Birds
This month, lucky birdwatchers may catch a glimpse of uncommon visitors such as Common Mergansers, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, and Snowy Egrets. Sandpipers also begin returning to the Piedmont. As summer deepens, the melodious songs of many birds fade, though Indigo Buntings can still be heard singing from high perches.
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) populations have steadily increased since the 1900s, despite vulnerability to cowbird brood parasitism. These brilliant blue finches breed in forest edges, open woodlands, weedy fields, and orchards. As Piedmont habitats become increasingly fragmented (a change that harms many species), more edge habitat becomes available—often benefiting Indigo Buntings. Their nests are typically placed 1–15 feet off the ground in tangles of vegetation and built from woven grasses, leaves, and bark. Nests may even include snakeskin and are often lined with fine grasses, cotton, feathers, or hair. Females do most of the care for the nestlings, which hatch from small (about 0.8-inch) white to pale blue eggs. Indigo Buntings are sexually dimorphic in summer: males are vivid blue, while females are brown. In winter, they join mixed finch flocks and shift from an insect-heavy diet to one focused more on seeds.
In July, watch for anting behavior—when birds sit on an anthill or rub ants through their feathers. Summer and year-round residents known to ant include Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Mourning Doves, Northern Flickers, Brown Thrashers, and Pine Warblers.
And a simple, powerful reminder: give fledglings a fighting chance by keeping cats indoors.
Butterflies
July can bring the “grass skipper doldrums,” though grass skipper activity often increases again by the end of the month. The flight season of the Common Wood-Nymph is just beginning, so you may see fresh (newly emerged) individuals. Lucky observers may also find fresh Appalachian Browns and Tawny Emperors.
Gardeners may notice large green caterpillars with black and orange markings chewing on plants in the Carrot family—or spot greenish-brown chrysalides hanging from stems. These are often Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) larvae and pupae. Black Swallowtails are among the most commonly seen garden butterflies. Males have jet-black wings lined with yellow-orange bands, a few blue spots, and a single orange spot with a black “eye.” Females are mostly black with more extensive blue and yellow spotting. After a female lays yellowish eggs on a host plant in the Carrot family, the eggs hatch within a few days. Caterpillars pass through five instars (growth stages) before pupating into a chrysalis. About 10 days later, an adult butterfly emerges—though some chrysalides overwinter and emerge later.
Reptiles and amphibians
Keep an eye out for snakes and turtles this month. Many eggs are still incubating, but some may hatch toward the end of July. Fence lizards and skinks are abundant, and the soundscape stays lively: large choruses of Cope’s Gray Treefrogs, Green Treefrogs, Bullfrogs, and Green Frogs continue, with occasional calls from Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toads and Eastern Spadefoots. Cope’s Gray Treefrog froglets may still be emerging from ponds and wetlands.
Other insects
Cicadas and katydids chorus in earnest this month. Look for increased numbers of Japanese beetles, an introduced pest first detected in the United States in 1916. July is also prime time for beetles in general. Species you might encounter include:
- Fiery searchers (up to ~1.5 inches long, greenish wings with lines)
- Bess beetles (large black beetles with a small horn)
- Hercules beetles (army green with black spots; males have two horns—one on the thorax and one on the head)
- Reddish-brown stag beetles (reddish-brown with prominent “antlers”)
In bloom this month
Look for July flowers and their diverse pollinators. The remarkable variety of flower shapes, sizes, and colors reflects the pollinators they’re adapted to attract. Orange flowers (like butterflyweed) and purple flowers (like purple coneflower) often draw butterflies—though many other insects visit too. Tubular red flowers rich in sweet nectar (like cardinal flower and trumpet creeper) are especially attractive to hummingbirds.
Small-fruit agrimony – Agrimonia microcarpa
Swamp milkweed – Asclepias incarnata
Downy yellow false-foxglove – Aureolaria virginica
American beautyberry – Callicarpa americana
Trumpet creeper – Campsis radicans
Green-and-gold – Chrysogonum virginianum
Whorled tickseed – Coreopsis verticillata
Tick-trefoils – Desmodium spp.
Indian strawberry – Duchesnia indica
Purple coneflowers – Echinacea spp.
Eastern daisy fleabane – Erigeron annuus
Northern rattlesnake-master – Eryngium yuccifolium
Thoroughworts – Eupatorium spp.
White avens – Geum canadense
Scarlet rose-mallow – Hibiscus coccineus
St. Andrew’s-cross – Hypericum hypericoides
Virginia bunchflower – Melanthium virginicum
Summer phlox – Phlox paniculata
American lopseed – Phryma leptostachya
Black-eyed Susans – Rudbeckia spp.
Hoary skullcap – Scutellaria incana
Sticky rosinweed – Silphium glutinosum
Starry rosinweed – Silphium asteriscus
Axillary goldenrod – Solidago caesia
Stokes’ aster – Stokesia laevis
Ironweeds – Vernonia spp.
Piedmont habitats
Have you ever wanted to identify a habitat by a few key plant cues? Old hayfields are typically dominated by grasses and legumes, while former pasture lands (grazed sites) often feature eastern red cedar, thistles, and dense fescue.
References
Burt WH, Grossenheider RP. 1980. A Field Guide to the Mammals. 3rd ed. Boston (MA): Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cook D. 2001. The Piedmont Almanac. Raleigh (NC): Barefoot Press.
Daniels JC. 2003. Butterflies of the Carolinas. Cambridge (MN): Adventure Publications, Inc.
Ehrlich P, Dobkin D, Wheye D. 1988. The Birder’s Handbook. New York (NY): Simon & Schuster.
Elbroch M. 2003. Mammal Tracks and Signs: A Guide to North American Species. Mechanicsburg (PA): Stackpole Books.
Wagner DL. 2005. Caterpillars of Eastern North America. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.
Sense of Place 