At dusk on April 20 on the banks of Crum Creek in the Crum Woods, my wife Molly and I were chatting with a family of fishermen (at an appropriate distance) about the beavers that have been elusive this year. As if to chide us for idly gossiping about them, along swam a beaver right in front of us. It smacked its tail on the water with a bang and disappeared. Bryan Lentz of Swarthmore reports seeing similar tail-smackings at dawn. Tail smacking is the beavers’ way of warning off unwanted guests.

Best bird photo of the month goes to Fred Tinter of Swarthmore for a photo of an eastern screech owl (red morph) which settled into the owl box he recently installed. “About two weeks ago, I put up an owl box in hopes that we might have a screech owl move in next year. Today, we were surprised to see that I was very far off in that estimate.” This correspondent is green with envy.

Eastern screech owl (red morph). Photo: Fred Tinter — Eastern screech owl (red morph). *Photo: Fred Tinter*

A pair of mallard ducks in Little Crum Creek. Photo: Sue Kelly — A pair of mallard ducks in Little Crum Creek. *Photo: Sue Kelly*

On my outings in the Crum Woods, I’ve observed a belted kingfisher and multiple pairs of wood ducks flying up and down the creek, following the bends as if they were navigating a highway. Yellow-rump warblers in the Saul Wildlife Preserve and ruby-crowned kinglets in my yard are showing regularly. Sue Kelly of Swarthmore reported a pair of mallard ducks in the creek in Little Crum Creek Park.

A family of foxes seems to have taken up residence in the neighborhood of Cornell and Rutgers avenues. Both Rachel Pastan and Tony Addison reported sightings in that area. Tony said “8:25 a.m., Friday 17, 300 block of Cornell, east side. Going out onto the back porch, I hear a rustling in the bushes, and out dashes a red fox with a squirrel in its mouth. It runs over to the diagonally adjacent yard, where two cubs appear. They are breakfasting as I type.” Rachel said that she saw a fox in that area with something in its mouth. “The package it was carrying was rather chicken-shaped. Tawny reddish brown. I wonder if any neighbors are missing any chickens.” Anybody?

Rick and Stephanie Stabinski of Swarthmore sent a photograph of a common garter snake they found under their trash can.

Julie Ellis of Swarthmore submitted a photo of a common green lacewing from her yard, as elegant and graceful as a ballerina. Bill Menke of Swarthmore writes, “Clearing the beds, came across this praying mantis egg case. So, helpful garden predators are soon to emerge.” Oh, Bill, if only it were that simple. In the October 4, 2019 “Wildlife Observations,” Colin Purrington recommended killing the invasive Chinese mantis, “as they eat monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, and native Carolina mantises.” I myself have not mastered distinguishing the invasive from the native species of praying mantis, so I’d probably give them all a pass. Here’s hoping it is a Carolina mantis egg case, Bill.