This Week at Hilton Pond

Bill Hilton Jr.
Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
York, South Carolina 29745 USA

Orchard Oriole (15-21 June 2007)

A yellow-green bird showed up in our nets one day. Turns out it was a female orchard oriole, a relatively common Carolinas nester we seldom catch and band. For a photo essay about this brightly colored blackbird, please visit the installment for 15-21 June 2007 at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070615.html

As always we include a tally of all birds banded and recaptured, plus a miscellaneous note about ruby-throated hummingbirds.

Figure 1. Despite her yellow-green coloration, the female orchard oriole (Icterus spurius) is actually a member of the blackbird subfamily that includes the common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) and brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). (Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.)

Views Of A Buttonbush, and Pollinators, Too (22-30 June 2007)

This year the last week of June was designated by the U.S. Senate as "National Pollinator Week." To celebrate we went out to see some pollination in action. We came across a stand of buttonbushes, so that shrub and its pollinators are the topics for "This Week at Hilton Pond." For some revealing close-ups of buttonbush's intricate flowers and the insects that make them work, please visit our photo essay for 22-30 June 2007 at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070622.html

As always there's a list of birds banded and recaptured, along with miscellaneous nature notes. The latter includes links to our cumulative 26-year bird banding data for June 1982 through June 2007.

Figure 2. The buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), has an unusual white flower head that attracts all sorts of pollinators, including the very colorful ailanthus webworm moth, (Atteva punctella). (Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.)

Lions And Tigers And Bears? Oh, No! It's Aphids And Larvae And Ants! (1-7 July 2007)

"This Week at Hilton Pond" we were pruning a forsythia thicket when a sharp pain to the hand led to our discovery of a complex set of interrelationships between ants, aphids, and larvae. For an ultra-close-up photo essay about what we THOUGHT we saw and what was REALLY there, please visit the 1-7 July 2007 edition at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070701.html

As always we include a list of all birds banded, plus a nature note or two.

Figure 3. Many species of ants are known to herd and tend aphids, tiny sap-sucking insects that produce a carbohydrate-rich “honeydew” excretion consumed by their six-legged keepers. (Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.)

See Like A Hummingbird (8-14 July 2007)

Most anyone who likes nature has wished for the opportunity to soar like a hawk, but how many folks would like to be able to see like a hummingbird? That opportunity is just what we offer "This Week at Hilton Pond." Through our photo essay, we simulate what a ruby-throated hummingbird might see when it visits the orange tubular flower of a trumpet creeper vine. To view the installment for 8-14 July 2007, please visit http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070708.html

As always we include a tally of birds banded and recaptured, plus a few miscellaneous nature notes.

Figure 4. There's little doubt the long thin bill of the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) and the even-longer tube-shaped flower of trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) demonstrate a co-evolved relationship. (Photograph copyright Bill Hilton Jr.)

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