Nestbox Updates

There's good news and there's sad news on the nestbox front.

The sad news is that Sunday I found my ambitious chickadee (eight eggs) had been evicted. Her eggs were scattered on the ground at the base of the post (some with holes in them), and she was nowhere to be seen. Four or five twigs were lying on top of the mossy nest: wrens.

The good news is that yesterday I did a full check on the nestboxe trail, and found a bluebird nest with five eggs, a chickadee nest with seven eggs, a wren nest with three eggs, and a tree swallow sitting in an empty box trying to look like she wasn't there. This is the first time tree swallows have been evident using a box outside my yard.

I saw a couple bluebirds in my yard yesterday and this morning, so I may check my own nestboxes this week and see if any have decided to move in (so far it has been a bust).

Great Finds with Little Kids

We had a group of kindergarten and first graders in today for a birding program, and one member of the group was this very quiet little girl who, because she was so quiet and did her own thing, found lots of great insects and a dead mole (hairy-tailed mole, Parascalops breweri).




Now, most folks don't get excited about insects or dead things, but I do. We went over to check out the mole, and as I lifted it up, explaining various adaptations that make a mole a mole, two gorgeous black and orange carrion beetles scuttled away from it, hiding themselves in the humus and bark chips.

(This is the beetle burying itself under the mole.)

I went out later, armed with the camera, and captured the photos you see here. Sadly, only one beetle remained, and it did NOT want its photo taken! I did my best, but the best is blurry.

(Notice the orange blobs at the end of the antennae.)

Afterwards I looked it up on-line. At http://www.bugguide.net/ there is a great section of photos of various carrion beetles. Turns out mine is a Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus carolinus. Here is a copy of the photo from the BugGuide website, used here with permission of the photographer, Scott Nelson:

Now is this a great-looking insect or what?

I've developed quite a fondness for carrion beetles. They are large, they come in wonderful shapes and colors, and what's even more fantastic is that they have these absolutely groovy antennae! My beetle had shortish antennae with orange blobs on the end. Some have great feathery combs for antennae.

Reading up on this beetle, I found that usually two, a male and a female, work together when they find a carcass, burying it beneath the ground for use later. When I went out to photograph the insects, the mole was already being buried. The head was writhing about, looking reanimated, and if I hadn't known better, I would've thought the thing was coming back to life. This was the actions of one of the beetles, working diligently to move and bury the mole. I went again a while later and the mole was 60% buried!!! These beetles work fast!

This is a family of insects I encourage everyone to get to know.

Here's my recipe for attracting carrion beetles to study: take one mason jar and fill with water. Collect in the jar insect pests from your garden (Japanese beetles, rose chafer beetles, etc.) and fill the jar (you wanted to kill off these insect pests anyway). Put the lid on and let it sit outside in the sun for a week or so, fermenting. Pour the contents out in a pile and check on it in a day or two or three. This is how I found my first carrion beetles, lovely yellow and black insects the size of the end of my thumb. They had comb-like antennae...very cool.

First Walk of June

(My apologies ahead of time. I've been working on this for two days and STILL cannot get things to line up correctly. Looks great when I work on it, but when I publish, alignments are all out of whack. It's not for lack of trying.)

What a great morning for a walk! I grabbed the camera and headed out in search of the early June flowers, specifically pink lady's slippers. Lots of plants are blooming, from trees and shrubs to flowers and saprophytes. So, here is a summary, with select photos from the walk.



Still blooming, although some just barely: witch hobble (I found some still in bloom on the Peninsula Trail, but mostly they are finished); purple trillium (a surprise); painted trillium (many are fading).


Budding, but not blooming: Canada mayflower (I'm always amazed at how long it takes for this one to actually open its flowers); wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis); yellow clintonia/bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis); false Solomon's seal/wild spikenard (Smilacina racemosa).


And the stars of the day - the flowers with flowers:





A foursome of Pink Lady's Slippers or Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule); Early Coralroot (Corallorhiza trifida) - the saprophytic plant (cannot make its own food- gets nourishment from dead or decaying matter); and Foamflower/Miterwort (Tiarella cordifolia) - varieties of this native wildflower can be found in nurseries and garden centers.

























Starflower (Trientalis borealis); Goldthread (Coptis groenlandica); and Bluets/Quaker Ladies/Innocence (Houstonia caerulea)
















Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum); Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisamea atrorubens); and
Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) - sorry, no picture.

Assorted birds were also making their presence known: red-eyed vireo, black-throated green warbler, black-throated blue warbler, robins, black-capped chickadee, hairy woodpecker.


My two favorite finds of the walk were a tiny tiny red eft and the flowers on the striped maple. The latter reminded me of the beautiful decorations Japanese women used to wear in their hair. As a matter of fact, I was so struck by these flowers, that I've decided they are the plant of the month!

