natureswondersbyclyde

     We know spatulas are like broad forks to flip and pick up food.  Three kinds of handsome small ducks, that nest in North America's grassy habitats, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal and northern shovelers, are in the related Spatula grouping of ducks because they have large, shovel-like beaks for their smaller size.  And they have other characteristics in common that indicate their descending from a common ancestor.  They seem to be close cousins.       Both genders of all species have lovely light-blue, white and metallic green feathers in the same places and order on each wing.  Those lovely color patterns are seen best when the birds fly.        And all these beautiful species nest in marshes and around shallow ponds that have lots of emergent vegetation like cattails and tall grasses.  They all use their large bills to dabble (shovel up) plants, including duck weed, grass and sedge stems, smartweed and their seeds, millet seeds and small aquatic animals, such as snails and i

     Via a live camera and our computer screen, I saw flocks of post-breeding ring-billed gulls, Franklin's gulls and Caspian terns resting together, in early autumn of 2021, on mud flats and in inch-deep water on Lake Onalaska, a large, shallow back-water off the Mississippi River in northern Wisconsin.  These attractive birds are noted for regularly flocking together because they share inland, large-water habitats for nesting and wintering, and scavenge and catch fish and other aquatic creatures.  But each species also has lifestyles of its own, which sets it apart.             All these handsome, easily-seen species are graceful, buoyant fliers, quite adaptable and common across much of North America.  They are interesting to watch going about their daily activities, including nesting, getting food and loafing in big gatherings on rivers and larger lakes.      Ring-billed gulls, so-named for a black ring on each beak, scavenge dead fish and other critters along shores and in fie

      In the late afternoon of August 15, 2021, I was enjoying the lovely weather and scenery of sky, trees and grass from our back deck.  Suddenly, I saw two large, black birds soaring fairly low over our neighborhood.  I thought "black vultures, eagles"?  But no, they were common ravens floating over our suburban house in New Holland, a southeastern Pennsylvania town surrounded by farmland.  Through 16 power binoculars I watched those stately birds swirl upward together on a column of warmed air, higher and higher, with nary a wing beat, until they were nearly invisible to the southwest.  It was then I started my annual autumn migration watch from our deck.      For the last few years, including the present one, I've been watching the fall migration of birds and insects from our deck that faces east and northeast.  I watch for about and hour and a half most every late afternoon through September and October.        Autumn migrations can be observed from anywhere, includ

     My favorite three kinds of crickets in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania are field, spotted camel and northern mole crickets.  Crickets are the little cousins of grasshoppers, and are built much like them.  But these crickets are seldom seen because they are secretive, stay under cover and are camouflaged.  Most people don't see them often, if at all.  But many people hear the charming, mechanical sounds they make.        All these cricket species are vegetarians, eating a variety of plant material, each kind in its own niche.  And each type of cricket is part of food chains of who eats whom.  Birds, toads, snakes, shrews, skunks, centipedes and other kinds of predators consume their shares of crickets during warmer months when crickets are active and available.        Field crickets are dark gray, less than an inch long and live under decaying plants in fields and along rural roadsides.  Males begin producing their pleasant "chirping" by the end of May, especially alon