Wildside: Hurricanes and birds and bugs

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September, 2010
Vol 10, No. 16

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Hurricanes and Birds: Blowing in the Wind

As Hurricane Earl races up the East Coast and more storms follow in Earl’s wake, we’ve received a number of inquiries from folks wondering about the effects of hurricanes and tropical storms on birds.
Since most Atlantic hurricanes occur in late summer and early fall, they often severely disrupt bird migration patterns because they coincide with peak migration periods.
While healthy bird populations are able to withstand such losses and have done so for eons, hurricanes can have huge impacts on birds as well as their habitats.
Read on for the whole story….

Pelagic, or oceanic birds, such as the Northern Gannet tend to be more resilient to the effects of hurricanes because they are well-adapted to travel long distances. Land-dwelling birds are not so fortunate and often perish unnoticed if blown out to sea by tropical storm or hurricane.

Both the Daddy-long-legs ( top above) and the Long-tailed Duck have names with interesting stories behind their names.
Our Name Game Tells the Stories of Some Interestingly Named Creatures

With wildlife, a species’ common name often makes perfect sense—the Bald Eagle is one obvious example. But sometimes a name tells us more about the humans who determined that name than the creature it describes.
So test your knowledge of common names with a special eNature quiz.
Here’s the first question to get you started:  What’s a Daddy-long-legs?
Read on to get the answer…
 

 

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Hares and rabbits, such as this Eastern Cottontail, are common visitors to our yards and gardens. Find out who's visiting your yard by using a ZipGuide to make your own local field guide.
Who’s Living In Your Garden?  Our Zip Guides Can Tell You

Our own backyards are full of exotic creatures with stories just as fascinating as that of any Endangered Species.  eNature’s ZipGuides are comprehensive local field guides to the animals and plants of your own backyard—or any other place you might visit.
So take some time this summer (there’s still a month to go!) to get to know the birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies and other living things that share your environment.
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Ask An Expert:  Who Was Joe Pye and Why Is a Plant Named For Him?

Q. I have beautiful joe-pye weed at the back edge of my meadow, and it’s going to be blooming soon. What I would like to know is, who was Joe Pye, and why is this wildflower named after him? Lansing, IL
A. There are a number of species of Joe-Pye weeds, many very similar in appearance, that tend to grow along woods, pond, and stream margins and within wet meadows and moist thickets.
As for Joe Pye himself, his legend (and indeed his very existence) is shrouded in mystery.
Read on the get the story….
And click here to visit our “Ask An Expert” archive.

This Spotted Joe-Pye-weed is one of several similar species found in the East. Sweet Joe-Pye-weed has a greenish stem, a dome-shaped cluster of dull pink flower heads, and foliage that smells like vanilla when crushed. Hollow Joe-Pye-weed has a hollow stem, and E. dubium is a smaller species with ovate leaves.

The female Pale Snaketail lacks an ovipositor, an organ common to many insects that assists in laying or depositing eggs, so she flies alone over the water, striking the tip of her abdomen through the water surface, each time discharging many eggs.
Mysterious Migration Of The Dragonfly

Like many birds and some butterflies, dragonflies migrate. But unlike other migratory creatures, naturalists have been unable to determine where or even why these insects migrate. 
Regardless, at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, they’ll get there in a hurry!
Dragonflies have been around a long time—they’ve roamed the earth for over 300 million years and are one of the more common insects found trapped in ancient amber.
To learn more about these common, but still mysterious creatures, read on…..

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