 |
| giant ironweed with seeds |
In August, these ironweed plants looked like this:
 |
| ironweed in August |
However, as you can see in both the top photo and the one
below, some of the ironweed is still flowering.
This species blooms through the late summer and into the fall. Its flowers and leaves provide food for
insects, and the seeds attract several species of birds.
 |
| September ironweed blossoms |
Not all of the wildflowers are past their peak. The goldenrod (which is probably the tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima), growing among the
greenery of the woodland edges, has such vivid yellow flowers that it almost
seems to glow. These autumnal plants
will probably continue to bloom for at least another month.
 |
| goldenrod |
The toll that the long season has taken on some of the
insects and spiders in the area can be clearly seen. A common wood-nymph butterfly, a species
typically found around shaded forest edges, looks a little the worse for wear. The damage to its wings is, in all
likelihood, the result of a few narrow escapes from birds.
 |
| common wood-nymph |
One of the many orb-weaver spiders hanging around in the
mid-level vegetation is missing legs: two of them seem to be entirely gone, and
about half of a third one has also been amputated. I don’t know whether this damage is from a bird
or from something else, but, despite its disability, the arachnid is apparently
still managing to eke out a living.
 |
| orb-weaver |
Even though I don’t know for certain what caused the spider’s
injuries, it’s fun to speculate. Who
knows what the culprit might have been? While
a lot of the birds around here feed on seeds and fruits, many more are either
partly or exclusively insectivorous—or, since spiders aren’t insects, maybe the
more accurate term would be invertivorous (invertebrate-eating). Anyway, Red-bellied Woodpeckers certainly
could be fierce and daring enough to have done it, from what I’ve observed. I doubt that I’ll ever forget the afternoon
at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, over a decade ago, when I saw a
Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Northern Cardinal zipping through the woods in hungry
pursuit of a Luna moth. Woodpeckers
might not seem like the most agile of birds, but I can attest that this Red-bellied was quite maneuverable!
I never saw what became of the Luna moth, but maybe it managed to evade
the predators.
A much less hurried—for now, at least—Red-bellied Woodpecker
clings to a lichen-covered branch. No
need to chase moths or nab giant spiders—there must be plenty of food to discover beneath the
tree bark.
 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker on branch |
Eastern Bluebirds patrol the grassy areas under the
power lines, hunting for insects. Their
large, dark eyes and “open” faces give bluebirds an appearance of
inquisitiveness. That may not be
entirely a fanciful notion, though, since bluebirds are great at investigating
every inch of their environment for food and nesting places. Any crack, crevice, or hole of sufficient
size in a tree, box, or fencepost might serve as a suitable bluebird nest spot,
and all sorts of arthropods and fruits make up the species’ diet.
 |
| Eastern Bluebird |
A short, squeaky sound that recalls the noise made by sneakers on a
gym floor alerts me to the arrival of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Then another one flies in, landing very close
to the first. It’s the peak migration
time for this species, and these two individuals seem to be merely stopping
over for a brief spell. They remain in
the tops of the trees along the creek run for only a few minutes before flying
away.
 |
| The first of the grosbeaks lands. |
 |
| Two grosbeaks -- the earlier bird is on the right. |
The lower photo provides an interesting comparison between
the two individuals. The bird at the
right is definitely a male, and at least two years old, given that it has bold
black-and-white wings, extensive dark feathering on the head, and a very
distinct breast patch. However, I’m not so certain about the bird on the left. It’s either a female or a hatching-year male.
In the spring and summer, older male
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have entirely black heads and bright rose-pink breast
patches. The McGill Bird Observatory
does an excellent job of describing the variation in these birds’ plumages (http://www.migrationresearch.org/mbo/id/rbgr.html#ahymb), and
their website is one of the sources I’ve perused in my attempts to figure out
the age and sex of birds that I’ve seen.
As I’ve learned over the years, though, ageing and sexing birds isn’t
always possible in the field. Obviously,
birds that don’t display sexual dimorphism, such as Northern Mockingbirds, can’t
be definitively sexed in the field under most circumstances (including when
they are singing, apparently, since both males and females participate in that
activity), but there are more sexually dimorphic species than you might think
that can nevertheless befuddle observers.
Speaking of mockingbirds, both they and their close
relatives, Brown Thrashers, are pretty vocal and active this time of year. Unlike the mockingbirds, the thrashers aren’t
singing right now (in the southeastern part of their range, they typically sing
from March to May—and, in case you’re wondering, the females apparently do not sing), but they make their loud chak! calls on a regular basis as they
forage in the dense thickets.
 |
| Northern Mockingbird |
 |
| Brown Thrasher |
Both of these species, along with bluebirds, woodpeckers, and
many others, will remain in this area through the winter. Certain other birds, such as the
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, show up here for only a very short time. It’s the transitory nature of the season that
can make it so simultaneously frustrating and exciting!
