Do you recall our “Photo of the Day” from seven months ago…
Here’s something to look forward to in the new year. The good citizens of East Donegal Township in Lancaster County have partnered with Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to establish an extensive wildflower meadow on what had been a mowed field of turf grass at Riverside Park in the Susquehanna floodplain near Marietta. As the photo shows, the lawn plants have been eliminated in preparation for seeding with a diverse assortment of native grasses and wildflowers to provide habitat for birds and pollinators including butterflies, bees, and other insects. Once established, the meadow’s extensive vegetative growth will help reduce stormwater runoff by better infiltrating rainfall to recharge the aquifer. During flood events, the plantings will provide soil stabilization and increase the ability of the acreage to uptake nutrients, thus reducing the negative impact of major storms on the quality of water in the river and in Chesapeake Bay. Check the project’s progress by stopping by from time to time in 2024!
Well, here’s what that site looks like today…
The wildflowers, thousands of them, are now in bloom!Black-eyed Susan and Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) dominate the assortment currently in flower.
And there are pollinating insects galore, most notably butterflies…
A Cabbage White collecting nectar on Blue Vervain.A Clouded or Orange Sulphur among the grasses in the meadow.A Silver-spotted Skipper.The Least Skipper is our tiniest butterfly.The Little Glassywing (Vernia verna), this one feeding on vervain nectar, deposits its eggs on Purpletop grass, which then functions as the host plant for this butterfly’s larvae.A Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) feeding on the nectar of a Black-eyed Susan.A Common Buckeye on a “Gloriosa Daisy”, a showy, large-flowered cultivar of Black-eyed Susan.A Red-winged Blackbird with a caterpillar found among the meadow’s lush growth.An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Blue Vervain. Nearby Yellow (Tulip) Poplars and other trees serve as host plants for this butterfly’s larvae.The black morph of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail shows subdued shading in the wings that closely resembles the brilliant color patterns of the more familiar yellow form.The Sachem, this one visiting a Black-eyed Susan, is a variable species with a range that normally lies south of the 40th parallel, the line of latitude that intersects the Susquehanna in the area of the Conejohela Flats at Washington Boro.A Sachem visiting the blooms of Oxeye sunflower. During recent weeks, scorching winds from the south and southwest have transported an abundance of these vagrant skippers into the lower Susquehanna valley and beyond.A male Sachem approaching the bloom of a “Gloriosa Daisy”. Miles north of the 40th parallel, wandering Sachems are currently the most numerous of the butterflies at the Riverfront Park wildflower meadow.Here and there among the meadow’s plantings we noticed one of our favorites starting to flower, the Partridge Pea.Partridge Pea happens to be a host plant for another vagrant from the south, the big, lime-yellow Cloudless Sulphur. We saw at least half a dozen patrolling the meadow.The stars of the show are the Zebra Swallowtails, gorgeous butterflies that rely on stands of native Common Paw-paw trees in the river floodplain to host their eggs and larvae.The red-white-and-blue underside of a Zebra Swallowtail.WOW!
Why on earth would anyone waste their time, energy, and money mowing grass when they could have this? Won’t you please consider committing graminicide this fall? That’s right, kill that lawn—at least the majority of it. Then visit the Ernst Seed website, buy some “Native Northeast Wildlflower Mix” and/or other blends, and get your meadow planted in time for the 2025 growing season. Just think of all the new kinds of native plants and animals you’ll be seeing. It could change your life as well as theirs.
A Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis), more commonly known as a hummingbird moth, visits the flowers of Blue Vervain in the Riverfront Park wildflower meadow.
Resilient to the pressures of flooding, ice scour, drought, and oft times really poor water quality, Water Willow (Dianthera americana, formerly Justicia americana) is the most common herbaceous plant on the Susquehanna’s non-forested alluvial islands. Yet, few know this native wildflower by name or reputation.
