LIFE IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER WATERSHED – Page 11 – A Natural History of Conewago Falls

October 27, 2022October 28, 2022

Photo of the Day

Double check those big flocks of southbound geese flying high overhead, especially if they’re silent. Double-crested Cormorants are currently passing through the lower Susquehanna basin and are often seen far from water during their autumn movements. Look for tails that are nearly as long as the head and neck.

October 25, 2022October 25, 2022

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** 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** 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.

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.

October 23, 2022October 23, 2022

Big Broad-winged Hawk Flights Are Underway

Flights of southbound Broad-winged Hawks have joined those of other Neotropical migrants to thrill observers with spectacular numbers. In recent days, thousands have been seen and counted at many of the regions hawkwatching stations. Now is the time to check it out!

A "kettle" of Broad-winged Hawks gaining altitude by soaring on a thermal updraft. — A “kettle” of Broad-winged Hawks gaining altitude by soaring on a thermal updraft.

Migrating Broad-winged Hawks — Broad-winged Hawks gliding away to the southwest after climbing in a column of rising warm air.

A migrating Broad-winged Hawk enroute to the tropics for winter.

Other diurnal migrants are on the move as well…

Migratory Woodpeckers: Red-bellied Woodpecker and Northern Flicker — The Red-bellied Woodpecker (left) and the Northern Flicker (right) are migratory species of woodpeckers that begin heading south during the last half of September each year.

Migrating Blue Jay — Running a bit early, large numbers of Blue Jays having been moving through the area for several weeks now.

Flock of Cedar Waxwings — Flocks of Cedar Waxwings roam widely as they creep ever southward for winter.

Adding to the diversity of sightings, there are these diurnal raptors arriving in the area right now…

Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk — Numbers of migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks are building and will peak during the coming weeks.

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk — As will numbers of Cooper’s Hawks.

Adult Bald Eagle — And Bald Eagles are moving throughout the fall season.

For more information and directions to places where you can observe migrating hawks and other birds, be certain to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper” tab at the top of this page.

September 17, 2022

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.

September 16, 2022September 17, 2022

Photo of the Day

Scarlet Tanager in a Pin Oak — Following a heavy nocturnal flight, an observer can often see Neotropical migrants in unusual places. For arboreal species looking to rest and feed after a long night of flying, large native trees in almost any location can be attractive. This Scarlet Tanager was found not in its typical habitat, a deciduous forest, but in an enormous Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) surrounded by manicured lawn.

September 15, 2022September 15, 2022

Something in the Air Tonight

There’s something in the air tonight—and it’s more than just a cool comfortable breeze.

It’s a major nocturnal movement of southbound Neotropical birds. At daybreak, expect a fallout of migrants, particularly songbirds, in forests and thickets throughout the region. Warblers, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, Scarlet Tanagers, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks pass through in mid-September each year, so be on the lookout!

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022

Photo of the Day

Neotropical songbirds are again on their way south for the winter. Many rely on specialized habitats to provide suitable feeding and resting areas for stopovers during their autumnal journey. The Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi), an uncommon find, almost always makes its appearances on the dead branches of a tall tree in a ridgetop forest clearing. This one was found this morning as it ambushed insects from a perch in a snag at the Second Mountain Hawk Watch in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Be sure to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper” tab at the top of this page to see updates that include descriptions of more than a dozen hawk watches in and near the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Links provide travel directions and sighting records for many of the lookouts. Plan to visit one or more this fall.

September 8, 2022September 15, 2022

Photo of the Day

Vallisneria "Pearling" as it Produces Oxygen — Submersed aquatic plants in streams, lakes, ponds, bays, and estuaries do more than take up nutrients and provide habitat for fish and other organisms, they produce oxygen during photosynthesis. Here we see tapegrass (Vallisneria) in bright sunlight releasing a visible string of oxygen bubbles, an emission known as “pearling”. British chemist, theologian, and philosopher Joseph Priestly (1733-1804), who spent his final decade residing along the Susquehanna in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, isolated oxygen during experiments in 1774 by exposing mercuric oxide to direct sunlight. During the following year, Priestly published his findings in “An Account of Further Discoveries in Air”, describing what he called “dephlogisticated air”, the gas later named oxygen. To observe and record the effects of pure oxygen in the absence of atmospheric air, Priestly first tested it on a mouse, then breathed it himself.

