Learn About | Greg Dodge Journal: June 16-30, 2008
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Greg Dodge Journal, June 16-30 |
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Flora Now blooming are Black-eyed Susan, Wild Bergamot (a mint), and across from the entrance to the Lemur House, Showy Tick-trefoil or Beggarweed. Tick-trefoil is a legume and has small pinkish flowers, like a pea. The first part of its name (tick) refers to the plant’s seeds and their ability to latch onto and hitch a ride on your clothes, like a tick. The trefoil part of the name comes from the leaves being made up of three leaflets, like a clover but with larger and longer leaflets.
Insects Two more dragonfly species have made a showing in the Wetlands, Halloween Pennant and Banded Pennant. Halloween Pennants can often be seen in fields on the tips of tall weeds or the bare twigs of shrubs, facing into the wind and waving in the breeze like a tiny pennant. The male’s orange and black coloration gives them their common name. If you look hard enough, you can find grasshoppers in just about every month of the year. However, over the past few weeks I’ve noticed more than just a few band-winged grasshoppers about. Band-winged grasshoppers have colored wings which are very obvious in flight (they may be mistaken for a butterfly or moth). These hoppers usually fly off about twenty feet or so when disturbed, but may make longer flights if necessary. The grasshoppers that I’ve been seeing are Carolina Band-winged Grasshoppers. Although they blend in very well with their surroundings when sitting on the ground, their yellow-white bordered, black wings make them very easy to spot and identify when they take to the air, which is usually when you’re just about to unknowingly step on them. I thought I heard a cicada warming up its whiny, whirring song on the 21st, a Saturday. I’d forgotten about it until I heard several of them calling the following Wednesday morning. Annual Cicadas, also called Dogday Harvestflies, crawl up from their underground haunts, emerge from their nymphal skins, and start calling about the same time as the summer heat kicks in for good. Cicadas are the champion diurnal insect noisemakers. They’re still just warming up. Recently, I’ve seen a dozen or so tiger beetles just off the paved path between Catch the Wind and Explore the Wild, on the back side of the Loop. I was finally able to catch and identify one of the beetles, Eastern Red-bellied Tiger Beetle. The abdomen is reddish in color (image at left – abdomen sticking out from rear of wings or back of beetle). Several visitors were also able to get a close look at the beetle while I kept it in a small vial and showed it to whoever had an interest in seeing it (it was later released). They’re common and widespread among Tiger Beetles. Look along dirt roads. They usually see you coming before you see them, flying off and landing about 10-12 feet ahead of you. I also caught and released a Dogbane Beetle, or Dogbane Leaf Beetle. These shiny, iridescent green beetles feed on Dogbane – the larva on the roots, the adults on the leaves. Dogbane grows in several places around the Catch the Wind/Explore the Wild Loop. One particularly easy to view location is just outside the Lemur House. You’ll see a group of these plants growing on your right when you make the right-hand turn towards Catch the Wind as you leave the Lemur House. If you look closely I’m sure you’ll see one of these small, handsome beetles, maybe even a mating pair. If you’ve ever wondered what Bahiagrass and Peanuts have in common, you’re search is over. Bahiagrass is frequently planted as a rotation crop for Peanuts. Where Bahiagrass is used, the larva or grub of Derobrachus brevicollis or Bahiagrass Borer often kills some of the subsequent peanut crop by cutting off the tap root of the plants. An adult of one of these large, red-brown beetles with rather long antennae (they’re Long-horned Beetles), was aroused from slumber as the umbrellas at the Ornithopter were being opened for the day (the beetle was inside an umbrella). Little Wood-Satyrs are dancing about the edges of the woods – the butterflies that is! These smallish, brown butterflies have two large eye-spots on each of their four wings. The spots are on both the upper and lower surface of the wings. Another related species, Carolina Satyr, lacks the spots on the upper surface of the wings. You’re most likely to see Little Wood-Satyrs down low, “bouncing” in and out of the shadows along the edge of the woods.
