Phenology Notes: April 21, 2014

One of the interesting things of living north of the Kittatinny Ridge and working south of it, is that I get 2 sets of all things spring! The difference can be amazing, even though the distance between Bethlehem and Kunkletown is about 20 - 23 miles. So in the southeast corner of Monroe County, the star magnolia (Magnolia stellate) are just coming in to peak bloom. The cold temps from a week ago (4/14) turned the tips of some of the petals brown, but most are in good shape. The ones in Bethlehem were nailed last week, as were the flowers on other species of magnolia. I was saddened by the hope of an amazing peak bloom on Monday morning, only to see the flowers in ruin the next day. By the way, remember the year without a winter 2 years ago? The magnolias in Bethlehem were in full bloom by March 20th!

Magnolia stellate

We had a harsh winter and many things this spring are late. We now await the toll that the frigid temps took on our landscape plantings. Today, the first flowers of our weeping cherry in Kunkletown opened; they peaked in Bethlehem last week. These are flowers that never last long enough for me, but the tree will attract countless bees over the short time period that it is blooming.  Did you know this tree is in the Rosaceae family?



Prunus subhirtella and Bombus sp. 
This was at 7:00 pm, just before "bedtime" for the bee.

Buds on the apple trees are forming. The flower buds on the lilacs are also now quite obvious. The National Phenology Network follows a cloned variety of lilacs (Syringa sp.) quite closely: https://www.usanpn.org/nn/cloned-lilacs. For a bit of information on the 50 years of monitoring these, go to https://www.usanpn.org/node/30.

If you follow the weather, you will notice that we now get pollen alerts with the forecast. The maple (Acer) trees are past their peak bloom, but look up at the top of aspen (Populus) or sweet birch (Betula lenta) trees right now and you will see the source of the cream and yellow "dust" on your cars. As you are looking up, it is a good place to find migrating birds early in the morning too.   And if you have Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipfera) around, look up and see the greenish-yellow flowers forming.  Despite the name, these are not poplars, but in the Magnolia family.  Yes, common names are problematic.

Ooh – and I just heard the first of season “squeezy, squeezy, squeezy” of a Black and white Warbler!

Some bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) flowers hiding amongst the Pachysandra



Assorted Narcissus sp.

Phenology - kind of

An ode to August

 

An early morning walk through 18 acres

of bergamot and late-blooming butterfly weed,

Asclepias tuberosa.

Mixed in were some yarrow and the earliest goldenrod,

a Solidago, but which species I don’t know.

Remembrance of grandma’s farm;

a reminder that summer is beginning to fade.

 

Butterfly wings laden with last night’s rain,

too heavy to fly yet today.

But with the promise of sun and 80 degrees,

a fulfilling nectar feast awaits.

The spider webs are not hidden today,

heavily outlined by pearls of dew.

The bees were already starting their work of the day.

 

My retriever is happy to chase the scents,

some from new colonies of baby rabbits.

Is this batch number 2 or 3 this season?

Last year there were fewer, but more groundhogs.

Brood #2 of the barn swallows greeted me this morning

from their nests on our barn beams.

Parents return from the fog with food.

 

It is quite lush and green for this late in the summer,

a sign of lots of rain.

Lots of insects for the birds and bats,

the tick numbers are temporarily down.

I enjoy the quiet solitude, but can’t help but think

that soon, like the birds that will be heading south,

my oldest son will migrate to college.

Phenology and environmental change in our national parks

See this report about phenology from the Great Smoky Mountains:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts7FDt3oqRY&feature=share

If you visit any national parks this summer, you might ask the rangers what changes they have noted over the past several years or decades.  And share what you learn!

While not phenology, rangers from  the Grand Canyon talk about the increase in pine beetles and express concern about increasing demands for water. 

In the Grand Tetons, snow pack was down this year, so many flowers in the sagebrush flats were blooming earlier than usual ,and the elk had dispersed from the lower elevations sooner than usual.

Soon I will be in Alaska where I am sure to hear about receding glaciers in the Kenai Fjords region.   Stay tuned.

What do the bird watchers know and a lot of other questions

A bit on citizen science and some other interesting tidbits of information can be found in this opinion piece from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/opinion/sunday/what-do-the-bird-watchers-know.html?smid=fb-share

Phenology data, from Pennsylvania and from other locations in more northern latitudes, tell us that many bird species are arriving earlier in the spring than they did 40 or 50 years ago.  The results are the same regardless if trained scientists or citizens are reporting their observations over the long term.  The difference is that scientists typically publish their data in peer-reviewed journals; citizen scientists publish (or crowd source) their data in public databases such as e-Bird maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (see http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about).

