Wonders of Spring

 

Male Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea).
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

The world is awash with wonders, big and small.  As spring has unfurled and we have gotten out in the woods these wonders have revealed themselves.  

 Tiny wasps are out and laying their eggs on plants.  The wasps synthesize and inject plant hormones at the site of egg deposition, and this causes a proliferation of plant tissue resulting in galls.  The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the galls and grow.  The larvae then metamorphose into a mature wasps that chew their way out of the gall.  Oaks (Quercus sp.) are common hosts for gall wasps. 

Lobed Oak Gall Wasp (Andricus quercusstrobilanus) Gall.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

We found two distinctive galls on oaks this spring.  One was produced by the Lobed Oak Gall Wasp (Andricus quercusstrobilanus).  The woody, polyhedral gall has multiple chambers that taper down to their common attachment point on the stem of an Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata).  Each chamber hosted a single wasp larva.  In the Lobed Oak Galls we found the wasps had already emerged because each chamber had a small exit hole. 

Wool Sower Gall Wasp (Callirhytis seminator) Gall.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Internal structure of Wool Sower Gall Wasp Gall.
Salisbury Greenway, Salisbury, North Carolina. 

A second gall was made by the Wool Sower Gall Wasp (Callirhytis seminator).  The gall was on a White Oak (Quercus alba), the usual host for this wasp and was about two inches in diameter. This gall was interesting because it was white and fuzzy, very unlike the Lobed Oak Gall.  The gall contained many small brown structures each of which had a single wasp larvae.  We never did see the tiny adult wasp that made either of these galls, but we know they are around. 

Catbriar (Smilax sp.) young fruits. 
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Catbriar mature fruits.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Catbriar (Smilax sp.) is an evergreen vine with sharp spines.  The vines sported new growth and was in flower and early fruit.  One vine had both tiny new fruits and mature fruits from last year.  

American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) bark. 
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

American Sycamore (Plantanus occidentalis) trunks have beautiful bark. On a mature tree the young bark near the top is white, older parts of the trunk are mottled with patches ranging from white to green to brown that are described as camouflage.  The oldest bark is dark brown and scaly.  

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus). 
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) butterflies are flying.  These large black butterflies have a distinctive pattern of white markings and the characteristic swallowtails.  They lay their eggs and the larvae develop on Northern Spicebush (Lindera benzoin).  

Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis).
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Asian Lady Beetles (Harmonia axyridis) are our familiar Lady Bugs. These well-known insects are native to eastern Asia and because they are voracious predators of aphids have been introduced around the world as a form of biological pest control.  The bright orange and black coloration is a warning signal to potential predators that they taste bad.  This point was dramatically brought home when a friend who likes to eat things from the wild popped an Asian Lady Beetle into his mouth.  He instantly started to spit out beetle parts, to choke, spit and generally suffer from trying to consume an Asian Lady Beetle. 

Green Treefrog (Dryophutes cinereus) in a frog tube.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans).
Six Mile Creek Greenway, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Northern Cricket Frog.
Six Mile Creek Greenway, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Frogs are calling and hoping around the wetlands.  A Green Treefrog (Dryophytes cinereus) was using a plastic pipe as a safe perch. Northern Cricket Frogs (Acris crepitans) had just crawled from a vernal pool.  Some of these tiny frogs are plain brown and others are brown with a bright green Y on their back.  

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea).
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons (Nyctanassa violacea) haunt the swamp, stalking crayfish.  These short-necked, big-eyed herons do indeed hunt at night but are sometimes abroad in the day. 

 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) collecting lichens.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher approaching its nest.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on its nest.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on its nest.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea) are among the earliest migrating songbirds to arrive in the spring.  They spend the winter in Florida and points south and on their return waste no time in starting their nests.  Blue-gray Gnatcatchers collect spider and Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) silk.  They use silk to hold together lichens that make up their nests.  They are tiny birds and build a tiny nest that looks like a lichen-covered lump on a branch. 

 

Male Prothonotary Warbler with its bands.
Catawba College Ecological Preserve. 
Salisbury, North Carolina.

Another small bird that returns from the tropics is the Protonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea).  They breed in southeastern swamps after spending the winter in Central American and northern South America.  Protonotaries are golden-yellow with black beaks, eyes and legs.  Their loud song echoes through the wetlands as males set up their breeding territories.  This spring a male Prothonotary Warbler was defending an area near where he was hatched.  Catawba College biology professor Dr. Joe Poston banded this bird with a unique pattern of plastic and metal bands in April 2024.  Because of these bands this particular Protonotary can be identified in the field with binoculars.  This bird continues to return to his home swamp and may do so for years.

These are just some of the wonders we have seen this spring by walking the woods, fields and swamps near our home.