The Nature of Delaware

By: Joe Sebastiani, Members Program Team Leader

This past Saturday, just before Hurricane Irene blew through, I led our Advanced Naturalist Club on a botany walk at Nottingham Park, Chester County, PA.  Janet Ebert, professional botanist, was our special guest expert who identified many rare and unusual plants. 

The Advanced Naturlist Club is made up of graduates of the Naturalist Certification Series which is offered at our Ashland Nature Center and Abbott’s Mill Nature Center.  Enjoy some highlights from our walk…

Janet Ebert, on the left, shows the group one of the unusual plants found at Nottingham Park. We kept her busy for the morning asking her what was what. Janet is very hard to stump, and knows just about everything growing there.

Nottingham Park, in the southwestern corner of Chester County, PA is a large serpentine barrens.  This kind of habitat is usually dry, rocky, and the soil is rather barren, and high in heavy metals.  It is the kind of place where most of the usual plants in our area have a tough time growning, and rare and unusual species thrive.

The pleatleaf or slender knotweed is a small plant that is rare in our area outside Serpentine Barrens.

The pace of the walk was slow, as is most walks with Janet.  This is a good thing, because we discovered many small plants that survive in the hot, dry, barren conditions of Nottingham.  The pleatleaf knotweed, above, was a good find growing among small grasses in the savannah-like habitat found here.

This small but beautiful member of the pea family is a type of tick trefoil.

Whorled milkweed is a small, delicate member of the milkweed family that grows in dry, rocky areas. I think if a monarch caterpillar tried to feed on this one, it would weigh it down to the ground.

This Great Horned Owl seemed tame, and looked like it might have an injured left wing, which drooped a little. We assumed it could fly, since it was perched in a tree.

St. Andrew's cross is rare in Pennsylvania, growing as a mat on dry soils.

It was not a good butterfly day, since it was cloudy and a little rainy, but we did find a Zabulon Skipper nectaring on a swamp thistle, which is a native thistle growing in Nottingham barrens.

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By Derek Stoner, Conservation Project Coordinator

An adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird visits a Cardinal Flower in search of nectar. Image by Hank Davis, August 23, 2011.

Late August brings the peak of fal migration for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in our region, and the reports coming in this week tell us that these tiny birds are reaching peak numbers in local backyard feeding stations.  The feeders at the Ashland Nature Center this week drew 6 or 8 hummingbirds at a time, battling for space at the sugar water ports.   I have heard of other feeding stations that are swarmed by literally dozens of hummingbirds.  Both adults and this year’s juvenile humingbirds are stocking up as they undertake their migration to winter in Central America.

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird reaches deep into a Cardinal Flower with her long beak. Image by Hank Davis, August 23, 2011.

One of the best ways to watch these amazing birds, though, is at a natural nectar source.  The Ruby-throated Hummingbird has a noted preference for red-colored flowers and the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is a highly-desirable food source for hummingbirds.  Local photographer Hank Davis,  of Harold Davis Photography, is capturing incredible images of hummingbirds visiting the flowers in his backyard.  He graciously shared these photographs with us to be enjoyed by the readers of this blog.

A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering-- a challenge to capture with camera! Image by Hank Davis, August 24, 2011.

The beauty of hummingbirds is easier to appreciate when captured in the fine detail of Hank’s photographs.  The iridescence of their feathers is incredible, and the speed at which they beat their wings (60+ times per second) is truly remarkable. 

Early this afternoon, as the first heavy bands of rain from Hurrican Irene lashed down, I walked into the marsh at Ashland to take some pre-flood photographs.  There along the boardwalk I found a lot of hummingbirds actively feeding on the blooms of the Jewelweed plant.  These birds are stoking up on fuel to help them hang tough as the conditions deteriorate in the next 24 hours.  The high winds and flooding associated with this storm will undoubtedly destroy many of the flowers that these hummingbirds feed on.   If you have a hummingbird feeder, you may likely see a lot more hummingbirds visiting right after the storm.  They will be thirsty, and you will be serving up their favorite cocktail.  Should we call it a Sugar Water Hurricane?

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By Derek Stoner, Conservation Project Coordinator

 

An Appalachian Eyed Brown perching cooperatively on the finger of Jill Constantine. Image by Derek Stoner, July 30, 2011.

On the Ashland grounds, we also found beauties like the Appalachain Eyed Brown, Red-spotted Purple, Red-banded Hairstreak, and Great Spangled Fritillary.  The nectar sources (flowers) were widely scattered and so were the butterflies.  Patience, and a quick butterfly net and snap of a digital camera, allowed us to net a good variety of butterflies.

