Hawk update

The presumed male shrieking from the top of a loblolly pine on May 5

The red-shouldered hawks that built a nest beside our driveway in April are still here. With the deciduous foliage now completely mature, it is very difficult to see the nest, but we occasionally see the adults coming and going. On June 1, I saw the presumed female leaving, and I could hear soft chirping coming from the nest. I moved around and eventually found a small window in the foliage through which I could see the nest. As I suspected, there was a chick! It was very wobbly and seemed to be having some trouble holding its head up, so I suspect it was quite young.

The hawk chick on June 1

Today, the male swooped down and spent about five minutes sitting on our concrete bird bath with its wings partially spread as though mantling prey. After it left, I went over to refill the bath and found a depression in the mulch under the bath. It was lined with rabbit fur but appeared to have been disturbed. Perhaps the adult hawk has been harvesting cottontail rabbit kits for its chick. I can only hope so, because an army of young cottontails is the last thing I need in the garden.

The presumed male above the empty rabbit nest today. He has partially spread his wings, similar to the way that hawks “mantle” to hide their prey.

Examination of the hawk nest through binoculars this afternoon showed that the chick is still alive and much larger than it was two weeks ago. It still has a few tufts of down, but it is mostly feathered at this point. I’d guess it won’t be too long until it is fully fledged.

Six on Saturday #85; June 1, 2024

Memorial day is past, and spring is slowly but surely drifting into summer. So far, the weather has been fairly mild, with only one or two days at 90 F (32 C), but I expect the hot weather will be here soon. Six on Saturday this week consists of four plants and two animals. The last photo is slightly gruesome but, I think, quite interesting.

1. Asclepias variegata (redring milkweed)

I love the tightly packed flowers of Asclepias variegata, which give the appearance of large knobby balls at the top of a wiry stem, and I waited about a decade to see them in my garden. A. variegata is the holy grail of eastern North American milkweeds. Unlike some species, it does not spread by creeping rhizomes, and it seems somewhat tricky to pollinate. Nurseries that offer it for sale sometimes sell out in minutes. I first saw it flowering in the wild in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2023 that I managed to get hold of three artifically propagated seedlings. One of them is flowering now.

2. Verbena bonariensis (purpletop vervain)

Verbena bonariensis is a very common garden plant, beloved for its attractiveness to bees and other pollinators. It has a tendency to naturalize in the wild, but it does not seem to be seriously invasive; it’s so open and spindly, it would be hard pressed to choke out any native species. Although plants survive from year to year in my garden, I have not noted any volunteer seedlings yet. Perhaps the heavy layer of mulch on most of my flower beds is not conducive to seed germination.

3. Lysimachia alfredii ‘Night Light’

‘Night Light’ is a newish clone of this Chinese species. It supposedly forms a low ground cover in part shade and flowers all summer long. This is my first year growing it, so we’ll see.

4. Lychnis chalcedonica (Maltese Cross)

A garden classic. I bought two smallish seedlings last year from a vendor at the local farmers market. Both made it through the winter and are starting to form small clumps. L. chalcedonica is related to the larger Lychnis senno and Silene virginica that also grow in my garden.

5. Hyalophora cecropia (cecropia month) hindwing

The giant silkmoths are some of the most beautiful nocturnal visitors to the garden. I have see luna moths (Actias luna) on several occasions, but this is the first evidence I have seen of cecropia moths. Something, maybe a bat, must have caught one, because I found this single hindwing on the driveway. It is still beautiful, and at 6 cm long, evidence of the amazing size of the cecropia moth.

6. Haplotrema concavum (gray-footed lancetooth) eating an eastern worm snake

Haplotrema concavum is a predatory snail that feeds mainly on other snails. I was amazed to find this one eating a dead worm snake. I suppose it must be scavenging, because there’s surely now way a snail could run down a snake.

Jim at Garden Ruminations is the host of Six on Saturday. Head over there to see his Six for this week and find links to the blogs of other participants.