Wildlife Sightings This Week: August 2-8, 2019
I mentioned in last week’s column that we’ve passed the midpoint between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox, and that there would soon be evidence of fall bird migration. And while I’ve read reports of warblers migrating through Cape May already, I haven’t seen any such evidence locally. Birds often migrate South by riding cold fronts down from Canada. With cooler weather predicted for next week, keep an eye peeled for greater bird variety.
Monarch, photographed by Andrea Knox.
And now for this week’s sightings:
Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly. Photo by Jonathan Hodgson.
On July 30 Leslie Roes from Wallingford saw “a pair of blue herons flying together, skimming along just above the surface of the creek” in Rose Valley.
Tina Stanton of Rutledge reports: “Very early this morning a fox and I exchanged glances through my kitchen window. We were both startled. I let out a little noise and it dashed off into the greenery at the back of the yard. It was a beautiful burnt orange red with classic pointy ears and white at the tip of its tail, and it was bigger than other foxes I have seen.”
The paparazzi happened upon Drew Davis of Swarthmore and his children Adelyn and Ander just as they caught a largemouth bass in Crum Creek in the Crum Woods. Pictured are Adelyn and Ander with their catch, which they returned to the creek after the photo shoot.
Jonathan Hodgson of Swarthmore submitted a photograph of an eastern black swallowtail butterfly in the Swarthmore College meadow next to the railroad viaduct. Andrea Knox sent an exquisite photo of a monarch butterfly on milkweed taken in her Riverview Road yard.
“Velvet” White Tail buck, Photo by Robert Scott.
Finally, while white-tailed deer sightings are hardly news, the photo of this handsome six point buck along Crum Creek in the Crum Woods is notable for how completely the antlers are in the “velvet” stage. The velvet contains blood vessels for purposes of nourishing the antlers. With future sightings of bucks, it will be interesting to observe the process of the antlers shedding the velvet as we head into autumn.
Please send your sightings and any photographs or videos to rscott@robertwscottpc.com or click the button below.
Bass masters Ander and Adelyn. Photo by Robert Scott.
