Six Weeks Until Summer

Now in the second week of May it is about six weeks before the official start of summer. It remains cool at night often near 50 F, and warm after midday in the middle 70’s F. Plants are growing at “light speed” but biting insects have not yet become a problem. So what could be better? Well the grass and weeds are starting to grow very fast so yard work is becoming an increasing burden. Of course modern ecological principles demand that we diminish our grass and increase the amounts of beneficial “weeds” but even that requires selective removal of some plants that do not make the cut.

One of my favorite past times is to walk in the forest and attempt to reconstruct the past from the pattern of tree growth. Some species are useful as “bioindicators” since they tell a story of the past better than others. For example the red cedar grows only in sunny locations when trees have been cleared or a field has been allowed to go back to nature. This large red cedar in the midst of a woods in Carolina North is clearly being suppressed by hardwoods that have grown up around it and will eventually die from lack of light. The tulip poplar, a type of magnolia< is another tree that requires intense light for early growth but it grows quickly up into the canopy and can stay alive as other hardwoods grow up around it. Its fabulous flower is now often seen on the forest floor and is a major source of nectar for birds and insects.

Down on the forest floor there are very few plants that can survive the intense browsing by deer, including most of the climax forest species. One species that survives well is the native GA or painted buckeye which is really a shrub or small canopy tree which is quite toxic. It and spicebush, and non native olives and Asian privet are the primary understory now in the age of over-abundant deer herds.

Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) are emerging in large numbers and enriching the insect fauna of areas near water. They can be a challenge to identify but some of the species have very colorful males. This is interesting since odonates are quite ancient insects yet have complex life histories and sexual behavior. These three species have “pretty males” and dull females. The male amberwing is shown on a twig with a male orange bluet damselfly nearby. The male common whitetail is quite striking compared to the dull colored female.

Butterflies are somewhat limited in numbers since flowers are still in short supply. This spring/summer azure is a characteristic light blue color and feeds on a wide variety of plants as a caterpillar. We are still perhaps a month from the time when larger butterflies will be common.

My favorite insect, the six spotted tiger beetle, is now commonly seen as a metallic green flash in flecks of sunlight on the forest floor. There seems to be no obvious reason for the spectacular structural color of this tiny predatory beast but it is a fantastic sight. A close view of the little monster’s head reveals the massive jaws making this creature the terror of its tiny world.

An equally impressive but very different insect is this fly which is a mimic of a ferocious bumblebee. This syrphid fly, Mallota postica, is a very close visual match to a bumblebee yet has no stinger or any ability to defend itself. ( https://bugguide.net/node/view/2362579/bgimage ) This Batesian mimicry is quite amazing in a species so different from the bumblebee and is a great illustration of evolution. I saw this fly hovering in front of a rotten area of a tree which is where the larval maggots live in treeholes. Such habitats are tiny aquatic worlds, which include some medically important mosquitos, which are quite diverse and hidden from view.

In some remnant pools along a forest path I found these black toad tadpoles. American toads breed in the springtime in isolated pools which have no fish. The pools dry up but hopefully the tadpoles can metamorphose before that time as tiny toadlets which become terrestrial.

Skinks are a common inhabitant of my yard especially around the house. The juveniles have bright blue tails which the adults do not. There is a persistent story that these skinks are toxic if eaten but little scientific data. I was lucky enough to find a mating pair and it was very clear that this is the broadhead skink in which the male has a bright red head during the breeding season. He has grasped the female by the skin of the neck while he mates with her. I also noticed them “hanging out” together on another day, so the male may attend the female to discourage mating by other males.

Every time I walk by the Haw River I see numerous turtles basking. These seem to be mainly river cooters and this individual has spread one of its hind feet to get a good drying of the web. This illustrates how the purpose of basking may not just be to raise the body temperature but also to promote a healthy skin.

Birds are in full breeding mode now in middle Spring. Multitudes of cliff swallows have returned to their nest sites on the Haw River bridges. They are patching their last year’s nests with mud and foraging over the river. This is one of the few examples where modern technology is a benefit to birds which otherwise are killed in millions by collisions with windows, transmission towers and wind turbines.

Cardinals are a common year-round resident bird so I hardly notice their beautiful red “pretty boy” colors. Indeed they are very obvious and it seems surprising that predators do not kill them. A migratory “pretty boy” which has just arrived to breed in my yard is the summer tanager which is rather shy and is rarely seen but heard constantly. Here it is taking a bath with another recent migratory arrival the catbird. Bright male colors are generally considered to be a mechanism by which females can make mate choices assuming fitness is expressed by the intensity of color.

Our pair of backyard bluebirds have nestlings far along in development and will likely nest again. Here the male is perched on the box which illustrates how a good design will have a predator baffle below the nest box.

One of the high points of spring birding is the passage of rose breasted grosbeaks migrating from the tropics to higher altitudes in NC and further north. This beautiful male appeared at my sunflower feeder on May 8.

This Spring has seemed to last a long time as plant and animal life histories play out in all their details. However I am in no hurry to see Summer arrive with abundant ticks and spider webs blocking all the trails. But time is one thing we cannot change so we must just observe, embrace and enjoy the changes. Soon enough the doldrums of summer will be here with its own special joys.

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