Tag: Photo of the Day

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Photo of the Day

The Sun in Wildfire Smoke
Nearly a full hour before it set below the western horizon, the sun faded into the clouds of Canadian wildfire smoke filling the skies of the lower Susquehanna valley and was gone.  Look closely…the haze filtered the sun’s glare so completely that several sunspots are visible.
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Photo of the Day

Baltimore Oriole
How ’bout those Baltimore Orioles, eh?  This was a banner day for them both in the trees and on the diamond.  Their migration may be peaking now, but the season shows potential for much more to follow.
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Photo of the Day

Bald Cypress
Rain is on the way. so the tree you planted on Earth Day is about to get a good soaking.  What’s that?  You say you didn’t plant a tree on Earth Day?  Well, you’re in luck.  Tomorrow happens to be Arbor Day.  For more than a century, it’s been an occasion solely devoted to the planting of trees.  If you look carefully, you can find native species in most local nurseries.  About six years ago, we picked up this Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) at a lumberyard garden center.  As you can see, it’s already towering for the sky.  The Bald Cypress is an excellent choice for wet soil and can even be planted in standing water.  Upon showering the ground in autumn, its finely-divided deciduous foliage requires no raking.  So why not mark this year’s Arbor Day weekend by planting a native tree or two at your place?  Sure beats mowing grass!
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Photo of the Day

Pied-billed Grebe
The Pied-billed Grebe is an elusive visitor to local ponds and lakes during migration.  Like a submarine, it can sink out of sight to avoid detection.
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Photo of the Day: It’s the Daily Double

Double-crested Cormorants in breeding plumage.
In addition to the pair of small tufts of feathers on the head, Double-crested Cormorants have seldom-noticed blue eyes and mouths during the breeding season.
Double-crested Cormorants in breeding plumage.
After underwater forays in search of fish, they can often be seen drying their wings in the warm sunshine.
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Photo of the Day

Osprey
The race north toward a favorable breeding territory is priority one for a migrating Osprey, even on a rainy day.  Then again, you may see one stop along the way to do a little fishing. That’s priority two.
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Photo of the Day

Potting Trees and Shrubs
Potting small bare root tree and shrub seedlings in a compost mixture allows you to nurture them with some tender loving care in your home nursery at least through the summer.   The extra attention they’ll get allows you to plant them as larger specimens this autumn or thereafter.   We’ve found that giving native species this quick head start in the nursery significantly improves their survival rate in the field.
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Photo of the Day

Lancaster County Conservation District Tree Sale
Staff distribute trees, shrubs, and perennial flowers during today’s Lancaster County Conservation District Tree Seedling Sale.  Customers pre-ordered their selections back in March to receive great deals on the livestock they’ll need for planting an orchard, pollinator garden, forest buffer, or private wildlife refuge.
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Photo of the Day

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

Painted Turtle
How about slowing down for a change?  Some of us have no choice but to be out along the highways this weekend and frankly, we don’t have very much sympathy for the urgency of your “journey”.  And while you’re at it, hang up the phone, you can “twitface” your B.F.F. later.
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Photo of the Day

A male Deer Tick
It’s so tiny, you can’t even feel it crawling on your skin.  It’s the Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis), also known as the Black-legged Tick, and it’s already looking for someone to latch on to.   Don’t let it be you.  After your foray outdoors, be certain to shower and conduct a full body search for these little hitchhikers.  Then, remember to launder the clothing you were wearing.  Deer Ticks in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed frequently transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, and can be vectors of other microbiological pathogens as well.  The specimen in this photograph is an adult male.  Adult females are similar, but the edge of the abdomen has a crescent-shaped reddish border.  The nymphal stage tick, which is half the size of an adult, is even more likely to infect humans with the Lyme disease bacteria, so be extra vigilant. 
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Photo of the Day

Rusty Blackbirds
Though uncommon, Rusty Blackbirds are regular spring migrants from late March into early May each year.  As they make their way north through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, floodplain wetlands are their favored habitat.  Rusty Blackbirds get their common name not only from the color of their winter plumage, but from their call note as well.  It closely resembles the squeaky sound made by a rusty gate hinge. 
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Photo of the Day

American Goldfinch
‘Tis the first day of spring and this male American Goldfinch is beginning the molt from its drab winter garb into the spectacular feathers of its breeding plumage.
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Photo of the Day

