Great Blue Herons Courting – Signs of Spring

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Mary Anne Borge

Courting Great Blue Herons at their rookery, Abbott Marshlands, Hamilton Township, New Jersey

We first spotted the courting Great Blue Herons at their rookery in the Abbott Marshlands on February 21^st. Our vantage point was about a quarter mile from the heronry, far enough away that there was no chance we would disturb them. The birds and their nests were clearly visible in the treetops above the marshes that separated us.

The graceful birds showed a variety of courtship behavior, rubbing their bills over their mates, crossing necks, and engaging in lip-locks (I mean bill-locks!) with their partners.

Courting Great Blue Herons at their rookery. Pair with locked bill tips on the middle nest is engaged in ‘swaying’ courtship display. Abbott Marshlands, Hamilton Township, New Jersey.

Great Blue Herons can be found throughout the year in New Jersey (home of the Abbott Marshlands) although many birds are thought to be migratory, with a small number of year round residents. This means that many of the birds seen here in winter are probably not the same birds who nest here in summer, but rather migrants from further north.

We’re accustomed to seeing Great Blue Herons during the winter months at the marsh. But courtship behavior in February in New Jersey seems pretty unusual. Our summer residents shouldn’t be back yet, according to local birding literature. ‘A Guide to Bird Behavior’, copyright 1989 by Donald and Lillian Stokes, indicates that courting should be expected to begin the last week or so of March in this area. More current references also refer to late March as the time migrants should be expected to return.

Is this year’s early courting just an anomaly, a result of the warm winter? Or is this the beginning of a new behavior pattern? We’ll have to watch and see.

More Signs of Spring: Hazelnuts Blooming

Resources

Boyle, William J.; Karlson, Kevin T. The Birds of New Jersey: Status and Distribution. 2011.

Eastman, John. Birds of Lake, Pond and Marsh. 1999.

Stokes, Donald W.; Stokes, Lillian Q. A Guide to Bird Behavior Volume III. 1989.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds

December Bounty

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Mary Anne Borge

What will birds and other animals do for food, now that we’re entering the long winter months?

Northern Mockingbird

They’ll still be foraging for protein in the form of insects, but the supply will be much less plentiful than in the warmer months when many more insects are active. Ground feeders will forage among the fallen leaves, while others will investigate branches and probe bark crevices of trees and shrubs for a meal.

Gray Squirrel

Ripe fruit will also help sustain resident winter animals. On a recent visit to Spring Lake at the Abbott Marshlands, from a single spot where the land meets the marsh, we found a bounty of food, including the hips of Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris),

Hips of Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris). Rose hips are rich in vitamin C. The hips of some rose species are used in teas.

Hips of Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris).

open legumes of Groundnut (Apios americana), a pea family member,

Open legumes of Groundnut (Apios americana)

ripe drupes of Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum),

Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) fruit

Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) fruit, called drupes

the berry-like drupes of Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata),

Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata) fruit

and a cascade of Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) fruit capsules.

Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) fruit capsules

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) fluttered in the breeze a bit further down the trail.

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

A mixed flock of migrating Red-winged and Rusty Blackbirds paused in the bare branches of trees overlooking the feast, to rest and refuel before continuing their journey.

Red-winged and Rusty Blackbirds

Female Red-winged Blackbird

A Winter Garden Can be a Wildlife Habitat

Late Winter Bird Food

Wild Yam

Resources

Rhoads, Ann Fowler; Block, Timothy A. The Plants of Pennsylvania. 2007

Signs of Spring – Mining Bees

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Mary Anne Borge

After a long, snowy winter, signs of spring are everywhere. Starting early each morning, birds are singing, woodpeckers are drumming, and in the woods, you may hear a chorus of Spring Peepers or Wood Frogs. At our backyard feeder the other day I saw a male Goldfinch that had almost completed his change to summer plumage.

American Goldfinch

Chickadees are excavating nesting holes. Many birds have paired up for the mating season, both our year-round residents, and winter visitors who are getting ready to head back north to their breeding grounds.

Male and female Green-winged Teal at Abbott Marshlands

Pair of Blue-winged Teal at Abbott Marshlands

Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) has been blooming for weeks, American Hazelnut ( Corylus Americana) joined in about March 19, and even Red Maples are in flower. Snow trillium and Hepatica are blooming, too.