Pure stands of emergent Water Willow endure at times brutal conditions on non-forested islands in the Susquenanna.Alluvial deposits of sand, clay, gravel, and silt create ideal substrate for mats of Water Willow along shorelines of the Susquehanna and its larger tributaries. Provided the loose substrate remains moist, this emergent thrives even when water levels retreat during periods of dry weather. The woody plant in the background, the native Black Willow (Salix nigra), shares similar soil preferences but is found growing on slightly higher ground as a non-emergent tree or shrub. It is a member of the willow family (Salicaceae).In bloom now, the orchid-like flower of the Water Willow is a quick giveaway that it is not a close relative of the willow trees but is instead a member of the acanthus family (Acanthaceae) and is allied with the genus Ruellia, the wild petunias.
The spring of 2024 has been very kind to our beds of Water Willow. Rainfall in the Susquehanna watershed has been frequent enough to maintain river levels just high enough to keep the roots of the plants wet. During the interludes in storm activity, dry spells have rolled back any threat of flooding on the river’s main stem, thus eliminating chances of submerging the plants in muddy water and preventing the sun from keeping them warm, happy, and flowering early. Thundershowers throughout the basin earlier this week have now raised the river a few inches to inundate the base of the plants and make mats of Water Willow favorable places for newly hatched fry and other young fish to take refuge while they grow. Here’s a look…
The Spottail Shiner (Notropis hudsonius) is a common native minnow of the Susquehanna. This juvenile was found among several dozen small fish taking refuge in the cover of Water Willow below Conewago Falls.The Mimic Shiner (Notropis volucellus) is generally regarded to be a native transplant from the Mississippi drainage that has become established in the Susquehanna and many of its tributaries, possibly after introduction by way of bait buckets. However, the fish tends to be very fragile and dies quickly upon handling, so its use and transport as a bait species may be impractical. The Mimic Shiner is very common in around Conewago Falls.A juvenile Mimic Shiner less than one inch in length found among flooded Water Willow below Conewago Falls earlier this week.One of about a dozen juvenile Quillbacks (Carpiodes cyprinus) found in Water Willow just below Conewago Falls. For spawning, local populations of this compact native species of carpsucker favor the gravel-bottomed pools among the Jurassic-Triassic boulders of the falls’ pothole rocks. Probably hatched within the last eight weeks, this specimen was just one inch long.As summer progresses, stands of emergent Water Willow begin to expand their size by sending out rhizomes. Increasing numbers of small fish like this Spotfin/Satinfin Shiner (Cyprinella species) concentrate in the cover of the thickening vegetation.The importance of these patches of emergent wildflowers (sounds weird, doesn’t it?) is demonstrated by the numbers of fish gathered within their underwater forest of stems and leaves by summertime.To protect them from burial by silt and to prevent them from being swept away by current, spawning Spotfin/Satinfin Shiners deposit their eggs in crevices of submerged rocks and wood, often in or near mats of Water Willow. Males guard the eggs until hatching. The fry must then take shelter among boulders, cobble, and plant cover. Note the breeding-condition male in the upper right.Panfish like this non-native Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) will often choose nesting sites in deeper water adjacent to beds of Water Willow, particularly if submerged growth like this Water Stargrass adds to the availability of cover for their young after hatching.Smallmouth Bass gather in a pool adjacent to a Water Willow-covered island. These non-native predators rely on beds of these indigenous plants to provide habitat for their young, then, after spawning, lurk in the waters surrounding them to ambush less-than-vigilant minnows and other victims.
By now you’ve come to appreciate the importance of Water Willow to the sustainability of our populations of fish and other aquatic life. Like similar habitat features that reduce sediment runoff and nutrient pollution, undisturbed stands of terrestrial, emergent, and submerged native plant species are essential to the viability of our freshwater food webs.
While in flower, this extensive stand of Princess Trees (Paulownia tomentosa) straddling Second Mountain north of Harrisburg might be mistaken for a series of boulder outcrops. Native to eastern Asia, the fast-growing Princess Tree has escaped cultivation to become naturalized in many parts of eastern North America. You’ll currently notice the showy purple blooms on many forested ridges and hilltops throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Paulownia tomentosa is also known as the Phoenix Tree, a name derived from its ability, due to its extensive root system, to regenerate following fire. This fast-growing invasive therefore calls for measures in addition to prescribed burns for control within infected forests. Mechanical and/or chemical methods of removal are frequently required.
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.
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.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.Mexican Cigar grows wild in parts of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s winter range. To them, it’s comfort food.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.
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.
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.