September 1, 2022September 6, 2022

Drought Watch Issued in Parts of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a “drought watch” for much of the state’s Susquehanna basin including Dauphin, Lebanon, and Perry Counties—plus those counties to their north. Residents are asked to conserve water in the affected areas.

Irrigation of a manure-covered field. — Water conservation measures are voluntary during a drought watch, and most consumers try to cut back on nonessential use. For many though, threats to water supply and water quality generate little concern. This evening, on this farm along a Dauphin County waterway undergoing restoration, we shouldn’t be too surprised to see lots of water being pumped from the creek to soak down liquid manure that was spread on the fields earlier in the week. This happens to be the only property along a five-mile segment of stream that still allows cattle and draft horses to wade, defecate, and urinate in the water. It is the only parcel for nearly seven miles that has eroding banks of legacy sediments that are maintained denuded of nearly all vegetation. Despite some beneficial practices like the use of cover crops, it’s a polluter. And now its operator appears to be engaged in something new: “stream dewatering”. With three irrigation guns in operation, this farmer was easily pumping and removing up to one half or more of the creek’s flow, which at the time, according to a United States Geological Survey gauge less than a mile upstream, was only about 3 cubic feet per second or 1,100 gallons per minute (G.P.M.). That doesn’t let much for the municipalities downstream that rely upon this waterway as a supplemental source of drinking water, does it? Such a large reduction in base flow can threaten the survival of fish and other aquatic inhabitants in the creek, particular during hot summer weather when dissolved oxygen levels can be at their lowest of the year. Water is like a lot of other necessities, no one really gives it a second thought until they don’t have it; and as long as I have mine, that’s all that really matters.

August 25, 2022August 26, 2022

Photo of the Day

Freshwater Bryozoan Colony (Pectinatella magnifica) and an Eastern Amberwing — Those who happen to come upon it might think this football-sized gelatinous blob is a sure sign of pollution. A freshwater bryozoan (Pectinatella magnifica) colony is composed of a single microscopic founder and its many clones. Despite its bizarre appearance, the “moss animal” is an indicator of good water quality. Pectinatella magnifica is found in clear lentic (still) waters of streams, lakes, and ponds where each individual in the colony feeds by extending a disk of sticky tentacles, called a lophophore, from within its protective sheath to capture single-celled algae (e.g., diatoms) and other plankton. From now through autumn, these bryozoans are reproducing by means of cell-filled statoblasts, durable little seedlike pods which can survive the harsh conditions of both winter and drought and sometimes be transported by animals, wind, or water currents to new areas. Spring weather and/or rehydration of a dried-up lentic pool stimulates a statoblast to open, the cells contained therein then develop into a zooid that attempts to start a new colony by cloning itself.

August 20, 2022

Photo of the Day

Zabulon Skipper on Pickerelweed — A female Zabulon Skipper visits a cluster of Pickerelweed blossoms. The Zabulon Skipper is a small butterfly of our streamsides, riversides, damp meadows, and other moist grassy spaces. The Pickerelweed is an emergent plant of lakes, ponds, and wetlands. Add it to your next project to improve water quality and help pollinators like the Zabulon Skipper. You may even attract a hummingbird or two!

August 17, 2022September 15, 2022

Photo of the Day

Gray Catbird and Black Chokeberry — The fruits of a Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) prove irresistible to this Gray Catbird. Chokeberry is a native clump-forming shrub that reaches a height of less than ten feet. It is tolerant of wet soils and makes a good choice for inclusion in plantings alongside streams and ponds, as well as in rain gardens. Springtime clusters of white flowers yield berries by this time each summer. By turning red as the fruits ripen, the foliage helps attract not only catbirds, but robins, waxwings, and other species that, in exchange for a meal, will assure dispersal of the plant’s seeds in their droppings. With considerable sweetening, tart chokeberries can be used for juicing and the creation of jams, jellies, and preserves.

