In August the hummingbird population is at its peak as adults and this year’s juveniles prepare to migrate. Searching for nectar, they visit flowers and backyard feeders. They’re also attracted to shallow, running water.
Here are two soothing videos of hummingbirds bathing.
Neither one describes where it’s located and that presents a challenge …
Can you identify these tiny bathing beauties?
(videos from YouTube. Click on the YouTube logo on each video to see the original.)
Dark-eyed juncos in scent study (photo courtesy of BEACON)
True or False?
Birds have little or no sense of smell. … False!
Turkey vultures, seabirds, kiwis and parrots are known for their sense of smell. And every time I turn around a new study finds more species with olfactory prowess. As Audubon Magazine says, “In fact, every bird tested has passed the sniff test.”
Back in 2011 Danielle Whittaker showed that the scent in preen oil varies among dark-eyed juncos. Those who smell the best, from a junco’s point of view, attract more mates. Yes, dark-eyed juncos can smell.
Today’s important message is late for this year’s growing season but we can always take action right now.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the dangers to honeybees from neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides used heavily in agriculture since 2008. What you might not realize is that this pesticide may be in your garden whether you put it there or not. Here’s why.
What are neonicotinoids?
Nicotine kills insects but it breaks down too quickly for modern agricultural use. Neonicotinoids (“neonics”) are chemicals similar to nicotine specially formulated to last a long time.
Neonics are nervous system disrupters that, depending on dose and exposure, cause confusion, hyperactive behavior, severe tremors or death in insects. Low doses kill slowly through chronic exposure because the chemical lasts so long (5 months to years).
Neonics are “systemic” poisons because they are water soluble. Plants suck up neonic-laden water and distribute it into roots, leaves, pollen, nectar, everywhere. The entire plant is poisonous to a wide range of insects including “bad” insects that suck juices and eat leaves (aphids, stinkbugs and Japanese beetles) and “good” insects that collect pollen and nectar (bees and butterflies). Bees and butterflies visit poisoned flowers and die elsewhere.
How do neonicotinoids get into your garden?
Neonicotinoids are primarily delivered via soil treatments and seed coatings. Garden treatments contain doses 40 times higher than agricultural products. These pathways may surprise you.
Pesticides you bought to kill bad insects, especially soil treatments. Check the label!
Potting soil: If treated with neonics, the plants grown in the soil are poisonous. Check the label!
Plants or seedlings you bought at the store: They’re already grown, but how? If their seeds were coated with neonics or the soil was treated, the plants you bought are poisonous.
Labels tell you some of the insects the product kills but never all of the insects affected.
Don’t panic.
If you’ve learned something new, don’t worry, don’t blame yourself. Time is on your side. Start now to change your garden. Remember this Chinese proverb …
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.
(photo of dead bee from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)
Wild turkey with juveniles (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Silent songbirds and hot weather make birding less interesting in August. Here’s a project to get you going in Pennsylvania: It’s time to count wild turkeys.
Every August the Pennsylvania Game Commission conducts a wild turkey survey to determine breeding success. Everyone from biologists to birders can help. Two factors add interest to the count:
Juvenile turkeys, called poults, are only half grown so you can tell (and count) the difference between adults and this year’s young.
You’ll also get practice identifying adult males versus females. (You can ignore the adult/juvenile tail-clue because juveniles are just plain small in August.)
How to sex and age wild turkeys by sight (screenshot of PGC poster)
The guidelines for the survey are pretty simple:
Record turkey sightings during the month of August.
Count “big birds” (adults) and “little birds” (poults).
For adult females, separate the count “with young” and “without.”
Note where you see the birds. When you submit your observations (here), click on the embedded map and the form will automatically fill in the location details.
Submit a separate report for each flock of turkeys observed, including those without poults, and lone turkeys.
Try NOT to report the SAME flock MULTIPLE times. Duplicate flocks bias the results.
Map of the Total Solar Eclipse on 21 August 2017 (image from eclipse2017.nasa.gov)
By now I’m sure you’ve heard …
Two weeks from today on 21 August 2017 there will be a total eclipse of the sun across the United States. The moon will pass between Earth and Sun, casting its shadow on our continent.
In a narrow band 70 miles wide, from Oregon to South Carolina, the sun will disappear completely for about two minutes. Folks eager to witness the total eclipse have made plans to visit sites in its path including Nashville, TN and Charleston, SC.
Pittsburgh will see only a partial eclipse but there will be plenty to watch. The moon will move across the sun from 1:10p to 3:55p with maximum coverage resembling the crescent below at 2:35p. Don’t watch without special glasses and, for your scope and camera, special filters! See below.
Mockup of partial eclipse at maximum as it will be seen in Pittsburgh on 21 Aug 2017 (image from Wikimedia Commons)
Where to watch the eclipse in Pittsburgh, 21 August 2017 … some of the many locations.
