Katie Says: Babies, babies, everywhere!

Everywhere you look; there are babies at Briar Bush! Some are obvious, looking different from the adults or those that are still reliant on their parents for food, and some that achieve independence early in life are less apparent.

It doesn’t take long once you’ve arrived at the Briar Bush pond to notice that the water is practically bubbling with tadpoles. Green frogs (which is the true species name and not just a description) of every life stage can be found in the pond, from legless tadpoles to the giant, bullfrog-like adults. What I think is most fascinating about the life cycle of the green frog is that it takes two years for the tadpoles to complete their metamorphosis into their adult form. They spend the winter snuggled beneath a mud blanket at the bottom of the pond, much like their legged elders.

Common grackle fledglings are also taking Briar Bush by storm! Rather than being colored black with beautiful iridescent feathers on the neck and head like the adults, juvenile common grackles are a matte blackish-brown. They are also easy to spot as they mercilessly follow their parents around, constantly squawking to be fed. I had to laugh this week as I saw a young grackle at the bird observatory, begging to be fed while standing atop a pile of sunflower seeds. When not at the bird observatory, the grackles love to flick and throw dried leaves on the ground outside of my office window in the hopes of finding a tasty insect to eat.

If you’ve been to Briar Bush recently and are thinking that there are an unusually high number of chipmunks here in our woods, you’re exactly right; what you’re seeing is a whole forest full of young chipmunks. Young chipmunks don’t emerge from their underground burrow until they are almost fully matured and independent, so by the time we see them above ground, they blend right in with the adults. The next time you’re out on the trails, count how many chipmunks you see or hear and let me know your tally by posting a comment below!

BOA

It is always sad when we lose one of our resident education animals but many of us had a very strong connection to our red-tailed boa constrictor, who was humanly euthanized last week. ‘Boa’ had been here longer than any of us can accurately remember, but it was at least 18 years. He was a very old snake (we think 25 years at least) who lived a good long life despite respiratory and kidney problems. In his old age, he started to deteriorate and we decided to let him go peacefully when he took a turn for the worse. ‘Boa’ was a favorite among the staff and visitors of all ages – we will miss you big guy.

Kristen Haas, Environmental Educator

Katie Says: Create a backyard oasis!

How many of us have looked at those big, expensive, elaborate ponds in backyards and businesses and found ourselves uttering a big sigh? We only wish we had enough money for supplies, time for installation and patience for malfunctioning pumps. But did you know you can add a pump-free, wildlife-attracting water feature to your backyard or balcony in less than a day? Try a container pond!

First, you’ll need your container. Purchase a large flower pot; the best shape is one that has a base almost the same size as the top and does not have vertical sides. Imagine the bottom cut off of a whiskey barrel—in fact, some home improvement stores sell fiberglass versions of this exact design! Next, if the pot has a hole in the bottom of it, you’ll need to plug it using a bit of epoxy.

Do you want your pond level with the ground, making it appear more natural and wildlife-accessible, or are you living in an area where your water feature cannot be dug into the ground? If digging your pond into the ground, have the lip of the container be slightly above the rest of the ground. This will prevent most soil from washing in during rainstorms.

Once you have your container in place, add some native aquatic plants, like pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata.), bulrushes (Scirpus sp.) or waterlily (Nymphea sp.). Besides adding beauty and shelter for any pond residents, these plants will act as natural filters and aerators for your pond, thus eliminating the need for a pump or filter. These plants can either be planted into sand or aquatic plant soil (found at home improvement stores) or can be put pot and all directly into your pond. A wonderful resource for learning more about Pennsylvania’s native and invasive aquatic plants can be found at http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/agrs110.pdf You may also want to add other features to your pond, such as submerged places for aquatic animals to hide, and a stick leading out of the pond, to assist stranded insects. (My neighborhood robin uses the stick as a perfect bathing perch.) Fill your pond with cool, refreshing water and congratulations! You’ve created your very own backyard oasis.