What we don't yet know is how this early arrival impacts the ability of birds to find food after a long migration.  Are their spring food sources -- mainly insects -- hatching earlier?  We know that the fuel reserves of birds can be largely depleted after their long flight; we don't know if they are able to sufficiently replenish their energy needs.  If not, how is this impacting the health and survival of neotropical migrants -- our long-distance athletes? 

And if spring arrival of birds and the emergence of insects are no longer in sync, what is happening to the population of insects?  The trend has been for milder winters.  Bats are in decline.  And both of these two observations lead to more bugs.

Do the birds find shelter if the leaves on trees and shrubs aren't unfurling earlier?  The earliest plants to leaf-out are typically woody invasive plants.  Are the birds o.k. with these new types of temporary shelter?  Birders create list of the birds they see on a given day at a given location.  But they typically don't report the habitat conditions, so we don't really know.

Is there a competitive advantage for the "early bird"?  Perhaps, but we don't know if the worms are available.  These squiggly animals also migrate, but do so vertically through the soil.  (This migration was described by Edwin Way Teale in his 1951 book North With the Spring.)  Contributors to Journey North can track spring observations of earthworms (see http://www.learner.org/jnorth/worm/index.html), but I don't know of anyone linking these data with that of the timing of bird arrivals. 

Do the birds build nests and lay eggs earlier?  If so, is there a greater risk that a cold snap will diminish their reproductive success in a given season?

So many questions.  So many birders and nature lovers/observers are needed to help us find out more information in our changing environment.

Good advice from Adam Frank

Here in eastern PA, we are slowly seeing the seasonal transitions.

The essay below was on NPR this a.m.:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/04/23/178467726/noticing-how-to-take-a-walk-in-the-woods

I am struck by the author's focus on presence.  That is really what phenology is about - the appearance, sudden presence (or disappearance) of things in nature.  So go for a walk in the woods and let us know what you are noticing.

dwh

Phoebes are back!

On March 27, 2012, there were several reports of the "first of the season" Phoebes in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

In my records, in 2011, these first showed up in Kunkletown (north of the Kittatinny Ridge) on 3/23 and last year on 3/15.  I haven't seen them here yet, but one was at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center yesterday (3/27).  In 2012 (a wierd year, for sure), the first reports in the Lehigh Valley were on 3/11 and 3/13.  I have the data for the Lehigh Valley in 2011, but not at my fingertips.  They sometimes are quiet for the first week or so when they first arrive, so are less noticeable.

January 12th and cherry blossoms?

Today, I had the first reports of cherry blossoms in Washington D.C.  Seriously.

Washington D.C. Cherry Blossoms in January 2013
(photo posted by fellow Audubon Together Green Fellow, Sara Espinoza, on Facebook)

The oldest known phenology records are of the timing of cherry tree blooms from China and Japan, going back over one thousand years.  A 2011 scientific paper by Sakurai, et al., published in the journal Biological Conservation reported that  "In Japan, biologists have found climate change is affecting species and ecosystems, including the earlier flowering time of cherry trees which are an important cultural symbol in Japan...According to research in Kyoto, the average flowering date during 1971– 2000 was 7 days earlier than an average of the previous 1200 years."

According to the National Park Service, the Peak Bloom Date in Washington is defined as "the day on which 70 percent of the blossoms of the Yoshino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin are open." As in Japan, this date has been arriving earlier by a week to ten days.

This tidbit of information may not have any significant impact on our lives, except when we should plan a weekend trip to the nation's capital in the spring.  But one has to wonder if this is a little sign from nature that we should be paying attention to what else might be changing as a consequence of climate change?

The Autumnal Equinox

I have been away from this blog for too long.

I noticed today the early tinges of color in the trees along the mountain as I worked on a sustainability project for campus. I had forgotten that today was the autumnal equinox, the start to my favorite season. And then I stumbled on this passage and thought it perfect for the day.

A hidden fire burns perpetually upon the hearth of the world.... In autumn this great conflagration becomes especially manifest. Then the flame that is slowly and mysteriously consuming every green thing bursts into vivid radiance. Every blade of grass and every leaf in the woodlands is cast into the great oven of Nature; and the bright colours of their fading are literally the flames of their consuming. The golden harvest-fields are glowing in the heart of the furnace.... By this autumn fire God every year purges the floor of nature. All effete substances that have served their purpose in the old form are burnt up. Everywhere God makes sweet and clean the earth with fire. ~Hugh Macmillan

My friend, Drew Lanham, posted this on Facebook today: “Happy Fall Y'all! 'Tis the season for chasing migrating warblers and wary whitetails. As summer relents to autumnal senescence, embrace the pace of things slowing down, moving on and storing up. It is my favorite time of year!”