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.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.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 stream into Raymond Pool to escape the rising tide in the salt marsh.More Semipalmated Sandpipers and a single Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) arrive at Raymond Pool.Two more Short-billed Dowitchers on the way in.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.More Short-billed Dowitchers arriving to feed in Raymond Pool.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.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 wading to feed in the unusually high waters of Raymond Pool.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.Zoomed-in view of a Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus), the bird with white wing linings.American Avocets probe the muddy bottom of Raymond Pool.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.This Least Sandpiper found a nice little feeding area all to itself at Bear Swamp Pool.Lesser Yellowlegs at Bear Swamp Pool.Lesser Yellowlegs at Bear Swamp PoolA Greater Yellowlegs at Bear Swamp Pool.A Caspian Tern patrolling Raymond Pool.The chattering notes of the Marsh Wren’s (Cistothorus palustris) song can be heard along the tour road wherever it borders tidal waters.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.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 Blackbirds are still nesting at Bombay Hook, probably tending a second brood.Look up! A migrating Bobolink passes over the dike at Shearness Pool.Non-native Mute Swans and resident-type Canada Geese in the rain-swollen Shearness Pool.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.A Great Egret prowling Shearness Pool.A Snowy Egret in Bear Swamp Pool.Wood Ducks in Bear Swamp Pool.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.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.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 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.A male Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab peers from its den.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.A Green Heron seen just before descending into the cordgrass to find fiddler crabs for dinner.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 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 in the marshes opposite Shearness Pool.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 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 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.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.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.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.The White-tailed Deity is common along the road to Finis Pool.Fowler’s Toads (Anaxyrus fowleri) breed in the vernal ponds found in the vicinity of Finis Pool and elsewhere throughout the refuge.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.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.
Here’s a quick look at just a few of the birds that have been moving northward in recent days…
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 Orioles favor old meadows with large shade trees. Some remain to nest.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.The Warbling Vireo can be found singing among the branches of large streamside trees like this Green Ash.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!
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.
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.
Flowering Purple Dead Nettle as a volunteer cover crop among last year’s corn stubble in a no-till field.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.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.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.
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 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 eating American Holly berries in February.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.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.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.
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.
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.
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.A three-tailed mayfly (Ephemeroptera) nymph and a several exoskeletons cling to the downstream side of a rock.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. 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.A Rusty Crayfish.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.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.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.Two of a population that may presently include millions of Virginian River Horn Snails living downstream of Conewago Falls.Virginian River Horn Snails with Lesser Mystery Snails (Campeloma decisum), another native species commonly encountered at Conewago Falls and in surrounding waters.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.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.The Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) is a member of the perch family (Percidae).A Smallmouth Bass in strong current.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.A breeding condition male Cyprinella (Spotfin or Satinfin) Shiner.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.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.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”.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!
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.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.
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.
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.
* 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…
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 (Coreopsis lanceolata), a perennial.Black-eyed Susan, a biennial or short-lived perennial.“Gloriosa Daisy”, a variety of Black-eyed Susan, a biennial or short-lived perennial.Purple Coneflower, an excellent perennial for pollinators. The ripe seeds provide food for American Goldfinches.A short variety of Common Sunflower, an annual and a source of free bird seed.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.
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.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, 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.A Monarch larva (caterpillar) feeding on Swamp Milkweed.Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is included in the Ernst Seed “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”. This perennial is also known as Butterfly Milkweed.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.
The perennial Wild Bergamot, also known as Bee Balm, is an excellent pollinator plant, and the tubular flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds.Oxeye is adorned with showy clusters of sunflower-like blooms in mid-summer. It is a perennial plant.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 (Ratibida pinnata), a tall perennial, is spectacular during its long flowering season.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.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 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.
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.The same seeded site less than four months later.A Monarch pupa from which the adult butterfly will emerge.
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.
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.
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.
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.
National Weather Service radar showed a sizeable nocturnal flight of migrating birds early this morning. Let’s go for a short stroll and see what’s around.
