Milkweed is celebrated for being monarch butterfly caterpillars’ exclusive food. However, when you look closely, you’ll see a milkweed patch supports a diverse community of nectar sippers, leaf munchers, and pollinator predators. What will you find on a milkweed patch exploration? Here are some creatures to look for:
Virginia ctenucha moth Great spangled fritillary butterfly
Milkweed flowers have especially sweet and plentiful nectar that attracts bees, wasps, butterflies, and moths.
Some insects absorb toxins from milkweed’s milk-colored sticky latex sap and thus are toxic themselves. They warn predators of their distastefulness with bold orange/red and black coloration.
Goldenrod crab spiders ambush milkweed’s pollinating insects, as do other predators like robber flies, dragonflies, and wasps. Crab spider mothers prefer milkweed as a place to lay their eggs, and then they guard them until they hatch.
Here are some books about the milkweed patch ecosystem:
Four Winds celebrated 20 years of community-based natural science education last month! Friends old and new gathered at Silver Lake State Park in Barnard, VT to enjoy the beautiful location and perfect weather.
Teams of two played corn hole while children experimented with loose parts and created giant bubbles. Families followed a story walk around the lawn, which attracted other guests visiting the park, interested to hear what our party was celebrating. One woman, a retired science teacher from New York, remarked how she wished she had had the Four Winds Nature Program in her school when she was teaching.
Cofounder and Executive Director Lisa Purcell shared words of gratitude and invited everyone to raise their hands in affirmation of nature-loving statements, such as, “Raise your hand if you’ve ever stopped on the side of the road to gather goldenrod galls.” Naturally, the majority of hands went up in response to each statement.
The puppet show was epic, with incredible writing and acting by Four Winds cofounder Deb Parrella and Business Manager Marie Johnson. The many Four Winds puppet friends had lots to say about our organization’s long, storied history. One little partygoer was especially inspired to put on his own show afterwards – a future Nature Program volunteer in the making!
The cupcakes, from The Flour Girl Bakeshop in West Rupert, VT were delicious and exquisitely decorated. Every guest received raffle tickets and entered to win 15 prizes donated by local artists and businesses. The tickets were drawn with the help of a crew of kids, who definitely didn’t peek when selecting 😉
We enjoyed celebrating with those who were able to join us! We’re so grateful for all your support of Four Winds, and we look forward to many more years of exploring our wonderful natural world together.
Ahh, the dog days of summer! July 3 to August 11, the hottest, most sweltering time of the year. Ancient people noticed that the brightest star in the sky, Sirius the Dog Star, appeared just before dawn during this period. They believed the glow from Sirius (from the Ancient Greek word for “scorching”) intensified the heat of summer days.
Your pooch may cool off by lying flat on the kitchen floor or finding a muddy puddle to roll in. What are some ways people can stay cool during these dog days?
Find some shade!
Though the air temperature may be only a little cooler in the shade, typically 2-9 degrees, shade can make it feel as much as 20 degrees cooler because your body does not have to absorb the solar radiation directly. If you find shade beneath trees, added bonus: as trees release water vapor through evapotranspiration, the process draws heat out of the air and lowers the surrounding temperature.
Play in water!
Taking a dip or running through a sprinkler are very effective ways to cool off because the cold water will absorb heat from your body. Then, when you step out of the water and it starts to evaporate off your skin, that cools you off, too. Find some more suggestions for water play here.
Take a nap!
Some cultures in hot places have developed a tradition of taking a break during the hottest part of the day. The good news is, if you rest during the middle of the day, you might have more energy later on. Try it and see!
Eat spicy food. Spicy food can make you sweat. Sweating helps your body regulate its temperature, so it helps you cool off. Experiment by eating some spicy Indian, Thai, or Mexican foods and see if you feel cooler.
Wear light, flowy clothing. You might assume shorts and t-shirts are the best things to wear when it’s hot out, but some cultures in hot climates have wardrobes that look very different. Light colors reflect sunlight while darker colors absorb more light energy.
