The Nature of Delaware

By Jim White: Associate Director, Land and Biodiversity

I have been putting off writing this blog entry for about a month. In fact I still am not sure that the following story is “blog worthy” but what the heck – here goes…

It was a beautiful sunny day and I was taking a blissful ride on my motorbike. As I cruised down Brackenville Road I was surprised when I was struck by an insect on the side of my face. Actually, insect strikes are a fairly common occurrence and this one didn’t feel that bad because I was only going 25 mph. However, instead of bouncing off my face as I expected, this bug crawled under my helmet and then into my right ear. I couldn’t stop immediately, but I was close to the Ashland Nature Center and decided to pull in and assess my situation. As I pulled up the driveway I saw Joe Sebastiani walking toward me. Much to his dismay I asked Joe to look into my ear to see if he could see the intruder. Joe made a feeble attempt and informed me he saw nothing.
So I went to my desk figuring that the little creature would soon decide to crawl out and go about its business. But after twenty minutes of trying to identify the bug just by feeling its little legs scratching annoyingly deep inside my ear, I decided to go home and lay down and let gravity assist in the exit. Once I was lying down I had plenty of time to ponder my situation. I started to recall an episode from one of my favorite TV shows of my youth: Rod Sterling’s “Night Gallery”. Some of you might remember the episode erroneously called “The Caterpillar”. The unlucky protagonist has a small insect-like creature (which they call an “earwig”), crawl into his ear. The creature then burrows through his ear and into his brain, causing a slow slide into insanity. Well, just when I was amusing myself with the coincidence, my intruder started to move with more vigor and instead of crawling out it decided to go deeper, finally crawling on my ear drum. This is when I started to think that maybe there was some truth to the TV story.
Luckily, after several very painful minutes, my ento-friend finally decided to make for the daylight and crawl out of my ear. Not only was I relieved physically, I was also finally able to identify the creature. It was not an “earwig” but instead an almost inch-long Rove Beetle (family Staphylinidae). Well, for me that explained why the creature had crawled into my ear canal instead of just flying away. Rove Beetles have a natural ability and affinity to crawl into tight places: they typically are found in and under dead animals where they feed on fly maggots, and they enter carcasses through openings in the skin. As I believe there were no maggots in my ear for it to feed on, I would guess that my visitor was “glad’ to be free. I know I was sure glad to see him go.

Happily, I have suffered no lasting ill effects from the experience, but if you recall the end of the TV story — only time will tell. You see, in the TV story, although the invading insect was removed, it was discovered that it was a female and had laid eggs in the poor fellow’s brain. Do-do-do-doo, Do-do-do-doo! 

Simulation by Gregory White

Rove Beetle

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By Derek Stoner, Education Program Assistant and Sheila Vincent, Group Programs Coordinator

A crowd of elk-aholics gather to watch their favorite show: Battling Bulls! Photo by Derek Stoner.

After a spectacular sunset and good views of a bull elk and his harem of cows the first evening, what would our second evening bring?

Once again our DNS van navigated the steep hills above the village of Benezette to arrive at the legendary Winslow Hill wildlife viewing area.  A long procession of vehicles and camera-toting tourists soon signaled our quarry’s presence.    

A mature bull elk bugles in defiance! Photo by trip participant Molly Daly.

The 6X6 bull heads back to be with his harem of cow elk. Photo by trip participant Molly Daly.

The distant bugle of another bull captured the attention of the 6X6 and riveted the dozens of viewers along the field edge.  From the valley below, the interloper emerged. 

Amazingly, the new arrival sported an even-larger rack (7X7) and larger body.  The two bulls postured and bugled, slowly approaching each other.  With the moment of truth arriving, the viewer’s held their collective breath.  Would they clash and lock antlers?

Heads turned sideways to guage each others size, the bulls circled round like a couple of heavyweights unwilling to fight.  The more-energetic 6X6 would make short charges towards the interloper, who did not seem to have much aggressive drive.  The showdown lasted nearly an hour.  As dusk fell, the 7X7 finally backed off and left the scene.

