A Last Look at Nature in Early Fall Along the Haw River, NC

We are getting ready to migrate to FL along with some of the birds on Oct. 14. Since it is 42F outside at 7 AM as I write this on Oct. 9, I regret not leaving the Piedmont of NC earlier! Of course it can still be fairly warm in the early afternoon on sunny days and we are still seeing considerable but very reduced insect activity.

One non-native plant nemesis Asiatic privet is now producing green fruits but primarily on those plants that receive considerable sunlight. Although this is generally considered a very undesirable and poisonous plant we cannot get rid of it except in very limited areas. It is favored by high deer populations that eat the palatable plants that would compete with it. So it is good to know that the flowers are very attractive to butterflies and the fruits are relished as a staple food by wintering hermit thrushes. A native sub-canopy tree, dogwood, similarly produces more fruits in sunny locations and some plants are now covered with bright red fruits. These are avidly consumed by many birds such as tanagers, cardinals, brown thrashers, and local (wood) and migrating (Swainsons and gray cheeked) thrushes.

While cutting the grass for the last time I was surprised to see an orchid (ladies tresses Spiranthes sp.) growing in our front yard. This terrestrial orchid is often found in such disturbed locations and illustrates how “neglected” lawns can be an important habitat. The old idea was to replace lawns with mulched beds but these are far too difficult to maintain, requiring vast amounts of weed pulling. Instead one simply cuts the lawn very high and with reduced frequency and does not apply any chemicals. It is best also to let the leaves remain on the lawn during winter. This calculated lack of maintenance can result in a vigorous tiny ecosystem of plants, both native and non-native, and many animals.

Fungi thrive this time of year when it is cooler and damp. One of my favorites grows abundantly on a log down in our gum swamp area. This chicken of the woods or sulphur shelf is considered a culinary delicacy but I do not advise eating any mushrooms considering the potential risk unless you are an expert. Many edible mushrooms are actually part of the reproductive process for the underground mycelium and I consider it unwise to disrupt the life cycles of mushrooms which are often important parts of the critical nutritional mycorrhizal network in contact with tree roots.

Butterflies are still coming to our flower garden but in greatly reduced numbers and somewhat different species. For example tiger swallowtails which were super-abundant in July are now hardly present. The pearl crescent is a small beauty that feeds on asters as a caterpillar. The eastern comma is seen in two color morphs, the summertime darker colored form and a fall/winter more orange form that will over-winter as an adult. Some monarchs are being seen in small numbers, mostly females. It is too late for them to lay eggs so they must continue to fly south towards Mexico. The red spotted purple is a beautiful mimic of the pipevine swallowtail mimicry group although as a brushfoot it is unrelated to the swallowtails. I have been seeing two beautiful members of the Vanessa genus, the red admiral and the American lady. Both migrate and are kissing cousins to the painted lady that is probably the most abundant butterfly worldwide. Finally I still see quite a few hackberry emperors which are closely tied to their larval foodplant hackberry trees, which are abundant along the Haw River.. This species seems hardly interested in flowers but loves to land on sweaty objects to drink the salty fluids. One of my favorite insects commonly seen at our flowers is a day flying moth, the hummingbird clearwing sphinx moth which hovers in front of flowers.

An insect often seen walking on surfaces is the leaf footed bug. It is a true bug/hemipteran with sucking moth parts. It has flattened hind legs that are interesting and have no obvious purpose that I aware of.

I have not seen many snakes lately but one I found with the help of a dog that was barking at a local plant nursery. It had found an adult black racer and was intrigued by such a strange creature. Dogs can be trained to locate box turtles and snakes and this can be very useful to herpetologists studying them. But dogs are better left at home when you go walking in the woods as a naturalist since they are very disruptive to a quiet contemplation of the natural world.

I continue to see river cooter turtles basking on rocks in the Haw River on sunny days. This large turtle is a female as can be told by the size (bigger bodies hold more eggs), the short front claws (males have very long toenails used in courting), and a short tail (males have long tails to enable the penis to mate with such a bulky body shape).

I see young toads every day but rarely see frogs. One I found was a small green treefrog sitting in a hydrangea plant in a pot at a nursery. This is interesting since we are on the edge of the more southerly distribution of this coastal plain species. It illustrates how animals can be widely distributed by the plant trade.

So we are now at the edge of the abyss- the end of summer and the head long rush towards winter. Many changes are coming and it is exciting to observe these seasonal variations. So why am I leaving NC for FL? Well there are plenty of seasonal changes in FL to enjoy and it is a lot warmer!