Somewhere, sometime, somewhere along the way, someone got the idea that naturalists should wake up early, in order to catch nature’s sunrise show. As our life-giving golden orb creeps above the eastern horizon, animals rise to greet the day. Flowers unfurl to soak up the sun, and dewdrops sparkle on silken spider webs until the warmth of the day steals them away.
Or at least that’s what people tell me. You see, I’m one of those people for which morning comes just too darn early.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the basic concept of mornings—the whole fresh start, clean slate, carpe diem thing. But I also love to stay up late. And, with very rare exceptions, the pursuit of such opposites just doesn’t work. Happily, dear Mother Nature’s daily cavalcade has an evening act too.
A few of us were lucky enough to catch one of those showings recently, on a picture-perfect summer evening at Delnor Woods. We’d gathered to watch and learn about fireflies (a limited-time engagement in itself), but several other creatures made cameo appearances as well.
The surprise warm-act appeared first, along the western edge of the Delnor pond. A young muskrat was paddling its way through the spatterdock, or pond lilies, growing in the water. The little guy seemed unhurried, and quite unworried about our presence, as it swam and munched along.
A short time later, after we had gathered in the park’s small picnic pavilion, one of the parents attending the program suddenly pointed toward the woods. Walking slowly out onto the grass was a whitetail doe, resplendent in her russet red summer coat. She seemed as surprised to see us as we were to see her, so she didn’t stay long. But her presence drew oohs and aahs from the group as we awaited the firefly’s debut.
As the sun began to fade in the west, assorted twinkles could be seen along the darkest paths in Delnor’s woods—the fireflies had begun their nightly performance! We could see the males signaling to prospective mates as they fluttered slowly among the trees, as well as females twinkled their response from the vegetation below. Yellow and green lights and varied flash patterns indicated we had at least two species, which was exciting in itself, but the show wasn’t over yet.
As we headed out to the mowed area of the park for a little firefly-catching, I heard a familiar sound in the sky—nighthawks were calling as they swooped along catching insects on the wing. Then, toward the east end of the park, more quick movements caught my eye—bats too were out, feasting on the summer bug buffet. Again, there were at least two different species. Some appeared hefty and likely were red bats, while several smaller bats might have been big or little brown bats, perhaps visiting the park from a nearby home.
The day was done, but the nature’s night shift was just getting warmed up. I wanted to stay at the park even later, to see what the next attraction would be, and maybe even catch the late, late show. But, alas, I headed home instead. I had to be up early the next morning.
Pam Otto is the manager of nature programs and interpretive services for the St. Charles Park District. She can be reached at potto@stcparks.org or 630-513-4346.