Juvenile Ospreys Fledging
Juvenile Ospreys are in the process of fledging. Unlike many other young birds, they return to their nest after fledging, or remain close by, and the parents continue to bring them fish for two or three weeks, supplementing what the juveniles catch on their own. (Young birds have been documented catching their own fish as early as five days after fledging.) Initially short flights are taken in the immediate area; as time goes on, the flights lengthen. Within a month or so of fledging the juvenile birds begin their migration south. (Photo: two juvenile Ospreys)
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Parsnip Webworm Moths
Many people are familiar with the invasive Wild Parsnip’s (Pastinaca sativa) ability to cause a chemical burn on human skin when the skin is exposed to sunlight. The compound that causes the burning and blistering (furanocoumarin) is in the plant’s sap, and thus is present in the leaves, stems, flowers and fruits of Wild Parsnip.
What is lesser known is that there is a non-native moth (Parsnip Webworm Moth, Depressaria radiella) that was introduced to the U.S. in the 1850’s whose larvae feed on Wild Parsnip. As a result of this herbivory Wild Parsnip upped its chemical arsenal and started producing more concentrated furanocoumarin.
What humans avoid, Parsnip Webworm Moth larvae take advantage of. Most of the plant toxin these larvae ingest is excreted in their feces. Some, however, is incorporated into the caterpillar’s silk webbing which encases the flowers and seeds that they eat, serving to protect the larvae from predators.
The adult Parsnip Webworm Moth is about half an inch long and is brown with black flecks.
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Vermont Flooding Repercussions
The heavy flood waters that Vermont recently experienced created havoc for both two- and four-legged animals. This beaver family was displaced, most likely by high water filling their lodge above the interior platform level, leaving little, if any, dry substrate or breathing room for the inhabitants (see cross-section illustration of beaver lodge by Chiho Kaneko, The Beavers’ Busy Year, by M.Holland).
Beavers give birth in early spring – these youngsters are roughly one to two months old. It is highly unusual to see beavers this young, as they spend their first month or two in the lodge before emerging into the surrounding water with their parents.
Paddlers discovered the mother beaver nursing her three kits on the bank of a small pond, several hundred feet from the lodge they most likely evacuated. Within days water receded, allowing this family to move back into their lodge. (Observed by Sue and Marv Elliott and Sue Wetmore; photo by Sue Elliott)
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American Beech Nuts Harvested Early
Aquatic vegetation, tree flowers, grasses and leaves have made up much of a Black Bear’s diet since its emergence from hibernation in April. Skunk Cabbage, Interrupted Fern stems, Dandelion leaves and flowers, Red Maple seeds and clover are important sources of food in May and June. As some of these species mature, they become fibrous and less digestible as their nutrients become incorporated into cell walls as cellulose, which is not easily digestible, so bears seek new sources of nutrition as the summer progresses.
As a general rule, berries and Jewelweed help provide mid-summer meals until nuts, a favored food, ripen and become available in the fall. Beechnuts, specifically, are a very important source of food in autumn for Black Bears bulking up prior to hibernation, as they have about twice as much protein and calories per edible portion compared to acorns.
There are exceptions to this dietary schedule, however. This photograph, taken recently in New Hampshire, shows that there are some bears that don’t wait until days shorten drastically and temperatures drop before harvesting the fruit of American Beech. (Note that there are both fresh and previous years’ claw marks on this American Beech tree photographed by Alfred Balch.)
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Horsehair Worms
Looking much like a thin piece of spaghetti or a horse’s mane or tail hair, Horsehair Worms (Nematomorpha) are an unusual sight to behold. Wiggling and stretching as far and in as many directions as they can, these two to four-inch creatures have an interesting life cycle.
Horsehair Worms begin life as eggs laid under water or on nearby vegetation. They are then eaten along with vegetation or drunk with water by a suitable host (beetles, cockroaches, mantises, grasshoppers and crickets). Once inside a host the worm absorbs nutrients through its skin. After several weeks or months, depending on the species, the larva matures into a free-living, water-inhabiting organism (they are capable of traveling over damp terrain, as seen in the photograph).
The most famous trait of certain species of Horsehair Worms is their ability to alter the nervous system and behavior of grasshoppers and crickets, causing them to seek water and drown themselves when the worm reaches its adult stage. Once it encounters water, the Horsehair Worm burrows from its host’s body, returning to water to breed, killing the host if it has not drowned already. (Photo by Sally Fellows & Terry Marron)
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Maple Seeds
Maple fruits come in the form of samaras – pairs of winged seeds that spiral to the ground, distributed some distance (as far as 330 feet) from the parent tree. Aided by the wind, they’ve been clocked at falling at a speed of three miles per hour. Some, such as Red and Silver Maple seeds, mature early and are fully ripe now. The seeds of other species of maples, including Sugar Maple, Striped Maple and Box Elder, will mature in early autumn.
All maple species native to the Northeast have edible seeds which are loaded with protein and carbohydrates. They are especially popular with evening grosbeaks, ruffed grouse, nuthatches, porcupines, foxes, flying squirrels, eastern chipmunks, white-footed mice, white-tailed deer and moose.
Humans also eat the seeds of maples, both raw as well as steamed or boiled with a little added salt and butter. Maple seeds can also be roasted, added to salads and other dishes, or dried and ground into flour. (Adirondack Almanack) (Photo: Sugar Maple samara and partially-developed seed)
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Partridge-berry Flowering
Partridge-berry patches are the result of clones, a form of vegetative reproduction where all the plants are genetically identical. The flowers in a patch are all bisexual, having both male (stamens) and female (pistils) reproductive parts.
In a given clonal patch, there is only one type of flower: all flowers are either “pin” flowers (long, extended styles and much shorter, hidden stamens) or “thrum” flowers (long stamens and short pistils). The stigmas on pin flower pistils are only receptive to pollen from long stamens (thrum flowers) that necessarily come from another patch. This “self-incompatibility” reproductive structure promotes cross-pollination and is known as distyly.
If you follow the paired flowers of Partridge-berry all the way down to their base, you will see that they are joined by the fusion of their ovaries. The remnants of the sepals surrounding the base of the paired tubular flowers can be seen in the two dimples on each of the red fruits.
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Red Milkweed Beetles Emerging & Mating
Milkweed has many insect visitors and among the most common are longhorn beetles (Tetraopes spp.) Eight species of these beetles use milkweed as a host plant. The pictured Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus) feeds on milkweed leaves as an adult, after overwintering as a larva underground where it eats milkweed stems and roots.
Although disturbing wildlife is not something one should make a habit of, I can’t resist picking up a Red Milkweed Beetle when I first spot one each summer. When held they rub together rough spots on their thorax, making a high-pitched squeaking sound and at times they also are known to purr. (Resources: Milkweed, Monarchs and More by Rea, Oberhauser and Quinn; Milkweed Visitors by Holland)
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