Red-bellied Woodpecker
So that colorful birds like the Red-bellied Woodpecker have places to feed, nest, and roost eighty years from now, we need to plant large-growing native trees today.  Your local County Conservation District Tree Sale is presently underway and there’s still time to make your selections and place an order.   See the post from February 18th for details!
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Photo of the Day

Soaring Bald Eagle
It’s time to keep an eye on the sky when you’re out and about.  Not only are mated pairs of Bald Eagles beginning their nesting cycle throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, but migrating birds are passing through the area on their way to breeding grounds farther north. This one drew the ire of pairs of Fish Crows and American Crows as it soared above the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters earlier today.
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Photo of the Day

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

Red-breasted Nuthatch
Snow days are often good days to keep an eye on the bird feeders for something unusual.  Today was no exception.  Two Red-breasted Nuthatches including this one were attracted to a tube full of peanuts and to the abundance of cones on the Eastern Hemlocks at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.  During autumn migration, Red-breasted Nuthatches can be somewhat common in our region but they rarely stick around, preferring instead to spend the winter in southern pine forests.
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Photo of the Day

Carolina Wren
Carolina Wrens can be attracted to your garden by offering peanuts, mealworms, and suet.  They are especially fond of brushy hedgerows, woodpiles, and rock walls where they forage for wintering spiders and insects.  The Carolina Wren sings throughout the year, its loud “chickory-chockory-chickory” can brighten an otherwise gloomy day.
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Photo of the Day

Dark-eyed Junco
What’s under your tree this morning?   It might be a Dark-eyed Junco searching for small seeds by scratching around in the leaves and detritus.  Also known as the “snowbird”, the junco is a member of the  Passerellidae, our native sparrow family.  It winters in gardens, along forest edges, and in early successional habitat throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
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Photo of the Day

A juvenile Ring-billed Gull with a freshly caught Gizzard Shad is pursued by a hungry adult Great Black-backed Gull on the Susquehanna at Conowingo Dam.
A juvenile Ring-billed Gull with a freshly caught Gizzard Shad is pursued by a hungry adult Great Black-backed Gull on the Susquehanna at Conowingo Dam.
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Photo of the Day

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Have you ever wondered how the Red-bellied Woodpecker got its name?  Well, take a close look at this one.  Not the most obvious field mark, is it?
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Photo of the Day

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

White-tailed Deity
Spent some time in the woods last evening visiting with the wild ungulates.  Throughout autumn, this big guy has been teasing not only the members of the gasoline and gunpowder gang, but dozens of other White-tailed Deity worshipers as well.  With hormones raging, he’s looking for love, so we left him to his business.
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Photo of the Day

Yellow-rumped Warbler
By November, as insects become more difficult to come by, migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers are seldom found far from a supply of berries.  This one was in the vicinity of the white fruits of Poison Ivy vines.
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Photo of the Day

Eastern Comma
The frosted wing edges let you know that this is the winter form of the Eastern Comma butterfly.  Adult commas, also known as anglewings, will soon enter crevices in dead and living trees to begin hibernation.  On some occasions, they’ll seek shelter from the cold among voids in man-made structures.  Look for commas on mild winter days when they awaken to zip around sunny woodlands and gardens.  You may even see these speedy little fliers pausing to feed on tree sap or carrion.
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Photo of the Day

Shadow Darner
If you happen to see a large dark dragonfly cruising around on a sunny November afternoon, it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s a Shadow Darner.  These hardy odonates often persist even after the flights of migratory species have ended for the year.  Shadow Darners are particularly fond of patrolling the shady edges of woodlands where they snag insects and devour them in midair.  Though they are most often found breeding in beaver ponds and other quiet waters, we’ve had them successfully reproduce in the fish-free frog and tadpole pond at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.
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Red Maples

Red Maple
Many cultivars of ornamental maples for the home garden are derived from this native species, and it’s easy to see why.  Despite the variation in the foliage of each, every tree in this view is a Red Maple (Acer rubrum).
Red Maple Leaves
The Red Maple is the most common and widespread tree in all of eastern North America.  It is easily recognized by its three-lobed leaves.  Not only do the fall foliage colors vary among a population of trees, but some individual specimens have a well-stocked palette of their own.  This collection came from a single Red Maple.  Visit a forested area today and check them out!
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