?  That’s a nice plot 25′ x 40′ or a strip 10′ wide and 100′ long along a driveway, field margin, roadside, property line, swale, or stream.  All you need to do is cast seed evenly across bare soil in a sunny location and you’ll soon have a spectacular wildflower garden.  Here at the susquehannawildllife.net headquarters we don’t have that much space, so we just cast the seed along the margins of the driveway and around established trees and shrubs.  Look what we get for pennies a plant…

Wildflower Garden
Some of the wildflowers and warm-season grasses grown from scattered seed in the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters garden.

Here’s a closer look…

Lance-leaved Coreopsis
Lance-leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), a perennial.
Black-eyed Susan
Black-eyed Susan, a biennial or short-lived perennial.
Black-eyed Susan "Gloriosa Daisy"
“Gloriosa Daisy”, a variety of Black-eyed Susan, a biennial or short-lived perennial.
Purple Coneflower
Purple Coneflower, an excellent perennial for pollinators.  The ripe seeds provide food for American Goldfinches.
Common Sunflower
A short variety of Common Sunflower, an annual and a source of free bird seed.
Common Sunflower
Another short variety of Common Sunflower, an annual.

All this and best of all, we never need to mow.

Around the garden, we’ve used a northeast wildflower mix from American Meadows.  It’s a blend of annuals and perennials that’s easy to grow.  On their website, you’ll find seeds for individual species as well as mixes and instructions for planting and maintaining your wildflower garden.  They even have a mix specifically formulated for hummingbirds and butterflies.

Annuals in bloom
When planted in spring and early summer, annuals included in a wildflower mix will provide vibrant color during the first year.  Many varieties will self-seed to supplement the display provided by biennials and perennials in subsequent years.
Wildflower Seed Mix
A northeast wildflower mix from American Meadows.  There are no fillers.  One pound of pure live seed easily plants 1,000 square feet.

Nothing does more to promote the spread and abundance of non-native plants, including invasive species, than repetitive mowing.  One of the big advantages of planting a wildflower garden or meadow is the opportunity to promote the growth of a community of diverse native plants on your property.  A single mowing is done only during the dormant season to reseed annuals and to maintain the meadow in an early successional stage—preventing reversion to forest.

For wildflower mixes containing native species, including ecotypes from locations in and near the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, nobody beats Ernst Conservation Seeds of Meadville, Pennsylvania.  Their selection of grass and wildflower seed mixes could keep you planting new projects for a lifetime.  They craft blends for specific regions, states, physiographic provinces, habitats, soils, and uses.  Check out these examples of some of the scores of mixes offered at Ernst Conservation Seeds…

      • Pipeline Mixes
      • Pasture, Grazing, and Hay Mixes
      • Cover Crops
      • Pondside Mixes
      • Warm-season Grass Mixes
      • Retention Basin Mixes
      • Wildlife Mixes
      • Pollinator Mixes
      • Wetland Mixes
      • Floodplain and Riparian Buffer Mixes
      • Rain Garden Mixes
      • Steep Slope Mixes
      • Solar Farm Mixes
      • Strip Mine Reclamation Mixes

We’ve used their “Showy Northeast Native Wildflower and Grass Mix” on streambank renewal projects with great success.  For Monarchs, we really recommend the “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”.  It includes many of the species pictured above plus “Fort Indiantown Gap” Little Bluestem, a warm-season grass native to Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and milkweeds (Asclepias), which are not included in their northeast native wildflower blends.  More than a dozen of the flowers and grasses currently included in this mix are derived from Pennsylvania ecotypes, so you can expect them to thrive in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Milkweed, a perennial species, is included in the Ernst Seed “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”.  It is a favorite of female Monarchs seeking a location to deposit eggs.
Monarch Caterpillar feeding on Swamp Milkweed
A Monarch larva (caterpillar) feeding on Swamp Milkweed.
Butterfly Weed
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is included in the Ernst Seed “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”.  This perennial is also known as Butterfly Milkweed.
Tiger Swallowtails visiting Butterfly Weed
Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are among the dozens of species of pollinators that will visit Butterfly Weed.

In addition to the milkweeds, you’ll find these attractive plants included in Ernst Conservation Seed’s “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”, as well as in some of their other blends.