Finally, if you’re concerned about mosquitoes, there’s a good chance that your pond will attract natural mosquito controls, such as frogs and tadpoles and predaceous aquatic insects and their larvae. Mosquito dunks are also available as a safe method of control that will not harm fish, frogs or other wildlife.

Once you’ve created your own pond, share your experience and wildlife sightings by posting below!

Nature Playscape Grand Opening

We celebrated the grand opening of the Nature Playscape on Saturday, May 8. The playscape is located on the Pond Overlook Trail and is open during daylight hours.

Take a visit to Lancaster County's Shenks Ferry Wilflower Preserve

Katie Says: Soar with the swallows

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I visited one of our favorite places: Lorimer Park. Lorimer borders Fox Chase Farm, and as one walks the border of the park, you can look onto the rolling green hills of the farm. That day, the hills were being visited by a host of bird species all looking for their dinner: American robins, American bluebirds, European starlings, red-winged blackbirds and three species of swallows.

I love all bird species, but I especially love swallows. I have always said that if ever I were to be reincarnated, it is a swallow that I would want to come back as. I just love the effortless way they swoop, glide and zoom over the landscape, sometimes seeming to enjoy flying for the sheer fun of it. These swallows were flying over one of the highest hills of un-mown grass in order to collect insects that were bravely (or foolishly!) rising from the safety of the grass to land on the canopy of the nearby trees.

For a while, Quentin and I focused our binoculars on individual swallows to watch them fly. There were barn swallows, with their deeply-forked tail; tree swallows, with blue backs and white bellies; and cliff swallows, which look very similar to barn swallows, but lack the forked tail. Let me tell you, focusing your binoculars on an individual swallow is a great way to keep your skills with a pair of binoculars tuned—you constantly have to rock the focus to keep them in your sights! We then decided to try something new, and focused instead on individual insects rising from the grass. It wasn’t long before the insect that I was following would disappear behind the blur of a swooping swallow. Swallows are such good flyers that not only do they feed on the wing, but they drink and bathe as well, swooping to the water’s surface to get a drink or just beneath the surface for a bath, a literal “quick dip.”

Sometimes it’s fun to analyze the “hows” of nature and sometimes we ponder the “whys,” but sometimes…it’s just nice to stop and watch the swallows. Have a question or a story of your own to share? Post a comment below; it’s free and you don’t have to create an account!

Katie Says: What is the Pennsylvania state insect?

I’ll give you a hint through a song lyric: “You would not believe your eyes if ten million _____ lit up the world as I fell asleep.” Did you guess? This is the first phrase from Owl City’s “Fireflies,” a song that quickly became a sensation after its release in 2009. The song plays on a familiar childhood memory of chasing and catching fireflies in our backyards and maybe even putting a few in a jar to watch their soothing nightlight as we fell asleep. It’s no wonder then, that the firefly (or lightning bug) became the official Pennsylvania state insect in 1974. We may all know the firefly for its greenish-yellow glow, but there’s much more to this insect than blinks the eye!

Despite their name, these insects are actually a species of beetle that can be found on every continent except Antarctica. There are over 2,000 species of fireflies worldwide and an astounding 175 species here in the United States alone! Although not all adult fireflies produce light, all species of eggs and larvae glow as a way of warning potential predators that they taste bad. The adults that do produce light do so in order to find not only a mate, but sometimes…dinner! Some fireflies have been known to copy the flashing patterns of other species in order to eat them!

Even the chemistry behind a firefly’s flash is amazing. Unlike bioluminescent animals which simply glow, the firefly’s ability to turn its light on and off (i.e., blink) is a rare find in nature. And the energy used to produce the light? In a normal incandescent light bulb, 10 percent of the energy that goes into the bulb is used to produce light, and the rest is emitted as heat. With fireflies, an astounding 90 percent of the energy goes into producing the light! Talk about the ultimate Energy Star appliance!

I was thrilled last week to have spotted my first firefly of the season in my own backyard! Have you spotted your first yet? Have a question or a story of your own to share? Post a comment below; it’s free and you don’t have to create an account!