Skunk Cabbage at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve

Change is rapid this time of year. Spring ephemerals that were not even visible one day are a few inches above ground, some with buds, two or three days later. It’s amazing to think that these delicate plants easily work their way through their winter blanket of fallen leaves. This natural covering still provides warmth on cool spring nights, as it helps preserve moisture and prevent competing plants from taking hold in the soil, even after these spring flowers fully emerge.

Virginia Bluebells emerging from their winter blanket of leaves at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve

Insects are out and about. I saw my first butterflies of the season this week – 3 anglewing sightings, probably all Eastern Commas, flitting about with only rare breaks. Can you spot the well-camouflaged butterfly in this photo?

Anglewing butterfly, probably Eastern Comma

Mining Bees (Andrena sp.) were very active this week, flying just above the leaf litter, moving steadily back and forth, occasionally taking a break.

Mining Bee (Andrena sp.) at Abbott Marshlands

Mining Bees are solitary. This means that each female excavates her own nest, lays her eggs in brood cells in the nest, and provisions them with food. In the case of Mining Bees, nests are excavated in the ground, a practice that gives this family its common name. Above ground, the nest entrances look a lot like the entrance to some ant colonies, but with bigger holes.

Although each female bee has her own nest, Mining bees often excavate their nests in close proximity to each other, in large aggregations of bees. At Abbott Marshlands, there were dozens of Mining Bee nest holes along and beyond the edges of the trail. Aggregations can be much larger still.

Mining Bees (Andrena sp.) at Abbott Marshlands

The bees in the picture above reminded me of two neighbors sitting on their front porches chatting. While I watched, another bee came in flying low right over them. The bee on the right ducked into her nest, but the bee on the left was receptive to the male bee’s advances.

Mining Bees (Andrena sp.) mating at Abbott Marshlands

There are about 400 species of Andrena bees in North America alone, hundreds more worldwide. They are abundant in spring, with many species foraging for food on a single plant species, or a few closely related species of plants. One species, Andrena erigeniae, relies almost exclusively on the pollen of Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica, C. caroliniana) as food for their offspring. Another species, Andrena erythronii, specializes on Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) as a food source to provision its brood cells for its larvae. Many Mining Bee species look very similar to each other, so sometimes the easiest way to tell them apart is by the plant on which they are foraging.

The Mining Bees I saw at Abbott Marshlands were near a location where there is a lot of Spring Beauty, and just a bit farther down the trail, a large colony of Trout Lily. It should be only a few more days before they start to bloom. Which flowers will these bees visit?

Resources

Eaton, Eric R.; Kauffman, Ken. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. 2007.

Gracie, Carol. Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast. 2012.

Mader, Eric; Shepherd, Matthew; Vaughan, Mace; Black, Scott Hoffman; LeBuhn, Gretchen. Attracting Native Pollinators: Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies. 2011.

Insect Visitors of Illinois Wildflowers http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/flower_insects/files/oligoleges.htm

Wild Yam

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Mary Anne Borge

A few days ago the weather was chilly but dry, so we went for a walk at Spring Lake in the Abbott Marshlands. The holidays are over, but woodland shrubs there are still decorated with garlands of Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa).

Wild Yam fruit capsules in Winter

This vine isn’t much of an attention-getter during the growing season, although it has lovely glossy, deeply veined heart-shaped leaves. It has male and female flowers on separate plants, but both are pretty inconspicuous. I always notice this plant in winter, much less often in summer.

Wild Yam with male flowers

Almost luminous in the sunlight, hanging clusters of Wild Yam’s dried three-sided fruit capsules are eye-catching in winter. These fruits are opening now to release their winged seeds, a design well adapted for wind dispersal.

Although it is related to the yams and sweet potatoes we eat, Wild Yam is not really edible. In fact, when consumed fresh, the underground rhizomes might make you nauseous or result in other unpleasant side effects. But prepared properly it does have medicinal uses. This unassuming looking plant is worth noting, because it has played an important role in modern drug development. The roots of Wild Yam contain chemicals called diosgenins, from which many steroid hormones, including contraceptives, were derived. These chemicals are components in medications used to treat ailments from asthma, arthritis and eczema to reproductive system problems and high blood pressure.

Wild Yam is generally thought to help relieve pain, and to be an effective anti-spasmodic. Alternate common names are Colic-root or Rheumatism Root, after a few of its uses. Native Americans used tea made of Wild Yam root to relieve the pain of childbirth.

Wild Yam is insect pollinated, and provides cover and nesting habitat for birds. It is native in much of the eastern two-thirds of North America, from Ontario to Minnesota, Nebraska and Vermont, south to Texas in the west, Florida and even Puerto Rico in the east. Look for it in woodlands and thickets, climbing in the shrub layer.