On your computer: See the entire eclipse from coast to coast on NASA’s Eclipse Live Stream. The shadow begins in Oregon at 9:04a PDT (12:04p in Pittsburgh) with totality from 10:16a PDT (1:16p here) to 2:48p in South Carolina. You don’t need filters to watch online.
At Carnegie Science Center: The weather won’t matter at Carnegie Science Center. Outdoors, watch through special solar observation equipment. Indoors at Buhl Planetarium. Click here for info & directions.
Sidewalk Astronomy: Weather permitting 1:30p to 3:00p outside the Staghorn Garden Cafe, 517 Greenfield Avenue, Pittsburgh, 15207. John English will set up his scope to project the sun’s image on the wall so you can watch its shadow without looking at it.
Special solar eclipse glasses, filters or pinhole viewers to watch the solar eclipse.
Don’t risk going blind or damaging your camera or scope by viewing the eclipse without protection! Click here for NASA’s list of safe viewing methods including solar eclipse glasses, pinhole viewers and filters for your equipment + how to use them.
Here’s an example of the real thing from B&H Photo Video on the reputable vendor list.
Lunt solar eclipse viewing glasses from B&H Photo
I hope it isn’t cloudy on Monday August 21!
(photo credits: Click on the images to see the originals. Globe from eclipse2017.nasa.gov. Partial eclipse image from Wikimedia Commons. Lunt solar eclipse glasses from B&H Photo Video)
Japanese stiltgrass, late July 2017 (photo by Kate St.John)
This summer I’ve found a lot of stiltgrass in western Pennsylvania.
Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) is a native of Eurasia that grows in both sun and shade. In the 1900s it was used as packing material for shipping porcelain from China to the New World. Inevitably, it took root in Tennessee in 1919 and is now present in 24 states and Puerto Rico. In Pennsylvania it’s invasive, especially in the woods.
Though grasses are notoriously difficult to identify, stiltgrass has three characteristics that help you figure it out.
(1) Each leaf has a shiny central rib, as shown above.
(2) The rib is off center on the leaf, easiest to see on the underside.
Underside of the leaf shows the off-center rib on Japanese stiltgrass (photo by Kate St.John)
(3) Unlike native grasses, stiltgrass forms a dense carpet on the forest floor that chokes out all other plants.
Japanese stiltgrass, late July 2017 (photo by Kate St.John)
This year I’ve seen stiltgrass at all the bike trails and even in the woods in Schenley Park. It looks like a nice carpet until you realize it’s invasive. It’s everywhere!
Hog peanut vine and leaves (photo by Kate St.John)
On a sunny day last week I went to Jennings Prairie to see the wildflowers. My old favorites were there — dense blazing star, tall sunflowers, culver’s root — but this plant was new to me.
Hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata) is a member of the Bean family (Fabaceae) but its leaves caught my eye because they share some field marks of poison ivy.
Like poison ivy, two of hog peanut’s three leaves are asymmetrical and have no stem, the middle leaf has a stem, and the vine is hairy. Unlike poison ivy, hog peanut leaves are egg-shaped and have smooth edges. See the difference for yourself by comparing these photos of poison ivy leaves and vines.
Hog peanut got its name because it produces edible beans that are eaten by ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasants, mice, voles and — apparently — hogs.
Most of the beans are produced by its insect-pollinated flowers shown below but some come from self-fertilizing flowers that grow on runners along the ground.
Bumblebee on hog peanut flower (photo by Kate St. John)
Although hog peanut is an annual, chances are good that you’ll find it in the same location year after year because its ground-based flowers go to seed.
Look for hog peanut in wooded areas along streams and seeps and on floodplains. I found this one at the “Detour” bridge at the prairie.
(Note: The big bridge on the Blazing Star Trail is under construction. The detour is obvious and easy.)
Reddish-brown stag beetle, Pittsburgh, PA, 1 Aug 2017 (photo by Rick St. John)
On an evening walk in our neighborhood my husband and I found a large beetle, more than an inch long. My husband’s closeup (above) and my cautious far-away photo (below) provided enough clues to determine its identify.
Reddish-brown stag beetle, Pittsburgh, 1 Aug 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Its size and shape place it in the scarab beetle group. Its large mandibles mean it’s a stag beetle, one of 1,500 species in the world, four in eastern North America. This one is a reddish-brown stag beetle (Lucanus capreolus) because it has bicolored legs dark at the tips and yellow at the base.
Basically harmless to humans, reddish-brown stag beetles eat rotting wood as larvae and sip sap as adults. The larvae develop for two years, then emerge as adults during the summer. Like other scarab beetles they’re most active at night and attracted to lights.
Stag beetles were named for their head gear which they use like antlers, not like teeth. Just like stags (or deer) the males fight each other with their horns!
In the video below, watch male stag beetles in western Europe (Lucanus cervus) fight for dominance. “The goal is to throw down the opponent” !
What big “teeth” you have!
The better to fight with, my dear.
(photos by Rick and Kate St. John. video from YouTube)
p.s. regarding the loud bird sound in the background of the video filmed in Europe. Is it a Eurasian magpie?