Reptiles and Amphibians Young turtles continue to be seen from both the boardwalk and the Wetlands Overlook. No longer the silver dollar-sized individuals of a few months ago, the turtles appear to be growing quickly on the abundant food in the Wetlands. When not basking out on a log, these little Yellow-bellied Turtles are either eating or looking for food. I’ve not seen as many Painted Turtles as previously, and Snapping Turtles seem to be laying low. Bullfrogs are becoming more obvious out in the relatively “open” water of the Wetlands, away from the heavy cover of the edges of the water. Their bright green heads are often visible just above the surface as they float motionless in the water. Look for both the large “old bulls” as well as the many smaller “newly morphed” young frogs from the boardwalk, just before you get to the Black Bear Enclosure.
Birds A total surprise was a female Mallard with 7 ducklings in tow. I hadn’t seen a Mallard in the Wetlands for several weeks, other than the always present Mutt Duck (black and white female that’s been hanging around – mallard x domestic duck). On the 25th, both a male and female Mallard (the male molting and looking much like the female) were feeding alongside the Wetlands Overlook. As I stood there wondering where they’d come from, I noticed something moving in the water on the far side of the pond – a duck swimming out of the Willows with tiny ducklings following closely behind her. I had no idea they were even present, let alone nesting in the Wetlands! What else is lurking out there amongst the Willows? A quick check of the Museum’s Cooper’s Hawk nest on June 16 came up empty – nothing but downy feathers scattered about the twigs and branches of the nest. But, on the 18th I saw four young hawks shuffling back and forth from branch to branch on the tall Loblolly Pine which holds the nest, apparently ready to go out into the world. Where were they two days before? Sitting quietly among the foliage? Out exploring the neighborhood? As it was, the leaf cover from the surrounding Sweetgums made it difficult to be certain, but it appeared that there were two females and two males (females are larger than the males). A return visit on Wednesday, June 25, found one of the youngsters sitting on the nest. Earlier that day I saw one of the adults headed towards the nest carrying food. On June 24, I noticed one of the Red-shouldered Hawks drop from a perch alongside the path next to the main entrance to Explore the Wild. It glided across the paved path and dropped down hard into the short grass, grabbing and clawing at something with its sharp talons and bill. When it brought its head up, it had a small Brown Snake in its beak. It swallowed the snake whole. Two new bird species seen during the period were Indigo Bunting and Killdeer. I would have expected the bunting back in April or May. Perhaps it was here all along and I just didn’t notice it? The bunting was singing from a Loblolly Pine in front of the Lemur House. Killdeer, being plovers, are more at home on open grassland and barren areas. The bird that visited the Museum took two quick, erratic loops around the Wetlands trying to find a place to land, loudly calling the whole time. The resident Red-shouldered Hawk, who happened to be perched on a tall, straight snag out in the middle of the Wetlands, watched closely, its head spinning, trying to keep up with the Killdeer's wild gyrations around the pond. The Killdeer seemed also to have upset the quiet solitude of a Green Heron who was standing on one of the short tree stumps projecting from the water – it squawking loudly and raising its hackles at the disturbance. No good mudflat to land on, the Killdeer left as quickly as it had arrived. Wood Thrush and Hooded Warbler seem to be the only truly woodland species of songbird to still be in residence. Both were singing from the woods between the main entrances to Catch the Wind and Explore the Wild. I’ve only seen a male Hooded Warbler and don’t know for sure if there’s a female on site. Previously, a Hooded Warbler (maybe the same one) was singing down by the Lemur House.
Mammals I spotted a Shorttail Shrew on the path on the back side of the loop near the dirt service road there. Unfortunately, the shrew was DOR (Dead on Road). I didn’t noticed any marks or other clues as to how it expired. I’ve been seeing Eastern Cottontails for the past few weeks at various locations and noticed one of the resident Groundhogs foraging alongside the Wetlands near the still blooming Lotus. Keep your eyes and ears open while visiting Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind; you never know what’s going to happen. You might consider bringing along binoculars if you have them.
Thanks to the Museum Staff and Guests who have pointed out their sightings to me or who have shared their own experiences with me out on the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind Loop.
As always, if you see me out there, stop and ask what's new, or let me know what you’ve seen.
Have a good one,
Greg
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