Wild Bergamot
The perennial Wild Bergamot, also known as Bee Balm, is an excellent pollinator plant, and the tubular flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds.
Oxeye
Oxeye is adorned with showy clusters of sunflower-like blooms in mid-summer.  It is a perennial plant.
Plains Coreopsis
Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), also known as Plains Tickseed, is a versatile annual that can survive occasional flooding as well as drought.
Gray-headed Coneflower
Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), a tall perennial, is spectacular during its long flowering season.
Monarch on goldenrod.
Goldenrods are a favorite nectar plant for migrating Monarchs in autumn.  They seldom need to be sown into a wildflower garden; the seeds of local species usually arrive on the wind.  They are included in the “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix” from Ernst Conservation Seeds in low dose, just in case the wind doesn’t bring anything your way.
Partridge Pea
Is something missing from your seed mix?  You can purchase individual species from the selections available at American Meadows and Ernst Conservation Seeds.  Partridge Pea is a good native annual to add.  It is a host plant for the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly and hummingbirds will often visit the flowers.  It does really well in sandy soils.
Indiangrass in flower.
Indiangrass is a warm-season species that makes a great addition to any wildflower meadow mix.  Its deep roots make it resistant to drought and ideal for preventing erosion.

Why not give the Monarchs and other wildlife living around you a little help?  Plant a wildflower garden or meadow.  It’s so easy, a child can do it.

Planting a riparian buffer with wildflowers and warm-season grasses
Volunteers sow a riparian buffer on a recontoured stream bank using wildflower and warm-season grass seed blended uniformly with sand.  By casting the sand/seed mixture evenly over the planting site, participants can visually assure that seed has been distributed according to the space calculations.
Riparian Buffer of wildflowers
The same seeded site less than four months later.
Monarch Pupa
A Monarch pupa from which the adult butterfly will emerge.
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Photo of the Day

Leafcutter Bee Visiting Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
A Leafcutter Bee (Megachile species) visits the blossoms of a Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), a native wildflower also known as Bee Balm or Horsemint.  Like Mason Bees (Osmia species), leafcutters will readily nest in the tubular cavities provided inside man-made bee houses.  As their names suggest, Mason Bees use mud to construct and seal the cells for their eggs while leafcutters harvest leaves for the task.  Female Leafcutter Bees, including this individual, can be recognized by the accumulation of pollen carried on the underside of their abdomen.  Within each nest cell, a female will lay an egg atop a supply of pollen and nectar.  These provisions will nourish the larva through development and transformation into an adult.
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Photo of the Day

Buttonbush flower cluster
Is it the latest image from NASA’s new Webb Space Telescope?  Nope, it’s the globular flower cluster of the Buttonbush, a native shrub species found throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  Buttonbush thrives in wet soil and seldom grows taller than 10 feet in height.  Try it along stream banks, in stormwater retention basins, and in rain gardens fed by surface runoff or the outflow from your downspouts.
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The Mexican Cigar

You’ve heard and read it before—native plants do the best job of providing sustenance for our indigenous wildlife.  Let’s say you have a desire to attract hummingbirds to your property and you want to do it without putting up feeders.  Well, you’ll need native plants that provide tubular flowers from which these hovering little birds can extract nectar.  Place enough of them in conspicuous locations and you’ll eventually see hummingbirds visiting during the summer months.  If you have a large trellis, pole, or fence, you might plant a Trumpet Vine, also known as Trumpet Creeper.  They become adorned with an abundance of big red-orange tubular flowers that our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds just can’t resist.  For consistently bringing hummingbirds to the garden, Trumpet Vine may be the best of the various plants native to the Mid-Atlantic States.

Trumpet Vine
The showy bloom clusters of Trumpet Vine are irresistible to Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

There is a plant, not particularly native to our area but native to the continent, that even in the presence of Trumpet Vine, Pickerelweed, Partridge Pea, and other reliable hummingbird lures will outperform them all.  It’s called Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea) or Firecracker Plant.  Its red and yellow tubular flowers look like a little cigar, often with a whitish ash at the tip.  Its native range includes some of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s migration routes and wintering grounds in Mexico and the Caribbean Islands, where they certainly are familiar with it.

