Animal Field Guide

Here's a brief survey of the animals found at my site!

Meadow Spittlebug

Invertebrate are the first to be covered. If you dig a little into the leaf litter,you will immediately find some Pill Bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) (see picture on right). Most likely, you will find the Pill Bugs curled up in a defensive posture because you have disturbed them. When curled up, you can appreciate the intricate gray plates of the Pill Bug. Do note that the Pill Bug is

Pill Bug

actually a crustacean and not an insect! Another interesting invertebrate to look for are the Meadow Spittlebugs (Philaenus spumarius). The adult Meadow Spittlebugs are hard to see with the naked eye, but around mid-May, you will see them in the form of a milky white foam at the base of leaves and branches of grasses and sedges (see picture on left). This is the nymph form of the Meadow Spittlebug and it is hiding in the foam, protected from predators and the environment’s varying temperatures. In early May on a sunny day, if you wait patiently enough, you may find a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) resting on the gravel trail with its wings spread out (see picture below). It is a charismatic butterfly with brown colored wings and a white border along

Mourning Cloak

the edge that has blue spots. If you can get close enough, notice how subtly the antenna move up and down as the Mourning Cloak senses its surroundings.

You’ll hear the birds the minute you enter Union Bay Natural Area, but there’s a few birds that you can commonly spot! The first is the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (see picture on right). There is a Mallard couple that has built a nest in the middle of the marsh area. The nest is quite humble

Male Mallard

consisting of a depression in the moist ground and some grasses and leaves from nearby. Just recently (late May), I saw at least six ducklings swimming in a single file behind their mother. I have seen the same Mallard couple all quarter and at other times, you will see them dabbling. The Mallards have a broad beak and instead of diving into the water to catch prey, they tip forward into the water (so their behind sticks out of the water) and forage for

Savannah Sparrow

food.  Another common sight is the Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) (see picture on left). This small songbird is easily identified by a yellow stripe over its eye. This is initially a little hard to look for without a pair of handy binoculars. Another bird has also recently (late May) taken residence at my site. A Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) (see picture below) has built a nest somewhere among the Himalayan Blackberry thicket. It has been pecking at branches and bringing them into the thicket. As the name suggests, the Black-capped Chickadee can be identified by a black cap and it also has white cheeks. It's an adorable bird with a short neck and large head.

Black-capped Chickadee

On a lucky day if you’re at my site early in the morning, you may catch a glimpse of a Great Blue Heron (see picture below). This majestic, blue-

Great Blue Heron

gray bird has long legs and neck, and looks shaggy in appearance. Even though Great Blue Herons usually nest in trees, I believe the Great Blue Herons in my site are ground nesting and they have built a nest somewhere far among the Cattails because they always stalk in and out from the same general location.

There are two more wetland bird species that you will learn about with a close knit interaction. The first is the Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). The males are easy to identify as they have glossy black feathers with red epaulets bordered with a yellow color. If you look at the top of the tall snag in the midst of the Cattails, you can probably find a male Red-Winged Blackbird perched there surveying its territory (see picture on right). The second is the Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris). These small birds are a little harder to

Red-Winged Blackbird

spot because they are always hiding amongst the Cattails and they have a brown color, much like the Cattails in the area. If you patiently look at the marshy shore, you may find a Marsh Wren feeding with its tail cocked. So, what’s the relationship between these two species? As you may have noticed, the two species reside in the same area, which can be problematic. In fact, Marsh Wrens are known to destroy the eggs and young of Red-Winged Blackbirds because they both create nests among vegetation in marsh areas(1). On a rare occasion, you will hear major rustling and specific aggressive calls occurring from the Cattails and while you cannot see exactly what’s occurring, one can speculate that it is a confrontation between a Red-Winged Blackbird and Marsh Wren. Luckily, these confrontations do not occur often because Red-Winged Blackbirds favor sparser vegetation, whereas Marsh Wrens favor denser Cattails. In addition, you will often see multiple Red-Winged Blackbirds fly into the same general location among the Cattails because they have developed a cluster nesting strategy, which protects the young from the Marsh Wrens. Not all is calm on this front!

If you stare at the marsh area for a little bit, you may be unnerved to occasionally see air bubbles rising to the surface of the water. Not to worry, there isn’t a monster down

Eastern Painted Turtle

there, but in fact some peaceful Eastern Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta picta). These turtles are merely in the mud hunting for food. I once saw one with a shell that was a foot and a half long and mistook it for a patch of mud until it slowly moved. The turtles hunt along the bottom of the marsh and jut their head in and out of vegetation to agitate prey. On a rainy day, you should pay close attention to the marsh to spot a turtle because they are good at camouflaging themselves in the mud. If it is a sunny day, you will have much better luck finding and watching the turtles. Their dark colored shell is very smooth and they can be easily identified by yellow lines on their head, neck, and legs. Sunny days are the best days to

Sun basking turtles

look for these turtles because they are cold-blooded reptiles. This means they regulate their body temperature based on the environment and for warmth, they must bask in the sun. For this reason, no matter the time of the day, I always seem to see the turtles basking in the sun. On the far log you will often see a group of turtles basking in the sun (see picture on right). They will stretch their neck and stick it up as high as possible. This allows them to increase the amount of surface area that is exposed to the sun. This position also allows you to easily identify the turtles because their yellows stripes will be clearly visible. When they have warmed up enough, you will see them walk towards the edge of the log, tuck in their appendages and head, and drop back into the water to hunt for food.

Source:
1. Picman, Jaroslav. "Impact of Marsh Wrens on Reproductive Strategy of Red-Winged Blackbirds." Canadian Journal of Zoology. 58.3 (1980): 337-350. Print.