Summer is Coming

This week has seen cooler temperatures and changes in the bird calls, animal behaviors and blooming flowers. Most notably, no turtles have been seen laying eggs in a week. Walking past the gravel bank reveals no new digs or disturbances that I can see. The page is turning. Many of the birds have nested and the fledglings have moved out into the wide world. Mourning doves that can barely fly, tree swallow fledglings, robins, and chipping sparrow fledglings have been seen repeatedly. We have been without rain for five days, too. Until last night. A good soaker dropped up to an inch and a half of rain on the area. A rather tall white flower has emerged along the roads and is now blooming in the yard. I hope to look it up when I go inside. Tonight, as I sit on the porch writing this, spring peepers are peeping again. Earlier I heard a toad trilling. The vernal pool along the dirt road is full again. I won't be mowing the trail through the wet meadow anytime soon.

I've been teaching 2nd through 4th graders about "Creepy Crawlies" - the overlooked and often feared spiders, insects, crustaceans, worms, slugs, and millipedes. In my quest for course materials, I found two lovely lady dobson flies near my porch light. The rich browns and delicate wings were lovely, but those formidable-looking mouthparts made me pause when I caught them. The cold has kept the ladybug invasion down, but as I sit here, I am seeing the lady bugs rising from the grass and flying about. I hope the next week brings their numbers up and we can get the "Christmas tree effect" we had last year.

Lightning Bugs Appearing

I noticed the first one two weeks ago, I believe it was June 3rd. Just a little yellow-green light in the unmowed grass near my flower bed. I saw several others that night. Over the past two weeks, their numbers and flights have increased, with most activity occurring after a rain on warm and humid evenings. I was hoping for more activity, but I haven't had the chance to see the trees light up like Christmas trees as they did last year. I'll keep looking.

I read in an article in the Clearfield Progress newspaper that lightning bugs are declining in some areas. In addition to beetle pesticides killing off the larva, keeping grass short can cause them problems. I'm showing my solidarity with the little night lights by not mowing 2/3 of my property. Viva la luciérnaga.

Egg-citing News From the Reptile World!

The wood turtles are laying eggs! Last week, I stumbled up the bank near the creek and spotted a freshly dug nest. I shifted my gaze a few inches higher, and found the excavator herself - a large female with a carapace length of perhaps eight inches. I left her, and thought her gone for good. Until yesterday.

A stroll down the road to the sight of last week's excavation was productive. As a peered over the guard rail to scan the gravel bank, a female wood turtle - perhaps the same one as last week - had her lower body immersed in a hole in the gravel. I left to tell a neighbor who I thought might be interested in seeing this. Upon our return, he spotted a second turtle five yards away from the first. Both had holes started.

That was around eight in the evening on June 2nd. Today, June 3rd, I found the turtles still digging, but at different locations at nine in the morning. The orange legs and torso, the slatey green-brown backs, and the pyramidal concentric rings were clearly evident. I took some pictures and left the ladies to do their thing undisturbed.

Researching these turtles has reminded me of some of the amazing attributes of their physical construction, their behaviors, and their life histories. More on those things later.

A Hodge Podge of Nature

I've been able to stay at home and work a lot more with the end of the semester. Walks around the yard, strolls up and down the road, and drives into town have provided a great deal of fun and some interesting observations.

Walking around the yard has yielded at least seven active nests. Just outside the door above the light by the driveway a phoebe has nested again. The carport by the shed has what I believe are two vacant robin nests and a vacant phoebe nest built on the handle of the weed eater left hanging there by the previous owner of the house. This year a robin is raising its young in a new mud and grass nest right above the lawnmower and a dove has raised two young not more than five feet from the robin. Near the creek, a piece of bark has peeled back to make a beautiful horizontal shelf. A robin found it to its liking, and had five eggs in it earlier this week. I put my hand in today and found nestlings, so I will let them be from now on. Moving towards the paved road, at least two pairs of starlings have nested (unfortunately). And I discovered today the bluebird box that fledged young last year has young in it. I assume they are bluebirds, because that is what has been entering and leaving the box. But the nest has feathers in it, like a tree swallow would build. Perhaps there was some competition for the box, and the nest is a composite of leftovers and new materials.

The amphibians have been active, too. I had wood frog tadpoles in the vernal pond on the east side of the property, but the pond dried up last weekend. Spring peepers went silent this week, with bullfrogs and green frogs vocalizing in the evening. As the weather has turned wetter, I heard one toad trilling this evening and some peepers are calling this evening. The pond next door has had pickerel frogs, green frogs, and bullfrogs along it.

Reptiles have been sparse, but that seems to be from my not looking, not them not being about. I believe the garter snake still lives in the wood pile. Shallow depressions have appeared in the gravel near the bridge. I was surprised today to find a fresh hole, not looking to be more than a few hours old. Shifting my gaze up, I found a wood turtle about 10" in length sitting next to the road. I left her to go about her business.

I've started to investigate the fish in the area, through fishing and putting out the minnow trap. While I know there are trout in Canoe Creek, I can't catch them with rod and reel. I did manage to trap some black-nosed dace, two 4" long creek chubs, and a crayfish there. In the pond across the dirt road, bluegill and redbreast sunfish are within my ability to catch, but the bass and crappie I have seen are not.

Each day I find something in the yard or the neighborhood that I can't identify. I'm spending some time with the field guides and song tapes I have, solving new mysteries and refreshing my memories of the flora and fauna found locally.

Jack In The Pulpit

I've been mowing between rainstorms and finally after a week reached the back of the house. Much to my surprise, the leaves-of-three that greeted me were not poison ivy but jack in the pulpit. At least two were flowering. I always enjoy finding such an unusual and beautiful flower. Having it next to my house is a pleasure. With a spathe and a spadix, the flower is shaped like a pitcher with a folded flap of striped petal over the top of a rod-shaped green "jack" sitting in the middle of the pitcher. The shade of the house should provide a good spot for them to grow and spread.

First Whip-poor-wills Heard

I stepped outside to retrieve some things from my car a few minutes ago. Above the rushing water of the stream, I could hear the "whip" note of a whip-poor-will. I cupped my hands behind my ears, changed my position several times, and eventually I could make out the complete call of the first whip-poor-will of the year.

Reptilian Guest

While cleaning up some debris from last year's construction project, I uncovered a nice-sized garter snake. Fortunately, my daughter was here to take a look at it, too. He was very nervous and struck a couple of times. I would be scared too. After retrieving a woolly bear caterpillar to look at, we covered him back up and I'll let him enjoy the debris pile for the summer. He was so lovable.