Flying rays of sunshine, spirits on the wing – part 1

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Maria dB

Fiery and dun skippers IMG_7262© Maria de Bruyn res It is now early December and late autumn in the Northern hemisphere, so why a blog about butterflies? When I was writing this on the last day of November, I had still seen a few of these beauties a couple days previously, and in the Southern hemisphere it is late spring, so it seems fine as a topic for a nature blog. Also, three weeks ago, my mother passed away, while in two weeks the anniversary of my father’s death comes again — I like to think of butterflies as nature’s emissaries for spirits on the wing. They allow me to think of my parents in somewhat lighter terms than the sadness that predominated during their dying processes. Because there are so many butterflies to highlight, this will be a two-part blog.

This past spring, summer and fall gifted me with a large variety of butterflies – a boon compared to last year when there seemed to be a dearth of them. I had some new butterflies to my garden, like the tawny emperor (Asterocampa clyton clyton), which I also saw at the Mason Farm Biological Reserve when one landed on my arm.

Tawny emperor DK7A2536© Maria de Bruyn res Tawny emperor IMG_4926© Maria de Bruyn (2)

juniper hairstreak DK7A1677© Maria de Bruyn The juniper hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) was another new visitor that at first made me think it was covered in pollen.

A second-time visitor to my yard was the American snout (Libytheana carinenta), which looks quite distinctive with the long protrusion from its face.

American snout butterfly IMG_0257© Maria de Bruyn res

It was a good year for the little skipper butterflies, of which there are many. Quite a few look similar to one another and pose difficulties in identification; fortunately, BugGuide helps me figure out which ones I have been seeing.

Common checkered skipper DK7A8473©Maria de Bruyn

Common checkered skipper (Pyrgus communis)

silver-spotted skipper IMG_0885© Maria de Bruyn Fiery skipper DK7A3463© Maria de Bruyn

Silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus) & Fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus)

Zabulon skipper female DK7A8091© Maria de Bruyn Zabulon skipper DK7A2945© Maria de Bruyn res

Zabulon skipper (Poanes zabulon), female on the left and male on the right

sachem skipper DK7A6355© Maria de Bruyn Sachem skipper male DK7A7657©Maria de Bruyn res Sachem skipper DK7A1271© Maria de Bruyn bg

The Sachem skipper (Atalopedes campestris) also illustrates how males (top) and females can differ.

A few skippers were new for me this year, like the little glassywing skipper (Pompeius verna) and the somewhat drabber dun skipper (Euphyes vestris) and Ocola skipper (Panoquina ocola).

Little glassywing skipper DK7A2843© Maria de Bruyn Dun skipper DK7A3364© Maria de Bruyn Ocola skipper IMG_4247©Maria de Bruyn

Even though dark in color, the Horace’s duskywing (Erynnis horatius) and the Juvenal’s duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) have beautiful dorsal patterns.

Horace's duskywing DK7A3695© Maria de Bruyn

Juvenal's duskywing DK7A9907© Maria de Bruyn res

It’s always fascinating to see how different the butterflies’ color patterns can be on the upper and undersides of their wings, as shown here by the American lady (Vanessa virginiensis).

American Lady DK7A2242© Maria de Bruyn res American Lady DK7A2292© Maria de Bruyn res

The red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a gorgeous butterfly; a somewhat tattered individual rode along on me and my camera for a while at Mason Farm.

Red Admiral DK7A6667©Maria de Bruyn (2) res

red admiral IMG_4769© Maria de Bruyn red admiral IMG_4767© Maria de Bruyn res

A group that can sometimes be challenging to identify are the sulphurs. Distinguishing the sleepy orange (Abaeis nicippe, top) and the orange sulphur (Colias eurytheme) is no easy task. Both are quite lovely and a delight in flight when they reveal their brightly colored dorsal pattern.

Sleepy orange DK7A8367© Maria de Bruyn Sleepy orange DK7A8263© Maria de Bruyn

Orange sulphur DK7A0410© Maria de Bruyn res Orange sulphur DK7A0476© Maria de Bruyn res

Cloudless sulphur DK7A2774© Maria de Bruyn res

The larger yellow butterflies like the cloudless sulphur (Phoebis sennae) are great to see, especially when they frequent the brightly colored blooms such as the red cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).

cloudless sulphur DK7A8466©Maria de Bruyn res Cloudless sulphur DK7A0063© Maria de Bruyn res

Clouded sulphur DK7A0269© Maria de Bruyn

The clouded sulphur (Colias philodice) may be a bit harder to see when it feeds on clover in the grass.

Stay tuned for more butterflies to admire in part 2 of this blog!

Hummers haranguing – feistiness in small packages!