What do you like about the autumn season?  What changes are you seeing (and when and where) that signal this fall season?  There are many phenological events to be recorded!

The winter that hasn't been

So let’s start today’s post with some weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA for Allentown, PA comparing the average monthly temperature for fall and winter 2011/12 vs. the 1981-2010 averages for these months:

September '11:          67.3⁰F vs. 64.3⁰F
October '11:               53.8⁰F vs. 53.1⁰F
November '11:          46.6⁰F vs. 43.3⁰F
December '11:           38.4⁰F vs. 32.9⁰F
January '12:               33.3⁰F vs. 28.5⁰F

The annual average for the entire year of 2011 was 53.2⁰F vs. 51.7⁰F. 

This type of information can be found at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=phi

The last I heard from the WNEP meteorologists (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area), we are on track for having a winter with the least amount of snow in at least 60 years.  The freak snowstorm in October technically didn’t occur in “winter”.  There are deficits in snowfall around the country, but parts of Alaska and Europe are experiencing unusually heavy snowfalls compared to their norms (whatever that means any more).    A good source of information about weather patterns, changes, and extremes around the globe: http://classic.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/article.html

Forsythias blooming -- at the end of November?
Wonder what the spring bloom will be like?
Photos by Judy Krasnicke

 

So what happens in nature when the temperatures have been unusually mild and the snowfall almost non-existent?  Going back to November, I had reports of the forsythias blooming from Saucon Valley up to Scranton.  Throughout the late fall, there were numerous reports of dandelions (even at the end of December) and flowers on Creeping Phlox (11/22 in Easton), ground ivy (end of December in Bethlehem), and Hellebores (Bethlehem).

Confused plants -- note the dates
Photos by Judy Krasnicke

In mid-November, there were reports of skunk cabbage emerging in the Lehigh Valley.  Such early reports have continued with reports of blooms on January 1^st from the PPL Riverlands and Bottomlands along the Susquehanna River to plants emerging in Sciota (Monroe County, north of the Kittatinny Ridge) on February 3^rd.

Emerging Skunk Cabbage
Photo by Corey Husic

Today (February 5^th), the buds of the aconite and snowdrops were almost open.  Last year, they opened on February 18^th and that was early for north of the Ridge.  Snowdrops have been blooming in Bethlehem for over a month.  Several people have reported that the daffodil plants have emerged by several inches.  The tiny-flowers of the creeping speedwell (a Veronica) have been blooming throughout our yard since December.

Aconite

Bald Eagles will stay around as long as there is open water for them.  They have been reported in Wyoming County into early January and again this past week.  Last weekend we saw them flying along the north edge of the Kittatinny Ridge.  The snow geese have stayed at Green Pond and the surrounding flooded fields since that area hasn’t frozen over.  The swirling flocks in early morning and late in the day are quite an awesome sight, especially when the sunlight hits them just right.  It is worth the drive to see the shimmering rows of pearls rising and twirling over the fields or flying in large flocks overhead.  The forty year Pennsylvania winter population of snow geese has increased almost 270,000 % according to data from the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (a thank you to Greg Butcher from Audubon for this information).  This rate of increase is significantly higher than the continental trend.

I have had several reports of Black Vultures north of the Kittatinny Ridge from Monroe to Luzerne Counties.  Over the past forty years, the winter population of this species has increased in the state by about 83,000%, again rising at a rate higher than the continental trend.  We have also been seeing Turkey Vultures north of the Ridge over the past two weeks.  While it is not unusual to see vultures in the Lehigh Valley and southward over the winter, it is quite unusual north of the mountain.

According to the PA Birds List Serve and eBird, there have been reports of American Woodcocks (January 4, 2012 in southern Chester County; January 7, 2012 in Berks County, January 8, 2012 in Schuylkill County; and January 31^st in Pottsville).  We expected to hear them hear when the temperatures hit the 60’s this past week, but didn’t perhaps because we got home from school and work too late in the day.  Be on the lookout for Woodcocks and let us know when and where you see (or more likely hear) these.

On January 31^st, a Gray Catbird was reported in Wilkes-Barre.  And yesterday, at the Eureka Road Pond near Snydersville, a pair of mute swans was observed, with the male going through some mating ritual behaviors.

