Streamside Salamander Larvae

Streamside Salamanders began hatching about three weeks ago.  Now I’m seeing the larvae in every part of the creek.  The cooler water temperature of the creek causes these larvae to develop more slowly than their relatives living in upland pools.  While the salamander larvae in the pond are nearly ready to leave the water, these creek dwelling larvae will remain in their aquatic environment for several more weeks.

Each year finds more Streamside Salamanders breeding in the creek and many have recently begun to utilize the smaller tributaries.  I am assuming that the salamander population has been increasing since stream disturbance, such as cattle access, stopped when I purchased the property.

Fish do not travel up these small tributaries, so the pool dwelling salamanders are not threatened by that voracious predator.  The down side is the fact that the smaller tributaries stop flowing earlier in the summer than the main creek.  Larvae in the tributaries are at a greater risk of losing their water supply before they have time enough to develop sufficiently to adopt a terrestrial lifestyle.

In the main creek, Streamside Salamanders are utilizing most of the prime breeding rocks.  Larvae hatching from beneath large flat rocks in the fast moving stream reaches are swept into the quiet waters of downstream pools.

Streamside Salamanders are now numerous enough that each set of riffles produces some larvae for the adjoining pool.

Larvae of this species develop a more streamlined shape than species living in quiet ponds.  Even in the pools, the water can sometimes move quite swiftly and the larvae need to keep from being swept away.  Their long, thin shape helps the larvae settle in and ride out times of storm runoff.

Even the gills appear to be stouter and more compact.  We’ve had plenty of rain this spring and the water table is high.  The creek should keep flowing well past the time that the salamanders lose their gills and move away into the surrounding woodland.

Chuck-will's-widow

I was walking near the top of a dry ridge when a large brown bird jumped from the ground and flew a short distance to perch on a fallen branch.  While I took its picture, it sat making a low grunting noise.  I had been hearing this species calling from the woods every spring for the last 12 years, but this was the first I had ever clearly seen.  I was looking at my first Chuck-will’s-widow.

Chucks are ground nesting birds and the behavior of this individual made me think there might be eggs nearby.  Even though I hadn’t been looking directly at the bird when it flushed, I was sure it had come from somewhere in this area.  I snapped this picture in order to have a reference image.  My plan was to make a quick search for the nest and the image would help me get back on the proper line if I had to detour around any fallen branches or other obstacles.

I knew the nest would be hard to see, so I was watching to make sure I didn’t put my foot down on any eggs.  I also didn’t want to keep the bird long from its eggs.  My search was carefully conducted in a slow rush.

Then I saw the eggs, identified by a red circle in the photo. 
 

Two eggs, essentially just placed in the open on the ground.

There’s really no nest, just a slight depression created by the brooding bird.

The mottled eggs blend perfectly with the mixed bag of leaves.  When I first moved here, the spring nights were full of the calls of Whip-poor-wills, a close relative to the Chuck-will’s-widow.  When the call of a Chuck woke me at three in the morning twelve years ago, I hurried outside and spent a half hour listening to it sing.  Since then, Chuck numbers continue to increase while Whips are on the decline.

The bird remained close while I took a couple of hurried shots of the eggs.  I was quickly away and I’m sure the eggs were covered shortly after my departure.  Incubation for this species is 20 days, so I’ll stay away long enough to let the eggs hatch in peace.  I’ll go back after that to see if I can find remnants of the hatched eggs.

Some Bird Nests

I’ve seen four Robin’s nests so far this spring.  Two in cedars, one in a white pine and this one anchored to my house.  The Robins are year-round residents and spend the winter months feeding on various fruits or searching the creek edges for various arthropods and worms.

This female completed her clutch at the usual four eggs.  She’s been sitting for a week now, so the eggs should be half way to hatching.

Ledges are often used as nest sites.  Robins also readily utilize an open platform type nest box.
 

Usually the nest is higher than just a couple of feet above the ground.  I’m hoping this one doesn’t attract any passing predators.  The Robin nest is in close proximity to a Phoebe nest on a platform showing in the upper left corner of the photo.

The Phoebe chicks are already well developed.  I installed this nest platform specifically for the Phoebes in an attempt to keep them from nesting on the porch.  Porch nests almost always failed, usually because some unexpected late night visitor spooked the birds from the nest and the young succumbed to exposure overnight.  The Phoebes now raise at least one family each year on this platform.

The Wild Turkey nest I showed a couple of weeks ago has been plundered by some predator with a taste for eggs.  I have been purposely staying away from the nest so as not to leave a scent trail to be followed by hungry mammals.  A broken egg on the nearby walking trail was evidence of what had happened and the disturbed nest was clearly visible from a distance.

I’ve seen Opossums, Skunks and Crows do this type of damage to eggs.  Those three species are all common here.  This is why the turkey lays so many eggs.  It only takes a small percentage of successful nests to sustain the population.

The nest boxes are doing a brisk business.  Out of a dozen boxes, only one held a Bluebird nest.  Since I see several Bluebird pairs around the field, I assume some are nesting in natural cavities.

Tree Swallows occupy the majority of the boxes.  Twenty-five years ago, it was uncommon to see a nesting pair of Tree Swallows.  Bluebirds dominated the boxes at that time.