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Maria dB

At times, we may see on Facebook or the Internet a photo or video of hummingbird nectar feeders surrounded by at least 6 and sometimes dozens of these small birds, sharing space as they take turns at imbibing some of the sweet water. Here in my part of North Carolina, however, it seems that the ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) are just NOT interested in having their territory host family members or neighbors. This species is known for being territorial and those in my vicinity live up to that reputation for sure.

Both at home and in nature reserves, I’ve watched these tiny birds stake out a claim to a feeder or some choice blooms. They drink a little and then will take up a post on a vantage point where they can keep an eye out for other birds. Occasionally, the waiting spot is out in the open and often it is in a nearby shrub or tree.

When they spot a rival approaching the food source, they may either immediately give chase or first engage in a threat display.

Their displays include both posturing and sound. To warn off other birds, they may chirp both quickly and loudly. Their threat postures aim to frighten away intruders by displaying size and strength and include pointing their long bills at the other bird(s), puffing up their throats, spreading and raising their wings, and flaring their tail feathers, .

They don’t really use their bills to battle as they need to protect this body part but they can fly into each other. On one occasion, in my front yard, I heard a loud thump when the two birds actually collided during a high-speed chase.

The drive to protect territory is not for lack of food. My yard has three nectar feeders out back and one in the front and three of them have at least four feeding holes. This year, a brightly colored male laid claim to the yard while the female was caring for her brood. When the female and young birds began coming to the feeders, “Red” was not pleased. Later, the young males also vied with one another.

Chittering loudly, they sweep in to make the other birds take off; occasionally they do get a chance to have a short drink before another hummer shows up. At my house, the birds can feed because they have to patrol both the front and back yards and can’t be in two places at once.

I witnessed a similar scenario at the Mason Farm Biological Reserve. There was a spot with plenty of blooming trumpet vines (Campsis radicans) and morning glories (Ipomoea pandurata), which were attracting a variety of pollinators. Three hummingbirds were also visiting and, again, chasing one another from the site as soon as they caught sight of their rivals.

In an area near the Haw River where many wildflowers bloom, a similar scenario took place.

This is the time of year when the ruby-throated hummingbirds undertake their migration to Central America, a distance of at least 1000 miles. They need to store energy for this and may double their body mass while feeding during the preparatory phase. However, it seems to me that chasing away other birds from their preferred feeding sites must take an enormous amount of energy and it seems to be an endless activity. In my yard, it goes on all day long!

These birds’ flight muscles take up 25% of their weight; when they rest, their hearts beat at a rate of 250 beats per minute but during flight, their hearts speed up to 1220, so the zipping back and forth and up and down in hot pursuits must use lots of calories and energy. They also may hover mid-air for a while rather than sitting on an outpost twig; the other day, one of Red’s rivals spent a quarter minute suspended about 18 inches from my face, looking me over until Red dive-bombed him.

This summer I’ve been lucky to see the hummers in several places, including Sandy Creek Park, near the Haw River and a farm cultivated by refugees from Myanmar. In all cases, the birds appeared unwilling to share their dining areas. Once in a while, though, one would have the space to him- or herself for a while and I could watch them feed, afterwards flicking out their long tongues.

When they return next year, I hope to learn more about these wonderful little birds through daily observation in my garden habitat.

More interesting information on ruby-throated hummingbirds can be found here:

http://www.rubythroat.org/rthufactsmain.html

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruby-throated_hummingbird/lifehistory

http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/behavior.php

A lucky, lucky day with monarch guardian angels!

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Maria dB

Yesterday my day turned out quite differently from my modest expectations – it was very lucky and truly a day for gratitude.

In mid-August, I had seen a female monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) at Sandy Creek Park, an exciting find and testimony to the usefulness of planting milkweed there. John Goebel, Sandy Creek patron, manager and care-taker extraordinaire, had planted about five types of milkweed in anticipation of welcoming these guests and it had paid off.

A few days ago, on Facebook, the Friends of Sandy Creek Park group announced that the one male and two female monarch butterflies spotted in the butterfly garden had left behind quite a few offspring. As I had not seen a monarch caterpillar in person before, I took off early for the park, where I found three people assembled to count them. John Goebel kindly told me something about the monarch life cycle.

He pointed out several larger caterpillars, noting that they were stage 4 or 5 larva. The eggs hatch about 4 days after being laid. The larvae eat the plant on which they were born, shedding their skins four times as they grow, a process taking 10 to 14 days. These stages of growth are called instars.

In stage 5, the large larvae look for a protected and hidden spot where they can attach themselves vertically. They use their spinneret (not only spiders have them!) to make a silk pad from which they then suspend themselves, hanging down in the form of a letter J. The culmination of this procedure occurs when they straighten out, a sign, John told me, that pupation was imminent, with the caterpillar turning into a bright green chrysalis. There was already one chrysalis when I arrived with two other caterpillars hanging nearby.

