Among the hardy wildflowers still in bloom in the forests of the lower Susquehanna valley is the Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium), a variable species also known as the Heart-leaved Aster.
It looks like Uncle Tyler Dyer had a fun-filled Halloween. Earlier this afternoon, we caught him drifting off into a nap during his work to make updates to his leaf scans. As he snoozed away, we found these lying on the floor next to his easy chair and decided to lend a hand by adding them to his collection. We’ll see how long it takes him to discover our dirty little deed. You can have a look at our mischief by clicking on the “Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines” tab at the top of this page.
With warbler migration winding down, it’s time to keep an eye open for the tiny kinglets, particularly in coniferous trees. This Ruby-crowned Kinglet was spotted yesterday in the boughs of an Eastern Hemlock. While common during autumn migration in October, only a few will remain in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed for winter.
A warbler found moving through trees and shrubs or foraging on the ground while bobbing its tail is likely to be a Palm Warbler. During migration, these animated passerines favor the vegetated shorelines of lakes, rivers, streams, and ponds. This affinity for water is reflected in the Palm Warbler’s choice of breeding habitat. Nesting territories are primarily located within spruce bogs east of the Rockies in Canada, Minnesota, Maine, and on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The bird seen here with extensive yellow underparts is known as a Yellow or Eastern Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum hypochrysea), a subspecies that nests in eastern portions of the breeding range. The duller, grayer Brown or Western Palm Warbler (S. p. palmarum) nests in western sections of the summer range. In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, both subspecies can be seen during fall migration, which peaks in late September and October as movements of the less hardy Neotropical warblers are winding down. Both subspecies spend the winter on Caribbean islands or in coastal plain areas of eastern North America. Some of the western birds pass the colder months along the Pacific coast.
The calls of Fall Field Crickets, a series of chirps one might attempt to replicate by quickly strumming three to five teeth on a hair comb, are a familiar chorus during the late summer and autumn in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. The song’s speed changes with temperature, becoming noticeably slower as cold weather sets in. These crickets sing throughout the majority of the day and night, becoming quietest during the chilly hours of dawn. Adults hide in burrows and beneath logs, leaf litter, and other organic debris. Around human habitation, they seek shelter under hundreds of different objects, frequently finding their way into buildings where they do no real harm. Crickets are eaten by almost every predator that exceeds them in size and are especially important as a protein-rich food source for birds feeding their young and preparing for autumn migration. The Fall Field Cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus) is nearly identical in appearance to the less common Spring Field Cricket (Gryllus veletis), which calls during the spring and early summer in the Susquehanna valley. The primary difference between the two species? The former overwinter as eggs while the latter pass the colder months as nymphs.
At first glance, this insect might be mistaken for a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. It is, however, a native species, a Magnolia Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus fulvicornis). Because it feeds almost exclusively on trees in the genus Magnolia, and because the three members of the genus native to the lower Susquehanna valley, Umbrella Magnolia (M. tripetala), Cucumber Tree (M. acuminata), and Sweetbay (M. virginiana), each have a very limited distribution here, this insect’s presence in the watershed is largely dependent on widespread introductions of ornamental magnolias and native transplants including Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). Adult Magnolia Leaf-footed Bugs overwinter in leaf litter beneath the host trees. In spring, females lay their eggs in rows along the midrib of the leaves where they are often victims of parasitoid wasps including Gyron pennsylvanicum. The surviving nymphs and the adults feed on the tree’s leaves and fruits, causing little harm to its overall health.
The Broad-necked Root Borer (Prionus laticollis) is one of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed’s largest insects. Its larvae feed on woody roots for more than two years before pupating and thereafter emerging as adult beetles. The distribution of root borers is not totally random. They are often attracted to distressed trees and shrubs. This particular specimen was found along a forest road where herbicide application, soil dehydration, and a recent wildfire has weakened and killed numerous oaks, poplars, and maples. As they feed, root borer larvae will help begin the process of reducing the remains of these trees into soil nutrients that will benefit regeneration of forest plants at this site.
An ever-vigilant male Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) perches on a small twig overlooking the vegetated shallows along the shoreline of Memorial Lake in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.
For this White-tailed Deity and her fawns, a dry shoreline provides an opportunity to access the moist, tender greens of emergent plants on a hot summer afternoon.
The Eastern Scissor Grinder (Neotibicen winnemanna), a species of “Annual Cicada” or “Dog-day Cicada”, dries its wings after emerging from its exoskeleton (exuvia). After two to five years of subterranean life as a nymph, this adult will soon be ready to fly into the treetops in search of a mate. There is a sense of urgency. Summer’s end will bring its life to an end as well.
Shorebird identification can be notoriously difficult, but it’s a skill best learned with practice. Now is a good time to become familiar with the two most common species of plovers found in the lower Susquehanna valley. Numbers of both are increasing on local mudflats as waves of southbound migrants begin to arrive. The Killdeer in the lower left is a familiar nesting species of barren fields, stone parking lots, and gravel roofs. Its numbers swell during spring and fall migration, with some lingering into winter until either snow cover or a hard freeze prompts them to finally depart for milder climes. The Semipalmated Plovers in the upper right are strictly a migratory species in our area, nesting in northern Canada and Alaska and wintering along the American coastlines from Oregon and Delmarva south to Chile and Argentina. You’ll notice that the Semipalmated Plover has just a single neck ring while the Killdeer has two. That’s how you can tell them apart in a jiffy. It’s that easy.
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.
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.
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!
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.After underwater forays in search of fish, they can often be seen drying their wings in the warm sunshine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
‘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.
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!
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.
