The nighttime air was very warm and muggy, leading you to believe it was mid-summer, and not early June. These are the kind of nights that make it uncomfortable to sleep, unless you have A/C cooling you, or a fan blowing your way. But these are the perfect kind of evenings that flying insects thrive in-usually seeking out a mate, or perhaps something to feed on.

In the darkness near the edge of our woodlot, I hung a plain white sheet on the clothesline. I rigged up the small black light I purchased on-line, to a shepherd’s hook, plugged it in and waited. In less than one minute the first insects started to show up at the eerie blue light that reflected off the white sheet. Over the next hour and half the white sheet quickly was covered with hordes of just about every type of nocturnal flying bug I could think of-and some I didn’t expect!

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There were loads of moths (my primary target), caddisflies, mayflies, craneflies, beetles, midges and many other tiny crawling bugs I couldn’t identify. The black light even attracted several Wood Cockroaches (yes, they can fly)! Why does a black light work so well?

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Many insects can see ultraviolet light, which has shorter wavelengths than light visible to the human eye. For this reason, a black light will attract different insects than a regular incandescent light. This is the same theory behind people hanging “bug zappers” in their backyards. Unfortunately, black lights do not work well at attracting biting insects, and bug zappers harm more beneficial insects than pests.

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As I mentioned previously, my main goal was to see (and try to ID) the wide variety of moth species that live around our home. I’m amazed how many different kinds there are! Most of them are small, plain brown or gray-colored, but some are spectacular, with large bright-colored eye spots.

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Some have amazing colors and patterns, with beautiful fern-like antennae-almost like they’ve been hand painted.

Others are downright weird-looking, and a few are even creepy! Most people have no idea the diversity of moth species that live around them, since they’re mainly nocturnal. I do not harm any of the moths or other insects I try to attract to my black light and white sheet, since many of them are important pollinators. I simply like to see what’s out there, and usually by dawn most have flown away.

However, when daylight approaches, many of the winged insects are still attached to the white sheet, making them easy prey for a few hungry birds. Our resident Gray Catbirds is one of the species that looks forward to my evening “sheet attractions,” since it takes advantage of an easy breakfast by simply picking them off!

As I mentioned earlier, hot, sticky nights seem to be the best conditions to attract flying insects. But you can draw in moths and other bugs to your light any time of the year, as long as the air temps are above 50 degrees F. However, late spring and summer are the still the most active seasons for the variety of insects that Fly By Night! Enjoy!

There was an eerie silence in the forest that surrounded us when we picked up our paddles and turned our canoe downstream. The water was dark, like the color of coffee before any creamer is added. We could not see the bottom of the small, meandering creek, even though it was only 4’ below the bottom of our boat. But the trees! The giant, ancient trees that towered over us. Many of them growing right out of the water, just as they have been for hundreds of years. Trees like Water Tupelo and Bald Cypress in and along the water, and titans such as Loblolly Pine and Cherrybark Oak growing on the uplands.  These are the real champions of this special place!

We were in the heart of Congaree National Park, about 20 miles south of Columbia, South Carolina.

It’s a park that holds mysterious wonders around every bend of its rivers and streams. A landscape that is shaped, and reshaped, by water. Congaree National Park, is home to the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States. Waters from the Congaree and Wateree Rivers sweep through the floodplain, carrying nutrients and sediments that nourish and rejuvenate this ecosystem and support the growth of national and state champion trees. Congaree National Park is part of the internationally-recognized Congaree Biosphere Reserve.

Though known for its unique natural features such as magnificent stands of bald cypress and tremendous biodiversity, the landscape of Congaree has a rich cultural heritage as well. People have been using the floodplain for many purposes for over 13,000 years, long before it became a national park.

While water has been an enduring force that has shaped this landscape, humans have left their mark as well. From prehistoric natives to Spanish explorers, Revolutionary War patriots to escaped slaves, loggers and conservationists, this forest landscape is rich in the stories of the people who have called it both a home and a refuge, and have helped to make it what it is today.

Our short visit to Congaree included a 3-hour leisurely canoe trip on Cedar Creek, one of the park’s many small tributaries. As we paddled, we gazed at the large “swamp trees” that were growing from the water’s edges, covered with hanging Spanish Moss, on both sides. One of the coolest parts of our float trip included a couple short excursions away from the main creek channel, where our guide led us into the flooded backwaters of this age-old forest. At times, the water was less than a foot deep, as we squeezed between 4-foot diameter tupelo and cypress trees, as Swainson’s Warblers darted past, and Banded Water Snakes rested on many stumps.