Radar returns from State College, Pennsylvania, display several bands of light rain and a massive flight of migrating birds. (NOAA/National Weather Service image)After coming in on an overnight flight, Gray Catbirds were numerous at dawn this morning.Masses of Neotropical migrants are just beginning to arrive. This Black-and-white Warbler was found feeding on insects in a Green Ash tree that, so far, has survived Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) infestation.The Veery is a Neotropical thrush that nests in understory vegetation on forested slopes in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.Orchard Orioles are here.And Baltimore Orioles are here too. Vibrant colors like these are what many observers find so wonderful about many of the Neotropical species.Not all migrants move at night. While you’re out and about, keep an eye on the sky for diurnal fliers like these migrating Double-crested Cormorants, seen this morning a full ten miles east of the river.While many birds are still working their way north to their breeding grounds, resident species like this Carolina Wren are already feeding young. This one has collected a spider for its nestlings.
Inside the doorway that leads to your editor’s 3,500 square foot garden hangs a small chalkboard upon which he records the common names of the species of birds that are seen there—or from there—during the year. If he remembers to, he records the date when the species was first seen during that particular year. On New Year’s Day, the results from the freshly ended year are transcribed onto a sheet of notebook paper. On the reverse, the names of butterflies, mammals, and other animals that visited the garden are copied from a second chalkboard that hangs nearby. The piece of paper is then inserted into a folder to join those from previous New Year’s Days. The folder then gets placed back into the editor’s desk drawer beneath a circular saw blade and an old scratched up set of sunglasses—so that he knows exactly where to find it if he wishes to.
A quick glance at this year’s list calls to mind a few recollections.
The 2019 bird list included 48 species, the 47 on the board plus Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which was logged on a slip of paper found tucked into the edge of the frame.
This Green Frog, photographed on New Year’s Day 2019, was “out and about” along the edge of the editor’s garden pond. Due to the recent mild weather, Green Frogs were active during the current New Year’s holiday as well.On a day with strong south winds in late February or during the first two weeks of March, there is often a conspicuous northbound spring flight of migrating waterfowl, gulls, and songbirds that crosses the lower Susquehanna valley as it departs Chesapeake Bay. These Tundra Swans were among the three thousand seen from the garden patio on March 13, 2019. A thousand migrating Canada Geese, 500 Red-winged Blackbirds, numerous Ring-billed Gulls, and some American Herring Gulls were seen during the same afternoon.This juvenile Cooper’s Hawk was photographed through the editor’s kitchen window. From its favorite perch on this arbor it would occasionally find success snagging a House Sparrow from the large local flock. It first visited the garden in November, the species being absent there since early spring. Unlike previous years, there was no evidence of a breeding pair in the vicinity during 2019.Plantings that provide food and cover for wildlife are essential to their survival. Native flowers including Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) and Partridge Pea provide nourishment for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that visit the editor’s garden, but they really love a basket or pot filled with Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea) too. The latter (seen here) can be grown as a houseplant and moved outdoors to a semi-shaded location in summer and early fall. But remember, it’s tropical, so you’ll need to bring it back inside when frost threatens.A Swamp Sparrow is an unusual visitor to a small property surrounded by paved parking lots and treeless lawns. Nevertheless, aquatic gardens and native plants helped to attract this nocturnal migrant, seen here eating seeds from Indiangrass. It arrived on September 30 and was gone on October 2.
Before putting the folder back into the drawer for another year, the editor decided to count up the species totals on each of the sheets and load them into the chart maker in the computer.
Despite the habitat improvements in the garden, the trend is apparent. Bird diversity has not cracked the 50 species mark in 6 years. Despite native host plants and nectar species in abundance, butterfly diversity has not exceeded 10 species in 6 years.
It appears that, at the very least, the garden habitat has been disconnected from the home ranges of many species by fragmentation. His little oasis is now isolated in a landscape that becomes increasingly hostile to native wildlife with each passing year. The paving of more parking areas, the elimination of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous growth from the large number of rental properties in the area, the alteration of the biology of the nearby stream by hand-fed domestic ducks, light pollution, and the outdoor use of pesticides have all contributed to the separation of the editor’s tiny sanctuary from the travel lanes and core habitats of many of the species that formerly visited, fed, or bred there. In 2019, migrants, particularly “fly-overs”, were nearly the only sightings aside from several woodpeckers, invasive House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), and hardy Mourning Doves. Even rascally European Starlings became sporadic in occurrence—imagine that! It was the most lackluster year in memory.