Wild Yam fruit capsules in winter

References

Foster, Stephen; Duke, James A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. 2000.

Cech, Richo. American Wild Yam. From Planting the Future, Saving Our Medicinal Herbs, edited by Gladstar, Rosemary and Hirsch, Pamela. 2000.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plants Database

Illinois Wildflowers

Native American Ethnobotany (University of Michigan – Dearborn)

Nutritious Fall Foliage: What makes leaves so colorful?

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Mary Anne Borge

Red Maple (Acer rubrum)

On Halloween, the Red Maple (Acer rubrum) outside our kitchen window gave up the ghost, so to speak. The leaves on the north side of the tree had been changing colors for weeks, but the rest of the tree remained stubbornly green. Overnight, the entire tree was awash in reds and oranges.

It’s the change in day length (or really night length) and temperature that signals deciduous trees and shrubs that it’s time to get ready for winter. They have to drop their leaves to protect themselves from damage that would be caused due to the heavy weight of winter ice and snow storms. As nights get longer and temperatures drop, these woody plants gradually slow and eventually stop replenishing chlorophyll, the substance that is responsible for the green pigment in their leaves.

Alexauken Wildlife Management Area, West Amwell, New Jersey

But what accounts for the array of colors that are revealed as the chlorophyll gradually disappears? The yellow, orange, red, purple, bronze and browns?

These colors reflect some of the same nutrients that are present in the plant-based foods we eat. Many of these chemicals were present throughout the growing season, but were masked by or blended with the green of the chlorophyll.

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) Leaves in Spring

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia ) Leaves in Fall

The yellows are carotenoids, mainly xanthophylls, nutrients that help to reduce inflammation, boost the immune system and reduce tumor growth. They are present in yellow summer squash, beets, carrots, corn, peppers, green leafy vegetables, and many others. Xanthophylls help plants to absorb energy from the sun while protecting tissues against the sun’s intense radiation.

Alexauken Wildlife Management Area, West Amwell, New Jersey

Carotenes (another group of carotenoids) are responsible for the orange shades revealed in fall leaves. Beta-carotene is an anti-oxidant, visible in the orange color of foods like winter squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. They assist in photosynthesis, and help protect plant tissues from too much exposure to the sun’s rays.

American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) or Ironwood

Reds and purples are anthocyanins, nutrients found in foods like blueberries, blackberries, cherries, grapes (and red wine; yay!), purple cabbage, other purple-tinged greens like red leaf lettuce, some kale and swiss chard, as well as many others that show red or purple colors. Anthocyanins are antioxidants, with anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer properties. Plants may also benefit from anthocyanin’s antioxident effect, and the dark colored pigments help protect from sun damage. They continue to manufacture these chemicals until the leaves fall.

Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)

Brown and tan colors show the presence of tannins. They tend to be bitter or astringent tasting, and as a result discourage browsing by herbivores (plant-eaters) so they may provide some protection to plants. Tannins are found in foods like grapes, wine, tea, and chocolate, though, so you can see that this protection isn’t foolproof.

Spring Lake at Roebling Park, Abbott Marshlands, Hamilton Township, New Jersey

There is overlap and blending of colors based on the mix of chemicals in the leaves. These bright colors may also signal to birds that there is fruit available for consumption.

Yellow-rumped Warbler with Poison Ivy Fruit

These nutrients, along with others that are obtained from the soil, like calcium and potassium, break down and return to the soil as the fallen leaves gradually decompose. During this process, animals may still take advantage of the nutrients. Red-banded Hairstreak caterpillars, for example, feed on fallen leaves, especially those of sumacs, contributing to the process of decomposition, and the cycle of life for the next generation.

Red-Banded Hairstreak

A few days later, and the leaves on our Red Maple have almost all fallen. We’ll watch them gradually break down, nourishing the soil, and the plants and animals that rely on them.

Haul Road at the Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vermont

Resources

http://science.jrank.org/pages/5303/Plant-Pigment-Carotenoids.html

http://www.usna.usda.gov/PhotoGallery/FallFoliage/ScienceFallColor.html

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Tag Archives: Abbott Marshlands

Great Blue Herons Courting – Signs of Spring

December Bounty

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Signs of Spring – Mining Bees

Wild Yam

Nutritious Fall Foliage: What makes leaves so colorful?

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