For a couple brief hours, you could imagine yourself as an early explorer to this area, poking your way through this shadowy, strange landscape. Although you had look closely, the area was rich with wildlife, including many snakes and lizards that were resting on dead stumps and trees, turtles, including Yellow-eared Sliders that were hanging out on semi-emerged logs and Box Turtles, marching on the banks of the stream in search of an easy meal.

If we listened close, we heard the “sweet, sweet, sweet” song of the Prothonatary Warbler and the loud drumming of the Pileated Woodpecker. It was a very enjoyable “bucket list” destination, and one we will never forget!

As we departed for home, we made one last stop, and visited Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge in northern South Carolina. This 47,850-acre refuge was established to restore t and manage restore the rapidly diminishing longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem. But our real goal was to catch sight of the rare, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, a Federally Endangered bird species. Carolina Sandhills NWR is home to the largest population of this rare bird on any National Wildlife Refuge.

These small woodpeckers are unique in two ways. First, it is the only woodpecker that excavates its nesting and roosting cavities in living trees: preferably old-growth longleaf or loblolly pines. Second, the red-cockaded woodpecker lives within a tight-knit extended family community of breeding birds and helper birds. We chose to visit now since they’re just starting their breeding season, which is the best time to see them. We were not disappointed. We saw a few of them right along the refuge’s Wildlife Drive-with a little help! Earlier, we learned that the trees they were currently using for nesting (or did last season) were marked with two white bands painted on them. If you see one of these trees, stop, wait, listen and look….and maybe if you were lucky, you might see one of these little woodpeckers fly to one of the excavated holes, or from tree to tree. On our last stop next to several marked trees, we heard soft “pecking” and caught sight of three of them searching for insects in the bark of nearby trees. They were cool little critters to see, and we felt privileged that we got a chance to see this unique, scarce songbird!

Overall, we had a quick, but very enjoyable trip to the Palmetto State, and look forward to a return visit soon! Enjoy, and take some time to Get and About!

Henry Van Dyke once said, “The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.” In many parts of this country, that’s a very accurate statement. The vernal (spring) equinox – which marks the beginning of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere – took place on Saturday, March 20, at 5:37 a.m. EDT. From Fairbanks, Alaska, where it was 15º F degrees and light snow fell, to Phoenix, Arizona, where it was sunny and 86º F. Here where we live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was overcast and 55º F on March 20, 2021, just about on average for this location, at that time of the year. In nature, the signs of spring can come quickly, or show themselves very slowly!

There are several factors that prompt nature into shifting from the cold, snowy days of winter, to the warmer, greener conditions of spring. Temperature certainly has a lot to do with it, but the increasing amount of daylight is an important part of it as well-which makes sense, since the days stay lighter longer, there’s more hours of sunlight to warm the earth. When I talk to my family and friends in different parts of the country, part of my conversation usually includes a question or two about their weather, and what’s happening in nature around them. Usually the dialogue ends with the old statement, “Well, you’re ___ weeks ahead of me” when it comes to seeing/hearing signs of spring!

One of the most noticeable changes come from plants-flowers start appearing from beneath the soil and flowering shrubs and trees start blooming in a variety of landscapes. Trees and shrubs such as Eastern Redbud, Dogwood, Serviceberry, Forsythia and many of our common fruit trees, become very obvious as we get out and about and see more. And, much to the annoyance of many homeowners in search of that perfectly manicured lawn, who doesn’t notice the bright yellow heads of our “favorite” yard flower, the Dandelion, popping up through a carpet of green grass.

As many people know, one of my favorite signs of spring are the birds. Many of our resident, summer birds begin appearing, as well as loads of other migrants that are passing through to points further north. At the same time, the bird species we’ve enjoyed seeing all winter start to disappear from our feeders and backyards.

Warm days and spring blooms also mark the emergence of insects, such as bees, and butterflies in search of early nectar sources, dragonflies seeking out mosquitos, and many ground beetles scurrying about.

An enjoyable harbinger of spring in our backyard is the emergence of our resident amphibians. It starts with the annual Spotted Salamander migration to our small, artificial ponds to breed and lay eggs, followed closely by the quacking calls of Wood Frogs (and more egg laying) and then the high pitch “peeps” of Spring Peepers. Throw in a few Upland Chorus Frogs, the long trills of American Toads and the banjo-like calls of the Green Frogs, and we’re offered an awesome spring ensemble that echoes through the night!