The milkweed plants were attracting plenty of insect action. Many stems were yellow and orange as they were covered with milkweed bug nymphs and aphids. I photographed several of the 43 caterpillars counted, including a small early-stage newbie, and a number of large specimens that were very busy munching on leaves.

After a while, I moved on to photographing caterpillars of moth species and looked around for birds or other interesting insects. Then an unexpected and unfortunate event arose and I had to high-tail it to the bathroom (thank goodness Sandy Creek has one that is open much of the year!).

Emerging from the bathroom and walking down the path to my car to go home, I felt chagrin that my nature walk had to be cut short. But if it hadn’t been for the bathroom visit near the milkweed plants necessitated by my gastrointestinal emergency, I would have missed a first-time experience. As I strolled to my car, I glanced again at the hanging caterpillars and noticed one had straightened out. I balanced the need to go home to shower and change clothes with the desire to see a caterpillar become a chrysalis. I had cleaned myself as well as possible and no one else was around, so I stayed.

The caterpillar that I was watching was hanging quietly on a leaf; the only action came from a small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmia) and a large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) that marched back and forth on top, so I turned to the side to photograph an adventurous sibling that had climbed to the top of a nearby plant.

When I looked back, the pupation had already begun and was progressing apace.

John had mentioned that it could take under a minute; this caterpillar was a little bit slower but the transformation was quick indeed. I’d seen videos of this before but seeing it live in the wild was awesome. And I got my own bit of video showing the last bit of larval skin dropping off the chrysalis.

The large milkweed bug came back to perch over the chrysalis. Later, John moved this chrysalis because the leaf of the plant could fall off before the 10- to 14-day pupation period is over – everyone wants all the larvae to become full-grown adult butterflies who can undertake the long migration to Florida or, more likely, Mexico. Their loss of habitat in both the United States and Mexico is devastating to the species and action to prevent further losses is still needed.

As I again prepared to leave, I noticed that one of the other hanging caterpillars was straightening out, so I decided to wait a little while in the hope I would see a second pupation. After watching one caterpillar approach and climb a nearby tree and seeing another trundling through the grass toward the parking lot (presumably headed for a tree further away), I focused on the hanging caterpillar.

Sure enough, the pupation began – in this case, even more rapidly than the first one I witnessed.

A difference with this transformation was that the last little bit of caterpillar did not drop off but remained suspended at the bottom of the chrysalis. Most likely, it will fall off later, which is important; if it remains attached, it could damage the emerging butterfly.

Watching this part of the butterflies’ metamorphosis was an exciting event. I didn’t wait fora third pupation, however, as I really did need to get home. On the way back, I nearly had a collision with another car – perhaps leading the other driver to need a shower, too. At home, I later almost fell on my face as one of my cats wound himself through my legs as I walked so that I came very close to tripping. Both accidents in the making didn’t happen, thank goodness, so maybe the monarch pupae had become my guardian angels for the day. In any event, I did have lots to be thankful for!

For more information:

http://monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/biology-and-natural-history/breeding-life-cycle/life-cycle

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/ChrysalisFormationLPB.html

Communal nesting – the rookery at Sandy Creek Park

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Maria dB

Unlike Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and other songbirds, great blue herons (Ardea herodias) like to build their nests near one another, forming what is called a rookery, or colony of nests. The nests are often seen in the tops of tall trees and comprise large twigs and branches that surround grass, leaves and moss. As many as 135 nests have been counted in a rookery, but the one at Sandy Creek Park that I visited this spring had three nests.

The herons return to the nests for several years running. Each year, the males re-furbish the nests in order to attract a mate.

You can see the nests well with binoculars from a walking path, but as I have no binoculars and rely on my camera’s zoom lens, I slogged through forest and marshy terrain on numerous occasions to get close to the pond that had their rookery pine trees on the other side. They were still a bit out of range for my lens, but occasionally I managed to get a half-way decent shot, which encouraged me to return often to follow the nestlings’ progress.I followed them from 8 March through 26 June.

The top nest in an open-to-the sky tree appeared to have four babies, while the nest below it had three.

A nest in a tree to the right, which had much more dense foliage, seemed to be occupied by only one or two babies.

There were always 1-4 adults around, including both parents on the nest and “guards”, who took up posts atop nearby trees to watch the nearby skies. This is one reason for the rookeries; the herons want to ensure that there are adults around to protect the nestlings from predators, which include raccoons, crows and hawks, such as this red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) that was hanging around the nests one day.

The parents feed their young by regurgitating food and the young birds get excited when a parent returns after being away for a time.

The nestlings make quite a lot of noise squawking loudly while they jostle to get first in line for the meal.

The young herons appear to “argue” with one another with loud calls and it seemed that they “jousted” with one another using their beaks.