Latest Bloomers

Just a quickie today for those who are keeping track of the flowering schedules up here.

Now open, in a central Adirondack woodland near you: starflowers (Trientalis borealis) and foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia).

Coming soon: Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), Solomon's seal (Polygonatum spp.), and false Solomon's seal (Smilacina racemosa).

And on the bird front: one of "my" nest boxes on the golf course has a chickadee nesting in it with EIGHT eggs!!! Looks like a bluebird may be using one of the boxes, a wren another one, and a red squirrel in a fourth. The remaining boxes are all empty.

May Flowers, But No Showers

Looks like May is going to be another dry month. As of today we've had a whole 0.87" of rain this month. Last year May had over 3", the year before over 6", the year before that only 1" and four years ago 5". Yep, unless we get a real soaker in the next week and a half, we'll set a record for lack of preciptation.

Still, the spring flowers are out and strutting their stuff. The following bloomers were showing off as of 14 May:

Sessile-leaved Bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia)

Northern White Violet (Viola palens)

American Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)

Witch Hobble (Viburnum alnifolium)

Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)

Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) had some tight buds, so we may see them flowering in a week or so, depending on the weather.

In the non-flowering news, I was up bright and early today having to make a mad dash to the vet's before work (45 minute drive each way; if there are any vets out there looking for a place to set up shop, please consider Newcomb).

On the road before 7:00 AM, I had two great wildlife sightings (no moose, but still not too bad). The first was unidentifiable when it caught my eye - some amorphous blob in the middle of the road. I thought it might be a roadkilled deer. But as I drove closer, it resolved itself into two red foxes of medium size. They trotted across the remaining bit of road and disappeared into the trees.

The second, even more exciting, was a bobcat, crossing the road halfway between Long Lake and Tupper Lake. I slowed down and it sauntered across, then stopped and looked over its shoulder at my car as I rolled past. Very impressive. This was my second wild bobcat, both of which I have seen up here in the Adirondacks.

Now, if only that moose would appear...

Mother's Day Musings

This Mother's Day, while thinking of my own mother, I thought it was appropriate to also extend my thoughts to our Mother Earth as well, without whom none of us would be here.

The Mohawks have a wonderful Thanksgiving Address that everyone should hear at least once. I have been fortunate to hear it in both the Mohawk language as well as in English, at a tree planting ceremony overseen by Jake Swamp (Tekaronianeken), who among other things is the founder of the Tree of Peace Society. He's also published a wonderful children's book based on the Thanksgiving Address. I highly recommend it to everyone, regardless of age. Today is a good day for that address, to give thanks to Mother Earth for all she has done for us.

******************

The ruby-throated hummingbirds are back. I saw one yesterday buzz by my rhododendrons, no doubt looking for some food. I immediately went inside and brewed up a batch of nectar (1c sugar to 4c boiling water), resurrected the feeders, and placed them all outside. By mid-afternoon the hummers were buzzing all about the yard and sipping nectar from the feeders. Their arrival never seems to coincide with the right plants blooming. I guess it's a good thing they also eat insects and spiders!

And since the bluebirds have arrived (although I've only seen the one and that was last Tuesday), I suppose it is time for me to start weekly checks on the nestbox trail. I have a bluebird workshop next Sunday, so I need to brush up on that as well.

One final thought for the day. Awareness. It is amazing just how unaware we are in our daily activities. For instance, what color are the eyes of the last person with whom you spoke? What phase is the moon in right now? From where you are sitting right now, which direction is north? What is the largest item on your immediate left (without looking)? I've recently started a wilderness awareness course and have discovered that while I know things like bird ID, plant ID, basic tracking techniques, how to use a map and compass, etc., my basic awareness skills, or more accurately my observation skills, are sorely lacking!!! I suspect this is due to a life lived in routine. So, I am working on changing this, and I encourage everyone else to do so as well. Maybe this is the answer to Alzheimer's!

First Forest Wildflowers are Blooming

The purple, or red, trillium (T. erectum) are starting to bloom. This is one of my favorite flowers, possibly because it is one of the first to put in an appearance after a long cold winter. I noticed my first blossoms yesterday as I headed out with a group of students from the University of Delaware for an ethnobotanical trail walk. It was chilly and rainy, but we were greeted first thing by the trillium in bloom, so I took it as a good sign for the walk (which went very well).

This morning I also noticed the first pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) in bloom (or just about in bloom and probably open now after a day of sunshine and warmth). These have got to be one of my all-time favorite flowers. I love the name and I love the flower (sadly no photo since the camera lives at work and the flowers live at the other end of town). Look them up though - you will see they are very aptly named. More on these flowers to come since it is closing time and I must depart.