The Tufted Titmouse was a daily visitor to the garden through 2018. This one was photographed investigating holes in an old magnolia there during the spring of that year. There were no Tufted Titmouse sightings in the garden in 2019. This and other resident species, especially cavity nesters, appear to be experiencing at least a temporary decline.Breeding birds including Northern Cardinals may have had a difficult year. In the editor’s garden, a pair were still feeding and escorting one of their young in early October. The infestation of the editor’s town by domestic house and feral cats may have contributed to the failure of earlier broods, but a lack of food is also a likely factor.
If habitat fragmentation were the sole cause for the downward trend in numbers and species, it would be disappointing, but comprehensible. There would be no cause for greater alarm. It would be a matter of cause and effect. But the problem is more widespread.
Although the editor spent a great deal of time in the garden this year, he was also out and about, traveling hundreds of miles per week through lands on both the east and the west shores of the lower Susquehanna. And on each journey, the number of birds seen could be counted on fingers and toes. A decade earlier, there were thousands of birds in these same locations, particularly during the late summer.
At about the time of summer solstice in June each year, Common Grackles begin congregating into roving summer flocks that will grow in size to assure their survival during the autumn migration, winter season, and return north in the spring. From his garden, the editor saw just one flock of less than a dozen birds during the summer of 2019. He saw none during his journeys through other areas of the Susquehanna valley. Flocks of one hundred birds or more did not materialize until the southbound movements of grackles passed through the region in October and November.
In the lower Susquehanna valley, something has drastically reduced the population of birds during breeding season, post-breeding dispersal, and the staging period preceding autumn migration. In much of the region, their late-spring through summer absence was, in 2019, conspicuous. What happened to the tens of thousands of swallows that used to gather on wires along rural roads in August and September before moving south? The groups of dozens of Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) that did their fly-catching from perches in willows alongside meadows and shorelines—where are they?
Several studies published during the autumn of 2019 have documented and/or predicted losses in bird populations in the eastern half of the United States and elsewhere. These studies looked at data samples collected during recent decades to either arrive at conclusions or project future trends. They cite climate change, the feline infestation, and habitat loss/degradation among the factors contributing to alterations in range, migration, and overall numbers.
There’s not much need for analysis to determine if bird numbers have plummeted in certain Lower Susquehanna Watershed habitats during the aforementioned seasons—the birds are gone. None of these studies documented or forecast such an abrupt decline. Is there a mysterious cause for the loss of the valley’s birds? Did they die off? Is there a disease or chemical killing them or inhibiting their reproduction? Is it global warming? Is it Three Mile Island? Is it plastic straws, wind turbines, or vehicle traffic?
The answer might not be so cryptic. It might be right before our eyes. And we’ll explore it during 2020.
A clean slate for 2020.
In the meantime, Uncle Ty and I going to the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. You should go too. They have lots of food there.
It’s tough being good-looking and liked by so many. You’ve got to watch out, because popularity makes you a target. Others get jealous and begin a crusade to have you neutralized and removed from the spotlight. They’ll start digging to find your little weaknesses and flaws, then they’ll exploit them to destroy your reputation. Next thing you know, people look at you as some kind of hideous scoundrel.
Today, bright afternoon sunshine and a profusion of blooming wildflowers coaxed butterflies into action. It was one of those days when you don’t know where to look first.
A Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) sipping nectar from Rough Boneset (Eupatorium pilosum) flowers. Asters (Aster) are the host plants for the larvae of this butterfly.A Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) on Rough Boneset. Its caterpillars are known to feed on members of the Acanthus family, possibly including the Water Willow (Justicia americana) which is so abundant in Conewago Falls.Visitors from south of the Mason-Dixon Line arrived on the recent warm winds. Two Cloudless Sulphurs (Phoebis sennae) patrolled the Riverine Grasslands, especially near the stands of Partridge Pea, a possible host plant. One is seen here visiting a Halbred-leaved Rose Mallow blossom. These large yellow butterflies are always a standout.
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) has a bad reputation. Not native to the Americas, this prolific seed producer began spreading aggressively into many wetlands following its introduction. It crowds out native plant species and can have a detrimental impact on other aquatic life. Stands of loosestrife in slow-moving waters can alter flows, trap sediment, and adversely modify the morphology of waterways. Expensive removal and biological control are often needed to protect critical habitat.