Weaker chicks may miss out on getting enough food and can die of starvation, but that didn’t happen at the Sandy Creek rookery. Some chicks were obviously larger and stronger than others, but even the smallest fledglings survived.As they grew, the babies began standing tall and walking around the nest.

When they were close to fledging, they stood near the edge of the nest and practiced spreading and flapping their wings. Sixty days after hatching (much longer than smaller birds!), the young herons were ready to fly and began taking short flights to nearby trees, before venturing out on farther trips. The young ones will not breed until they are two years old.

Watching events unfold at the rookery was a new past-time for me this year and likely one I’ll repeat in the future. If you have time and the opportunity, I’d recommend the experience!

Juneteenth, historic Stagville and wildlife at Horton Grove

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Maria dB

Several weeks ago, in honor of Juneteenth, the local Triangle Land Conservancy partnered with the Stagville Foundation to inform people about the remnants of a former plantation and its surrounding meadows and forest. I attended and was indeed educated and enlightened about the local history and excited by the local wildlife.

Juneteenth (June 19^th) is the oldest celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. “Historic Stagville” was once the largest plantation in the state of North Carolina. The almost 30,000 acres were tended by some 900 slaves, most of whom lived in family groups as the plantation owner families tended not to sell the laborers they “owned”.

Local volunteers were dressed in period costume and demonstrated Southern cooking as they prepared a one-pot (non-vegetarian) meal for visitors and a more sumptuous traditional dinner to be served to all the volunteers at the end of the festivities.

They cooked over open fires and explained which local vegetables they were using to prepare the dishes.

Meanwhile, other volunteers gave us some history about Stagville as we visited the Great Barn, one of the multifamily houses built for slaves and another home constructed by freed slaves who became sharecroppers after the US Civil War ended. The structures were produced by the slaves, who included a number of skilled craftsmen.

The 3-story Great Barn was the largest structure of its kind when it was built in the space of five months in 1860, housing some farming tools and equipment but primarily serving as an enclosure for 75 mules.

The houses for the slave families were well built with wooden floors and fireplaces. This was not benevolence on the part of the plantation owners but done from an economic perspective – it would cost less to have the workers housed a bit decently rather than to have to pay medical bills to keep them healthy enough for labor.

A couple slaves were freed before emancipation and a very few escaped. In North Carolina, some slaves were taught to read and write and letters written by two individuals who left Stagville provide some written history about the conditions there. Today, some descendants of freed Stagville slaves still live in this area.

After the tour of the remaining buildings and seeing two quilts on display in the sharecropper home open to the public, I joined a few others for a walk through the surrounding forest. We came across the skull of a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with an odd shape – the Conservancy tour guide explained that the top of the deer’s head had been sawed off so a hunter could take home its antlers.

After the walk, I went on to the Horton Grove Nature Preserve, up the road from Stagville. The walking and hiking trails are all named after slave families that lived on the plantation. For example, the Justice trail commemorates a family that included a man who was interviewed for a slave narrative project in 1937. I saw some indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea), who sang loudly, a couple red-eyed vireos (Vireo olivaceus) who were collecting nest materials, and a male common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) who was having a meal.

Some great spangled fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) were very busy feeding in a part of the meadow that was crowded with common milkweed flowers (Asclepias syriaca) in full bloom.

The dogbane beetles (Chrysochus auratus) were numerous and looking for mates as they trundled around on the dogbane plants (Apoynum cannabinum).

The morning ended with a brief glimpse of a male summer tanager (Piranga rubra) in the distance, a bright note to end the outing.

Unfortunately, recent events in Charleston have emphasized once again that the racism underlying the system that created Stagville still exists and still leads to violence against non-Caucasian people. This blog does not intend to imply that the Stagville plantation and its heritage contribute to making my world more beautiful – what IS beautiful is the way in which the Stagville Foundation volunteers work to inform and educate others about the history that affects our current society.

We must all continue to address the aberrations of hatred and discrimination based on race (and other culturally assigned characteristics such as gender and ethnicity) and work to educate ourselves, our fellow adults and young people on the need to simply treat everyone as we personally wish to be treated — we are all part of the human race and no other “races” (should) matter.

	Maria dB on These birds stole my hear…
	Phyllis Orner on These birds stole my hear…
	Mockingbird Mysterie… on The Northern mockingbird bound…
	14 Hummingbird Behav… on Birdie beauty – hummingbird pr…
	Nature in stressful… on More otter fun — for the mamma…

My beautiful world

Observations about the wondrous world of wildlife

Category Archives: Nature reserve

Flying rays of sunshine, spirits on the wing – part 1

Hummers haranguing – feistiness in small packages!

A lucky, lucky day with monarch guardian angels!

Communal nesting – the rookery at Sandy Creek Park

Juneteenth, historic Stagville and wildlife at Horton Grove

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: