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April 20, 2000 - Warmth brings out winged wonders6A 6 The Suffolk Times'- April 20; 2'000 armth brims out wined wonde-r.Ls Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Chickadees are cavity nesters. Usually it's an old abandoned woodpecker nest or perhaps a hollow fence post or even one of many nesting boxes. If all these possibilities fail, they will .excavate a cavity by "picking out" the soft parts of a rotten limb or tree to build in. In between the balmy days and snow showers of last week we were able to eat outside and enjoy the com- ing of spring. Besides the greening of the world around us, the insect world was starting to move. Squadrons of tiny flies of some sort danced in a lit- tle circle alongside' one of the rhodo- dendrons and I even had an ordinary fly light on the table where we were eating. We had a leisurely lunch and as we sat there we FOCUS saw the mourn- ing cloak butter - ON flies flitting NATURE through the woods alongside by Paul the house. This is Stoutenburgh not unusual, for the mourning cloak often comes out of hibernation throughout the winter when there's a warm day. This beautiful purple -black butterfly with its cream - colored bor- der along its wings is always an excit- ing welcome on a winter's walk. Today they were showing off in the warmth of the day as they passed through the woods. Butterflies have an interesting back- ground. Their wings are made up of little scales, one on top of the other, something like shingles on a roof. The color patterns play different roles; some, like the dark of the mourning cloak, absorb heat and help these deli- cate dancers move about in the win- ter. Other wing patterns sometimes represent eyes and faces that are thought to help scare off predators. We're also told that others with their iridescence and handsome colors are thought to attract the opposite sex. Some butterflies have evolved a unique defense by incorporating a poison or bad taste into their wings and scales. This is the way the monarch butterfly protects itself from redators. We all know this handsome range- and -black butterfly and its leg - ndary history of migration to Mexico ach year, but few realize that in the .ngs of these beautiful butterflies lies repellent so that when a bird or redator attempts to eat it, it will soon pit it out and never touch another onarch again. At the base of the wings of many butterflies are scent glands that attract the opposite sex. 'Ibis scent can be picked up by the butterfly or moth miles away. Seems incredible. As the days grow longer they set in motion ancient instincts to reproduce. These instincts reveal themselves in many different ways, some seen, some unseen. They range from our cows bel lowing as they come into heat to the dainty little chickadee looking for a homestead. I witnessed this in action the other day. When I was down by the pond sit- ting in one of the old beach chairs watching the world go by, along came a pair of chickadees to investigate a dead broken -off limb where their home had been fast year. Seeing it was now destroyed, they went on their way Later in the day I came across them excavating a new home by the cow barn. Chickadees will do this when they can't Hind a ready -made den or cavity. The dead wood has to be soft enough so it can be picked out rather than chipped into as a woodpecker would do. I watched with interest as Mrs. Chickadee plucked out the soft interior of the dead limb. Hopefully this will be their new nesting cavity. Chickadees often use horse hair to line their nests but seeing we don't have a horse any longer, perhaps they'll use the rubbed -off cow hair tha the cows are now trying to remove. Their hair can be seen in chunks caught on the bark of trees where they've been rubbing. Each bird will select its time of the year to nest; the first, as I've men- tioned before, is the great horned owl that nests in the cold months of January, February or March. They usu. ally use an old crow's or hawk's nest seeing they don't build a nest them- selves (How many of you have gone out to see the great horned owl's nest on the osprey platform at Orient Beach State Park just past the park buildings on your right as you enter ?) As the springtime moves in, and the days grow longer, the cavity nesters start building. These would be the chickadees, titmice and woodpeckers of all sorts. In their cavities they are protected from the cold and therefore they can start earlier than the others. ,Then we have the doves, the robins, the mockingbirds, the redwings — all follow, each in their own style of nest. 6A 6 The Suffolk Times'- April 20; 2'000 armth brims out wined wonde-r.Ls Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Chickadees are cavity nesters. Usually it's an old abandoned woodpecker nest or perhaps a hollow fence post or even one of many nesting boxes. If all these possibilities fail, they will .excavate a cavity by "picking out" the soft parts of a rotten limb or tree to build in. In between the balmy days and snow showers of last week we were able to eat outside and enjoy the com- ing of spring. Besides the greening of the world around us, the insect world was starting to move. Squadrons of tiny flies of some sort danced in a lit- tle circle alongside' one of the rhodo- dendrons and I even had an ordinary fly light on the table where we were eating. We had a leisurely lunch and as we sat there we FOCUS saw the mourn- ing cloak butter - ON flies flitting NATURE through the woods alongside by Paul the house. This is Stoutenburgh not unusual, for the mourning cloak often comes out of hibernation throughout the winter when there's a warm day. This beautiful purple -black butterfly with its cream - colored bor- der along its wings is always an excit- ing welcome on a winter's walk. Today they were showing off in the warmth of the day as they passed through the woods. Butterflies have an interesting back- ground. Their wings are made up of little scales, one on top of the other, something like shingles on a roof. The color patterns play different roles; some, like the dark of the mourning cloak, absorb heat and help these deli- cate dancers move about in the win- ter. Other wing patterns sometimes represent eyes and faces that are thought to help scare off predators. We're also told that others with their iridescence and handsome colors are thought to attract the opposite sex. Some butterflies have evolved a unique defense by incorporating a poison or bad taste into their wings and scales. This is the way the monarch butterfly protects itself from redators. We all know this handsome range- and -black butterfly and its leg - ndary history of migration to Mexico ach year, but few realize that in the .ngs of these beautiful butterflies lies repellent so that when a bird or redator attempts to eat it, it will soon pit it out and never touch another onarch again. At the base of the wings of many butterflies are scent glands that attract the opposite sex. 'Ibis scent can be picked up by the butterfly or moth miles away. Seems incredible. As the days grow longer they set in motion ancient instincts to reproduce. These instincts reveal themselves in many different ways, some seen, some unseen. They range from our cows bel lowing as they come into heat to the dainty little chickadee looking for a homestead. I witnessed this in action the other day. When I was down by the pond sit- ting in one of the old beach chairs watching the world go by, along came a pair of chickadees to investigate a dead broken -off limb where their home had been fast year. Seeing it was now destroyed, they went on their way Later in the day I came across them excavating a new home by the cow barn. Chickadees will do this when they can't Hind a ready -made den or cavity. The dead wood has to be soft enough so it can be picked out rather than chipped into as a woodpecker would do. I watched with interest as Mrs. Chickadee plucked out the soft interior of the dead limb. Hopefully this will be their new nesting cavity. Chickadees often use horse hair to line their nests but seeing we don't have a horse any longer, perhaps they'll use the rubbed -off cow hair tha the cows are now trying to remove. Their hair can be seen in chunks caught on the bark of trees where they've been rubbing. Each bird will select its time of the year to nest; the first, as I've men- tioned before, is the great horned owl that nests in the cold months of January, February or March. They usu. ally use an old crow's or hawk's nest seeing they don't build a nest them- selves (How many of you have gone out to see the great horned owl's nest on the osprey platform at Orient Beach State Park just past the park buildings on your right as you enter ?) As the springtime moves in, and the days grow longer, the cavity nesters start building. These would be the chickadees, titmice and woodpeckers of all sorts. In their cavities they are protected from the cold and therefore they can start earlier than the others. ,Then we have the doves, the robins, the mockingbirds, the redwings — all follow, each in their own style of nest. 6A 6 The Suffolk Times'- April 20; 2'000 armth brims out wined wonde-r.Ls Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Chickadees are cavity nesters. Usually it's an old abandoned woodpecker nest or perhaps a hollow fence post or even one of many nesting boxes. If all these possibilities fail, they will .excavate a cavity by "picking out" the soft parts of a rotten limb or tree to build in. In between the balmy days and snow showers of last week we were able to eat outside and enjoy the com- ing of spring. Besides the greening of the world around us, the insect world was starting to move. Squadrons of tiny flies of some sort danced in a lit- tle circle alongside' one of the rhodo- dendrons and I even had an ordinary fly light on the table where we were eating. We had a leisurely lunch and as we sat there we FOCUS saw the mourn- ing cloak butter - ON flies flitting NATURE through the woods alongside by Paul the house. This is Stoutenburgh not unusual, for the mourning cloak often comes out of hibernation throughout the winter when there's a warm day. This beautiful purple -black butterfly with its cream - colored bor- der along its wings is always an excit- ing welcome on a winter's walk. Today they were showing off in the warmth of the day as they passed through the woods. Butterflies have an interesting back- ground. Their wings are made up of little scales, one on top of the other, something like shingles on a roof. The color patterns play different roles; some, like the dark of the mourning cloak, absorb heat and help these deli- cate dancers move about in the win- ter. Other wing patterns sometimes represent eyes and faces that are thought to help scare off predators. We're also told that others with their iridescence and handsome colors are thought to attract the opposite sex. Some butterflies have evolved a unique defense by incorporating a poison or bad taste into their wings and scales. This is the way the monarch butterfly protects itself from redators. We all know this handsome range- and -black butterfly and its leg - ndary history of migration to Mexico ach year, but few realize that in the .ngs of these beautiful butterflies lies repellent so that when a bird or redator attempts to eat it, it will soon pit it out and never touch another onarch again. At the base of the wings of many butterflies are scent glands that attract the opposite sex. 'Ibis scent can be picked up by the butterfly or moth miles away. Seems incredible. As the days grow longer they set in motion ancient instincts to reproduce. These instincts reveal themselves in many different ways, some seen, some unseen. They range from our cows bel lowing as they come into heat to the dainty little chickadee looking for a homestead. I witnessed this in action the other day. When I was down by the pond sit- ting in one of the old beach chairs watching the world go by, along came a pair of chickadees to investigate a dead broken -off limb where their home had been fast year. Seeing it was now destroyed, they went on their way Later in the day I came across them excavating a new home by the cow barn. Chickadees will do this when they can't Hind a ready -made den or cavity. The dead wood has to be soft enough so it can be picked out rather than chipped into as a woodpecker would do. I watched with interest as Mrs. Chickadee plucked out the soft interior of the dead limb. Hopefully this will be their new nesting cavity. Chickadees often use horse hair to line their nests but seeing we don't have a horse any longer, perhaps they'll use the rubbed -off cow hair tha the cows are now trying to remove. Their hair can be seen in chunks caught on the bark of trees where they've been rubbing. Each bird will select its time of the year to nest; the first, as I've men- tioned before, is the great horned owl that nests in the cold months of January, February or March. They usu. ally use an old crow's or hawk's nest seeing they don't build a nest them- selves (How many of you have gone out to see the great horned owl's nest on the osprey platform at Orient Beach State Park just past the park buildings on your right as you enter ?) As the springtime moves in, and the days grow longer, the cavity nesters start building. These would be the chickadees, titmice and woodpeckers of all sorts. In their cavities they are protected from the cold and therefore they can start earlier than the others. ,Then we have the doves, the robins, the mockingbirds, the redwings — all follow, each in their own style of nest.