In early July the afternoon temperatures have been brutally hot near the 100’s F with a high of 104 F on July 2 (see photo of thermometer). Fortunately it usually cools off into the 70’s at night and we have received several rain storms alleviating the worst of the drought. But there is still a considerable deficit in rainfall and thus runoff. You can see from the overflow (whitish streaks) on the Saxapahaw Dam that only a portion of the dam has any overflow. Under such low flow conditions in the Haw River you might wonder what is happening to the aquatic fauna. I show a 5 lb bass caught by my grandson Sam along our land and a 40 lb flathead catfish caught downstream where the Haw joins with the Deep River to form the Cape Fear River. Thus it seems that species that can survive in the Haw River drainage are likely adapted to extreme fluctuations in flow. However the flathead is not native to the Atlantic drainage but has been introduced from the Mississippi drainage basin. It is generally considered to not be a desirable member of the fish fauna because of its highly predatory nature on native fish (https://www.ncwildlife.gov/species/flathead-catfish).
Dragonflies continue to be scarce- this female eastern pond hawk was photographed in the river floodplain. It likely is dependent on ponds for its larval development and few of these wetlands have any water.
Insect flower pollinators other than bumblebees are also rather scarce. Perhaps pupation is extended if conditions are so dry. A thread waisted wasp, Ammophila, was forging on a black eyed Susan. A robber fly (Asilidae) was seen foraging nearby for insect prey. Only three species of butterflies were recorded during this period of early July. A cabbage white (non-native) was seen on Brazilian vervain flowers. A sleepy orange butterfly was recorded on purple coneflowers. A tiger swallowtail was seen repeatedly foraging on butterfly bush primarily.
An unusual sighting was of an immature box turtle moving after a rainfall. It seemed to be a male with a reddish iris of the eye, a concave plastron, and very distinct growth lines on its shell scutes. You may judge for yourself from the closeup view of one scute and count the rings extending downward from the original juvenile rectangular scute. Some lines are much smaller than others and I estimate this turtle was 15-20 years old. They can live to a considerable age (over 50 years) if they escape death on highways or in the jaws of a predator. The river cooter turtles are basking despite the extreme heat. Here the very large turtle is a female with a tiny tail; the smaller individual to the right is a male with a longer tail and front claws. In species of turtle without male combat, the males are much smaller than the females; thus the large females can lay more eggs.
Cliff swallows are still attending their nests under the edge of the Saxapahaw bridge. This is one of the few examples where human disturbance of the environment seems to be beneficial for a bird species. Cardinals are one of the most numerous birds at my sunflower seed feeders; there seem to be at least three different families in the area perhaps related to one another. The “pretty male” cardinal is so striking that the female receives very little attention. But you can see from this photo of a female cardinal at the water bath that she is still a beautiful bird and colored more appropriately to be camouflaged in the open nest. There is a regular daily procession of birds to my dripping water bath- most of whom I do not see. I observed this rarely seen northern parula warbler and a more regular visitor (a yellow throated warbler) .
While sitting outside quietly in the early morning light I observed two of our native mammals, a red fox and white tailed deer. The red fox had been thought perhaps to have been introduced from Europe but that now seems to be unlikely. The fox was carrying a squirrel in its jaws and I wish it continued success in controlling our large squirrel population. The deer are of course over-populated now and causing a severe decline in forest understory plants due to their intense herbivory. It is interesting that deer are strikingly brown in such a green landscape But remember that their potential canine and feline predators are relatively color blind compared to humans. But then the most advanced color vision is found in a marine invertebrate, the mantis shrimp!
This time of year my outside activities tend to be limited to early morning and early evening when it is much cooler. The bird sounds are especially exciting and I most enjoy listening to the numerous wood thrushes we have all around us. I highly recommend the app Merlin which enables you to identify bird sounds, some of which you may not always be able to hear. It is a remarkable experience to realize how so many birds are breeding near us yet we so often are oblivious to their presence.