Christmas in July
By Joe Sebastiani, Seasonal Program Team Leader
If we could send a cool breeze through your computer screen this week, we would. Nature is adapting to the hot conditions outdoors at Ashland these days through a number of means. For instance, I took a quick walk by a small creek yesterday and spooked up a huge number of Gray Catbirds and American Robins that were bathing and taking advantage of the cooler micro-climate. If you see a bird in your yard on a hot day, take a look…it might be panting like a dog. Other animals like White-tailed Deer and Red Fox become very nocturnal. Birds like a Red-tailed Hawk might take a flight into high altitudes to cool off.
Here are a few photos from a colder season to help you deal with the heat this week. I will still take summertime!
Delaware Nature Society Teen Naturalists after a hike to The Pinnacle in the Pennsylvania Appalachian Mountains a few years back.
Remember the days when we had to snowshoe in order to take a hike at Ashland?
Maybe you are wishing you were freezing in Nebraska...like we did on our trip there in March, 2009.
How about a December birding trip to the Delaware City Waterfront, complete with sideways icicles?
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Thanks for these “cool” facts about how animals deal with the heat.
How do butterflies and hummingbirds deal with downpours such as we downstate got on Tuesday?
Kay: Thanks for your comment! Butterflies will hide under thick foliage and hang upside down with the wings folded. Hummingbirds actually take a bath in a light shower, but a very heavy shower, I believe they do what most small birds do…hide in some kind of cover and limit their exposure to an all-out downpour.