Depending on the natural environment around you, many of these seasonal changes may happen all at the same time! I think we take for granted all these incredible seasonal wonders that show themselves each spring, as nature is reborn, and begins preparing for another year of amazing, and important, growth! As Rachel Carson wrote in one of the best (and most important) books I’ve ever read, Silent Spring (Houghton Mifflin, 1962), “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” Enjoy, and Get Out & About this spring!

Rugged, Wild and Whitewater! That’s the way you describe the New River and the Gorge it’s carved out in southern West Virginia. Flowing north through forested canyons, the New River is one of America’s oldest rivers that is rich in cultural and natural history and offers an abundance of scenic and recreational opportunities. The river, along with 70,000 acres of adjacent land make up the New River Gorge National River.

Theresa and I ventured west for a quick autumn getaway to check out this beautiful area. Although our time was limited , we managed to see some of the iconic sights, such as the engineering marvel of the New River Gorge Bridge (from above and below), a foggy, but magical sunrise at Grandview Overlook and a visit to Sandstone Falls, located near the southern boundary of the park. On the way to “The Gorge” we made a quick stop at Babcock State Park to see one of West Virginia’s most photographed sites-the Glade Creek Grist Mill, tucked away in the brilliant fall foliage! We did our part to contribute to their total-snapping many cool photos.

Perhaps the most famous part of the New River Gorge is nothing natural at all! It’s the mighty New River Gorge Bridge. Construction of the Bridge began in June of 1974 and was completed on October 22, 1977. This engineering marvel took three years to complete and cost nearly 37 million dollars. Most of the 22,000 tons of structural steel for the bridge project was fabricated at the American Bridge Division’s Ambridge, Pennsylvania plant. All of the structural steel used for the Bridge is USS COR-TEN Steel, which oxidizes with age and gives the Bridge its dark russet color. This special steel blends in well with the surrounding environment and eliminates the need for repainting as the oxidation is a natural protectant.

The first challenge in designing the New River Gorge Bridge was choosing the type of bridge capable of spanning the 3,030 foot wide gorge, 876 feet above the New River. Several types of bridges were considered including two different suspension bridge designs: an arch truss design and a continuous truss design. The design that suited the surroundings of the New River Gorge and dealt with the challenges the gorge presented for construction was a single 1,700 foot arch span design. The New River Gorge Bridge would become the longest single span arch bridge in the World. To commemorate the importance of the New River Gorge Bridge to West Virginia, Bridge Day was established (cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic) 3rd Saturday of every October, closing traffic for pedestrians to explore the Bridge and allowing BASE jumping for a few hours on that day only. The iconic Bridge became the subject of the West Virginia state quarter in 2005, and now Bridge Walk guided tours are available year round on the walkway beneath the Bridge.

Before we left, I was told by a local photographer that we HAD to get up early and go out to catch sunrise at Grandview Overlook. We’re glad we left early since the small platform and rock outcrop in front of the viewing area (unguarded with a 500′ vertical drop off) were packed fairly tightly with photographers seeking the perfect pictures! Although it was foggy (it’s known for thick fog banks that rise up from the canyon below), it was also magical! The fog, along with the rising sun, can produce breathtaking photos, even pre-dawn, right before the sun rises.

Our last stop was on the southern boundary of the park. A natural drop in the river called Sandstone Falls. The largest waterfall on the New River, Sandstone Falls spans the river where it is 1,500 feet wide. Divided by a series of islands, the river drops 10 to 25 feet. Sandstone Falls marks the transition zone of the New River from a broad river of large bottomlands, to a narrow mountain river roaring through a deep boulder strewn V- shaped gorge. The falls form the dramatic starting line for the New Rivers final rush trough the New River Gorge to its confluence with the Gauley river to form the Kanawha River.

The New River Gorge is one of the greatest treasures we have in this country. From the rich cultural history of coal mining and adjacent forested lands that hide a variety of wildlife, to the exciting recreational opportunities that await the adventure seeker! It’s a Gorge-ous place to visit! Go!

One of my favorite comedians, George Carlin, once said, “The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity.”

They crawl, they eat, they eat some more, and then they curl up and metamorphosize-changing into a chrysalis or cocoon. As a matter of fact, caterpillars only have one job-to eat as much as possible in the time they have. They eat so much they may increase their body mass by 1000 times, or more!

