Second Step in Seagrass Restoration: Add Guano

Water and Shore
Sea birds perch on stakes intentionally placed to attract them to this area (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

21 July 2024

How do you restore a damaged seagrass bed? Get birds to come to the party! Biologists in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary place T-shaped PVC stakes in seagrass beds that have been scarred by boat propellers. These stakes serve as perches to attract terns, gulls, and other birds, which produce guano droppings that are rich in nutrients — which in turn help speed regrowth of seagrass in the barren area!

— description of the photo on Wikimedia

In Florida’s shallow waters, the seagrass meadows that host abundant wildlife are damaged when boat propellers pass through them. Propellers leave a permanent scar that cannot regrow on its own. (See scars in two embedded photos below).

Seagrass bed scarred by boat propeller in Florida; snorkeler nearby (photo embedded from Florida DEP)
Seagrass bed scarred by boat propeller in Florida (photo embedded from Florida DEP)

When the seagrass declines, so do fish and wildlife. This problem is so important to Florida that the state imposes fines on boaters who damage it and has tasked the Office of Resilience and Coastal Protections (RCP) to restore the seagrass beds.

RCP takes a two-pronged approach to restoration. The first step is to raise awareness among boaters and post signs so that they stay away from the seagrass beds.

The second step is to restore the propeller scars so the grass can regrow within the cuts. At St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve:

RCP has partnered with the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station to stabilize and restore prop scars with sediment tubes. Sediment tubes accomplish this by returning the scarred areas to ambient elevations, preventing additional erosion and scouring by water currents, and protecting rhizomes from excessive sunlight exposure. The technique involves installing biodegradable fabric tubes filled with sediment into scarred areas that biodegrade in about 12 months.

Seagrass beds can be fertilized passively to encourage regrowth through the placement of bird roosting stakes and has been shown to be quite successful, as can be seen in Big Lagoon in Pensacola in Fort Pickens Aquatic Preserve.

— RCP: Florida seagrass Restoration Efforts

Add soil, then add guano.

Read more about propeller scarring in the Tampa Bay Times at: In Tampa Bay, boat propellers have killed seagrass. A new mapping project may help.

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In 2009, the Florida Legislature created a rule to further protect seagrass by imposing fines to boaters who damage seagrass with their boat propellers (Section 253.04(3)(a), Florida Statutes). …

RCP [The Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection] has employed a variety of seagrass restoration methods throughout the state. These projects have been conducted in Charlotte Harbor, Indian River Lagoon, Biscayne Bay, the Big Bend, the Florida Keys, St. Joseph Bay, St. Andrews Bay and Pensacola Bay. Results have been mixed, and RCP is continuing to monitor these projects and work with other researchers to find more effective ways to revegetate the bottom.

Seen Yesterday: Flowers and Oh, Deer

Deer, Phenology, Schenley Park, Spotted Lanternflies
New York ironweed, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

20 July 2024

Yesterday was my first opportunity to visit Schenley Park in more than a week.

  • Deep purple flowers on New York ironweed (Veronia noveboracensis)
  • Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) in bloom, a non-native plant from Eurasia.
  • Eastern bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) with tiny spider threads.
  • Pavement glowing in the sun? No, pond scum on Panther Hollow Lake.
  • Dead adult spotted lanternfly nose-down with legs flexed open. Shadyside, 18 July.
  • Oh deer … Details near their photos.
Feverfew, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Eastern bottlebrush grass with tiny spider webs, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The surface of Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

I took a brief walk in my neighborhood on Thursday 18 July and found a dead adult spotted lanternfly, my first this year but I was out of town. It is nose-down to the pavement because its legs are flexed open.

Dead adult spotted lanternfly, Shadyside in Pittsburgh, 18 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Oh deer. Yesterday I saw four deer in Schenley Park; three in this family. The two spotted fawns appear to be a month younger than this year’s cohort that were born in May. If so, it was because their mother bred later than the rest of the herd, perhaps because she was a fawn herself last year.

One-year-old mother (probably) with two spotted fawns, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

In the photo above, notice how little food there is on the ground. Without much to eat, deer in Schenley Park browse on foods they don’t like, such as the Japanese knotweed below.

Japanese knotweed browsed by deer, Schenley Park, 28 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Neighborhood gardens have a lot more food, so guess where the deer go. Last month I saw two in a garden with plants up to their shoulders. Not for long, though. As I watched one of them opened its mouth to take a large bite.

Deer eating in a garden on Ellsworth Ave, Pittsburgh, 17 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Getting Ready to Fledge at Midway Atoll

Bird Behavior, Water and Shore
Two Laysan albatross chicks at Midway Atoll, early June 2008 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

19 July 2024

Midway Atoll hosts the largest Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) nesting colony in the world where more than 600,000 pairs raise young each year. The birds are absent in September but return to court in November, lay eggs in December, and hatch in February.

There are so many birds that it’s hard to count.