Of course, drink a lot of water to stay hydrated and stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. That is good advice for your dog, too.
And if you want to try to spot Sirius the Dog Star, go outside a half hour or so before the sun rises and look for the bright, bluish star on the southeastern horizon!
These are all flowering plants that lack the green pigment chlorophyll. Because they cannot make their own food through photosynthesis, these heterotrophs (“other-feeding”) have to get energy from other organisms and can thrive in very shady areas.
One group of heterotrophs, root parasites like beechdrops, broomrape and bear corn, get their nutrients directly from the roots of another plant.
Beechdrops insert a root-like structure, haustorium – Latin for “one who draws, drains or drinks” – into the roots of American beech trees to absorb nutrients.
A one-flowered broomrape seedling must find suitable plant roots to parasitize (sedums, saxifrages, goldenrods, and others) within a few days of germinating or it will die.
Bear corn grows only where it can be connected to oak roots.
Other heterotrophs, also known as fungus flowers like ghost plant (Monotropa uniflora) and pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys), receive nourishment indirectly from fungi connected to a photosynthetic plant. These mycoheterotrophs get all their energy from fungi without providing anything in exchange (unlike mutualistic mycorrhizal relationships).
Ghost plants get their nutrients indirectly from beech and pine trees through an intermediary fungus.
Often found under pine trees, pinesap taps into mycorrhizal fungi to obtain nutrients.
Celebrate summer blooms in bouquets! How many different kinds of flowers can you pick? How do they smell different? How does the bouquet look with different stem lengths and flower positions? (Only pick a flower when you see there are many others and never take more than half.)
Here’s a sampling of what’s flowering in northern VT now:
Display your bouquet inside and consider making them on a regular basis to track the changing blooms throughout the summer. You might want to record the timing of flowers in your bouquet to compare to future years, like the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium. Since 1903 Fairbanks volunteers have collected wildflowers to display at the Wildflower Table and kept a record of their first bloom date.
Wildflower Table at Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium
The bright yellow of an American Goldfinch, the happy “Hi sweetie” of a Black-capped Chickadee, the wild laugh of a Northern Flicker! One of the easiest ways to connect children with nature is through birdwatching. You don’t need special equipment, extensive knowledge, or a trip deep into the wilderness. Some of the most exciting birding adventures can happen right in your own neighborhood!
Why Birding is Great for Kids
Backyard birding offers children the opportunity to slow down, observe, and develop a deeper appreciation for the natural world. Children naturally enjoy searching for movement, identifying colors, and listening for different bird calls.
Birding also helps young explorers build a connection to nearby nature. As children begin to recognize familiar species, they gain confidence and their excitement grows. Suddenly, a walk to the mailbox becomes an opportunity to spot an American Robin collecting worms or a Blue Jay calling from the treetops.
Some Common Backyard Birds
Most folks recognize the red-breasted American Robin, the noisy Blue Jay, and the brilliant Northern Cardinal. Watch for the little fierce Red-throated Hummingbird visiting the flower garden. Listen, too, for the “chick-a-dee dee dee” call of the Black-capped Chickadee, the drumming of the Downy Woodpecker, and the hollow coo of the Mourning Dove. You may be surprised by how many birds children already know!
Interactive Birding Activities
Go on a Bird Scavenger Hunt – Challenge children to find birds with specific colors, beaks, behaviors, or songs. Can children spot birds with thick beaks? Thin beaks? A bird hopping? A bird carrying nesting materials? A bird singing their own name?
Start a Bird Journal –Provide children with a notebook where they can draw birds, write observations, or tally how many different species they see.
Listen for Bird Songs –Close your eyes and listen. How many different bird sounds can you hear? Bird calls are often easier to notice than the birds themselves! The Merlin app is a great resource for identifying bird songs.
Building a Lifelong Connection to Nature
Birding teaches children that nature is all around them. By taking a few moments each day to observe birds, families can create meaningful outdoor experiences and foster a sense of wonder that lasts a lifetime.