Caterpillars are the larval stage of butterflies and moths. Most of these winged insects go through what’s called complete metamorphosis. They start as an egg, hatch into a larva (caterpillar), then go into a dormant stage called a pupa (cocoon or chrysalis), then eventually emerge out of the pupa stage as adults, and fly away. It’s the larval/caterpillar stage that eats the most, although many adult butterflies and moths also feed, primarily sipping nectar from flowers, tree sap and other plants. We may be familiar with one stage of the insect, but not the other.

Many of us easily recognize the beautiful black and orange colors of the adult Monarch butterfly, a welcome visitor to our backyard gardens and meadows, which are well-known for their long migration south to Mexico. But we may not be as familiar with its caterpillar, which feeds primarily on members of the milkweed family, and is really cool-looking in its own way! Or, the spectacular, 7”, lime-colored adult Luna moth, with its long tails on its hind wings, but have never laid eyes on the chunky green caterpillar! However, in some species it’s the caterpillar we know, and not so much the adult.

For example, do you know what kind of moth the “famous” Wooly Bear caterpillar turns in to? Answer: The cool-looking, orange Isabella Tiger Moth!  How about a caterpillar that’s responsible for the loss of thousands of acres of hardwood trees? As a matter of fact, we may not even identify this small fuzzy caterpillar with blue and red markings, but when they get together, I bet many of you have seen the devastation they can cause. Answer: the Gypsy Moth. Usually hatching by the millions, an outbreak of these small critters can completely defoliate (eat the leaves) huge sections of trees, which can negatively impact a forest ecosystem, and possibly lose millions of dollars in commercial value. They start gorging themselves in the spring when the leaves are just emerging and the trees are most vulnerable. The adult is a small, rather plain brown, or tan moth and doesn’t even eat!

If there’s one group of critters that has stood out more than any other animals to me around our home this year, it has to be the caterpillars! I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve spent more time at home due to Covid-19, or that all of our plantings and mini-land management projects, like the meadow restoration, are now creating more suitable habitat for these crawlers, and the flying adults. It’s most likely both! But, we have noticed more birds around this year too. Again, isolation at home can make you more aware of your natural surroundings, but usually when bird populations increase, it’s because their food supply (and nesting habitat) has increased as well. Everything in nature is connected! But when I did the math, if I ate as much as a caterpillar eats, as to increase my body mass by 1000x, I would be about 93 tons, or almost the size of a Boeing 747 jet! Man that’s a lot of leaves!

I could start to feel the back of my neck getting sore, almost like I was experiencing a small cramp. It happens every year from about mid-September through the end of October, almost every day. I’ve been experiencing this temporary discomfort since I was 10 years old, and hopefully, will continue to experience it until I fade away! As weird as it sounds, I look forward to the neck ache every autumn! Why? Because it signals the start of one of the greatest shows on earth-the annual fall raptor migration! The constant tilting of my head looking toward the sky in search of these beautiful birds passing overhead is what causes the soreness, many times I’m also holding binoculars up to my eyes as well. But every hawk that I get a chance to see makes it so worthwhile!

The “show” starts as early as late August, and may continue until early December, but September and October are the prime months. Here in the Eastern U.S. during this time period thousands of hawks, eagles, falcons, kites and vultures make their way south along ridges of the Appalachian Mountains or along the Atlantic coast. Raptors also migrate through the Central and Western U.S. as well. The most popular time is probably mid-to late September, when thousands of Broad-winged Hawks will migrate south, many times in flocks of hundreds of birds, called kettles. The premier spot for hawk watching in North America is Veracruz, Mexico. Each fall, 4-6 million raptors migrate through Veracruz on their way to winter ranges in Central and South America. Because of the region’s geography, raptors from eastern, central, and western North America converge, providing visitors with a display unequaled anywhere on the planet. 

Hawk watching, as it’s now known, has become quite popular in the past couple decades, with thousands of people visiting designated “Hawk Watches” throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. It doesn’t take much, but a decent pair of binoculars helps. The added bonuses are that you’re usually watching them from very scenic sites during a great time of year, meet some great people, and can see lots of other migrants passing by as well. It’s not unusual to spot a variety of songbirds, waterfowl, monarch butterflies and dragonflies (yes, these migrate as well).