Chris getting his camera up-close and personal with a pair of Appalachian Eyed Browns. Image by Derek Stoner, July 30, 2011.

We discovered a great technique for studying and photographing small butterflies.  After I caught butterflies in a net, Jill placed the fragile creatures inside a plastic jar and inserted her digital camera into the opening of the jar.  The photos showed the butterflies’ detail very well, and thus was born the saying “It’s like shooting butterflies in a jar.”  Easy, simple, and effective. 

A Gray Hairstreak visits a flower in the Community Supported Agriculture garden at Coverdale Farm. Image by Derek Stoner, July 30, 2011.

In the afternoon, we spent three hours touring the gardens, meadows, and forest at Coverdale Farm Preserve.  Joined by Sheila Vincent (Delaware Nature Society’s Butterfly guru), we found a bonanza of butterflies congregating on the flowers in the CSA garden.  Zinnias, sunflowers, and Bachelor’s Button’s attracted 13 species of butterflies with standouts like Gray Hairstreak, American Lady, Variegated Fritillary, and Buckeye grabbing our attention.

A Zabulon Skipper enjoys a visit on Chris's thumb, and gets close to the Canon camera. Image by Derek Stoner, July 30, 2011.

The Butterfly Count provided many opportunities for close observation of these beautiful insects.  For the day we tallied 31 species of butterfly, and obtained photos of 20 of those species.  A total of 249 butterflies were observed, with Monarchs the most numerous at 42 total.  And in a new category of listing, we had 7 species of butterflies land or perch on our fingertips.  Try that on a bird survey!

To see our survey results, click on our Butterfly Count Field Card.

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By Derek Stoner, Conservation Project Coordinator

The newborn calf at Coverdale Farm tests its wobbly legs for the first time. Image by Jan Vincins, August 18, 2011.

Today the summer camp groups at Coverdale Farm enjoyed a very special treat: a newborn calf!  The Jersey cow, a dairy breed that is utilized in Coverdale’s education programs, gave birth to a female calf this morning around 10:00am.  The mother did a great job of licking and tending to her newborn, as this is the second calf for this cow.

The newborn calf with her mother in the barn at Coverdale Farm. Image by Jan Vincins, August 18, 2011.

Jan Vincins, a Delaware Nature Society instructor, took great photos of this newborn as she led her campers in the “Big Red Barn” summer camp.  The Big Red Barn at Coverdale now has one more occupant!

If you are interested in meeting the newborn calf and the rest of the wonderful farm animals at Coverdale, come out this Saturday, August 20, for the special Farm Fun Day.  The event runs from 8:00am until Noon, and you can help with the feeding of the animals.  Farm Fun Day is free for Delaware Nature Society members.

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By Joe Sebastiani, Seasonal Program Team Leader

During the first week of August every year, Dave Pro and I take our Teen Naturalist club on a 5-day trip for outdoor fun and adventure.  The last four years, we have gone to the Adirondacks of NY for a hardcore, tough expedition-style trip.  This year, we decided to stay a little closer to home and take it easy on everyone by going to the Poconos for a laid back, multi-activity trip.  Backpacking, kayaking, camping, swimming, waterfalls, and high and low ropes courses filled our week. 

We got the grueling (for some of us) part of the trip out of the way first…backpacking the Pinchot Trail in Lackawanna State Forest.  This 23-mile trail traverses gently rolling terrain with a few hills and campsites along small creeks.  On our first day, we managed to narrowly skirt a thunderstorm, briar patches, and poison sumac on our 5-mile hike to a campsite along Choke Creek. 

Two Teen Naturalists enjoy the campsite along Choke Creek, Lackawanna State Forest, PA.

We practiced low-impact camping and were in full bear-precaution-mode by eating away from our campsite and putting food, toothpaste, etc. in a bear bag hanging from a tree overnight.  No bears came for a visit that night. 

Backpacking the Pinchot Trail atop the only sizeable hill of the hike. No mountain summits here, but plenty of woodland and nice, well maintained trails.

On day two, we needed to hike about 13 miles to the next campsite.  We only made it 8 or so, due to some bad blisters and general fatigue (as I said, it was grueling for some of us).  We decided to abandon the hike, and retreated to Promised Land State Park for a campground with showers, a swimming lake, and an ice-cream stand.  (If my former co-leader Tom Guyer is reading this, he is calling me and Dave a couple of wimps right now).

