Beavers Grooming
Beavers spend an inordinate amount of time grooming themselves (and each other). Both inside their lodge and on land a beaver tucks its tail between its legs, sits up on its hind legs and spends up to an hour at a time fastidiously combing through its fur often multiple times a day.
Both front and hind feet are pressed into service. The two inner toes on each hind foot are modified for grooming – the second toe has a “split nail” with a nail and a horny growth between the nail and the toe which has a finely serrated upper edge that serves as a fine-toothed comb.
Grooming serves two purposes. One is to remove debris from the coat, from algae to burrs and parasites. The other is to waterproof the beaver’s coat. A beaver applies an oily substance from its anal glands to the outer layer of hair with the help of its toes, thereby preventing its inner, denser, underfur from getting wet.
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Caspian Terns Feeding
Watching a Caspian Tern (our largest tern) feeding in deep water is a lesson in persistence and grace. Flying back and forth it circles the water below, its bill pointed down as it searches for fish. A Caspian Tern’s dive is impressive. Once a tern sees a fish it hovers briefly, flexes its wings and then plunges straight down like a bullet. When it hits the water, it typically completely submerges itself.
Most fish captured are consumed on the wing, unless they are delivered to offspring. Fish bones and scales are difficult for terns to digest; they solve this situation by casting one or two pellets a day that consist of these indigestible parts.
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Did you know…
…that mating butterflies face away from each other? (Photo: mating Banded Hairstreaks)
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Ospreys Continue To Add Material to Nest Throughout The Nesting Season
The nesting season for Ospreys is well underway – chicks appear larger by the day, and before long they will be fledging. As advanced as the nesting season is, Osprey nests are still being reinforced with material retrieved by the adults.
The pictured Osprey took off from its nest, swooped down to a nearby roadside and scooped up a sizable clump of mowed grass with its talons which it then delivered back to its nest where its mate was sitting with two chicks. Even late in the nesting season all manner of material, not all of it natural, is added to Osprey nests – among other things, paper, plastic bags, rope, nylon mesh bait bags, dried cow manure and beach toys have been documented.
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Green Lacewings: Active Pest Controllers
Lady Beetles and Praying Mantises are well known to be excellent pest controllers, but there are other insects that are equally beneficial, including Green Lacewings. These distinctive green insects with golden eyes and lacy wings feed mostly on nectar, pollen and honeydew (a sweet liquid excreted by aphids). However, in their larval stage (when they resemble miniature brown and white alligators) they are referred to as “aphid lions” due to their voracious appetite for aphids and other soft-bodied insects.
Lacewing eggs are as distinctive as the larval and adult stages. Each is perched on the tip of a hairlike stalk that is about ½-inch long. Entomologists believe this helps reduce cannibalism of the eggs by sibling larvae.
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Eastern Kingbirds Rule The Sky
The Eastern Kingbird’s scientific name, Tyrannus tyrannus, reflects its aggressive nature (“tyrannus” meaning tyrant, despot or king). This feisty insectivore can be found perched on a tree or shrub often near wetlands where it periodically darts into the sky to retrieve its unsuspecting meal. When not securing food for itself or its young, it demonstrates its fierceness by defending its nest, mate and territory with vigor. Whether vocalizing, displaying, chasing, or actually fighting with an interloper, Eastern Kingbirds are quick to establish dominance.
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2nd Brood of Black Swallowtails Emerging
The process of transforming from a caterpillar to a chrysalis is a miraculous one, but it’s especially intriguing when it comes to Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes). For one thing, their chrysalises vary in color from green to brown, depending on the object on which they choose to attach themselves. Equally impressive, while it is still a caterpillar the Black Swallowtail spins a thread of silk from which it suspends itself. It uses this silk sling as support for the chrysalis that is revealed once the caterpillar splits and sheds its exoskeleton (see it dangling beneath the chrysalis).
The second brood of Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) is already emerging from their chrysalises this summer, mating and laying eggs during their two week adult life span. Look for the caterpillars dining on members of the Parsley family, including Queen Anne’s Lace, dill, parsley, fennel, celery and carrot foliage. (Photos from left to right: Black Swallowtail larva preparing to pupate, chrysalis (with cast off larval exoskeleton) and adult male Black Swallowtail)
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Leaf-curling Sac Spiders Guarding Eggs
While all spiders spin silk, not all spiders make webs with their silk. Some spiders actively hunt prey instead of passively catching it in a web, including Leaf-curling Sac Spiders. They utilize their silk to form a protective brooding chamber for their eggs by stitching the underside of a leaf together. Within this shelter the mother spider first constructs an egg sac from strong silk that is tough enough to protect her developing offspring from the elements. She then deposits her eggs inside it, fertilizing them as they emerge. A single egg sac may contain just a few eggs, or several hundred, depending on the species. The mother spider remains within the shelter protecting her eggs until they hatch. Look for these spider shelters on the under side of grape leaves.
