A Fall Goodbye to Nature Along the Haw River, NC

Although some people prefer not to revisit a place they have been before I find that repeated visits to the same natural areas are almost always interesting. Weather conditions vary as do the seasons, and animals and plants undergo phenological changes that reveal themselves in a sometimes unpredictable pattern. So when I went down to the Haw River recently in late afternoon I observed some beautiful reflections of the sun on the river. Sycamore trees with their startlingly white and patterned trunks stood out as did a great blue heron on the far bank.

In middle September in our forest there are some developments in the plant world that would enable you to predict the season. Beech drops are developing under mature beech trees. They are a parasitic flowering plant which produces both self fertilizing and ant pollinated flowers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epifagus#:~:text=Epifagus%20virginiana%2C%20commonly%20called%20beech,virginiana.). The rattlesnake or grape ferns are very common and sending up their reproductive spike which resembles the extended tail of a rattlesnake. The usually uncommon green dragon arum is more common here than the Jack/Jill in the pulpit for some reason. It is now producing a brilliantly red fruit ball which will undoubtedly attract ground feeding thrushes as they migrate through NC or overwinter here (the hermit thrush). I have found only one example of a ladies tresses orchid which send up a tall spike with tiny white flowers. My experience with them elsewhere is that they tend to be found in areas of earlier successional stage with more light available than here in our forested habitat.

Butterflies are definitely declining a lot in numbers in September even though we still have numerous nectar bearing flowers for them. A new sighting was of a long tailed skipper which is a species that disperses northward in summer but I rarely see it in our area. The variegated fritillary is another species that I do not see very often, perhaps because my flower garden is surrounded by woodlands. I encountered a red admiral on a woodland trail where it was basking in a patch of sun. It was well worn after a lifetime of wear and surviving attacks by birds.

I noticed an interesting insect that is best left alone foraging rapidly on the ground. This velvet ant or “cow killer” is actually a wingless wasp and the female has a wicked sting- hence the bright warning coloration. The males have wings and no sting. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasymutilla_occidentalis). The female lays eggs in the underground nests of certain wasps. The bright red color and sounds produced warn predators away and there are complex Muellerian mimicry rings involved.

As I walk along the river bank I see numerous damselflies flying low to the ground. The blue fronted dancer is one of the most common and here is a photo of a pair (male is blue) in the early stages of mating. While they are involved in this ritual they are more likely to be caught by a predator and one of the most efficient is the massive dragon hunter dragonfly. Indeed I found this dragon hunter eating the male while still holding a female in the mating process!

I am not a fisherman but enjoy seeing the fish that my son David catches. Here is one example of the redbreast sunfish which is common in the Haw River. There are more than 20 species of this family in NC making identification sometimes difficult ( https://ncfishes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Sunfish.pdf ). It is impressive that fish can survive in the Haw River which is so “flashy,” which means the flow varies tremendously and rapidly over time with changes in rainfall. It is even more surprising that turtles, especially river cooters, can survive the huge flows that occur after large rainfall events. This photo shows nine cooters scrambling up on rocks to bask and increase their body temperature. Since turtles have a very limited capacity for aquatic respiration, I do not understand how they survive several days of flooding after heavy rainfall events. I am assuming they do not simply get washed downstream but somehow shelter until the flood passes.

There are many toads in the area and down along the river they seem to be primarily Fowler’s toads which resemble American toads in most respects but breed later and have a different call. I see large numbers of tiny toadlets after metamorphosis dispersing into the woods and assume they are breeding not in the river but in the numerous ephemeral ponds that are fed mainly by freshwater runoff directly from the land.

In middle September few birds are still singing/calling and migration is underway. I was surprised to see what I assume was a recently fledged chipping sparrow on my back deck; this must be the result of a second nesting. A female summer tanager continues to visit our dripping water bath as does a male house finch. Note that the finch is drinking from the “drip” not the bath itself. This is a common behavior among birds which are used to drinking from natural sources of dripping water even if only dew drops from plants. The definitive sign of fall migration is the occurrence of this solitary sandpiper down on a river rock. This species breeds in Canada to Alaska and winters in S America, especially the Amazon Basin.

As the birds do, I am preparing to “migrate” to FL in mid-October. I hate to leave NC and miss the natural events to come in winter but must admit that I do not wish to experience a full winter’s weather anymore after spending decades in central PA during winter. I will be leading numerous nature walks in the Englewood FL area if any of you will be in that part of SW FL.