Feathers are used to line the Tree Swallow nest.  Turkey feathers are becoming more common, but the majority seem to come from domesticated ducks and chickens.

A single nest box was unoccupied and this is the reason why.  Wasps will aggressively defend their nest site from intruding birds or photographer’s heads.

The empty box did offer a platform from which the Meadowlark could sing undisturbed.  This guy tried to sing from occupied boxes, but was driven away by the resident nesting pair every time.  I’m not sure if the birds were defending their nest site against an intruder or just being critical of the Meadowlark’s vocalizations.

Waved Light Fly

This neat looking fellow is a Waved Light Fly, Pyrgota undata.  It is a night flier that is sometimes attracted to light.  During the day, it finds a secluded place to await the return of darkness.  At first glance the coppery color and dark wings suggest a wasp.  Not only does it look like a wasp, the attitude of the wings makes it appear to be an agitated wasp.

The wasp imagery is only fleeting.  The presence of halteres, those short rods capped with white knobs, quickly identifies it as a type of fly.  Halteres are situated behind the wings and function as stabilizers to allow balanced flight.  All flies have them.

The fly also appears to be looking upward with a strange forked tongue appendage emerging from the mouth.  This is another false image.  That is the top of the head, not a mouth.  The protrusions are antennae.

The orientation of the head is much clearer to see from the side.  This is not my first encounter with this species, but it is the first time I’ve found a live specimen.  A fly on the hoof is much more interesting than a desiccated corpse.

The Wavy Light Fly is a parasitic species whose larvae develop inside June Beetles.  The adult fly deposits its egg directly on the beetle.  When the egg hatches, the larva burrows inside and begins feeding.  The beetle eventually dies and the fly larva pupates inside the dead beetle’s body.  I’ll have to start cracking open dead June Beetles to see if I can find a fly pupa.

Blue Grosbeak et. al.

If not for the feeder and associated bird habitat located outside my window, I would miss a lot of interesting bird activity.  Arrival of the Blue Grosbeak is not heralded by a sighting in the field, but by a view of the bird visiting the feeder for some sunflower seeds.

I saw the first Blue Grosbeak at Blue Jay Barrens about ten years ago.  They are now regular breeding birds here.

This male was a little bit wary of the feeder and spent time hovering just out of range.

Other birds moving about caused it to back off, but it wasn’t about to abandon its quest for seeds.

Once it actually settled in and began eating, its apprehension abated.  It didn’t take long before it was flying straight in regardless of the company.

A scattering of Red-breasted Grosbeaks visit the feeder each spring.  They are on their way north and will not stay to nest here.

This spring is typical of most and I haven’t seen more than a single Red-breasted Grosbeak at the feeder.

Indigo Buntings are abundant summer visitors here.  Their song can be heard around every field edge.

Blue Jays are at the feeder year round.  They’ll soon be bringing their young in to learn about sunflower seed and cracked corn.

Eastern Bluebirds don’t visit the feeder, but they find the yard an ideal place to hunt for insects.  They rarely perch for more than a quarter minute before dropping to the ground to pick up an insect or worm.

Bluebirds love to perch on utility lines.  It is from this position that they drop seeds destined to become shrubby invaders of the utility right-of-way.

Cardinals are also year round residents that take full advantage of the feeder.  I imagine that many of these adults were first brought to the feeders by their parents.  I’ve seen many a parent bird sit on the feeder and pass cracked sunflower seeds over to its offspring.

The Cardinal is the last species to leave the feeder in the evening.  I’ve watched many still munching seed in twilight so dark that you couldn’t tell the color of the birds.  I think it’s this habit of late feeding that makes the Cardinal an opportune target for early hunting Screech Owls.

White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows are stopping at the feeder on their journey north.  The White-throated Sparrows are the two on the left and the White-crowned is the one on the right that is not a Mourning Dove.  White-throated Sparrows occasionally spend the winter here, but I’ve seen very few this year.  I always get a lot at the feeders during spring migration.  I guess they are attracted by the crowd of resident birds.

I normally don’t see many White-crowned Sparrows.  This year they have been especially abundant.

Goldfinch numbers were way down this winter.  Perhaps the frequent ice and snow storms we had drove most of them farther south.

A few Brown-headed Cowbirds are always at the feeder.  The forest in this area has been chopped into neat blocks and strips that are ideal for the Cowbirds.  A scan of the woodland edges reveals Cowbirds sitting high near the treetops watching for other birds to betray the position of their nests, so the Cowbird can slip in and deposit one of its own eggs.

There are always a few House Finches in the mix, but their numbers can fluctuate dramatically from year-to-year.  I would be concerned about the health of that guy in the back if I hadn’t seen him come to the feeder straight from the bird bath.

Eastern Towhee numbers have been increasing for years.  They are now a common year round resident.  Towhees generally forage on the ground, but if necessary, they’ll come straight to the source.

Red-winged Blackbirds sometimes arrive in large flocks during the winter.  During spring and summer they are represented by only a few individuals.  Blue Jay Barrens just doesn’t have the wetland habitat preferred by these birds as a nesting area.

Of course we also have a few Crows that regularly come by for some corn.  I don’t know if I would get close up views of any birds if not for the feeders.