Laysan albatrosses incubating eggs at Midway Atoll in December 2016 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

After the eggs hatch the chicks begin to wander in March while their parents hunt at sea. By May the chicks start to grow adult feathers but it will take two more months before they are ready to fledge in July. During this period they are everywhere …

In open spaces …

Laysan Albatross chicks at Northwest Central Eastern Island, Midway Atoll, late June 2017 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

… near buildings …

Albatross chicks at sunrise near Charlie Barracks, Midway Atoll, late June 2017 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

… under trees and on the roads.

Laysan Albatross chicks at Town Sand Island, Midway Atoll, mid June 2017 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

On the Fourth of July a rain shower prompted the chicks to flap their wings, shown in two videos below. You can hear the raindrops on the audio tracks.

Thousands of young Laysan albatross simulate flying by flapping their wings during a rain shower at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, July 4, 2024. (video by USFWS volunteer Dan Rapp)

— video description at USFWS Pacific on Flickr
Young Laysan albatross, or m?l?, on Midway Atoll

Nearly ready for takeoff!

Young Laysan albatross, or m?l?, on Midway Atoll

As soon as they fly, Laysan albatross youngsters leave Midway for a life at sea. USFWS Pacific says they are “likely to move towards Japan or Alaska, but their known range extends to Mexico, too.”  They won’t return to Midway Atoll until they are three years old. They don’t breed until age seven or eight.

First Report: Adult Spotted Lanternfly

Insects, Spotted Lanternflies
John English saw this spotted lanternfly adult outside his window on 17 July 2024

18 July 2024

They’re back. Well, actually, they never left but they haven’t looked like this since last fall. Up until now spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) in western Pennsylvania have been present as egg masses or nymphs.

Yesterday a winged adult lanternfly landed on John English’s window feeder in Homestead. This is the first report I’ve received that adults have emerged.

Their population will follow a well known arc. A smattering in mid July, lots more in August, an invasion in September.

Have you seen an adult spotted lanternfly yet? Leave a comment and let me know when you saw the first one.

p.s. I just got back from a week in Virginia where I learned that spotted lanternflies are indeed in Virginia wine country. They are really bad for grapes. Yikes! Here’s the 2024 map from New York State Integrated Pest Management and Cornell University.

Spotted Lanternfly Distribution in Eastern U.S. as of Jan 2024 (map from New York State Integrated Pest Management and Cornell University)

Ebony Jewelwing

Insects
Male ebony jewelwing, Frick Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

17 July 2024

Bug season brings pests but also beauty. One of my favorites is this delicate damselfly, the ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), named for the males’ black wings with metallic blue-green edges. Their bodies are shiny blue-green, too.

The females are less flashy, darkly colored with white spots at the tips of the wings. When a female flies in the forest gloom the white tips are all you see.

Female ebony jewelwing, Frick Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Ebony jewelwings prefer wooded habitats near creeks and streams where they flit from leaf to leaf. In early July in Frick Park we saw males and females courting and jostling for territory. When they mate they form a heart shape with their bodies.

Ebony jewelwings mating (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Damselflies, like dragonflies, are carnivorous. The adults take insects from the air; nymphs take them in the water.

Watch the jewelwings fly and mate and two females lay eggs in the stream in this video from Canada. I love how they flash open their wings.

video embedded from Dominique LaLonde Films on YouTube

Roost Rings on Radar

Bird Behavior, Migration
Animation of base reflectivity showing roost rings, 2 Aug 2010, 6:10 AM to 7:17 AM (image from NWS Wilmington, OH)

16 September 2024

Our largest swallow, the purple martin (Progne subis), has a very short breeding period in North America. In Pennsylvania they arrive in late April and fledge young in mid July.

Purple martins at Bob Allnock’s in Portersville, PA, July 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

As soon as the fledglings fly well, adults and young leave the nesting area and spend their nights in a communal roost.

Flocking begins as soon as nestlings fledge; birds of all ages assemble in roosts before fall departure. This may represent nonbreeding activity rather than a specific response to upcoming migration, because the species is highly social and flocks in large roosts throughout the overwintering period. 

— Birds of the World: Purple Martin

Since the breeding period is earlier in the South, roosts in the Carolinas fill up in July and contain so many birds that their early morning departure can be seen on weather radar. This happened last week in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Facebook post from NWS Wilmington, NC on 12 July 2024

The same phenomenon happens at our latitude in August, as shown on radar in Wilmington, Ohio at top.

Learn more about purple martin roost rings in this article from Wilmington Ohio: Roosting Birds Detected By NWS Doppler Radar and this one from Wilmington, North Carolina: Purple Martin Roost Rings on Doppler Radar.

If You Think Today is Hot …

Climate Change, Weather & Sky
Deep orange sky, hot sun (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

15 July 2024

Excessive heat from the western U.S. is now in the East and the next two days promise to be brutal.