The dastardly Purple Loosestrife may have only two positive attributes. First, it’s a beautiful plant. And second, it’s popular; butterflies and other pollinators find it to be irresistible and go wild over the nectar.
A Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) feeding on Purple Loosestrife nectar. The host plants for this common butterfly’s caterpillars are a wide variety of Legumes.A Cabbage White (Pieris rapae), a butterfly introduced from Europe in the 1800s, feeds on introduced Purple Loosestrife.A Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae) feeding on Purple Loosestrife. This butterfly has expanded its population and range by using the introduced Crown Vetch as a host plant.
Don’t you just adore the wonderful butterflies. Everybody does. Just don’t tell anyone that they’re pollinating those dirty filthy no-good Purple Loosestrife plants.
SOURCES
Brock, Jim P., and Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York.
Newcomb, Lawrence. 1977. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown and Company. Boston, Massachusetts.
It has not been a good summer if you happen to be a submerged plant species in the lower Susquehanna River. Regularly occurring showers and thunderstorms have produced torrents of rain and higher than usual river stages. The high water alone wouldn’t prevent you from growing, colonizing a wider area, and floating several small flowers on the surface, however, the turbidity, the suspended sediment, would. The muddy current casts a dirty shadow on the benthic zone preventing bottom-rooted plants from getting much headway. There will be smaller floating mats of the uppermost leaves of these species. Fish and invertebrates which rely upon this habitat for food and shelter will find sparse accommodation…better luck next year.
Due to the dirty water, fish-eating birds are having a challenging season as they try to catch sufficient quantities of prey to feed themselves and their offspring. A family of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) at Conewago Falls, including recently fledged young, were observed throughout this morning and had no successful catches. Of the hundred or more individual piscivores of various species present, none were seen retrieving fish from the river. The visibility in the water column needs to improve before fishing is a viable enterprise again.
Ospreys competing for a suitable fishing perch. Improving water conditions in the coming week should increase their success as predators.Versatile at finding food, adult Bald Eagles are experienced and know to be on the lookout for Ospreys with fish, a meal they can steal through intimidation.
While the submerged plant communities may be stunted by 2017’s extraordinary water levels, there is a very unique habitat in Conewago Falls which endures summer flooding and, in addition, requires the scouring effects of river ice to maintain its mosaic of unique plants. It is known as a Riverine Grassland or scour grassland.
The predominant plants of the Riverine Grasslands are perennial warm-season grasses. The deep root systems of these hardy species have evolved to survive events which prevent the grassland from reverting to woodland through succession. Fire, intense grazing by wild herd animals, poor soils, drought, and other hardships, including flooding and ice scour, will eliminate intolerant plant species and prevent an area from reforesting. In winter and early spring, scraping and grinding by flood-driven chunk ice mechanically removes large woody and poorly rooted herbaceous growth from susceptible portions of the falls. These adverse conditions clear the way for populations of species more often associated with North America’s tall grass prairies to take root. Let’s have a look at some of the common species found in the “Conewago Falls Pothole Rocks Prairie”.
Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), seen heregrowing in the cracks of a pothole rock. High water nourishes the plant by filling the crevices with nutrient-loaded sediment. This species evolved with roots over three feet deep to survive fires, trampling by bison, and drought.Freshwater Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) does well with its roots in water. It creates exceptional bird habitat and grows in the falls and on ice-scoured small islands in free-flowing segments of the Susquehanna River downstream.Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), like Big Bluestem, is one of the tall grass prairie species and, like Freshwater Cordgrass, grows in near pure stands on ice-scoured islands. It takes flooding well and its extensive root system prevents erosion.Though not a grass, Water Willow (Justicia americana) is familiar as a flood-enduring emergent plant of river islands, gravel bars, and shorelines where its creeping rhizome root system spreads the plant into large masses. These stands are often known locally as “grass beds”. This member of the acanthus family provides habitat for fish and invertebrates among its flooded leaves and stems. Its presence is critical to aquatic life in a year such as this.
The Conewago Falls Riverine Grassland is home to numerous other very interesting plants. We’ll look at more of them next time.
