The purpose of this feature is to give scout leaders, educators and naturalists an idea of some of the natural events coming up each month.  We will try to cover a variety of natural events ranging from sky events to calling periods of amphibians, bird and mammal watching tips,  prominent wildflowers and anything else that comes to mind.  We will also note prominent constellations appearing over the eastern horizon at mid-evening each month for our area for those who would like to learn the constellations.  If you have suggestions for other types of natural information you would like to see added to this calendar, let us know!

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Notes From January 2024

January 13th found me standing beside a Sandhill Crane Mitigation Area near Eagleville, Tennessee. The area is great for birding and I wanted to try to get some images of Short-eared Owls there. The owls had been reported for some time in the general vicinity of the mitigation area, but this was the first chance I had to make the two-hour drive up there from Cloudland.

High over the wetland two Northern Harriers, an adult female and a juvenile, were having a dispute that involved some pretty fancy aerobatics. The upper bird in the image below, with a buffy mostly un-streaked breast, is the juvenile. It was approaching the female from behind and above. The female abruptly flipped inverted with her talons up. The maneuverability of these birds, so well utilized in their ability to hunt the grassy wetlands, is amazing! They had a couple of skirmishes without actually locking talons before going their separate ways.

The Harriers were a good sign, as I've often seen Harriers using the same habitat as Short-eared Owls. It's like the Harriers work the day shift and the Short-eared Owls work the night shift. Sometimes the two species spar with each other at shift change.

It was a pretty afternoon and I had lots of birds. I knew that I would probably have to wait till the sun got a little lower before I had much chance to see the owls. After I'd been there a while, I got word that an owl had been seen in a field just a few hundred yards away. I was there a few minutes later and, just after I checked the manual settings on my camera and lens, a Short-eared Owl rose from the field. It circled above the field, catching a final few rays of sunlight.

After the owl had made a couple of circles, it dove down to the field after some kind of prey. When it flew it flew farther away. My subsequent images that afternoon were taken at a greater distance and were not as good, but I'm happy that I had a chance to get a few relatively close shots.

 Short-eared Owls are a winter resident in Tennessee, typically arriving in mid November and leaving in late March. They like open areas, brushy fields and " grass with its feet wet". They tend to like the same habitat as Northern Harriers, and if you see Northern Harriers you may be in a good habitat for Short-eared Owls.

It was nice to see four Sandhill Cranes flying over the Sandhill Crane mitigation area. It seemed to be serving its purpose well. The total acreage is 91 acres, of which 68 acres have been developed as wetland habitat. The wetland habitat modifications were completed in 2021 by RES. It is gratifying to see work like this being done. It was an enjoyable afternoon, and I didn't leave the area and drive home until the last bit of light faded.

On January 20th I decided to go outside and try to spot the planets visible in the predawn sky. A cold front had dropped temperatures down to 5 degrees Fahrenheight. I put on several warm layers, including my warmest coat, before stepping outside with my binoculars. I spotted Venus and used it to guide me to Mercury, which was fairly easy to see in binoculars. Just when I thought it might be too late, I spotted Mars over a notch in the treeline.

Mars will be visible at some time of the night all the way through its next opposition in January 2025 and on till late fall 2025. It will rise fairly close to sunup for a while, so binoculars really help spot it. A good time to start looking for early rising planets is about 40 minutes before sunrise.

Returning to the house that morning I saw that the pond beside the house had completely frozen over! I took this image as the Sun was coming up over the east side of Lookout Mountain.

We found the pond teeming with all sorts of life. At right are some of the creatures we found. All but the dragonfly larva are quite small, less than 3 millimeters in length.

The cyclops, Daphnia and seed shrimp are all freshwater crustaceans. Cyclops are found in still freshwater ponds and lakes. They feed on bacteria, algae and organic debris in the water. Like Daphnia and seed shrimp, they provide an important food source for aquatic insect larvae like dragonfly larvae and for small fish.

Seed shrimp are scavengers that feed on dead plants and animals. They look like tiny flying saucers moving around their habitat.

Daphnia are also called water fleas. Like cyclops, they feed on algae, microscopic animals and organic debris.

The dragonfly larvae are voracious eaters. The larvae will emerge in the spring and become amazing aerial predators, with some of the quickest reaction times In the animal kingdom.

Happily for pond life, water is densest at about 4 degrees Centigrade, or 39 degrees Fahrenheit. This warmer water sinks to the bottom of the pond when the pond ices over. The ice reduces the effects of the wind's convective heat transfer and reduces the mixing of water layers in the pond.

.Sky Events for February 2024:

Recommended:  The Frogs and Toads of North America, Lang Elliott, Houghton Mifflin Co.