Right now I’m in Tidewater Virginia where today’s high temperature will be 97°F and “feel like” 107°F. Just after dawn the turkey vultures warmed their wings in my sister’s backyard. I’m sure they know where and how to stay cool later today.

Turkey vultures wake up in Virginia before it’s hot (photo by Kate St. John)

We humans, however, are not always in control of our time and some humans are not as smart as turkey vultures so every newscast reminds us to be careful and stay cool.

Yes, today will be hot but tomorrow will be worse. There will be Extreme Heat even in the mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Heat Risk map for 16 July 2024 zoomed in to Eastern U.S. (image from digital.weather.gov)

Fortunately Wednesday will bring relief. Watch the heat for 15-17July on these maps.

June Beetles in July

Insects
Green June beetle feasting on an offering of cataloupe (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

14 July 2024

Yesterday in my sister’s backyard in Tidewater Virginia we watched about a hundred green beetles flying rapidly in wide circles over the grass. They moved so fast that we couldn’t see their features but we could tell they were big, 1/2 to 1 inch long. None of us had ever seen this phenomenon before.

Green June beetle in flight (image from Wikimedia Commons)

I couldn’t identify the beetles until one landed in the grass and I saw it through binoculars. I did not record this video but this is what I saw.

embedded video by Nature’s Wild Things on YouTube

An online search found an August 2023 report from WDBJ in Roanoke VA “You may be seeing more shiny, green beetles this year.” It identified them as green June beetles (Cotinis nitida). They are harmless to humans.

Green June beetles are members of the scarab beetle family, same as the dung beetles of Africa, sacred in Ancient Egypt. Though these are called “June” beetles, July and August are the adults’ most active time. Males fly around seeking females. Females fly low over the grass looking for a place to lay eggs. So that’s what we were seeing.

When the eggs hatch the larvae tunnel underground and emerge at night to travel on their backs, waving their legs in the air. This sounds like odd and hazardous behavior.

Green June beetle larva that crawls on its back(photo by Jim Baker, North Carolina State University, Bugwood.org)

North Carolina State Extension says the third instars “produce a secretion that binds soil particles together and enables them to form a protective case in which they overwinter in the soil.” The beetles pupate and emerge as adults in the summer.

Their dirt ball reminds me of the dung beetle. The photo shows one open with pupa inside.

Green June beetle pupae and egg case (photo by Jim Baker, North Carolina State University, Bugwood.org)

Though we saw a lot of bugs yesterday it may not turn into many down the road. The grubs have many predators so North Carolina State Extension’s residential recommendation is: “If there is no indication of turf damage due to tunneling by the grubs, no action is really necessary.” 

Green June beetles occur in Pittsburgh, even in Schenley Park, though not often (click here and here to see two iNaturalist entires). I have never noticed their courtship behavior in Pittsburgh.

Their occurrence map indicates that green June beetles are much more common in Virginia.

Seen This Week: Sunset and Heat

Phenology, Weather & Sky
Sunset in Pittsburgh, 10 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

13 July 2024, Pittsburgh

Hot. Sultry. This week’s oppressive heat and humidity was curiously exhausting. Where have I experienced this weather before? Ah, yes. Florida in July. For the most part I stayed indoors so there’s not much “Seen This Week.”

On a brief foray around the Cathedral of Learning I did not find the peregrines but did see a beautiful flowerbed of black-eyed susans.

Flowers at Cathedral of Learning, 9 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

The peregrines cope with the heat by perching in the shade. Carla looks sleepy an hour before sunset on 9 July.

Carla resting on the green perch, 9 July 2024, 7:25pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

I’m not looking forward to next week’s heat wave, though it won’t be as bad in Pittsburgh as further east.

We complain about staying indoors during winter but now we’re staying indoors in the summer, too.

On Milkweed

Insects
Longhorn milkweed beetles mating on milkweed, Frick Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

12 July 2024

Last week Charity Kheshgi and I found bugs mating on milkweed that I had never noticed before.

The red milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus) is one of 14-17 species of longhorn milkweed beetles in U.S. and Canada. They are host-specific on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). The females are even eating while mating.

Though they eat the plant they don’t like getting stuck in milkweed sap so they limit their exposure to it by purposely draining the veins.

(video of a red milkweed beetle cutting milkweed vein to reduce/stop latex pressure before feeding beyond the cut, embedded from Wikimedia Commons)

Other expected milkweed insects have not made an appearance yet. I have seen neither large nor small milkweed bugs. I usually find them on milkweed pods but the plants are only in the leaf growth and flowering stage right now.

Large and small milkweed bugs (photos by Kate St. John and John English)

Meanwhile, friends who grow milkweed to attract monarch butterflies are concerned that they have not seen any monarchs yet. Was last week too early? Steve Gosser photographed this one in July 2014.

Monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed, July 2014 (photo by Steve Gosser)

Have you seen monarch butterflies this month in southwestern PA?

If so, leave a comment to let me know.