SOURCES
Brown, Lauren. 1979. Grasses, An Identification Guide. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY.
She ate only toaster pastries…that’s it…nothing else. Every now and then, on special occasions, when a big dinner was served, she’d have a small helping of mashed potatoes, no gravy, just plain, thank you. She received all her nutrition from several meals a week of macaroni and cheese assembled from processed ingredients found in a cardboard box. It contains eight essential vitamins and minerals, don’t you know? You remember her, don’t you?
Adult female butterflies must lay their eggs where the hatched larvae will promptly find the precise food needed to fuel their growth. These caterpillars are fussy eaters, with some able to feed upon only one particular species or genus of plant to grow through the five stages, the instars, of larval life. The energy for their fifth molt into a pupa, known as a chrysalis, and metamorphosis into an adult butterfly requires mass consumption of the required plant matter. Their life cycle causes most butterflies to be very habitat specific. These splendid insects may visit the urban or suburban garden as adults to feed on nectar plants, however, successful reproduction relies upon environs which include suitable, thriving, pesticide-free host plants for the caterpillars. Their survival depends upon more than the vegetation surrounding the typical lawn will provide.
The Monarch (Danaus plexippus), a butterfly familiar in North America for its conspicuous autumn migrations to forests in Mexico, uses the milkweeds (Asclepias) almost exclusively as a host plant. Here at Conewago Falls, wetlands with Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and unsprayed clearings with Common Milkweed (A. syriaca) are essential to the successful reproduction of the species. Human disturbance, including liberal use of herbicides, and invasive plant species can diminish the biomass of the Monarch’s favored nourishment, thus reducing significantly the abundance of the migratory late-season generation.
Monarch caterpillar after a fourth molt. The fifth instar feeding on Swamp Milkweed.A fifth molt begets the Monarch pupa, the chrysalis, from which the showy adult butterfly will emerge.Adult Monarch feeding on Goldenrod (Solidago) nectar.
Butterflies are good indicators of the ecological health of a given environment. A diversity of butterfly species in a given area requires a wide array of mostly indigenous plants to provide food for reproduction. Let’s have a look at some of the species seen around Conewago Falls this week…
An adult Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) visiting a nectar plant, Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata). Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), a plant of the Riparian Woodlands, is among the probable hosts for the caterpillars.A Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) visits Crown Vetch, a possible host plant. Other potential larval food in the area includes Partridge Pea, Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow (Hibiscus laevis) of the river shoreline, and Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), a plant of wetlands.The Eastern Tailed Blue (Cupido comyntas) may use Partridge Pea , a native wildflower species, and the introduced Crown Vetch (Securigera/Coronilla varia) as host and nectar plants at Conewago Falls.The Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) is at home among tall grasses in woodland openings, at riverside, and in the scoured grassland habitat of the Pothole Rocks in the falls. Host plants available include Switchgrass (Panicum vigatum), Freshwater Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), and Foxtails (Setaria).The Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon) is an inhabitant of moist clearings where the caterpillars may feed upon Lovegrasses (Eragrostis) and Purpletop (Tridens flavus).The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), a female seen here gathering nectar from Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium), relies upon several forest trees as hosts. Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), Willow (Salix), Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), also known as Tuliptree, and Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) are among the local species known to be used. The future of the latter food species at Conewago Falls is doubtful. Fortunately for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, the “generalist” feeding requirements of this butterfly’s larvae enable the species to survive the loss of a host plant.A female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, black morph, gathering nectar from Joe-Pye Weed.The Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus), an adult seen here on Joe-Pye Weed, feeds exclusively upon Pawpaw (Asimina) trees as a caterpillar. This butterfly species may wander, but its breeding range is limited to the moist Riparian Woodlands where colonial groves of Pawpaw may be found. The Common Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), our native species in Pennsylvania, and the Zebra Swallowtail occur at the northern edge of their geographic ranges in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Planting Pawpaw trees as an element of streamside reforestation projects certainly benefits this marvelous butterfly.
The spectacularly colorful butterflies are a real treat on a hot summer day. Their affinity for showy plants doubles the pleasure.
By the way, I’m certain by now you’ve recalled that fussy eater…and how beautiful she grew up to be.
SOURCES
Brock, Jim P., and Kaufman, Kenn. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY.