Yesterday, my retriever brought me something in his mouth.  It turned out to be a frog (probably a wood frog)!  We suspect it came out when the temps reached the 60’s earlier in the week, but didn’t survive the cold night.  Very strange.

Last year, we planned to launch the Eastern PA Phenology Project around March 1^st.  We had mild weather in February, and soon realized that events of nature often associated with spring were already happening.  With the even milder winter weather this year, there should be all sorts of seasonal changes to report on.  We invite you to participate in the project.

The First Signs of Fall?

It is not even mid-August, but I have already noticed a murmuration of starlings (actually I have seen a few).  Witnessing these roving bands is to me one of the earliest signs that summer is beginning to wane.  I suspect that this is, in part, because the observation coincides with the time that I begin working on (or at least thinking about) the syllabi for my fall courses.  Fall is my favorite season, but I always experience a touch of melancholy when I notice signs of summer’s end.

Meteorological summer ends with the month of August, although many people associate the season's passing with Labor Day weekend since beaches and pools typically close.  Our days have been getting shorter for some time now, and the third week of July that is typically the hottest in eastern PA is long gone.  You can feel the fresher, cooler air if you are an early riser and it is refreshing to open the windows in the evening.  And there are other signs that things in nature are starting to change. The complementary colors of fall-blooming flowers—purple and gold—are already visible in the Joe Pye Weed, Ironweed, and the species of Goldenrod that are already blooming.  And any birders out there know that the hawk watch seasons at Bake Oven Knob (http://lgnc.org/research/bok-hawk-watch) and Hawk Mountain (http://www.hawkmountain.org/Raptor_Migration.php) commence in just a few days on August 15^th.

What do all of these seasonal notes tell us?  That it is time to think about fall phenology and to contribute new data to the Eastern PA Phenology Project (http://lgnc.org/research/phenology)! 

 
There are a number of raptors that will begin to migrate early including Bald Eagles and Ospreys.  Songbirds that are early fall migrants include Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and flycatchers--especially Eastern Kingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Empidonax species (the ones I can’t typically distinguish without hearing their spring songs).  In fact, late this afternoon, a Least Flycatcher was spotted by my son in an apple tree by our house.

You should begin to see Monarch caterpillars and chrysalises soon.  This past week, I have been seeing more Monarchs nectaring on plants, but, as of yet, they aren’t showing migration behavior.  These butterflies will likely lay eggs and you may soon begin to see the caterpillars munching on milkweed.

Yesterday we began seeing the dark form of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail that mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail—both being late season butterflies in this region.

Below is a list of some other fall seasonal signs to be looking for.  Don’t forget to report your observations of seasonal changes to the Eastern PA Phenology Project at phenology@lgnc.org.

Goldenrod (Solidago sp.; photo by D. Husic)

Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolius; photo by D. Husic)

-         First blooms on goldenrod (Solidago sp.) and asters (typically Symphyotrichum sp. in this region);

-         Chipmunks collecting and storing food;

-         Milkweed seed pods opening and dispersal of the seeds;

-         Last sightings of Barn and Tree Swallows (see fact sheets on project website for identification);

-         First sightings of Dark-eyed Juncos returning – often at feeders;

-         Loss of bright yellow color on male American Goldfinches or of the brilliant blue of Indigo Buntings;

-         The date of the first frost;

-         Tree leaves beginning to change color (note species, first color changes, timing of tree at peak color).  The Red Maple is one of our species of particular interest, but we will take reports on any and all trees that are common to eastern PA (see fact sheet on project website);

-         The timing of when leaves begin to fall and when a tree is completely bare; 

-         The timing of sumac leaves changing color and loosing leaves; 

-         Starting this fall, we are particularly interested comparing the timing of when native vs. invasive shrubs lose all of their leaves.  Some examples include native viburnums, dogwoods, and blueberries, vs. the invasive Autumn Olive, Multiflora Rose, Japanese Honeysuckle, and Japanese Barberry.

-         Last sightings of Bumblebee, Cabbage Whites or Ruby-throated Hummingbird (see fact sheets on project website for identification); 

-         First sighting of a Milbert’s Tortoiseshell butterfly; 

Milbert's Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti; photo by Corey Husic)

-         The timing of the emergence of the yellow flowers on Witch-hazel (picture on fact sheet on project website). 

These are just some of the fall seasonal signs.  If you observe other phenological events, we would love to know about your observations.  Remember that you can report your observations at phenology@lgnc.org.  Periodic summaries of what our project contributors are observing will be posted on this blog.