August 10, 2022August 13, 2022

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/Tapegrass — 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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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!

August 5, 2022August 15, 2022

Two Feeders Are Better Than One

Over the coming six weeks or more, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will be feeding throughout the daylight hours to fuel their long migration to the tropics for winter. With plenty of adult and juvenile birds around, it’s the best time of year to get a better look at them by putting up a feeder.

You may already know the basics—hang the feeder near flower beds if you have them, keep it filled with a mixture of one part sugar to four parts water, and fill the little ant trap with fresh water. And you may know too, that to provide for the birds’ safety you should avoid hanging your feeder near plate glass windows and you should keep it high enough to avoid ambushes by any predators which may be hiding below.

Now here’s a hummingbird feeding basic (a bird feeding basic really) that you may not have considered. For every hummingbird feeder you intend to have filled and hanging in your garden, have a second one cleaned and air-drying to replace it when it’s time to refill. Why? Sugar water, like bird seed when it gets wet, is an excellent media for growing bacteria, molds, and other little beasties that can make birds (and people) sick. In the summer heat, these microorganisms grow much faster than they would in the wintertime, so diligence is necessary. Regularly, on a daily basis ideally, each feeder in your garden should be taken down and replaced with a clean, dry feeder filled with fresh sugar water mixture. The cleaning process should include dumping of the feeder’s contents followed by a thorough scrubbing with soapy water to remove any food residues that, if left remaining, can provide nourishment for growing bacteria. Next, the feeder should be rinsed with clean water to wash away soap and debris. You can sanitize the feeder if you wish, but it is more important to allow it to air-dry until its next use. Depriving mold, bacteria, and other microbes of moisture is a critical step in the process of eliminating them as a health hazard.

A Note of Caution: To avoid cross contaminating the utensils and space you use for preparing and serving meals, it’s important to have a separate work area with brushes, buckets, and other equipment dedicated only to bird feeder cleaning and drying.

Cleaning and air-drying a dish-type hummingbird feeder — Dish-type hummingbird feeders are easy to clean and fill. They dry quickly to eliminate microbial reproduction.

So, let’s review. If you’re going to have a hummingbird feeder filled with nectar hanging in your garden, you need a second one—clean, dry, and ready to replace it.

A hummingbird feeder in the garden and a clean dry and ready replacement — A hummingbird feeder hanging in the garden and a clean replacement air-drying.

If you’d like to attract more than one hummingbird at a time to your garden, you may want to place a second feeder where the territorial little bird claiming the first as its own can’t see it. Then you’ll need four feeders—two hanging in the garden and two that are clean, dry, and ready to be filled with fresh sugar water to use as replacements.

Two hummingbird feeders in the garden and two clean dry and ready replacements — Two hummingbird feeders hanging in the garden and two replacements cleaned and air-drying.

If you’re in a rural area with good habitat, you may have four or more feeders around your refuge. You’ll need a replacement feeder for each.

Four hummingbird feeders hanging in the garden — Four hummingbird feeders hanging and…

Four Hummingbird Feeders Cleaned and Air-drying — …four replacements cleaned and air-drying.

Remember, keep your feeders clean and filled with fresh nectar and you’ll be all set to enjoy the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds of late summer. Then watch closely for the cold-hardy western species that visit the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed beginning in October. The occurrence of at least one of these rarities in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed each autumn is now something of a regular event.

August 4, 2022August 11, 2022

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.

August 3, 2022August 4, 2022

Photo of the Day

Annual Wildflowers Along Corn Field. — Spectacular annual wildflowers in bloom along a border separating a fitness trail from a field of maize in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Such plantings can provide vital habitat for pollinators that otherwise find no sustenance among monocultures of neonicotinoid-treated crops like corn and soybeans.