Our group felt priveleged to witness such a display of nature’s wild side.  While difficult to fully convey the feeling of the moment, this compilation of video clips from the bull encounter may give you an idea of  the power of this experience:    http://animoto.com/play/PDFHo3NjExcdCm1y0DC0sw?autostart=true  (Click on “Full Screen” for best viewing)

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Sunrise greets the Big Sit participants at Ashland's Hawk Watch Hill.

On the perfectly good Sunday morning of October 11, while most folks were sound asleep, teams of birders around the world headed out to take part in a unique birding tradition:  The Big Sit! 

This friendly, fun, and non-competitive event challenges birders to pick one spot and stay there all day counting birds.  Held annually on the second Sunday in October, the timing coincides with the peak of fall bird migration.

Our circle, designated by the yellow rope visible in the lower left corner, had so many people that many had to stand and sit "out of bounds." That's fine within the rules, as long as someone in the circle sees the bird.

The official “count circle” is 17 feet in diameter, and all birds must be observed be someone within the circle.  You may leave the circle, but all birds must be counted from within this designated area.  For comparison sake, this is about the size of an average dining room.  

At 3:45am on Sunday,  I headed up to Ashland’s Hawk Watch Hill with Tom Raub, who’d just driven an hour from Strasburg , PA.  Bill Stewart soon joined us, and we were treated to an  an awesome array of flight calls and chip notes,
most wisely left identified.  We heard a lot of distinctive Swainson’s
Thrush calls(like a Spring Peeper’s call) and even watched birds flying
across the face of the moon through the eyepiece of a spotting scope.

Sugar Maples ablaze with red foliage, as the morning rays of sun hit the Red Clay Valley.

After a strong morning start(reaching 50 species by 8:00am), we
kept chipping away at species all day long.  Osprey, Merlin, Red-shouldered Hawk, and an early Golden Eagle all added to our raptor diversity, while songbirds like Purple Finch, Winter Wren, and Lincoln’s Sparrow were nice finds.  Dozens of newly-arrived White-throated Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Palm Warblers moved in loose flocks around the hilltop hedgerows.

Youth birders like Madeline and Clara kept the smiles and laughter up all day long. Big Sits are as much about being with people as seeing birds.

Through the course of the day, almost 140 people visited the hill and took part in the event, spotting birds, eating great food, and having a fun time.  As dusk neared, we’d reached 81 species and tied our previous high count set in 2007. 

The day was a great success and a testament to the camaraderie and goodwill of birders.   Everyone joined in and enjoyed the birds together.   We tallied 82 species in 17 hours of birding and experienced a wonderful day afield.  

An animated slideshow of images from the day may be viewed here:   http://animoto.com/play/00gclntORqsGWd2KJBXFNw

Thanks to all who participated in the 2009 Big Sit at the Ashland Hawk Watch.  See you next year!

Photos by Derek Stoner

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By Derek Stoner, Education Program Assistant and Sheila Vincent, Group Programs Coordinator

Brightly-hued maples color up the hillside on a rainy day at Parker Dam State Park.

Part of the large colony of White Birch at Marion Brooks Natural Area, the largest such stand in Pennsylvania.

On our first venture into the Quehanna Wilderness, we visited the largest colony of White Birch known to exist in Pennsylvania.   Primarily a northern species, these tree thrive in areas of disturbance.  In fact, this section of wilderness is part of the vast Allegheny Plateau, created by the grinding of glaciers during the last Ice Age.  The birches are part of the Marion Brooks Natural Area, a preserve that also features unique plants such as Cucumber Magnolia,  Lady’s Slippers, and an array of ferns.  

A cluster of Redcoats or British Soldiers, a type of fruticose lichen.

In the disturbed soil around a man-made pond, we encountered a tremendous concentration of Redcoats, a striking lichen.  A lichen is the pairing of a fungus and algae in a mutualistic relationship.   Most lichens are gray or dull green– few are as vivid as the Redcoat.

A blooming Gall-of-the-Earth, also known as Tall Rattlesnake Root.