On several occasions I’ve also seen skydivers, several blimps and military fighter jets (including a Stealth). Since most hawk watches are covered by volunteers, it’s also become a very important aspect of citizen science that significantly contributes to critical raptor conservation. The Hawk Migration Association of North America collects hawk count data from almost 200 affiliated raptor monitoring sites throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The organization is a driving force behind the Raptor Population Index (RPI), to promote scientific analysis of hawk count data. It also provides Hawk Count (www.hawkcount.org), a near-real-time international database of hawk counts across the continent. One of these is Hawk Mountain, in SE Pennsylvania, probably the most famous Hawk Watch in America. Its name reflects both its inauspicious past and its very bright future.

Located north of the small village of Kempton, Hawk Mountain was once the site of the slaughter of countless hawks shot down by gunners during the birds’ annual migration along the Appalachian Flyway. Today, however, the ridge that straddles the Berks-Schuylkill County line stands as a shining example of conservation success – a 2,500-acre wildlife refuge known around the world for its groundbreaking role in protecting raptors and their habitat.

The world’s first refuge for birds of prey, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was founded in 1934 by New York conservationist Rosalie Edge after she saw photographs taken by amateur ornithologist Richard Pough. After visiting the mountain, Edge leased approximately 1,400 acres, naming Maurice Broun as Hawk Mountain’s first warden and ending the shooting of raptors on the ridge. Officially incorporated as Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in 1938, today the refuge is widely respected as a leader in raptor conservation and research work. It’s also an excellent destination for experiencing wildlife and the outdoors, offering visitors of all ages the opportunity to catch glimpses of more than 20 different raptors during their annual fall migrations.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, a trip to Hawk Mountain became an annual “migration” for me too. It started with my dad and I in the early 1970’s and 80’s. Then, two decades later, I was excited to introduce Hawk Mountain to my wife Theresa and sister, Cathy, and we tried to continue our tradition of visiting “The Mountain” at least once, every fall. However, back in the day, it was just me, Pa, our gear and food! Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I would eagerly pack our daypack the night before with binoculars, field guides, and lunches and snacks. Our food usually consisted of turkey sandwiches, chips, slices of ring baloney, a few apples and a half gallon of chocolate milk. We would leave before daylight and drive the 2 hours south to Hawk Mountain, from our NE Pennsylvania home. We always left early enough to navigate our way to a Mister Donut shop (precursor of Dunkin Donuts) for an egg sandwich and a jelly-filled doughnut! Pa taught me early on that a good birding trip was only as good as the food you ate along the way! Pa was right, and my wife and sister understand that, even today, “good munchies” are still required for any birding trip we plan together!

Upon our arrival at Hawk Mountain the ritual was always the same-quick bathroom break, pay our entrance fee and head straight to the North Lookout-a good, challenging 1.25 mile hike that ends at a large outcrop of rugged boulders. These massive rocks is your seating for the day-no chairs, benches or picnic tables here. Only rocks to sit on, with sensational 180-degree views of the Kittatinny Ridge straight in front of you, and the valleys below! Here you sit, as Pa, Theresa, Cathy and I have for nearly 40 years. As did thousands of people before us, and thousands of people since. You watch, you look and you listen, as “official counters” shout out migrating birds over distant landmarks, with odd names such as The Pinnacle, Donut, Hunter’s Field and Owl’s Head. It may not be an activity for everyone, but for those who enjoy the outdoors and nature, Hawk Mountain is a magical place. A place to sit, observe, reflect and marvel at these beautiful migrating birds.

Although we now live in Virginia, we’re still blessed with great hawk watching, as we live adjacent to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and have easy access to another fantastic Hawk Watch only 15 minutes from our home, called Rockfish Gap. This site also tabulates big numbers of migrating Broad-winged Hawks (the 2020 count so far is 29,279) each year, and as many as 14 other species as well.

As the official fall season sneaks in today (September 22^nd), the hawks are once again on the move, soaring and winging their way south, thousands of miles to their wintering grounds. They come from the far reaches of Canada and northern U.S., some by themselves, others in large flocks. I know this because, once again, the back of my neck is sore from gazing toward the sky….I wouldn’t want it any other way! Cheers!

As I watched from my vista along the Blue Ridge Parkway on an early Sunday morning, the fog rolled through the valley like a slow motion wave on the ocean. The Blue Ridge Mountains held their towering grip over the valleys below, not allowing the advancing mist to creep up its slopes as the sun began to burn through.

