Although the weather had been unsettled previously in July with much rainfall and a huge storm, this did not prepare me for the onset of true summer weather as August approaches . The oppressively hot and humid afternoons and nights have arrived and we humans have to cope with it. Hibernating inside air conditioned spaces is not acceptable but the alternative outside is being soaked with sweat and chased by hordes of mosquitos. Welcome to summer ! The good news is that seasonal changes reveal new natural wonders for us to observe and enjoy.
Many fruits are ripening with the promise of future germination of new plants and a food source for animals. The common milkweed is covered with pods that soon will be releasing large numbers of silky seeds. A less welcome sight is the masses of red fruits on Russian olives, a non-native species that is widespread and impossible to extirpate across the entire landscape. The only good news for this type of exotic species is that some animals will benefit from eating the fruits. Indeed in VA farmers are being encouraged to harvest the sour but tasty fruits as a crop. The American hornbeam or ironwood, a common sub-canopy tree near water, is covered with fruits. The green dragon arums have green fruits that will gradually ripen into September. Fruits are rarely seen on my numerous pawpaw trees and the method of dispersal is uncertain given the very large seeds. One theory is that extinct megafauna previously ate and dispersed the fruits which are now mainly carried by rivers. Most trees we see are clonal and reproduce by underground runners.
Insect life thrives in summer time. A praying mantis is feeding actively. Females will lay egg masses that will overwinter while the adults die. A very unusual beetle was found crawling rapidly on my patio- this glow worm ( Phengodes ) has a very unusual life history. It is bioluminescent and feeds on millipedes. This appears to be an adult female which remains in a larval form ( https://www.texasento.net/Phengodes.htm ). Butterflies are abundant now and this is a pipevine swallowtail feeding on lantana flowers. The pipevine is the toxic model species for the black and blue swallowtail mimicry complex. Although lantana is a non-native species I plant it because it is an extraordinary attractant for butterflies. I dead head the flowers daily so that no seeds are produced. Although moths are generally only seen feeding at night on white flowers, this hummingbird sphinx moth is commonly seen in daytime feeding on typical flowers. How does it do this? By mimicking the ferocious bumblebee so that predators will avoid it.
Adult dragonflies emerge at different times but are more common in summer. Strangely enough these three examples (widow skimmer, Halloween pennant, great blue skimmer) were not flying near water where the nymphs live but in fields and forest openings. This must provide more feeding opportunities and less competition perhaps than remaining in wetland habitats. Dragonflies represent a very ancient lineage and have surprisingly complex mating habits. In many cases these “pretty males” compete for females which then choose which partner to mate with.
I am always happy to see box turtles and this young female was especially attractive. Turtles are the most ancient living reptiles and represent a very unlikely evolution of a bony skeleton outside their body parts. I can tell this half-grown individual is 10+ years old from counting the growth rings on the scutes of the carapace. Box turtles live to a considerable age (50+ years) if they can escape being crushed on highways.
It is surprising that some birds are still nesting. My bluebird family is probably on their third brood in the nest box I have placed in my backyard. A very crucial aspect of this nest box is the predator baffle placed on the post to limit the access of our common black rat snakes. The nestlings seem well fed and well on their way to fledging.
Hummingbirds are common in my yard since I have many flowers they can feed on. The best flower is the native coral honeysuckle but it is interesting that hummingbirds also feed avidly on the non-native lantana I plant for butterflies, which is a prolific bloomer in summer.
The least welcome wild inhabitant of my 50 acres along the Haw River is this common whitetail deer. The problem is that they are more abundant now than they should be and are browsing so many native plants that the future of the forest is in severe jeopardy. I encourage my grandsons to hunt them but there are still too many. How to deal with the “Bambi crisis?” At the moment all we can do is put up fences around cherished yard plants and hope for future changes in outdated hunting restrictions