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The Sexual Strategy of Male Water Striders
Most people are familiar with Water Striders (Gerridae) insects that glide around on top of the water with the aid of water-repellent hairs on their feet that prevent them from breaking through the surface tension of the water. Something most people may not be familiar with is the duress that females are subjected to when it comes to strider reproduction.
Female Water Striders, who can store sperm from a single mating for weeks, are biologically inclined not to prefer reproduction for a couple of reasons. For one, after mating, the female has to carry to male around on her back for anywhere from a few minutes to two days, which seriously impairs her ability to forage for food.
Secondly, male Water Striders are the poster boys for sexual coercion, making it all but impossible for a female to reject their advances. With little if any warning, the male mounts a female. The female now has a choice as to whether to accept his advances. If she chooses to reject them, she doesn’t open the hard genital shield that covers her genital opening. In response, the frustrated male starts strumming the surface of the water which attracts predators such as Backswimmers from below. Because the female is closest to the water, she will be the one who gets injured from any attacks. Many a genital shield has been opened when the female has been put in this position. (Source: Beaty Biodiversity Museum) Photo: young Water Striders probably produced with the help of sexual coercion; inset-mating Water Striders)
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Objective: An Empty Nest
Note that the adult Osprey in the air above its nest has no fish clutched in its talons – it is not bringing food back to its young. Rather, it is doing everything in its power to entice its offspring to take off and catch their own meal.
An afternoon of observing juvenile Ospreys taking short flights from their nest assured me that the process of fledging had begun. In the Northeast, young Ospreys usually remain at or near their nest for at least 10 – 20 days after they can fly, during which time their parents continue to bring fish to them. (This seems quite generous, given that for the past two months both parents (primarily the father) have provided their offspring with food.) Finally, when the young are roughly three months old, the parents go all out to encourage their young to become self-sufficient and secure their own food.
On this particular day, the parents repeatedly soared over their nest and landed in distant trees while the young called out to them over and over. After several of these attempts to lure the juvenile birds away from the nest had failed, one of the parents flew to the nest and proceeded to hover for at least 30 seconds directly above the nest (see photo) before flying towards the nearest body of water. Still, the young birds didn’t budge. True independence would have to wait at least for one more day.
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Rabbit Ears: Double Duty
The first thing you notice about a rabbit is its oversized ears which, as one might guess, enhance its ability to hear. The two ears can move independently of each other and can be rotated 270 degrees.
In addition to being designed to catch sound from any direction, rabbit ears regulate a rabbit’s body temperature. There is a very extensive network of blood vessels in a rabbit’s ears that provide a large surface area for heat exchange. These vessels swell (vasodilation) when the rabbit is hot, and contract (vasoconstriction) when it is cool, so much so that they are barely visible in cold weather. In the summer, the increased circulation of warm blood from the body’s core to the rabbit’s ears, where heat is lost to the cooler surrounding air, provides internal air-conditioning for the rabbit. (Photo: Eastern Cottontail)
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Ebony Jewelwings
Damselflies, smaller and more delicate versions of dragonflies, are predatory aerial insects found near streams and wetlands. The male Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryzx maculata) damselfly is aptly named. Its pure black wings (the only dragonfly or damselfly in the Northeast with entirely black wings) and iridescent green head and abdomen are a striking combination. The female lacks the iridescence of the male and its wings are dark but not quite black, with a distinct white spot (pterostigma) at the outer edge of both forewings.
Ebony Jewelwings only live about two weeks. During much of this time they can be found resting on leaves or branches in sunny spots of the forest, often near the slow-moving stream in which they spent their youth (most dragonfly and damselfly larvae are aquatic).
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Northern Mockingbirds Wing-flashing
Occasionally one comes across animal behavior that has yet to be understood by humans. If you watch Northern Mockingbirds for any length of time, especially females, you are likely to see them stop and raise their wings half to fully open, in several progressively higher jerky movements. When they do this, their white wing patches are fully exposed.
Ornithologists are not of one mind as to what this behavior achieves. Perhaps it is anti-predator behavior – an attempt to scare would-be nest raiders away. It could be a way of startling insects enough to make them move and thus easier to see and catch. It also could be a form of territorial display/defense. Interestingly, mockingbird species that lack the white wing patches also engage in this behavior.