Traversing nearly 470 miles up, down and in some cases through the Appalachian Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of America’s most beautiful scenic routes. The route has ending points near Cherokee, North Carolina, and Waynesboro, Virginia. Although it was originally created as a jobs project, the route remains well traveled by those looking for a scenic view of the mountains in the southern United States. It is generally not hard to find your way around the Blue Ridge Parkway. Each mile of the journey has a designated mile marker and most attractions have been noted by the mile marker they are closest to. Also, at each entryway to the Blue Ridge Parkway is a signpost pointing north and south. South will take you toward Cherokee and north toward Waynesboro.

The Blue Ridge Parkway began construction on September 11, 1935. At this point, the United States was struggling to pull itself out of the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed for a number of different public works and highway infrastructure projects, including the Blue Ridge Parkway. Over the years, construction peaked and slowed, with the last major section completed in 1987, more than 50 years after the first section of road was put down.

As you travel along the Parkway there are many overlooks to pull off the road and enjoy the views, stretch your legs or even go for a hike. Since the Blue Ridge Parkway is owned and operated by the National Park Service (NPS), there are plenty of places where the park service owns adjoining lands to enjoy passive outdoor recreation. Since we’re very fortunate to live so close, I venture up there several times a year to go birding, take some photos or just wander. If you go early in the morning, or late afternoon, you have a good chance of spotting a variety of birds, deer or even Black Bear. With viewscapes looking in many directions, abundant wildlife viewing opportunities and a rich, cultural history, the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of America’s most treasured drives! If you find yourself heading down this way, take a few hours to get off the major highways and detour yourself along the tops of the Blue Ridge Mountains! Enjoy!

At precisely 5:43 pm today, Saturday, June 20, 2020, we mark the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere-the day with the maximum amount of daylight hours where we live. While we celebrate the beginning of our summer, my family and friends in Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, are marking the exact opposite-their winter solstice, or their shortest day of the year.

Most of us probably never think of ourselves as being passengers on-board a spinning planet that whips around on its axis of rotation once every 24 hours, or that travels 970 million kilometers on its 365-day journey around the sun. But we are! If the earth’s axis of rotation was perpendicular to the sun-earth line, we would have no solstices and no strong seasonal effects. However, Earth’s rotational axis — the imaginary line through our planet’s center and the geographic north and south poles — isn’t exactly at a right angle to the planet’s orbital path around the sun. Instead, it’s tilted at an angle of about 23.5 degrees from vertical— possibly as the result of a collision with another planet-sized object billions of years ago, when the solar system was forming

The summer solstice occurs at the moment in our 365-day year, when that tilt toward the sun is at a maximum. On this day, today, the June solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that our world’s North Pole is leaning most toward the sun. As seen from Earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23.5 degrees north of the equator, at an imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Cancer– named after the constellation Cancer the Crab.. This is as far north as the sun ever gets. As Earth orbits the sun over the course of each year, its axis always points at the same direction in space. That means the Northern Hemisphere is angled toward the sun for half the year and angled away from the sun for the other half.

“Solstice” is derived from the Latin words “sol” (sun) and “sister” (to make stand). To early astronomers, it literally meant the moment in which they observed the sun “standing still in the sky.” After this date, the days start getting “shorter,” i.e., the length of daylight starts to decrease, and although we now call it our “summer season,” we’re actually headed toward the next seasonal change, the autumnal equinox (September 22^nd in 2020), commonly called Fall-when the days and nights have equal amount of daylight and darkness-12 hours.

Ancient cultures knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. They built monuments, such as Stonehenge, to follow the sun’s yearly progress. Native American tribes of the Bighorn Mountains in present-day Wyoming once constructed stone wheels with 28 spokes in tribute to the Summer Solstice. This “medicine wheel” was aligned with sunrise and sunset on Solstice. Constructed at the top of a mountain range, the structure is only accessible during the summer months. Similar wheels have been found across South Dakota, Montana, and parts of Canada.

We refer to today as the “longest day of the year,” the day the “sun stands still in the sky.” Enjoy it-Celebrate it! Get Out and About today!

Chincoteague Island is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The name chincoteague meant “Beautiful land across the water” in the language of the Native Americans who lived in the area-primarily the indigenous Assateague people. For visitors to this popular destination, there still seems to be some confusion of these two names-primarily when it comes to geography, so let’s try and clarify which is which, and where is where-me included!

