Nature Connection: Babies Everywhere!

There’s no way around it. Summer is here. If you’re a driver, you’re well aware that the roads are very busy. Stores have lines once again and the beaches are populated with happy little people released from school for summer vacation.

Baby piping plovers have hatched on many beaches, and if the weather cooperates they will be fully fledged soon. Young ospreys have hatched as well, and soon even the terns will have babies instead of eggs.

If you have an oriole feeder you know that the babies are out of their nests and learning how to find their way in the world. Catbirds, red-bellied woodpeckers and even grackles may also be taking advantage of your largesse. It won’t be long before the hummingbirds return to clean out your hummingbird feeders or visit your gardens.

On a recent walk we saw numerous young rabbits, many of whom appeared to have just left their nests. We watched some red-winged blackbirds raise an alarm and a small flock of mixed birds arrived immediately to scream and dive at the interloper. We never saw the offender, but it was a ground predator, not an airborne one, perhaps a hungry black racer snake or weasel.

Herons are gathering at local herring runs, taking advantage of the young fish heading through the creeks to the ocean. It wasn’t long ago that the adults were just arriving to lay eggs, but here is the next generation swimming through the predator gauntlet as they bravely try to find the sea.

In some areas you may see great blue herons, black crowned night herons, snowy egrets and great egrets all hanging out together as they feed, a remarkable sight.

Herons feed their young by regurgitating food down their throats. It’s not a pretty sight, or a good smelling one, but it works for them. As you watch the adults filling their gullets it is good to remember they are not being gluttons for personal gain, but to feed their young as well. Soon, the young will join them. 

Immature herons look different from the adults, so check with a good bird guide to get an idea of what to look for as we get deeper into the summer season.

This is the time of year to come upon a fawn hiding by itself. Be assured that mother deer is nearby. Like rabbit mothers, deer mothers leave their new babies unattended during the day so as not to call attention to them. At dusk or nightfall, they return to their babies to feed them. Sometimes they will move them, if they feel it is safe to do so or if the nest has been discovered. Young fawns can stand and walk but for the first week or so they are safer staying put so they can grow strong enough to keep up with mom and the rest of the herd. If you come upon a fawn, please leave it be and don’t call attention to its location.

July is a time of dragonflies and butterflies, and our morning walk gave us peeks at several different kinds of each. Keep watch for the monarchs, for they will arrive soon if they haven’t already by the time this is published. The milkweed is blooming, but don’t worry if it fades before you see a monarch. The caterpillars eat the leaves, not the flowers, and the adults can sip nectar from a number of different flowers. The caterpillars don’t just prefer milkweed, they must have it in order to survive. The adults will lay their eggs on the milkweed even if it is past blooming.

Vernal pools are drying up, even after the little bit of rain most of the Cape received recently. Vernal pools dry up most years, which differentiates them from ponds that maintain a somewhat more stable amount of water. This means that the creatures that lay eggs in vernal pools must grow quickly and move onto dry land before being stranded.

Baby salamanders and wood frogs are small enough to be missed by many of us as they rush out of the muddy water to hide under leaves. They will spend the summer in moist, dark places while continuing to grow. They eat worms and tiny arthropods and manage to double or triple their size very quickly.

In the last week I’ve come across several types of turtles laying eggs. There are snail eggs and squid eggs at the beach and all sorts of buggy eggs in the woods. It’s a very fertile season out there in nature, a time of so many new beginnings. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for at least some, it is also a time of many endings. 

Many animals have way more babies than are expected to survive. Nature allows for a certain number to be eaten by others. This is true of plants as well. The number of seeds put out by flowers, grasses and trees is phenomenal. Not all will find a good place to grow, however. Some will die of natural causes, but many will be eaten as well. Some of those will be pooped out in new places, intact enough to grow, but others will simply be digested and recycled as waste.

It’s a crazy world out there, full of abundance and life, conflicts and death. Fortunately, it is a beautiful time of year. We just have to get outside and appreciate it before it is gone. And while you’re out there, please remember to smile at our human visitors as well.