natureswondersbyclyde

      Early in November, 2026, I drove through Amish farmland in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where I was treated to pretty scenery late that afternoon.  That cropland scenery was dominated by field after field of lush, green rye shoots among corn stubble, streams where livestock can drink, and patches of woods with canopies of beautiful, warm-colored leaves among the cultivated fields.      That farmland is in a shallow valley between wooded, colored-leaf-covered ridges, each a mile from the center of the valley.  And the valley has rich soil, on which to grow various crops.      Rye dominates croplands as a winter ground cover that checks soil erosion during heavy rain.  And it can be a winter forage pasture for horses and cattle, and wintering, wild flocks of Canada geese, snow geese and tundra swans that land on those fields to graze.              In spring, rye fields coul...

      Of all the dabbler ducks native to North America, northern shoveler ducks have the most unique characteristics.  Dabbling ducks are those species that ingest aquatic plants, grain and invertebrates from shallow, still water of ponds and marshes.  Also called puddle ducks, they use their broad, flat, two and a half inch beaks to strain their food from the water.  And shoveler ducks take that food-gathering behavior to the next level.  Shovelers' large bills each have about 400 lamellae, which are fine projections on the edges of their beaks that strain bits of organic material from water they take into their beaks.       Shovelers feed in two ways: skimming the waters' surfaces for edible tidbits, and groups of them spin in inches-deep water to stir up bottom mud with their feet, and any invertebrates and tiny plants with it that they will strain out of the water.        Shoveler drakes in breeding plum...

            Sassafras and staghorn sumac are small, successional trees, native to sunny habitats in northeastern North America, including rural roadsides, pastures and woodland edges in farmland.  Both these kinds of trees are attractive, and provide food and cover for certain species of wildlife.  And both types of these trees have interesting life histories.         Sassafras and sumacs are most attractive in autumn when their leaves turn to warm, striking colors.  Sassafras foliage turns yellow, orange and red, while the leaves of sumacs become brilliant-red, all by October.  Both trees then beautify country roadsides and other sunny, let-go niches in cropland.       Sassafras trees are exceptionally interesting.  Each tree has three leaf shapes, with three lobes like a wide-tonged fork, two lobes resembling mittens, and one simple lobe.  And sassafras foliage and green twigs emit...

      Most of nature is beautiful and inspiring, including colored leaves on deciduous trees.  Deciduous foliage turning colors peaks by the end of October in southeastern Pennsylvania.  And the reds, yellows and oranges of red maples, sugar maples, black gums, sweet gums, white ashes, and other kinds of trees in this area, are overwhelming, and inspiring, at that time in this area.  Whole canopies of deciduous woods are of those colors.  And those colored leaves are most brilliant and striking in bright, low-slanting sunlight.      When deciduous trees sense lesser amounts of daylight each succeeding day, they withdraw water from their foliage.  As the leaves die, the green chlorophyll in them fades, and the other warm, lovely colors are then visible to us to admire.             Colored leaves are more prevalent in northeastern North America than anywhere else in the world.  And they are anot...

      When colored leaves dominate landscapes in southeastern Pennsylvania in October, the fluff of cattails and common milkweeds add more beauty to country environments.  The fluff of both kinds of plants are most lovely when the sun shines through them from behind.      Stands of cattails and milkweeds add their beauties to winter.  A long, brown seed head, with some extended fluff, perches on top of each cattail plant.  And groups of several gray milkweed seed pods, each with a pale-yellow, inner lining, resemble sculptures on their gray stems.          Each tuft of fluff is a tiny parachute that carries a seed away on the wind, often some distance from its parent plant.  And seeds that survive the sharp eyes of hungry, seed-eating birds, may sprout and grow the next spring, if the habitat is right for each kind.        American goldfinches, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and other k...

      An estimated number of 20,000 venomous Shedao pit vipers, living on the 180-acre Shedao Island, eight miles off the coast of China, have an unusual way of securing prey animals.  Younger, smaller snakes lie still on tree limbs and wait for small, migrant birds to come close.  When birds come close to these vipers, they quickly grab the birds with their mouths and inject poison into the victims with their fangs.  Older, larger vipers lie in wait on the ground for feathery victims that were killed, but too large to be ingested by smaller snakes, and, therefore, dropped to the ground.  That separation of feeding places reduces competition among the snakes for food.       Those migrating thousands of birds, the only prey animals on Shedao Island for pit vipers, are going north to Siberia during a couple of weeks in May to nest, and heading south for the winter in September.  Those birds stop on Shedao Island to rest, and feed...