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Mystery Photo
If you think you recognize the subject of this Mystery Photo, please go to the Naturally Curious blog, scroll down to “Comments” and enter your thoughts. Size: 3” x 1 ½”. Hint: found near a large body of water. (Discovered and submitted by Jody Crosby)
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Marsh Wrens Nesting
More often heard than seen, the Marsh Wren has a distinctive song that quickly alerts you to the fact that they are nesting in the area. Sung by the male at dawn, dusk and sometimes throughout the night, the song is a rapid series of gurgling and buzzy trills. Though each note may only last for 1–2 seconds, they can sing continuously for up to 20 minutes, rarely repeating the same note. To hear their song go to https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marsh_Wren/sounds .
Even though their nests are plentiful (males build multiple nests) they are well hidden and difficult to detect in amongst the cattails and bulrushes where they are built. About 50% of males mate with two or more females and most males build at least six dummy nests for every female they mate with. (In some parts of their range males build an average of 22 nests.) Scientists aren’t sure why the males build so many dummy nests – perhaps as decoys for predators. They are built two to five feet above the ground and are about 7” tall and dome-shaped with an entrance hole in the upper half. Once the female has chosen one of the male’s nests or built her own, she lines it with strips of grass, sedge, cattail down, feathers, and rootlets.
Possibly as a result of intense competition for resources in the marsh environments in which they nest and raise young, Marsh Wrens routinely destroy the eggs of other birds, including other Marsh Wrens. (Note: Pictured active Marsh Wren nest was built in rushes, which are preferred over cattails later in the nesting season, when cattails have dried out.)
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Scorpionflies Feeding On Carcasses
You can recognize a Scorpionfly (Order Mecoptera) by its long head which bears mouthparts at the end of a long beak. Its common name comes from the tail of one family of scorpionflies in which the male scorpionfly has prominent genitalia that are curled back up over the insect’s body (much like a scorpion). They are, however, harmless. Scorpionflies feed only on dead insects and have been known to raid spider webs for their meal.
Males with insect carcasses are said to acquire receptive females with relative ease. Lacking a carcass, males have been known to throw up and use the spittle as a lure for females who feed on it while copulating with the male. (Photo: Scorpionfly drinking innards of dead caterpillar)
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Juvenile Ospreys Fledging
Their red eyes tell you that both of these Ospreys are this year’s young (adults have yellow eyes). During the last week they are in the nest, the young often exercise their wings by hovering over the nest. After their first flight, fledglings generally remain at the nest or nearby. Eventually they begin hunting for themselves, but the parents continue to bring fish back to their young for ten to twenty days, supplementing the food that the young start to catch on their own. Within a month or so of fledging the juvenile birds begin their migration south. (In the accompanying photograph, one fledgling is returning to the nest after quickly circling a nearby field while its parents were off fishing. Dinner was delivered shortly thereafter.)
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Sibling Rivalry
The male Osprey typically provides fish for the chicks, often feeding first and then presenting the remainder to the female who tears the fish apart into small pieces and feeds it to the chicks. When food is delivered, there can be significant aggression on the part of the older Osprey nestlings if the parent hasn’t fed them in a while.
Incubation begins with the first egg, so they hatch sequentially, producing a brood of chicks that are not the same exact age. Once dominance is established, the older chicks feed until satiated and then allow the younger ones to eat. If food is scarce, it’s not unusual for the younger chicks to starve to death, but if food is plentiful, a peaceable kingdom reigns.
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Chestnut-sided Warbler Sitting On Eggs
Different species of birds have different numbers of broods (sets of eggs/young). Eastern Bluebirds can have up to four broods per breeding season, American Robins up to three and Eastern Phoebes often two. Chestnut-sided Warblers typically only raise one family in a summer. If weather or predation destroys their first attempt, however, they will re-nest, which is just what the pictured female Chestnut-sided Warbler is doing.
By August, a majority of birds have raised their young, but there are birds that nest late in the season, some naturally (American Goldfinches) and some, such as this Chestnut-sided Warbler, by necessity. Where birds nest, geographically, affects the number of broods they have. Birds nesting at higher latitudes tend to produce fewer broods per year. Because it gets colder earlier than further south, there is less time to raise their young. In warmer regions, birds often raise two or even three broods per year. (Thanks to Dean and Susan Greenberg for photo op.)
