August has been a very exciting month with lots happening out in nature. We finally got some much needed rain, although it was accompanied by very strong winds which did quite a bit of damage to trees in some areas. August has also brought monarch butterflies, migrating common nighthawks, and even a lunar eclipse!
If you’re curious about what else has been happening outdoors, I hope you’ll join me on a quick virtual stroll through nature!
Partial lunar eclipse
Just a few nights ago, we had a partial lunar eclipse! A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking sunlight from reaching the moon. The reason this was a partial lunar eclipse is that the Earth only managed to block about 96.2% of the sunlight, rather than all of it. As you can see in the photo above, there was a tiny sliver at the top of the moon where sunlight was still visible.
During the eclipse, the moon took on a breathtaking coppery-red color. The reason it appeared so red is because sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere is scattered and filtered, with more of the shorter blue wavelengths scattered away while the longer red wavelengths continue through the atmosphere and reach the moon. The next partial lunar eclipse will happen on January 12, 2028, so mark your calendars!
Broken wild turkey eggs
While out at Westport Prairie with our hardworking Prairie Partners interns, we came across several large, broken eggs scattered throughout the prairie. They were too large to be waterfowl eggs and too small to belong to a sandhill crane, so I knew they had to be wild turkey eggs! These eggs were likely not laid recently, as late August is toward the end of the wild turkey’s breeding and nesting season.
As we examined the eggs, we tried to determine whether they had successfully hatched or had been eaten by a predator. Typically when chicks hatch, the eggshells have relatively clean breaks and are often split into two distinct halves. These eggs, however, had random cracks and several sections that appeared to have been crushed. It seemed clear that they had been discovered by a hungry predator rather than successfully hatched.
American goldfinch nest
On a more uplifting note, I recently found an American goldfinch nest that had managed to escape the attention of a hungry predator! There were several clues that revealed its identity, with the first being the time of year I discovered it. Unlike wild turkeys, American goldfinches can nest surprisingly late in the season. Their diet plays a big role in this late nesting, as goldfinches eat almost exclusively seeds from plants. Even their chicks are fed regurgitated seeds rather than insects.
Another telltale sign that the nest belonged to an American goldfinch was the soft plant fluff lining the inside. Goldfinches collect this fluffy material from plants such as thistles, cottonwoods, cattails, and many others to create a soft, cozy nest for their eggs and young.
Cicada emerges from exoskeleton
Lastly, I’ll leave you with this photo of a cicada emerging from its exoskeleton! This time of year, you’ll often find the little brown exoskeletons of cicadas scattered along sidewalks or clinging to the trunks of trees. They look just like insects, but they’re completely hollow, with a small opening in the back where the cicada emerged. I’ve seen hundreds of these throughout my life, but every so often, I’m lucky enough to witness a cicada actually emerge from its old exoskeleton!
The photo above shows just that. This cicada is still perched on the exoskeleton it had just wiggled out of. The entire process can take some time. In fact, I once sat for 20 minutes watching the whole thing unfold. I’m not going to lie, it was a little gross, but also amazing to watch nature do its thing!
Well, I hope you enjoyed this month’s virtual tour of nature as it’s happening. See you next month!