First, they are both part of a chain of sandy barrier islands separating the mainland from the Atlantic Ocean. Assateague Island, on the ocean side, is a 37-mile long and skinny island that extends northward towards Ocean City, Maryland. Most of Assateague Island is protected parkland by the National Park Service’s Assateague Island National Seashore. Chincoteague Island sits immediately west of Assateague’s southern tip, protected from the ocean by Assateague. It rests comfortably within Chincoteague Bay. To add a bit more confusion to the mix, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains its Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island directly across a short causeway from Chincoteague Island and the town of Chincoteague. Got all that? Assateague is an island. Chincoteague is an island, a town, a bay and a wildlife refuge.

Even so, Chincoteague it still manages to hold onto a small-town feel unlike its Maryland and Delaware counterparts further up the Atlantic coast. This can probably be attributed to geographic isolation and government ownership of its beach. There will never be any commercial development allowed to build ocean-front hotels, boardwalks or any other businesses along the ocean waterfront here. The most famous residents, and attraction to this area, have four legs-the wild ponies.

Ponies have occupied Assateague Island since the colonial era although nobody really knows exactly how or when they arrived. The standing theory, and one that seems more exciting for tourists, is that they escaped Spanish galleons that shipwrecked off-shore.

Also “wild” ponies seem a bit of an exaggeration unless one defines wild to mean “mellow ponies without saddles.” Take the Assateague ponies five miles inland, drop them in a large field and nobody would bother to give them a passing glance. Stick the very same ponies on an island, combine them with romantic tales of Spanish shipwrecks and an iconic children’s book (Misty of Chincoteague-1947) and following movie (Misty-1961), then watch tourists gawk! Nothing has done more to transform Chincoteague from a fishing village focused on the bounty of the sea into a tourist destination harvesting travelers more than the renowned Misty mystique.

But it’s the natural features of the area-vast beach stretches and coastal salt marshes that attract thousands of migrating and breeding birds-and the reason I visit the Chincoteague-Assateague area as well. However, you must be patient, since there can be crowds of people coming to see the “wild ponies” and visiting the recreation beach. Even though it was fairly busy with people (there’s only one road in and out) the last weekend in May when I visited, I still managed to see 103 different species of birds-not too bad for trying to social distance from everyone else!

One of my favorite groups of birds in North America is the grosbeaks. These robust, colorful, and sometimes, very musical birds, can be found from the west coast to the east coast, and from Canada to Mexico. Specific species may use a variety of habitats during breeding and migration. Common members include Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Pine Grosbeak and two Mexican species that rarely wander north into the southern U.S.-the Yellow Grosbeak and Crimson-collared Grosbeak.

GROSBEAKS get their name from the French grosbec, from “gros” meaning thick and “bec” meaning beak.

The beaks of these birds are adapted to eating seeds, including those of trees such as elms, as well as buds and flowers. In addition, they also eat a variety of insects, including beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and many others-spiders and snails are also a part of their diet. In the late summer and fall they may feed heavily on berries and small fruits. Young are fed mostly insects.

The most common breeding species where I live is the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The males are a striking black and white color with a splash of red on their chest, usually in a V-shape. One gruesome folk nickname of this bird is “cutthroat.” The females are brown streaked with faint yellow wing linings. They’re usually found in deciduous forests, old fields and overgrown orchards. But as fall gives way to winter, another grosbeak may make a rare appearance!

Every winter I wait patiently, hoping to be invaded by one of the coolest of its kind, the Evening Grosbeak! Here in the east, these seed-eating machines will infrequently venture south from Canada in search of food, raiding backyard bird feeders like small swarms of locust. The males’ handsome gold, black and white markings make them one of the most popular winter time birds!

When I was kid growing up in NE Pennsylvania in the 1970’s and early 80’s, every winter we would have hordes of Evening Grosbeaks drop in to gorge on our sunflower seeds. It wouldn’t be unusual to have flocks of 50+ drop in unexpected, feed ravenously, then quickly disappear.  Unfortunately, in the last 20 years the population of Evening Grosbeaks has been declining throughout their range. Scientists believe the main reasons for their decline is due to habitat loss in their northern breeding forests and pesticides used to control spruce budworm, an important food source for them, and other northern bird species.

My birding year, and outdoor adventures, would not be complete if I didn’t get a chance to see at least one Grosbeak, every year…….and maybe, just maybe, when the cold winds blow down from Canada, I may get another look at those eye-catching winter visitors from the north! Enjoy the Outdoors!