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Weevil Watching
If you take a close look at the Black-eyed Susan blossoms that can be found in unmowed fields and roadsides this time of year, chances are good that you will find a tiny beetle called a weevil. A weevil’s mouthparts are formed into a long snout, with one antenna on either side of it. The snout is used not only for feeding but also for making cavities in buds, fruits, seeds, stems, and roots of plants, where eggs are laid. When the weevil larvae emerge, they feed within the plant.
There are 60,000 species of weevils, all of which are herbivorous and most of which are less than ¼ ” long. Most of those found on Black-eyed Susans appear to be feasting on pollen. Many weevils are pests of plants such as cotton, alfalfa and wheat. You may have even found them inside your house devouring your cereal or flour.
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Beavers Feeding Young
In summer Beavers spend considerable time on land searching for, cutting and bringing vegetation back to their young in the lodge. Their woody plant preference (they eat large amounts of herbaceous plants during the warmer months, but also some trees) tends towards the inner bark (cambium) of willow, aspen, maple, birch, cottonwood, beech, poplar, and alder trees. This beaver, however, has retrieved a Red Oak sapling for its offspring.
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Caterpillars Eating & Molting
The larval stage of a butterfly or moth is spent doing little but eating. Only as a caterpillar will these insects have chewing mouthparts, and they waste no time in using them. As they eat, caterpillars increase in size and their skin (exoskeleton) becomes tighter and tighter, as it doesn’t grow larger. The caterpillar grows a new, larger exoskeleton underneath the outer skin and then sheds, or molts, the old one. Most caterpillars molt five times. At first, the new exoskeleton is very soft and not very protective, but it soon hardens. The shed exoskeleton is often eaten before the caterpillar ingests more plant food.
There are names for the caterpillar’s stage of development in between each molt, called “instars.” When the caterpillar hatches from its egg, it is referred to as a “first instar” caterpillar. After its first molt, the caterpillar is referred to as a “second instar,” and so on up until the exoskeleton is shed for the final time, revealing the chrysalis (if it’s a butterfly).
The Monarch in the photograph is a very new 4th instar instar caterpillar (see antennae which haven’t hardened). It has shed three times. Its third exoskeleton (which it has just shed) is on the milkweed leaf behind the caterpillar. To see a real-time video of a Monarch molting go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbHyq3RwtxI.
(Thanks to Otis Brown for his keen eye in finding this Monarch caterpillar before it ate its just-molted skin. Also to Ba Rea ((www.basrelief.org) for her instar confirmation.)
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Predaceous Diving Beetles Seeking Prey
There is a family of water beetles, Dytiscidae, known as Predaceous Diving Beetles. As their name implies, these beetles are predatory. They don’t hesitate to attack prey larger than themselves, delivering a sharp bite with their jaws to small fish, tadpoles and frogs. They then immediately inject enzymes that digest the prey so that the juices can be ingested.
Predaceous Diving Beetle larvae, called “water tigers,” are also predators, grabbing prey with their pincer-like jaws. The larvae are elongated, flattened and can be 2 inches long. They hunt by holding still, waiting with jaws wide open, and then strike suddenly, clutching the prey tightly with their jaws. As with the adults, the pincers are hollow, enabling them to begin sucking the juices of their prey while grasping it. They are often seen when they come to the surface of the water to draw air into spiracles located at the hind end of the body.
Adult Predaceous Diving Beetles are collected by young girls in East Africa. It is believed that inducing the beetles to bite their nipples will stimulate breast growth. Having recently had my toe bitten by a Predaceous Diving Beetle, I can testify that this is not a practice that most females (or males) would enjoy. (Photo: Predaceous Diving Beetle with remains of prey)
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Red Elderberry Attracts Wildlife Year Round
The pollinated and fertilized white flowers of Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) have recently developed into the red fruit for which this plant is named. Many people are familiar with its relative, Common Elderberry (S. canadensis), which produces dark purple fruit that is used to make jams, jellies, pies and elderberry wine. While Red Elderberry fruit can be used to make all of these, its raw berries are toxic. Red Elderberry’s popularity is greatest with pollinators, birds and four-footed mammals.
The cyanide-producing toxins in its flowers, (raw) fruit, stems, bark, leaves and roots do not seem to discourage wildlife’s attraction to Red Elderberry. The odor of its flowers, its nectar, and its highly nutritious pollen attract many ants, bees, wasps and flies. At least 50 species of songbirds eat the bright red fruits, including red-eyed vireos, ruffed grouse, song sparrows, gray catbirds, brown thrashers, and thrushes. Squirrels, mice, raccoons, and black bears also eat the fruit. Porcupines, mice and snowshoe hares eat the buds and bark in winter. The foliage is usually avoided by herbivores, although white-tailed deer and moose browse on it occasionally.
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