A mysterious wildflower drew our attention.  With purple stems, asymetrical leaves, and straw-colored blossoms, the Gall-of-the-Earth is a distinctive member of the Aster family.  There is disagreement as to the origin of the plant’s name.  One camp holds that the drooping flowers look away from the sun, thus symbolizing the bitter descent of fall into winter.   The other camp suggests that the bitter-tasting roots, used to treat dysentery and rattlesnake bite,  gave the plant both its names.

A paper wasp nest seemingly impaled on a hawthorn bush.

For a bunch of naturalists exploring an unusual ecosystem, every discovery seemed noteworthy.  This bizarre paper wasp nest, built just a foot above the ground, had the extra protection of hawthorn spikes.   

An incredible sunset greeted us on our first evening in elk country. The elk grazed in the misty valley below while we watched.

The botanical diversions were great, but of course the big attraction up here is of the four-legged variety.   Would we see any elk?  Would we get to hear the haunting bugle of battling bulls?  Stay tuned for the second half of our story…

Photos by Derek Stoner

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By Jim White, Associate Director, Land and Biodiversity

I have always enjoyed answering questions about wildlife and take a bit of pride in being able to come up with answers quickly. However, every now and then there are questions that are real stumpers. These questions are always the most fun to work on and often require communication with other naturalists, flipping through old field guides, and of course searching the web.

One such question turned up the other day. A friend of mine called me when he and a few of his neighbors discovered an interesting scene on the neighborhood sidewalk. My friend described it as several groups of worm-like things forming a rope and walking en masse in a clockwise circle. The ropes were several “worms” thick and joined head to tail. He was speculating (in jest) that they were an alien life form. To be honest I was wondering if he might be right. Luckily, one of the neighbors, Paul Dreyfus had a digital camera and was able to take a few photos and send them to me. I waited in anticipation, figuring that once I saw the photos I would know exactly what the “worms” were. But noooooo! Although I could tell that they were insect larva I had no idea what kind.

Strange insect larvae walking in a circle on a sidewalk. Photo by Paul Dreyfus.

I decided to ask Richard Smith a well-versed entomologist that I know. He was also stumped but did some web searching of his own and found our answer in a photo on an obscure garden listserve. Sure enough the photo was a match – the “aliens” were the larvae of a species of Dark-winged Fungus Gnats (family Sciaridae). As their common name implies, the larvae of these small flies (order Diptera) feed on fungus, but they also eat the root hairs of many plants. Some species are known pests of mushroom cultivation and greenhouse operations.

Dark-winged Fungus Gnats close-up. Photo by Paul Dreyfus.

So with the identification in hand I set out to find out all I could about these intriguing insects. I figured a few minutes on the web would give me as much information as I wanted on the little guys. Wrong again. So far I have only found out the following:
• The larvae often live in large congregations and from time to time move en masse to new locations.
• In Europe there are several species of Dark-winged Fungus Gnats, especially the army worm Sciara militaris, that migrate in processions up to ten meters long, containing thousands of individuals.
• The circles apparently form when the leading larvae mistakenly hooks up with the larvae at the tail of the “rope”, forming an endless loop.
Many questions remain about why and where the larval migrations occur and how frequently the circles form. I will keep searching for these answers and report my findings (if any) in another blog. Meanwhile, please contact me if you’ve seen, or have additional information about, these “alien worm circles”.

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By Joe Sebastiani, Members Program Team Leader

Photos by Hank Davis

Free bird walks are being held every Sunday and Monday at 8:00 a.m. at the privately-owned Bucktoe Creek Preserve this fall.  Delaware Nature Society staff and volunteers are leading the programs, and on virtually every Monday morning, Hank Davis is a fixture.  With a great camera in tow, Hank has been documenting the birds on the property through his photography.  If you visit, a wonderful album of his bird photography from the property is available for you to browse at the welcome shelter.  Here are a few of his shots from last week.  Join us if you can!  Last week we saw an adult Red-headed Woodpecker, which was a first for the property.  It was in bad light and didn’t stay long enough for a photo. 

Great Horned Owl.

Palm Warbler

Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Notice that it is eating Japanese Hops. I have never seen a bird eat this plant before.

Savannah Sparrow. This bird perched up nicely for the group last Monday morning.

Eastern Towhee

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