Wildlife Sightings This Week: July 26 - August 1, 2019
A monarch caterpillar devours milkweed leaves.
My own outings this week have proved fruitless (and fauna-less), so I’m especially pleased to have received submissions out of Rutledge and Rose Valley. Now if only some Nether Providence residents would participate. There is great habitat in Nether Providence, with Crum Creek Reservoir, the Houston Tract/Urban Field and Leiper Park, among others. Surely there are some regular walkers/observers of these areas, so please come forward!
Now for this week’s submittals:
Bill Menke of Swarthmore observed what he believed to be a black swallowtail chrysalis (see photo online at swarthmorean.com) which as a caterpillar consumed his cilantro.
Susan and Robert Smythe of Swarthmore heard and then saw a Carolina wren on the 200 block of Cornell Avenue, making a racket that seemed disproportionate to its small size.
Jeannine Anckaitis of Swarthmore submitted a photograph (it’s online) of a red-tailed hawk devouring a squirrel in her back yard, which fascinated her son and a group of his friends.
Tina Stanton of Rutledge saw a black squirrel at the south end of Rutledge. A black squirrel is the same species as the common Eastern gray squirrel — just a rarer color variation.
Chris Reynolds of Rose Valley discovered a hornworm (the caterpillar of the hawk moth) feeding on his Brandywine tomato plants. Check out the photo online, it’s an otherworldly looking thing. And Jennifer Reynolds observed a ring-necked snake (video online) in the same garden.
David Creagan and Patricia Reilly of Swarthmore submitted a photograph of a monarch butterfly caterpillar feeding on a milkweed plant in their front yard. A great example of providing habitat for wildlife, as monarchs will only lay their eggs on milkweed. The caterpillars feed on milkweed which makes them taste undesirable to predators. So plant milkweed!
I saved the best for last: David Eberly submitted a photograph of an immature Eastern screech owl (below) he observed in a rear yard of the unit block of South Princeton Avenue two weekends ago. Screech owls are surprisingly common, but being nocturnal are rarely seen. I’ve been on 5 a.m. owling outings with Dave (for the Aububon Society Christmas count) and observed screech owls on Riverview, in Little Crum Creek Park, the Crum Woods, on Oberlin Avenue and in my own back yard, so they really are widespread. If you hear a “trill and whinny” some evening, it’s an Eastern screech owl.
An Eastern screech owl checks out human life on Princeton Avenue. Captured by David Eberly.
Please keep your observations coming! This week edition’s publication date is the halfway point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. Bird migrations will pick up soon, so more variety will be on the way.