Heather has loved fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, since childhood when her dad told her stories about a lightning bug named Larry who sang a little song.
Fireflies are neither flies nor true bugs. Rather, they are beetles, but their name is accurate in describing their ability to produce light. While not all of the around 2,000 firefly species worldwide flash, all firefly larvae (aka glowworms) display bioluminescence. Fireflies likely evolved the ability to light up as a way to ward off predators, but now they mostly use their “lightning” to find mates. Each firefly species has a unique light pattern. Generally the males fly and display their specific flashes, while females on the ground respond with the matching pattern. Although some female fireflies, “femmes fatales,” prey on male fireflies of a different genus by copying their light signals.
How do fireflies make light? They have a special organ in their abdomens that combines the chemical luciferin, luciferases enzymes, and oxygen to produce light. This “lantern” organ contains lots of air tubes and reflector cells, and the firefly can regulate the amount of air coming in through the air tubes. Fireflies are extremely efficient—somewhere between 90-96% of their chemical energy is converted to visible light.
Warm June evenings bring the bright and brief firefly season. The next few weeks is the time for adult firefly observations. Just before dark, can you see them emerging from their daytime hideouts? Can you notice different flash patterns? How about creating your own flashlight firefly language?
What are these small pineapple-looking structures at the end of white pine branches?
White pine male cones are opening and releasing pollen! While these clusters of male cones are roughly pineapple-shaped, the word “pineapple” was first used in 14th century English to describe female pine cones (medieval botanists often used “apple” to refer to any unfamiliar fruit). Then “pineapple” was used by European explorers in the 1600s as they thought the tropical fruit resembled a large pine cone.
White pines bear male and female cones on the same tree. Male cones have papery scales that open to disperse loads of light yellow pollen to the wind. You may see it on the edges of puddles or covering your windshield.
White pine male cones are only around in late spring/early summer, while female cones develop over two summers. After the pollen is dispersed, look below white pine trees for a carpet of shed male cones.
“Hilloway, holloway, willowy wee, let’s make the teacher a honeybee!”
Four Winds Nature Program students at Barstow Memorial School in Chittenden, VT recently explored honeybees and other pollinators. They learned about honeybee anatomy by dressing up their teachers – complete with a head, fuzzy thorax, and abdomen; four wings; two antenna; six legs with pollen baskets, pollen combs, and brushes; compound eyes for excellent flower-spying and simple eyes for seeing in the dark hive; a long proboscis for sipping nectar; a honey stomach to carry nectar back to the hive; wax glands; and a stinger.
Students practiced being pollinators by using cotton swabs to gently gather and transfer pollen among dandelions, some wondering if they brought pollen from one species of flower to another, would they create fun new hybrids to find next year?
Students had the most fun practicing the “waggle dance” used in honeybee hives to communicate the location of distant flowers. They took turns gathering “flowers” of different colors and bringing them back to their “hive” then letting their fellow foraging “bees” know how far away and in what direction the flower patches were located. Many agreed with Nellie-Bee from the puppet show, exclaiming, “Being a bee is hard work! We just want to eat honey!”
Upon watching a bumblebee buzzing among the dandelions, the students discussed our very important native pollinators. “I understand how honeybees fly”, said one student, “but how do big ol’ bumbles do that?!”
Honeybees (an introduced species brought to North America by settlers from Europe in the 1600’s for honey and to pollinate crops) are just one of many pollinators. Keep an eye out for some of the around 400 native bee species in the Northeast!
Tricolored Bumble Bee sipping dandelion nectar – learn more about identifying bumblebees in Vermont Center for Ecostudies’ Guide to the Bumble Bees of New England
Faces are all around us if we begin to look for them. Humans brains perceive familiar patterns (often faces) on random stimuli – a phenomenon known as pareidolia. This inclination to recognize patterns and apply meaning likely served as a survival mechanism, enabling people to quickly identify threats.
As you look around outside, what faces do you see? What stories do these faces have to tell?
