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!

Note: You can click on the hyperlinks to learn more about some of the featured items.  To return to the Calendar, hit the "back" button on your browser, NOT the "back" button on the web page.  All charts are available in a "printer friendly" mode, with black stars on a white background.  Left clicking on each chart will take you to a printable black and white image. 

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Notes From August 2020

My route takes me through a variety of habitats. The road winds through small patches of woods before opening out into pasture land used by horses and cattle. Just before that I pass the small wetland shown at right. Part of the fun in beginning before sunrise is that you get to hear the full dawn chorus of the birds. This little wetland is always filled with song as I pass by. Earlier in the summer I rarely passed it without hearing Common Yellowthroats. The Virginia Pines behind the wetland sometimes harbor Brown-headed Nuthatches making their "squeaky-toy" calls.

I discovered a small population of Grasshopper Sparrows in the pastures beyond the wetland, and heard them call frequently earlier in the month. Loggerhead Shrikes leave prey items like Rainbow Scarab Beetles impaled on the barbed wire fence that borders the road.

Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows, Northern Rough-wing Swallows, Cliff Swallows and Purple Martins fly low over the fields and perch on the fences. Many immature swallows are also present this time of year.

The fields and woods are a more muted green in late summer and the pallet seems to shift towards the ends of the spectrum. Bright yellows and purples are everywhere. Goldenrod, Black-eyed Susan, Evening Primrose and various sunflowers provide the yellow. Ironweed, Mistflower, Downy Lobelias and Morning glories add the purples. Patches of Butterfly Weed provide bright orange roadside accents and Cardinal Flowers light up the stream crossings with saturated reds. Queen Anne's Lace, Elderberry, Daisies, Wild Quinine, White Sweet Clover, and Wild Potato Vine add patches of white.

Mushrooms develop very quickly. It only takes a day or two for an emerging Caesar's Mushroom like the one at left to grow to its full size! European species of this mushroom were said to be a favorite dish of the early Caesars, hence the name.

Caesar's Mushrooms are particularly striking when they are just emerging from the ground. The cap is the deepest red at this point and it contrasts with the pale lemon yellow of the stipe and the pure white cup.

Although Caesar's Mushrooms are edible, they are a member of the genus Amanita, which includes some famously deadly mushrooms like the Destroying Angel. Some of the very poisonous members of the genus are quite common and can look similar to this species. Therefore none of the field guides recommend harvesting it to eat. Amanitas like the Destroying Angel attack the liver. The result damage can necessitate a liver transplant or be fatal. Amanitas are responsible for over ninety percent of mushroom poisoning fatalities.

When I looked it up, I found the scientific name to be Lycoperdon echinatum. The species name, echinatum, sounded familiar, so I looked up the etymology. Echinatum comes from the Greek  word echinos, meaning "sea-urchin" or "hedgehog."

Sea Urchins are in the Class Echinoidea, which comes from the same Greek root. Neat! But what about the Genus for these puffballs, Lycoperdon? What is its etymology?

Here's where it gets a little strange. The Genus was established in 1700 by Joseph Tornefort (1656-1708), a French botanist who is said to be the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. The etymology of the Genus Lycoperdon comes from the Greek "lukos" (wolf) and "perdomai"  (emit air from the bowels, to pass intestinal gas). Wait...what?

Apparently some members of the genus have a distinctly bad odor, particularly as the spore-bearing structure ages. I picture the great botanist puzzling over the perfect name for his new Genus. Then, in a flash of insight, he says, "I've got it!" 

Lycoperdon echinatum is listed as odorless, and edible in three out of my four mushroom guides.

I believe that this summer I've had the most cloudy nights of any summer that I can remember. There are a lot of very bright emission nebulae in the summer sky and I decided to photograph The Cocoon Nebula, IC 5146. The Cocoon Nebula does not really look like a cocoon to me. To me its overall shape reminds me of the head of an Eastern Screech-Owl.

The Cocoon Nebula is located in Cygnus, and is about 4,000 light-years distant. The central star, Couteau 2320, is over seven times the Sun's diameter and its total energy output is almost 20,000 times that of the Sun! It is only about 100,000 years old. Its radiation causes the hydrogen cloud that surrounds it to glow red in the light of hydrogen alpha. Also seen in the image are two other types of nebulae. The bluish reflection nebula shines by reflected starlight and is blue for the same reason our sky is blue. Blue light scatters more than other regions of the spectrum. Also seen are dark nebulae seen in silhouette.

The Cocoon Nebula is a stellar nursery that is about 15 light-years in diameter. Stars are being formed within the nebula and hundreds of young stellar objects have been found within its borders.

In fact, even a good quality 60mm refractor will give a better view of the ringed planet than Galileo was ever able to see. Saturn was a puzzle to him. In his low-resolution telescope the planet appeared as three separate discs - one large disc with a smaller disc on each side of it. A few years later, he returned to look at the planet when the rings presented edge-on. His two attendant discs had disappeared! He never solved the riddle. He would have loved to see the view available to just about any amateur astronomer today.

Details can be seen well in larger telescopes in good seeing conditions. If you are not used to viewing Mars it will appear quite small through the eyepiece. After all, its diameter is only a little over half that of Earth. Picking out the subtle details on Mars takes patience. Plan on spending some time viewing it and wait for moments when the atmosphere steadies.

On the evening of September 5th the Moon will pass by Mars only about 1/2 of a degree away! Look to the east around 11:00pm EDT for our area.

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