A Look at the Season's Main Events
By Virginia Barlow
July
Beavers will abandon their lodges and move on when they have depleted an area of their preferred food species, including willows, aspens, and cottonwood / Honeybee lore: a swarm in July isn’t worth a fly / In ponds, waterstriders are using their sucking mouthparts to drain the juices from mosquito larvae that come to the surface / Great horned owls are catching skunks, rats, hares, and muskrats, as well as the larger birds, to feed their growing chicks
Red-bellied snakes are out during the day in spring and fall but are active now only in twilight and at night / Crows may be getting help in raising their chicks from last year’s offspring / During hot spells, mourning doves allow their body temperature to rise to 113°F without harm / Great blue herons feed by standing motionless and waiting for fish and other prey to come within range / Muskrats help keep cattails in check by eating all parts of the plant
Cinquefoil is named for its five-parted leaf. The five, notched, clear-yellow petals are opening now along roads and in old fields / Gray tree frogs are only gray sometimes. They change to green or light brown at some light levels or temperatures, or to match the bark they are on / Water boatmen can fly five or so miles; once settled into a pond, they feed on algae / Japanese beetles are mating. Look for them flying just above or clustered in the mowed lawn
Delta Aquarids peak on July 28-29, when about 20 bright yellow meteors can be seen per hour. Because they are nearly broadside to the Earth, their speed is a moderate 25.5 miles per second / Northern harriers are fledging. They will stay near their nests for several weeks / Male gypsy moths begin flying / Look for these orchids in cedar swamps: early or northern coralroot, ram’s head, yellow lady’s slipper, tall northern bog orchid, and calypso
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These listing are from observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on you latitude, elevation - and the weather.
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© 2008 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.
