BABY ANIMALS ON OUR LAWN

      Over the years, as the planted shrubbery, vines and trees grew, adaptable wildlife settled in our neighborhood to raise young, which created enjoyable experiences for us human residents.  Following are some of the highlights of those wild birds and mammals rearing offspring in our neighborhood.

     One day early in April a few years ago, I saw a hen mallard duck sneaking out from under a planted bush in our yard.  Suspecting a nest, I waited until she flew away then peeked under that bush to find a clutch of twelve eggs.  The next day, she began setting on her eggs.  I estimated the time of the ducklings' leaving their nursery to the day because it takes 28 days for duck eggs to incubate, and another day for the ducklings to have the strength to leave their cradle.  

     On the day I estimated the ducklings would leave their nest, I was thrilled to see the hen looking about cautiously from under the shrub.  Then she stepped out and away with a stream of twelve cute, fuzzy ducklings following her to a nearby pond where they would live, feed and grow to maturity, if not victims of tragedies such as house cats, Cooper's hawks and snapping turtles.

     Every summer we see cute, young cottontail rabbits hopping about and nibbling grass and white clover on our lawn.  Most of those rabbits are born under utility sheds in the neighborhood, but every few years I accidentally find a litter of them in a grass and fur nest dug into our lawn or under a bush. 

     Female gray squirrels care for their babies in nurseries in the larger trees in our neighborhood, but I see those cute, young squirrels when they leave their nests and scatter over lawns in search of food.  They are smaller and slimmer than adult squirrels, but quite ready to forage for themselves, including coming to our bird feeders.  Young rabbits and squirrels must watch out for cats and red-tailed hawks. 

     A few pairs of mourning doves each raise a few broods of young through spring and summer of every year.  Each pair mates for life and raises two broods of young at a time.  When one brood of two babies are half grown, their mother lays two eggs in another nest.  Obviously both the male and female of each pair of doves are needed to rear two broods at once; one to feed the older youngsters while the other parent broods the eggs and small young.

     I can identify young doves because their feathering is more mottled and the birds are slightly smaller than their parents.  Those youngsters have to be careful to not fall prey to cats and Cooper's hawks.  

     One early morning in May I saw a female opossum, with a half dozen babies on her back, waddling slowly across the street in front of our house.  Our dog wanted to attack the possum, but I restrained her as the mother possum walked through our lawn and crawled under shrubbery to hide.

     Every year, American robins, purple grackles, blue jays, northern cardinals, gray catbirds, chipping sparrows, house finches, song sparrows, house wrens and Carolina chickadees nest in our neighborhood.  And its fun to see the young of these bird species around the yard each summer.

     Robins build mud and grass cradles in young trees while a small colony of grackles hatch youngsters in nurseries they build in arborvitae and other coniferous trees in our neighborhood.  Jays, house finches and chipping sparrows raise young in conifers while cardinals, song sparrows and catbirds hatch offspring in shrubbery.  And chickadees and house wrens raise young in bird boxes erected for them.  All the young birds are seen out and around the neighborhood to get food and learn the ways of the world.  

     All these adaptable birds and mammals, and their young, help make our lawn and adjoining neighborhood more enjoyable in a wild way.  I've been thrilled and happy to have seen the youngsters of all these species at home over the years.  And it's heartening to know that these adaptable creatures can adjust to the works of people to the point of successfully increasing their numbers in human-made habitats.

     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DADDY-LONG-LEGS

     During summer, over the years in southeastern Pennsylvania, I've seen many daddy-long-legs on the bark of tree trunks on lawns, and in parks and woods.  They blend into the color of tree bark well and are difficult to see.  Many people never see them at all until those camouflaged little critters are pointed out by people in the know about them.        Daddy-long-legs have eight, really long, thin legs, but they are not spiders.  But they are arachnids, and related to spiders.  These attractive, little creatures, called daddy-long-legs because of their long legs, have quarter-inch, compact bodies raised on stilt-like legs.  They have two dark eyes and feel the vibrations of birds and other predators with their legs.  But these arachnids have no venom, or silk to make webs.        Daddy-long-legs, like all other living beings, are part of several food chains.  They consume tiny invert...
Read more

SPRING ON THE UPPER CHESAPEAKE

      I visited the Upper Chesapeake Bay at the Community Park of Northeast, Maryland one afternoon about the middle of March a few years ago, as I had several times in different seasons before that day.  This time, I went there to spot migrating water birds of various kinds.        Because of their high numbers, gulls and ducks were the dominant birds on the ice, and strips of open water among the slabs of ice because of the warming weather in March.  Most of the handsome ring-billed, herring and great black-backed gulls stood picturesquely on slabs of ice.        The attractive, adult ring-billed and herring gulls are mostly gray on top, white below, and look much alike, except the herrings are larger and have a red mark on their beaks, whereas each ring-bill has a black "ring" around its bill.  Largest of these gulls, the stately, mature black-backs have black backs and upper wings and are white below, ma...
Read more

MY FAVORITE DRAGONFLIES

     Visibly active during summer months, white-tailed and twelve-spotted skimmers are common, related species of dragonflies living in southeastern Pennsylvania, and much of the United States.  These kinds of dragonflies have characteristics in common, which demonstrates their shared ancestry.  And they are my favorite dragonflies.   They are large enough to be easily seen in rapid flight, have attractive color patterns and are excitedly fast when sweeping low over cattail-bordered ponds, grass-lined, slow-moving creeks and bordering farmland after flying insects, including lots of mosquitoes, which they catch and eat.  And, interestingly, they hover like helicopters.  Dragonflies are thrilling, entertaining and inspiring to watch, without fear of being stung or bitten by them.  Their beauties and dashing flamboyance help make summer waters come to life.      Both these kinds of skimmers are two inches long and have three...
Read more