Our Environment: "Migration - A Sign of Summer Turning into Fall" by Scott Turner
Scott Turner, Environmental Columnist
Our Environment: "Migration - A Sign of Summer Turning into Fall" by Scott Turner
Although the July afternoon air temperature might touch 100 degrees Fahrenheit, signs of summer’s progression toward autumn abound in our Providence neighborhood.
Last week, for example, the cicadas began their sweeping “zinging” calls. This happens nearly on schedule every middle of July.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn addition, our backyard hosted an Eastern Kingbird, Northern Flicker and Carolina Wren. None of these species bred in the immediate vicinity. Most likely, they dispersed after breeding elsewhere.
Eastern Kingbirds, in fact, show up outside our home every July. They chatter almost incessantly, while hawking for insects. I think that their arrival is part of an annual post-breeding diaspora that brings kingbirds from breeding sites a few miles away to our tree- and shrub-rich neighborhood.
Nowhere in Rhode Island is the July movement of birds more apparent than along the coast. Right now, all sorts of shorebirds are on the move. And this isn’t just dispersal, it’s their fall migration.
Visit the beach and you will find flocks of mixed species on the move south. Observe the various sizes of the birds and how they use their bills differently to probe the mud for insects, mollusks, crustaceans, worms and more.
Shorebirds often have funky common names. For example, among species reported along mudflats and ponds in Rhode Island last week were Short-billed Dowitchers, Piping Plovers, Lesser Yellowlegs and Stilt Sandpipers.
At the ocean two days ago, we saw a couple of monarch butterflies. As you probably know, this migratory creature is on a serious population slide, with up to 85 percent of monarchs in the eastern U.S. having vanished.
Amidst the sadness of this news, I am glad to report that we’ve allowed milkweed, which is the only plant that monarch caterpillars feed upon, to flourish in our backyard. Today we host a fast-spreading milkweed patch on ground once occupied by lawn.
Milkweed is a native plant, and at our house, we try to plant native species, when gaps appear in the landscape. For example, when the Norway maple in front of our home died, we replaced it with a black gum, a native of local wet woods.
Planting natives is one way to fight the incredible fact that insect numbers worldwide have declined by some 45 percent in the last 40 years. Once again, much of that decline is due to habitat loss and degradation, increased use of harmful chemicals, and climate change. Insects pollinate, decompose plants and animals, and provide the raw materials for medicines. They need our help, and we can’t live without them.
The milkweed spreading across our back yard mirrors the expanding plot of goldenrod in our front garden beds and along our driveway. Goldenrod is also a native species important to wildlife. Besides its beauty, goldenrod is a big favorite with bees, as well as butterflies and other bugs.
That reminds me. Our goldenrod is progressing nicely toward its annual gilded display, which may start as early as late July. Hmmm, goldenrod? This soon? Now that’s a sign that summer will soon turn to fall in New England.
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