Sleeping in a little late at Promised Land State Park.

Promised Land State Park wasn’t all fun and games, however.  At 11pm, I heard other campers about 100 yards away banging pots and pans and screaming.  This can only mean one thing in the Poconos…a BEAR!  The racket went on for about 15 minutes.  In my experience, scaring bear away is usually pretty quick, so it must have been one determined bear.  At one point, a woman from the campsite under attack yelled, “HELP US!!”  I wisely stayed in my tent, and Dave, my co-leader, slept through the whole noise-fest.  I guess if we were the Boy Scouts we would have ran around in our underwear to help scare off the bear and save little children.  Well, we are the Teen Naturalists, and we stay in our tents under such circumstances.  The next morning I heard that the bear injured no one, and possibly ran off with a box of cookies. 

Next on our agenda was the Pocono Environmental Education Center in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.  The staff guided us through a low-ropes challenge course, which was a lot of fun, and perfectly age-appropriate for teenagers. 

Attempting a challenging low-ropes course at the Pocono Environmental Education Center.

 The main activity in the Water Gap was a kayaking trip down the Delaware River.  We had the river to ourselves practically, and paddled the easy riffles and flatwater for 10 miles. 

The Teen Naturalists put up with some pretty tough conditions for lunch on the Delaware River. Even though we have normal cutlery, we usually insist on spreading peanut butter and nutella on rice cakes with a stick.

This is a beautiful area with just ridges, woods, water, and wildlife.  We were told about a secret rock with a deep pool next to it that is perfect for plunging into the water.  We took advantage of that for a while, and it turned out to be a gorgeous and very fun day.

We took turns jumping off this rock into a deep pool in the Delaware River. Teen Naturalist trips usually are not complete without leaping off rocks or trees into natural bodies of water.

Finally, we ended the week with a visit to the zip-line and high ropes course at Spring Mountain near Lansdale, PA.  The course was really fun, and very difficult.  It took about 3 hours to proceed through the 7 zip-lines, and balance and strength challenges.  Rope climbs, tightrope, rapelling, upside-down crab crawling, and monkey-bar challenges took place 40-feet up in the trees.  Between challenges, you zip across the canopy at high speed on suspended wires.  Awesome!

Zip-lining through the forest at Spring Mountain Ski Area.

And so ended another great year of the Delaware Nature Society Teen Naturalists.  If you know someone 13-17 years old, and you think they would enjoy monthly outings of adventure, nature study, and volunteering for the environment, please register them for the Teen Naturalists here.

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By Sally O’Byrne, Teacher Naturalist

In early August, Delaware Nature Society had a week long camp for 9 – 12 year olds called Kayak Fun and Games.  We spent the first two days getting acquainted with each other and with our kayaks at Lums Pond and the Octoraro Reservoir.  We practiced kayaking backwards and in circles and playing squirt gun tag.  We got good enough to do a synchronized kayak ballet going around bridge supports, which unfortunately I did not video for YouTube fame.

On Wednesday, storms were threatening, but we made it to Dragon Run, near Delaware City to explore an impounded fresh water marsh.  We blazed our way through the vegetation near the end and discovered a fragrant water lily (Nymphaea odorata), which I have never seen there in the past.

Kayaking Dragon Run near Delaware City.

Fragrant Water Lily at Dragon Run.

Fearful that the predicted storms would create flooded conditions on the Brandywine Creek the next day, we went to a private farm on the Chesapeake instead.   We kayaked around the point at Veasey Cove to a cliff on the Elk River, where we discovered  colored clay that could be hand dug.  The kids created all sorts of creatures and became all sorts of creatures after painting themselves with the clay!

Clay cliff along the Elk River, MD.

Coming back to the sandy beach in Veasey Cove, we found this amazing caterpillar, (which I am trying to ID – can’t find it in my book, so have sent off to an entomologist friend) as well as many bald eagles.  We had two mature eagles in a tree and three flying overhead at the same time.

To Sally...From Joe: The caterpillar is a Hickory Horned Devil which turns into a Royal Walnut Moth.

Our last day was spent on the tidal Christina River.  We paddled against the tide for 1 & 1/2 hours and then spent far less time being carried back with the tidal flow.  This part of the Christina is a secret treasure.  As we kayaked through a wilderness with nesting barn swallows, turtles, wild rice and spatterdock, and with Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonflies flying around us, we heard the sounds of ice cream trucks and civilization beyond the trees.  It was a nice reminder of what can be found in our own back yards.

Christina River Kayaking.

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