Organisms That We've Observed

Our RSSE adventures have led us to a variety of encounters with different organisms. One of these is the Cicada exoskeletons that many of the Young Naturalists have been finding. These are the Dog Day Cicadas that you hear buzzing in the trees during the day. These insects are about a year old and have spent most of their lives underground. They hatched last August or September from eggs that were laid in the tips of tree branches. After hatching they dropped out of the tree and tunneled into the soil where they lived, surviving on plant juices that they sucked out of roots until coming out from their underground home in the last few weeks. When they crawled out of the ground they climbed up tree trunks, fence posts and other objects where they shed their exoskeleton and emerged with wings. They have flown up into the trees where they buzz to attract mates.

On the early morning bird walk we saw or heard 7 species of birds including House Sparrow, American Crow, Starling, Catbird, Rock Pigeon, American Goldfinch and Northern Cardinal. But the most exciting find was a young Woodchuck. Many people know the Woodchuck as a Ground Hog, but it has many other names including Whistle Pig and Marmot. Some one even mentioned that there is a Pennsylvania Dutch name for them but they couldn’t remember what it was. Since animals like the Woodchuck often do have so many common names, scientist will use the scientific name to be sure that other scientist are clear about what animal they are talking about. The scientific name for the Woodchuck is Marmota monax.

Another cool organism that we’ve encountered is the Bird Nest Fungus. It is growing in several places under the trees along the sidewalk in front of the Williams Center. As you can see from the photos I took the fungus’ fruiting body is smaller than a penny. The majority of the fungus though is the fungal mycelia that grows under the wood chips and eats up the food energy stored in the dead wood. Look carefully inside the fungal cup and you’ll see some little lumps that make the whole body look like a miniature bird nest complete with tiny eggs – hence the name Bird Nest Fungus. When rain water splashes into the cup fungal spore are propelled out to spread about and grow into new fungi.

But the most exciting organism discovered in our ramblings so far, I think, has been the Box Turtle, Terrapene Carolina. Thanks to Sarah Ye for the wonderful pictures of the turtle posted here.

Bird House

Whew! What a day – from bald eagles to insects. The bird nest box work was super! I wish I had a chance to check out the owl pellet analysis and fish printing.

The nest boxes we built are designed for the Eastern Bluebird. The size of the hole keeps birds like House Sparrows and Starlings from using the box. Both of these birds are invasive alien species (they both were released in America by people interested in having animals mentioned in Shakespeare live among us – they are originally from Europe) that out competed Bluebirds for tree holes – their natural nesting place. As far as the Bluebird is concerned the bird house is just a hole in a tree!

To attract Bluebirds the box should be placed in an open field area that is mowed now and then – lawns are fine. Very tall grass can affect the birds’ ability to find ground living insects, especially caterpillars. Placing the nest box too close to the edge of woods or brushy areas invites the House Wren to use the nest box to the detriment of the Bluebird. The House Wren might even bury the Bluebird nestlings or eggs under a pile of sticks as they fill up the box to prevent any other Wrens from using it and encroaching on their own territory.

There are several other birds that might use the nest box. In addition to the House Wren, the Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Nuthatch and Tree Swallow might use the bird house. In fact many people set up nest boxes in pairs with one about 20 feet apart from the other. If a Tree Swallow occupies one of the boxes, it will not allow another Tree Swallow family to move into the second box, thus leaving it open for Bluebirds. They don’t care if Bluebirds move in and raise a family.

The nest boxes we built are designed to have a front door that can swing up to allow access to the inside of the box. Most of the boxes were constructed so that the doors had a snug fit. If the door is loose enough to open without much force you might add a latching mechanism to the box. The easiest way to do this is to drill a hole through one of the side walls so that the hole also drills into the front door. Place a nail that fits snuggly into the hole (without the need for pounding it with a hammer) so that it penetrates all the way into the door. The box should be opened for periodical checks to be sure that wasps do not start nesting in the box – this can be disturbing to the nesting birds. If you find a wasp nest carefully scrape it out of the box. Don’t use insect sprays on the wasps. The spray chemicals will not be good for the birds using the box. You don’t have to worry about your human smell causing trouble for the birds. Most birds can’t smell very well, so what ever smell you’ve left behind they can’t smell it. More importantly their instinct to care for their young is so strong that even if they know that you have been there, once you go they will return to take care of their babies.

The other reason to open the nest box is to clean out the old nest so that returning birds will have any empty “hole” to use. The box should be cleaned out in late winter. When cleaning out the nest box you might find that it has served as the home for mice like the White-footed Mouse or Deer Mouse, or a Flying Squirrel.

Good luck with your nest box. I hope that you get a bird family to move in.

The First Day for the 2009 RSSE at Lafayette College

What a day! What a wonderful bunch of young naturalists – so full of excitement, enthusiasm and sense of wonder. Terrific parents, too, and fantastic adult and youth volunteer helpers!

My highlight for the day was the box turtle we found at Monacacy Park. Best part was that it was spotted by some of the young naturalist. One of the parents captured it for me and I had a great chance to talk about a somewhat rare turtle, not endangered, but one who’s numbers have declined. It was male about 25 to 30 years old – you can tell their age by counting the rings on the scutes, or scales on the shell on their back.

It was great to see all the bats, especially with me coming from New York State were there has been quite a problem with loss of bats to the white nose syndrome. The bat sound translator worked very well and we all got a chance to hear the ultrasonic bat sounds, both their navigating sounds and their hunting/targeting sounds. It was also exciting to have the bats eventually start flying right over our heads, seeking out insects that were probably attracted to all of us humans.

I was quite intrigued by the fact that there were still fireflies (you can also call them lightning bugs, but remember they are neither flies nor bugs, but actually beetles) flying and flashing about this late in the summer. I usually expect to see them in June and perhaps early July. I wonder if the cool rainy weather we’ve had this summer has anything to do with that. I also wonder if the cool rainy summer has anything to do with the lack of jewel weed seed pods – there definitely were very few seeds pods to pick and show their exploding characteristic – jewel weed, also called touch-me-nots (a name given for that exploding attribute) have seed pods that pop when disturbed thus casting their seeds about helping the young plants to spread out.

I also enjoyed the Pond Ecology session. It’s always exciting to find what creatures are in the pond environment. It is always changing as populations of organisms rise and fall; generations grow up, leave the pond, then later return to lay eggs and start the cycle all over again. Check out my blog in the archive for November 2008 for some photos and more information on Aquatic Macro-invertebrates. I’m wondering if any young naturalist will take up my challenge to video the aquatic worm doing it wiggle swim and set the video to some techno/electronic beat.

I’m hoping many of the young naturalists will be able to use the mammal skull key that we learned about to identify mammal skulls that they may find in the future. I’m looking forward to talking more about mammal bones and getting the chance for the scientists to investigate my collection of bones, perhaps sketching them and identifying what bones they are by comparing them to our own human bones. – ah, a little comparative anatomy.

You might be wondering about what some of these organisms look like – jewel weed, box turtle, aquatic macro invertebrates – check out my blog for October 2nd, 2006 for a run down on my favorite guide books and natural history resources.