This morning in the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters garden, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird seen in the following set of images extracted nectar from the Mexican Cigar blossoms exclusively.  It ignored the masses of showy Trumpet Vine blooms and other flowers nearby—as the hummers that stop by usually do when Cuphea is offered.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea)Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea) Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea)Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea)Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea)Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea) Some garden centers still have Mexican Cigar plants available.  You can grow them in pots or baskets, then bring them inside before frost to treat them as a house plant through the winter.  Give the plants a good trim sometime before placing them outside when the weather warms in May.  You’ll soon have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visiting again for the summer.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea)
  
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Blooming in Early July: Great Rhododendron

With the gasoline and gunpowder gang’s biggest holiday of the year now upon us, wouldn’t it be nice to get away from the noise and the enduring adolescence for just a little while to see something spectacular that isn’t exploding or on fire?  Well, here’s a suggestion: head for the hills to check out the flowers of our native rhododendron, the Great Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), also known as Rosebay.

Great Rhododendron
The Great Rhododendron is an evergreen shrub found growing in the forest understory on slopes with consistently moist (mesic) soils.  The large, thick leaves make it easy to identify.  During really cold weather, they may droop and curl, but they still remain green and attached to the plant.

Thickets composed of our native heathers/heaths (Ericaceae) including Great Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, and Pinxter Flower (Rhododendron periclymenoides), particularly when growing in association with Eastern Hemlock and/or Eastern White Pine, provide critical winter shelter for forest wildlife.  The flowers of native heathers/heaths attract bees and other pollinating insects and those of the deciduous Pinxter Flower, which blooms in May, are a favorite of butterflies and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

Pinxter Flower in bloom
A close relative of the Great Rhododendron is the Pinxter Flower, also known as the Pink Azalea.

Forests with understories that include Great Rhododendrons do not respond well to logging.  Although many Great Rhododendrons regenerate after cutting, the loss of consistent moisture levels in the soil due to the absence of a forest canopy during the sunny summertime can, over time, decimate an entire population of plants.  In addition, few rhododendrons are produced by seed, even under optimal conditions.  Great Rhododendron seeds and seedlings are very sensitive to the physical composition of forest substrate and its moisture content during both germination and growth.  A lack of humus, the damp organic matter in soil, nullifies the chances of successful recolonization of a rhododendron understory by seed.  In locations where moisture levels are adequate for their survival and regeneration after logging, impenetrable Great Rhododendron thickets will sometimes come to dominate a site.  These monocultures can, at least in the short term, cause problems for foresters by interrupting the cycle of succession and excluding the reestablishment of native trees.  In the case of forests harboring stands of Great Rhododendron, it can take a long time for a balanced ecological state to return following a disturbance as significant as logging.

Birds of Conewago Falls in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed: Ruffed Grouse
Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) may be particularly sensitive to the loss of winter shelter and travel lanes provided by thickets of Great Rhododendron and other members of the heather/heath family.  (Vintage 35 mm image)

In the lower Susquehanna region, the Great Rhododendron blooms from late June through the middle of July, much later than the ornamental rhododendrons and azaleas found in our gardens.   Set against a backdrop of deep green foliage, the enormous clusters of white flowers are hard to miss.

Great Rhododendron Flower Cluster
Great Rhododendrons sport an attractive blossom cluster.  The colors of the flower, especially the markings found only on the uppermost petal, guide pollinators to the stamens (male organs) and pistil (female organ).
Bumble Bee Pollinating a Great Rhododendron Flower
To this Bumble Bee (Bombus species), the yellowish spots on the uppermost petal of the Great Rhododendron may appear to be clumps of pollen and are thus an irresistible lure.  

In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, there are but a few remaining stands of Great Rhododendron.  One of the most extensive populations is in the Ridge and Valley Province on the north side of Second Mountain along Swatara Creek near Ravine (just off Interstate 81) in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  Smaller groves are found in the Piedmont Province in the resort town of Mount Gretna in Lebanon County and in stream ravines along the lower river gorge at the Lancaster Conservancy’s Ferncliff and Wissler’s Run Preserves.  Go have a look.  You’ll be glad you did.

Great Rhododendron along Route 125 near Ravine
Great Rhododendron along Route 125 along the base of the north slope of Second Mountain north of Ravine, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
Great Rhododendron along Swatara Creek
Great Rhododendrons beginning to bloom during the second week of July along Swatara Creek north of Ravine, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  Note how acid mine drainage continues to stain the rocks (and pollute the water) in the upper reaches of this tributary of the lower Susquehanna.