Large-flowered Bellwort Flowering
Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), a member of the lily family, strikes one as a rather modest plant, hiding its six-parted flowers by hanging them face down towards the ground. This arrangement influenced Linnaeus when he was assigning this plant the generic name Uvularia, as he felt the pendant blossoms resembled a uvula, that lobe that hangs from the upper palate at the back of our throats!
Many insects are attracted to this plant’s pollen and nectar, particularly bumble bees and other types of bees. Ants distribute Large-flowered Bellwort seeds, attracted by the fatty elaiosomes attached to the them. And White-tailed Deer graze so heavily on this plant that you won’t find it in woods that are overpopulated with deer.
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A Busy First Month
We are seeing Red Fox kits above ground as they emerge from their den for the first time since birth, but much has transpired since they were born a month or so ago. Like other canids, including coyotes and wolves, their natal coat of fur was charcoal brown. A new, second, coat of sandy-colored hair (that matches the sandy soil of the den site) has grown in, to be replaced again within the next two months by a brilliant red coat. The weaning process, which won’t be completed for some time, has begun by the time the kits venture above ground. Their eyes have opened (at 10-12 days), their first set of teeth has come in and they have established hierarchy among themselves. Down in the den during the past month vicious fighting has taken place among the kits in order to determine which kit was “top dog,” or the alpha (usually the largest kit) and gets the lion’s share of the food delivered by the parents.
By the time we see Red Fox kits, much has happened in their young lives. They’ve gained sight, a new coat, a set of teeth, the introduction of solid food, and most importantly, hierarchy has been established. Peace now reigns and we get to enjoy the kits’ playful antics as they are introduced to the world above ground.
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Mourning Dove Nesting Idiosyncracies
Nest-building and chick-feeding are a bit unusual for Mourning Doves. As to nest construction, the female remains at the nest site while the male dove collects the nesting material (twigs, grasses, pine needles, etc.). He returns to the nest and proceeds to stand on his mate’s back while presenting the material to her and she weaves it into the nest.
The hatchlings, or squabs, are fed by regurgitation. For the first four or five days, the squabs insert their bills in each side of either parent’s mouth and drink what is referred to as crop milk, a secretion from the lining of the crops of the parents. All pigeons and doves produce crop milk for their young. Seeds are regurgitated in increasing amounts and by the time the squabs fledge, they are essentially seed eaters like their parents. (Note: With a little effort, scruffy feathers of squabs can be seen beneath the breast of this nesting Mourning Dove.)
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Sedges Flowering
Often it’s the spring ephemerals – Trout Lily, Red Trillium, Dutchman’s Breeches – that catch our eye as we walk through the woods this time of year. But there are other, more modest flowering plants which shouldn’t be overlooked.
Sedges, often found growing near wetlands but also in woods, are one of these inconspicuous plants. Related to grasses and rushes, they are wind-pollinated, and have no need for large, showy petals in order to attract insects. As a result, it’s fairly easy to miss their flowers, some of which are in full bloom right now.
Male and female sedge flowers are typically found on the same plant. The arrangement of the flowers, or inflorescence, usually consists of a cluster of male flowers on the end of a spike (see photo) with female flowers located on separate spikes. A dissecting scope is necessary in order to identify most species of sedges, but an easy way to know it’s a sedge is to feel the shape of the plant’s stem – sedge stems are three-sided — triangular in cross-section (unlike rushes which are round, and grass stems which are hollow). Hence, the saying “Sedges have edges, rushes are round.”
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Great Horned Owls Raising Their Families
Roughly two months ago the courtship calls of Great Horned Owls could be heard throughout the U.S. as their breeding season began. Mating took place, eggs were laid and incubated for about a month, and several weeks ago those eggs hatched. Looking like balls of tan fluff, the downy chicks can now be seen with their mother in attendance.
Great Horned Owl chick appetites are voracious. At the ripe old age of two weeks they are capable of swallowing a mouse whole. The chicks weigh about an ounce when they are born, and for the first month or so, they gain roughly that much every day. In another month they’ll be taking short flights, but will remain with their parents throughout most of the summer.
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Bloodroot In Flower
One of our earliest spring ephemerals, Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), a member of the Poppy family, greets the longer, warming days by having its short-lived flower emerge from within its protective leaf and spread its white petals wide open on sunny days. (The flower only opens on days when the temperature reaches 46 degrees, as that’s when pollinators are active.)
To encourage cross-pollination, when the flower opens it is in the female stage, relying on pollinators covered in pollen to land and drop pollen to the receptive stigma. Within a few hours of opening the stamens begin to release pollen. The flower will open for up to three days or until cross-pollination has occurred. Once pollination has taken place the flower begins to drop its petals.
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Ospreys Courting & Copulating
Ospreys have returned to their breeding grounds in New England, where both courtship and copulation is taking place. The males engage in an undulating courtship display flight high over the nest site, often with fish or nesting material clutched in their dangling legs while they repeatedly issue forth screaming calls. This can go on for up to ten minutes or so before they descend to the nest. In addition, “courtship feeding” often takes place with the male providing his mate with food, often just prior to breeding.
Although an osprey pair copulates frequently (an average of 160 times per clutch), nearly half the time there is no cloacal contact. Most of the breeding takes place at or near the nest site. (Note the protective positioning of the male’s toes and talons as he mounts his mate.)
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Silver Maples One Of Earliest Trees To Flower
For several weeks the red flower buds of Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) have been swelling, preparing to open and expose their flowers to the wind, their pollinating agent. While Silver Maple can have both male and female flowers on the same tree, (monoecious) it much more commonly has flowers of only one sex (dioecious). Less than 10 percent of flowering plant species have male and female flowers on separate trees — the other 90 percent combine both sexes in one plant.
The pictured branch of Silver Maple bears only male flowers, each possessing several pollen-loaded stamens. Like many wind-pollinated flowers, Silver Maple’s flowers have no flashy petals to attract insects, rather they lack them entirely, as they would only get in the way of pollen dispersal. Like other maples, if fertilized, the female flowers develop winged fruit referred to as samaras. Silver Maple samaras are larger than those of any other native maple species.
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Wood Ducks Returning To Northern New England
A welcome sign of spring in northern New England is the return of the Wood Duck to wooded swamps and wetlands. There are seven species of North American ducks that regularly nest in cavities and the Wood Duck is uniquely adapted for doing so. Its slim body allows it to use Pileated Woodpecker cavities for nesting and the acuity of its large eyes allows it to avoid branches while flying through wooded areas. Even so, it still tends to make one look twice to see ducks perched up in a tree!
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